The group of four quietly returned home, and it was already the middle of the day. Worried that his parents would ask him to eat, Deng Xiaoke led everyone to walk towards his small courtyard. Arriving at the door of the backyard, Xu Anping consciously slowed down.

Deng Xiaoke hurriedly returned to the room and said to Xu Anping: "Deng Jiu, what are you doing slowly?" Why don't you send me something in a hurry. Look at how obedient Deng Ba is, he has been following honestly. The big black dog seemed to hear that it was praised by its owner, and waged its tail more happily excitedly, and ran around a few people with a big grin, arching its head to the hands of the Deng family sisters and brothers from time to time.

Hearing that the eldest lady of the Deng family compared herself with a dog, and she was completely defeated, Xu Anping was also speechless. So, he followed her three or four steps behind and walked into the backyard for the first time.

Xu Anping held something and walked in the corridor with his head down, while also looking at the layout of the backyard with the rest of his eyes. Well, the small cross-courtyard in the east should be where the little young master lives, and sure enough, Deng Xiaoke asked him to send some of the snacks over there. Then, he sent the rest of the things to Deng Xiaoke's yard in the west. Xu Anping stood at the gate of the small courtyard, waiting for the maid Huan'er to come over and get things. Out of caution, he did not look around when he stood, but just turned his neck in an imperceptible way, glanced at the pavilions, corridors, flowers and trees in the backyard, and after identifying the residence of the head of the family, Deng Yongming, he did not make any movements. What Xu Anping didn't know was that Deng Xiaoke was also quietly paying attention to him, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him honestly hanging his head and not looking around.

After asking Huan'er to sort out everything, Deng Xiaoke realized that the embroidery needle he was going to buy today had been forgotten, so he beat his little head in annoyance. At this time, he saw that Xu Anping was still waiting at the door, his eyes lit up, and he ordered: "Deng Jiu, tomorrow you go to the blacksmith shop in the south of the city to buy a few embroidery needles and come back." Don't go for a sewing kit, the needles are too thin, buy a slightly thicker one. As she spoke, her face turned red, and she obviously felt a little embarrassed for a girl to say such a thing.

"Okay, Miss, I'll buy it tomorrow. If you have no other orders, I'll go back first. ”

After receiving permission, Xu An bowed, took two steps back and turned to leave.

After Xu Anping returned to his residence, he was envious again. He didn't say much about today, but went back to his room and chatted with the other three for a while before taking off his coat and lying down to sleep. Closing his eyes, the familiar dream reappeared, Xu Anping saw Anna running towards him quickly, with a panicked look on his face, "Yiming, run!" Run! 'Old King' they came after him. Leave me alone, you go first! Xu Anping felt his heart ache in his dreams, as if he was about to explode. Without hesitation, he rushed to Anna, raised his hand and fired several ......shots at the pursuers behind him. Anna, who was rescued, hugged Xu Yiming's neck tightly, and then brought her bright red lips over. Xu Yiming saw Anna's face a little suspicious when he saw it up close, it didn't seem to be as familiar as before, how did he feel like Yi Lian'er, and his eyes were a little like Deng Xiaoke? Xu Anping suddenly woke up from his dream, only to find that he was sweating profusely. When I looked up at the window, it was already dawn, and no one told me to get up and work. Maybe today, I still have the task ordered by Miss Deng.

After Xu Anping hurriedly got up and explained the reason to Steward Cai, he went to the blacksmith shop in the south of the city to buy embroidery needles.

"Master, do you have a sharpened needle here? The kind that is slightly thicker than the embroidery needle. ”

After hearing this, the blacksmith was a little suspicious, and for the first time he heard someone make such a strange request, and then suddenly he said, "You are talking about the kind of big tail needle used for the quilt, right?" It just so happened that I had my newly brought apprentices practice in the past few days, and I sharpened a few exercises and concentration. After speaking, he turned his head and shouted: "Guawazi, bring the needle you sharpened to this guest to see." ”

A stout, dark-skinned young boy came up with a small, rusty tin box containing four or five needles and a grinding stone. He was obviously a little confused, and he should have felt that it was a bit embarrassing for a boy to compete with needles.

Xu Anping picked up a few needles and looked at them, he was very satisfied, and even bought the thicker semi-finished product together. Rejected by the blacksmith master, he threw down a few pennies and returned to the Deng Mansion. He handed over the three so-called embroidery needles to Miss Deng, and the other party was very satisfied with them in his hand, and played with them for a while. After Huan'er saw it, he suggested that the young lady have a three-piece suit, so Xu Anping returned to the blacksmith shop again to buy thimbles and scissors as instructed. Similarly, Deng Xiaoke asked for scissors to be slightly larger than those used by women.

Because Miss Deng's request was more special, Xu Anping and the blacksmith agreed to come and pick up two scissors the next afternoon.

When he returned to Deng's mansion, it was the end of Shen Shi, Xu Anping asked Huan'er to tell Miss Deng about the situation, and then returned to the room to lie in a daze. At the end of the day, Xu Anping opened his eyes and listened to the even breathing and rhythmic snoring next to him, and concluded that the three of them were asleep. So, he took out the black cloth scarf from his baggage and put it on, put the family's coat on his back, ran out of a half-branched window, and walked all the way to the north main house where the head of the family, Deng Yongming, lived. Climbing over the wall and entering the backyard, Xu Anping deliberately slowed down so as not to cause Xiao Hei's scream. Approaching Deng Yongming's study, Xu Anping first leaned his ear close to the window, and after confirming that no one was there, he walked to the door, took out the half-finished needle hidden during the day, and poked it into the lock. After three or two clicks, a soft "click" was heard, and the copper lock had been opened. He leaned sideways into the study, picked up a stack of stationery on his desk and took a general look at the moonlight that peeked through the crack in the door, but found nothing of value. Then he groped for the bookshelf behind the desk, and suddenly found a thick leather book too soft at the height of his shoulder, and he pulled it out, and sure enough, the contents of the book were bound together by a pile of letters. Xu Anping came to the door again, carefully read the content of the letter, it turned out that the purchase channel of the Deng family's silk village was the Li family in Suzhou, and every month the son of the family, Deng Da Deng Erhui, would take Deng Yongming's handwritten hand to buy the goods, and bring back the other party's letter.

After Xu Anping put the letter back in its place, he continued to look for the deed of two "Deng Ji Silk Village". At this moment, he suddenly heard two maids who had risen at night coming towards him. "Sister Pei'er, you said that the eldest lady is so tall, can she marry in the future? If someone else had a sixteen-year-old daughter, the matchmaker who proposed marriage would have already broken the threshold, but the Deng family still didn't move. "Cai'er, you're having a big mouth again. If this is heard by Madame, be careful of your skin. "Sister Pei'er, didn't I just talk to you! Surely you won't tell Madame. "Then you can't talk nonsense, be careful of being heard. However, you are also right. The eldest lady is taller than many men, I really don't know who will want her......" As he spoke, the two of them had already walked to the side of the study. Xu Anping took out the embroidery needle and pinched it in his hand, ready to stab the two maids into their eyebrows when they found that the study lock had been opened.

"Sister Pei'er, you come closer, I'll tell you, I heard others say that you ...... that Zheng Changgong" and couldn't help laughing as she spoke.

"You little prodigal hoof, you actually arranged your sister, see if I don't look good!" Immediately followed by a frolicking sound that deliberately lowered their voices, the two didn't even notice that the door lock of the study was open, and chased straight towards the thatched house.

Xu Anping exhaled deeply, gave up his intention to continue looking for the deed, hurriedly put the messed things back in place, locked the door and left quickly. As soon as I arrived in front of the backyard and was about to go out over the wall, I saw two green eyes staring at me, and my heart suddenly became furious, and I secretly said: It's not good, I was discovered by Xiao Hei. When Xu Anping was thinking about how to prevent Xiao Hei from barking, he saw it intimately push his hand with his head, and then rubbed his calf with his body. So, he put his mind at ease, patted Xiao Hei's head with his hand, and ran with a brisk walk, and climbed the wall with both hands. After jumping, he ran lightly to his quarters. Listening to the sound of breathing and snoring again, a fish leaped into the room.

The next day, the Deng family was still calm. Xu Anping went to the blacksmith shop in the south of the city to retrieve the scissors, handed Xiaohuan to Miss Deng, and put the other in his sleeve and brought it back to the room. After returning to the room, Xu Anping found that the other three were not there, so he used a small piece of grinding stone from the well to polish the scissors joint. In the snort of the grinding stone, iron filings kept falling. After a while, the joint was loosened, and he removed the movable and stationary blades of the scissors, respectively, and continued to sharpen the junction between the blade and the handle with a grinding stone. When the connection is slightly thinner, Xu Anping broke the handle and polished the broken part again. When the break was smooth, he picked up the blade and tried the feel, threw it on the stool with a broken leg, and smacked it into the wood. Xu Anping was quite satisfied, so he took it into his arms, and then threw the handle of the scissors into the well while others were not paying attention, kicked the stool and threw it on the firewood.