Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

Sun Jingwen couldn't help laughing when she heard this: "Even if Daddy doesn't ask, I will take the initiative."

Grandfather asked in surprise, "Why is this?"

After all, he was a child of his own who had been raised since he was a child, and his grandfather saw it very clearly: Although he is a little clever and treats his parents filially, there are still many problems.

Careless, lazy, fond of beauty.

He would take the initiative to ask for an errand to pick up his cousin, obviously not like his usual way of hiding and hiding.

Sun Jingwen smiled complacently, and told the whole story of what she had seen and heard in the Sun family's rouge shop during the day, and finally sighed: "I really didn't expect that such a noble, generous and filial gentleman would still Relatives at home!"

Unexpectedly, the first reaction grandpa gave was that this is absolutely impossible.

"Your aunt has been cowardly and docile since she was a child, shy and introverted, and not good at dealing with strangers." The grandfather also knew the little sister's character very well, otherwise he would not have dared to risk being accused of going to the government office. He tried to force her away in order to embezzle her dowry: "She was almost penniless when she left, so she left her hometown and went to Mizhou with no relatives and no reason, and she did not remarry, and she had to raise a son alone. So much money for your cousin to squander at will? According to what I heard, she has been busy for so many years, and only bought a house a few months ago, and she has been living in a low-rent house provided by the government before."

If you can easily spend the money to buy up the rouge shop, why have you lived in such poverty all these years?

Grandfather said firmly, "You must have misunderstood the wrong person. People with the same name and surname in this world can say more or less, and say less or less."

Sun Jingwen shook her head: "I thought so too at first. It's just that the appearance of Mr. Lu Xiaolang is indeed somewhat similar to the uncle in my impression, only a little more handsome. Besides, the same name is not uncommon, but it was only a few days ago. I came to Suzhou from Mizhou, and I said it was to visit relatives, and even the people who lived in Liu Fang’s guest house... I’m afraid there is no such a coincidence in the world, right?”

Lu's father was personable and handsome, although his family background was relatively poor and his parents had died, but at first glance he was not the only thing in the pond.

When Lu's mother married him, the Sun family was very satisfied.

However, Lu's father, who has high expectations from everyone, went to Bianjing with great ambitions at the age of 35. On the way to rush for the exam, the boat he was on sank, leaving his wife and a son behind, and died.

The Sun family was greatly disappointed, and the grandfather of the Sun family felt a little bit ashamed of being misjudged, and he also felt a little angry at Mother Lu who seemed to have a Kefu look, so he completely let the eldest son bully the youngest daughter.

Grandfather also hesitated now: "... Are you really finished?"

Sun Jingwen curled her lips: "If Daddy doesn't believe it, you can call the shopkeeper to ask. The account book can't be faked, right? It's clearly written on it, and the money has been collected, just check it."

At this time, my grandfather had already believed it eight percent, and he still felt very incredible: "When did my younger brother have such abilities?"

It was only a wealthy businessman who had dealt with him in business several times who passed him the news, and he only mentioned it casually, as an interesting story.

It is not surprising that there are some errors.

What Grandfather thought at the time was that anyway, writing a letter would not take much trouble, and at most it would cost a hundred pennies, so why not do it if he could squeeze out some more oil from this useless sister?

Such a big fish did not want to come.

Sun Jingwen said cheerfully: "Business and business affairs depend on eight parts of luck and two parts of ability. The aunt needs to be a mother to be strong. There is nothing wrong with accumulating a lot, right?"

Neither Sun Jingwen nor grandson's father contacted Lu Ci, a young man who was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

Grandfather was noncommittal, and just said with a straight face: "Instead of guessing here, why don't you leave as soon as possible and bring people here to see for yourself."

Sun Jingwen agreed happily.

Although the family can be called wealthy, no one would think too many relatives with strong financial resources.

This is completely different from what he had thought before, that there was one more annoying ghost who came to fight Qiufeng.

What's more, it's the handsome young gentleman who makes people feel good at first glance.

Sun Jingwen happily took Si'er and rode out on horseback.

Grandfather stayed in the study, thinking about it for a while, and always felt that this matter was incredible, but in the end, he was much more cautious than the previous plan of randomly picking people up and putting them aside, and making some money if he could.

He summoned the maid: "When someone picks it up later, don't take it to the original place, but take it to Qingzhengju."

The place he originally planned to use to house Lu Ci was just an extra servant's room during the expansion of the house, and it was just a few temporary decorations to support the scene.

Since his son said swearingly that Lu Ci can be called a rich man by spending a lot of money, and his conversation is also good, his eyesight is certainly very high.

The most important thing is that Lu Ciyuan traveled here alone to make his mother happy. When he saw some expensive rouge and gouache, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money. Obviously he is extremely filial.

Since the emphasis is on affection, then as an uncle, shouldn't he do his part to get some credit?

It's just that he didn't expect his younger sister to hide Tao Zhugong's skills that day. What he wanted was to send away this annoying ghost who would sooner or later turn into an autumn wind. He also saw that orphans and widowed mothers are easy to bully. It's just a little too merciless.

It is very difficult to repair the relationship now.

Fortunately, Lu Ci was young and his sister didn't come with him, so it shouldn't be too difficult for him to coax a half-brother.

No matter what, you can't treat him lightly, but treat him like a distinguished guest.

Especially now when they are most short of money... You have to talk to your son, coax him, but don't lead him around.

After all, even if a child travels far away, and his mother asks him to bring some money because of worry, it is impossible for him to survive such wanton extravagance.

He had to get the money out of Lu Ci's hands as soon as possible.

The goods that Lu Ci purchased these days have all been delivered to the landslide by the pier in advance, and the luggage that needs to be carried with him does not seem to be much.

Sun Jingwen didn't even feel that there was anything wrong with this—there are always people in the world who travel at night in brocade clothes and don't reveal their wealth. If you travel far away, you have to make it complicated to bring pots and pans, that's petty.

Besides, he knew all too well that a lot of goods were sold from his own shop alone, and where exactly they went was because he planned to deliver them himself.

Since Lu Ci intends to hide wealth, of course he is understanding and will not expose and inquire.

When he learned that Sun Jingwen, whom he had met yesterday, was his cousin, a faint unease flashed across Lu Ci's face, and he quickly covered it up.

But this fleeting expression was still clearly captured by Sun Jingwen.

When her grandfather took over Lu's mother's dowry, although Sun Jingwen was only eight years old, she seemed to understand, but she had begun to remember things. Of course, she understood what Lu Ci's expression and obviously calm attitude meant.

He pretended not to know, but still had an extremely enthusiastic attitude. Even Zhu Shuo, who was not related to him, was as affectionate as a younger brother.

When Sun Jingwen turned his back to the two of them, Zhu Shuo blinked at Lu Ci quickly, then looked at Sun Jingwen's back, and rolled his eyes mercilessly.

It was the first time seeing the kind and steady Zhu Shuo with such a lively expression, Lu Ci was almost amused by him.

I couldn't help laughing at such a point, and Sun Jingwen, who happened to turn around, saw it, and misunderstood it by the way, and my heart relaxed.

Although there were some unpleasant grievances and grievances in the previous life, my little cousin still has a very good temper.

Qingzhengju is a place used by the Sun family to entertain distinguished guests, and the furnishings are all exquisite.

Lu Ci just glanced at it lightly, without even the slightest bit of joy, and nodded calmly, with an elegant and dignified gesture.

Zhu said that although he has never seen such a luxurious and rich residence, he has never been affected by foreign objects, so he is naturally indifferent.

Sun Jingwen watched the reaction of the two silently, and was quite convinced of Lu Ci's guess about his extraordinary wealth.

After the things were put down, Sun Jingwen personally led Lu Ci to Anciju, where his grandfather lived.

Lu Ci smiled and said to Zhu who also wanted to come with a worried face: "This is my ancestral home, and I have always been like brothers with you, brother Zhu, so don't be too polite and treat yourself as an outsider. Please wait for me here for a while, and have dinner with you after I have visited Weng Weng."

After Sun Jingwen saw that this 'Zhu Shuo' held a high place in Lu Ci's heart, she quickly laughed and said, "Weng Weng might stay with us for dinner later, and I'm afraid he will ask Zhu Xiaolang to wait for a while, even if he doesn't stay, It will take a while. Why don't you have lunch for Mr. Zhu Xiaolang first?"

Lu Ci pursed his lips, and said blushingly: "That's why I'm going to bother my cousin. However, Brother Zhu and I have a lot of disagreements, so my mother asked the familiar cook to write a list of available meals for me... ...just to trouble you guys."

"What's the trouble with my family's affairs?"

Sun Jingwen responded readily, took the list casually, glanced at it hastily, and couldn't help but twitch her eyelids.

These are all expensive fine ingredients, some he has never heard of, and even the Sun family can't afford to eat.

But after agreeing, Sun Jingwen had no choice but to bite the bullet, turned around and told his servants to go shopping on the street.

And the grandfather who was waiting outside did not forget the excuse he used to trick his sister back, so he had the audacity to ask his father to help with the whole set of the show, lying on the bed and pretending to be sick.

Although Sun Wengweng was dissatisfied with the eldest son making up lies about his illness, he still couldn't bear to shame him and reluctantly agreed.

The second bedroom and the third bedroom are still outside to inspect the business, and have not come back, only the eldest and three are there.

As soon as Lu Ci entered the room, he heard the grandfather who had never seen him snort heavily, and preemptively reprimanded him: "The temper tantrum has been gone for so many years, if I didn't get this disease, I'm afraid Don't even recognize my father, this old man!"

Lu Ci didn't seem to notice that his grandfather's complexion was ruddy, and his physique looked healthy, but he just coughed from time to time to put on a show.

Anyway, no matter how skilled the doctor is, he can't cure a person who pretends to be sick.

He sighed softly and said with a slight smile: "Don't blame me, Weng. Since my mother took me to Mizhou, I have never received a letter from my family, but I have never stopped caring about my family. Once I received the letter this time, Knowing that my grandfather is in poor health, my mother has suffered all these years and has not taken care of her well. Now, because of too much worry, she suddenly fell ill. In order to take care of my mother, I wasted a few days of work, and I was late on the road. "

The grandfather vaguely heard the subtext, and immediately became more dissatisfied: "What is this? Could it be that if the parents didn't write to her, she would write and come back? Even a foreigner who has to deal with internal and external affairs Girl, you should come back to see her earlier, she is a widow at home, and she has nothing to do, so she should run more diligently!"

Lu Ci suddenly suppressed the faint smile on his face, and his tone became cold, but his words were still polite: "Weng Weng didn't know something. At that time, my mother and son were living in poverty. When the life was the hardest, even if I As I get older, I can't read and study. It is difficult to make ends meet with my mother working alone. How can I have nothing to do, and how can I get the money to send letters! Besides, I can't live well outside. Just write letters home frequently, in case Lao De Weng Weng and the old lady are worried, or spend money to help, then it will be bad."

The author has something to say: Notes:

According to historical records, the average age of Jinshi Jidi in the Song Dynasty was about 36 years old.

Therefore, it is normal for Lu's father to rush for the exam in his 30s. ("Pretending to Live in the Song Dynasty")