The Fenghua Years of the Red Chamber

It was getting late, and Zhang Xiping hadn't returned yet. No one in the Zhang family fell asleep. Seeing the children resisting their wishes, Zhang's mother sent two daughter-in-laws to put the grandchildren to sleep.Zhang's father was sitting in the main room, reading a book in his hand, but he didn't read the book, and looked out of the door frequently. Zhang's mother couldn't help but said, "It's almost midnight, why hasn't the third child come back?" , could something have happened?" After speaking, he walked to the gate and looked around.

"Mother, you go back to the house and rest. My second brother and I will go to the entrance of the village to have a look." Zhang Qingping, the eldest son of the Zhang family, persuaded his mother to enter the house, and walked to the entrance of the village with the second eldest Zhang Yuanping.

"Brother, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been delayed by something, I wouldn't have allowed my third brother to go to Fucheng to collect rent alone." Zhang Yuanping said guiltily. He should have gone to Fucheng to collect rent today. His third brother, Zhang Xiping, went.

"Second brother, don't talk about it. It has nothing to do with you. Xiping may be delayed by something." Their village is far away from the prefectural city, and it takes a whole day to go back and forth. It was because Zhang Xiping went to Fucheng alone for the first time.

"Brother, do you think it's Xiping in front of you?" The two came to the entrance of the village, and while talking, they saw a faint light in the distance, and when they walked in, it was indeed Zhang Xiping. "Big Brother, Second Brother, hurry up and get in the car, let's go back." Seeing his elder brother waiting at the entrance of the village, Zhang Xiping hurriedly beckoned them to get in the car.

"Third brother, why is it so late? What's in your car?" Zhang Qingping asked after getting into the car, took the whip from Zhang Xiping's hand, and started driving.

"Brother, I'll talk about it when I go back to see Dad. Good thing, Dad will be happy to know." Zhang Xiping said with a smile.

A few people went back, Zhang's father was waiting at the door, Zhang's mother went to eat, and now she was cooking in the kitchen, when she heard the movement outside, she rushed out, and saw the father and son carrying things from the donkey cart, back and forth I went back several times before moving.

Zhang's mother went to check. There were four boxes of snacks, six bolts of fine cotton cloth, several packages of northern dry goods, and some high-quality pens, inks, papers and inkstones. Wang Xifeng thought that the couple would pay an official visit in a few days, so today they only let They packed up some unremarkable food and clothing and asked Zhang Xiping to take them back.

There were also some pork pancakes on the table, which were for Zhang Xiping to eat on the way. He was hungry all the way, so he wanted to keep them for his nephews.Although his family is not poor, and even considered rich in the whole village, in the south, flour is scarce, and the children have rarely eaten pancakes made of flour.

"Father, when I went to collect rent today, I met a family. They said it was my uncle's cousin who was an official in Fucheng. They asked me to take these things with me. They said they came to visit after my cousin got a rest. Father." Zhang Xiping came back hungry, said suddenly while gobbling, and took out a letter from his arms to Zhang's father.

When Zhang's father and Zhang mother saw the food, they had already guessed. Seeing that the child was hungry, they waited until the youngest son finished eating before asking.Father Zhang hurriedly took the letter, read it and said, "Finally, there is news."

"But the young lady's son?" Zhang's mother asked anxiously. Zhang's mother was originally the daughter of Zhang's parents' natal family, and the latter family followed Zhang's father to Pingyuan Mansion, so they knew a thing or two about their own affairs.

"Yes, it is the eldest sister's second son, Jia Lian, the new co-magistrate of Pingyuan Mansion. He said he will come to visit the house in half a month." The great-grandfather was a real brother, Zhang's grandfather died early, and was brought up by Jia Lian's grandfather in the mansion, just like his own son.

It was his luck that he was able to escape back then. He was on the way back to his hometown for scientific research and survived. With the help of his family, he hastily collected the corpses from the clansmen, and under the arrangement of his brother-in-law, he came to Pingyuan Mansion.

On the holiday, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng drove lightly, changed into their fine clothes, and took only a groom to drive. They arrived at Zhang's house at noon, and the three brothers of Zhang's family were waiting at the entrance of the village.

Compared with others' thatched cottages in the village, Zhang's green brick house is much better. There are five main rooms and two wing rooms on the east and west. Although the furniture is not made of precious wood, it is well-equipped. There is a trace of dust, there are small yards in front of and behind the house, some flowers and plants are planted in the front yard, and the backyard is a vegetable field, which is very interesting.

Jia Lian is no longer the son-in-law of the past. In the past few days, apart from going to the Yamen, he and Mr. Li have been visiting everywhere. They know that Pingyuan Mansion is poor. Except for the slightly prosperous city, the rest of the place is not rich. It's a thatched cottage, and Zhangjia Yishui's green brick and tile house is already pretty good.

Wang Xifeng was a wild ghost, and had stayed in the dilapidated temples for many years, so it was more comfortable here.Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng visited their uncles and aunts and honored Zhang's father with two sets of clothes, a set of brush and ink, and some calligraphy and paintings. Pen and ink, a pair of gold hairpins and a pair of silver bracelets for each of the two siblings, a silver safety lock for each of the four children, and special pens, ink, paper and inkstones.

Zhang's father and Zhang's mother saw that although the two were not from noble backgrounds, they did not dislike their poverty, but were close to each other. They praised them in their hearts.

The men were talking in the main room, while Wang Xifeng and the four children followed the female relatives to talk in the inner room. The four grandchildren of the Zhang family were all sons. Zhang Qingping's two sons were four years old and the other two years old, and Zhang Yuanping's two sons were three years old. One and a half years old, Wang Xifeng saw the cuteness of the children and teased them to talk.

"Brothers and sisters, these children are well-behaved and very loving. I can't wait to take them home." Wang Xifeng said with a smile.

"Cousin sister-in-law, that is, she is good at this moment, and she makes people headaches on weekdays." The eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, Zhang Liushi, said with a smile. The two cooked a few dishes in person, took Zhang Lishi to the kitchen, and left Zhang Liushi to talk with Wang Xifeng.

"The children are all like this, and so are the two of my family. They pretend to be good in front of others, but they are monkeys behind them. When they make a scene, they make people turn their backs. Even so, the old man in the family does not say a single harsh word, and stops others from being disciplined." Now that the two of us are away, I'm afraid I'm spoiled more and more." Wang Xifeng smiled and talked about family matters, and when he mentioned Sister Qiao and Brother Mao, the corners of his mouth could not help but rise.

"Dear relatives of the next generation, I heard from my husband that their brothers were very strict when they were young. When they came to the younger generation, they never moved a finger." Zhang Liu said with a smile, and put the boy who crawled to the bed back on the bed. inside.

Father Zhang took Jia Lian and his three sons to the back mountain, passed through a very hidden cave that could only accommodate one person, and walked along the path for a quarter of an hour before seeing another cave with two doors. Zhang's father took the key to open the lock, and when he entered, there were neatly arranged tablets, among which were hundreds of members of the Zhang family.These tablets were made by Zhang's father. After Zhang's father and son worshiped, Jia Lian asked Jia Lian to offer incense.

Back home, Zhang's father took out a very well-preserved purse from the house, gave it to Jia Lian, and said, "Lian'er, this was embroidered for me by my elder sister when I went back to my hometown for the scientific examination, and now I leave it for you to make it." Think about it."

Zhang's father talked with Jia Lian, and learned that the eldest sister and brother Hu had gone early, and that her brother-in-law had been unsatisfactory all these years. Jia Lian was raised by the old lady, so he knew that Jia Lian's life these years might be unsatisfactory. He also knew a thing or two, so he gave Jia Lian his treasured purse, and he had the right to miss it.

"Uncle, I came to Pingyuan Mansion to work this time. Apart from finding my uncle's family, there is another matter. My mother died, and her dowry was divided into two, half of which was given to me, and the other half was returned to the Zhang family. My father has always Keep it in mind, because the road is far away, my father ordered someone to convert the Zhang family's share of silver and let me bring it." After speaking, Jia Lian took out a box from his sleeve and gave it to Zhang's father.

Originally, he didn't intend to hand over the money to Zhang's father this time. Seeing the neatly arranged tablets, and seeing that Zhang's father and several cousins ​​were decent people, he made an impromptu decision to hand over the silver money.

"Lian'er, this is absolutely impossible. Your mother's dowry belongs to you. Besides, my brother-in-law helped me a lot. If it weren't for my brother-in-law, our Zhang family would have ceased to exist long ago." Father Zhang declined. The words are not false excuses, but sincere.

"Uncle, this is my mother's will. My mother also left capital for the future recovery of the Zhang family. You must not let the Zhang family, the scholarly family, become an ordinary family in the future. You have the heart to see the children and grandchildren of the Zhang family living in a corner." Jia Lian Put the box into Zhang's father's hand.

Today, Zhang's mother took out eighteen kinds of weapons and spent twelve distractions to cook a table of delicious food, and several dishes that Jia Lian's mother liked to eat, and showed them to Jia Lian and his wife one by one.Wang Xifeng and Wang Xifeng saw that the dishes on the table were not very luxurious, but full of taste, and they said: "It's better that my aunt's cooking is better, and it's more comfortable to eat than the cooking made by the imperial chef. But I'm clumsy, otherwise I must learn from my aunt." Wang Xifeng It's not a lie.

After dinner, the two left. Seeing two skinny children coming down from the mountain with a basket on their backs, they met Zhang's father, hurriedly saluted and called sir. Seeing them walking away, Jia Lian asked them about their situation.

It turned out that these two people were exiles, his grandfather was in charge of the third grade, he was dismissed because of corruption, and exiled to this place, the tribe expelled their family from the family, and his family could not gain a foothold in their hometown, so they came here with them, his parents two Since childhood, people have rich clothes and good food, and they have been reduced to this field. They don’t think about making progress. One is lazy, and the other is self-pitying all day long. They only rely on their youngest son to go out to work for others. The two who just passed are two children Son, on weekdays, I go to the mountains to pick some wild vegetables and herbs to subsidize the family.

Pingyuan Mansion is located in a remote place, where the imperial court exiled, there are many exiles, and life is miserable. The family just now is poor and humble, but they can always live on.