It is said that Xie Kai boarded the carriage that came to pick him up from the Zhangfu, sat down in the car, and looked around with his eyes. It turned out that the appearance of this car was not very eye-catching, but the inside was very flat and wide, and the seat was covered with dark jujube red satin cushions, thick and slightly warm, first fur lining. Xie Kai touched his hand, his eyes showed surprise, and his face changed twice. At this time, Zhang Hui also boarded the car, and saw that he was sitting in the middle, not leaning on both sides, and immediately smiled: "It's good that you have a position, but you want me to sit outside?" Xie Kai woke up at this time, and hurriedly moved to the side to let Zhang sit back. After Zhang Hui sat down, he knocked lightly on the car board with his hand, and Yin Chun outside shouted at the car to start.

Vehicle movement. After a while, Zhang Hui saw that Xie Kai was just sitting upright, his eyes seemed to be condensed on the curtain in front of him, and he seemed to have a thoughtful expression, and couldn't help asking: "Why didn't you suddenly speak?" It's not like the usual Xie Qizhuang. ”

Xie Kai came back to his senses at this time, first looked at Zhang Hui, and then sighed and said quietly: "Zhang Huaiying, you hide it from me." ”

Zhang Hui was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Where did this come from? What am I hiding from you?"

Xie Kai glared at him for a moment and said, "Seeing that they are all in front of your house, they still refuse to tell me the truth? Who are you from, and what kind of background do you have? In the past three years, I have regarded you as your only friend and confidant." Since you said that you were an ordinary scholar, and no one in the three generations of my ancestors had ever been an official, I believed that no matter what I heard in the academy talking about, I never had any doubts. But now, what are you teaching me to say?"

Zhang Hui was silent for a moment and said, "I don't know why you suddenly said this. But I still say the same thing, my family has indeed been three generations before anyone has been promoted to the imperial examination to become a eunuch, and now it is the most ordinary family of scholars in this Changzhou city. ”

Xie Kai listened to him, only to feel that it was not true, shook his head and laughed for a while, wiped it casually, picked up the corner of the cushion, and said: "What an ordinary scholar! Ordinary reader, where do you use this? This thing is warmer than a dog's skin, and it is not as hot as a lamb's skin; it is not rustic, it is light and crisp, it does not attract insects and lice, and it is good for the blood of the legs and feet - it is not eye-catching, and no one can use this unless it is really exquisite. Say, 'Is there anything I said that was wrong in the slightest?'

Zhang Hui hurriedly smiled: "Yes, yes, sure enough, Qizhuang is the son of a family, and he is the most exquisite, so he can naturally identify the leather material." It's nothing, though. Because my old lady grew up in Shanshan, where there are the most wolves, and the wolf skins are used the most in daily animal skins, so I brought the habit to it. When did you see the people of Jiangnan using this? Not to mention a little bit of poetry and writing. The word 'wolf' alone is taboo. My family is an authentic reader, and I have chased up for ten or twenty generations, and there has never been a person who does not hold the pen and makes a knife and gun. ”

Xie Kai saw that he was meticulous in his defense and his words were reasonable, and his momentum was inevitably weakened by three points. But then he raised his hand and knocked on the wall of the car, and heard Yin Chun, the manager of the Zhang Mansion outside, immediately stop the car, and asked respectfully: "Young master, what do you command?" Zhang glanced back at Xie Kai and saw that he was speechless, so he said: "It's nothing." But where are you going now? Let's go to the early branch first. Go to the archway and turn west, and then wait for me to speak. Yin Chun responded, and then urged the car to go again.

Xie Kai sat crooked in his seat, looked at him coldly, and then said with a smile: "What, isn't this another living evidence? A warrant and an action, just such a quick response, even in my house may not be able to do it, what poor small family can have such rules? Don't talk about family rules, just how many family members can have two words." Without waiting for Zhang to answer, Xie Kai said again: "Also, such a spacious and comfortable car is equipped with a good horse that has been trained to pull the cart steadily, but your old man doesn't teach him to sit in the car." He didn't even sit with the steward in front of him, and he shrank a little bit behind the car with the little ghost of Jinbao. And you, who have always been generous and merciful in dealing with people, have not said more than a sentence -- you must know that in my house, the old grandmothers and nurses often sit in a car with the younger masters, and sometimes even they sit in the car, and I walk beside them--it can be seen that it is not negligence, it must be that your family has such rules since then. And what kind of people can have such rules?"

When Zhang Hui heard this, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. "Sure enough, you have a sharp eye, and you can see that I am doing things inappropriately. It's all because I'm young and rude, and I'm arrogant, so I didn't ask Granny Zou to come in and sit together. It can be seen that I have not learned the book etiquette well, and I have not deducted the rigid and dogmatic rules, and I have no real family demeanor at all. After that, he raised his hand and knocked on the wall panel of the car, and raised his voice and asked, "Granny Zou, are you cold in the back?" ”

I heard Mama Zou say loudly: "Brother Xie's care, the old woman has strong bones, and she doesn't feel cold at all, but this little doll speaks interestingly, and she sneezes three times in just two sentences." Fortunately, I always brought the ruyi pot given by the old lady in winter, and gave him a small half bowl of hot ginger soup to eat, so I was not afraid. ”

Hearing this, Xie Kai used his eyes more and more obliquely to return to the chapter, and said the words "Ruyi pot" while making a lip shape. After Zhang Hui finished the two sentences through the car wallboard, he hurriedly said: "Let's see, let's see, this is another one, see how you are still cheating." ”

Zhang Hui was helpless and said, "I didn't rely on it in the first place. I told you the truth several times, and there was not half a fake word, but if you don't believe it, what can I do?"

Xie Kai smiled: "Say whatever you want." Anyway, I will come to your house now, and since I have followed you, no matter how well you can pretend, I will know everything with my eyes?--You will not infer that you are not a big family, that you are not a family, that there are few people in a house, and that there is not a single room to be a guest with me, right?"

Zhang Hui was stunned for a moment, and then laughed again: "Qizhuang wants to live in my house?

Xie Kai heard that his words were wrong, his face was slightly annoyed, and he said, "Why are you serious or not?" I came out in a bit of a hurry, and you don't know it. Even the change of clothes on the ship was brought out by you and me. This time when I get to the ground, I have to bother it, and I will naturally find you in the future. Could it be that my classmates can't even make this credit for a few years? Or I just go to an inn to live in, which is also a kind of disposal. ”

Zhang Hui saw that he would be wrong, and he was even more embarrassed, hurriedly waved his hand and shook his head, and said with a smile: "Why are you in a hurry to say two words? Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand." Qizhuang wants to come to live in my house, so naturally it is welcome, where is there any other way to say it? It's just that since you have arrived in Changzhou, no matter what, you have to meet Gu Wenling and Uncle Gu first, and inform you of the whereabouts of your actions, so that you can act freely, and it is also in line with the rules of etiquette, isn't it?"

Xie Kai was immediately stunned and said, "You mean, Third Uncle Gu." Looking at Zhang Hui, seeing that his expression was extremely sincere, he was angry for a while, and a smile slowly appeared on his face. He took Zhang Hui's hand and said, "Look at my wooden fish brain-good brother, but thanks to your reminder, I only see him at my grandfather's house on weekdays, and I forgot that he moved to Changzhou earlier." My grandfather was the most stern in the family's rules of seniority, and I knew that I didn't even visit my elders when I arrived there, for fear that my mother would immediately ask me to come to the house! ”

Zhang Hui smiled: "Where is there such a strict zhòng? Qizhuang is just a temporary omission." ”

When Xie Kai heard this, his face showed a layer of shame, and he said with annoyance: "It's not an omission, it's really unintentional, and I can't remember what is important." If it weren't for Huaiying's reminder, I would have almost forgotten that my third uncle was in Changzhou at the moment, but now I racked my brains, and I couldn't remember my uncle's address, so how could this be good?"

Zhang Hui immediately laughed and said with relief: "What's this? You have a lot of miscellaneous things, and it's normal for you to not remember for a while." But in this Changzhou city, my family can know how good they are. As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and buckled twice on the wall of the carriage, shouting, "Uncle Chun." ”

Outside the car, Yin Chun hurriedly stopped the car again and asked, "What does the young master order?"

Zhang replied: "How many ways are we from the morning science workshop?"

Yin Chun replied: "I can already see the archway, and then cross a bridge and two hundred steps away." ”

Zhang responded, then turned to Xie Kai, and said with a smile: "Uncle Gu lives in Zaokefang, turn west through the archway, and the fourth house in the east of the alley." As he spoke, he propped up the window of the carriage and raised his finger to look at Xie Kai.

Xie Kai looked at his hand, only to see that the bluestone surface of the street was bright and smooth, a river next to it was clear, there were several small bridges across the river, there were wood, stone, bricks and mud, on both sides of the bridge or stone railings, or stone locks, or fence-like low walls made of bamboo to protect each other, and the bridgehead and bridge body were dotted with pine, vine, flowers and trees, at a glance, there was no one of the same. Xie Kai couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, the water town in the south of the Yangtze River is more flavorful than Nanjing." Turning to Zhang Hui, he said: "It's not far away, you and I might as well say goodbye here." I walked all the way, and I also enjoyed some of the good scenery of the ancient city of Yanling and the spring scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. ”

Zhang Hui smiled: "I knew you would love this one." Let's see. Just don't linger on the landscape and forget about business. Then he ordered to stop and get out of the car with Xie Kai. The two of them dressed up their own clothes, and then they said goodbye to each other. Zhang Hui said: "Worship Uncle Gu for me and say hello to him, I am really in a hurry today and have no time, I will definitely visit him in a few days." ”

Xie Kai responded, and also said: "When I worship Mr. Zhang's birthday, on the first day of his birthday, Xie Kai will go to the house to congratulate and salute." ”

Zhang Hui smiled in response, and the two said goodbye. Xie Kai went to the house of his third uncle, Gu Chong, and Gu Wenling. Zhang Hui also boarded the car again, and must have pulled Mama Zou to sit with him in the car, so he told Yin Chun to get up and drive, turn around, and go to Zhang's mansion.