After four years of managing Haitang in the prosperous land of Jiangnan, Zhang Xin not only did not lose weight, but looked a little fat, and his complexion did not change. This time, he was accompanied by two concubines, one of whom gave birth to a son a year ago, and the child is now ten months old. At this time, a nursing mother came up with her child in her arms to see it, and after reading it up and down, she said some auspicious words, but she had her own evaluation in her heart.

Zhang Yue looked at the only concubine of the third generation of the Zhang family in his infancy, and felt a strange feeling in his heart. After four years in the big family, he has a deep understanding of the etiquette of the concubine. Father Zhang Zhuo has been working hard everywhere in the past few years, coupled with his own efforts to perform when he should be, Rao is like this, and the result is only that the third room is not despised at home. What will happen to his cousin is anyone's guess now.

Having said that, if Zhang Xin's governance of Haitang was really practiced, he was blown by the sea breeze every day, and now it would have been so dark that it would not look good, but now this white and chubby appearance seems to have been raised in the water town of Jiangnan for four years, and there is really no hard work at all.

Zhang Xin and Zhang You brothers have not seen each other for many years, and this reunion naturally has to sigh, and there is no taste of brotherhood. However, as long as you are a discerning person, you can taste a trace of unusualness from the scene of brothers meeting each other.

Although the two talked and laughed freely, their words revealed a certain deliberateness, more unfamiliar and less familiar, as if they were more like colleagues in the officialdom than brothers. Zhang Yue once heard his father Zhang Zhuo mention that his two uncles often mixed together when they were young, and their relationship should be very good, but now it seems that it is not the same thing.

"Okay, okay, it's rare for you brothers to come back together, let's have a good seat in my room today, and everyone will have fun together!" Seeing that the room was full of children and grandchildren, Gu's face showed unconcealed joy, "Actually, my old wife doesn't expect you to soar, as long as your brothers work together, I will be satisfied." ”

Hearing this, not only Zhang Xin and Zhang You hurriedly stepped forward to agree, but Zhang Zhuo also hurriedly stepped forward to accompany the laughter and catered to him, which was nothing more than saying that brothers are one, and they should help each other and something like that. The sons expressed their attitude, and the three daughters-in-law naturally couldn't lag behind, and they all dissected what family and everything was prosperous, and at the same time took this opportunity to praise the sons and nephews of the younger generation.

When Gu Shi heard them praise a few small ones, his face suddenly bloomed with a smile, and he nodded immediately and said, "Brother Chao has been diligent in practicing martial arts all these years, and his achievements are just around the corner; Brother Yue'er is good at learning, and he is also very competitive in the field. Our Zhang family doesn't have any gentlemen, and I can be worthy of the ancestors of the Zhang family. ”

With the Gu family's ancestor setting this tone, when the family sat down to eat, it was naturally full of laughter. Gu was so happy to be flattered that he forgot the purpose of cherishing blessings and cultivating his body, and even ate half a bowl of rice. After the meal, the tea was served, and Zhang Xin and Zhang Youfang let people get the gifts brought from Jiangnan and Jiaozhi, and everyone in the room had a share, not to mention, even the girls in Gu's room were not left behind, and everyone was happy.

After all, Sun is a person with a body, although he has always sat and talked, but after sitting down for such a long time, he was also tired when he returned to his room in the West Courtyard. Seeing that Pearl put the various colors of silk and Su embroidery sent by Zhang Xin on the kang head one by one, she smiled at Zhang Zhuo and said: "The silk embroidery that Uncle gave us and the second room this time is the same, and he also gave Yue'er two Xiangfei bamboo fans and a set of four books and five classics. But the box sent by the second uncle is weirdly tight, and I really don't know what it is if I don't open it. ”

"At this time and that time, the second brother is now a great military achievement, since he has been awarded the general, General Zhengsi Guangwei is a little low, and he will move up again, and it is very likely that he will be on an equal footing with the eldest brother in terms of official rank. The Ministry of Industry was originally the Qingshui Yamen, and now the emperor is a heavy martial person, and it is difficult to say who will overwhelm who in the future. Besides, our family is not as good as before. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhuo suddenly found that Zhang Yue was standing there and seemed to be muttering, and immediately lowered his face and shouted: "Yue'er, what are you muttering?" ”

Zhang Yue didn't expect his father to be so sharp-eyed and wanted to prevaricate the past, but he thought that that sentence was undoubtedly the most appropriate for the occasion here, so he simply smiled and said: "Either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind, the eldest uncle has been rewarded, the second uncle has been promoted, and it is reasonable to go home and compete with each other." Anyway, it has nothing to do with our family, we just do what we have to do. ”

Zhang Zhuo couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and then scolded Zhang Yue a few words lightly, and then shook his head at Sun: "It's all because you spoiled your son, you are calm and cautious in front of outsiders, and you are open-mouthed in your own home." ”

"I just like Yue'er's temperament, if it's like a little adult in front of us, then what's the fun?" Sun pouted, then looked at Zhang Yuemei and smiled, "Yue'er is right, either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind, and we don't do our family's business, our family sits on the mountain and watches the tiger fight...... Well, a blockbuster! ”

Sun suddenly burst out with such an idiom, and Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Yue's father and son immediately laughed. Pearl on the side was busy cleaning up the things on the kang, as if she hadn't heard such a conversation between the masters. When she sorted out the gifts given by Zhang You, she sighed in surprise, and then turned her head and smiled: "Old lady, young master, this thing is so strange." ”

Zhang Yue only knew that his second uncle Zhang You had given him a big box of things, and he didn't notice that he was pulling things out like pearls.

It turned out to be an ivory!

Then it was as if a treasure chest had been opened, with ivory, tortoiseshell, amber, and even black wooden chopsticks...... All in all, all kinds of valuable and worthless things were piled up in the box, and the four people in the room were stunned. In the end, when Pearl took out a carved crane wood carving, Zhang Zuo finally sighed.

"After so many years, the second brother is still old-tempered, and he likes to mix good things and bad things together. Pearl, you call a few girls to clean these up, put them in different categories, and put them aside if you don't know them...... Although the eldest brother's Hangzhou silk and Suzhou embroidery are worth a lot of money, they are far worse than these. The eldest brother is also a knowledgeable person, and if he sees these gifts at this time, he must have a little headache. ”

Zhang Yue looked at the pile of expensive and cheap things mixed together, and thought to himself that the gift of the second uncle was really bold, and it was such a box of unprocessed "native products". It's just that who hangs a pair of elephant tusks or a big tortoiseshell turtle on the wall at home these days? Inevitably, these things still have to make some carvers in Kaifeng City make a lot of money.