For a moment, other than the sound of panting, there was no other sound in the room.
Yang Yunteng's eyelids kept blinking. Even if his body did not show any signs of trembling, it could not hide his panic. Life and death, honor and disgrace were all in the hands of the nine children.
The local children were frightened. They kept looking at Xiao Bei and the others. Yang Danzi came to his father's side. He grabbed the corner of his father's clothes with both hands and pursed his lips.
Xiao Bei's face was so worried that it looked like a flower. The other eight people also had different expressions. Some were looking at the roof, some were looking at the ground, and some were looking around.
Zhang Hu and the other guards who followed in were expressionless and motionless. It seemed that other people's matters had nothing to do with them.
"Let's have a short meeting," Xiaohai said at the crucial moment. The other children nodded.
"Wait, we'll go out and discuss. We'll be back in a while." Before they went out, Xiao Bei said something to Yang Yunteng that seemed to be reminding and warning him.
The Tang Patrol officials gathered outside the door and whispered for a full 15 minutes. Then they came back with heavy faces. Xiao Bei, the special spokesperson, said, "Yang Yunteng, we have made a decision about your matter."
Hearing this, Yang Yunteng tried to make himself look as calm as possible. He squeezed out an out of shape smile. The way the muscles on his face kept moving made him look like he was crying.
"We've decided to leave the matter of you and Gong Shu to your brother and sister to decide." Xiao Bei's tender and clear voice sounded again.
"Why … why …" Yang Yunteng squeezed out a sentence from his throat.
"It's because your matters are too complicated. We're too young and haven't learned much, so we're stumped. Face is important to us, but justice is even more important. Who asked us to be Patrol Inspectors? This time, many people are going to be unlucky, especially the few Patrol Inspectors who patrol the various armies. The imperial court gave them a lot of benefits, not just for show."
Xiao Bei looked very unhappy. Perhaps it was because she, who thought of herself as an adult, finally realized that they could not handle everything.
Yang Yunteng sighed and did not speak again. He nodded to show that he accepted his fate. However, his son, Yang Danzi, gathered his courage and asked Xiao Bei, "My father did something wrong. What about your father? Your father is the Minister of Works. Would he be fine if someone leaked the information? "
"Whether my father is fine or not has nothing to do with me. I'm not going to absolve my father and say that it's the responsibility of the people in the Ministry of Works. My father doesn't know. I'm just saying that I'll let whoever makes my father uncomfortable know what it means to be uncomfortable.
Because I know that my father is the best. He is good to his family, good to his subordinates, good to his colleagues, good to his work, and loyal to the Great Tang. My father is a true gentleman, at least more so than my brother, even though my brother always says that he is a true gentleman. "
Then, he turned to the local children and said, "Come with us. We'll treat you to dinner."
"I'm not going. I want to accompany my father." Yang Dan Zi clearly didn't think that food was more important than family, even if he could eat the food personally cooked by Zhang Xiaobao.
Yang Yunteng patted his son's head in relief. "Go, you can speak for your father when you go."
"Alright." Yang Dan Zi rolled his eyes and agreed.
*****
When Xiao Bei and the others returned to the restaurant, Zhang Xiaobao had already prepared the food. He had received the news in advance that his younger brother and sister wanted to invite others to dinner and had some troublesome matters to deal with.
There was a table that was three meters long, two meters wide, and one meter tall. There were no less than sixteen dishes on it. They were all placed on large plates, but there were no stools. It seemed that they were planning to let the children eat as they pleased in a buffet style.
"Zhang … Zhang … Xiao Bao, my father didn't betray the Great Tang." As soon as the banquet started, Yang Dan Zi grabbed the hem of his clothes with both hands and looked up at Zhang Xiaobao.
Zhang Xiaobao looked serious and nodded firmly. "I already know. Don't worry, your father won't be worse than before."
"Will he be executed?" Yang Dan Zi was still nervous.
"Why are you so stupid? I already said that you'll be better than before. How can you live after you die? You're much more stupid than your sister. Eat, "the little boy said happily to Yang Dan Zi.
"Do you want to be beaten?"
"Afraid of you? If you have the guts, let's fight on horseback. "
*****
Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan did not accompany the children to eat, leaving enough space for the children to play. The two sat opposite each other and cooked hot pot, the copper hot pot with a chimney, burning charcoal.
With pickled cabbage, fatty meat slices as the base, and some small crabs and shrimps, there are noodles, blood sausage, frozen tofu in the plate, only cabbage, and the rest are all fresh mutton slices. The wine pot is boiling with white wine, and the dipping sauce is simple chives and garlic sauce. There is no fermented bean curd. The main thing is that fermented bean curd and pickled cabbage are more enjoyable than eating raw seafood. The smell is unbearable for the two.
"Eat, I didn't expect to find talents in The Jiu Yuan." Zhang Xiaobao picked up a piece of meat and swung it back and forth in the pot, saying happily.
"It's the inspector's dereliction of duty. It's estimated that they thought that the local army would not have any major problems, so they dared to deal with it. Unlike the personnel of the inspection administrative officials, the local officials always have such an excuse to reach out. My opinion is to assign the inspection personnel."
Wang Juan did not move her chopsticks, and her eyes looked at the fire coming out of the hot pot chimney.
Zhang Xiaobao simply threw half a plate of meat into the hot pot, boiled it like a stew, picked up the wine pot and tested the temperature. When it was hot, he poured a cup for Wang Juan and himself, and held the wine cup and drank the three coins of wine in it.
Then he took a deep breath, smacked his lips twice, and said, "Good wine, worthy of Wuliangye."
Wang Juan couldn't help but laugh: "You can pull it down, the wine is indeed distilled from five kinds of grains, and it has been stored for several years, but what does it have to do with the Wuliangye you said? The quality and taste of Wuliangye depends on the wine mud when it is stored in the cellar, okay? "
"Is there such a thing? I really don't know, I just think that all the wines that have been in the cellar for a long time are good to drink. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many famous wines in the world. Every kind of famous wine is related to the cellar age. If there is no wine that belongs to its own history, no matter how good the taste is, it won't be praised.
For example, old vinegar, black tea, ambergris, and even a lot of wood used to make violins. Of course, those with short shelf life don't count. Look at the United States, they never take the initiative to mention their own history. Why? Isn't it because their history is short and they don't have a heritage? They are a colonial country, and the local people have a history, but it will not be recognized by the colonial descendants as their own history.
This wine, the people at that time drank was basically blended, and blended to have a unique taste. Unfortunately, no matter how blended, it can only deceive people who don't understand wine. People like me, they can't be deceived. "
Zhang Xiaobao held the wine cup, and his eyes were deep, following the rotation of the wine cup.
Wang Juan glanced at Zhang Xiaobao: "Okay, don't be a melancholy bard there. That is not a glass cup for drinking wine, it is porcelain. When you talk about wine, are you looking at the wine cup or the cup? I know you have good taste and experience, so you can taste the quality of the wine. "
"Wrong, I look at the wine cup to tell others that I don't know how to drink, so I never order wine of many years. Every time I drink, I tell the waiter to give me the worst blended wine. That way, they can't deceive me, and I only pay for the worst wine."
"They must be stupid, right?"
"I am stupid. They actually mixed ordinary white wine into my orange juice and called it a cocktail. In the end, I paid for the whole cup of wine. Is orange juice and wine the same price?"
"Now we are talking about how to deal with this matter, and it has nothing to do with wine. I was led astray by you." Wang Juan finally reacted.
Zhang Xiaobao put down the wine cup, pondered for a moment, and said: "You didn't. There are many legends about the origin of the name of the cocktail, but I think they are all incorrect. The biggest characteristic of this wine is that it has different flavors and distinct levels. In order to show this, the color of the wine is very rich, just like the Gaul chicken. The color of the body is divided into different levels, from head to tail, so it is called this name. The translated 'chicken' is not the head, but the head. The color of the wine is the same as the color of the Gaul chicken.
Some people just drink at random and don't try to taste every kind of wine that is blended in. Some people specifically point out every kind of wine that is added in to show their purity and knowledge. "
"What about you? Which one do you choose?" Wang Juan was led astray again.
"I choose the one with relatively less orange juice. Otherwise, it is not worth spending the money to buy juice. But many young people choose to drink casually, and many people who feel that they have status specifically taste it. What I admire most is the old people drinking this wine. After drinking a mouthful of wine, the smile on their face is more complex and chaotic than the cocktail."
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he poured himself another cup.
Wang Juan pretended to be enlightened and nodded, then asked: "Is it related to what I just said about how to deal with this matter?"
"Yes, the reason why the old people are better at tasting wine is because they have experienced too many years. Time is actually a cocktail. When too much time has passed, we realize that there is no need to distinguish the taste of each age. Life is full of ups and downs. Without color, what is the point of living?
So, since Yang Fei made things complicated for simple purposes, we will agree with him, and then deal with him according to his thoughts. Let him slowly understand the complexity of the simple punishment. "
Zhang Xiaobao raised his head and drank all the wine in the cup.
Wang Juan reached out to stop Zhang Xiaobao before he touched the wine pot and said: "You don't need to drink to drown your sorrows in other people's matters, right? You still haven't said how to deal with him, for example. "
"For example, in the past, he was afraid that he didn't have the ability. In fact, he didn't want to be inferior to others, at least not inferior to his junior brother. We arranged for him to do chores under his junior brother, clean the laboratory, clean the laboratory equipment, and hand tools and experimental materials to other researchers. Eat, don't let me eat alone."
Zhang Xiaobao reached out with his chopsticks and scooped up a lot of meat and put it on the plate in front of Wang Juan.
"Oh." Wang Juan nodded and lowered her head to eat the meat. She threw the small crabs that were accidentally brought up back into the pot and drank a cup of wine. She said: "Wuliangye is really good, but don't you think that if we deal with it according to what you said, we will be burying a talent?"
Zhang Xiaobao didn't answer immediately. He continued to put a lot of food into the pot and covered it with a lid that had a hole in the middle that could fit the chimney. He listened for a while before saying: "It's not burying."
Wang Juan blinked and waited for him to continue.
"Yang Yunteng may think that he has learned very well. A person who designed a lathe through self-study, in my opinion, he is still far from it. I don't think that he is very good at learning to this extent in four years. Maybe he is proud, but can he be more proud than you and me?
From now on, if I don't do other tiring things, I will be like him. In two years, I can make a better lathe than him. Who can go to the Ministry of Works' research department isn't a genius? If I really let him be an important researcher, how long will he have to delay that project?
Letting him do chores is a simple order. Learning while doing chores is complicated. I let him see the abilities of others, let him understand the profoundness of the industry as a whole, and let him understand that one person is not as good as a team with good teamwork.
Didn't we just see the blueprint that he designed? The lathe is really good. He thinks that he is qualified to enter the Ministry of Works with that blueprint. I think he thinks that he can be above others, but that is because his junior kept secretly showing him the blueprint of the Ministry of Works' lathe. His results are based on other people's hard work.
If we don't train him, the Ministry of Works won't be able to control him in the future. I can't bear to kill him, right? "
After saying this, Zhang Xiaobao looked at the wine cup in silence.
Wang Juan helped Zhang Xiaobao fill the wine cup. "Yes, you are right. Just like you, when we caught you, we wouldn't kill you. We would let you hand over your property first, then train you and let you receive ideological education. Yang Fei arranged this. What about Gong Shuhe?"
"Him? Haha, bring him along. I have a better place to settle him. To be honest, I prefer to deal with Gong Shuhe slowly. "Zhang Xiaobao suddenly became happy, like a child who had found a new toy.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
