For the whole day, Gao Xiaosan's expression was a little trance. He fought hard and finally survived most of the day, until the wine feast in the evening was over, and then he returned to the side courtyard where the family lived.

When he got home, he first went to visit his wife in the bedroom.

His lady was lying on the quilt, half-leaning and half-leaning on the kang. Seeing him lift the curtain and come in, a happy smile immediately appeared on her face, which was so pale that she could not see a trace of blood; It's just that this smile is similar to her current situation, and she is so weak.

The little sister, who was accompanying her sister-in-law, saw her brother coming back, and immediately packed up the few old clothes she was sewing on the chair and put them on the kang feet.

Gao Xiaosan sat down and stretched out his hand to re-fold and compact the corners of the quilt that were a little scattered. He asked his wife, "How is today?" ”

"It's better." The wife said. She's been saying this reassuring phrase for years.

"All the medicine?"

"The decoction has been drunk. I haven't eaten the Tranquility Pill yet. The wife said, "This is what the doctor has told me." It seems that the decoction I took this time is a bit similar to the Jingxin Pill, so I stopped the pill first. ”

Gao Xiaosan took the hot towel wrung by the little sister, wiped his face, and took two sips of the hot tea soup handed by the little sister in his hand. At this time, he felt that he was so tired that he couldn't help but want to slip into the ground when he sat in his chair, as if his legs and feet were not willing to continue to support his body. In fact, he didn't do much today, mainly talking to the people who came to visit him, and he didn't have any fatigue at all. But his heart is tired! Alas, the words that the monk brother said were too disturbing to him......

Although he deliberately did not let his face show fatigue, he and his wife have been married for fourteen years now, and after such a long time of getting along, who can not understand whose temperament? Almost immediately, his wife noticed that his expression was a little different from usual, and asked him, "What is the matter?" ”

"It's something." Gao Xiaosan nodded.

"Is it in the warehouse?"

"It's not." Gao Xiaosan shook his head. No matter how small the things in the warehouse are, he will not tell the lady; But what Shang Cheng said to him today, he would not hide it from his wife. He himself was a little undecided, so he wanted to know even more about the opinions and thoughts of his relatives on this matter.

His mother and little sister, one leaned on the kang head, the other sat on the edge of the kang, and the two of them listened quietly to him talk about the things before and after. After listening to his words, the little sister silently changed a bowl of hot tea for him, and the third lady grabbed the quilt and looked at the beam of the house for a long time before asking, "What do you think?" ”

"I can't make up my mind." Gao Xiaosan said. In front of his relatives, he, the big shopkeeper of the warehouse, does not need to put on a calm appearance at any time. In the face of such a big thing, he really didn't know how to make a choice. His family has a good background, with dozens of acres of land, if he is willing to study, maybe he can take the test and be a talent or something. But since he was a child, he couldn't read those ancient books such as "Poems" and "Yi", but he had a very strong interest in buying and selling for money. The family couldn't resist him, so they sent him to the Liu Ji Warehouse in the county seat as an apprentice. He is indeed talented in doing business, other people have been apprentices for nine years, but it only took him seven years to become the third shopkeeper of the store, and now he is the big shopkeeper of Liu Ji Warehouse, and more than a dozen semicolons all over Yanshan and the Central Plains have to obey his orders and assignments. He is a person with no ambitions, and even if he has to say anything about ambition and ambition, it is pinned on business and business. He hopes that one day the warehouse will be able to truly achieve "prosperous business and prosperous wealth to the three rivers", and at the same time, he will be able to accumulate a considerable fortune. As for what he would do with this wealth, he hadn't seriously thought about it. Maybe he'll keep most of them into buying and selling...... However, now another road suddenly appeared in front of him, a road he had never thought of: he was a junior in high school, the son of an ordinary peasant family in Yi County, and a former businessman, who would actually have the opportunity to embark on a career in office, and would become a general of the five grades! To be honest, he was very excited about this great future. Reason told him that he should not hesitate to follow Shang Cheng's instructions and devote himself to the army; This will not only glorify the lintel of the Gao family, but also completely change the door of the Gao family, so that the Gao family will leap from an inconspicuous farmer to a prominent family in Yixian County and even Duanzhou, and his descendants will also benefit from it! But emotionally speaking, he is reluctant to abandon his ambitions, if doing business and seeking wealth is also an ambition, where to go, he really can't make a decision.

His lady said very pertinently: "This is a good thing that others can't ask for!" ”

Gao Xiaosan nodded with a bitter expression. When Shang Cheng was a governor in Yanshan, he heard that many people went to Shang Cheng to seek officials; Among them was Seventeen Uncle's cousin, Huo Lun. But these people, without exception, all touched the ashes of their noses, helped Huo Lun's seventeenth uncle, and even received a scolding from Shang Cheng. Others wanted to ask for an official but couldn't, but he didn't want to be an official, but the military seat fell from the sky. Others are sad and depressed because they have no official to do; He is good, he has a great future ahead of him, but he is still sad and depressed......

His wife said, "It stands to reason that you should listen to the words of the monk and come out to be an official." ”

Gao Xiaosan was speechless. Yes, it stands to reason that he should be this official. Whether it is for him or for the Gao family, this will bring countless benefits. But......

When his wife saw that he did not speak, she knew that she might not be able to listen to what she said, so she stopped persuading. She has only so many opinions, and there is only so much truth she can say, even if she doesn't say anything else, her husband's heart must be very clear. Since he has been hesitant until now, there must be a reason for him. However, since the husband can't make up his mind on his own, he should find someone who has read more than him and knows more than him to help him read more. She immediately remembered someone, so she said, "Isn't Mr. Jiang in the village today, why don't you go to him and ask?" ”

Jiang Jun?

Gao Xiaosan thought about it and immediately felt that it was a good idea. He and Jiang Tuan are both one of the shareholders of the warehouse, and their shares are exactly the same, both of which are one percent, which makes their identities relatively equal. And Jiang Tuan is a warm-hearted person, as long as he comes to the door to complain, Jiang Tuan will help no matter what; Even if you can't help, you must clearly tell yourself why you can't help. What's more, he and Jiang Jun can talk about it. Although he was talking about specific examples of business and business, while Jiang was concerned with the so-called "economy" that was not "helping the people through the world", the two had a lot in common, which undoubtedly brought the two of them closer.

When he found the guest room, Jiang was dragging a reclining chair in the courtyard to cool off. Seeing him coming unexpectedly, Jiang Yan gave him a seat and poured tea for him, and said to him: "Brother Gongdu has gone to see his daughter." I was saying that it's a bit lonely and boring to be here alone, and it just so happens that you're here. ”

Gao Xiaosan politely said a few words, and quickly made his intention clear.

Jiang Jun held a pu fan, drove mosquitoes from east to west, and did not speak immediately. Since Gao Xiaosan made it clear that he couldn't make a decision, he had to help think about it carefully. However, this kind of thing is not clear in a few words, and the ravines and slopes in it are sometimes a hundred times more sinister than Gao Xiaosan's experience of going to sea. Since Gao Xiaosan sincerely begged him for help, he must be responsible for his words!

Gao Xiaosan saw that he didn't speak for a long time, and couldn't help but ask a question that had been buried in his heart for a long time: "Brother Jiang, your time by the side of Brother Monk is not short, what, how...... This ......" He suddenly realized that it was a bit hurtful to say this. He didn't have a good idea of how to phrase it.

Jiang Yan didn't care. He knew what Gao Xiaosan was asking, so he said with a smile: "You want to ask me why I am still an eight-rank petty official, right?" Gao Xiaosan nodded embarrassedly. As far as he knew, Jiang Luan's time with Shang Cheng was not much shorter than Sun Zhongshan and Qian Laosan, but Sun Zhongshan is now the founding father, and Qian Laosan is also the founding uncle, and other people are either generals or captains, why is only Jiang Tuan standing still?

Jiang Jian smiled and said: "They are knights and titles that they fought hard for, I am an official from a clerical background, where can I compare with them?" And he said, "Man is different from man." I don't have the courage to go into battle and fight for my life, so I can only stay in the yamen and slowly work hard to get my qualifications. ”

Gao Xiaosan didn't understand it anymore. At the wine table in the evening, Jiang Jian also talked about his brilliant achievements in defending the city in Duanzhou last year, and showed everyone the gold medal he hung on his waist to suppress evil spirits, is the gold medal fake? Or was it that Jiang Jun was drunk and exaggerated his military exploits?

Jiang Jun thought for a while and said, "Actually, the governor also asked me the year before last if I would like to give up my pen and follow Rong." I didn't have the guts, so I didn't agree. He stopped the fan in his hand, lowered his eyelids and stared at the dimly lit ground by the lantern, instigated his lips to be silent for a while, and explained dryly, "Let me go into battle to kill the enemy myself, I will never ramble half a word, a big deal is just a death!" It's just that I don't have the guts to assign someone else to die. You know, even the smallest officer has to command his men. Many times, knowing that it is a dead place, you have to send someone to it; I can't do that. One by one, I don't have the courage to command others to die. ”

Gao Xiaosan was silent for a while.

He clearly didn't have that kind of courage either. It's not that he hasn't used knives and guns face to face with the bandits, and it's not that he hasn't commanded the guys in the warehouse to fight the bandits' lives, so he doesn't feel like a timid person who is afraid of death. But that's all in order to save their own lives, so I have to do this. However, when he knew that he was certain to die, he taught him to direct others to die, but he couldn't do it and didn't want to do it......

He decided, and when he turned around, he told the monk that he didn't want to be an officer.

For a cowardly person like him, perhaps buying and selling for money is the most suitable thing for him......