The courtyard of the Xu family is not big in Nanjing, where there are many mansions, but it must not be said to be small. The inside and outside of the courtyard were purchased by Xu Bian 20 years ago, and the plasterers, bricklayers, and bricklayers were all paid full wages, and their single-handed work was never ambiguous. Even now, many years have passed, and there is no major damage, just a small fight to repair the tiles. Because of the limited manpower, the last thing to enter the courtyard was locked and closed, and Xu Xun lived in the main room alone, and now there is just another Rayson as a companion.

As for the room in the front yard, a couple surnamed Jin lived. The couple are both hired subordinates, Jin Liu is the keeper of the door, buying and taking care of the carriage in the stable, and if Xu Xun has something to do, he will make a cameo appearance as a coachman; And Jin Liu's sister-in-law is responsible for cooking, boiling water, washing and cleaning, etc., if she can't be summoned, she can't enter the second door. Most of the time, the couple only served a few vegetable patches outside the Xiping Gate in the front yard, and Xu Xun rarely paid attention to them in the past.

Therefore, this morning, when Xu Xun took Latham out quietly, he didn't see the couple who were busy in the vegetable field. Walking on the street outside the door, he glanced at the bustling cars and pedestrians, and found that there were bright sedan cars passing by from time to time, and couldn't help but say thoughtfully: "It turns out that so many adults pass in front of our door every day." ”

"More than before!" Ruisheng only felt that the young master of these days did not lose his temper, and he was much better than before, and his words gradually let go, "I heard Aunt Su next door say that when Hong Wuye was in the past, we were very good in this Taiping, and all the nobles who lived in it were those nobles who wanted to go to the early dynasty. Every time is not enough, this door can be lively, a wave of cars and horses past, it is said that there are people on the road to pick up the fan sachets left by the nobles, even money! ”

"Idiot, you will believe what others say, and those bosses are not lacking in hearts, how can there be a reason to drop things every day?"

Xu Xun shook his head angrily, Latham was sorry for him, but he carefully held him and refused to let go. It wasn't until the first intersection in front of him that he pointed to a low courtyard on the side and said, "Young Master, here's it, that's Grandpa Liang's house!" ”

The two doors of the small courtyard are just hidden, the paint color of the year can no longer be seen on the top, and the bricks on the wall are also uneven, standing outside as long as you tiptoe a little to see the situation inside, obviously, the master's family situation is very embarrassing. Xu Xun stood outside and poked his head, then went to the door and knocked lightly twice. After a while, he heard that there was no movement inside, he hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door and walked in. Latham and Watkins immediately after him pulled his throat and shouted.

"Grandpa Liang, Grandpa Liang is not there? My young master has come to thank you! ”

After shouting twice, there was no movement in the room, but a loud voice came from next door: "Who is looking for me?" ”

With these words, Xu Xun looked up in a daze, and saw a head on the east wall, which was the old man who had saved himself under the Dazhong Bridge before. I saw that the old man immediately smiled when he recognized him, turned around and shouted something behind him, just supported the low wall with one hand and turned over, and landed steadily without any old age.

"I thought it was, isn't this the Seventh Young Master?" The old man clapped his hands, glanced at the room with the door closed, hesitated for a moment and said in embarrassment, "The house has not been cleaned up, if the seventh young master doesn't mind, why don't you just sit outside?" ”

"It's fine." Xu Xun is not a person who twists and turns, there is a stone table and stone bench in the corner of the courtyard, so he follows the old man and sits down. Seeing that Rayson was coming, he casually ordered, "Latham and Latham, go get some wine and snacks!" ”

"Young master, your injury is just right, don't drink......" Ruisheng persuaded, seeing Xu Xun glaring at him with his eyes, he had to quietly glance at the old man, but the other party blindly smiled and didn't match, he had to turn around and leave helplessly, and muttered in a low voice, "You have to take care of your purse regardless of your own body, and now this wine costs forty yuan and a dime......"

Although Ruisheng's muttering was not small, Xu Xun had already known that he was this surname after getting along in the past few days, so he didn't hear it. As soon as the courtyard door was closed, he stood up and threw his whole clothes deep into the ground against the old man. Before he said a word of thanks, he felt that a pair of iron tongs-like hands firmly wrapped his arms, followed by his body, and his body was supported and helped up, and then the whole person was pressed on the stone bench without saying anything.

"Seventh Young Master, didn't this torment the old man? It's just a matter of raising your hands, how can it be worth your special thanks! The old man pressed Xu Xun to sit down, and then he also sat on the stone bench next to him, "Besides, I can't write two Xu characters with one stroke, although we are not of the same clan and clan, but we are also with the same surname, since the old man has seen it, he can't watch it from the side." ”

Xu Xun had also asked Leyson about the old man just now, but Rickson almost didn't know anything except that most of the young people in the neighborhood called the old man a good grandfather, so when he heard that the old man and himself were both surnamed Xu, he naturally became interested.

"So your surname is Xu?"

"My surname is Xu, and my single name is a good word, but there are many people surnamed Xu in Nanjing!"

Xu Liang saw Xu Xun's face full of curiosity, so he smiled and said: "There are also one hundred and eighty Xu families in Nanjing City. Just because it was handed down by the King of Zhongshan that year, there were two prominent ones of the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Dingguo. Dingguo Gong has always been in the capital, but there are also collateral relatives who have stayed in Nanjing, but Wei Guogong has stayed in Nanjing for almost generations, and there are countless collateral lines.

In addition, there are many other noble civil officials with the surname Xu, and there are many fellow villagers and clans who go around and around. Therefore, so many Xu family members are most fashionable to take care of each other, just like the uncle of your family who worked in Yingtianfu, it is said that he also climbed a noble family, and it took a long time to get to where he is today. However, for a nobody like me, no one will pay attention to it! ”

Having said that, Xu Xun felt that this hearty old man was very interesting, and immediately laughed: "Uncle's words are vain, although he is embarrassed today, who knows if you will be able to soar?" Besides, those who think about climbing the dragon and the phoenix all day long, how can people afford it? If you say it well, you are a relative, but if you don't say it well, people only think that you are a cat and a dog who come to fight the autumn breeze. ”

"The Seventh Young Master's words are a little mean, but it's really true, the more powerful the family, the more they look down on their poor relatives. Inherit your auspicious words, twenty years in Hedong and twenty years in Hexi, the old man also hopes that he can really develop in the future! Xu Liang smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed, and those wrinkles seemed to stretch, "However, Seventh Young Master, your little brother calls me Grandpa Liang, that's polite, you call me uncle, how can I afford it?" Although your family doesn't hire me to draw water, but I also used to help, the seventh young master still directly called me Xu Liang, although I also call myself an old man, but after all, it is still a few years before I am fifty. ”

The gray hair, the wrinkles like a knife, the calloused hands, and the gong-like voice all show that Xu Liang has been through the ups and downs for a long time, Xu Xun just thought that the old people in the city in the future would like others to see themselves younger, so he called uncle, who knew that people were really less than fifty!

"You're so much older than me, and you've saved my life, shouldn't I call you uncle?" Xu Xun reacted very quickly, and this hint of surprise was quickly pressed, and without waiting for Xu Liang to speak, he said with a smile, "Didn't Uncle just say that no one paid attention to your relatives?" Then today I will have a kiss with you, I will call you uncle, and you will not be the seventh young master long and the seventh young master short! ”

"Hahahaha, then you're welcome. However, Brother Xun, don't bite you, it sounds awkward! ”

Xu Liang was so amused by Xu Xun's words that he laughed, but he also heartily responded to the title of uncle at the moment. An old man and a young man just sat and chatted like this, Xu Xun was a newcomer, and his memory was still messy, so he took the opportunity to inquire about the situation inside and outside the city of Nanjing, and Xu Liang was also an extremely talkative surname, from the strange talk to those large and small yamen in Nanjing, he could say a sentence or two about everything.

By the time Latham came back from buying wine and food, the two had become New Year's friends. The wine and food were all together, Ruisheng was waiting for the cup next to him, and after a few glasses of wine, Xu Xun gradually took a sip intermittently, and Xu Liang seemed to have not drunk for a long time, and he was a little greedy for a cup, and gradually his tongue was a little bigger, and his face was even more bright red. Seeing this situation, although Xu Xun intended to talk, he didn't dare to let him drink more, so he had to stretch out a hand and cover the small wine urn.

"Uncle, you're old, and drinking too much alcohol hurts your body, so it's better to be modest, and it's not too late to keep the rest for later."

"What's the taste of drinking alone, it's rare to have someone to accompany me, how can I do it without drinking!"

Xu Liang couldn't help but snatch the small wine urn, filled the bowl in front of him, and drank half a bowl in one go, and then said drunkenly: "When I was young, I didn't control myself, but now that I'm a lot older, what's the use of moderation?" It's you, Brother Xun, don't break the jar when you're in your prime. I've heard all those things about you outside, those gangsters like Zhang San, Li Siwang, and Ermazi, you are a son of a good family who messes with such people, and you give them money to make them, isn't this dizzy? It's easy to have a bad reputation and it's hard to rebuild, and if you've read it, you should know it better than I do. ”

Hearing this, Xu Xun couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Uncle is right, I am now a human being in two lives, and I already know that I used to be too bastard, and I was young and frivolous and ignorant......"

"It's good to understand, those people are not a good thing, otherwise you have been lying at home for so many days, but someone has come to see you? Wine and meat friends are unreliable, and it is not surprising that you sold them for a little profit! Especially if you don't have a father and mother to rely on, many of the people in the Xu family in your Taiping are even chewing their tongues behind their backs, saying that you are not your father's biological son, but in fact, they are not staring at your family's property? The patriarch of your Xu family has always been the surname of the goose plucker, and he is hot at the family business that your father will give you, not to mention the things in your family, of course, I can't wait for you to die. That is, the sixth master who was an official in Yingtianfu, is said to be a good person. But you don't have a good reputation or talent, but it's hard to get into his eyes......"

Xu Liang is about an old resident in Taipingli, and he babbled about the various personnel of the Xu family in Taipingli, and Xu Xun, who was worried about only knowing what it was and not knowing why, naturally listened carefully.

In the end, he found that Xu Liang's words were extremely vague, and the person gradually fell on the stone table, so he turned his head and ordered Ruisheng to pack up the wine and food into the house, and he stepped forward to help people, but he could not move this old man who was nearly half a hundred years old at all, and finally he sat down panting. After a while, he stood up again and gave Xu Liang a deep look.

"Don't thank you, uncle first saved his life, and then mentioned something, I have nothing to thank you, please drink more in the future!"

"Well, it's good to drink, it's ...... to drink"

Hearing Xu Liang only muttered these two times, Xu Xun knew that he was completely drunk, and couldn't help but laugh dumbly. At this time, Ruisheng in the inner room had not yet come out, and he stood in the courtyard and was blown by the breeze, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"One misstep becomes a thousand years of hatred, and it has been ......a hundred years since I turned back"

"Young Master, what are you muttering about!"

Seeing Ruisheng come out, Xu Xun didn't answer the call, and only asked him to help Xu Liang into the house. After Settling the man in, he persuaded him to go back first, but he shook his head and sat down on the stone bench again.

"If you don't feel at home, you can go back and have a look first, and I'll sit here for a while."

Knowing that the young master was stubborn, Ruisheng hesitated again and again, finally nodded, but before leaving, he couldn't help but explain: "Young master, as long as Brother Jin and Sister-in-law Jin are at home, I don't worry, you are resting here, I will come back to pick you up in a while!" ”

Xu Xun's heart moved, but he just waved his hand at Rysheng. When the people left, he sighed lightly: "One misstep is five hundred years, God really has eyes......

Half-drunk and sitting in the wind for a while, he couldn't help but feel a little dizzy, stood up and was about to go home by himself, only to hear a bang outside, someone kicked open the door of Xu Liang's small courtyard. Immediately after, two people dressed as small servants broke in, but they were stunned when they saw Xu Xun, and one of them said with a smile: "It turns out that the Seventh Young Master is also here." It just so happened that my young master was outside, and there was a message asking you to bring it. ”

Xu Xun vaguely remembered that these two people were the little servants of Master Xu's family, and after a little thought about it when he heard the words, he got up and walked out of the yard. As soon as he went out, he saw a young man standing there with a fan outside the door.