Zhou Shaojin also noticed someone coming. Before Mrs. Shang came over, she had already pulled Jiying and whispered, "Let's get back on the carriage! We don't know who is coming."
Ji Ying disagreed, but she was Cheng Chi's maid now. Since she had followed Old Madam Guo out, she naturally had to respect her status and position, and respect the people around her.
She smiled and nodded, and returned to Mrs. Guo with Zhou Shaojin.
The group walked towards their carriage which was parked on the embankment.
The carriage that was coming stopped with a "whoosh" sound, and a young man in his twenties jumped out of the carriage. When he saw Zhou Shaojin and others, he was very surprised, and quickly turned around and spoke to the people in the carriage in a low voice.
After a while, the carriage curtain was lifted, and an old scholar in his sixties in blue got off the carriage with the help of the young man. He bowed to Cheng Chi and said, "I didn't expect to meet you in such a remote place. My surname is Song, and I'm from Changsha. I brought my children and grandchildren out for fun. It's fate that we meet each other. Can our two families watch the tide together here?"
Seeing that the old scholar was vigorous, elegant in conversation, and with skin as white as a baby's, Cheng Chi guessed that he was either a great scholar or the elder of a family of scholars. He also saw that the young man was only in his early twenties, but well-mannered, and his every move was natural and generous, which confirmed his guess.
"You are welcome, old sir." He said with a smile, "It is a beautiful day for everyone to enjoy. Please feel free to do as you please, old sir!"
The old scholar surnamed Song smiled and stroked his goatee when he heard this, and said to the young man, "Yijun, please ask your sister and nephew to come down! This young man is certainly not a pedantic person."
The man called Yijun responded with a smile. Several strong women jumped out of the accompanying carriage. One of them carried a footstool and helped a young woman in her prime to get off the carriage. The other woman carried a child who was about eight or nine years old out of the carriage.
As soon as the child got off the carriage, he ran towards the beach.
The old woman behind shouted, "Wulang, be careful," and chased after him.
The young man laughed out loud when he saw it.
The young woman frowned and said, "You will spoil him if you do this."
The young man laughed and said, "Sister is just too cautious. Wu Lang has just been locked up for too long. When I was his age, I climbed onto the roof to catch swallows, and my father never said anything to me. How come Wu Lang has been spoiled?"
"You are always right." The young woman said helplessly, "I can't argue with you. I won't talk to you anymore. Huang Mama, go and get Wu Lang back." The last sentence was given by the young woman to the maid beside her. But it can be seen that the relationship between the two siblings is very good.
The young man touched his head and smiled, said a few words to the old scholar, returned to the carriage, carried a gift box and walked towards Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi didn't want to pay attention to him, but he saw Mrs. Guo looking at him. He thought that if he just walked away, his mother would definitely nag him when he returned, so he simply nodded to the man in a friendly manner and said, "My last name is Cheng, I'm from Jinling, and I'm here with my mother and niece to watch the tide."
The young man hurriedly said: "My surname is Huang, and I'm out here with my elders, sister, and nephew. These are cakes from Wufangzhai. I'm really sorry to disturb your enjoyment. Please don't blame me, madam and young lady." As he said that, he handed over the gift box.
Qin Ziping hurried over to take it, turned around and took a bag of tea and handed it to Huang Yijun.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "A few days ago, a friend brought some rock tea from Fujian. Please have a taste, old man and young master."
Huang Yijun bowed politely and thanked him.
There was a sudden loud noise by the river.
The people on the river bank couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound.
I saw a white wave whistling like lightning, rushing down like a river flowing backwards and hitting the river bank, splashing water several feet high, like a water monster with its mouth wide open to swallow people. Zhou Shaojin, who was sitting in the carriage, screamed in panic and leaned back, as if he could avoid the huge wave in this way.
"The tide is coming in!" Cheng Chi didn't even twitch his eyebrows. He put his hands behind his back and admired the tide receding, wetting the ground. He said lightly, "It's a few quarters of an hour earlier than I calculated."
Huang Yijun's face changed drastically, he shouted "Oh no" and looked towards the river beach.
The child was held tightly in the arms of the woman who was serving him.
He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The child's face turned pale. It was not until the tide receded that he realized what was happening and started crying.
The old scholar named Song walked over.
The child immediately rushed over and called out "Grandpa" in grievance.
The old scholar surnamed Song laughed and said, "You always don't listen to me when I tell you to. Now you know how powerful I am, right?"
The child nodded repeatedly, with tears the size of soybeans hanging on his tender little face, which was very cute.
The young woman also walked over and was about to say something when another wave of movement came over.
The young woman and the old scholar retreated repeatedly, protecting the child.
The splashing tide was even more ferocious than before. It was blocked by the pond embankment and turned around like an angry water beast to crash into the hill next to it. The water splashed in the air like a dragon.
Who would still want to think about the conflict between men and women at this time
Zhou Shaojin exclaimed as he opened the curtain, took Madam Guo's arm and said urgently, "Look, look!"
Mr. Guo laughed and said, "I see it, I see it!" Then he stretched out his hand.
Madam Lu hurriedly helped Madam Guo get out of the car.
Zhou Shaojin and others also got out of the car.
Cheng Chi hurriedly said, "Stand back a little, be careful not to be swept away by the tide."
Only then did everyone believe that what he said was true.
The river water surged in waves, roaring continuously, washing and surging between the pond embankment and the hill, making the air moist.
People suddenly become as small as ants.
The old scholar surnamed Song couldn't help but clap his hands excitedly and said, "The sky is full of clouds and thousands of thunders are roaring. The ground is rolling up silver mountains and thousands of horses are galloping. How magnificent! How magnificent! It is enough to see such a magnificent scene in this life! It is enough!"
Everyone couldn't help but smile after hearing this.
After a while, the tide gradually subsided.
Just like a child who is tired of playing and calms down for a while.
The pond bank was wet.
The old scholar surnamed Song was so excited that he waved to Huang Yijun and said, "Let's go to Xiaoshan Guanchao Tower."
Huang Yijun said in embarrassment: "Sister..."
The old scholar surnamed Song was stunned for a moment, then he sighed in disappointment and said, "Then let's go back to Hangzhou City!"
The young woman's eyes turned red when she heard this, and she said, "Yijun, you accompany your father-in-law to Xiaoshan, and I will be escorted back to Hangzhou by the maids."
The old scholar surnamed Song was somewhat moved by what he heard.
Huang Yijun was hesitant.
The woman bit her lip and suddenly bowed to Madam Guo, saying, "Madam, can I follow you? Wait for my father-in-law and brother to come back from Xiaoshan and pick me up."
Cheng Chi said nothing.
However, Zhou Shaojin could sense his displeasure.
She couldn't help but look at Mrs. Guo.
Madam Guo smiled and said, "It's convenient for others and for yourself. Young lady, there's no need to be polite. If the old gentleman doesn't mind, you can just follow us." As she spoke, she pointed in the direction of the Zong family's courtyard and said, "We are staying at the home of Master Zong, the richest man in Jiangnan."
After hearing this, Mr. Song felt a little embarrassed and said, "Why don't you come with us to Xiaoshan to watch the tide? It is said that the tide there is a little different from this side..."
Zhou Shaojin saw that there seemed to be a hint of annoyance in Cheng Chi's eyes.
She whispered to Madam Guo, "There must be a lot of people over there, otherwise Mr. Song wouldn't have hesitated to take this lady over. Let's go back! Even if we go to Xiaoshan to watch the tide, we can only watch it from a distance from the Tide Watching Tower. It's nothing compared to here. The waves are like flying over our heads. If I hadn't come to Qiantang River and seen it with my own eyes, I would definitely think that what is written in those books is exaggerated."
Zhou Shaojin's words made Mrs. Guo laugh.
She said, "Okay, I'll listen to you. Let's go back to the villa."
Zhou Shaojin smiled sweetly, but glanced at Cheng Chi out of the corner of his eye.
Cheng Chi still looked warm, but she inexplicably felt that his mood seemed to have improved a lot.
Old Confucian Song and Huang Yijun were still worried, so they personally sent the woman to the Zong family's courtyard where they were temporarily staying. They also wrote a note to Cheng Chi and said, "I'm sorry to bother you with my daughter-in-law. Just find a wing room to accommodate her."
Cheng Chi calmly took the bright red name card sprinkled with gold, which was only available to those who were successful in the imperial examinations. When he saw it, he was also shocked.
The old scholar surnamed Song was holding a name card of Song Xu and Song Jingran, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the Grand Secretary of the Dongke Academy, and the Attending Academician of the Hanlin Academy.
Cheng Chi smiled and asked someone to take Cheng Jing's name card to the old scholar named Song.
The old scholar surnamed Song laughed and said, "So they are the family of Prime Minister Cheng. This is really like a flood that has washed away the Dragon King Temple. Family members don't recognize each other anymore!"
Cheng Chi smiled and exchanged a few words with the old scholar surnamed Song, only then did he know that the old scholar was Song Jingran's father Song Min, Huang Yijun was Song Jingran's brother-in-law, the young woman was Song Jingran's second wife Huang, and the child was Song Jingran's fifth son Song Sen.
With this relationship, Song Min felt relieved and no longer had to worry.
The two families greeted each other. Song Min entrusted Huang to Cheng Chi, asked the coachman to untie the horse, and gently stroked the horse's neck. Except for the coachman, he kept all the accompanying maids, and rode with Huang Yijun and took Song Sen to Xiaoshan.
Cheng Chi's eyes flickered slightly.
It is said that Song Jingran came from a merchant family, so he was good at arithmetic.
Song's father was born in Hubei and Hubei but was good at riding horses. It can be seen that the Song family is not an ordinary merchant who only knows how to sell goods from the south to the north.
Over there, Mrs. Guo and Mrs. Huang started talking.
It turned out that Song's mother had passed away more than ten years ago, and Song's father had never remarried and lived alone in his hometown of Changsha. In February of this year, Song's father caught a cold and was bedridden for more than a month. Song Jingran was very worried, so he specially asked his wife's brother to accompany his wife and son to take Song's father to Beijing to spend his remaining years. Unfortunately, Song's father liked to travel, so he took them all the way to Hangzhou... That's how they met today.
"This is fate!" Madam Guo had been paying attention to Song Jingran since she heard Cheng Chi mention him. Now that she met Song Jingran's wife, she was naturally very enthusiastic and said, "Madam, just wait here for Mr. Song and Mr. Huang to come back. Although I am staying in Master Zong's villa, I have brought my own people to serve me. Madam, just ask for anything you need."
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Today's update, sisters.
PS: I just found out today is the Little New Year's Eve after receiving a text message from a friend. It seems that we celebrate it on the 24th in the south and the 23rd in the north, but I still wish everyone a happy Little New Year's Eve! The New Year brings new atmosphere and new fortune!
※(To be continued)