Lin Dai is just a little girl after all.

Even if she is stubborn, but after all, she doesn't know what the difference is between boys and girls, and she is really tired after a day of traveling, so she has to endure her grievances and go to bed, and lift the quilt only to find that there is only one quilt, so she has to pout, lie down next to Shen Xi and cover it.

Although Shen Xi prides himself on being psychologically mature, he can't help but feel a little strange when he sleeps with a little girl, especially the adopted daughter-in-law appointed by the Zhou family.

But during the day, riding on the ox cart almost turned people upside down, and when they arrived at the place, they made bellows, and they were so tired that they fell asleep unconsciously.

It was quiet all night.

Shen Xi woke up in the middle of the night, Lin Dai curled up in a ball, and the corner of the quilt on her body was shivering. Shen Xi shook his head, covered her with a quilt, and then fell asleep.

The next morning, when Shen Xi opened his eyes, it was already three poles of the sun, and Lin Dai had already gotten up and was washing clothes with Zhou at the ancient well in the middle of the courtyard.

Shen Xi rubbed his eyes and walked out of the room.

Zhou was hanging up his clothes, looked at him a few times and scolded: "The stinky boy is lazy again, but Dai'er knows that she feels sorry for her mother, and you have to learn from her as a son." ”

Lin Dai snorted lightly, showed a smug smile to Shen Xi, and squeezed her eyes like a show of power, but said obediently: "Mother takes Dai'er in, Dai'er should help her mother do things." ”

Zhou's Meizi said: "Mother really doesn't feel sorry for my little heart, I will treat you as a daughter in the future, and let that fool stand aside." ”

Shen Xi was bored with a boss, so he had to stand by the ancient well and watch the two women, one big and one young, busy working.

Zhou said while hanging his clothes: "The stinky boy is hungry, right?" There's some porridge in the kitchen, and you're going to drink it...... Today happens to be the market day in the city, so my mother will take you to go shopping. ”

Lin Dai was very happy to hear it, but Shen Xi didn't take it seriously.

The market day is the day of the market in Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guizhou and other regions in the south, each town is divided into 147, 258, 369 staggered to catch the market, two adjacent towns, their market day is always adjacent to each other for a day and will not be repeated, so that both buyers and sellers have the opportunity to trade. If people have any needs, they usually take advantage of the market day to procure.

Shen Xi cautiously asked, "Mother, when are we going back to Peach Blossom Village?" ”

Zhou said: "When I came out, some people said that they wanted to stay in the city, why did they clamor to go back after less than a day?" Stinky boy, you know that you are used to being wild in the country, but you are not used to it in the city...... However, I have discussed with your father, and since the main family does not mind us staying for a long time, then simply stay longer. Anyway, the farm work at home is done, and we don't have much more, so we can go back when the autumn harvest comes. ”

Shen Xi asked with some skepticism, "Will grandmother agree?" ”

Zhou smiled and said, "I asked your father to find someone to write a letter back, even if the old lady doesn't agree, will she send someone to tie us back?" You kid can live here in peace! You don't have to look at people's eyes, you are free, and you are accompanied by a good girl like Dai, isn't it good to live like this? ”

Shen Xi nodded and said no more.

He originally wanted to stay in the city, although the county town of Ninghua at this time was much worse than those big cities in later generations, but he always traveled from Fujian to Jiangxi, and there were many more opportunities than mountain villages.

The most important thing is that if you want to go to school, you must stay in the county.

After breakfast, Zhou took Shen Xi and Lin Dai out to the market, and all the way Zhou's face was full of smiles, and he said to buy new clothes, and said to buy snacks for the two of them to satisfy their hunger.

Shen Xi thought to himself that his father should have given all the broken silver he had saved last night to the Zhou family, and the Zhou family was in the mood to come out to buy it when he had money in hand, otherwise he would not spend money lavishly with Zhou's frugality.

"Let's see if this material is good?"

Zhou and the two stopped in front of a cloth stall on the side of the road, constantly comparing two red cloths of similar color, and it seemed difficult to choose.

At this time, there were Jianghu artists performing stunts such as swallowing swords and spitting fire on the opposite empty dam, and Lin Dai couldn't take his eyes off it. Shen Xi, who had long been familiar with all kinds of tricks, was not interested, raised his head to look at Zhou, and said, "Mother, this material is good-looking, but mother, are you too bright to wear?" ”

Zhou scolded: "Stinky boy, before you came, you told your mother that you let your mother dress up beautifully, why did you enter the city and say such frustrating words?" But I didn't buy it for me, I wanted to make two more clothes for Dale...... I used to buy ready-to-wear clothes, and I didn't have such good materials. ”

"Why can't we dress too cold after we enter the city, even if we don't care, I'm afraid of embarrassing the master's family!"

Shen Xi shrugged and said no more.

Zhou spent more than 100 yuan to buy five feet of cloth, and then the three of them went to the tailor shop where they made clothes and gave Dai'er a measurement. Zhou himself was reluctant to wear good materials to make clothes for Lin Dai, but he was not distressed at all, Lin Dai's little face was full of gratitude, and she became more and more well-behaved when she spoke to Zhou.

It will take two days for the clothes to be made at the earliest, and when they came out of the tailor shop, the mother went to buy some necessary rice and grain to go home, all of which were carried by Zhou...... Although Zhou didn't look very strong, after all, he was used to doing farm work in the village, and it was not difficult to lift half a bag of rice.

It was already noon when he got home, and just as Zhou was about to cook, Shen Mingjun came back in a hurry and pulled Shen Xi out.

"Boss, where are you going?" Zhou hurriedly chased out and asked.

Shen Mingjun said: "There is a guest from the main family, saying that he wants to meet Xiaolang, no, Steward Liu asked me to take him over...... You don't have to worry, just cook when you need to, and if it's done and we haven't come back yet, let's eat it first. ”

Shen Xi was dragged by Shen Mingjun to the backyard of the Wang family.

There were already four or five people standing in the middle of the courtyard, all dressed in bright silk satin, obviously of high status.

The middle-aged man with a big belly and a round face and a plaid silk robe was talking about something, which caused a lot of discussion.

Afterwards, several people entered the kitchen.

Among these people, the middle-sized, energetic old gentleman in the center was the mainstay, he stroked his beard, did not express any opinion, just smiled and listened, and yesterday's high-ranking housekeeper Liu, who leaned over his waist and pulled the bellows to make a demonstration, looked extremely humble.

"I came to see the bellows."

Shen Xi muttered quietly.

He followed Shen Mingjun to the ground and was stopped by several family members, so he could only stand beside his father and look at the kitchen in the distance.

Waiting for Steward Liu to demonstrate the bellows, the old gentleman nodded in approval: "The mind is really ingenious, I didn't expect the bellows of the blacksmith shop to be used at home." ”

Carpenter Sun stepped forward with a look of anger, and after Steward Liu introduced him, the old gentleman asked, "Did you think of installing the bellows next to the stove?" ”

Carpenter Sun hurriedly saluted and explained: "It's true that the thing was made by a villain, but this is what I thought of...... But there are others. ”

"Oh? But the old man wants to see it...... Where are the people, and are they invited? The old gentleman walked out of the kitchen and looked around, but there was no special person in sight.

At this time, Steward Liu came out and beckoned, and asked Shen Mingjun to take Shen Xi forward.

Shen Mingjun bowed his head: "This master, my child is ignorant, and he has made a bellows out of the bag, so he is afraid of polluting your eyes, master." ”

Shen Xi stepped forward and saluted.

The old gentleman saw that Shen Xi was a little bit of a milky little man, his face was full of surprise, he pointed to Shen Xi, and then looked at Steward Liu next to him: "Isn't this little boy?" ”

Steward Liu replied, "It's him...... Yesterday the old slave went to his house, and saw that he was tinkering with this thing in the yard, and after careful questioning, he learned that it was used to blow fire on the kitchen stove, and he felt that it was a novelty, so he asked the carpenter at home to try to make one. Who would have thought it would work. ”

At this time, the middle-aged fat man wearing a plaid silk also walked out of the kitchen, Shen Mingjun saw Shen Xi looking up and down, and quickly patted his son's little head, reminding: "This is the master of the main family, hurry up and kowtow to the master." ”

The middle-aged fat man smiled and waved his hand: "No, the descendants of the house have produced a skillful craftsman, this is the blessing of my Wang family...... Now even the county government's Xia master book has come to see it in person, which can be regarded as adding luster to my Wang family. Mingjun, you gave birth to a good son! ”

Shen Mingjun lowered his head and laughed: "It's the master, you teach well." ”

Only then did Shen Xi know that the old gentleman was the chief secretary of the county government.

If you want to talk about this main book, but the county government is second only to the county order and the county Cheng's three in command, usually the ninth product or from the ninth product, assisting the county order to manage grain and horses, patrol and arrest. However, there are also small counties that do not have county records and master books, and only know the official history of the county. Generally speaking, the canonical history is in charge of arrests, prisoners, and "canonical cashiers."

However, although the main book is an official who has entered the order, in the final analysis, it still has to rely on the snort of the county order, otherwise the county only needs to assign the affairs to the county and the canonical history, then the main book will be hollowed out, and what benefits will not be obtained, not to mention, and if something happens, you have to take responsibility, which is a typical two-sided unpleasant.

Although the county lord of Ninghua is only a petty official from Jiupin, he is still a high-ranking figure in this county. There are two official words, and the local gentry who are not blessed by fame usually have to look up to greet them, let alone those low-status merchants.

Master Xia nodded and smiled, and asked, "Little baby, how did you come up with the idea of introducing the bellows into the stove at home?" ”

Before Shen Xi could speak, Steward Liu had already urged: "Little guy, Master Xia asks you something, hurry up." ”

Shen Mingjun said: "Master of the book, it may be that my children are a little afraid of ......."

Shen Xi said: "I don't know what the bellows in the blacksmith shop are like, this is completely my own idea...... I just want to make a blowing tool for my mother, and it is very hard to see my mother blow the fire every time I use the stove, and I want my mother to save some effort. ”

In a word, Master Xia couldn't help nodding.

In this era, no matter how good the work at hand is, it is only a lowly craftsman, and he cannot get on the stage, and he is the pride of this era to read! Confucianism puts filial piety first, and Shen Xi first defined his behavior as filial piety, just to win the favor of Xia Zhushu.

Sure enough, Master Xia's face was full of praise: "Not only is he a smart baby, but he is also very filial, and his future is limitless...... Did you read a book? ”

Shen Mingjun replied respectfully: "If you go back to the master, my child is only seven years old and has not yet entered school. ”

The fat man next to him said: "Lord Bookkeeper, you can't underestimate this family, the eldest uncle of the little baby is a student in our county, and the Shen family can be regarded as a scholarly family." ”

Master Xia thought for a while, and suddenly said, "Shen family, could it be ...... The descendants of Shen Tongzhi, who was loyal to the former prince? ”

After receiving the fat man's affirmative reply, Master Xia sighed and said: "Zhongzhigong was a famous figure in Tingzhou Mansion back then, but he didn't expect that the descendants of the Shen family would be so downtrodden that they would actually work in your mansion. ”

"This baby is so smart, it can't be delayed, it's best to let him enlighten and study as soon as possible, and he may be able to achieve fame in the future and inherit the mantle of loyalty and integrity."