The return of the son-in-law

In the first few days of the first month, Guo Zhan'an only went to Jiang's house on the third day of the first month. As for the other families that he had good friends with, it was not appropriate to visit before the seventh day of the first month, and they would leave for Xuzhou after the seventh day of the first month. Give the gift to Jia Yi, and let him wait a few days to deliver the gift.

Guo Zhanan's departure made everyone in the Guo family heave a sigh of relief.

Needless to say, Guo Feng'an, in order to prepare for the assessment of Qingshan Academy these two days, he was supervised by Guo Xiantong to study in the study room, and his palms were often hit by the board.

Liu Pianpian was also greatly relieved.In the past month, she tried to punish Guo Zhan'an many times, but she was the one who lost face in the end.Just two days ago, someone in the palace heard the order from the Empress Dowager, scolded her without any concealment, and accused Guo Xiantong of being unstable in the house, and even let Xu Xian abuse the only son left by his original wife. The faces of the people walked away.Liu Pianpian felt that if this Guo Zhan'an stayed at home for another month, she would no longer have the Guo family in her hands.

As for Guo Xiantong, his feelings for Guo Zhanan are much more complicated.On the one hand, he has always disliked this son—it is said that his nephew looks like his uncle, and Guo Zhan'an didn't inherit his appearance much, and his eyebrows and eyes are more like Di Wanyan's.And when he married Di Wanyan back then, he could indeed be called Gao Pan.At that time, the son of the Di family fought in the battlefield, and the emperor's rewards continued to flow, even his son-in-law got a lot of benefits.

It's just that Guo Xiantong took advantage of the benefits brought by the Di family on the one hand, but on the other hand couldn't stand the eyes of his colleagues.Maybe it was psychological, Guo Xiantong always felt that the whispers of those colleagues were talking about how he was able to stay in the capital as an official relying on the influence of his wife's natal family, and laughing at him was just for the face of the Di family.

Guo Xiantong really wanted to cling to Di's family and put in a lot of effort in order to marry Di Wanyan, but he couldn't stand other people's gazes like this.What he wanted was to take advantage of the Di family, and everyone else praised him for being young and promising. Although he married a noble wife, he still relied on his true talents and learning to advance all the way.

Completely forgetting that there are not a few people in this world who are not blind.

Guo Xiantong has indulged Liu Pianpian to suppress Guo Zhan'an for so many years, and even turned a blind eye to the fact that Liu Pianpian wanted to embezzle Di Wanyan's dowry privately. He just wanted to raise Guo Zhan'an and let the world know that the Di family's species is not that good. The good thing is that he Guo Xiantong!

However, Guo Zhan'an has now become Xuzhou General Judge, ranking fifth rank, only half a rank lower than him.Although his son is not as good as himself now, he is already in his 40s, while Guo Zhanan is only 20 years old, and it is Guo Zhanan who has a bright future.

However, Guo Feng'an, the second son whom I had placed high hopes on, turned out to be so incompetent. At the age of three, he asked his husband to enter the mansion to enlighten him. Up to now, he hasn't even memorized a single Analects of Confucius.In the past two days, Guo Xiantong has inquired a lot about Qingshan Academy. He knows that Qingshan Academy will hold a selection examination in the last few days of the first lunar month every year. .

According to Guo Feng'an's current level, let alone passing the exam, it would be a blessing not to embarrass him.Even if he started to pressure Guo Feng'an to study now, at least ten years later, this incompetent son would not be able to pass the exam.

And ten years from now?There are too many variables, Guo Xiantong cannot predict.

But he and Guo Zhan'an have been strangers for a long time. Even if Guo Zhan'an is still in the capital, the father and son may not see each other for a day sometimes.Now let him talk to Guo Zhan'an again about the relationship between father and son, let alone Guo Zhan'an, he was the first one who couldn't continue.

Hearing the report from the servants that Guo Zhanan's carriage had left the capital, Guo Xiantong sighed in his heart, waved his hands to let the servants leave, and he picked up a pen and wrote the word "regret" on the paper.

Does he really regret it?

Leaving aside Guo Xiantong's complicated thoughts, Huo Yu uncharacteristically huddled in a corner of the carriage on his way to Xuzhou, only holding a painting book, which he had knocked down.

Guo Zhan'an ignored him and leaned back to take a rest with his eyes closed.

Things have to start three days ago.

Although Guo Zhan'an is not close to Mr. Sun, he has raised Huo Yu for more than ten years, taught Huo Yu to read and write, and protected Huo Yu in the cottage, so that Huo Yu did not get the aura of those bandits. Guo Zhan'an is grateful to Mr. Sun With some admiration.

He understood that Sun Lao would never forget Huo Yu's future until his death. As the saying goes, if Huo Yu wanted to get ahead, he had better take the imperial examinations like himself.

Seeing Huo Yu's hard work in his studies in the past two years, Guo Zhan'an felt that although Huo Yu's enlightenment was later than ordinary people, hard work can make up for his weakness, and Guo Zhan'an didn't insist on Huo Yu's success in the exam. , Get a fellow Jinshi background.With Guo Zhanan around, he can naturally help Huo Yu plan well for the future.

But at this time, Huo Yu became angry. Hearing Guo Zhanan's plan, he refused without saying a word: "Brother, I don't want to take the imperial examination, I want to open a restaurant."

Guo Zhanan was taken aback for a rare moment, and asked, "What did you say?"

Huo Yu said it again: "When I was in Xuzhou, it was very good to see General Jiang's restaurant. Those customers were from all over the world. They traveled all over the year, and their knowledge is much wider than mine. If you are lucky If not, you can also listen to them talk about their experience of going to sea, or the customs of Miaojiang, which is much more interesting than the Four Books and Five Classics."

Guo Zhan'an only felt pain in his temples. He never expected that his brother, who studied hard and practiced martial arts, would be interested in opening a restaurant.

He couldn't help but think of years ago, when he gave Guo Feng'an a good treatment, so that his second brother who didn't like reading was forced to work hard in the study.As a result, how long has passed now, and the retribution has fallen on him.

"Yu'er," Guo Zhan'an decided to calm down and persuade Huo Yu, "It costs a lot to open a restaurant, and you have to take care of all aspects of the relationship. There are so many things, big and small, that you like to do things yourself. It would be bad if you were tired out."

Huo Yu, however, planned to go to the dark side of the road: "Don't worry, brother, I have my own sense of proportion. I have saved a lot of money in the past two years, and sometimes I will go to Xuzhou's large and small restaurants to learn Buddhist scriptures, and I have also learned a lot. less."

Guo Zhanan pressed his eyebrows and said, "Yu'er, if those people knew that you went to steal a teacher, how could they teach you real skills? What's more," Guo Zhanan paused for a while, and finally continued, "Scholar Nongshangshang, if you open a restaurant, you have become a merchant. There are many laws in this dynasty that are specially formulated for merchants. There are too many rules and regulations in them, and they are very strict. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Couldn't my brother help me?" Huo Yu asked, "I also have a shop under my brother's name, right? Is my brother also considered a merchant? I, I just want to open a restaurant, why is it inferior to others? "

"It's not that people are inferior, it's just how things are in this world. Merchants exchange what they have and what they have, and get rich by selling goods from south to north. There have been rich merchants in the past, and their wealth has made countless people envious. If everyone does business, Then who will plow the fields, and who will cast the iron?"

"But I don't want to be rich." Huo Yu explained eagerly, "I just think that I am already late in studying than others, and I must be inferior to others in taking the imperial examination. Instead of wasting time on the imperial examination, it is better to choose one I like it, and I am good at it. Brother, you also know that I don’t have any other hobbies, but I like to eat. Fortunately, my brother doesn’t dislike it, and always asks Jia Huan and the others to collect delicacies from mountains and seas for me to eat. I thought about it Most of the dishes in Xuzhou are barbecue-based, which is easy to get angry, while there are a lot of noodles in Beijing, and it will inevitably get boring if you eat too much. Since the tastes of so many places are different, I can introduce dishes that are not available in the local area and adjust them. Adjust their tastes. With this as a signboard, and looking for two good cooks, isn't it afraid that the restaurant will lose business?"

After hearing Huo Yu's plan, Guo Zhan'an felt a little bit of unhappiness in his heart.He still doesn't know that Huo Yu, who has always relied on himself, has come up with such a thought, and it's not just a whim, it's clearly been in his head for several months, even the basic way has been thought out!

The unhappiness in Guo Zhanan's heart came to his lips, and he blurted out cold words: "I still say the same thing, Shi Nong Gong Gong, if you become a merchant, let's not talk about me, are you worthy of your deceased grandfather? "

Huo Yu was speechless, staring blankly at Guo Zhan'an, and finally said softly: "Brother, are you trying to force me to submit?"

As if to prove that what Huo Yu said was wrong, Guo Zhan'an never spoke a word to Huo Yu again, and even skipped his usual one-hour lecture every day.

Huo Yu was also stubborn, and refused to bow his head. It happened that the room he had prepared to deal with Liu Pianpian was still there, so he simply went to sleep there at night.

Neither of the two would give in first, and the cold war has continued until now.

The most painful of these is Fuquan.Jia Huan is fine, after all, he is the housekeeper promoted by Guo Zhanan, and he has a lot of things to deal with every day, so he can't always follow behind Guo Zhanan.As for Guo Zhan'an's current servants, they were thieves when they were clever. Knowing that Guo Zhan'an is in a bad mood now, of course they wouldn't take the initiative to join in the firecrackers.

But Fuquan is different, he is Huo Yu's servant, although Guo Zhan'an ignores Huo Yu on the surface, how can he really feel at ease?Since it is not easy to care about Huo Yu face to face, I will find a reason to let Fuquan go over from time to time, and ask Huo Yu if he ate well today, dressed warmly, and went out to relax.

Fuquan could only run on both sides. On the one hand, he had to tell Guo Zhanan what Huo Yu ate today, how many clothes he wore, whether he had worn his outer robe, and what books he had read; Eat, go to bed early, and occasionally remind him that the book is down.

This difficult day didn't stop in Xuzhou, on the contrary, all the servants and maids who served in the backyard of Guo's mansion in Xuzhou were involved in it, one by one secretly complaining.

Later, it was Jia Huan who found out, and couldn't laugh or cry: "Really, if the master quarrels, you don't want to persuade him? Guo's mansion wants loyal servants, not stupid servants!"

Seeing Jia Huan's schadenfreude, Fuquan couldn't help scolding: "You really don't feel pain in your back when you stand and talk. You don't know what kind of temper our young master has? This second young master is also strange, why did he suddenly become stubborn?" , if you have the ability, go and persuade me!"

Jia Huan didn't care, looking at this group of gray-faced and powerless servants who were being quarreled by his two masters, he said with a smile: "Sure, I'll go, but if I succeed, you have to give me money." Bring a whole table of wine and food."

Fuquan's eyes lit up: "Then if you fail, then you will have a whole table of wine and food to comfort us."

Jia Huan thought for a while, nodded and said, "Then it's settled."