In November, the first snow has fallen, and the wind is getting colder.

Shuntianfu, Daxing County, Huangcun.

A thinly dressed young man hurried back to the village with a rudimentary wooden harpoon in his right hand and a crucian carp in his left.

"Brother Hou, I'm going to catch fish for your aunt in the pond again," the old carpenter Wang at the entrance of the village greeted with a smile.

The young man known as Little Brother Hou grinned, "Yes, Uncle Wang, it's almost the New Year, and you haven't finished your work yet."

"Hey, how can it be so fast in the past few years, after the Jinghua Iron Works got up, we people have eaten a few mouthfuls of Ansheng rice, and we can't finish the work, the old man received this batch of rakes, if it was placed in previous years, it wouldn't be sold out in ten years."

"Hehe, that's it, Uncle Wang's craftsmanship is solid, and the rake you make won't be bad for ten years" The young man praised happily.

Old carpenter Wang laughed, "Little Brother Hou is worthy of being a talent, and his words are good." But it's also strange to say, the Jinghua Iron Works makes so many plowshares a year, don't suddenly stop doing it in the future when it's sold out, my old man will have no place to eat. ”

Brother Hou shook his head and said, "Uncle Wang, the people of Jinghua are big, you are so old-fashioned." ”

"Yes," the old carpenter Wang was a little puzzled, "How old is it?"

Brother Hou replied, "The owner of Jinghua is the companion of the Wanli Emperor, and his uncle, you should also know, it is the old Gao Pavilion a few years ago, Gao Wen Zhenggong."

"Oops" Old Carpenter Wang hurriedly put down the planer in his hand, wiped his hands on his trouser leg vigorously, and arched his hand towards the north, "Gao Ge Lao is a good person, that is the little brother of the Qing Dynasty official Hou who has been praised by Hai Qingtian, don't you know, our ancestors originally had seven or eight acres of land, but unfortunately it was taken away a long time ago." A few years ago, Gao Ge Lao sent someone to Qing to call Qingzhang or something

Anyway, Leng found out that the land was lost by our old king's grandfather, and it was blackmailed, and then I don't know what's going on, the old man sent by the old Gao Ge called us over and made up the field deed to us, Brother Hou, you are a person, you say, such a good Qingtian master, why did he leave so early"

Little Brother Hou hesitated slightly, and said, "I heard from several young brothers in Wanping that Gao Ge was overworked and died of exhaustion. ”

"Ahh ”

Brother Hou just caught a fish and came back, his trouser legs were still wet, and he was a little cold at this time, so he hurriedly said, "Uncle Wang, it's not too early, I'll go back and make fish soup for my aunt first, you are always busy."

"Go, go, go." Old carpenter Wang smiled and waved his hand. When the little brother Hou left, he sighed and said to himself, "The little monkey is also a bitter life, my father and mother left early, an uncle raised him for a few years and died, and now my aunt is also sick, if it weren't for his own struggle, he was admitted to the diet, how could he survive?"

The door opened, but it was the old carpenter's wife who walked out, and said, "It's not, it's really strange and pitiful, if it weren't for his aunt's illness this year, if it weren't for the illness of his aunt this year, Brother Hou would go to the township test, and one of them would come back." If he had become a man, how could he have been so bitter as he is now, I heard that his family still owes sixty or seventy taels of silver."

"Yes, that's the money spent on treatment when his uncle was there, and it was rolled up by people, if he takes the exam this year, this bit of silver is not a big deal, but alas, a meal can only get how much Lu rice a month, I'm afraid I can't even pay the interest."

The old carpenter's wife said, "It's good that he's young, he's not yet twenty years old, such a young talent, people don't dare to force it, in case he is lifted in the future."

"That maybe." The old carpenter Wang shook his head and said, "What their family borrowed is the silver of the Guogong Mansion, and the grandfather of the country may not be able to buy a showman's face, even if he is lifted, even if he wins, although there is definitely no shortage of this money, but I am afraid that the silver that should be repaid will still have to be repaid." ”

While the old couple was talking, a strange and beautiful carriage came to the entrance of the village, and soon the carriage drove close to the field in front of the old carpenter's house. The second elder was wondering which old man had come to Huangcun alone, but a half-old child jumped out of the car, who looked to be less than fifteen years old.

The kid smiled and arched his hand at the old carpenter, "May I ask the old man, this is Huangcun."

Wang Lao carpenter's eyes were not bad, and he glimpsed that there was a mark on the carriage that he was quite familiar with, which was two crossed swords, in a half-encircled appearance, guarding a roll of bamboo slips in the middle, which was the so-called "trademark" opened by Jinghua last year.

This is a person from the owner's house, but he can't be lazy, Wang Lao carpenter hurriedly stepped forward and bent down slightly and said, "Good to teach the little master to know, this is Huangcun." ”

The half-grown child smiled and waved his hand, "Uncle, I'm not a little master, I'm just a scholar of the owner's family, my surname is Cao, you can always call me Little Brother Cao." ”

The bookboy of the owner's house

Wang Lao carpenter has ever seen the biggest official is just a royal history old man sent to Qingzhang Tianmu last time, the owner of Jinghua just heard Hou Xiaoge'er say that it is the nephew of Gao Ge Lao, that must also be a big official, how can the scholar's boy be he a country old man who dares to slacken, let alone call other people's little brother, and hurriedly learn the posture and bow his hand, "Ah, it turned out to be the big man sent by the owner, and the old man was sluggish and didn't know what the master was doing here"

The half-grown child was naturally Cao Ke, and when he saw that the old carpenter Wang called Gao Shishi the owner, he didn't react for a while, and said in surprise, "Why does the old man call my eldest young master the owner?"

The old carpenter Wang hurriedly said, "It was the old man who trespassed, and the old man was a carpentry contractor under the name of Jinghua Iron Works, and he raked the plow for Jinghua Iron Works, so he took the liberty of calling the owner." ”

"Oh, I see." Cao Ke smiled, didn't care about these idle things, and asked, "Since the old man is a local person in Huang Village, it can be known that there is a Hou Gongchen Hou Gongzi in this village, who is a member of the village."

"Master Cao is looking for Brother Hou" Old Carpenter Wang was slightly stunned, and hurriedly said, "Yes, Little Brother Hou just gave his aunt to catch fish in the pond, just beat the old man here, his family lives in front of a big locust tree not far away, Master Cao walked all the way forward less than a mile, followed the road and turned a corner

Cao Ke smiled and said, "Thank you for your guidance, then you won't delay your father-in-law."

"Master Cao." Old carpenter Wang hurriedly said, "You didn't come to ask Brother Hou for the debt?"

"Asking for debts" Cao Ke was stunned, "What kind of accounts"

Old carpenter Wang hurriedly briefly said the family situation of Hou Xiaoge'er, and then said, "Hou Xiaoge'er is very smart, although he missed the opportunity to take the township test this year, but he will definitely be able to win the next township test, and if he owes money, he will definitely be able to pay it back in the future." ”

Cao Ke's heart moved, but he smiled and said, "Uncle, you misunderstood, not only did I not come to ask for debts, but I came to help Hou Gongzi repay the money, you can rest assured." ”

Old carpenter Wang was skeptical, but he could only "believe" it, nodded and said, "That's good, that's good." ”

Cao Ke didn't say more, thanked the old carpenter slightly, turned around and instructed the coachman, "Remember the road, go, go to Hou Gongzi's house." ”

When he got into the car, the carriage gradually walked away, and the old carpenter Wang looked at the gradually disappearing rut with some concern, and muttered, "Come and help Brother Hou repay the old woman, do you believe it?"

"I don't believe anything," the old carpenter's wife said with a smile, "Maybe your owner has the wisdom to know that Brother Hou is a material, so come and make friends in advance." ”

"It would be nice if that were the case," said the old carpenter.

How did he know that Gao Pragmatic sent Cao Ke to come, not only to help Hou Xiaoge'er repay the money, but also to make friends, and even to send him a fortune