The Little First Grand Secretary in My House

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Are you rich now?

Of course she has money, Zhao'er now has more than two taels of silver in total, and Su Lan just gave her another five taels, which is naturally enough.

At the same time, Shen Ping laughed and said, Well, I forgot that you came here to see her. She wouldn't take advantage of me. The words were very low, almost mumbling, and Zhao'er only cared. I had to look at the clothes and didn't hear clearly.

I'll find a guy to call a car for you. Even a little girl like you can't transport these things.

Thank you, Shopkeeper Shen.

After sending Zhao'er away, Shen Ping turned around and entered the pawn shop.

Although he is named the third shopkeeper, he is not the third shopkeeper of this store, but the third shopkeeper of the entire 'He Rongsheng'. It is only at his deliberate request that he will be permanently stationed in Xia County.

Shen Ping is a son of the Shen family. His father is the chief manager of the Shen Mansion, and he has been working with the third young master Shen Fu as a boy since he was a child. When he reached adulthood, he was released and became a shopkeeper.

If she comes again next time, just do as I told you before.

Yes, shopkeeper.

*

Just after noon, the waiter Ah Cai came to deliver food to Xue Tingyan.

Boss Chen said it was a simple meal, but in fact the food was not bad, with meat and vegetables, and a soup. Xue Tingyan knew that Boss Chen was taking care of him deliberately. How could anyone hire someone to copy books and take care of tea and meals, and the wages they paid were not low.

It was because he knew in his heart that he didn't refuse verbally. In this case, refusing still preserved his character, but it seemed too petty and pretentious.

It can only be repayment in the future, Xue Tingyan thought lightly in her heart.

After eating, when the waiter came to clear away the dishes, he said he could rest for an hour. There is a royal couch available in this room. Of course, you can also go to the front and read a book to pass the time.

In fact, the last sentence is the key point. Xue Tingyan was not pretentious. After cleaning her hands, she went forward.

This store may not seem big, but it has a lot of books of all kinds, ranging from rural novels to books about the imperial examination. Among them, there are many books about the imperial examination.

Starting from the previous dynasty, the eight-legged essay was used as the standard style for the imperial examinations. The regulations were strict and even restricted the length of sentences, the number of words, the rhymes, and even the range of topics.

The title of the eight-part essay comes from the Four Books and Five Classics. It consists of eight parts: breaking the topic, carrying the topic, starting to talk, starting, starting the part, middle part, back part, and closing part. It seems rigid and rigid, but in fact it is not easy to write an eight-part essay well. If you really think that just reading the Four Books and Five Classics is enough, you are wrong. Not only do you need to know astronomy and geography, but you must at least be involved in all aspects before you can write a good article that is colorful and meaningful.

In that dream, Xue Tingyan won the Jinshi with the 21st place in the second class, and then passed the imperial examination and was admitted to the Hanlin Academy. He was supposed to rise steadily from then on, but unexpectedly, because he offended someone, a high-ranking Hanlin Academy was demoted. That kind of official position is the kind of place where a bird has nothing to do.

Xue Tingyan pursed his lips slightly, feeling that he had thought too much. After all, he was not even a child now, so he should think about the present.

Then, without thinking too much, he took out a book from the bookcase and started reading it quietly.

During this period, customers came to the bookstore to sell some pens, inks, paper and inkstones, or to buy books, which always interrupted Xue Tingyan's reading.

Boss Chen saw this and said: Brother Xue, you can take the book to the back and read it.

Xue Tingyan looked at him in surprise: This...

It doesn't matter, I won't miss this volume of yours.

Xue Tingyan was silent, bowed deeply as a courtesy, and then went back.

At this glance, he lost track of time. When Xue Tingyan woke up, he heard Boss Chen talking outside, and at the same time, he heard Zhao'er's voice.

Where did you get this big bag of stuff? Boss Chen looked at Zhao'er in surprise, asking for the bag at her feet that was much bigger than her.

Zhao'er was sweating profusely and said: Uncle Chen, I got it from the county, and the guy from the car dealership also helped me drop him off at the intersection, and then dropped me off. I originally wanted to drag him to the car dealership. But I think my brother is still here...

Boss Chen laughed and called the waiter: Ah Cai, come and help little brother Zhao'er carry the things in. Then he said to Zhao'er: Come in, have a drink of tea and rest before leaving.

Uncle Chen, how can you be so embarrassed?

You were not polite when you were bargaining with me, but now you are more polite. Boss Chen pretended to stare.

Overall, Boss Chen is an elegant yet humorous person.

Xue Tingyan also came out to help and asked: What's in it? Why is it so heavy? Where did you get it?

Not to mention how heavy it was, Ah Cai tried several times but failed to lift it, so it could only be carried by three people.

I got it from the pawn shop. If I can sell this bag, I will have enough money to send you to Qinghe Academy.

Zhao'er hadn't realized that he had let slip the truth, but Xue Tingyan had discovered it. He glanced at Boss Chen. Zhao'er also understood what he said at this time, and looked at Boss Chen with some guilt: Uncle Chen, I will explain to you later.

She was a little anxious, so she picked up the big bag and put it on her shoulders without letting the two of them help. The big bag weighed her down, but she managed to stand still, and she quickly carried the things inside.

Ah Cai praised: Look, she's not strong either, but she's so powerful.

Here, Xue Tingyan looked at the back and tightened the corners of his mouth, while Boss Chen's eyes darkened.

Xue Tingyan looked up at Boss Chen and walked towards him.

…

Zhao'er found a place to put down his big bag, then went to wash his hands and face and tidy up before being led by Ah Cai to see Boss Chen.

Seeing Boss Chen, Zhaoer felt a little guilty. But she didn't plan to continue to lie to Boss Chen, because Boss Chen was a good person. Not to mention the benefits he had given her before, Zhao'er couldn't continue to deceive her because he asked the little man to copy books for such a high price, and he also asked him to read here and take care of the food at noon.

In fact, Zhao'er didn't lie, it was just that she concealed her gender, and the so-called work was just collecting some vegetables to sell and make purses.

Uncle Chen...

Boss Chen sighed and waved his hand: Okay, you don't have to say it anymore. It's really difficult for a girl like you.

Zhao'er looked surprised, his round eyes widening.

Boss Chen laughed a little and said, Your little husband has already told me everything.

He, what did he say... Zhao'er stammered, still a little unbelievable. Because she knew that the little man always cared about face and had a lot of things on his mind. He didn't like to mention that she was his child bride and the Xue family's troubles in front of outsiders.

I've said everything that needs to be said. After a pause, Boss Chen asked, Looking at how surprised you are, is this still a secret?

Zhao'er laughed awkwardly and hesitated: Not really, it's just that he is young, and the people in our village are very annoying. There are always people who make fun of him by saying that I am older than him, and that my wife coaxes men.

The same sentence has different feelings in different people's hearts.

Boss Chen couldn't help but want to laugh, but Xue Tingyan outside had mixed feelings in her heart.

That's why she always calls herself sister, so in the dream she doesn't want to marry him when he reaches his age. Or did he ignore her wishes and marry her by force on the orders of her parents?

She actually understood her awkward mentality. He told herself not to care about other people's words, but she cared about them in her heart. Therefore, even if the two of them got married, they would not be able to treat each other as equals.

She actually knows everything, but she relies on him for everything! Follow him!

While his mind was churning, the topic changed inside.

I just heard you say that you plan to save money to send him to Qinghe Academy?

Zhao'er nodded, and seeing a strange look on Boss Chen's face, she couldn't help but ask, Is that school not good?

We are following the path of opportunism and it will not last long.

Although Zhao'er didn't quite understand what he said, he knew it wasn't a good word.

If you want to help him find a good book school, I have one that I can recommend. But... Boss Chen suddenly sighed: Come on, you don't understand even if I tell you, let's talk about this later.

Zhao'er nodded somewhat blankly.

Later, they saw that it was already getting late, and the two planned to return to Yuqing Village.

Because the big bag of clothes was too much and it would attract people's attention when taking it back, Boss Chen asked Zhao'er to put the things in his store temporarily. There were a few empty rooms at the back of the shop anyway, so he could just find a place to put them.

The two of them took a car back to the village. Because time had passed and only the ox cart could be used, they sat on the ox cart and bumped back.

Halfway down the road, a mule cart was driving towards us.

The driver was a man, dark-skinned and tall. As I got closer, I could see his appearance clearly, and I saw that he had thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and a very heroic look. His sleeves were half rolled up above his elbows, showing the muscles in his arms, which made him look powerful at first glance.

Xue Tingyan saw the person coming as soon as he passed by, and his pupils immediately shrank.

He glanced at Zhao'er beside him and felt relieved when he saw her head half lowered.

But the visitor still saw them, his eyes lit up, and he shouted: Zhao'er.

Zhao'er looked over and smiled immediately: Brother Jiang Wu, where are you?

Jiang Wu tightened the reins and stopped the mule cart.

I'm going to town, are you going back? Get off the car, I'll take you off.

Zhao'er hesitated and said, Don't you still want to go to town? Anyway, we are already in the car, so you should go and do your own business.

I don't have anything to do. I just went to Lao Li's place to have a look. Originally, my father said he would go tomorrow and buy some things on the way back. It doesn't matter whether we go or not. Come on down, this car is slow and bumpy. My cart is faster. Jiang Wu said to Zhao'er with a smile, but he didn't realize that the owner of the cart had a dark face.

Seeing this, Zhao'er jumped down from the cart without letting the owner of the cart stop. After taking two steps that way, I remembered that I had forgotten the person.

While she asked the owner of the oxcart to stop, she said to Xue Tingyan: Come down quickly, let's go back in Brother Jiang Wu's car. With her beaming look, she was in a good mood.

Xue Tingyan's face looked a little ugly. He glanced at Zhao'er before slowly getting out of the car.

The two got on the mule cart, and Jiang Wu drove the cart to Yuqing Village.

If I had known that you were coming to the county today, I would have asked you to help me get my things back. Brother Jiang Wu, let me tell you, I have found a business that can make a lot of money. I definitely can't do it alone. Why don't we partner up and pay half a cent?

This is not the first time Jiang Wu has done business with Zhao'er. To be honest, Zhao'er used to collect vegetables and sell them in the town, and Jiang Wu helped her a lot.

Zhao'er could collect as much food as she could from another village by herself. Besides, she didn't have a car, so it was inconvenient to go back and forth. But the Jiang family has a car, and their ancestors were Orion hunters. With this unique craftsmanship, the Jiang family lives a very comfortable life.

Normally, the men of the Jiang family do not farm. All the more than 20 acres of land in the family are rented out, and they only make money by collecting rent and hunting with the men in the family. But hunting doesn't happen every day, so Jiang Wu has a lot of free time when he's not in the mountains, so he helps Zhao'er collect vegetables and so on. It's said that they will split it half and half, but Jiang Wu doesn't want to ask for the money every time. .

But let me tell you first, if you don't pay for it, I won't do this business with you.

Zhao'er has always felt that the little man's eyes are the most beautiful in the world, although most of them are disgusted and resistant when facing her.

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 look down upon him and pamper him on weekdays. 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, so 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 several 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 around 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, making people like them just by 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.