After the last experience, Rong Zheng found a new place for two important things, and instructed no one to leave the house, except for a few close ones, not to let others enter her bedroom.

Ma is in a hurry, but there is no way to take her for the time being. Rong Zheng still settles his province on time every day, but he and Ma maintain a superficial harmony, and in private, the two have no words to say.

Such a strange atmosphere lasted until the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month.

Rong Jiang is not at home, and he has a backbone. Ma asked the housekeeper's daughter-in-law to help make a list of New Year's wine, and asked him to go to the third room to ask when they would put the New Year's wine, for fear of time conflicts.

After a while, the maid came back and said, "The third lady has decided to make the fourth day of the first month. ”

Ma said: "Then let's be on the third day of the first lunar month." We couldn't have been behind them in the first room. When the time comes, if the table is not enough, let Qingfeng Lou send two tables. ”

The daughter-in-law of the housekeeper in front of me said: "This is the New Year's month, I'm afraid that Qingfeng Building will close." ”

Ma said: "If Qingfeng Building is closed, won't there be a Huixian Building?" ”

The housekeeper's daughter-in-law thought to herself that the banquet in the fairy building was expensive, and Mrs., you are not a generous person, where can you find it if you are short of silver when the time comes?

She doesn't need Rong Zheng to worry about these things about the New Year, she only thinks about what she has in her hands now. Rice, noodles, dried fruits, chickens, ducks, geese and fish sent by the village. She divided it into several points, and the larger one was sent to her grandfather's house.

At the beginning of this afternoon, I heard the red snail report: "Miss, the master is back." ”

When Rong Zheng heard that his father had returned, he was also happy, looked at the things piled up in the house and said, "You look at it and clean it up, and someone from the third room will send it to you." Let's take the rest to the upper room. ”

She added an extra red cloak and went up to the room.

Rong Jiang has just fallen home, and he is in the dust.

Ma waited for him to change his clothes, just served hot tea, and the couple sat and gossiped. The maid under the porch said, "Master, wife! The third lady is here! ”

Rong Jiang smiled: "I haven't seen Sister Zheng for two months." ”

Na Ma's expression was a little strange, and she thought to herself that she was well-informed, and she was busy coming over when she got home. What is she doing here? Can't wait to sue yourself? What about dismantling the stage immediately? Ma thought that he would one day be afraid of his stepdaughter. I can't help but feel ridiculous and pitiful. Speaking of which, Mama Zhou doesn't know how to do things. She inadvertently glanced at Mama Zhou. Mama Zhou was also worried in her heart, and hung her head busily.

When Ma was uneasy, he saw that Rong Zheng had already come in. As soon as she entered the house, the maid untied her cloak. Revealing a rose purple jacket underneath. Rong Zheng stepped forward and saluted Rong Jiang.

Rong Jiang saw that Rong Zheng was fine, nodded with a smile and said, "You are here, sit down." ”

Rong Zheng sat down, then asked with a smile: "Why didn't you say it in advance if Daddy wanted to come back, we thought you wouldn't be back here this year." ”

Rong Jiang said: "Tongzhi is not as complicated as the official affairs of the county. There are more than ten days of rest here. I'm not comfortable staying alone in Anyang, so I might as well come back and see you, fortunately, it's not too far from home. ”

Rong Zheng asked with a smile: "It began to snow in Bianliang 17, and it gradually cleared up on the 21st. Daddy didn't run into heavy snow on the road, right? ”

Rong Jiang said: "It's quite smooth." ”

Rong Sheng also came over and saluted in a proper manner. When Rong Jiang saw his little daughter, he couldn't help but think of Huiqiu, and when Ma heard about it, he asked people to invite her over. Rong Jiang said: "Come on, it's cold today." She walked back and forth with her pregnancy and the wind was blowing, so I'll go see her in a while. ”

Ma thought to himself, that Huiqiu was just a room, and it was a big face.

It happened that the servant woman brought the things from the village. Rong Zheng got up and said with a smile: "This is the New Year's gift from the two Zhuangzi this year, and it just so happens that my father is also back, and I just added New Year's goods." ”

It took the three servants several times to bring them all in. Rong Jiang remembered something and said with a smile: "I still remember that Sister Zheng asked me to give me rice, and I heard that it was produced in Lutang." When you said you wanted to plant rice, I thought you were joking, but I didn't expect it to be successful. I tasted that the rice was sweeter than the glutinous ones everywhere else. ”

Rong Zheng hurriedly said: "Not only rice, Bai Zhuangtou has made a weir pond this year and raised some fish and shrimp, I said that I can raise some crabs by myself later." Isn't it better to come out of your own field than what comes out of it? ”

Rong Jiang also praised and said: "You have put a little effort into it, which is very good." Next year, I'll be waiting to eat the crabs from my field. ”

Rong Zheng graciously grabbed a handful of dates for Rong Sheng and invited her to eat, Rong Sheng knew that his mother didn't like his sister these days, so he didn't dare to pick it up. He secretly glanced at Ma again. But seeing that Ma's face was like frost, her heart trembled, and she excused herself: "I don't eat sweet, I'm afraid of toothache." ”

Before Rongjiang went to see Huiqiu, Huiqiu came by himself with the maid.

Rong Jiang saw that Huiqiu had become much whiter and fatter than when he left, and his complexion was also good. There's nothing to worry about. The care of Ma seems to be very reassuring.

After a while, Rong Yu's family came over.

"Second brother, you have worked hard all the way!"

Rong Jiang smiled and said, "It's okay." How's the family doing? ”

Rong Yu said: "It's nothing. It's just that I've been busy reconciling accounts here, and I have to greet those shopkeepers, and I've been busy for more than ten days, and I'm just a little free today. ”

The brothers are broad, and Du and Ma have to meet each other. Said a few words that were not salty or light. Rong Xiao naturally joked with Rong Zheng.

Du Shi saw Rong Zheng and nodded approvingly and said, "Sister Zheng asked people to send me so many things, it's really troublesome." ”

Rong Zheng said: "It's just a little heart, don't dislike it, auntie." ”

"What a dislike, it's rare that you have this heart."

At that moment, Ma ordered the dining hall to be set up.

The family gathered three tables of people. In the kitchen, a mutton pot was made, and everyone sat around and ate the mutton lively, and rested until the evening.

Rong Zheng didn't say anything, but made Ma wonder what kind of medicine was sold in this girl's gourd.

At night, Rong Jiang and Ma talked about Rong Zheng's family affairs, and Rong Jiang only sighed: "She will be fourteen years old in the coming year, and she should settle her family affairs." As a mother, you should pay close attention to see if there are any suitable people. The most important thing is that the child has a good temper, can read, and is self-motivated. You can't be too poor if you have a family. Sister Zheng, we have raised her for more than ten years, and we have never suffered anything, and when we are parents, we are naturally reluctant to let her suffer hardships. ”

Ma Shi muttered when he heard this: "There are more and more conditions for the master, but I am afraid that I will not be able to find a suitable one for a while." ”

"No matter what, it should be decided next year, and the year after next will be a ceremony. You can get married. Such a little girl also knows how to operate, so it's fine. In addition to what her mother left her, I thought about whether to go to Shandong or Huguang to buy her a few hundred acres of land. ”

Ma Shi was a little sour when he heard it, and he said after a while: "Shandong is also good." Huguang is also good. I'm afraid that the ground is not cheap. ”

Rong Jiang said: "If it's not cheap, we have to buy it, is our family still short of those few dollars, and I can't even buy my daughter's dowry?" Then go to Suzhou and Hangzhou to buy her a few shops. ”

Ma even has an opinion: "How expensive is the shop in Suzhou and Hangzhou, has the master thought about it?" How much does it cost you to marry a daughter? ”

Rong Jiang said: "The example handed down by the ancestors is three thousand taels. She was the eldest daughter, and her mother went early. Add another thousand taels. ”

Ma heard that if Rong Sheng wanted to marry someone in the future, it would be according to three thousand taels, but Rong Zheng had one more thousand taels, so she was unhappy now, and said angrily: "They are all the daughters raised by the master, and they are all concubines, why is the gap so big." The master is too partial, I have no opinion that you want 4,000 taels of silver to marry your daughter, and Sister Sheng's will also be 4,000 taels in the future. Or follow the example. ”

Rong Jiang knew that Ma was unhappy. smiled and said to her: "Why is my wife so angry, half of this thousand taels is from the Qi family." At the beginning, the old lady mentioned it to me, saying that Sister Zheng would add a box to her when she got married. She loves her granddaughter, can I stop her? We will add some more money from the old lady, and give her a whole number, and buy a few shops, I think it is okay. It just so happens that you can find someone here to inquire about the starting price of the shops on the street in Suzhou and Hangzhou. ”

Ma is uncomfortable, and her adopted daughter is also a concubine. A bereaved eldest daughter is going to make a fuss.

"In addition to these fields and shops, you will have to worry more about the other dowries. Our family opened our own silk and satin village, and we chose the best materials. I don't have to say that. You have to be able to get your hands on the head and everything. Of course, I want to marry my daughter in style. The dowry was rich. Later, when she went to her husband's house, she would have a place to support, so that she would not be looked down upon. ”

Ma Shi wondered in his heart, and suddenly felt that his adopted daughter was also a little lower, and his eccentricity would not be like this. So he was unconvinced and said: "From then on, Sister Sheng's marriage will also have the rule of four thousand taels." ”

Rong Jiang was a little embarrassed: "After all, it is the rule set by the ancestors, I ......" He added: "If you add your own body to her, I have nothing to say." ”

"Considerably, where do I have any money. Can I come up with a thousand taels? Don't say a thousand taels, I don't even have a hundred taels. ”

Ma's slamming the door Rongjiang knows, she has been in charge of the family for all these years, he doesn't believe it, and when she talks about money, she suddenly feels a little intimate. Rong Jiang was already tired after a few days of traveling. He turned over and said, "Sleep, Sister Sheng is still young, I'll talk about it later." ”

In this way, Ma's resentment towards Rong Zheng has increased a little. Now that her biological daughter's interests have been affected, she has to plan well for her daughter.

The house has a new peach charm, hung red lanterns, and lights everywhere are in a hurry to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.

On the afternoon of the 28th, the mother-in-law who gave the New Year's gift came to the Yuwang Mansion. Ma liked it very much, and was busy with a reward for the best ruler and a penny. Which mother-in-law will be left to eat tea?

The mother-in-law also stayed for a short time and passed on the words of the princess.

"We, the princess and the princess, thank you for your wife's memory. said that the house prepared the New Year's wine for the sixth day of the new year, and invited the two wives and a few young ladies to enjoy their faces at that time. ”

Ma Shi nodded and smiled when he heard this: "The palace invites you to go." There is Lao Lao's old man to run this trip. ”

When Ma received the return gift, Rong Zheng also received a flower note from Mu Baowen, which was written with auspicious congratulations, and specially asked her to go to the palace for a banquet on the sixth day of the new year.

After Rong Zheng finished reading Mu Baowen's flower note, he involuntarily remembered that the lord of Duanhui County came, and thought that they had given gifts to each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

After thinking about it, she also asked people to take a red sprinkled gold note, dipped in thick ink and write a New Year's greeting. When the ink was dry, she called the grandmother below to help her send the red note to Qixia Villa.

That grandmother went for a long time to go back and forth to Rong Zheng.

"Miss Hui, it is said that the county lord went back to Beijing with the prince, and he is not in the villa."

"Well, wouldn't that be a trip in vain? It's cold, so let's go down and rest. ”

Mama said again: "But Uncle Mu took the red note and said to thank Miss and congratulate Miss on the New Year." ”

Rong Zheng nodded, so he didn't say anything. Didn't he call the temple his home? His sister is not in Bianliang, is this to guard the house for his sister?

On the morning of the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, the ancestral hall was opened, the portraits of the ancestors of the Rong family were hung, the wine and food were served, and the ancestors were worshipped.

When he returned to the upper room, Rong Zheng took advantage of the Chinese New Year, and his father was still at home. She raised the building yì.

"Daddy, the two crops left by my mother this year are better than the previous ones. Do you think you can officially hand over the Zhuangzi to me to take care of? If there's something I don't understand, I'll ask you again. ”

"Do you want to take over now?"

"Yes, I can't bear to let my mother's inheritance go to waste. There is also the shop in the ** workshop, I want to open my own pen and ink shop. ”

Rong Jiang was even more surprised: "You still want to do business by yourself?" ”

Rong Zheng smiled: "It just so happens that I have such a shop under my hand, and I want to learn to take care of it myself." I read the paperwork for the lease, and it was due in the first month. ”

Rong Jiang looked at his daughter and said, "Why are you a girl doing this?" Besides, there is no shortage of money to spend, it is better to follow your mother to learn how to be in charge, you like to play the piano, like to write, these are very good. Why learn to do business? ”

Rong Zheng insisted: "Anyway, our family is also a family that started as a business, although the family does not lack my two money, but I also want to experience it." In the future, my father will hand over other properties to me, and I will have the confidence to take care of it. ”

Rong Jiang glanced at Ma's and smiled helplessly: "It seems that this girl is itchy, what if you lose your capital?" ”

"I'll admit it if I lose my money, Daddy, just let me experience it myself, okay?"

Ma kept a straight face and didn't squeak.

Rong Jiang looked spoiled, and said with a smile: "Okay, look at you are still diligent this year, and you have done so many things." The affairs of the two Zhuangzi are handed over to you. But you have to manage it well. As for the shop...... Rong Jiang hesitated, looked at Ma again, and said after a while: "If you don't understand, ask your third uncle, but you are not allowed to come." Let the third uncle introduce you to a reliable shopkeeper, and then find you a suitable accounting room. Listen more to the opinions of the elders, you know? ”

Rong Zheng thought that her father said that she was young and ignorant, and he would blame her for messing around, but he didn't expect to agree so readily. When she saw Ma's gloomy face, she was satisfied, and she reassured her father with a smile. (To be continued.) )