When Fang Shu left Yuan's house, he had already changed the drum twice.

The back of the guest has disappeared at the end of the long street for a long time, but Yuan Lan, who is standing in the street, has not moved his footsteps. Behind him, the dark figure was dragged over the walls of the house across the street, climbed up to the ridge of the hall, and finally disappeared into the endless night......

The night was already deep. Most of the families living on this street have already turned off their lights, and at the moment, except for the two lanterns in front of Yuan's house, only the lantern in front of another big house on the front street is exuding a bleak light. The gentle night breeze brought the sound of silk and bamboo in a few wine shops outside the street; It is too far away, and the piano notes are all intermittent, but it is this fragmented tone that makes people feel the silence of the night even more. Suddenly, a few fierce dog barks broke the silence of the night in front of the big house on the front street! Then there was a miserable cat meow. Immediately afterward, two black shadows flashed past the family's door, and in the darkness there was an even more chaotic cry of dogs and cats.

Yuan Lan stood in the middle of the street, and he woke up suddenly until he could no longer hear the sound of cats and dogs biting in his ears. He let out a long breath, turned around, and walked into the house without saying a word. The old butler who came out with him to see off the guests was stunned for a long time before hurriedly following.

After entering the house, Yuan Lan first said to the housekeeper: "There is nothing wrong with me here." Go and rest. The housekeeper agreed, but before he could take a step, Yuan Lan asked him again, "Has San Lang come back?" "San Lang is his cousin Yuan Chi, and he is the third of Yuan Lan's uncles and brothers in their generation.

"Nope." The old housekeeper said, "In the evening, San Lang called someone back to pass on the message, saying that he had met two old friends on the way and invited him to a banquet with him. Yida Lang is looking for him for something? I'll go and explain to the porter, and when Saburo gets home, let them tell him and teach him to come over immediately......"

“…… Never mind. Yuan Lan hesitated and shook his head. It is difficult to have a punctual moment in the affairs of the feast; At first, it was said that three old friends drank and talked about a drink, maybe in a blink of an eye it was a large group of people, and when everyone was happy to eat and drink, you said a word to me, saying that the wine of the east house is good, the dishes of the Quaxi family are wonderful, and the little lady of the north family is the best hangover soup that can be adjusted, and the result is likely to leave this restaurant and rush to the next song shop; Sometimes the wine is in full swing, and it is common to change three or four houses in one night. In such a situation, God knows when the third brother will be able to get home?

He asked the old butler to rest on his own, and he didn't go back to the backyard, but walked into the study with a heavy belly.

Incense burns in the study, and when you open the door, you can smell the rich mellow aroma of the finest real Laganan incense. On the large bookshelves on the east and west walls, Nanmu bookcases are neatly placed on the high and low levels, "Yi", "Yi Note", "Yi Interpretation", "Yi Interpretation", "Poetry", "Poetry Interpretation", "Poetry Meaning", "Poetry Question", ...... Counting the bibliography, it can be seen that almost all of these books on the shelves on both sides are the scriptures and righteous books that must be examined in the imperial examination. Only on a small bookshelf near the table, there are several boxes of "Han Shu" and "Warring States Policy" stacked indiscriminately. In addition, in the corner of the table, there is also a box of "Wei Ce".

Yuan Lan sat down in front of the table, reached out and took out a volume of Wei Ce from the bookcase, and flipped it to the place where the bookmark was sandwiched. He hasn't gone out much these days, so he just flipped through books at home to pass the time.

But now his mind was in a mess, he couldn't read a word, and after turning two pages with the book in his hand, he threw the book aside irritably. He stood up and walked to the front of the large bookshelf by the west wall.

On the bookshelf to the east are Yi, Poems, and Books, and on this side are the Rites of the Zhou, The Book of Rites, Spring and Autumn, and Mencius; These are all books he read when he was a teenager. Since he failed the county exam three times in a row, he has given up the idea of seeking progress, and since then he has put all his mind on the family's business and trading. But he did not pass these books on to his children and nephews, but with mixed emotions, he placed these books in his study, along with the pen holder, paperweight, and inkstone he had used at the beginning, which was about a kind of memorial to his failed study experience.

He took out an ordinary ebony bookcase from the bottom of the bookshelf, and opened the box to reveal several yellowed pieces of old paper. The top one is the word he learned when he was studying, "Heaven and Earth, Xuanhuang Universe, Flood Desolation, Sun and Moon, Bright Sun, Moon, and Chen", these sixteen words made him get praise from his teacher for the first time in his life. Until now, he still remembers his Meng Shi, Mr. Du, who was forced to stay in Beijing because of the exhaustion of entanglements, and the gentle smile that appeared on his thin face when he pointed out these sixteen words and taught him earnestly. Mr. Du taught him for a short time, and after a year and a half, he returned to his hometown, and soon died of illness...... Later, the family hired two more teachers for him, but neither of them left such a deep impression on him. He looked at the sixteen crooked and uneven words, and suddenly remembered something. It looks like you haven't sent a letter to your husband's family for years, right? Moreover, now every Qingming Festival, he no longer remembers to burn some paper money for his husband. As soon as this thought came to him, he was shocked into a cold sweat. Could it be that he has forgotten his roots to such an extent that he can even forget about the friendship between teachers and students?

While he was feeling sorry for himself, there was a gentle knock on the door of the study twice.

A knock on the door woke him up. With a pale face and some trepidation, he asked, "Who is it?" ”

"Big brother, it's me." Yuan Chi's voice came from outside the door.

Yuan Lan hurriedly wiped the cold sweat, sighed, and said, "...... It's the third brother. Come in. ”

Yuan Chi walked into the study and pretended not to pay attention and said, "I heard Uncle Quan say that you are looking for me." What's the matter? He listened to Yuan Lan's voice outside the door, and when he entered the house, he peeked through the light of the candle flame, and saw that his eldest brother's face was pale and his forehead and sideburns were still a little shiny, presumably because of some annoying things that taught him to be flustered and stunned, but as soon as he knocked on the door coldly, he was frightened by himself.

Yuan Lanqiang smiled, pointed to the chair for him to sit down, poured a cup of warm tea and handed it to him, and then asked Yuan Chi without asking: "I heard that you went to drink with two old friends in the evening, why did you come back so early?" ”

Yuan Chi smiled, took a sip of tea soup, and said, "It's not about business and sales, it's that I happened to meet Huo Guozi and Mr. Jiang on the way home." They went to eat and drink together, and when they heard about Gu, they invited me by the way. He also said, "Both of them are working in the yamen, how can they be so drunk?" After drinking a few glasses of wine, I listened to the fairy lady's "Proud Horse and Defeated Street Pavilion", and then they gossiped, and then dispersed. ”

Yuan Lan was relieved. Since Yuan Chi is on the same road as Huo Shiqi and Jiang Jun, it is naturally impossible to get drunk and rest. He wrinkled his brows and thought about it, and then asked, "You are with Uncle Seventeen, is there a ...... for this?" Did you ask, did Shang Yandu say anything later? "He's still thinking about seamanship. But now he has no idea of buying shares, and he just wants to know if Shang Cheng is disgusted with him because of his nonsense.

Yuan Chi grinned and said, "I didn't ask ......"

Yuan Lan was anxious. How could the third brother not ask about such a big event? If it's not right, and it's hated by Shang Yandu, then ......

"If we are hated by Yan Duji, can our family still have a way to live?" Yuan Chi had a wry smile on his face. He didn't even know what his eldest brother was thinking. When Yuan Lan came back from the merchant Zhuangzi that day, he was frightened all day and earth, fearing that Shang Cheng would be ruthless to the Yuan family. He really couldn't stand it, so he persuaded him several times. But he said that all the spit was dry, but his eldest brother always couldn't understand the truth, and the more he persuaded him, the more reasonable he became, not to say that the disaster of the Yuan family was just around the corner. In the end, he simply stopped persuading. Hmph, his eldest brother wants to be a Qiguo who is worried about the fall of the sky, so let him do it!

Yuan Lan saw that he was silent and fell silent. But he still couldn't hold back after all, and after a while, he asked again: "When you talked to Uncle Seventeen and Mr. Jiang, you really didn't hear anything from their words?" ”

Yuan Chi shook his head. People like Huo Guozi and Mr. Jiang, even if they have some thoughts in their hearts, it is impossible for him to figure them out at will. He felt that if these two people had the idea of cleaning up the Yuan family, they probably wouldn't need the trick of Li Yifu, the minister of Wu Zhou, who was studying martial arts, to "use a knife in laughter". Besides, Shang Yanshan, what a heroic figure he is, how could he make these filthy conspiracy methods! He sighed and said, "Big brother, I didn't say you, I knew today, so why bother in the first place?" He had already persuaded Yuan Lan, don't treat Shang Cheng as a court official, just treat him as an old man of the Yuan family, a friend of Yuan Lan, in fact, Shang Cheng had a good relationship with Yuan Lan, walk and sit down when he has nothing to do, Lala gossip, talk about homely things, and invite Shang Cheng to go to the green and see the temple every other day, isn't it better than anything else? This was originally the golden rule of friends, and Yuan Lan didn't understand it; But he just didn't listen. The year before last, in order to compete for the sale of liquor, Yuan Chi suggested that he should give the trade to Liu Ji Warehouse, but Yuan Lan said that the liquor was too profitable, but the money was made a lot, but he offended the aunt of the Huo family to the end. This little thing can show how generous the temperament of the two families of Shang and Huo is. If you really don't want the Yuan family to make a living in this business, just Shang Cheng or Huo Shiqi, as long as one of them shakes his head or turns his face, even if the Yuan family is rich, has a semicolon and has manpower, it is impossible to get the liquor business. From beginning to end, other people's family members just didn't show up, even if the aunt of the Huo family was so angry that she fell ill, Huo Shiqi didn't say a word, let alone come forward to say anything. It was with this incident in front of him that he would persuade Yuan Lan to relax. But a relieved heart is a relieved heart, friendship is a friendship, and there should be no less respect than that! Especially Shang Cheng is also kind to Yuan Lan, which is also kind to the Yuan family, so he should be more respectful! But what did his eldest brother do? ran to joke with Erya, and joked about what to invest in navigation skills, is this the etiquette of the Yuan family to treat benefactors?

Yuan Lan didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he mentioned something else with a gloomy expression. He said to the third brother, "Fang Zangfeng came here just now. ”

Yuan Chi nodded and said, "I heard Uncle Quan say it when I entered the door. Big brother, do you have some fame and official position in Fang Zangfeng? "He had already heard about Fang Ji when he was having dinner with Huo Shiqi and them, so he wasn't surprised at all now. Seeing that Yuan Lan was silent, he persuaded him: "Big brother, this is the fate of Fang Zangfeng, we can't learn it." ”

Yuan Lan also knew that this was Fang Xuan's luck, and no one could stop it. But watching Fang Ji take back his fame and step into the imperial city, he just felt uncomfortable. Especially thinking that the note that helped Fang Cheng to move forward was still written by Shang Cheng, and the reason why Shang Cheng wrote a note for Fang Cheng was because he was introduced in it, which made him even more uncomfortable. Alas, how could he not have such luck?

His words left Yuan Chi speechless. Who can be blamed for this? If you want to blame, you can only blame Yuan Lan himself. Who told you to keep your mouth shut? Just like the day he went to the merchant Zhuangzi, he also explained before he went out, in the past, he threw the money directly to the second Ya is all right, but the eldest brother he wanted to make extraneous branches, and went to visit the county uncle, but in the end, not only failed to buy shares, but also anxiously frowned for so many days......

Yuan Lan raised his face and thought for a long time, then suddenly said: "You say, is it possible for us to learn from Fang Zangfeng's example and find a way to improve?" ”

Yuan Chi shook his head. How is this possible? Fang Shu is also the good luck of the dog peeing on his head, others can only envy, and want to follow his Nanshan shortcut to walk, but he can only fall and break the blood!

Yuan Lan said: "Not really. Let me think again. ”

Yuan Chi felt that it was impossible to come up with a good idea in one day or two nights, so he got up and said goodbye. The Yuan family is still the contractor of the commercial tax of the Shangguan Mansion in the East City, and the day after tomorrow is the day to pay the accounts, and he will go tomorrow to count the residential tax and tax in March for the purchase and sale of various houses in the Fang Market, and he cannot delay. There are hundreds of shops, and there are dozens of account books alone, and if you want to take inventory, you have to tire people to death; He didn't have time to sit with Yuan Lanku......