Ning'er is just a lonely little girl, although she is a maid, but she dreams of one day flying on the branches and being a young grandmother who has no worries about food and clothing, but unfortunately her lover does not fancy her person, but the prescription in her mind.

Hui Niang was very worried, for fear that Ning'er would not be able to think of suicide, so she not only let Ning'er take a holiday to rest, but also let Lu'er and Hong'er take turns to take care of her, and really treated Ning'er as a young grandmother.

But two days after Ning'er lost her soul, she still regained her strength to work, because it was about to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Hui Niang would give out red envelopes every festival, she knew very well that Hui Niang had clear rewards and punishments, and if she continued to be lazy, it was estimated that the reward in the red envelope would be much less.

In the past few months, the business of the silver horn has expanded rapidly, and the amount of deposits has increased from only 1,200 taels at the beginning of August to more than 6,000 taels at the beginning of August, and the deposits received by the silver horn have exceeded the capital of the silver horn itself.

With money, it involves lending, Hui Niang attaches great importance to this, every time someone comes to borrow, she has to strictly review the other party's background and the value of the collateral, and find someone to evaluate the specific matters of the loan. Less than half a year after the silver number started the lending business, the first batch of money lent out has not been recovered, Hui Niang is worried that there will be a run on the market, so the silver set aside is very abundant, which restricts the development of the silver number.

This August, the Shen family's biggest concern was not business, but the township test held in the provincial capital.

Shen Xi's uncle Shen Mingwen, after three years of "tossing", stepped into the examination room again, he was originally the hope of the Shen family, and it was also the hard work of the old lady Li for a lifetime, as long as he can be promoted, the status of the Shen family will be different from the past.

After all, the Li family is old and frail, so she can't accompany Shen Mingwen to the provincial capital for the exam, and she doesn't allow Shen Mingwen's wife and children to follow, but she just lets her second son, Shen Ming, who has turned the tea shop from a profit to a loss, go bankrupt.

Although a year has passed, the Li family is still angry with Shen Mingwen, but when it comes to the major affairs of the family's prosperity, she is still very cautious, in order to prevent her eldest son from "running away with money". All the money was handed over to Shen Mingyou, and then the Li family stayed in Ninghua County with peace of mind, waiting for the good news of his son Guibang High School.

The township examination is held in August and consists of three examinations. Every three days, the place of the examination in Fujian is Fuzhou, where the political envoy of Fujian Chengxuan is located, since Shen Mingwen and Shen Mingyou went to the provincial capital two months ago, Shen Mingjun has been looking forward to the good news every day.

Shen Mingjun is now working well, and his monthly salary is about two taels of silver. There will be bonuses every holiday, and the annual income will catch up with the Qipin County Order, plus the dividends that the Zhou family received from the pharmacy, the money sent home every month is as much as five taels, and the Shen family is almost supported by the strength of the two of them.

But as the eldest in the family, Shen Mingjun has formed an idea since he was a child, as long as his eldest brother gets ahead, then he can follow the light and enjoy happiness, so no matter what he does, he will always serve Shen Mingwen's imperial examination.

Shen Mingjun seemed to have been brainwashed by the Li family. Even if he lives in Fucheng now, and the family of four lives a nourishing life, even Shen Mingwen's actions will not have much impact on their lives, he is still thinking about it day and night, and even the work at hand is a little slack.

“…… Lady, if the eldest brother becomes an official, then we will not be afraid of being bullied even if we do business in the future. "When I was having dinner on the night of the ninth day of the first month, Shen Mingjun chatted with Zhou again, counting the days, Shen Mingwen had already entered the examination room that day.

Zhou smiled and nodded. She didn't understand any of this for a woman who hadn't read a book, but she thought that there was always a benefit to having more than one official in the family.

But Shen Xi felt that Shen Mingjun was thinking too simply.

The premise of being an official is that Shen Mingwen is raised, and this possibility itself is not high, if it is said that this year's show is a rare animal. That person is an endangered species, otherwise why can a person be an official? And even if Shen Mingwen is lucky, if he wants to be an official, he also needs connections and money to dredge, Shen Mingwen doesn't know anyone in the court, and his family is not well-off, so how can he be promoted to let go of the officials who are really lacking?

Even if Shen Mingwen can be an official. He also has to be the official of Tingzhou Prefecture, otherwise he will not be able to shelter the business that Hui Niang and the Zhou family are cooperating with now.

"Dad, my uncle has lived in the inn in Ninghua for the past two years, I'm afraid he hasn't studied very seriously, it's too difficult to get into the middle school, right?" Shen Xi wanted to pour some cold water on the cheap father, so that he could recognize the reality and be the shopkeeper of his printing workshop more promisingly.

Zhou scolded first: "Bastard boy, you know a fart!" Your uncle did well in the exam this year, and even your grandmother thinks that he shouldn't always be locked up...... Being able to get a first-class student proves that your uncle has real talent and learning! You kid will give the old lady a show before you come out, so that the old lady is looking forward to you every day, can you? ”

Shen Xi put down the dishes and chopsticks, stuck out his tongue, and went back to his house.

He can see it, many times he wants to warn him, but the old lady is the first to jump out to support his father, they are husband and wife in the end, even if there are quarrels and grievances on weekdays, but they are one heart in the face of things.

Shen Xi returned to the room, lit the lamp, and casually took out the book of the official document "Article Authentic" compiled by Zhen Dexiu, a scholar from Hanlin in the Song Dynasty, from the bookshelf, and turned a few pages, who knows how he couldn't read it.

If it is said that Shen Xi's current talent is much higher than that of ordinary talents, but the imperial examination is not necessarily able to be won if you have real talent, which involves the examiner's preferences, as well as the understanding and application of some tricky exam questions.

Like the commentary on the scriptures, it is not difficult to have relatively fixed answers; But for the eight-strand essay, it is purely a matter of on-the-spot performance, and in the end, there is no fixed admission standard, the examiner will let you pass it, and the examiner will not let you pass, you just write it out of the blue.

Soon Lin Dai walked into the room.

The little girl had already washed before entering the house, and walked in with her bare feet and stepping on clogs.

The little girl is happy, because she doesn't have to wrap her feet and walks very steadily. Now when she was eleven or twelve years old and growing rapidly, she was originally half a head taller than Shen Xi, and now Shen Xi was standing with her, and the top of her head was not as high as her shoulders.

"Go out and wash your face and feet, or it stinks to death!"

Lin Dai frowned and said, yawned and walked to the bed.

This day is the ninth day of the new year, and it just so happens that Shen Xi Xiumu doesn't have to go to school, she and Lu Xi'er pestered Shen Xi for a day, and now people are a little tired, so they don't ask Shen Xi to tell stories anymore.

Shen Xi saw Lin Dai sitting on the edge of the bed on her knees, like a delicate wife waiting for her husband to fall asleep together, and couldn't help but sigh in her heart, now she is too young, if she is a few years older. It's easy to do anything, not only can you marry Lin Dai and turn her into a real little woman, but you can also take the imperial examination openly. Use real talent to learn to get ahead.

"My mother said that we can't sleep together anymore, and I will move back to the next room in two days." Lin Dai pouted and said.

Shen Xi turned sideways, continued to read the "Authentic Article", and replied: "Oh." ”

Lin Dai said dissatisfiedly: "Hey." I'm going to sleep next door, aren't you scared to sleep at night? ”

Shen Xi smiled and said, "It's because you're afraid of the dark, don't blame me for everything." ”

Lin Dai jumped down from the bed, stepped on the clogs and walked in front of Shen Xi, snatched the book, and looked directly at Shen Xi with a resentful gaze, not to mention how aggrieved her little face was: "You have no conscience, I'm so good to you, aren't you a little reluctant?" ”

Shen Xi spread his hands: "Dai'er." You just moved to the next room and slept in the middle of the door, didn't you sleep in two beds when you first came? Even if you miss me, you can come to me. ”

"Necrotic!"

Lin Dai directly threw the book into Shen Xi's arms, "No conscience, no conscience." ”

After speaking, Lin Dai went back to the bed, got into the quilt directly, and made a little movement. Shen Xi wasn't sure if she was crying, and she didn't think that Xiao Nizi should be so fragile. If you want to cry about such a little thing, then you are not a strong Lin Dai.

Shen Xi continued to read for a while before trying to walk to the bedside to check the situation.

Lin Dai lay in the bed, wrapped in the quilt and sobbing. Shen Xi poked his head over to see what was going on, because there was a snort, Lin Dai turned his head, and it happened to meet Shen Xi's eyes and nose...... Xiao Nizi really had pear blossoms on her face and rain, and she cried as if she was very sad.

"Dai'er, if you don't want to sleep in a separate bed with me. I don't want to tell my mother, so I'll just say it. Anyway, we are young, and there are some things ...... Can't do it yet. Shen Xi said in a soft voice.

Lin Dai wiped her tears and asked inexplicably, "What can't you do?" ”

Shen Xi smiled: "It's an adult's business, you don't understand." ”

"Phew, you know."

Lin Dai scolded, "Who is reluctant to you, I just thought of my mother, I don't know if my mother is doing well now." ”

"My mother must be doing well, she may also miss you, maybe at this time she is saying: My baby daughter, how are you now, do you miss your mother?"

As he spoke, Shen Xi naturally took Lin Dai into his arms and stroked her back with his hand.

Lin Dai pouted and thought about it, shook her head and said, "I miss my mother so much, I'm most afraid I won't be able to remember her appearance......"

Shen Xi continued to gently convince him: "There is a saying that the eighteenth change of the female university, the longer she grows, the better she looks, your mother will definitely not remember your appearance very much, but blood is thicker than water, and when you meet in the future, you will definitely recognize each other at a glance." ”

"Really?"

Lin Dai's little face was a little aggrieved, "You lied to people, I can't even remember my mother's appearance now......"

Shen Xi thought to himself, it's time for me to give full play to my talent in painting. He let go of the hand holding Lin Dai, and in Lin Dai's puzzled gaze, he said with a smile:

"Just draw our mother's appearance, isn't it? While you still remember, you describe her appearance, you say, I'll paint, and when the painting is finished, you often take it out and look at it, even if you meet again in the future, you can recognize her by the painting, right? ”

Lin Dai was slightly surprised, but immediately thought of a question: "You haven't seen my mother, how can you draw it." ”

Shen Xi pulled Lin Dai down and walked to the table, Shen Xi sat down on the stool, and said with the majesty of the head of the family: "Beloved wife, study ink for your husband." ”

"Don't be ashamed, who is your beloved wife."

Although Lin Dai said so, he still obediently studied the ink, but Shen Xi took out the charcoal from the "pencil case" he carved out of wood.

"You say, I'll draw it, and modify it in the wrong place, until I draw the image of the mother in your mind."

Lin Dai felt novel, but she didn't know how to describe her mother's appearance, she could only remember her mother's beauty and kindness, and nothing else could describe it. But Shen Xi had already started to paint, first finished a portrait of a beautiful woman, then looked at Lin Dai, and asked, "Does it look like it?" ”

Lin Dai's head swayed, like a rattle. (To be continued.) )