Shang Cheng soon returned to the village.

There were still two or three arrows away from the county uncle's mansion, and he saw two people standing by the Yimen, one was Gao Qiang, and the other was only a back, and he could see who it was. On the side of the road not far from the Yimen, a woman carried a large bag on her shoulder and arm, guarding two dolls. It seems that someone came to the village to join their relatives, but they don't know whose relatives it is.

Gao Qiang also saw him. I don't know what Gao Qiang said, the other person turned around suddenly, paused slightly, didn't even bother to lift his straight jacket, shook off his legs and feet and rushed over to this side. Probably because he was too anxious, the man didn't pay attention to his feet at all, and as a result, he didn't run two steps before he fell on the street. The soft foot curtain on the man's head also fell off, and he rolled out for a long distance along the newly repaired loess road in the village.

Gao Qiang couldn't help but laugh and quickly pulled Xun An up.

Shang Cheng also recognized Xun An. The day before Gu Yu, he went to Ganquan Palace to mourn the late prince, and met this unlucky guy on the way back. After hearing about Xun An's misfortune, out of sympathy for Xun An and respect for this person's character, he helped Xun An to pay off all the debts owed to others. He also deliberately gave Xun An some more money so that he could use it to repair the house and settle down at home. However, he didn't have time to worry about these things himself, so he left them to others, and then he had some other things at hand, and he forgot about it in Java Country. If he hadn't seen Xun An today, I don't know when he would have remembered.

He jumped off the horse, picked up the head at his feet, patted the soil on it, walked over and handed it to Xun An, and said, "Old Xun is here." Got it done? How's the family settling in? What about the house? Has the house been repaired? ”

He asked a series of things in one breath, and Xun An froze at that time, looking at him with blinking eyes on his face covered with dust, and he didn't know which sentence to answer first.

Shang Cheng just asked a few words casually, and he didn't want to hear any answers. And he said, "Go, come into the house and talk." What is standing here? He turned his face and frowned and said to Gao Qiang, "Why did you stop people at the door?" There was a bit of dissatisfaction in his tone. Gao Qiang opened his mouth to explain, but Shang Cheng turned back to talk to Xun An, "Let's go in and talk." As he spoke, he stretched out his arm and gave way, and then said, "Over there, it's your woman and the doll, right?" ”

Xun An still opened his mouth stupidly, and when he heard Shang Cheng talk about his mother-in-law and doll, he also turned his head, stared at his mother-in-law for a long time, and said, "It seems to be ......."

Shang Cheng was amused by his words, and teased him casually: "You don't even know your mother-in-law anymore?" Every day he burrows in a bunk ......" he shut. It would be dignified to say this any further; He and Xun An were not familiar enough to make such jokes casually, so he changed his words and said, "...... No wonder it sounds familiar. I remember that during the New Year's Festival, I was a guest at your wife's brother's house, and she went out to the market to help us buy food and drinks. At that time, it was still raining and snowing in the sky, and Yiyi was a good woman! You are also a blessed man. In fact, he had long forgotten what Mrs. Xun An looked like. But during the Chinese New Year, he happened to have a meal in a small restaurant owned by her brother, and he still vaguely remembers the situation at that time; That meal was indeed Xun An's decision to exempt him from the money for wine and dinner, so it was not unreasonable for him to say that Xun An had a treat.

Seeing that Xun An was still standing still with a sluggish expression, he urged: "What are you doing standing stupidly?" Go over and call them, and go in and talk. "Otherwise, a large number of people are blocking this door, and if an outsider sees it, he will definitely say that he doesn't understand the truth of hospitality. He had seen several busy farmers standing in the distance, and the number of them was increasing, because several of the dolls were running and shouting, "The master is here, the master is here!" ”

In fact, Shang Cheng didn't care about the rarity of the dealers. The countryside is like this, if there are guests in a family, especially those on the long road, it will take a moment for the whole village to know; If a new daughter-in-law or son-in-law comes to the door, there will be more excitement. When he first arrived in Huojiabao, he was treated as a novelty for two or three months; He's used to it. The problem is, this is not the past. Now on the other side of the river is Gu Shi's Zhuangzi, Gu Shi is very concerned about him, no matter what happens to the merchant village, even if it is a big thing, Gu Shi has to inquire and understand clearly, look back at the opposite scene, and immediately turn it out and teach him a lesson, what kind of gentleman's promise, what kind of leniency and severity, what is the difference between the master and the tenant, what is it...... There are too many to say for a while. Of course, he is similar, as long as there is an opportunity to "hit" Gu Shi, he will also spare no effort. He likes to tell stories to Gu Shi's grandchildren and granddaughters in front of Gu Shi, especially war stories, the purpose of which is to satirize Gu Shi, a Shangzhu country that has never led troops to fight. He will tell a lot of stories, such as "Single-knife meeting with Shang Yanshan to capture the living person Zhang", like "West Malaysia Zhishang Captain Zhizhi Breaks the Black Wind Village", as well as "Alegu Seven Entrances and Seven Exits of General Shang Lonely Rescue Comrades" and "General Zhan Mogan Shang Breaks Through the Joint Camp"...... These stories are all his own experience, the characters in the stories all have names and surnames, and some are even famous and strong, far more vivid than the characters in those singing dramas, and then after his artistic processing, it sounds wonderful. It's Gu Shi, who is also sarcastic about him, while listening to the story intently......

Now, he saw Gu Chan leading two maids over. She must have noticed what was happening in front of the gate, and as she walked, she smiled and grimaced at him, apparently teasing him.

He grinned angrily.

Fortunately, Xun An finally woke up and brought his mother-in-law and dolls over in the past.

The family came over, Xun An took the lead, and his mother-in-law and his two dolls knelt down neatly towards Shang Cheng......

Shang Cheng suddenly panicked, and said in a loud voice, "You don't have to do this, you can't do this", and hurriedly grabbed this and helped that one, but this one got up and that knelt down again, even stunned and anxious, and in the blink of an eye, a layer of white sweat appeared on his forehead. He was too busy to come alone, and when he caught a glimpse of Gao Qiang and several guards standing on the side, his eyes glared and he lost his temper: "My eyes are blind!" Roll over and help! ”

Gao Qiang and several guards came over, Gao Qiang asked Xun An to get up, and said to Shang Cheng with a strange face: "I think, I'm afraid they won't get up............"

"Vote for me? What do you mean? Shang Chenghao didn't understand what was going on. Take refuge? Join? Deed? Doesn't seem right! His mind went around for a while, but he couldn't find any words to describe the meaning of the word "cast" that Gao Qiang said.

Gao Qiang actually didn't understand what this word meant. He only heard about it from Xun An just now, and then took it out and sold it hotly. He explained in a whisper: "Yes, that is...... It is to sell yourself to your house and make you a slave and a maid...... That's what it means, right? The last sentence was to ask Xun An.

Shang Cheng froze at that time. He was completely speechless. He knew that the poor family could not survive, so he would sell himself or his family to someone else's house as a servant; In this case, there is a living deed and a dead deed, and the living deed is that the buyer and seller agree on a period of time, and at a certain time, either the contract will be automatically terminated, or the seller will pay an agreed sum of money to redeem his freedom; The death deed is to sell itself, and never mention the redemption of the contract in the future, and in this life, he will work hard for the buyer. However, what does this "vote for him" that Xun An came up with mean by this? He even thought, what the hell is this custom in the Central Plains, right?

No matter, pull people up first! When he turns around, he can vote for whatever he likes, even if he surrenders!

But Xun An just didn't stand up. Seeing that he would not get up, his mother-in-law stood up and knelt down again.

Shang Cheng was in a hurry, and there was no way. He thought, should he arrest the family first? No matter what others say, it's like being embarrassed at this gate!

It was just such a while, and a lot of people had gathered around, men, women, old and young, and there were three layers inside and three layers outside the more than a dozen steps. These dealers have already seen Shang Cheng, the main family, I don't know how many times, and they know that he looks fierce and evil, but in fact, he has a kind temper and is very good at talking, so they are not afraid of him. These croppers surrounded them, pointing and poking at him and Xun An from time to time, whispering to each other.

Fortunately, there is still a Gu Chan'er, she understands what Xun An is doing. But she didn't come over to relieve the siege recklessly, but let her maid call Gao Qiang over and teach him a lesson. Gao Qiang came back soon, and said this and that, and then Shang Cheng knew what he should do, it was very simple!

He coughed.

The surroundings immediately fell silent, and people opened their eyes wide, staring at him nervously and curiously, and the scene that can only be seen in the big opera is about to be alive in front of them!

But Shang Cheng's solemn expression suddenly froze. After being stunned for a long time, he suddenly bent down and asked Xun An in a low voice: "This, your other word is ......" Damn, he actually forgot what Xun An's table word is!

Xun An was also stunned, and only after a while did he mumble and say, "I, I...... I don't have a word. ”

This unexpected situation, which should have been a solemn and serious scene, became strange in an instant. The people opened their mouths in surprise and looked at them in amazement. Obviously, the situation in front of us was beyond everyone's expectations, and no one knew what attitude to adopt towards it.

In the midst of this silence where everyone was at a loss, suddenly, a chuckle came from a corner. The laughter was restrained; But just like a little spark being thrown into hot oil, it also immediately broke the silence and ignited everyone's emotions. At first, a few people covered their mouths and let out a "coo" laugh, then more people "giggled" and held back laughter, and finally everyone laughed, one by one, leaning back and staggering......

Fortunately, it was a kind laugh, and everyone couldn't help but be amused when they saw a very interesting thing. However, as the parties involved, Shang Cheng and Xun An were both ashamed and blushing.

Shang Cheng didn't dare to delay any longer, who knows what will happen if he asks again? He simplified the steps that Gu Chan'er taught him, stiffened his face, first arched his hand to the sky, then arched his hand to the ground, and then bowed to the surrounding villagers, and then leaned over to Xun An and threw himself to the ground, saying: "I have always admired Mr. Xun, with good moral character, uprightness, law-abiding and self-discipline, one by one, how can I be virtuous, dare to get Mr. help?" This was originally the last paragraph of the words that Cicada taught him, and he was afraid of making a fool of himself again, so he simply skipped the three important links of courtesy, narration, and consultation, and went directly to the last step. After speaking, he didn't wait for Xun An to speak, he bent his waist and stretched out his two arms, and invited Xun An to "respectfully" get up, which was originally what should have been done during the "salute", and said, "Mr. Xun, please!" ”

With a black face, he dragged Xun An towards the Yimen without saying a word. Cicada asked her maid to come over, called Xun An's mother-in-law and dolls, and followed them with a smile and a groan.

Pulling Xun An into the courtyard, turning a corner and no longer seeing the dealer who still refused to disperse outside, Shang Cheng immediately shook off his hand and shouted through gritted teeth: "Come on, lock up this 'Mr. Xun' for me first!" ”

Two wolf-like guards came over immediately, and without saying a word, they set up Xun An and left.

Xun An screamed miserably and sadly all the way, and his mother-in-law was so frightened that she hugged the two dolls and shivered, tears rolled in her eyes, but she didn't dare to say a word. If Shang Cheng hadn't threatened, "You dare to kneel down and try", she would definitely have to kneel down for Shang Cheng and beg for mercy again. Didn't the man say that Uncle Ying was "anxious for justice, good righteousness, and virtuous corporal", why did he suddenly change his fierce face?

Seeing that she was frightened, Cicada hurriedly comforted her and said, "Don't be afraid, Uncle Ying is teasing Mr. Xun." He'll be released tomorrow morning at the latest. ”

"Let him go tomorrow morning? Dream on! Shang Cheng sneered and said viciously, "If you don't say anything, you have to be locked up...... Tomorrow night! After saying that, he laughed first. Beckoned to a guard, and commanded, "You go and tell the housekeeper, let him come and lead the Xun family lady and the doll to the backyard, and hand them over to the young lady, just say that I said, this is my friend's family, let them entertain you." As for Lao Xun......" he hesitated. Just let Xun An go, he was really reluctant. He embarrassed himself for no reason, he has to be angry, right? After thinking about it, he said to Gao Qiang, "Lock him up for one night first." Find two clever ones, pretend to be sentry at the door, let him know some news, and don't teach him to be suspicious and make some other troubles. Do you understand? ”

Gao Qiang grinned, promised and ran to arrange it with a grin.

Xun An's lady was also completely relieved, and said endless words of gratitude beside her. But she is really not good at words, just a few sentences over and over again, and it is very annoying to listen to Shang Cheng, and it is not easy to have a seizure, so she has to laugh and keep silent.

When the housekeeper came over and led her to the backyard, Shang Chengcai finally cleared up.

He let out a long sigh of relief, and then he found that Cicada was still in front of him, so he asked her strangely: "If you don't go to Yue'er and them, what are you doing with me?" ”

"My dad asked me to invite you to play chess with him."

Shang Benlai also said that he would continue to study the problem of the meridian, and when he heard Cicada say this, he immediately changed his mind. The matter of the meridian is not in a hurry, the old man of Yinggu is the first! Especially considering that Gu Shi didn't know what bad things he had done recently, his chess strength had dropped greatly, and he could barely compete with him before, but now he can only be slaughtered by him like chopping melons and vegetables. In the past ten days, he has won four games in a row against Gu Shi, and moved back from Gu's house with two good horses, a Zhou Ding and a set of "Warring States Policy" copied by the Jin people. Since Old Man Gu is taking bad luck, then he has to take advantage of the victory to pursue. Since Gu Shi still wants to lose something, dare not teach him to get his wish?

He happily said to the cicada: "Then I'll go over, don't dare to teach your father to wait in a hurry!" "After that, he turned around and left.