Mother Zhang looked satisfied when she saw Cui Xie holding some old calligraphy and paintings, and couldn't help sighing: "This child is too sensible, where is this? What the old lady really wants to give you is this, come and watch it carefully. ."
She dug out a piece of silver from the bottom of the clothing box, and opened it for Cui Xie to see. It was all 221 ingots of ingots, 200 taels in total. There is also a red sandalwood inlaid studded makeup box, which is gently carried to the head of the bed like a baby, and opened to show it to him. The inner cover of the makeup box is set with a bronze mirror polished as smooth as water, and the small drawer below is full of layers of hairpin ring jewelry, gold and jade jewelry, and a layer of beautiful treasure light is shrouded in the candlelight.
On the bottom layer, there were only a few neatly folded mulberry papers.
She lifted her eyelids and looked at Cui Xie, her turbid old eyes shone brighter than jewelry: "These jewelry were brought by your mother when you were married, and when your father remarried, the old lady received them and kept them for you. Yes. You have carefully collected the following deeds. These two are the real estate deeds of this old house and a shop that your mother was married to, and there are also the deeds of Cui Yuan and his son... "
Cui Xie's heart pounded, and he gently pulled out the deed paper and opened it to take a closer look:
One is the house deed for this yard, on which it states the length and width of the yard, where it goes from east, west, north and west, how many entrances to the yard, and several rooms for the main and wing rooms; There is a pavement facing the street, and behind the pavilion there is a small courtyard about the size of their house; the remaining two are the body deeds of Cui Yuan and his son, both of which are fingerprinted and stamped with red stamps.
Are these his
No need to worry about when the house will be taken away by Cui Langzhong and his wife, no longer need to worry about Cui Yuan and his son being forcibly separated because they are in the hands of others, this house has really become a place where he can stay in peace
He pinched the thin papers, his cheeks seemed to be covered with a luster more attractive than jewelry, and he smiled reassuringly and joyfully.
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Zhang's mother lived in Qian'an for two days to help him with the housework.
In the past two days, they have been repairing the tomb on the mountain. The county magistrate has ordered the walls of his house to be repainted. The top of his head is covered with new Chengchen, and the walls are covered with snow-white mulberry paper. Only the pillars at the bottom of the corridor and the veranda in the courtyard It needs to be painted, and the ground bricks need to be re-laid.
Zhang’s mother dried his house on a brazier, and Cui Yuan and his son moved to the east side room. Yu Carpenter, an old neighbor across the street, offered to build furniture for his house, so Zhang’s mother bought new beds for them all and rebuilt them Set up the room. He also moved his desk and a few boxes of books to the west room, and placed a large bookcase that looked like a bogu shelf against the wall, cleaning up a small but exquisite study.
She showed Cui Xie the changes in the various rooms in the house, and rambled: "Brother Xie, don't think I'm too much in charge, our main room is the master room, how can we let servants live? I know you are afraid of falling down. The living room is cold and damp, and they have accumulated moisture, but living in the upper room makes their father and son feel uneasy."
Cui Xie also knew that the world was like this, so he just nodded and said, "The house was too old when we first moved in, so we could only carry a better one. We also slept separately outside."
Zhang's mother comforted and said, "That's how it should be. This is what everyone does." She also prepared chestnut flour cake, lotus root flour cake, sweet stuffed dumplings, and moon cakes with thousand layers of snow meringue for him, and asked him to carry a gift box. Go to the county office to thank the county magistrate.
The county magistrate Qi didn't think it was a big deal to repair the house for him, and said with a smile: "You have a plaque on the top of your door. It's too shabby, isn't it disrespectful to the imperial book? The county keeps this award silver every year. How many years I don't have to spend it anymore, I can get one of you, and I'm happy to use it."
It is now mid-August, and the county is also busy with official business: Xia Shui will immediately have to release the delivery and put it into the warehouse, and have to send horses and grass to the border, and send craftsmen to Beijing to work on shifts...
The county magistrate Qi didn't have time to let him talk more, and only taught him a few words to let him read more. He decided to check the "Six Master's Collected Works" that he had memorized when he had time, so he called the book boy over and ordered: "Didn't someone send a basket of carambola two days ago? Pack a few for Cui Gongzi to take away."
Carambola was introduced to China in this era? Cui Xie was so surprised that he almost wondered if he had crossed the changed historical line.
The book boy agreed, hurried down, and brought a small basket of fruits back to him. The fruit basket was not filled with five-petal carambola in yellow with emeralds, but a basket of fluffy kiwis.
…
Cui Xie looked at the kiwi fruit in silence, the book boy thought he was too greedy, so he took one out of the basket and stuffed it for him, letting him peel it quietly in his sleeve: "This is the wild carambola produced in Qinglong Mountain, it's sweet. Now, you can't buy such sweet and soft ones in Beijing. The carambola vines that the farmers in the paper villages live in can't bear such good peaches."
By the way, the juice of kiwifruit is one of the most important paper medicines when making rice paper. Mulberry paper is produced locally, and the ancient papermaking method requires paper medicine to prevent paper from sticking, so it is natural to grow kiwifruit.
But no matter how rich it is, the magistrate didn't have to give it to him. Cui Xie held the soft kiwi peach and said with emotion, "Your Excellency has so many official duties, but you still take care of me so much. Xie is really grateful."
The book boy also sighed: "Isn't it, adults don't have time to write articles these days. Fortunately, I'm busy with taxation in summer and autumn, so it's fine to pay the summer tax. River embankments, resettlement of refugees.”
Speaking of this, his lively face also showed a sad look: "Our adults are also unlucky. Why did we catch up with this once-in-a-century flood when we first took office. The last one left in time."
There were major problems such as floods and famines during the tenure of office. By the time of the assessment, 80% of them were inferior, and promotion was absolutely impossible. They would be transferred to the next county... Qian'an is already a county, and then it can only be a county. Cheng.
Shutong is about the same age as Cui Xie, a lively and thoughtful age. Usually serving a group of serious and majestic masters, he didn't dare to say much, but when he met a young, mild-mannered, and good-looking peer like Cui Xie, he couldn't help but say a few more words to hide his usual heart. , Nowhere to say are dumped to him.
Cui Xie was also a little worried about the county magistrate Qi, but he didn't know what he could do to help him, so he lowered his eyes and listened silently all the way. The book boy sent him directly outside the county office. Cui Xie brought him some snacks in the car and comforted him: "The flood is a natural disaster, and the imperial court will not count the problem on the eldest man. I think the county in Qian'an County is now. I can't tell from the outside that I've suffered a disaster, but the adults managed well, and there is still more than a year before the assessment, so there may not be a turnaround by then."
The book boy sighed like an adult: "It's difficult. Our adults said that we will not be officials in the future, so we will build a village in the mountains of our hometown, write books and essays, and wander around the forest..."
Cui Xie said with a smile: "If the articles of the county magistrate are compiled into a book, I will definitely buy a few and collect them. The "Qian'an Confucianism" is very well written, with clear words and clear meaning, and the words are meaningful. Impressive enough."
The book boy suddenly lifted his spirits, held the cake and said, "Then I'll ask the adults to ask for a few articles for you. We adults privately say that you are a prodigy and value you very much, and I will definitely be happy to give you."
When Cui Xie heard the word "prodigy", his face was still red, and he laughed dryly: "Go back and have some snacks, I'm going home."
There are still people waiting in his house.
When he got home, Zhang's mother led a man in his fifties, wearing a blue three-shuttle robe, to kowtow to him. There was a young man in his twenties standing outside the door, also saluting him across the door. . Cui Xie hurriedly helped him up and said to him—and to the person outside the door, "I'm too young to bear such a big gift, and I won't do it in the future. I wonder who this uncle is?"
The old man stood respectfully with his hands down, revealing a bare forehead, and said calmly: "The youngest is Ji Houye, the shopkeeper of Zhirong Study in the west of the city, and I have seen the young master. All, young master, if you have something to do, just tell him."
Zhang's mother said: "The shopkeeper Ji is the shopkeeper of the shop your mother left for you. He also wants to see you these days, but unfortunately you are not at home and haven't seen you. Now that you are back, I will ask him to come over for you. As a gift, I will hand over the account to you."
Before yesterday, he was an abandoned son with no possessions, but suddenly he has a house and a shop, and a shopkeeper can make money for him. This change is really amazing. He didn't feel real for a while, and only called "Take the shopkeeper, count the buddy".
The shopkeeper Ji stared at his face, and the corners of his mouth were slightly curved, and he said with grief and joy, "In a blink of an eye, the young master has grown so big. I saw you when I went to pay the bill when you were still in front of Grandma Cui's. You have been a few times. Later, when you were old, you couldn't see each other again. Now this shop has finally been handed over to you, but the stock has been damaged because of the water. In the past two years, you have to pay for it. The old man is really shameless. you… "
Cui Xie held his trembling arm and comforted him: "Don't be sad, shopkeeper Ji, this is a natural and man-made disaster, not a human-made one, and the people in the store are fine."
Shopkeeper Ji sighed deeply: "Although people are all right, the books and engraving plates in the past have been damaged by water, and the money in the account is not much, only barely enough to buy some books for scientific research, but they are not sold. excellent."
In such a small county town of Qian'an, there are not many scholars, and no scholar can buy several sets of the Four Books and Five Classics.
What really sells well are the collections of essays, sour essays and scriptures after the annual scientific examination, but the essays from the Spring and Autumn Examinations have to go to Shuntian Prefecture to spend money to transcribe them, and the scriptures are out of date too quickly. Instead of chasing others. Their bookstore is now out of money, and they dare not do this kind of business with big losses and big profits. They can only survive by selling some classics and history books.
As he spoke, he held up the account book with both hands and handed it to Cui Xie.
The accounts are all newly made. In the old year, only the accounts and debts were roughly recorded. After the flood last year, it was not opened for more than half a year. Up to now, it still owes the salaries of the shopkeeper and the guys. It's better to close such a store, rent out the house and shop, and earn enough to pay the salaries of the staff in a year.
The shopkeeper Ji looked at the account book, his eyes were slightly red, and he said sadly: "The reason for the family to accompany this shop was to make the eldest girl's dowry more elegant and worthy of the talented uncle of the Cui family. Later, although the eldest girl was gone. , but the old man thought that the young master would read our family's books in the future, and he also collected a lot of books written by saints and great Confucians in the store, but unfortunately, there was nothing left in this flood..."
He was about to kneel down and apologize immediately, Cui Xie hurriedly stepped forward to hold him, and comforted him warmly: "It doesn't matter, I'm here. Those books can be bought again in the future, the flood has receded, we can always get over the better. of."