The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

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Xue Tingyan, who was behind, saw this scene and his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot.

He was so upset and angry that he actually forgot about Jiang Wu.

In that dream, Jiang Wu had been coveting Zhao'er.

Jiang Wu was two years older than Zhao'er, but he never married. If Zhao'er hadn't been his child bride, the Jiang family would have come to propose marriage.

Even so, Jiang Wu never gave up. One time he even came to him and told him that he wanted to marry Zhao'er, asking him not to be so selfish and letting Zhao'er free. He also said that he and Zhao'er would support him in his studies and treat him as a biological brother. Only then did he find out about this.

He was shocked and angry. At the same time, he also remembered that Zhao'er had always been unwilling to marry him. He mistakenly thought that Zhao'er had an affair with Jiang Wu, so he took advantage of his parents' orders and forcibly married her. Later, by chance, he married her. Then I realized that he had wrongly blamed her.

This incident has always been a scar between the two of them. Even though they never mentioned it again, there was a gap. After that, he was busy with his career, while Zhao'er was busy with business. The two didn't see each other for a long time, and even if they did, they rarely talked until he went to Beijing to take the exam after winning the imperial examination.

The man in the dream once thought after Zhao'er died, if he had not been so despicable and forced it on his parents' orders, Zhao'er would not have died.

But this thought was like a dragonfly on water, just passing by in a flash. Thinking about it at this time, he was probably despicable in his heart. Even if he was not the Xue Tingyan in the dream, he never thought of letting Zhaoer go.

She was supposed to be his, but when he still seemed to understand, someone would always point at her and say, this is his future wife, right?

Brother Jiang Wu, you'd better watch the road. This road is uneven. Don't lead us all into the ditch.

Xue Tingyan's voice successfully interrupted the chatter and laughter between Jiang Wu and Zhao'er, as if a very ignorant person suddenly appeared, causing the originally warm atmosphere to suddenly cool down.

Zhao'er laughed dryly: Look at me, I was only talking to you about the business, and I forgot that you were still driving. Fortunately, Daqing was smart, otherwise he would have fallen.

Daqing shouted, looking very proud.

Jiang Wu subconsciously glanced back and met the young man's dark eyes. These eyes made him feel guilty for no reason, but he soon felt confident again.

He knew that the Xue family's son-in-law didn't like having children, and he also knew that the second wife of the Xue family originally took the son-in-law as a daughter-in-law, not a child bride. The idea of ​​a child bride was just passed around from person to person in the village, and the second wife of the Xue family entrusted her with it before they died.

Not only that, he also knew that Zhao'er only regarded the other party as his younger brother and had no intention of getting married to the other party.

The young man was undoubtedly thin. Although he was handsome, his face still looked a bit childish. Such a young man made the strong and powerful Jiang Wu feel inexplicably condescending. He smiled heartily and said nonchalantly: Don't be afraid, dog. You, Brother Jiang Wu, drive every day and can walk back with your eyes closed.

Xue Tingyan said nothing, pursed her lips and lowered her head.

When Zhao'er saw this, he immediately understood whether the name Gouzi made the little man feel uncomfortable again. But facing Jiang Wu, she couldn't put on a cold face. She could only smile and say: Brother Jiang Wu, I told you that the dog has a name. It's called Tingyan, Xue Tingyan.

The name is quite elegant.

Yeah, so don't call me a bitch anymore, because it doesn't sound good.

While talking, the car had already arrived at Yuqing Village.

Jiang Wu inertly walked around to the end of the village before stopping. Zhao'er and Xue Tingyan got out of the car.

When will the deal be done? Just tell me a time and I will pick you up then.

Aren't you going to be busy in town tomorrow, and you have to pack up those clothes. When I'm ready, I'll go to your house and give you a letter.

Zhao'er also thought that in two days there would be a competition between Xue Tingyan and Xue Juncai. She would have to wait until this matter was over before she could think about doing business.

OK.

*

Now that the matter was settled, they said goodbye to each other.

Jiang Wu drove home, while Zhao'er and Xue Tingyan walked home together.

Xue Tingyan didn't say anything along the way, just walked silently.

Zhao'er glanced at him: What's wrong? He seemed a little unhappy. Was Brother Jiang Wu angry when he called you a dog just now? He didn't know you were famous either. I told him that he would never do it again in the future. That’s what it’s called.”

He suppressed the jealousy in his heart and said in a low voice: How come you are so familiar with him?

You said Brother Jiang Wu, we haven't known each other since we were children. You forgot that Heizi was brought back by his dog after giving birth. Brother Jiang Wu is a very nice person and helped me a lot.

Xue Tingyan said nothing and stopped.

Zhao'er walked forward for a while, only to realize that he had not followed.

She came back after a few steps and asked in confusion: What's wrong with you? Why are you acting weird?

He held his breath: Don't forget, you have a man.

Zhao'er was stunned for a moment, then looked at him and laughed. But he just smiled and said nothing, which made Xue Tingyan angry and annoyed.

Don't think about it, she must have nothing good in mind.

Seeing that his fair face was red with anger, Zhao'er said hurriedly: Okay, don't be angry, I know I have a man.

There was a teasing tone in her voice, and even though he knew she was trying to coax him, his heart still jumped several times.

With the experience in the dream, Xue Tingyan knew that this was not the time for quarrels. Besides, there was Jiang Wu next to him who was eyeing him. He didn't want to repeat the experiences in the dream again.

He couldn't help but reiterate: It's also for your own good, so as not to be seen by the villagers and make irresponsible remarks. He didn't dare to look at her, but stared at the ground aside, feeling confident and confident. Distracted.

Seeing him talking about himself like an adult, with a fair face and a slightly childish face, I didn't know why but I wanted to rub his head.

She did the same and said at the same time: Okay, okay, you are right, I will listen to you.

He suddenly became even more angry, and felt a sense of powerlessness and discouragement.

Why does she always treat herself like a child!

*

Early the next morning, Zhao'er and Xue Tingyan went out.

When we arrived, Dongli House had just opened its doors. Xue Tingyan went to the clean room yesterday to continue copying books, while Zhao'er went to the yard behind the shop.

She discussed with Boss Chen and used this place to pack her clothes. Zhao'er had seen those clothes before, and they were all second-hand clothes. Since she wanted to make money, it was not good for the things to sell well, so she came here mainly to do this work today.

She borrowed the bamboo mat used to dry books in the shop, poured out the large package of clothes, sorted them first by men's and women's styles, and then divided them into several piles by texture and thickness, and then began to check the clothes one by one for tatters. The place.

If there was a hole somewhere, she would sew it up with the needle and thread she brought. Zhao'er's needlework is pretty good, but he's not good at embroidery or anything like that, but he can sew and make some clothes or something.

After finally clearing up the pile, she looked at the sunny weather outside and went to fetch water from the well in the courtyard. There was a windlass on the well, which was very convenient for fetching water. Zhao'er fetched a basin of water, soaked the clothes in the large wooden basin, and rubbed soapy water on them to wash them.

After washing and rinsing, the rice soup in the kitchen is also ready.

Although Boss Chen and the others didn't cook in the shop, they still needed a place to boil water and make tea, so the fire was also turned on in the shop, and Zhao'er borrowed the stove to cook a large pot of rice soup.

She took out the cooked rice soup, poured it into a wooden basin, and added some water to it. It was best if it was slightly hot to the touch. Fang poured all the washed clothes into it and stirred it with a stick.

Stir it evenly, let it sit for half a cup of tea, pick up the clothes from the tub, and rinse them with water again.

This is what is called starched clothes. Starched clothes are straight and look like new ones as long as they don't fade. Some discerning people would even iron it, but since they didn't have the conditions, Zhao'er didn't plan to do that.

During this period, Boss Chen came in. Seeing that Zhao'er was very busy, he pointed at the clothes of various colors hanging in the yard and said with a smile: That's good of you. You treat my place as your own place. It was originally a place of elegance, but now it's You make it look like a laundry room.

Nowadays, there are places like laundry rooms. Some people don’t want to wash their clothes at home, so they send their clothes to the laundry room to be washed. The price is not expensive, and it saves time and effort.

Knowing that Boss Chen was joking with him, Zhao'er also joked: After Uncle Chen said this, it gave me another idea. When one day I run out of business, I will buy a laundry room. Uncle Chen brings you some clothes, and I will wash them for you for free.

You girl, you are such a businessman. Boss Chen shook his head and laughed, and went back to the front.

The room where Xue Tingyan copied books was in this courtyard, and the big window happened to be facing the courtyard, so Zhao'er's every word and deed could be seen before his eyes.

Normally he could focus on nothing, but today it was better. He always looked at her intentionally or unintentionally.

Looking at her running around in the yard, looking at her face that looked particularly lively in the sun, and looking at the beads of sweat on her forehead, she had no intention of copying the book, and she only copied less than two pages in the morning.

Boss Chen walked in and took a look, then followed his gaze and looked at Zhao'er: You are lucky to have such a woman in the stall.

Xue Tingyan said nothing.

Boss Chen asked again: By the way, where have you reached in your studies?

I have finished studying the four books, but I can only read them but not understand them.

It's not enough that you can only read but not understand. Now that you have entered university, you should start to learn the Ming Jing. But in rural schools, many teachers know little about it and can't teach anything. You can read more when you have nothing to do. Reading books such as Four Books, Chapters and Sentences and Collected Annotations of Zhu Xi will not allow you to fully understand the scriptures, but it will be somewhat helpful. The most important thing is to find a good school with good teachers to guide you. Boss Chen pointed out.

After a pause, he added: I heard from Zhao'er that he wanted to send you to Qinghe Academy. Instead of spending a lot of money to go to that kind of place, I would suggest you go to Qingyuan Academy.

Qingyuan Academy? Xue Tingyan was stunned for a moment and said.

Boss Chen thought that he didn't know, or that he was like the common people who had heard some rumors and been deceived by the illusion, and said: This Qingyuan Academy is one of the oldest schools in Huyang Township. It was once well-known throughout Xia County. At that time, Half of the people who pass the county examination in our township every year come from Qingyuan Academy, and there are not a few who pass the examination as scholars. It's just that in recent years, because of the sudden rise of Qinghe Academy, it seems to be in decline.

Boss Chen's voice was low, as if he was sighing endlessly, but suddenly it turned high and very angry: Everyone in the world values ​​fame and wealth, and is easily fooled by illusions. Little did they know that the Qinghe Academy used opportunistic methods. The owner of the museum, Gao Youzhi relied on his close relationship with Magistrate Hu, and Chuyan succumbed to him. All the money allocated by the imperial court to the county to support local sociology and village studies flowed into Qinghe Academy. The two of them worked together to enrich themselves.

The owner of the Qingyuan Academy is an upright person and does not want to associate with him. In addition, the Qingyuan Academy already gives many preferential treatment to the children from poor families. Without this silver subsidy, we can only support him. The county who presides over the county examination The capital has taken a new look at Qinghe Academy, and students who want to enroll have also flocked there. The reputation of Qingyuan Academy has gradually declined in recent years.

If he remembered correctly, when Lin, the director of the Qingyuan Academy, finally passed the exam three years later, the whole village was in a sensation. Gao Youzhi, the director of the Qinghe Academy, was so angry that he almost vomited blood. At that time, he was planning to leave Qinghe Academy and go to the Shen family to study, but he happened to hear something about it.

Boss Chen thought the young man was just comforting him, so he smiled and said, I accept your good advice.

Xue Tingyan did not hesitate, and bowed his hands and said: Thank you, Uncle Chen, for the suggestion, but there are still some trivial matters at home that have not been dealt with. When everything is in order, I will go to the Qingyuan Academy to study.

Why don't you just go ahead and worry about being implicated and hindering your reputation? Boss Chen asked curiously.

You haven't entered school yet, how can you talk about fame? Besides, the imperial court has always attached great importance to recruiting talents. If he is really talented, Magistrate Hu will not dare to stop him too much.

I can't tell you have high ambitions. Well, since you dare to go, I will definitely recommend you something. Although my classmate is stiff and dull and not good at speaking, his knowledge is first-rate. I don't dare. It’s okay to preach and promote people, but it’s not a problem for a scholar.”

Then thank you Uncle Chen first.

*

For several days, Xue Tingyan and Zhao'er both left early and returned late.

Someone from the Xue family asked twice, and Zhao'er said that he should take Xue Tingyan out to get some fresh air to avoid suffocating. The people in the big room showed contempt, and Mr. Xue couldn't help but shake his head. After that, no one asked any more questions, and most of them knew in their hearts that Xue Tingyan was destined to lose. Maybe the two children in the second room are smart, so they run around and play instead of reading.

You must know that even if you are as qualified as Xue Juncai, you have to read books at home for many days to prepare.

In a blink of an eye, the five-day period came.

This day was no different from any other day.

Farmers are always busy in the morning. After a night, they have to take care of all the livestock and eat for the whole family. After breakfast, the men have to go to the fields, while the women do housework at home.

If there was any difference, it was that Xue Juncai had two more poached eggs in his bowl than the others at breakfast.

Due to Mr. Xue's beating some time ago, Mrs. Zhao no longer dared to open a fire and open a small stove for the people in the big house these days. Today, she saw that the days were unusual, so she couldn't help it.

Originally, Xue Tingyan didn't have any, but Yang saw that her father-in-law looked bad, so she took the initiative to ask Zhao for two eggs and put them into his bowl.

Xue Tingyan wanted to recruit one of them, but he didn't want Zhao'er, but it was a pity that he couldn't defeat him.