Moonshine & Valentine: His Excellency’s First Love (Love Knot) - Chapter 47

Back to the restaurant, a table of morning tea was laid out. In front of Pipi are fried stuffed sambal, rose fermented bean curd, braised tofu with pickled vegetables and red pepper, stir-fried mushrooms with garlic and asparagus, as well as various snacks. Helan Jingting only held a glass of pure water in his hand, without touching his chopsticks. In the end, a plate of candied apples was served, but after Yu Manning’s persuasion, he clamped a piece, tasted it, and put it down. About he always did, Zheng Shaodong didn’t mind. However, Pippi is not calm in front of food, and I don’t miss everything. The food is delicious.

“Mrs. Helan, Miss Yu said that you are not vegetarian. This dish is the only meat dish on this table. How do you taste it?” Zheng Shaodong pointed to a bowl of something similar to braised pork with a smug look on his face.

She clamped a piece, tasted it carefully, and put a large piece into her mouth: “It’s delicious. It’s fragrant and spicy, tender and delicious.”

“This is fox meat.”

“puff–”

She almost vomited out, fearing that Helan Jingting’s plan would be broken, and swallowed in two mouthfuls: “It turns out that fox meat can also be eaten. This is the first time I heard about it.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and swept. After taking a look at Helan Jingting, he found him looking forward blankly. Outsiders don’t know it, but Pippi knows that whenever he dislikes a person, this is the expression.

“Yeah, Mr. Helan. Every time you come to us to buy live beasts, can you just take the skins back this time? Give me two months, I will slaughter them at once. The skins of four thousand foxes are very good. It will be air-dried and packaged soon. You can use two trucks to haul it. I can also make it cheaper than you.”

“Mr. Zheng,” Helan Jingting was unmoved: “I want high-quality fox fur. I don’t want any accidents to damage the leather during the stripping process, so I specially hire experienced workers to operate it. This saves money. After the trouble of your slaughter, why not do it?” After a pause, he said unhurriedly, “I heard that your area is rich in pine wood, and the farms like to wash the skin with pine sawdust. You know, pine oil The pollution of fur is catastrophic. In addition, I have done a survey, some merchants bought your skins, but found mold when selling them. I heard that you are rushing to market, and some skins have a moisture content of more than 15% I left the last board. I’m doing an export business, and I’m dealing with picky European and Russian customers who have always trusted my quality and reputation. So this kind of thing must never happen to me.”

“Oh, Mr. Helan. We are old friends with long-term cooperation. Can’t you trust me about this little thing? We have improved our technology a long time ago and hired a master as a supervisor. What about the skins sold to other families, to be honest, It is indeed a bit rushed when there are not enough staff. But Mr. Helan, your goods, we absolutely process meticulously, guarantee the quality and quantity, and have no flaws. Miss Yu, go and get some of the latest samples to Mr. Helan. Let me say something A joke, Mrs. Helan. Your husband has cooperated with us for three years and takes 90% or 100% of the goods from us every year, but he has never seen a sample of leather board. Anyway, you have to give us one. Isn’t it a chance? Mr. Helan? Our farm is the largest in this area, and the money is also the most profitable. Our colleagues can’t help but jealous. Those malicious gossips are groundless, so you don’t have to take it too seriously.”

Helan Jingting’s brows frowned slightly: “Mr. Zheng, the price I bought is not low. Why do you insist on slaughtering yourself? I really don’t see any benefit for you.”

Zheng Shaodong pointed to the bowl of fox meat and laughed dryly: “The advantage is here. I just discovered that fox meat is also very popular and can be made into special dishes. The restaurants around here come and ask me for it. If it is our farm By taking the skins, you can earn hundreds of thousands from the sales of meat every year.”

“Is 200,000 enough?”

“Five hundred thousand.”

“Mr. Zheng, if a fox has fifteen catties, four thousand foxes will have 60,000 catties of meat. Foxes don’t smell good, and the meat doesn’t taste much better. Do you think these meats can be easily sold? Two hundred thousand is the highest price. I guarantee that if you sell it one by one, you will never sell this amount.”

“Well, how about four hundred thousand?”

“Two hundred thousand, Mr. Zheng. Otherwise, I’ll find another home, and I won’t want any of these four thousand foxes.”

“…Okay. Two hundred thousand is two hundred thousand. Mr. Helan, you are too smart.”

He took out the checkbook, asked Pippi to write a check, signed it and handed it to him.

Zheng Shaodong glanced at the check and handed it to his men. A worker came in long ago and handed two prepared fur samples to Yu Manning.

“Mr. Helan, you can feel it. This is the sample we just made, representing our highest craftsmanship. This one is a white fox and this one is a blue frost fox. If you rest assured, let us take the skins on the spot, now You can take these samples and stocks and go directly to the fur auctions in Finland and Moscow in December.” Zheng Shaodong said persistently.

Helan Jingting smiled and declined: “I’m sorry, I need to go to the bathroom. Maybe my wife is willing to take a look at the samples for me. She has always been interested in my business.” After that, she nodded to everyone, very much. Exited the restaurant politely.

Zheng Shaodong glanced at his back, took out an exquisite small ruler, and said to Pippi: “Mrs. Helan, this is a sample of the original Finnish fox that has just been made. Look at the hair quality, elasticity, and brightness. For the same bulking effect, the local fox fur needs to be pulled five centimeters, while the Finnish fox only needs to pull one centimeter.”

As a last resort, Pippi touched it and commented dryly: “It feels good. It must be very warm to make a coat.”

“Yes!”

He handed her a huge pocket: “This coat is a sample made by a friend of our skins. He made three pieces in total, three sizes, large, medium and small. He plans to participate in this year’s Harbin Fur Fair. I think You are suitable for medium size. I didn’t ask a tailor to come over to measure the body, and I don’t know if it’s suitable. Seeing that winter is coming, I will give it to you to keep out the cold. Helan is also true, a friend, I won’t notify me when I get married. I was caught off guard. I was asking the workers to re-select materials for you and make another one according to your body. I’m afraid it will take two months to get the clothes. A little trivial, no respect. If Mrs. Helan didn’t want it, it would think we were. The hillbilly despised us.”

Pippi took out the coat from the bag and unfolded it in front of everyone. It was really white, shiny, light and warm.

“Then I will respect my fate. Thank you.”

Everyone continued to drink morning tea. After a long time, Helan Jingting did not come back. During this time, Zheng Shaodong asked, “Why doesn’t Mr. Helan come back? Will you get lost? Would you like to send someone to see?”

Pippi quickly said, “I’ll go.”

She went to the bathroom alone and found Helan Jingting sitting on the toilet seat in a daze.

He sat there motionless, with a look of loneliness in his eyes.

Pippi remembered what he had said when he was a child, once something terrible happened, his first reaction was to find a hole to hide. No matter what temptation is outside, he will not come out.

“Hi—” She patted him on the shoulder and said softly, “It’s okay. The business to talk about is discussed, and the gift to be given is given.”

He is still in a daze.

After a while, he suddenly sighed: “My father is right. I am not a competent priest. I don’t want to see the blood of my compatriots and human violence.”

“Humans are hateful!”

“There will be times like this every year. This Mr. Zheng is still civilized and never forced me to look at samples. His farm is also considered tidy. It can be said that the foxes are still happy before they die. Other places-uh- —”He didn’t say any more.

Pippi understood.

So for such a big business, he chose to come during the day, and he couldn’t see anything during the day.

“Sometimes I’m glad I’m blind.” He murmured, “Every year I rescue tens of thousands of foxes from the farm, thinking that the outside is better than the inside, and I think it’s liberating them. In fact, the outside is nothing like heaven. Most of these foxes with no field experience will die within a year and be buried in the belly of their natural enemies. But I asked any of them if they would stay, none of them would…. After all, they It’s a fox, knowing that I don’t belong here. I ask myself every day, I do this, right?”

“Of course!”

He raised his head: “Why?”

“Because happiness is defined by themselves. If they feel happier in the wild than in captivity, then even if they go out, they will die quickly, and they will die without regret.”

He stood up, and suddenly hugged her tightly: “Pippi, we must be together all the time so that we can die happily and without regret.”

She giggled and twisted his face: “I’m only in my twenties. What a life or death. It turns out that the priests also have a time when they have ‘cold eyes and tired eyes’!”

He was stunned, but he didn’t understand: “The eyes are cold and tired?”

“Melancholy. Have you ever read Xu Zhimo’s poem? There is a poem called’Youth Miscellaneous’: On the bank of a river with cold eyes, the river flows endlessly, and the eyes are cold. There are still some broken branches and stalks, and the sound is lost. The sorrows of the geese…boring, cosmic, gray life, you are only born in the palace, young man, the gold on your crown is moldy!”

Seeing her strange tone, he couldn’t help laughing.

After signing the contract, Zheng Shaodong asked: “Mr. Helan, have you booked the delivery time?”

“I have already ordered the wagon. Could you send someone to help me pack the cage. From here, it will be transported by rail to Xi’an, and then transported from Xi’an to Harbin.”

“Old route, oh?” Zheng Shaodong chuckled, “Don’t worry about loading. From here to Xi’an, I will personally take care of it. It has been arranged. Please give me one day. When you arrive in Xi’an, do you still **** the car yourself?”

“Yes.”

“My wife, too? It’s a very hard journey.”

“My wife came with me to relax, she has other things.”

“I have ready-made feed. Let me prepare some for you to use on the road. It takes more than 30 hours to say anything from here to Harbin.”

“Thank you, no need. I will prepare the feed myself.”

The two shook hands, and Helan Jingting remembered another thing: “Yes, I forgot to ask about the epidemic prevention situation.”

“Do you still need your brother to confess? I have been vaccinated for canine distemper, viral enteritis and encephalitis 15 days in advance. The “Quarantine Qualification Certificate” and the “Vehicle Disinfection Certificate” have been opened for you. Recently the train The station is strictly controlled, you can’t hold the goods without these two certificates.”

“Mr. Zheng, you are so considerate. I will rest assured that I will leave it to you to arrange things here. See you at the Xi’an Freight Station.”

Along the way, a farm car took them back to Xi’an. I shouldn’t have a conversation in the car. When I returned to the hotel and just put down my bag, Helan Jingting suddenly said, “Pippi, take me out for a walk.”

“Are you really going to transport these foxes to Harbin?” She was about to be parted, and she felt heavy on the road for some reason.

“Specifically, Daxinganling. I have a farm there. Some foxes will be returned to Daxinganling and some nearby foothills and forests. I will send the rest to Siberia and finally reach the North Pole.” He said, “These are The foxes that grow up on the farm have poor ability to earn a living. We have to train them first. At the same time, we can’t put them all in one area at once, which will disturb the local ecological structure. So they can only be put part by part. Return to nature.”

Pippi looked at him and took a deep breath: “Go to Siberia, don’t you want to go to customs?”

“I have all the documents.”

She suddenly remembered the fox fur coat: “Bring the coat. The North Pole will be very cold.”

“This is a gift from Mr. Zheng, don’t you want it?”

“Me? How could I want it?” She almost jumped up, “Isn’t your compatriot also my compatriot? I don’t even touch it.”

“Haha.” He suddenly smiled.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I married a fox and a fox so soon?-I’m simply flattered.” He said, “I don’t need this coat. But I will take it and send it to the Arctic glacier to be buried.-This is The ritual of our fox tribe is also the wish of all the dead. We would rather starve to death in nature or be a dinner of natural enemies than be nurtured, skinned, and dead without a place for burial.

He was suddenly excited, holding his hands tightly, with blue veins protruding from it.

The man-eating priest, the priest who has always been calm, turned out to have such angry moments.

“Hi, Helan,” she said softly, holding his hand, “Arctic, is that your hometown?”

He nodded.

“Can I go with you? I want to see the North Pole, and I can give you a shot by the way. Are these four thousand foxes alone in your car? That’s too hard?”

He smiled pityingly and patted her face: “I know you want to help me. But, I am the priest of the fox tribe, these are my duties. And you will be dangerous to follow me. I can’t concentrate on it for a while. You. Don’t worry, I am not alone, Xiuyu will go with me. He is waiting for me at the farm in Daxinganling now.”

Pippi’s footsteps couldn’t help stopping: “Danger? What danger?”

“You know, south of thirty degrees north latitude is my site. And the place I am going is Zhao Song’s site. I have had some holidays with him, and the friction has been relatively large in recent years.”

“Then will he hurt you?”

“We have had several conflicts on my own territory. He has no ability to hit me at the moment.”

Pippi felt that Helan Jingting’s speech was very rhetorical. He carefully avoided the word “fight”. But she quickly thought of Agui’s concert, and he was injured. In the past few days, he also has some scars on his body. Although it is not obvious, the internal injury must be very serious, and he can actually make love to her without hesitation. If it were not for the decline in skill, he would have no such courage.

“He wants to get rid of you so that he can unify the fox world, right?”

He hesitated for a moment, and said, “This is very complicated, with hundreds of years of entanglement and intertwined stakes. It’s better not to know too much.”

Pippi glared at him: “It turns out that your foxes are as patriarchal as humans, and think that the less a woman knows, the safer it is.”

“I don’t mean it, but I don’t want you to get involved in these things.” He explained lightly, “You have your business, you should concentrate on the postgraduate entrance examination.”

They passed by a residential area. There is a family with a large backyard, which is full of colorful flowers. Helan Jingting suddenly stopped and sucked deeply into the air: “Pippi, there are flowers here.”

“Yeah. I don’t know who planted it. It’s been grown so well. It must have not been fertilizer.”

He caught the smell of flowers in the air: “Chrysanthemum, plantain, loquat, hollyhock, and rose. What color is the rose?”

Pipi stood on tiptoe and took a look: “There are red and some white. Does the rose taste good?”

“very good.”

It suddenly occurred to her that he hadn’t eaten anything but water for almost the whole day. Hurriedly asked: “Ah, are you hungry?”

“One thing. We need to find a flower shop…”

“No need, you are waiting here.” She crawled into the courtyard wall agilely and picked a handful of Chinese roses from it. A lot of glass was inserted into the low courtyard wall. Pippi only took care of picking the flowers, and when he turned back from the wall, he accidentally scratched the glass.

“Here, this is the rose, there are so many, you can eat it.”

“…” Helan Jingting was stunned for a while, “You…steal flowers?”

“Yes. Stole it.”

“Is this bad?”

“Of course, it’s not good for humans,” Pippi spread his hands, “but you are not human.”

“Oh, believe me, we are as sensitive to morality as humans.” He took out two tickets and wrote on them with a ballpoint pen:

——Sorry, we took your flowers.

He couldn’t see the written words himself, some of them were not in the same line, and two words overlapped. However, it can still be read. He left the banknote at the door of the family and pressed it with a stone.

Then, his brows suddenly frowned:

“You are bleeding?”

“Finger swiped. It’s okay.”

She hid her hands behind her, was pulled out by him, and gently sucked in her mouth.

Her face flushed suddenly, and she wanted to withdraw her hand, but he held it tightly.

“Does it… take so long?”

“Always stop the bleeding, right?” He didn’t wear sunglasses, his eyes were cold and empty when he saw her.

But she always felt that there was a light shining deep in that gaze.

There is the park in front, and they both lie on the lawn. Helan Jingting broke the petals one by one. He ate a lot and was obviously really hungry.

“Does it taste good?”

“Very good, no chemical additives, very sweet and crisp. Would you like to try it?”

“Okay.”

She put a petal in her mouth and chewed it, not as delicious as he described it. A bit sour, a bit astringent, and a bit bitter. She swallowed forcibly and made a face: “It’s not tasty.”

He smiled.

“I have a question for you,” she lay in his arm, the warm sun shone from the shadow of the tree, and she covered her eyes with a shawl, “how many past lives do I have?”

“Never counted.”

“Impossible.” She retorted, “Well, answer my other question. Since I have never loved you, and you have never married me, how can you find me?”

“You know? The soul smells.”

She was startled, and then shook her head in disbelief.

“Souls have scents. When you walk on the ground, where the soul passes by, there is your unique smell. As long as you have a little memory, even if it is a very small and very sporadic memory, when you think of me, I will Hearing the wind.” He looked at the sky blankly, his thoughts drifting away.

Then he suddenly talked about the past.

“…That day, I said to you, hide there and don’t come out. You will run away when I leave with those people. No matter where you flee, I will find you.”

She closed her eyes and heard the sound of rain.

“It rained on that day?”

——”Heavy rain. The heavy rain washed away all the smells. We were so hungry that we hid in the cave, afraid to speak or go out. My father’s man was nearby. You were so hungry that you caught the bugs on the ground. Came to eat and told me it tasted good.” He murmured and fell into deep memories, “I know that the person they want to catch is you, so I slipped out quietly, trying to lead them away. I’m to you Say, no matter what happens outside, don’t come out. My father won’t kill me.”

——”You still got the trick. My father’s people said, he dozens of times, if you don’t come out, he will kill me immediately. He only counts you out….You are so stupid.”

——”On the day of the execution, you gritted your teeth and said nothing. Do you think I can’t see or hear, so I will feel less uncomfortable? Do you know that there is something called imagination in this world?”

Pippi had never seen his face so pale, teeth clenched, trembling all over, and cold sweat on his forehead.

“Hi…” She shook his hand gently, “I want to start, everything is gone. Hundreds of years have passed. You are a busy priest, why are you thinking about that day again and again? Whether I am Huiyan or not, I want to enlighten and enlighten you: Life is beautiful, and the future is bright. Don’t stay in the past. Will you listen to what I say?”

Pippi felt that when she said this, she sounded like her college counselor.

He sat up and said, “I have always been willing to listen to you.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” The psychological counseling was completed so quickly, and Pippi felt a sense of accomplishment.

“You once said that if something happens, you will be waiting for me in the next life. Let me remember to come to you.” He hugged her and kissed her face. “What you said, how can I forget? I will always Remember!”

“Helan,” Pippi gently pushed him away, “I’m very touched by your story. However, I’m really not Huiyan, I am Pippi. I know you miss her so much that you miss her so much. But, I It’s me, I can’t play another person for you. I can’t and I won’t. I’m a small person, but I’m also the protagonist of my own life. I won’t play a role in someone else’s story, no matter how much I get Good or cheers. I cannot cooperate with you, Helan. Please forgive me.”

Between them, there was a subtle cold field. Then, Helan Jingting smiled relieved, stood up, and arranged her clothes for her: “I’m sorry, I was wrong. Today is our good day, I should not mention another person to you. I will compensate you well. .”

Pippi raised his head and said with a smile, “How can I compensate me, your priest?”

“For us foxes, a honeymoon does not mean that your lover takes you to a beautiful place on vacation,” he puts his arms around her shoulders. “A honeymoon means that someone has the ability to make you feel everywhere. Honeymoon.”

They returned to the hotel, giggling in the morning and evening.

He put her in his arms and scratched her face with his chin: “Guan Pippi, are you Helan Jingting’s wife?”

She said loudly: “Yes!”

“Guan Pippi, do you love me?”

“Love!”

Finally, she fell asleep so tired, and when she woke up, she found herself wrapped in a fluffy thing, very warm.

It was the tail of a fox, white as snow.

She was not surprised.

“Is that all?” She touched down her tail and touched a man’s body.

“That’s all. Don’t you want to know what I am like? This is how I am.” He was sleepy.

“What about the other parts?” She stared at his face, the perfect human face.

“No more.”

The tail lifted up and patted lightly, sweeping around her naked body like a whisk.

She held her tail tightly in her arms: “It’s so cute! I like it so much!”

“Well, if I die, I must leave it for you to make a scarf.”

The tail disappeared in a moment, he put on his pajamas and sat up: “What do you want to eat in the morning?”

Pipi wiped his eyes, staring at the place where his tail disappeared. I touched it with my hand again, but didn’t touch anything: “Did I have a dream just now?”

She remembered the story of Zhuang Sheng’s Dream Butterfly: “Could it be that I have always been in a dream?”

His figure paused: “It’s possible.”

“Hey, you said before, you can’t change it back!”

“I’m afraid you are afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, so can I look at your tail again?”

“How long will it take?”

“Half an hour, okay?”

“Satisfying you for the last time, little girl.” The tail stretched over, rolled her up, and curled her tightly together.

“What are you doing… tying people up like zongzi.”

“When I get back from my work, I will tie you to me like this every day.”