The days are always long in summer, and even at night, the day is not in a hurry to get dark.

A few barks disturbed the silence of the night, and the door creaked open in response to the rhythmic knocking that had preceded it.

Chen Shilao looked at the person outside the door, and looked carefully through the light, but he felt familiar, and it took a while to recognize it.

"Isn't this uncle? Hurry into the house. ”

Chen Shilao introduced the person into the room, turned the gas lamp, and the room suddenly lit up, this lamp was newly bought by Chen Lu with the salary and bonus during this time, it cost a lot, but because he could read at night, it was worth it. Because the school has a gas lamp for free use, this one was left at home, so it's no wonder that people who came to see it were stunned.

Chen Shilao was wondering in his heart, if he didn't come early or late, why did his relatives come to the door at this time. It just so happened that Li was busy in the room at this time, and he also came out to ask when he heard the voice.

"Sanniang came just in time, come and see who is here." The appearance of his wife just solved Chen Shilao's response.

Li Shi looked at the door a few times, didn't dare to confirm, and finally asked timidly, "Brother?" ”

Chen Shilao happily beckoned the Hun family to move the chair, and helped the future person put down the bag of things on his back.

Li Jingming took the handkerchief and wiped his sweat, sat straight on the chair, and smiled at the two of them.

"I only knew that you were also in Borneo, uncle, but I haven't seen you for a long time, how many days have I not seen anyone."

"Where are the days, it's been almost two years, brother, you have lost a lot." Li complained angrily to her husband, blaming Chen Shilao for the negligence in his words.

Li Sanniang's maiden brother came to Borneo two years earlier than Chen Shilao's family, and only heard that he had been panning for gold here, and sent a letter to his family last year, saying that he was okay here, as long as he was willing to work, he could have a livelihood, so Chen Shilao also moved his mind to go to Nanyang.

It's just that when he arrived here, his son fell seriously ill, and the whole family was involved in right and wrong, so he didn't have the mind to look for this brother. After all, I only heard that this brother was panning for gold on the side of the Broken Hand River, but he didn't know the specific place, and Borneo was the most sparsely populated, and there were many wolves, insects, tigers and leopards outside the city, which was really dangerous.

It's just that today, the mother's family who has not met for a long time suddenly visited, which is really overjoyed, there is nothing more joyful than meeting relatives in another country, without waiting for Chen Shilao's orders, Li Sanniang went to the back kitchen to bring fruits and rice wine.

"I can't prepare anything in a hurry, so my brother will use some."

Li Jingming was not in a hurry to sit down, but only opened the baggage, and saw that there were some local products in it, and some of them were rare here.

"I just found out that you are also in Brunei, and it happened that two days ago, a wild boar caught with the brothers brought a leg, which is not comparable to the flavor of Fujian's hometown, and it can be regarded as meat."

No matter how the two of them answered, Chen Shilao's brother-in-law continued to sort it out by himself.

"There is also this bag of walnuts, which was brought by the family from my hometown in Fujian, and Sanniang hasn't eaten this bite for a long time."

Chen Shilao had already moved a chair to sit next to him, hurriedly took the things and handed them to the Li family, and persuaded again: "I don't know where my uncle came from, I think I have been in a hurry." ”

Li Jingming waved his hand, first looked at the furnishings in Chen Shilao's house, and suddenly had a bottom in his heart, and the two mustaches on his lips laughed, "It's not far, it's not far, and now it's not in the Broken Hand River, and it's very close to Kota Batu." ”

"That Kotabatu by the Gotayang River?" This time, it was replaced by Chen Shilao who was stunned.

"Within a radius of dozens of miles, which one else can there be besides that Kotabatu?" Li Jingming still said it without being salty or light.

Li Sanniang was a little surprised, "Aren't the people who used to pan for gold over there all from the Gota Central Department?" Why have you given up your territory now? ”

When Chen Shilao heard this, he immediately flaunted what he had seen in Hong Kong, "Sanniang, what year are you talking about?" Since meeting with the chiefs, which of the barbarians in the central part of Gotha is not an honest man? ”

Li Jingming also said: "My brother-in-law is right, and I don't hide from my sister that I and a few brothers from my fellow villagers only arrived here half a month ago, and I just heard someone say that he seemed to have seen a nephew in Hong Kong, so I came here." We are in the same Fujian Township, sisters and brothers-in-law should all know each other, the three brothers of the Ding family, as well as Zhao Zhong and Lin Wu, are now working at the chief's place, and Kota Batu has changed its name, according to the notice, it is called Keda Township. ”

Chen Shilao, who was listening carefully, sighed, "It's a shame that you can find here." ”

In fact, the Chen family is also stained with Chen Lu's light, the first batch of naturalized people have lived in the newly built unified dormitory, two-story small buildings are all standing in rows, like the Chen family A family of four is also divided into a small two-bedroom apartment, but compared to the shack they lived in the past, I don't know how much stronger. The brick and stone houses are more sheltered from the cold and heat, and they are much more comfortable to live in than the 'houses' made of unobstructed bamboo and wooden planks.

Of course, the house is not given for free, it is all from the HSBC loan, but because the whole family has been naturalized, the interest given to the Chen family is naturally taken care of, such a house, only converted according to the cost, the house payment is paid in 30 years at most, and only two cents of interest is simply given for nothing. With the current income of the Chen family, although it is nervous to deal with, it is much better than the original after all, and now the power of the Great Song Dynasty is getting stronger and stronger, as long as you follow the leaders, you will not have to worry about a better way out.

It's just that the Chen family has only moved here for five or six days, and it is a coincidence that this uncle who came from afar can find this place.

I just listened to Li Jingming's praise without words, "This is all the good creation of my sister and brother-in-law, and I can be taken care of by the chiefs." ”

Chen Shilao smiled and said humbly: "It's just a way to make a living, where do you think so much." ”

"Livelihood?" Li Jingming smiled and said, "Brother-in-law doesn't know how the outside world says about us naturalized people? ”

Chen Shilao was shocked again when he heard this, "Brother, you are also naturalized in the Great Song Dynasty?" ”

Doing things for the chiefs is doing things, that is according to the salary, but naturalization is different, at the most it is said that it has become the people of the Great Song Dynasty, but if you calculate it carefully, it can also be said that you have become the domestic slaves of the chiefs. Although with the great victories of the official army in the east and west, more and more people choose to become naturalized people, but after all, the time is not long, and in absolute terms, the total number of people is actually still two, so according to this, his uncle has been naturalized in only half a month after defecting to the chief, which is fast enough.

I heard Li Jingming half-explain and replied: "Without the advice of good people, how can I enter you on this big night." ”

Chen Shilao only looked at the uncle of this old woman's family carefully at this time, but said that it looked strange, it turned out that compared to when I saw it a few years ago, his hair was indeed much shorter, but it was limited by the light at night, and he didn't see it really before. It seems that his relative is really naturalized in the Great Song Dynasty, 'shaving hair and easy to wear' but every naturalized person has to go through, otherwise it doesn't seem to be able to show the heart, but the local Han people or natives, they don't seem to care about what 'body hair and skin, receive their parents', the chief said, shave.

The confession, which was jokingly called the certificate of good citizenship by the patriarchs, was different from the former Great Song Dynasty, not only a written certificate of officials, but also an identity document of ordinary naturalized people. Because there is still a difference with the ID card of later generations, the material cannot be standardized, and it can only be replaced by paper, but in the eyes of the people, it still seems to be well-made.

Although not all the people who have not yet been naturalized are not allowed to enter, he Li Jingming is a stranger, and there is no one to lead him, so it is really difficult to get in without this confession.

Hearing her brother say that she had to say goodbye, Li Sanniang couldn't hide her surprise, but Li Jingming didn't care, "It's a pity that I came from Long too late, and it took a lot of effort to come over from the Broken Hand River when I heard the news, but fortunately, I have settled down now." ”

Li Shi didn't care, and couldn't hide the happiness in his heart: "As long as people are safe, it's rare to be able to reunite with your family in this foreign country." ”

"Sanniang, where do you speak, where has this become a foreign country? How do the chiefs teach on weekdays? The continuous questioning made the Li family not embarrassed, because Chen Lu was valued by the chief, and now Chen Shilao walked with a straight waist regardless of whether he was at home or outside, and the most taboo thing was to hear that the Great Song Dynasty was not good.

Li Jingming ignored it, glanced at the room, and asked with concern, "My nephew went to bed so early?" ”

He had just heard about Chen Lu's serious illness a year later, although it was already well, he was not very relieved.

Chen Shilao didn't hide it, "Ah Lu Ji is now following Chief Fu, and he is so busy every day that his feet don't touch the ground, and he always stays in the school these days. ”

Li Jingming sighed again when he heard this, "It's still my sister's life, my nephew is a dragon, and his future is limitless." ”

The world is not stupid, with what they see in their eyes and what they hear in their ears, the strength of the Song people can also understand a rough idea, and they can get on the big ship of the chiefs early, what can they do except envy? Fortunately, this lucky young man is his nephew, and the benefits have finally declined to outsiders. The ins and outs of the incident that Chen Lu caused at the port at the beginning, Li Jingming asked clearly, and this opportunity was really unbelievable.

"What kind of life is good or not, in this world, it is best to live in peace."

"By the way, my niece is also in the school? I've heard that the chief's school is all about eating and living together. ”

Li Jingming also knew about the fact that both men and women had to go to school in the Song people's school, and he heard that not only did he have to eat and live, but also subsidized those who studied well, and he had never heard of good things, but he was thinking about sending his children to school as well, so he asked more carefully today.

"That's not true, Min Niang is young, and she is her daughter's family, and the chief allows her to go home every day to live." Li explained as he added wine.

"Oh." Li Jingming glanced at the inner room again, and asked hesitantly, "Fell asleep so early?" ”

"Min Niang is as weak as her brother and has been sick for several days."

"It's not a problem, is it?" Li Jingming immediately asked with concern.

Sanniang comforted Li Jingming in turn: "Don't worry, the chief of the hospital has seen it and said that it is just an ordinary wind disease, or the weather has been too hot for the past two days, and the children can't stand it." But there are two more days that should be fine, these days to go to school is not tight, just told to rest more, today came back to eat and went to bed early. ”

Li Jingming smiled when he heard this: "It's not an epidemic, this Nanyang just has too many miasma, and when I entered the door, I saw that there was a family outside that seemed to be dead." ”

Chen Shilao's face sank when he heard this, "It's the youngest son of the Shen family, I heard that he had acne and got sick urgently, and he was gone in just a few days." ”

Li Shi was also touched, "I've been worried about it these days, both of my family's bodies are weak, and it's good to really get acne in and out." ”

"Pox? It's a coincidence. ”

Li Jingming laughed, but he couldn't hear the mood in his words, but as if he was laughing at himself, he let his sister and brother-in-law raise their hearts to their throats and asked in unison.

"Someone in my brother's family is sick?"