pastoral life

"Mingyu, it's not that Uncle Jiu won't help you. You also know that this thing should be a pearl. How can you ask me to take it as a favor? After all, your father has always been capable. He will definitely not short you for food and clothing. Why bother to fight for these imaginary things like those people!"

When Xue Dingjun came to the door yesterday, Xue Dingyuan already knew that it couldn't be held back, but it was the last thing entrusted to him by his adoptive son before he died. He really didn't want to let go like this, so even if his cousin came to ask for it in person, he still gritted his teeth and refused to give it to him. .

Xue Dingyuan is a good old man, his family members and brothers have never blushed, but now he has offended a whole bunch of people because of that Laoshizi Yuhuan.

"Uncle Jiu, don't you know how Mingyu is? Come here to apologize to you."

Xue Dingyuan felt relieved seeing his nephew and grandson being so sensible. Mingyu was different from his cousins. At such a young age, he won the fame of a scholar, and he might have a great future in the future.

"Hey, you have been a sensible person since you were a child. Uncle Jiu is not afraid to tell you the truth. Your cousin really asked me to keep that thing. Although it is expensive, it is something from another family. We don't have the cheek to be greedy. Ming Yu, you are capable, and you can earn a good future by yourself in the future. Don’t be spoiled by those ethos in the clan, you have to rely on yourself to fight for your own future. !"

Standing beside Xue Dingyuan, Xue Mingyu responded to the elder's teaching one by one, with his usual obedient appearance on his face, Xue Dingyuan was very pleased to see, and couldn't help pulling Xue Mingyu to say a lot of other things.After all, he is not as energetic as before when he is getting older, Xue Dingyuan is a bit sleepy just chatting with Xue Mingyu for a few words, then Xue Mingyu is also used to seeing people's faces, seeing Xue Dingyuan's appearance, he doesn't stay too much, and after talking a few words, he retreats consciously Go out and let him have a good rest.

"how?"

After Xue Mingyu returned to his home, Master Xue Ding called him into the house, and was criticized by the head before he entered the house.

"The things are indeed in Uncle Jiu's place. The place is so big. If an important person lures him out and searches for it, he can get it. You just need to use some means to prevent him from becoming suspicious, otherwise you will save it when the superiors investigate it. It’s a flaw after all.”

Master Xue Ding twirled his beard and snorted disdainfully:

"Lao Jiu is a dead man, and the son he taught is also a dead man. Fortunately, Xue Er stopped me and didn't destroy everything. Otherwise, we can't count on the friendship in Beijing."

Xue Mingzhu was sent out to avoid misfortune when the family was in trouble. The head of the clan was not Xue Dingshi back then, and the atmosphere in the clan was not as chaotic as it is now, so the family in Beijing dared to send children here Side branch to avoid disaster.However, things are impermanent, the old patriarch passed away suddenly, and the new patriarch followed closely, and the clan also put on a new look.

At that time, Beijing was in a mess. They lost contact with this place and could not give shelter to the children. Later, the situation became more and more turbulent. Er, the poor boy tampered with it secretly, and finally saved his life, but for some reason, his face turned darker.This was a blessing in disguise, the child ruined half of his face, even if he grew up, no one would recognize that he was from Xue's family, so Master Xue Ding didn't want to kill him anymore.Xue Er became cold because of this incident and insisted on moving out from the clan. It happened that Xue Da was forced to leave Zhaojia Village to avoid the limelight because of his marriage to the Zhao family. Together they left the clan and went to Chuanshandang to settle down.

"Mingyu, grandpa paved the way for you, you have to work hard, and you need to make good use of the Xue family's relationship in the future to enter the official career, otherwise this wicked grandpa will be in vain."

"The grandson will definitely live up to your high expectations."

Master Xue Ding looked at his grandson with satisfaction, who lived most of his life to be considered full of children and grandchildren, but Xue Mingyu was the only one among these younger generations who could make him look up to him. This kind of talent is supplemented by the help of the Xue family in Beijing, and their prosperity is just around the corner. As Xue Mingyu's blood relatives, they can naturally rise to the top.

"Remember, that jade ring is not a rare item. The real keepsake is actually a luck buckle tied to the jade ring. When that little bastard brought it here, he didn't have any precious things on him. The jade ring was added by the old patriarch himself, but later those juniors mistakenly thought that the jade ring was the most important thing, this time you only need to ask someone to replace the rope buckle, the jade ring is still placed on the old nine to hide people's eyes and ears .”

"Save the grandson."

**

After Wang Mingchuan won the exam, more people came to visit him on his own initiative. The candidates of the same class are more closely connected with each other than the scholars. There are even special people in Jinzhou City who organize contacts and make friends with each other.When scholars gather together, they cannot avoid visiting famous mountains to see beautiful waters. Even if they don’t go far away, they can find an elegant garden to sit down and want to sing poems and compose poems. Therefore, after Wang Mingchuan lost his farm work, he was in the countryside more than before. Busier.Wang Qingquan also often went there together. The two brothers traveled hand in hand all day long, but they became more familiar with each other than usual. stand up.

It's just that Xiaohu is a little awkward looking at people.

"Why did you come to the kitchen again? Didn't you want you to serve tea and water to the guests at the front? Listening to your elder brother and the others can gain some insight, right?"

Xiaohuwo poked the black ash on the edge of the iron pot by the stove, pouted and said nothing.

"Are you scared or something?"

The children continued to quarrel.

Mingzhu wiped the water from her hands on the apron, and then pinched the tender flesh on Wang Xiaohu's face.

"What's the matter, every time the eldest brother comes to the house, you always get awkward, tell me to listen, if it makes sense, I will allow you to avoid it."

The child turned around and grabbed Mingzhu's apron to wipe the black ash from his hands. He has grown a year in the past half a year, and he has grown a lot in size and gained more flesh. It's festive, and it's itchy to look at Mingzhu.

"The big hall brother always treats you badly, I don't like him."

Mingzhu was taken aback by this answer, Wang Xiaohu was the one who beat him the most and punished him the most, but in the end it was Wang Xiaohu who defended him the most.

"Although your big brother has a bit of a stubborn temper, he is not a bad person, but his mouth is poisonous. I always scold you in the same way. This is a reason."

Mingzhu rubbed Wang Xiaohu's head, and asked him to take out the dishes with her.Wang Qingquan often came to the house to discuss knowledge with Wang Mingchuan, and the two of them would forget the time when they were talking, so they always had to entertain one or two meals before sending them away. "I boiled chicken soup at noon today. I just drink a few more bowls to warm up in the winter. There is still a lot in the pot. Just fill it up after drinking it."

Mingzhu filled a bowl for one person and then sat down to eat, while Wang Xiaotan took a few pieces of chicken bones from the bowl and was about to go outside to feed the dog. Before that, Wang Qingquan had already scolded others, but now he is used to it— —Well, he still felt that it was extremely unruly to do this while eating, but after all, he didn't directly teach him a lesson as before. He thought that getting along with him for more than a month would be effective in curing Wang Qingquan's bad temper.

"Mr. Jiang, you have to get something to see before the Chinese New Year. It doesn't matter how much it is."

Before Wang Qingquan moved his chopsticks together, he suddenly remembered this random mention to Wang Mingchuan, but Mingzhu took the conversation:

"I just don't know what Mr. Jiang prefers on weekdays. It's best to be able to match what he likes."

"Sir, you love tea. Get a catty of good tea for Ming Chuan to bring, and remember to get a few more foils. When you are a teacher and a student, you must know that you have this respect in your heart, otherwise it will seem too ruthless."

In fact, Jiang Yuan didn't teach Wang Mingchuan much, but he provided these young people with an excellent communication platform: just because of Jiang Yuan's reputation, the number of people who visited Jiang's mansion every day has never stopped, and it's not knowledge. I don’t have the face to do a good job, so I will gradually get to know each other gradually. Although now it’s just eating, drinking, playing and talking about poetry and poetry together, but when I enter the court next year and become an official, this will be a ready-made network of contacts. There are more and more students who are willing to go to Mr. Jiang's door.

"I don't know when the eldest brother will go? Let me join you together, so as to save trouble."

Wang Mingchuan still remembered the two taels of silver that Wang Qingquan gave him at the beginning. Although he was not short of money at the beginning, it was extremely rare for Wang Qingquan. He also knew that this clan brother did not have a lot of money. Therefore, now that the life of the Wang family is better, he also wants to help Wang Qingquan more.

"I won't go to Mr.'s house for a few days. Although it's degrading for a scholar to talk about people's right and wrong behind their backs, I still don't want to go to Mr.'s house to make things difficult for me."

"What's the matter?"

Wang Qingquan's face darkened, and Mingzhu, who had rarely seen this scene, cried out in surprise, even Wang Mingchuan had a curious look on his face.

"As the New Year is approaching, Jiang Cheng will come back more often. If I go frequently, it is inevitable that I will run into each other."

Mingzhu asked Wang Mingchuan who Jiang Cheng was with his eyes, but the latter didn't reply immediately, and changed the topic to ask the whole table to focus on the food before giving up.

**

It has been a while since the Wang family moved into the city. The small workshops in Chuanshandang are still operating as usual, and the money is also increasing at a very impressive rate. After Mingzhu has saved more than half of the money, she goes to the shopkeeper Zhu to borrow money for turnover. barren slope.He will not be able to live in peace for a day without taking that treasure land into his pocket. Shopkeeper Zhu is straightforward about the money, after all, the amount Mingzhu borrowed is not too much, but what he is more curious about is what can make money so quickly. The Wang family also borrowed money to chip in to buy it.

"I'm not going to hide it from you. Most of the food I sent you here to sell earlier was made from natural ingredients. The more people will make it later, I think your place should not be able to maintain the initial price. No change, so I thought about getting some food with only homemade ingredients, although it cost a lot of money at first, it is still a work-for-all solution.”

After hearing this, shopkeeper Zhu's eyes lit up. After getting along for more than half a year, he also knew that Mingzhu is not a person who talks casually. Now that he has reached the point of borrowing money to start doing hard work, he must be sure of it, so he handed over the amount directly without hesitation. A very considerable silver ticket to Mingzhu.

"I don't want you to pay it back either, just treat it as me paying a part of the cost to settle your item. Brother Mingzhu, I can trust your ability. In the future, when the item is made, just bring it to me and sell it. Fortunately, in nearby county towns or even farther places, as long as there is a signboard of Tangpinzhai, you can send it there, as long as you agree to one thing, otherwise I will not borrow the money."

"The shopkeeper Zhu is forcing me to agree. Listen, just say what you want."

"It's not a big deal—if the thing is made, it can only be sold at Tangpinzhai and Yunlaifang."

So far, the things sent by Mingzhu have been extremely marketable. The profits from Tangpinzhai and Yunlaifang alone have already cost them a lot of money, not to mention the benefits brought about by the increase in customer traffic.Several time-honored brands nearby who always love to compare with Tangpinzhai also want to sell Mingzhu in the past, but these few are not as strong as Tangpinzhai's signboard, and secondly, Mingzhu doesn't want to offend shopkeeper Zhu, so it has never been He promised to send it to another house, but now the shopkeeper Zhu directly put the matter on the bright side and said that he wanted to completely tie Mingzhu and Tangpinzhai into the same boat.

"The shopkeeper Zhu was joking. This is not a trivial matter. How can I make a decision so easily? In this way, please allow me to go back to Tongmingchuan to discuss it."

"Don't worry, don't rush, just ask if you have any needs, we still have some friendship after working together for more than half a year."

Shopkeeper Zhu leisurely picked up the tea bowl and tea lid to shake the tea leaves, looked at Mingzhu and smiled, then took a shallow sip.

"In this case, I would like to say something cheeky."

Shopkeeper Zhu suddenly had a bad feeling.

"I want to invest in Tangpinzhai and Yunlaifang with the cost of the things grown on the entire barren slope. In the future, I will take [-]% of the total income of both parties."

"Snapped--"

The tea bowl shattered in response, the tea splashed everywhere, wet the table legs, and left a few watermarks on the surface of shopkeeper Zhu's black boots.