After the banquet, Zhang Xing and Shi went to see Wei Yunhai Ye Hexiang again. Wei Yunhai didn't say anything, he was very happy about the return of the stone.

Ye Hexiang was indispensable to nag, first asked the stone not to go, they are not short of food or clothing now, they really can't do such a terrible thing. But when I heard that the stone had made a great contribution this time and had been promoted to the total of a thousand, he hurriedly asked: "How many grades of officials is this thousand?"

Zhang Xing and Shi both smiled and said nothing. Now the emperor doesn't know where it is? Wei Yunhai frowned and said, "What do you know?" The stone finally came back, what are you asking so much for?"

Shi touched his head and said, "Sort of, Wupin." ”

Ye Hexiang thought in her heart, Shi Shi is only in his early twenties now, and he is already a member of the fifth grade, so she doesn't need to talk about the future in the future? Wei Yunhai couldn't listen anymore and got up to leave.

Zhang Xing also dragged the stone away. After meeting Uncle Ye, they went back to the courtyard. The account books of the grain bank were delivered, and Zhang Xing looked at it. The stone shook beside him for a while, and he said, "Xing'er, I want to go to the yafu to have a look." ”

Zhang Xing's subordinates paused, raised their heads and said, "Go ahead." ”

Shi looked at Zhang Xing and focused on the account book again, feeling very uncomfortable, and after grinding for a while, he finally left.

Zhang Xing raised her head, twilight shrouded the courtyard, Brother Xi focused on the nine rings in his hand, and Mother You watched from the side.

Zhang Xing sighed. Yao Mingzhu and Shi can't erase their love for a few years, what does she have to worry about?

Gu Yu came in and replied, "Madam, Sister Baozhu is back." ”

Zhang Xing hurriedly let in. Sun Baozhu had already combed the woman's bun, wore a coarse cloth shoulder, and held a boy about half a year old in her arms, and she was about to kneel down when she came in.

Zhang Xing hurriedly said, "Don't kneel, sit down." Xia Zhi moved a few sons and asked Sun Baozhu to sit down.

Zhang Xing looked at Sun Baozhu carefully. She was slightly fatter than she had been a few months ago, and her complexion was ruddy and gentle. And the child in her arms was obviously born more like her, although he had a fat face, he could also see that his face was upright, his hands and feet were long, and he knew that he would be tall in the future.

Li Xi, who was playing in the yard, saw a little friend coming, put nine rings, and ran over. The threshold was high, and he couldn't climb a few times, so he rode on the threshold and smiled at his mother.

Mother You had already chased after her and shouted, "Little Ancestor, what are you doing running so fast?" and crossed the threshold with Brother Xi in her arms. Brother Xi struggled down and threw himself into Zhang Xing's arms. Zhang Xing picked up her son and asked Sun Baozhu, "Did the little brother take a name?"

Brother Xi looked at the kid in Sun Baozhu's arms without blinking. He was curious about his peers.

The kid in Sun Baozhu's arms also stared at Li Xi. Sun Baozhu took his son's hand from his mouth and shook his head.

That's not a name yet. Sun Baozhu has not let go until now, Zhang Xing doesn't know who the child's father is, and she can't guess what Sun Baozhu thinks in her heart. Sun Baozhu raised his head again and looked at Zhang Xing, the expectation in his eyes was clear.

"Do you want me to name him?" asked Zhang Xing.

Sun Baozhu nodded hurriedly. Zhang Xing looked at her eyes, she couldn't say anything she wanted to refuse, thought about it, took the pen at hand and wrote a word.

Mother You has been watching from the side, muttering: "Read?" handed the word to Sun Baozhu, "Thank you Madame?"

Sun Baozhu hugged his son and knelt down and kowtowed. Zhang Xing asked her to hurry up, sighed, and said, "Little brother, let's call Sun Nian in the future." No matter who the child's father is, Sun Baozhu is willing to be expelled, and he is unwilling to say this person, obviously he has affection for him. She gave the child this name, but also hoped that the child's father would one day know his existence, and he would be somewhat touched and have some pity for the mother and son.

Zhang Xing said to Li Xi again: "This is Brother Nian, he will be your partner in the future." ”

Li Xi is often taken out by Zhang Xing to meet guests, and often receives gifts from elders. Hearing Zhang Xing say this, he grabbed the rattle of the basket next to him, ran over to Brother Nian'er, and said, "Here you go." ”

Sun Nian was taught very well by Sun Baozhu, and did not take it immediately, but looked back at Sun Baozhu. Sun Baozhu smiled at him and nodded, and Sun Nian took the rattle.

Li Xi laughed, took Sun Nian's hand, and said, "Let's go play." ”

Zhang Xing smiled and said to You's mother, "Take the children out." ”

Mother You hugged Sun Nian and led Li Xi out. Zhang Xing looked at Sun Baozhu and said, "Brother Nian is not young anymore, come back." Although Sun Baozhu couldn't speak, he had been by her side for the longest time. She and Xiao Deyu are the people she trusts the most. She already knew that she was not like an iron bucket around her, so she didn't say anything about it, just said that she gave birth to Brother Xi'er, and she could be known by Shen Huaijin so quickly. As you can imagine, the people around her are not all reliable.

Who is it and who is not? Zhang Xing didn't want to investigate thoroughly. If people are too smart, they often don't end well.

Besides, Sun Baozhu can't speak, and it's not a good thing for Brother Nian to follow her.

Sun Baozhu bent his body with red eyes. Zhang Xing called Gu Yu and asked him to take someone to clean up with Sun Baozhu.

When everything was arranged, it was completely dark. After Brother Xi was grabbed by Mother You and washed his hands and face, he climbed on Zhang Xing's lap and looked up and asked, "Where's Daddy?"

Zhang Xing picked up her son and said with a smile: "Daddy has something to do, and it will take a while to come back, Brother Xi will go to sleep first, okay?"

Brother Xi nodded: "Okay." ”

Mother You hugged Li Xi out. Zhang Xing cut the candle flowers, and the stone came in. Seeing that his face was not very good, she asked, "What's the matter?"

Shi looked at Zhang Xing, her face was beautiful and picturesque under the lamp, and her eyes were dark and deep, like a mist through layers of water, which made him feel like he could see but couldn't touch it.

He felt inexplicably panicked. He has been gone for so long, and he has not returned until now, how can he not see anyone?

She should have known, but she still asked.

"Hmm. The stone replied anyway.

He didn't seem to want to say it. After Zhang Xing understood this, she didn't ask any further. cut the candle on the other side, put away the scissors, and said, "Brother Xi went to sleep next door." ”

Shi looked at Zhang Xing, she spoke softly and quietly, no different from before. But he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. Zhang Xing was about to go to bed, and the stone hugged her. The softness of the tentacles made his discomfort disappear in an instant.

Zhang Xing smiled, struggled a few times and didn't break away, then urged: "Go wash it." ”

The stone held it and didn't let go, and whispered: "Xing'er, my senior sister ......"

Zhang Xing turned around and interrupted the stone with a smile: "I know, she did it as a last resort, and it was Shen Huailin who forced her to do it......"

"You don't know!" Shi interrupted Zhang Xing's words in a deep voice, he looked at Zhang Xing, and the smile on her face made him feel very eyesore.

Zhang Xing was startled by the appearance of the stone. He looked angry, tense and angry. It seems that he is going to be ruthless in the next moment.

Zhang Xing reacted quickly, she patted the stone's hand, and asked softly, "Then what did she say?"

The stone looked at Zhang Xing, speechless. Because Yao Mingzhu's words are the same as what Zhang Xing said. But he felt very uncomfortable.

Stone bowed his head. Zhang Xing saw that he had relaxed, and he was also relieved. Originally, she thought that he didn't need to tell her about Yao Mingzhu.

Zhang Xing pulled away the stone's hand and got on the bed. But the stone suddenly came and pounced on it. Zhang Xing's strength is far inferior to him, so he can only rely on it. When it was over, she was tired and groggy.

The stone wrapped around Zhang Xing's waist from behind and whispered, "Xing'er, I won't see her again in the future." ”

Zhang Xing didn't understand, she felt extremely tired, answered vaguely, and went to sleep.

The next day, Zhao Zixing came over, and after talking to Shishi, he reported on the business situation of Zhangji Grain Store in recent times.

On the tenth day of the ninth month, when the Shen family's army set out from Yu'an and passed through Yuxian, Shi also followed the boat. Zhang Xing watched the boat go away, and after a long time, got into the carriage. Brother Xi didn't let the carriage curtain be lowered. Mother You coaxed: "Brother Xi'er, my lord will be back soon." ”

Brother Xi pointed outside and said, "Water!

Zhang Xing couldn't help but smile, this is the second time Brother Xi has seen the river, when they entered Qingmeng Mountain in the first half of the year, he was still young, and Mother You was afraid that he would be blown by the river wind, and he was wrapped tightly, he was ignorant, and he only looked at a corner.

This time I saw the whole picture.

"This is the Huai River. Zhang Xing said softly, "Brother Xi'er's grandfather's family lives by the river......

Zhang Xing remembered that Zhang Shui was born, and couldn't help but be stunned.

"Grandpa!" Brother Xi said after Zhang Xing.

Zhang Xing kissed Brother Xi'er, "Brother Xi'er's grandfather is amazing, he can swim from one side of the river to the other!"

There are few people on the banks of the Huai River who don't know water. Zhang Xing decided to go back, and began to let Sun Xin take Brother Xi to learn to swim.

Before September was over, Shen Qian's army took Lianchuan and Yexian. In mid-October, they arrived at the city of Anyang.

The price of grain in Yuxian County did not fall much, but rose again. As Zhang Xing had predicted, Jianghuai had not been able to harvest much grain this year. Wei Minwen was already planning to go down to southern Fujian again, his ship had not yet set off, and Zhao Zi'an, who had been at sea for more than a year, had returned.

When Zhang Xing saw Zhao Zi'an, she couldn't help but say, "Second Brother Zhao, it's been a hard year. ”

Zhao Zi'an is Zhao Zixing's younger brother, and he went to sea with the fleet last year, accompanied by Liu Laicai, Xiao Deyu, Wei Xiaoxia and others. As a result, the ship encountered a big storm at sea, and the whereabouts of Xiao Deyu, Wei Xiaoxia and others were unknown.

Zhao Zi'an touched his thin chin, laughed twice, and said, "Madam, this is what Zhao should do." ”

He has been at sea for more than a year, and the whole thing has changed a lot, he is tanned and thin, standing with the pot-bellied Zhao Zixing, no one can tell that they are a pair of brothers.

Zhao Zi'an then reported their trip to sea. In the past year, they went to sea from Yuxian County to Yizhou, passing through six coastal countries, including small countries such as Bosa and Yuanzhou, which are often visited by businessmen, and island countries such as Unan and Liandao, which are rarely visited.

In addition to encountering large and small storms along the way, I also encountered pirates. Fortunately, there were good horse gangs in their entourage, and there were also guards hired at high prices, except for the great storm, the rest were considered to have survived without danger.

In addition to the spices and bronze utensils that are often used in the past, there are also glass, foreign clocks, etc., especially the glass mirror that can clearly reflect things, which surprised everyone.

Zhao Zi'an was also very proud of the things he brought, pointed to the fan-sized glass in Zhang Xing's hand, and whispered: "Madam, I also brought back the formula of this glass mirror, if it can be produced, it will definitely be much more profitable than food!"

When Zhao Zixing heard this, he glared at Zhao Zi'an fiercely. However, he also admitted that Zhao Zi'an brought back good things. Especially this glass mirror, but it is much clearer to be commonly used at the moment, once it is produced, it will definitely make a lot of money.

Zhang Xing looked at it, but put it down. Of course, she knew that Zhao Zi'an was not wrong, new things, good things, once they came out, they would indeed make a lot of money. But at the moment, the world is not good, and it is difficult to eat enough, no matter how good these things are, it is not for her to do them.

She pointed to the account book and said, "Second Brother Zhao can ...... corn and sweet potatoes Kapok!"

Zhang Xing was stunned, and her face turned red with excitement, "Did Second Brother Zhao bring back kapok seeds?"

Zhao Zi'an nodded, but he didn't speak yet. Wei Minwu opened his mouth and asked, "Xing'er, is there anything wrong with this kapok?"

Zhang Xing shook her head and took a deep breath, "No problem, Second Brother Zhao, can you let me see the kapok seeds you brought back?"

Zhao Zi'an beckoned and said to Gu Yu: "Let Deputy Liu bring a bag of kapok seeds." ”

Zhao Zixing also felt strange and asked Zhao Zi'an: "Are your kapok and the grass cotton in southern Fujian the same thing?"

Zhao Zi'an replied: "It's a kind of thing, but it's better than grass cotton!"

Zhang Xing also nodded, when she used to open a weaving workshop in Jingkou, she knew that there was grass cotton in the southern Fujian generation, which was picked from plants, and it could also be made into cloth like the silk ball spit out by the silkworm. However, because its fabric, feel, cold, durability and many other aspects are not as good as silk fabrics, and the process is not as simple as linen, so the market sales are not satisfactory.

She didn't believe it at the time, so she specially asked someone to bring some from southern Fujian, and later learned that what she said was not false. The grass cotton was indeed a little different from what she remembered.

Liu Laicai quickly carried a bag of kapok seeds. Zhao Zi'an opened it with his own hand, grabbed a handful, and said: "The seeds of this kapok are similar to grass cotton, but the flowers produced are different." As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of snow-white cotton and came out. Zhang Xing took the lead in taking a handful, pulled it open and looked at it, and said happily: "Yes, this is it." ”

Wei Minwen, Wei Minwu, Zhao Zixing and others looked at the cotton in Zhao Zi'an's hand one after another. Zhao Zixing nodded first and asked, "Is this thing good to live?" 10810