C44

The horse carriage slowly moved forward, and once the border area was cleared, it would never return.

A Jin held the jar in her hands and said softly in a voice that only she could hear, "Daddy, let's take you home."

The border pass wasn't too far from Peace Village, but it was a long distance from Xuan City.

Tens of thousands of soldiers returned to the capital at the same time, so it was inevitable that their movements would be somewhat slow.

It had only been half a month since he had arrived at An City.

Shortly before noon, the group stopped to prepare lunch.

Su Zhi sent someone to fish for some fish near the water source. She also caught some wild rabbits, which were also excellent with dry rations and nuts.

After leaving the military camp, there was no sign of Xiao Qian for several days.

When they were outside, they would easily be seen by the people they passed through. If there was nothing important, Xiao Qian wouldn't pass on his message to her.

But today, when they were preparing dinner, Great General Xiao, who hadn't shown his face for a few days, personally came to find her.

At that time, as Su Zhizhan was cooking the fish soup, she saw a disturbance behind her and thought that Liu Zhong and the others had brought back wild vegetables.

He didn't seem to care about it at the moment and said, "Cut the vegetables beside you into half and hand it over to me."

The man behind him was stunned for a moment, but he did not retort. He obediently cut the dish and handed it over.

"En, the taste is a little light. Bring me some salt."

Without a word, he rummaged through the cabinet for salt.

Su Zhi could not wait to get what she wanted, so she sighed and impatiently said, "I say, haven't I fed you guys too much in the past few days? All of you are so otherworldly."

Xiao Qian did not say anything, and could not find any salt. He asked for help, "Where did you put it?" I really didn't see it. "

This sound is...

Su Zhi felt her head grow hot as she turned around stiffly. Indeed, she saw Xiao Qian standing behind her, bent over as he rummaged through the low cabinet.

"General, general!"

Xiao Qian nodded and continued, "Where's the salt?" "Where did you put it?"

"No, no, no. There is no need for the general to take action. This humble woman can do it herself."

She must have eaten the heart of a bear to have the guts to command the empire's generals, and to speak in such a carefree manner with such peace of mind!

Su Zhi rushed forward to retrieve the salt before she got busy again.

"Is the general hungry?" The food is almost ready. "

Xiao Qian shook his head. After seeing that no one was around, he took out a silver note and handed it to her.

"Take this and use it in the future."

Su Zhi was in the middle of flipping the fish in the wok, glancing at the bill in his hand.

"One thousand taels!"

She wasn't mistaken; Xiao Qian was going to give her a total of a thousand taels of silver.

"That's right, a thousand liang for now. If that's not enough, you can come and find me in the capital again in the future."

"No, no, no, there are so many. It's impossible to accept without hard work. I can't afford to have such a large amount of money."

Xiao Qian folded the banknotes and put them into her hands, explaining, "Xuan City is very prosperous, but it is also a place where every inch of land is worth a lot of money. If you want to live on, there's no way you can do it without money. "

Su Zhi smiled gratefully at him. "General, this humble woman appreciates your kindness, but if you give me this silver, you're undoubtedly betting your money on a wager that you won't win. You're not going to return it."

"I didn't ask you to return it. Just treat it as a pension for the dead soldiers."

She didn't have that much money on her, and the military was already giving her more of the pension she deserved. Why would she need so much money?

Xiao Qian insisted on giving it to her, not allowing her to reject it.

"Take it." "A few days ago, you said you didn't understand why I had to pay myself to make up for my lack of military pay. That is the principle."

Su Zhi stared at the silver notes in her hands, feeling that they weighed over a thousand pounds. She was so conflicted that she didn't know what to say.

She now understood that most of the citizens who joined the army were born to poor families. Not to mention that some of the soldiers had even become disabled, or had even died in battle on the battlefield.

Although the silver would not be enough to repay his good fortune, it was still a great comfort to his family.

"The two kids are still young and need a lot of money. It's not easy for a woman like you to earn money, and that's just a small part of it."

"General, I …"

Xiao Qian smiled and comforted her, "If you want to thank me, then there's no need. Just treat it as a gift from me."

Su Zhi understood better than anyone else the weight of a thousand liang. As a general with a heavy soldier, Xiao Qian naturally did not lack money. "Not long ago, she had taken out a hundred thousand taels and given it to the soldier herself. It was because she had thought of a way out long ago.

It would be a lie to say that he was not moved. After all, he had no obligation to do so.

"General, today's favor shall be repaid tenfold in the future. "Thank you so much for thinking so highly of our Mother and Third, for your great kindness and gratitude, everything is in vain."

Xiao Qian looked at her reddened eyes and felt a sense of pity. He unconsciously lifted his hand to help her straighten her messy hair, but there was a wave of laughter coming from outside.

He raised his arm and slightly flicked away the flying mosquitos, then turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

Hearing that the soldiers had returned, Su Zhi hurriedly greeted, "General!"

"Greetings, General!"

She carefully folded the banknotes and put them into her purse before continuing to work on the fish in the pot.

Liu Zhong walked in with a few soldiers and teased, "Lady Su, why did the general come here just now?"

Su Zhi did not say a word. She sniffed her reddish nose and busied herself with her work.

Seeing that the situation was not looking good, the few generals immediately stopped laughing.

"Lady Su …" What's wrong with you? "

Liu Zhong frowned and tried to sound out the situation, "Did the general bully you?"

Su Zhi intentionally threw the shovel on the chopping block and said angrily, "It's all because you guys are so fond of playing. You all go out and leave it be! The fact that the general has personally come to inquire about the food has made me blame myself. As a cook, how could I let my soldiers starve to death? "

"Sigh, it's no big deal. You women just like to cry. You guys are both men, so what if you guys are hungry for two meals? "Wait a moment, lunch will be ready soon."

Seeing that Su Zhi was no longer happy, the rest of them stopped playing around and focused on the task at hand. No one doubted what had happened just now.

Seven days had passed since he saw Xiao Qian.

During this period of time, she did not see his figure again.

This child was still young. Since Su Zhi couldn't explain it to her, he could only spend more effort to coax her.

Today, after dinner, the main group stopped at the outskirts to set up camp.

The rain that continued for a few days also stopped. The moon was hazy and the sky was dark. A Jin volunteered to take the small bean bag to walk around.

The child was crying so loudly that Su Zhi also had a headache. She thought that nothing would happen in the military camp, so after repeatedly warning A Jin, she let him go.

A Jin pulled the small bean bag out of the camp, strolling on the green grass as she patiently explained to her sister, "Little bean bun, in the future, with big brother around, you don't need to think about dad anymore, okay? Your mother will feel sad when you cry. Your father has gone far, far away and will not be able to return for a while. If you don't listen, what can your mother do by herself? "

The slightly older child didn't understand what he said, and stared blankly at him with his watery big eyes. He pointed to a spot to the east with his chubby finger and shouted, "Daddy!"

A Jin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She quickly covered her mouth and shook her head. "No, he's not our father." His words contained a sense of loss and sadness that even he could not explain.

After saying that, A Jin's voice became a little hoarse. She was so sad that she couldn't explain herself anymore.

The bean bun let go of his hand and hummed as it walked towards him.

"Little Dou Bao, don't wander around. Come back quickly."

The little girl ignored him, swinging her short arms and frowning as she ran towards the main tent on the east side.

As they walked, she called out sweetly, "Daddy ~"

There were still many soldiers patrolling along the way. A Jin smiled in embarrassment and reached out to grab her.

"I already told you not to yell!"

Before her hand could touch the little girl, she slipped and pounced forward. This fall was a bit heavy, and the mud marks on the ground dragged out a long time.

A Jin panicked and quickly ran over to help her sister.

The small bean bun went blank for two seconds, then burst into tears.