A breakfast made Zhou Zhong learn many things that he didn't know before, such as the powerful forces behind the Xie Family Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Family Chamber of Commerce, and some other things about his father Zhou Hai.

According to Xie Lingyun, Zhou Hai suddenly appeared in Songjiang Mansion more than ten years ago, and at that time he took Zhou Zhong with him, and then bought land to repair the house in the local area, and started a business, which seemed normal, but soon Zhou Hai began to participate in the smuggling business, at the beginning it was just a small chamber of commerce, recruited some people to start running boats, Sanniang and Uncle Camel also followed Zhou Hai from then on, helping him run the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce.

However, just when Zhou Hai gained a firm foothold in Shuangyu Port, he quickly rose at an astonishing speed, and he didn't know where he got the Nanyang navigation chart, and he was very familiar with the routes and countries in the Nanyang area, and the local natives were also willing to trade with the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce, which made the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce quickly crush some other chambers of commerce that went to Nanyang, and became the overlord of the Nanyang route, and also became one of the four major chambers of commerce in Shuangyu Port.

It can be said that the rise of the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce is full of legends, and the speed is incredible, so many people speculate that Zhou Hai must have a powerful support behind him, but no one knows who this person is, and even Xie Lingyun's father Xie Da only has two words for Zhou Hai, that is, "mysterious". Because even with their strength, they have not found out the origin of Zhou Hai, let alone who the person behind Zhou Hai is, but they can be sure of one thing, that is, the power behind Zhou Hai must be very strong.

After listening to Xie Lingyun's introduction to his father Zhou Hai, Zhou Chong was silent, in fact, even if Xie Lingyun didn't say it. He could feel some of it, too. Especially after he took over the Nanyang Chamber of Commerce. There are too many problems in the Chamber of Commerce that only Zhou Hai knows, and through these questions, Zhou Zhong also found that Zhou Hai seemed to be shrouded in a veil of mystery, making it impossible to see his true face.

There are too many mysteries on Zhou Hai, but unfortunately there is no way to find the answer now, after all, Zhou Hai is dead, and some people within the Chamber of Commerce who may know the inside story have all died with him, so Zhou Zhong can't find the answer at all. Unless it was the power behind Zhou Hai who took the initiative to come to the door, it would be impossible for Zhou Zhong to conjecture by himself.

It is precisely because of this that after Zhou Zhong and Xie Lingyun discussed for a long time without discussing the results, although Zhou Zhong was still a little worried about the power behind Zhou Hai, he could only put this matter behind him for the time being.

After breakfast, Xie Lingyun immediately asked people to prepare the boat, and then returned to Songjiang Mansion with Zhou Chong, but the two separated after arriving at Qingcun Port, and Xie Lingyun wanted to go back to Xie's house to see his mother. And Zhou Zhong wants to go home to comfort his family during the time he was missing. Aunt Wang, they still don't know what Lu Dao will worry about?

The carriage of the Xie family rushed to the Zhou Mansion under the urging of Zhou Chong, when he knocked on the door, Wangcai poked his head out from inside, and when he saw that it was Zhou Chong standing outside, this made Wangcai was surprised and happy, and shouted: "Young master, you are finally back, the family is in a hurry during this time!" ”

"Hehe, it took a little more time to deal with things this time, and now there is nothing to do, how are the aunts, nothing happened at home, right?" Zhou Chong was not surprised to see Wangcai open the door, after all, he had been away from home for almost half a month, and Wangcai would definitely tell Aunt Wang about their situation.

"Everything is fine at home, but Aunt Wang and the two young ladies are very worried about the young master." Wangcai said with excitement on his face, and then he reacted immediately, hurriedly let Zhou Chong into the door, and then shouted loudly at the top of his voice, "Young Master is back, hurry up and inform Steward Xu!" ”

With Wangcai's shout, Fugui and some other guards also ran out of the gatehouse, and they were all surprised to see Zhou Chong, most of them followed forward to salute Zhou Chong, and some people rushed to Steward Xu to report the news. Soon the news of Zhou Chong's return spread to the backyard, and when Aunt Wang and Bang'er heard the news, they all cried with joy, and a hanging heart finally let go.

Zhou Chong also hurried to the backyard, and saw that Aunt Wang didn't wait for him to say anything, but was pulled into her arms by Aunt Wang and cried, although she was not Zhou Chong's biological mother, but she brought Zhou Chong up with her own hands, and the feelings between each other were not much worse than the real mother and son, and now seeing that Zhou Chong finally came back, she wanted to scold Zhou Chong, but this meeting, all the anger turned into tears of joy, and the bracelet and Duo'er next to her also pulled Zhou Chong's sleeve and cried.

Originally, it would be nothing if it was usual, after all, the backyard was full of his own family, but now the Bai sisters were also present, and now they had been staring at Zhou Chong, which made him feel very uncomfortable, and finally coaxed Aunt Wang and Bang'er to stop.

The family returned to the courtyard where Aunt Wang lived, and after Steward Xu, Su Niang, and the Bai sisters said a few words, they retreated separately, after all, they all knew that Zhou Chong's family must have a lot to say, after all, they were outsiders, and some words were inconvenient for them to hear.

After Steward Xu closed the courtyard door, Aunt Wang, who was wiping her tears, suddenly said with a sinking face: "Chong'er, you are too nonsense, you obviously have a great future, but you are like your father to become a smuggler, this is simply a small loss, even if you make more money, it is not as famous as a person!" ”

Aunt Wang has a gentle temperament, and this is the first time she has spoken to Zhou Zhong in such a heavy tone. Zhou Chong also knew that Aunt Wang was angry, and he definitely couldn't have a hard fight with her, so he immediately admitted his mistake after hearing it: "What Aunt taught me is that Chong'er really didn't think about it this time, and I won't dare to do it next time!" ”

Seeing Zhou Chong admit his mistake again and again, Bang'er helped his brother speak at this time: "Mother, don't blame my brother too much, he is also doing this for us, if it weren't for the fact that there is still us at home to support, how could my brother take the risk to take over my father's chamber of commerce overseas?" ”

Aunt Wang was also uncomfortable when she heard Bang'er's words, and she didn't feel angry with Zhou Zhong anymore, she just wiped her tears by herself, she is now the same as Bang'er, thinking that she has dragged Zhou Zhong down, otherwise he wouldn't have put a good book and didn't read it, and took the risk of running overseas.

However, Zhou Zhong couldn't cry or laugh, obviously he couldn't participate in the imperial examination, so he went to participate in smuggling, but now in the mouth of Bang'er, it became him to participate in smuggling in order to make his family's life better, although it is not wrong to say so, but there is an essential difference.

Zhou Chong didn't know how to explain this, and seeing Aunt Wang and Bang'er's sad appearance, he had to comfort them first: "Auntie, Bang'er, in fact, you don't have to be too sad, although I took over my father's Chamber of Commerce, it does not prevent me from participating in the imperial examination, plus I have to keep filial piety for three years, and it will not be too late for me to put the arrangement of the Chamber of Commerce on the right track and study hard." ”

As a last resort, Zhou Zhong once again put out this delay, although this can only be delayed for a while, but at least it gives him a buffer time of several years, as for what to do after a few years, this Zhou Zhong has not yet thought about it. However, he believed that there must be a road before the car reached the mountain, and he would have to find a way to do it in the future.

Hearing Zhou Zhong say this, although Aunt Wang and Bang'er felt that this method would distract Zhou Chong's energy, they couldn't think of a rebuttal, so they had to nod their heads and stop crying at the same time.

"Brother, where did you go this time, why didn't you even come back for the New Year? And looking at your appearance, you are obviously much thinner than before, have you suffered a lot? As soon as Bang'er left crying, he immediately grabbed Zhou Chong's hand and asked.

"Not only have you lost weight, you are also a lot darker than before, tell your aunt quickly, where did you go this time, does it have anything to do with the Xie family?" Aunt Wang also couldn't wait to ask, there were Bai sisters just now, so she and Bang'er had a tacit understanding and didn't ask.

Of course, Zhou Zhong didn't dare to tell Aunt Wang and Bang'er that they were plotted by the Xie family, and then they were held hostage and stranded on a desert island, firstly, this matter has passed, there is no need to worry them, and secondly, the relationship between himself and Xie Lingyun also needs to be recognized by the family, if Aunt Wang and Bracelet Er know what happened before, they will definitely have a bad impression of Xie Lingyun.

Considering the above, Zhou Chong made up a half-truth and half-truth: "The last time I received news from the Xie family, it was to discuss with me about the cooperation of the soap workshop, and in order to keep it secret, they put the workshop on an overseas desert island, and I also want to inspect it, but I didn't expect that as soon as we arrived there, we encountered a big storm and destroyed our ship, which was originally a desert island, and now there is no ship, and we are trapped on the island, plus the island lacks food, so we have suffered a little, Later, the Xie family found out that it was not moving, and sent a boat to the island, and we came back by boat. ”

Aunt Wang is a woman, although Bang'er has read a lot of books, but she has no experience, so the two of them can't tell the difference between these are lies, plus Zhou Chong's lies are true or false, some places are indeed reasonable, so Aunt Wang and Bang'er did not suspect it, but they suffered a lot on the island with heartache.

After Zhou Zhong finished talking about himself, he asked if there was an accident at home, especially how they spent this year? Unexpectedly, it attracted a burst of complaints from Bang'er, after all, he was not at home during the New Year, and the whole family was worried about his safety, so naturally he didn't have any thoughts about the New Year.

But after complaining, Bang'er suddenly remembered something, and then his face changed and he said: "Brother, you are not at home during the New Year, I will go to the ancestral hall at home to worship on your behalf, but I found a few things in it. (To be continued......)