Nantong City is not too big, divided into two cities, east and west.

The East Market is mostly shops, taverns, jewelry pavilions, and most of the people who live near the East Market are rich and noble merchants, gentry and eunuchs, so the East Market is also called a rich city by the people in Nantong City.

Compared with the east market, the west market is much shabby, and it is inhabited by small people, and it is called a flat market, also known as a poor market.

However, Nantong is close to the sea and has abundant waters, as long as the farmers are willing to put in the effort, they can get enough food in the fields, and ordinary people can make a living by fishing or moving at the wharf, so although the West Market is called a poor city, in fact, the life of each family can also go on.

Liu Lao Er is an old widower who lives in the alleys of Xishi, has no son to inherit the lineage, and only raises a daughter who he regards as a treasure.

A year ago, the daughter went out of the cabinet and married a talented scholar, Liu Lao Er was very satisfied with his son-in-law, who knew how to understand etiquette and literature, and worked as a scribe in the government, and took out his savings for many years on the wedding day to hold a feast, so that his daughter could marry beautifully.

I heard that there were several officials present on the day of the wedding banquet, which gave Liu Lao Er enough face.

After that, Liu Lao Er rejected his daughter and son-in-law, and lived alone in the old house, making a living by fishing and selling fish and selling melons and fruits.

According to Liu Laoer's statement, children and grandchildren have their own way of living, and they have their own way of living.

The neighbors will always laugh when they hear this, this old widower is afraid that he will be controlled by his daughter and will not be allowed to drink!

To say that Liu Laoer's skills in fishing out of the water are well-known in the entire West Market, every time he goes into the water, there is always a harvest, never empty the net, and occasionally he can catch the best clear fish, send it to the East Market to sell it at a good price, and then hit a pot of wine, with a steamed fish, a stack of peanuts, and sit in the tavern to drink all day.

In addition to fishing, Liu Lao Er also planted a few melons and fruits in his yard, and often transported them to the river to sell them to noble merchants, and he could also leave a lot of money, so his life was much better than that of ordinary people.

At the beginning of the morning, before dawn, the street stalls were already busy. The stall is not big, there are only two or three tables, and all of them are sitting.

When Liu Lao Er came back from the river with the fish basket, there happened to be a table of guests who were about to leave after eating, so he walked over and sat down, put the fish basket on the ground, and greeted: "The old way, a bowl of noodles, put two fried small fish in it." ”

The owners of the noodle stall are a middle-aged couple, with the wife cooking noodles and the husband greeting customers.

The husband replied and came over to clean up the table: "The second master has a good harvest today, you see, such a large clear-striped fish, it looks like it weighs three catties, how can it be sold for two dollars of silver, this is to send it to Xie Xianggong?"

If you want me to say, after the young lady gets married, why don't you continue to have one, the widow Sun at the end of the alley can look at you with a blank eye, as long as you let go, you can welcome the door tonight, and it is better to have a caring person to warm your feet than anything else? I can't say that your second master should be old and strong, and he will be able to give birth to a big fat boy next year......"

Liu Lao Er scolded with a smile, but his heart was also a little lively, the inheritance has always been a sore spot in his heart, the widow Sun at the end of the alley is less than forty years old, and her appearance looks still upright, if she enters the door, she may really be able to give birth to a son, and her body knows that although she is almost fifty, she is still very tough......

"Uncle, can I sit here?"

It is a common thing for noodle stalls to share tables, and Liu Lao Er thought about things in his heart, and waved his hand at will to signal someone to sit down.

The stall owner brought a large bowl of hot noodle soup and placed it in front of Liu Lao Er, with a few green vegetable leaves and two small yellow fish in the soup.

"This guest looked at his face, it must be the first time to come, my noodle stall is small, only clear soup noodles and wonton soup, you see..."

"Just take a bowl according to this old man's noodles and add a few more vegetable leaves!"

"Well, wait a minute!"

Liu Lao Er sniffled, came back to his senses, picked up the chopsticks and was about to eat noodles, and inadvertently glanced at the other side, this glance almost scared him to the ground, sitting in front of him was a young man, his face was a little dark, and his teeth were very white when he smiled.

I just saw it yesterday on the river!

"You... You're the ...... on the boat yesterday."

Liu Lao Er subconsciously wanted to stand up, this person in front of him was a big man, didn't he see that the big officials in the mansion had to salute when they saw this one in front of him!

Cao Wei smiled: "I didn't expect my husband to remember me, I have already tasted my father's melons and fruits, the skin is thin and the flesh is thick, the aroma is pleasant, if there is still one, you can send it to the Linfu Courtyard in Dongshi, and when the time comes, let people report it, just say that they are here to find Cao Wei, and I will know that my husband is here!" ”

Liu Lao Er nodded hurriedly, thinking that he would return home as soon as possible today and pick all the ripe melons and fruits in the field and send them over.

Silver money is absolutely unwanted, such a big man, like to eat his own melons and fruits, in the future, his face is like gold, who is not allowed to look high.

The stall owner brought the noodles up and put them in front of Cao Wei, Cao Wei ate two bites, and couldn't help but praise in his heart, the noodles are strong, the small fish are fresh, and a few green vegetable leaves are mixed in to complement each other, a simple bowl of noodles, but the taste is very good.

No wonder business is so good!

Seeing Cao Wei feasting, Liu Lao Er also let go of the nervousness in his heart and began to eat noodles, at first he swallowed slowly, for fear of losing his manners, but then he slowly let go of all of them and slowly talked with Cao Wei.

“…… Yesterday on the river, the old man thought that the old man was a guy from a big family, but I didn't expect you to be a big official, hey, it's not that the old man is talkative, the old man has never seen an official like you for most of his life, and he doesn't have the shelf of an official at all, so he just sits on the street and eats on the street, tsk! ”

"What does my husband think an official should look like?" Cao Wei put down his chopsticks and asked with a smile.

"The big sedan chair is carried by seven or eight people, and the official man in charge is wearing an official uniform and hat, and he speaks in a tone and tone, and the officials and masters that the old man sees are like this...... No, it's not all like that, not so much not with Xie Xianggong.

Xie Xianggong is an official who came to our Nantong not long ago, and he lives in an alley not far away. He is not very old, he has no official status, he is a good offspring, and the son-in-law of the old man who runs errands in the government is working under Xie Xianggong.

Xie Xianggong is a good person, he is kind to the people in the vicinity and kind, whoever has a disaster can go to Xie Xianggong for help, Xie Xianggong will take all the beggars who have no food to eat to the family and give them food.

We ordinary people want to send any good things to Xie Xianggong, you see, the three-pound clear-striped fish in this fish basket is to be sent to Xie Xianggong......"

"Don't hide it from my father-in-law, I am related to that Xie Xianggong, and this time I came to Xishi to find him, and I have to bother my father-in-law to lead the way!"

Liu Lao Er said happily: "This Xie Xianggong has always been inconspicuous, it turns out that there is such a relative as an adult, go, the old man will take the adult over!" ”

Liu Lao Er picked up the fish basket and walked in front to lead the way, and after a while, he came to a house, the house looked small, the door frame was not wide, and the book "Xie Fu" was written.

Liu Lao Er stepped forward and knocked on the door and shouted loudly: "Old dumb, hurry up and open the door, Xie Xianggong's relatives are here!" ”

A moment later, the door opened, and a hunchbacked old man with a beard walked out, glanced at Liu Laoer, and then looked at Cao Weiwei with a cloudy gaze, waved his hand, and motioned for them to enter the door.

"Don't blame adults, this old dumb man is this kind of virtue, he looks like this to everyone, I don't know if he was kicked out of the door by his children, dirty, like a beggar, lying at the door of Xie Xianggong, Xie Xianggong saw him pitiful, so he left him in the house and made a gatehouse."

Cao Wei shook his head, said he didn't care, and walked into the Xie Mansion......