Zhao Weizhong is not an official eunuch, and it took one or two years to get rich, but before that, he could only be regarded as a well-off family, so there were not so many rules at home, and Zhao Ping grew up in Zhao Weizhong's house since he was a child, and he still had a little blood relative, and he also played with Zhao Shuilan when he was a child, and when he grew up, he often went in and out of Zhao Shuilan's boudoir to do things, such as cleaning, or moving items, there is no taboo, otherwise Zhao Ping would not be able to keep an eye on Qiuqing. Zhao Quan asked Zhao Ping to go to Zhao Shuilan's boudoir by himself, and in Zhao Weizhong's house, it was not a matter of etiquette.

Zhao Shuilan's boudoir is in the backyard, which is actually a set of houses, with different rooms such as a living room, a bedroom, and a study. When Zhao Ping came to Zhao Shuilan's boudoir, Zhao Shuilan's maid Qiuqing had already received the notice, opened the door in the living room, and stood at the door waiting.

Seeing Zhao Ping coming, Qiu Qing smiled and said, "It turns out that Brother Ping is back, but it's rare." ”

Seeing Qiu Qing, Zhao Ping didn't feel a little heartbeat, and tried his best to make his tone normal: "Yes, when does Miss usually come back, will she come back for lunch at noon?"

Qiu Qing said: "I definitely don't come back at noon, and even at night, I often don't come back for dinner." ”

Zhao Ping said: "Yes, this time I came back and brought some gifts to Miss, since Miss is not here now, I will hand it over to you to keep, and wait for Miss to come back and hand it over to her." As he spoke, he handed the gift to Qiu Qing.

After receiving the gift, Qiu Qing smiled and said, "When the young lady comes back, wouldn't it be better for you to give it to her yourself? Why do you want to give it to me first?"

Zhao Ping also smiled: "It's the same for handing it over to you." ”

Qiu Qing put away the gift and said, "Brother Ping, why didn't you give me a gift?"

Zhao Ping hurriedly said: "Of course there is." As he spoke, he took out a small wooden box from his pocket, opened it to reveal a pair of silver bracelets inside, and forced his voice to remain normal, saying, "This is for you." ”

Qiu Qing's face turned red suddenly, originally she just said it casually, but in fact, she didn't really have the idea of asking Zhao Ping for a gift at all, but she didn't expect that Zhao Ping really had something for herself, and it was a pair of bracelets. Qiu Qing is 12 years old in the Zhao family as a slave, now is 17 or 8 years old girl, she followed Zhao Shuilan to learn some words, idle and nothing has also read [Dream of Red Mansions], [West Chamber], [Peony Pavilion], [Peach Blossom Fan] and other books, also understand a little about men and women, see Zhao Ping sent a pair of bracelets to himself, this is a woman's personal jewelry, that does not understand Zhao Ping's meaning, suddenly only felt that the heart is like a deer, the root of the ear is hot, the mind is blank, I don't know anything.

Seeing that Qiu Qing did not refuse, Zhao Ping couldn't help but be bold, handed the box to Qiu Qing, and said, "Take it quickly." ”

Qiu Qing only felt flustered, and said incoherently: "I...... I don't want to... I don't want ...... No... No...... I can't want... Can't ask for ......"

Zhao Ping was about to say another more, when he suddenly heard someone outside shouting: "The master is back, the master is back." Both of them were taken aback, but Zhao Ping reacted first, hurriedly grabbed Qiu Qing's hand, stuffed the box into her hand, and said, "I'll talk to the master." With that, he left the room as if he were running away. And Qiu Qing was still red-faced and hot, and it took a long time to recover.

After leaving the room, Zhao Ping tidied up his military uniform again, calmed down his mood, and then came to the hall and met Zhao Quan head-on. Seeing Zhao Ping coming, Zhao Quan immediately said, "Quick, the master is back." ”

So the two came to the hall together, and at this time Zhao Weizhong was seated in the main hall, Zhao Quan took a few steps forward and said, "Master, Brother Ping is here." ”

Zhao Ping came to Zhao Weizhong in a few steps, saluted a military salute, and said, "Master." ”

Zhao Weizhong stood up, patted Zhao Ping's shoulder vigorously, and said, "Okay, good, I really look like a soldier." He looked at Zhao Ping's epaulettes again, and laughed: "I already have the rank of second lieutenant, not bad, not bad! I plan to stay for a few days when I come back this time." ”

Zhao Ping said: "I have five days off, and I will go to Germany after returning to the army, which will take about four months." ”

Zhao Weizhong nodded and said, "The official body can't help himself, this time I come back, just play at home for a few days, I still have something to ask you?" Turning his head, Zhao Quan said, "Has Ping'er's room been cleaned up?"

Zhao Quan hurriedly said: "Back to the master, it has been cleaned up." ”

Zhao Weizhong said to Zhao Ping again: "You just came back, it's the saddle horse tired, go back to the room to rest for a while, wait for the meeting to eat with me, and tell me how you have lived in the barracks this year." ”

In the past, Zhao Ping lived in a house with others at home, but now he arranged a single room for him, Zhao Ping put the luggage away, and then sat on the bed alone and thought about it, although he just said to Qiu Qing that he would mention it to Zhao Weizhong, but it was a blurt out under impulse, and how to mention it to Zhao Weizhong, Zhao Ping hadn't thought about it at all, and even thought of several ways, and felt that it was inappropriate.

And just when Zhao Ping was thinking nonsense, someone came to call him, it turned out that it was time for lunch, because this time Zhao Ping accompanied Zhao Weizhong alone for lunch, so lunch was in Zhao Weizhong's study. And Zhao Ping had no other way but to act at the opportunity, so he took the gift to Zhao Weizhong, came to the study, and first gave the gift to Zhao Weizhong.

Zhao Weizhong nodded and said: "Okay, it's rare that you have this heart, I'll accept it this time, and next time I come back, don't be so bankrupt, these are all the hard-earned money you earned from your military life, so keep it for yourself." Sit down and have a few drinks with me. ”

After the two drank a few glasses of wine, Zhao Weizhong said: "You know, I can have my current family business, all by relying on the line of overseas Chinese, and I am not afraid to tell you the truth, the Qing Dynasty is not alive for a few years, and overseas Chinese will go to Beijing sooner or later to sit in the Dragon Court, do you say it." ”

Zhao Ping smiled and said, "Master can see it." In fact, these words are not taboo in Qingdao at all. And in the future, overseas Chinese will sit in the Dragon Court, our family is the first to follow the dragon, and the master can be regarded as the founder of the country. ”

Zhao Weizhong said with a smile: "Actually, there are no taboos in Tianjin, but I am a businessman, even if I am the first to follow the dragon, I can't be the founder of the country." ”

Zhao Ping said: "Master can't say that, who said that businessmen can't be the founding heroes? Overseas Chinese have always attached importance to industrial and commercial economic industry, and many of them are engaged in business and entrepreneurship, and Western countries are all based on business, I heard that Western countries are all businessmen, so the national strength is so strong, as long as the master is good at business, there will be a day to come." After hesitating for a moment, he said again: "I came back and heard that the young lady is now working on an errand in the Tianjin government?

Zhao Weizhong said: "This is true, but Lan'er is a daughter after all, so it is not appropriate to show her face like this, not to mention that sooner or later she will marry and teach her husband and children." ”

Zhao Ping said with a smile: "But I didn't say master, you are still the old tradition of the Qing Dynasty, overseas Chinese are all in the new era, not only women can also be officials, even if they are married, they can also be officials, we know in Qingdao that many overseas Chinese still let their wives and concubines do things after they get married, so even if the young lady is married in the future, she can still continue to be an official." ”

Zhao Weizhong pondered for a while before he said: "Sure enough, being a soldier is different, and I have gained a lot of knowledge." ”

Zhao Ping said: "There, these are all learned in the army. ”

Zhao Weizhong couldn't help laughing and said, "Do you still teach this in the army?"

Zhao Pingdao: "The leaders said that our People's Army is a soldier in the new era, and we must not only learn how to fight a war, but also learn advanced cultural, social, economic, and scientific knowledge, and even if we retire from the army and return to society in the future, we will be able to become useful people; unlike the Qing court, even the several new armies established now teach soldiers to blindly obey, either foolishly loyal to the Qing court, or foolishly loyal to individuals. ”

Zhao Weizhong also thought about it after hearing this, in fact, he knew very well about the style of overseas Chinese, but he didn't know much about the army, and now it seems that he is still in the same vein, and after a while, Zhao Weizhong said: "Ping'er, now you are a second lieutenant officer of the People's Army, and your future prospects are still unlimited. ”

Zhao Ping was taken aback, he had never thought of leaving Zhao Weizhong's house, and hurriedly said, "Master, I ...... it"

Zhao Weizhong said with a smile: "You listen to me first, I don't mean to kick you out, but I can't let you be a person anymore, and we are also distant relatives, so let's do it, in the future, you don't call me 'master' anymore, just call me 'uncle', you don't call Lan'er 'Miss' anymore, just call 'sister' Lan'er will call you 'brother', and the other subordinates have also changed their words, what do you think." ”

Zhao Ping was stunned, in fact, he and Zhao Weizhong were originally distant relatives, and Zhao Weizhong should be called his uncle, but of course he understood that Zhao Weizhong did not want to ban this relation, but officially accepted himself as his adopted son, although he only called Zhao Weizhong his uncle, but actually recognized Zhao Weizhong as his father, which is of course a good thing, and he suddenly changed from a subordinate to a master in the Zhao family. Therefore, he said: "Whatever the master says, let it be." ”

Zhao Weizhong laughed and said: "Why are you still called master? ”

Zhao Ping said, "Uncle." ”

In fact, Zhao Weizhong did not think of Zhao Ping as an adopted son, but had already considered it when he sent him to join the army, Zhao Weizhong said to overseas Chinese that Zhao Ping was his nephew, and Zhao Weizhong's calculation at that time was: If Zhao Ping can't get ahead in the people's army, or if he dies in battle, it will be forgotten, anyway, he is just a subordinate with the name of a nephew; if he can mix up in the army, he might as well formally adopt Zhao Ping as an adopted son, so that he can not only strengthen his relationship with the people's army, but also have someone to provide for his old age and send him to his death。

And just now, I saw that Zhao Ping had been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, which is equivalent to a military general of the seventh grade, and Zhao Ping has only been in the army for more than 1 year, and there will definitely be room for promotion in the future, which strengthened Zhao Weizhong's plan, so he officially mentioned it while the two were having lunch alone.