The weather was too cold and wet, and Hua Zhi was reluctant to go out. She just asked Xiao Liu to take Yan Xi, whose facial scars had been covered, to meet Zeng Xiangyan and the others. This trip took the entire day.
"There's still snow on the racecourse, so I didn't go today. We've made an appointment to go the day after tomorrow." Sitting by the brazier, Gu Yanxi shook off the chill on his body before sitting closer to Azhi. "I spent the whole day in the gambling house today, and lost more than three thousand taels."
"Did you let the water out?"
Gu Yanxi smiled, "Of course, there is such a subject in the Seven Mansions Department's Miscellaneous Studies, so I know a little bit about it."
Qisushi really has everything. Hua Zhi rubbed her fingertips, which finally felt a little warm, and asked, "How many more days will you stay here?"
"What did you plan to do before?"
"I think if I only tell you with words, you won't be able to understand how far Jin Yang has come, so I'm waiting for you here, so that you can experience the horror of it yourself. You will also need to plan the things that come next. I can only give advice, and I won't show up, either openly or secretly. I can't let the Hua family have the possibility of being humiliated by this matter."
Gu Yanxi nodded, "I understand. Leave the rest to me. Just tell me your method."
"Okay." After talking about things here, Hua Zhi finally had the opportunity to ask about the situation at Yinshan Pass.
"Everything is fine. Old Master Hua asked a group of people to withdraw from the sand table work and follow your father to learn how to govern. Old Master Hua is now in charge of the internal affairs of Yinshan Pass, and he and Wu Yong support each other in guarding Yinshan Pass."
"So a group of people were eliminated? They have no talent in the sand table?"
"That's about it." Gu Yanxi did not tell the truth. Hua Yizhen meant the same thing. They didn't want Hua Zhi to know that a war had broken out at Yinshan Pass. The Hua family members who took on the role of military advisors had to stay in the barracks and advance and retreat with the commander. They would step down not because they were not talented, but because they were too young.
"Trust me and I'll give it to you later."
"Okay." Knowing that her family was fine, Hua Zhi didn't ask any more questions. If she wanted to know other things, she could just read everyone's letters.
Zeng Xiangyan was called over there by his elder brother.
"I heard there are new faces today?"
Zeng Xiangyan sniffed, looking at the jar of wine next to his elder brother with envy, and said with a drooling face: "Give me a drink, drink a glass and I will tell you."
Zeng Xianglin, the current head of the Zeng family, was so angry at his greedy look that he took out a wine cup, filled it up and handed it to him.
Zeng Xiangyan drank a sip from his elder brother's hand before taking it, not wasting a single drop.
After taking another sip with satisfaction, Zeng Xiangyan said, "It was Hua Qian's brother named Hua Cheng who came to meet the siblings today. He is really a generous man. I calculated that he should have lost nearly four thousand taels today."
Zeng Xiangyan sighed. Hua Cheng's calm demeanor despite losing left a deep impression on their group. No matter who this man came from, at least it was obvious that he was confident and had no shortage of money. This kind of person was the most welcome person in Jinyang.
"Did you see anything wrong with him?"
Zeng Xiangyan looked at his brother, frowning slightly, "Is there something wrong with him?"
Zeng Xianglin shook his head slightly. "He's a stranger, but he's so generous that it seems like he's doing it on purpose. We need to be careful."
"That's nothing. I asked my cousin and found out that Hua Gan's sister has lost seven thousand taels in the past few days. After my cousin couldn't go out, she went to look for him. I think the entertainment in Jinyang is still attractive. And Hua Gan, don't look at him as small, he also has several thousand taels of silver notes with him. I don't know which family raised such a bunch of prodigals."
"You talk as if you're not a spendthrift." After teasing his younger brother, Zeng Xianglin smiled and asked, "Did the three siblings find out anything?"
"Hua Gan has been following me, never asking questions, rarely looking around, just following me in whatever I play. I can see that he is young and mostly curious. I also observed his elder brother today, and he is similar to his younger brother. Not to mention asking questions, he doesn't even say a word. He is a taciturn person, but his moves are terrifying. He bet one thousand taels when he didn't know anything. As for his sister, I also asked my cousin, and my cousin said that she has basically been under everyone's noses, so there is no possibility of her playing tricks. From what my cousin said, she just wanted to play. If there is a problem with them, I really can't see it. It can't be that the money came from an illegal source. Even if it is illegal, what does it have to do with us? Isn't it our money after it goes into our pockets?"
After hearing what the younger brother said, Zeng Xianglin's vigilance was finally lowered. He hoped that they really just brought silver and nothing else.
"Brother, you guys are too cautious. I heard they won't stay here for long. They were just waiting for Hua Cheng to join them. I guess they will just play for a few days and then leave. I quite like that little brother Hua. Tsk, why don't we have such a good brother in our family?"
Zeng Xianglin smiled, "I do have a younger brother, but he's not very well behaved."
"Hehe, brother, if you increase my pocket money, I will definitely behave better. While Hua Qian is still here, I will learn from him."
Zeng Xianglin pushed the jar of wine into his arms and said, "I don't have any pocket money, but I have two jars of wine. Do you want some?"
"Two jars are too few. They're not enough for me to eat in one meal. I need ten jars."
"If you keep talking, there won't be any more jars left."
Zeng Xiangyan ran away with the jar of wine. He was kidding. Only twenty jars of full-month wine could be produced per month. The year was almost over and he had only drunk it for the second time. There was no reason to take it back.
Zeng Xianglin laughed and shook his head, and ordered: "Withdraw half of the people over there."
"yes."
As soon as there was any movement here, Jia Yang noticed it and immediately reported it to his master.
"Don't worry about them. Let's just do what we have to do." Gu Yanxi knocked on the table. "Go to the street tomorrow and buy some Jinyang specialties. Make it look like we are about to go back."
"yes."
"Isn't Jinyang's specialty gambling? Just take a pair of dice back." Xiao Liu joked as he picked up the beans roasting by the brazier one by one, put them on a plate and brought them to Sister Hua. The beans didn't taste very good, but they were fragrant. After discovering that Sister Hua liked them very much, he would grab a handful of beans and roast them whenever he sat by the brazier.
Hua Zhi picked up a pea, peeled off the outer layer slowly and put it into her mouth. From time to time, she also fed Yan Xi one, and then put another one into Xiao Liu's hand. This scene made Xiao Liu's eyes warm. He remembered a scene he saw in Xiangyang. After the flood, a family of four had nothing to eat. The father got a handful of peas from somewhere, strung them together, roasted them, and gave them all to the two children. The children didn't really eat them themselves. They ate one and put one into their parents' mouths. Although they were living such a difficult life, they were all smiling.
At that time, he couldn't understand where their happiness came from, but now he suddenly understood. No matter how difficult life is, as long as the family is together, it's fine. And for him, Sister Hua always remembers him when she eats snacks, and he is happy, very happy, even if they are something inexpensive.
This made him feel that he also had relatives who could rely on each other.