Lamp Flower Smile

The night is as dark as ink, and the West Street is deserted.

The lantern under the plaque of Renxin Medical Center is particularly bright, and the plum tree with lonely branches in front of the door also shines a bit of red light.

The small courtyard was buzzing with people.

Today is New Year's Eve. Since Mr. Du passed away, Du Changqing has no relatives at home. He thought it would be too miserable for the two girls, Lu Shun and Yin Zheng, to spend the New Year alone in other places, so he volunteered to move the New Year's Eve dinner to the hospital. He also thought that Miao Liangfang was alone now and had few relatives and friends, so he called Acheng General Miao Liangfang to come too.

The backyard of the medical clinic, which used to be quiet at night, rarely became lively tonight.

Yin Zheng took out the last plate of steamed seabass from the kitchen and walked towards the wooden table where everyone was sitting: "Give way and cook it carefully——"

The small courtyard is not big, so if you put the table inside, it will become a little cramped when there are more people. But perhaps because of the cramped space, even the coldness of winter nights is dissipated.

Du Changqing stared at the plate of fish dishes held by Yin Zheng.

There was no decoration at all. The two sea bass were just lying on the plate, with their tails half-cocked and their four big eyes staring straight at the sky. Their unyielding look was enough to make you lose your appetite.

"Miss Yin Zheng," Du Changqing pointed to the two dead fish, "with such cooking skills, are you worthy of these two dead fish?"

Yin Zheng put the fish plate on the table with a clang, smiled at him and said, "Why don't you tell me if your boss can live with me when he abuses me?"

Du Changqing was speechless.

The two seabass were a New Year's gift from Mr. Hu. They were lively and juicy when they arrived, and they tasted delicious at first glance. However, he encountered difficulties when killing the fish. Du Changqing wanted to show off in front of the two young girls, so he pushed Lu Zhu away and volunteered: "What a bloody thing you do as a girl depends on your boss!"

Unexpectedly, an hour passed and Du Changqing was still catching the two fish in the kitchen.

The fish was unscathed, but he injured himself eight thousand times.

Later, it was Lu Yan who took over the work that he had not done, killing the fish and dissecting the carcasses with his knife in hand, so that this dish could be served tonight.

Acheng smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, we still have the bacon from Brother Dai, the bad duck from Sister-in-law Song, and the hooves from Tailor Ge..."

Although the five members of Renxin Medical Center, Lu Zhuo and Yin Zheng, know how to cook, they can only cook the rice well enough to not kill anyone.

Du Changqing has been opening his mouth and hands since he was a child. He has only been able to make scrambled eggs since he was a child.

Not to mention Miao Liangfang, who would eat noodles if he had money, and porridge if he didn't have money. There was only one pot in that shabby house, so his cooking skills were naturally mediocre.

Only Acheng can cook two dishes. However, with so many people, Acheng, a child, cannot be expected to make a large New Year's Eve dinner by himself.

Unfortunately, on New Year's Eve, almost all restaurants in Shengjing were closed, so Du Changqing shamelessly knocked on the doors of his neighbors one by one, as if asking for money, to see if he could exchange money for some dishes.

Fortunately, over the past year, the reputation of Renxin Medical Center on West Street has gradually improved, and Yin Zheng has managed a good relationship with his neighbors, and most of them are willing to give him gifts without taking any money.

Tailor Ge gave a bowl of hooves, Sister-in-law Song gave a plate of bad duck, Widow Sun gave half a pot of ham, shrimp balls and mixed vegetables, and Dai Sanlang gave a knife of marinated pork hind legs - to thank Renxin Medical Center for making him better than Pan An now. .

After such tinkering, Acheng and Yinzheng randomly fried a few more vegetables, steamed a fish, put on the Tusu wine they had bought a month ago, and finally managed to put together a decent New Year's Eve dinner. .

The dishes were steaming hot. Du Changqing stood up and filled the wine bowls in front of everyone with Tusu wine. The wine was freshly brewed, and the fragrant aroma could be smelled as soon as it was poured out.

Du Changqing held up a bowl of wine and looked at the tree full of red plum blossoms in the courtyard with emotion.

"This tree was almost dead in the past few years. Dr. Lu is indeed a goddess doctor with wonderful rejuvenation skills. He can also make the dead tree bloom again, which is really amazing."

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that the plum blossom tree in the courtyard was originally gaunt and skinny, but now its branches were dotted with deep red, reflected on the wooden windows, and the swaying branches looked lively.

Miao Liangfang said: "The sharp edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. Shopkeeper Du can say that after all the hardships, the joy comes."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

When Lu Jong first came to Renxin Medical Center, the medical center was dilapidated and dilapidated. The plaques at the door were hung crookedly, and it looked like it would be closed down tomorrow.

However, in just one year, from making ends meet to becoming famous, a neighbor on West Street went to Renxin Medical Center for headaches and fever. It was indeed a blessing in disguise.

Du Changqing raised his wine bowl to Lu Zhuo and said solemnly: "Doctor Lu, I'll give you a bowl. Thank you for saving my father's last wish. If you hadn't turned the tide, this medical clinic would have been defeated by me sooner or later. My father There is no peace under the Nine Springs."

"Thank you!" He touched the wine bowl in Lu Zhen's hand and drank it down in one breath.

Upon seeing this, Acheng quickly stood up and held the small bowl in front of him with both hands.

He was still a child and couldn't drink, so Yin Zheng bought him sherbet specially.

The boy held the sherbet and said with a smile to Lu Shuo: "Doctor Lu, Acheng also proposes a toast to you. Since you and Miss Yin Zheng have arrived, my boss is getting happier day by day."

"Since the master passed away, I haven't seen the young master so happy for a long time."

Du Changqing kicked him: "When is the young master unhappy?"

Acheng rubbed his butt: "I'm even happier now!"

Lu Chen picked up the wine bowl in front of her and took a sip. Yin Zheng's wine bowl was already in front of her.

"Girl," Yin Zheng whispered in her ear: "Thank you too for the slave family. Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for allowing me to follow you and have a place to stay here."

She was grateful to Lu Huan. Without Lu Huan, she would have become a pile of loess in the graveyard in southern Jiangsu. She didn't expect to have such a stable life now, guarding a small medical clinic, listening to the gossips of the neighbors every day, and the days passed like this.

"What are you two whispering about?" Du Changqing frowned, "Is there anything I, the boss, can't listen to?"

Yin Zheng scorned: "Women whisper to each other, why should a grown man in the shop listen to it?"

Du Changqing snorted, "Who cares?" Then he saw Miao Liangfang sitting on the side, motionless, and asked: "Why don't you go and propose a toast?"

"What should I toast to?" Miao Liangfang stretched out his sleeves and said very arrogantly, "Now that I teach Xiao Lu, I can also be regarded as half of Xiao Lu's master. Only students toast to the teacher, how can any teacher take the initiative to toast the students?"

Today he wore a brand-new Yuan color round-neck jacket, which Du Changqing paid for and made for him at Ge Tailor Shop next door. Also trim your beard, comb your messy hair and tie it into a bun. Apart from anything else, coupled with his old face with crisscrossed grooves, the appearance of this semi-old doctor is more convincing to the patient than the appearance of a beautiful girl like Lu Zhen.

"Don't come here to touch porcelain." Du Changqing sneered, "We, Dr. Lu, have medical skills comparable to those of the medical officers of the Hanlin Academy of Medical Officers. We made a patent medicine that made a sensation in Shengjing City. At first glance, we learned from a master. I have a serious master, and I want you to be a failure. The old medical officer will teach you?"

Miao Liangfang choked and glared at Du Changqing.

Although he was very angry, he could not refute his words.

After spending time with Lu Chen, Miao Liangfang could tell that Lu Chen had some real skills. Her talent for identification, her random prescriptions, and her acupuncture skills are all worthy of astonishing the old guys in the Imperial Medical Bureau - even though her method is a bit wild.

She should have a master with profound medical skills, whose medical skills are far superior to those of the medical officers in the palace today. Apart from telling everyone that the master had passed away, Lu Huan did not reveal any clues about the master from beginning to end. Perhaps it was to protect the master - the master always had a bit of a temper.

Miao Liangfang sighed: "Xiao Lu, your master is really good, he taught you so well."

There are so many prescriptions and pharmacological theories. At such a young age, Lu Zhuo's medical knowledge is far superior to that of many older doctors. This can only mean that her master has taught her everything he has to offer. Ask yourself, Miao Liangfang himself can't hide anything from himself, which shows that the other party has a high character and cherishes his apprentice.

Lu Yan didn't speak. After a while, she lowered her head, took a sip of Tusu wine from the bowl, and said, "Yes."

"She treats me very well."

The voice was very soft, like a cool breeze, and was broken by Du Changqing's high-pitched voice the next moment.

"Let us pay tribute to this good master, thank her for her careful teachings to our Dr. Lu, and for teaching a goddess doctor to our West Street——"

"Thank you, good master!" Acheng cheered and clapped his hands.

"Thank you, good master——"

The sound of cheering and clapping almost drowned out the sound of firecrackers in the yards of people on West Street.

Acheng jumped off the stool, bent down and pulled out a large copper plate from under the table. There were a few red oranges and persimmons on the plate, and some cypress branches were nestled on the edge. He broke off the cypress branches, broke open the persimmons and oranges, and shouted: "Best!"

Lu Zhuo was stunned.

The copper plate in front of him reflected a hazy brilliance under the candlelight in the small courtyard.

The woman sitting at the table stared at the large plate piled with persimmons and oranges at her feet, her eyes a little dazed.

Many years ago, when she was a little girl, every New Year's Eve, her mother would put out a big plate like this and let several children in the family break off the cypress branches one by one.

"cypress persimmon orange" means "good luck".

She was young at that time and always clamored to be the first to break off the persimmons. Because of her weak strength, she often couldn't break the persimmons properly, and her hands got juices from them, which stained her new skirt.

She pursed her lips and was about to cry, but her mother stopped her sternly: "Today is New Year's Eve, it's bad luck to cry!"

Lu Rou leaned over and quietly put the dumpling wrapped in coins into her bowl.

Before Lu Yun had time to smile, the dumplings were snatched away from her bowl by Lu Qian with quick eyes and hands. The young man made a face at her: "Thank you!"

"Wow——" sound.

The tears that I had been holding back for a long time finally came out.

Lu Chen's memories of New Year's Eve were always lively until he left Changwu County.

Apart from testing the medicine and feeding her the antidote on time, Yun Niang was away from the mountains most of the time. Lu Huan stayed in Luomeifeng for seven years. During these seven years, Lu Huan spent every New Year's Eve alone.

In the first few years after arriving at Luomei Peak, Lu Huan always secretly looked forward to not being alone this year. Sometimes, she would rather Yun Niang stay in the mountains and let her test the medicine than stay alone in the mountains on New Year's Eve.

The pain of trying the medicine is always better than the loneliness of staying up late alone.

In such busy times, people's loneliness is always magnified infinitely.

But in the end she could only put the dead branches she picked up together with a few unripe wild fruits, put them in an iron basin, break them open by herself, and whispered to herself——

Pepsi.

"Bisji——" There was a lot of laughter in the yard.

There was an inexplicable emotion flashing through Lu Yan's eyes.

For the first time in many years, she no longer said "Pepsi" to herself.

Yin Zheng came over with a wine bowl. She was so happy that she drank a lot. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright as she looked at Lu Yan.

"Girl," she asked, "is it noisy?"

Lu Zhuo shook his head.

Yin Zheng breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. I'm still thinking about you Xi Jing. You will be unhappy if so many people are noisy."

Lu Yan lowered his eyelashes and said softly, "No."

She has stayed in Luomeifeng for too many years, and has said Happy New Year to herself so many times that she has almost forgotten that she actually likes the excitement.

She turned out to be afraid of loneliness.

Du Changqing was still shouting at the other end: "Let us wish Dr. Lu in advance that he will be a blockbuster in the spring examination and be the most beautiful!"

Miao Liangfang poured cold water on him: "There are so many disciples from the Imperial Medical Bureau, but they still show off their beauty? What a shameless statement."

"Why not? As the saying goes, failure in love leads to success in the examination room. We, Dr. Lu, have had many troubles in love. So Lao Shizi's fiancé and Mr. Dong are unreliable in competing against each other. He might not be able to achieve success in the examination room!"

"What? Doctor Lu still has a fiancé? When did it happen?"

"Hey, that's not important. What's more important for a man than his future."

"That's true."

Acheng stared at the sky above the small courtyard and murmured: "At midnight tonight, fireworks will be set off at Dechun Terrace. We can see them from the courtyard."

"Okay," Du Changqing's drunken eyes were blurred, and he pointed at the sky and laughed, "The nobles spend money, the common people enjoy it, don't take advantage of the bastard, you must stay up until midnight tonight!"

I didn’t finish the New Year’s Eve dinner until midnight.

Du Changqing was drunk.

The young master acted like he would never get drunk after a thousand cups of wine. Before the jar of Tusu wine was finished, he slipped under the table.

That's all. He was not a good drinker either. When he was drunk, he would go to all the rooms in the courtyard and vomit, leaving filth all over the floor.

Miao Liangfang really couldn't stand it, so he said to Lu Huan: "He is a young man, what is it like to stay drunk in your courtyard, and others know that he is not good at talking."

After that, he greeted Acheng, and together they took Du Changqing, who was very drunk, and went home first.

After the three of them left, the small courtyard suddenly became much deserted. Yin Zheng stood up unsteadily: "I'll clean up the house." She was stopped by Lu Zhu.

Yin Zheng also drank a lot today, probably because she was happy. Ever since she followed Lu Chen, she had always been on tenterhooks, but New Year's Eve always made people leave everything behind and immerse themselves in this temporary joy.

Lu Zhu helped Yin Zheng into the house, removed her shoes and socks, and wiped her cheeks. Finally, he covered her with a quilt, exited the house, and gently closed the door.

The night was deserted, and occasionally one or two firecrackers sounded in the distance. The small courtyard was littered with cups and plates after the banquet, reflecting the embarrassment of everyone leaving after the song.

There is no such thing as a banquet that never ends, and next year's New Year's Eve, she probably won't be spending it with them.

Lu Tong squatted down, picked up the wine jar and cups that had fallen on the ground, poured the leftovers and the leftovers into the swill bucket, wiped the wooden table carefully, and moved it back to its original position.

She returned to the kitchen, cleared the stove, and washed the dishes for today.

She washed slowly, as if this would make the New Year pass slower. Finally, she brought some water and poured it on the bluestone in the courtyard by candlelight.

The bluestone slab has been washed and is so clean and shiny that it reflects the moon in the sky like floating water.

The moonlight watched her gently, and the small courtyard returned to its original tidiness, and all traces of the feast were erased.

The laughter, the noisy laughter, the off-key singing, the straightforward and almost vulgar toasts, together with the shadows of those people disappeared.

Only the branches of the plum trees swayed.

Lu Zhuo held the big copper plate and placed it on the stone platform under the eaves of the courtyard.

In the copper plate, broken cypress branches are surrounded by split red and orange ripe persimmons, which is particularly festive and lively.

She didn't pour the contents of the copper plate into the abandoned swill bucket, maybe because of pity or because she couldn't bear to part with it.

The winter night was cold and the moonlight was cold. She stopped in front of the stone platform, stretched out her hand, took out the split mandarin orange from the copper plate, peeled off the peel, and put a piece of mandarin orange into her mouth.

The orange petals are very cold, like sweet snow, sliding in from the throat. Because they are ripe, they are so sweet that they become bitter.

She stood in the yard and silently ate an entire tangerine.

The wind gradually picked up in the night, and the wind blew across people's faces, and their cheeks were so cold that they hurt. After Lu Chen finished eating the oranges, he whispered to the bustling copper plate: "Pepsi."

Pepsi.

She remembered Du Changqing standing on the table swearing that he would learn to kill fish, Miao Liangfang hitting his face with a cane under the table, Acheng Yang Yin Zheng giving him a rabbit-shaped colorful ribbon, and Yin Zheng hurriedly making rabbit patterns. …

The small courtyard was quiet, and Lu Zhu smiled slightly.

She didn't know if everything would go well in the future. That sounded too luxurious, but tonight, at least tonight, she gained short-term comfort from this message...

And tenderness.

Before Lu Chen returned to his dormitory, there was still a big red fringe knot made by Acheng hanging on the door, which was Naji's auspicious fringe that could ward off evil spirits.

She opened the door and walked in.

He didn't turn on the lamp when he left, but the oil lamp on the desk was still on. Lu Yan closed the door and took two steps in. The smile on his lips had not yet gone away, but his hair suddenly stood on end as he suddenly looked at the window.

Under the dim candlelight, someone stood unknown at some point.

The man was leaning on the corner of the table, looking down at a thin piece of paper in his hand. When he heard the movement, he looked up, revealing a familiar face.

Pei Yunying.

Lu Chen's face turned cold.

Pei Yunying stared into Lu Zhuo's eyes.

The young man's delicate eyebrows looked unusually soft under the dim light. The hand holding the knife had clear joints, was slender and beautiful, and was holding the thin page loosely.

He was clearly smiling, but his eyes were as cold as snow.

"Is this your revenge list?" He flicked the scroll in his hand and said casually: "Why is there my name on it?"

Lu Chen's pupils shrank.

That thin piece of paper was densely filled with names, some of which had been scratched out, and some of which looked like they had been added recently, like dark worms drawn up under the candlelight, or like curses pierced into human skin, penetrating through the human skin. It's cold and forbidding.

Lu Zhuo tensed up and looked at the person in front of him coldly.

The young man smiled, stared at Lu Huan, and walked towards her step by step against the light and shadow.

"Let's talk."

"Miss Lu San, Lu Min." He said lightly.

Liutong: I didn’t expect it! You are also in my Death Note.