linked to the collar

Since Bai Ye left, the originally deserted Bai Mansion has almost lost its popularity.Although the White Mansion occupies a large area, there are only two masters, and because of various unspeakable reasons, Bai Ye originally stayed in the mansion with fewer servants, although Bai Ye dispatched a lot of people from Hall Master Niu before he left But Xiao Ran always felt that it was unnecessary, and persuaded him to go back as soon as he left. Now even Xiao Ran felt that the whole White Mansion was empty.

Maybe it's also because of the absence of that person. I'm used to having someone beside me, who I can see in a blink of an eye when I look up, lean into his arms when I take a step back, and feel the warmth when I raise my hand. They are all gone now, and the one that has been there for a long time is missing in my eyes... No wonder I feel that it is much more empty.

But fortunately, li xuan was used to being alone, after the initial bewilderment, he continued to live like this.

In Bai Ye's absence, Butler Liu didn't relax a bit. Not only did he follow him every day, he originally wanted to appoint another clever boy as his deputy, but how could Xiao Ran agree?At that time, it took a long time for a ten-two to stay, and now there will be a little tail behind him, he is a little scholar, what about it?

In his heart, Xiao Ran still regards himself as an ordinary little scholar, that's why no matter how busy he is, he still has to set aside time to teach those little radishheads, so he specially reserved a space in the store to entertain his fellow students.

But the weather is too cold, and the Chinese New Year is coming soon, so the children have long stopped coming, let alone those who often sit in the shop, chat, drink tea, comment on books and paint, and there are many fewer.

It was another cold afternoon, the thick curtain blocked the biting cold wind outside, and several charcoal stoves were burning in the room, which dispelled the inherent coldness of the south of the Yangtze River.Shopkeeper Liu suffered from rheumatism again, Xiao Ran said that it was almost Chinese New Year, and there was nothing to do, so he asked him to go back to rest after lunch.Shi Er learned how to do accounts with shopkeeper Liu for a period of time. Now that shopkeeper Liu is not around, he sat in the shopkeeper's seat decently, but he couldn't bear the drowsiness, so he would fall asleep with his head propped on one hand.Xiao Ran originally wanted to go to the recliner and close his eyes for a while, but it happened that a student sent him a collection of his poems in the morning and asked him to read it. He only flipped through a few pages, and simply made himself hot tea and sat at the table to listen. Savor it carefully.

Just as he was engrossed, he suddenly heard the sound of the door curtain. Looking up, it was Zhang Ting who hadn't come for some time.Seeing that Xiao Ran saw him, Zhang Ting stopped and bowed in place. "Hi sir."

Xiao Ran hurriedly put down his book and stepped forward. "Hanwen? Why are you here in such a cold day?"

Zhang Ting walked in with Xiao Ran, took off his cloak and handed it to Shi Er who woke up and followed Xiao Ran to meet him, and shouted behind him: "Bring them all in."

So I saw a few servants in soap clothes filing in, carrying a box in their hands or carrying it or two people walking in.

"Sir, these are what my father asked me to bring to you. They are some clothes to keep out the cold and New Year's goods."

Back then when Xiao Ran was still his wife, Master Zhang would always ask Zhang Ting to bring some gifts to Xiao Ran during festivals, so Xiao Ran was grateful but not surprised when he saw these, he just smiled and said: "No need. , Bai Ye has prepared a lot this year, and when I accept it again, I won’t be able to use it alone, and it will be a waste. Thank you, Master Zhang, for your kindness.”

It's not the first time for Zhang Ting to come to the store, he walked to the table and turned over a teacup, poured himself a cup of hot tea with the teapot burning on the small red clay stove on the table, and did not forget to fill Xiao Ran's cup superior. "Sir, this matter is not for the students to decide. If you refuse to accept it, you can tell my father yourself. You know him, so don't believe me."

While talking, he took the box of the servant closest to him, put it on the table, and opened it. "Besides, this meeting is not all ordinary New Year's items. Dad even specially made some new clothes for you... There are also some medicinal herbs for health. Dad said that when he saw you last time, he thought you looked not very good. I want to come here I was injured after traveling outside for two years. I specially asked the master chef in the pharmacy to prepare you a few supplements such as nourishing the body and promoting blood circulation. This box is prepared for you. You can send it to your house The servants take a dose of three bowls of water and boil it into one bowl every day, and you can drink it after dinner."

"This, how is this easy to accept? Your father is too polite..."

Zhang Ting waved his hand and told his servants to put away all the things again. "Hey, I think it's inconvenient for Mr. to take it back like this. How about it, I'll let them send it back to your house right away."

While talking, he signaled them to deliver the goods immediately, and he didn't forget to stop Xiao Ran, otherwise he would have a chance to stop everyone, Xiao Ran could only watch those people leave the shop quickly, shook his head and laughed halfway: "Han Wen, You are ashamed to receive it, you are ashamed to receive it!"

Zhang Ting handed Xiao Ran's tea cup to Xiao Ran with a smile, and said with a smile: "Sir and Hanwen, what do you need to be so polite? Besides, you can't blame Hanwen. This is what my father meant. Hanwen only obeyed his father's order." Just do things."

Sitting down at the table, Zhang Ting narrated some trivial matters during this period, Zhang Ting suddenly saw the book of poems that Xiao Ran had placed on the table just now, and took a look at it. "...Sir, isn't this Liu Tao's character?"

"Yeah, he sent it to me this morning, let me see how it is written, and I want to ask someone to publish it for him. Hey, it seems that his life is not so happy now... I just flipped through it , his temper is still so cynical, but now that the world is in peace and prosperity, how can so many people go along with his dissatisfaction? Even if the writing is really good, few people will read it, and they will not be willing to give it to him. Get out..." Xiao Ran frowned when he mentioned this.He is always his student, and he knows that he has literary talents, and he does not want to see his talent buried, but he also knows that it will not be easy for this collection of poems to be published, and few businessmen are willing to do business at a loss.

Zhang Tingzheng was flipping it in his hands, and laughed when he heard what Xiao Ran said. "His temper has always been like this, sir, can you not know? I haven't seen him for a long time, but I heard that his father passed away last year, leaving him and his widowed mother to live. It seems to have gone He worked as an accountant there for a few days, but his temper was so bad that the boss couldn't bear it, so he let him go back... I also wanted to learn from Mr. to open a private school, haha, how can he bear the noise with his temper? When a few students quarreled, he went to Beating others, the child went back and cried endlessly, the adults said that Liu Tao didn't know how to learn, but he was full of style, and he was uncomfortable, so he was taught by a prestigious old man... I don't know, he even started to want to write a collection of poems, But sir, I am afraid that not many people are willing to read what he wrote, right?"

"...He is a man whose heart is higher than the sky. It's rare for him to lower his head and ask me to do something. I'd better go and ask him. Maybe there are still some cynical people out there." Xiao Ran sighed, Knowing that the possibility is unlikely, but after all, I don't want to say "no".

Zhang Ting raised his eyes, just in time to see Li Ran's frowning frown, he tapped his index finger twice on the table and smiled at Xiao Ran: "Sir, students can also help you to ask. Liu Tao's literary talent is the best among my generation." One of them, maybe there will be Bole who takes a fancy to his talent."

"Then Hanwen will be troubled."

"You're being polite, sir. ... Hey, it's rare that Mr. Bai is not here today." Zhang Ting took a sip of tea, looked around and asked as if he had just discovered it.

"Oh, he went back to his hometown to celebrate the New Year with his elder brother." Hearing Zhang Ting mentioning that person suddenly, Xiao Ran's hands trembled unconsciously, and a few drops of water splashed on his hands.He hurriedly retracted his sleeves, a little shy because he was so sensitive to Bai Ye's affairs, and his face turned a little red.

He lowered his head, thinking that no one saw him, but Zhang Ting, who was sitting next to him, couldn't look away from him.

"... Cough, by the way, sir, if Mr. Bai is not here, will you celebrate the New Year alone again this year?"

"Well, yeah, what's wrong?"

"If sir is willing, come to my house to celebrate the New Year together?" Zhang Ting paused, fearing that Xiao Ran would feel abrupt, and hurriedly continued: "Actually, this is what my father meant, he said you are always alone, so you might as well come here My house is lively together. If you don't mind, you can stay at my house for a few days, anyway, the shop will be closed during the Chinese New Year, so you should take a good rest."

Zhang Ting's words made Xiao Ran hesitate for a moment, but when he thought of Bai Ye's unkindness to Zhang Ting... "No, Bai Ye has already arranged for the housekeeper. If I don't spend the New Year in the house, it will be a waste of their kindness. I feel ashamed."

If Bai Ye knew that he had gone to Zhang's house to celebrate the New Year, he might have trouble with him as soon as he came back, right? ...Maybe there is no need to wait for him to come back, he will send a letter to Bai Ye every few days depending on his every move here, Xiao Ran thought, why bother to get upset over such a trivial matter?It's the same wherever you celebrate the New Year, but if you can make Bai Ye feel at ease, then you should go with his heart.

Zhang Ting didn't force this time either, seeing Xiao Ran shook his head and didn't bring up the matter again, the two chatted for a while and then Zhang Ting got up to leave.

This side sent Zhang Ting away, and when he turned around, he saw Canxing poking his head out from the corner and looking at him with a smile. "Xiao Ran, the landlord asked me to invite you to have a drink at night. He is afraid that you won't go, so he asked me to wait here until you agree."

Xiao Ran couldn't help laughing, and hurriedly beckoned him to enter the room.As soon as he ran out, he saw that there were still empty words behind him. He pulled the two of them to sit by the brazier to keep warm, and asked Shi Er to pour hot tea for them. Looking at Canxing's little face that was pale with cold, he frowned and said, "In Have you been standing outside for a long time? Why don't you come in?"

"Canxing said that he didn't want to conflict with Mr. Zhang, so he waited for him to leave before coming out." Seeing that Canxing was busy drinking tea, Kong Yan answered on his behalf.

Xiao Ran shook his head, he didn't know what was wrong with Zhang Ting, why did Canxing and Bai Ye dislike that child so much?I didn't know how to persuade them, so I had no choice but to keep silent and refill the cups of Canxing and Kong Yan with hot tea. "It's getting late now, you two can go there together after I close the door?"

"Hey, Xiao Ran, you're not good. You know that I can't help but buy things every time I come here, right? I didn't bring a few copper coins with me today!"

Xiao Ran didn't know what to say, so Kong Yan put down his cup, took out a few banknotes from his pocket, and put them on the table calmly. "The landlord said that it's unreasonable to come to Mr. Xiao and not take care of your business, so let me book a few sets of the Four Treasures of the Study first. In addition, if Canxing likes something, if there is not enough money here, I will write an IOU and record it in the Deyi Building on the account."

"Hey? Why didn't the boss tell me this?" Canxing refused to listen to it, because procurement is a tricky job, so he asked for an explanation with empty words. "You said, what did you slander the boss? How did you do such a good thing? It was all left to me!"

"The boss said...you bought too many impractical things, so when we went out today, I specifically confessed that I was optimistic about you." There seemed to be a smile on the corner of Kong Yan's mouth, but the eyes he looked at Canxing were still serious. "But the boss said that you can buy whatever you want from Mr. Xiao, and you can put whatever you like in his account."

"I don't know who the boss loves more, don't you, Xiao Ran?"

"... Canxing, there are a few good seals coming in this time. Although they are not as expensive as the ones given to you last time, they are all rare and good products, and the price is not expensive. Would you like to take a look?" Xiao Ran saw the savage Can There is nothing that Xing can do, but after many times, he also knows that diverting Canxing's attention is the best way.