The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

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In fact, Xue Gouzi is only as good-looking as his eyes. He has been frail since he was a child, and his second wife and his wife manage to support him, and they usually look down upon him and pamper him. The boys of his age in the village were all dark-skinned and as strong as calves, but he was pale, thin, silent and taciturn.

However, Zhao'er has always been domineering and never allowed anyone to talk about a little man. She would get angry with anyone who said something. Because of this incident, she had fights with many girls and boys in the village. Although some people still said it behind their backs, no one dared to point fingers in front of others anymore.

Zhao'er always felt that the little man's eyes looked strange today, and he averted his eyes uncomfortably.

She knew that the little man must be angry again. He didn't like her saying things like, 'The dog is my man'. Every time he heard her say something like this, he would ignore her for a few days. In fact, Zhao'er also wanted to be shameless, but she was originally the child bride of the second wife of the Xue family. If she didn't call herself that, how would she have the qualifications to challenge the fourth aunt Sun.

Are you hungry? Look what I brought back for you?

Zhao'er turned his head and left all these troubles behind, and took out a paper bag from his arms. Opening the paper bag, there were two steaming buns inside. They were white, plump and cute, which made people like them just looking at them.

Eat quickly, while it's still warm. She smiled, put the paper bag into the little man's hand, and put the backpack on her shoulder in the corner.

Xue Gouzi glanced at her.

The girl in front of her was in her 28th year, and her skin was the wheat color common among country girls. But Zhao'er's skin color was very different from others, smooth and moist, as if she had been smeared with honey. He has a high bridge of nose, a pair of medium-sized eyes, and dark pupils. When he smiles, there is a flash of inspiration, and he looks lively.

Zhao'er's stature is taller than ordinary girls, and her body is well-developed. Her body is bulging forward and backward, and her whole body is full of youthful vitality.

It was so vivid, as vivid as in his dream.

He unconsciously took the bun and gnawed it. Seeing this, he smiled even more happily. He went to the kitchen to pour him a bowl of water and put it on his hand. He bent down to tidy up the scattered bedding on the kang, while thinking about something delicious to make for him to replenish his body in the evening.

Finally, the little man is feeling better, but he still needs to continue drinking the medicine. He needs to drink a few more doses to consolidate his condition. From this, I naturally began to calculate the little money I had left, and think of ways to get some more money to meet my urgent needs.

Have you eaten? Xue Gouzi asked.

This kind of behavior rarely happened to him, so Zhao'er couldn't help but look up at the little man sitting on the kang.

In fact, the little man has a delicate appearance, which is different from the fair skin of the country people. The corners of his eyes are slightly raised, and the curvature makes his face a little more delicate and handsome. The little man always has his head lowered, his temperament is gloomy and silent, and he is too thin to be conspicuous in front of others.

Zhao'er's eyes warmed up, his smile got bigger, and he said in a crackling voice: Eat, I ate it outside, this is for you.

After she finished speaking, she realized that she had let something slip. She was waiting for the little man to show disgust, or to accuse her daughter of running around, but he didn't say anything, as if he had something on his mind. The head is eating steamed buns.

Zhao'er couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he felt a pain in his heart. He couldn't help but said: Gou'er, don't be too anxious. After all, you heard those words. Since you didn't say it face to face, you can't take it seriously. Even if it's true. Don’t be afraid, I’ll just make money for you to study.”

Xue Gouzi's head actually hurt a little and he was feeling dizzy. Zhao'er thought he had something on his mind, but in fact he was just thinking about that dream. When he heard Zhao'er's words, he suddenly remembered why he got this serious illness.

Seriously speaking, Xue Gouzi's serious illness was caused by stagnation of liver qi.

Speaking of this, we need to talk about the general situation of the Xue family.

Yuqing Village is a village located under Huyang Town, Xia County, Pingyang Prefecture. There are only more than 200 households in the village. From sunrise to sunset, they are all farmers who watch God for their meals.

The Xue family is one of them.

However, the Xue family is different from other ordinary farmers, and they have some background.

The ancestor of the Xue family, Mr. Xue's grandfather, was a scholar. In a poor mountainous area like Yuqing Village, it would be a great event for the ancestors to have a scholar.

Because of this scholar, the Xue family's generation had the patriarch of the Xue clan, and several village elders were born in the clan, finally having some say in Yuqing Village. At the same time, it naturally blessed the younger generations. Mr. Xue’s father was hard-working and willing to work. With the help of his elders, he slowly built up a family business.

By the time of Mr. Xue's generation, the Xue family already owned more than 30 acres of fertile land, and several of his sons had their own livelihoods. Their life was prosperous and enviable, and they were considered to be one of the most prosperous families in the village.

Mr. Xue and his wife, Mrs. Zhao, have four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Xue Qingshan, married Mrs. Yang and gave birth to two sons and one daughter. The eldest son Xue Juncai, now fifteen, the second son Xue Youcai, now ten years old, and the eldest daughter Xue Manyer who is married.

The second child, Xue Qingsong, is a carpenter. He is married to Qiu and has a son, Xue Gouzi, who is fourteen years old. The third son, Xue Qingbai, is a banker. He is married to the Zhou family and has a son and a daughter. The eldest daughter, Xue Taoer, is thirteen years old, and the youngest son, Xue Shuanzi, is eight years old. The fourth child, Xue Qinghuai, is a picker. He is married to Mrs. Sun and has a son named Xue Maodan, who is only four years old this year.

As for the two daughters, the eldest daughter Xue Cuiping is already married, and the younger daughter Xue Cui'e is fourteen this year and is still waiting to be given birth.

It is worth mentioning that nowadays there is a saying that parents do not separate families. In addition, families in the countryside are governed by clans, so the Xue family is not separated.

The Xue family has tasted the benefits of studying, so they are more visionary than ordinary farmers. Because Xue Qingshan was smart since he was a child and he was the eldest son, Mr. Xue had high hopes for him. When he reached the age of enlightenment, he spent money to send him to a private school.

Xue Qingshan also strived for success. He passed the Tongsheng examination when he was twenty years old. Although he is still no more than a scholar, he can be regarded as one of the most educated scholars in the world.

Don't underestimate Tong Sheng! As the saying goes, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, scholars are the highest level of society at present. If ordinary people want to become scholars, there is only one way, which is to take the imperial examination. The journey to the imperial examination is nothing more than going to the West to learn Buddhist scriptures. It requires passing through various hurdles and going through hardships and hardships.

If you want to embark on this path, you must first meet the qualifications, and Tong Sheng is the person who has this qualification. It is necessary to pass both the county and government examinations before being called a child student. As for the next step, becoming a scholar is to enter school, and it is also the first step to embark on the imperial examination.

It can be seen from this that Tong Sheng is not an ordinary person, so Xue Qingshan's status in the Xue family can be imagined.

But as I said before, the Xue family's family background can only be considered a middle-class family in the countryside. If a family like this wants to provide for a scholar, it will almost exhaust all the family's human and financial resources. Because the eldest son is the eldest son, he will establish a family in the future, and he is talented and intelligent, so the following sons will naturally have to give in.

As for why Xue Gouzi became seriously ill, it has to do with another old incident of the Xue family.

When Xue Qingshan was pregnant with a child, he was considered a young man who had achieved success. He was originally very ambitious and wanted to pass the college examination in one fell swoop and become a scholar, but unfortunately God did not follow his wishes.

There was only one last chance, and no one would be willing to accept it. Xue Qingshan could only calm down, work hard, and hope to win next time.

Years passed like this in a hurry, and the initial complacency was shattered by reality. Xue Qingshan failed the exam many times, and he could not stay at home and eat nothing. In desperation, he set up a private school in the village, which specialized in educating children from this village and several nearby villages to learn and read, so that they could earn a living.

With such convenient conditions, several children of the Xue family naturally benefited from it. The following children are all still young. Among the grandchildren, Xue Juncai, the eldest son of the eldest family, and Xue Gouzi, the second family member, have learned the longest.

However, compared to his cousin Xue Juncai, Xue Gouzi was obviously inferior. He was also too weak. He was always sick every three days when he was a child, which delayed a lot of homework.

The time was stretched to five years ago. This year, the academic examination was held in Fucheng. Xue Qingshan naturally would not miss it. He stopped his private school classes early and rushed to Fucheng to take the exam.

It was not easy to go out at this time. Besides, Mr. Xue was not worried about his eldest son going out alone, so he asked his second son, Xue Qingsong, to go with him. He was always there to look after him when doing errands or something.

That is to say, something happened on this trip. Xue Qingshan offended someone in Fucheng. Xue Qingsong was beaten black and blue in order to protect his eldest brother. The man was eventually brought back, but he died within a few days of his return. Before his death, Xue Qingsong asked Xue Qingshan to promise him that he would do everything he could to confess Xue Gouzi.

In fact, after having made way for others all his life, how could Xue Qingsong have no complaints in his heart? It's just that he is simple and honest by nature, and he knows that his talents are not as good as those of his elder brother, so he has continued to contribute in obscurity.

But when it comes to his own son, especially Xue Gouzi, who has been weak since he was a child and is not a banker, and he is not going to die soon, Xue Qingsong will take the opportunity to force his eldest brother to make a promise.

Xue Qingsong would do this, but he wanted to break the current situation in which the Xue family's resources were always tilted toward Dafang. In the Xue family, there were only two scholars in the eldest room. Now there is an additional Xue Gouzi. The child in the third room was still young at that time, and the fourth child was not yet married. As long as Xue Qingshan agrees, others will naturally have nothing to say, and Xue Qingsong will do his best for his son.

Xue Qingshan agreed to the matter on the spot, crying loudly and saying that he would definitely treat Xue Gouzi as his son, and Xue Qingsong closed his eyes.

Not long after that, Qiu, who was already in poor health, fell into depression and died. Xue Gouzi has since become a miserable child without a father and mother. Fortunately, he still has his grandparents, uncles, and Zhao'er, a child bride, so he doesn't have to worry about food and clothing.

In the following years, Xue Qingshan really treated Xue Gouzi like his own son. Who in the village didn't say that the boss of the Xue family was raising his nephew as his own son. But as the saying goes, people's hearts are the most fickle, and selfishness is human nature. As time goes by, Dafang gradually changes his attitude. Although he is still the same in front of others, only the person involved knows what will happen to him in the future.

By this year, seeing that he had nothing to teach his son, Xue Qingshan had the idea of ​​sending Xue Juncai to a school in the town for two years.

But going to the academy to study consumes a lot of money, not to mention that a year of self-improvement requires two taels of silver. The teacher's three festivals and six rites, as well as the pen, ink, paper and inkstone he usually uses, all cost money. The Xue family's vitality had already been seriously damaged because they gave up Xue Qingshan, and how could they have the money to support their two children?

Only one amount of money can be taken out, which means that Xue Juncai and Xue Gouzi can only go to one.

Xue Qingshan told the matter in front of the whole family. Xue Gouzi did not say anything wisely, but chose to remain silent.

During that time, the atmosphere in the Xue family was strange. Mr. Xue was frowning, and his grandmother, Mrs. Zhao, was acting strangely all day long. However, the elder couple remained as usual, pretending that nothing had happened.

Let’s not mention this. It was a coincidence that Xue Gouzi accidentally overheard his eldest aunt Yang and his fourth aunt Sun talking secretly, saying that they wanted their parents-in-law to come forward and ask Xue Gouzi to voluntarily give up his place to study in the town. , Xue Gouzi became seriously ill in anger.

Thinking of these, Xue Gouzi felt uneasy for a while, and at the same time many pictures appeared in his mind, which were exactly the contents of his previous dreams.

The Xue Tingyan in the dream also faced the same situation when he was fourteen years old, and it was only after this incident that the other party's temperament changed drastically and he changed his previous character.

Could it be that he is Xue Tingyan, and that Xue Tingyan is him? But why would he dream about these things!

Xue Gouzi felt a churning pain in his head. The bun in his hand fell on the kang, and the water bowl next to him was also knocked over. When Zhao'er heard the noise, he rushed up and hugged him.

Dog, dog, don't scare me!

Boss Chen stroked his beard: It's a shame to say that I was a classmate with him when I was young, but I wasn't good at school and only passed the examination as a boy student, while he became a scholar in one fell swoop and was still a junior student. Unfortunately, due to bad luck, he never He was able to pass the exam, but he wasted many years because he had no intention of starting a career, so he returned to his hometown to inherit his father's business of teaching and educating people.

You won't always have bad luck. Xue Tingyan said.

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.