Wu Shigong hurriedly welcomed Sun Chengxiu, who seemed to have lost his soul, into the hall and sat down. As soon as he sat down, Sun Chengxiu sobbed, and Wu Shigong hurriedly asked Xiuzhu to go out to make tea and drove Xiuzhu out. After all, for Sun Chengxiu, Xiuzhu is an outsider. Let outsiders see Sun Chengxiu's current gaffe, which also hurts Sun Chengxiu's face very much. Wu Shigong squatted down in front of Sun Chengxiu, held Sun Chengxiu's hand tightly with his own hands, expressed the comfort in his heart, and waited for Sun Chengxiu to calm down.

After a while. Sun Chengxiu stopped crying and said to Wu Shigong: "Brother Wu Xian, seeing that you are no longer in serious trouble now, you can rest assured that you are a brother, and you have no worries in the capital." After a deep sigh, he continued with some embarrassment: "Brother Wei is now penniless and has little future, so today I am cheeky to borrow some travel expenses from my brother to return to my hometown." ”

Wu Shigong hurriedly waved his hand to interrupt Sun Chengxiu's words and said, "If there is anything we have to say, we will talk about it later, and I will bring you the silver first." ”

Wu Shigong walked into his bedroom, and Xiuzhu sat on his small bed very obediently. Of course, she understood that Wu Shigong asked her to make tea, not really to make tea, but to avoid her.

Wu Shigong asked Xiuzhu, "Young Master, how much silver do I have now?" "Wu Shigong doesn't have many monthly cases every month, and they are all kept here in Xiuzhu.

"Young master, you only have more than one or two pieces of silver now." Xiuzhu replied. Wu Shigong nodded, Wu Shigong basically went to buy books every month in the past, and there was really not much left.

Wu Shigong then asked Xiuzhu: "Then how much money is hidden in your private house?" ”

"What for?" Xiuzhu asked vigilantly.

"Young master, I need it urgently, hurry up and take it out."

Xiuzhu reluctantly took out a small cloth bag from under his pillow, opened it and asked Wu Shigong: "Young master, how much do you want?" The monthly rules of Xiuzhu were handed over to her parents, and these private money were all saved by her thrift over the years, which made Xiuzhu very reluctant.

"How many do you have there?" Wu Shigong's tone was a little impatient.

"It's just more than eighteen taels." Seeing Wu Shigong's face stiffened, although Xiuzhu was a little reluctant, he didn't dare to falsely report the number.

"Give me fifteen taels to the young master, don't worry! Master, I will pay you back as soon as I have the money. Then, regardless of whether Xiuzhu agreed or not, he took out three small silver ingots of five taels from the small cloth bag in Xiuzhu's hand and walked out.

Wu Shigong put a silver ingot in his arms, stuffed the other two silver ingots into Sun Chengxiu's hand, and said: "Brother Yao also knows that my junior brother's status in the mansion is not high, and I don't have much silver, so you can take these ten taels first." Don't mention anything that you can't borrow. It's almost time for lunch. Walk! The two of us went to a tavern for a few drinks and had a good chat. Then, regardless of Sun Chengxiu's attitude, he couldn't help but pull him up, and the two walked out the door.

The small courtyard where Wu Shigong lived was far away from the gate of Wu's mansion, so the two of them took a shortcut, passed through the slaves' residences, and walked out through the side door where the slaves walked. While walking, the two talked at the same time: "Now, where does Brother Yao live?" ”

"I borrowed an inn for the time being."

……

At the gate of the Wu Mansion, there were two people talking about something, and one of the big men took out two taels of silver from his arms and stuffed them into the other person dressed as a slave of the Wu Mansion, and kept asking some questions.

This big man's name is Xue Qiang, and he is one of the guards of Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu. Xue Lian was very angry when he heard the news that Wu Shigong was knocked unconscious, but the family background of the noble son who injured Wu Shigong was similar to his own, and it was Wu Shigong who made the first move, so he also suffered in theory, so there was no way to retaliate. can only send one of his own guards to protect Wu Shigong. In addition, Xue Lian gave Xue Qiang a secret mission, asking him to understand Wu Shigong's character and habits in as much detail as possible from Wu's mansion.

After Xue Qiang was sent out, he was unwilling in his heart. At that time, after Xue Lian's arrangements were explained, none of Xue Lian's guards were willing to go to Wu Shigong to be a nanny. Xue Qiang's luck was bad, and the draw fell on this errand. And today, the news that Xue Qiang got from the slaves of the Wu Mansion did not have a good word from Wu Shigong. said that Wu Shigong is a nerd and doesn't understand any sophistication? How did the Wu Mansion look down on him, and there was something ugly about Wu Shigong. The big-mouthed servant spoke with great interest and foaming at the mouth.

After Xue Qiang heard this, he was even more reluctant in his heart. Suddenly, he remembered that before he set off, one of the guards had given him a bad idea: as long as Wu Shigong was dissatisfied with Xue Qiang and drove him away, wouldn't he stop doing this errand? While he was thinking about what to do, suddenly, the servant of the Wu Mansion pointed to the backs of the two people who had already walked to the corner of the street and shouted, "That is the fourteenth young master, you hurry up and follow." Xue Qiang immediately put aside the nagging slave, spread his legs, and chased after him.

Wu Shigong and Sun Chengxiu didn't notice that someone was chasing them behind them, so they turned the corner and found a tavern. Xiao Er, who welcomed guests in the tavern, took them to an empty table and sat down, Wu Shigong proudly took out the silver ingot from his arms, slapped it heavily on the table, and instructed Xiao Er: "Serve two bottles of wine first, and the dishes will be matched for me according to the silver on the table." ”

Xiao Er's eyes lit up, and a big customer came. After happily responding, I went down to serve the dishes. Wu Shigong just wanted to say something to Sun Chengxiu, when suddenly a sweaty man rushed in from the door of the tavern, he was out of breath, and stared straight at Wu Shigong's table. Wu Shigong was taken aback, and after being stunned for a moment, he suddenly reacted and quickly stuffed the silver ingot on the table back into his arms.

The big man gasped and stammered a few words out of his mouth: "Aunt...... Uncle! ”

"Uncle?" Wu Shigong was a little confused by the second monk, because the title was still very unfamiliar to him now. He glanced at Sun Chengxiu suspiciously, and asked, "Did you call you?" Are you married? ”

Sun Chengxiu was also full of doubts, he was still a "boy chicken" in his thirties. He asked Wu Shigong with some uncertainty: "It should be called you, right?" ”

"Oh!" Wu Shigong reacted immediately. It should be someone sent by his future father-in-law.

"Are you from the Xue Mansion? What's the matter with me? Wu Shigong asked the big man.

"The little one is called Xue Qiang, and he was sent by the Hou Ye to protect his uncle." And so it was. Wu Shigong nodded, and then heard, "Uncle should be at home for the next two days, and don't run around anymore, making it difficult for us to be subordinates." ”

"Huh?" Listening to Xue Qiang's later words, Wu Shigong's heart burned with unhappiness for a while. When will the slaves be able to teach their masters? But thinking about it, maybe it was not Xue Qiang's own assertion, but his future father-in-law's confession, so he forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart, waved his hand to Xue Qiang, and said, "Got it, then you can wait at the door of the tavern." ”

Seeing Xue Qiang coming out of the door of the tavern, Wu Shigong turned his head to Sun Chengxiu and said self-deprecatingly: "People are under the eaves, I have to bow my head!" ”

Sun Chengxiu smiled and expressed great sympathy and understanding.

"No matter what is going on in those bad things, Brother Yao, I'll ask you bluntly, do you still want to continue the scientific expedition?"

Sun Chengxiu let out a long sigh and said, "Of course I want to, but my current situation is ......" and then spread his hands and made a helpless movement.

"If you want to, then you can do it. From now until the township test in the spring of next year, it will take more than half a year, gritting my teeth, and getting through it. Little brother, I have all the money now, but as long as I get married in ten days, it's better than now. Let's just put it this way, as long as I have a bite to eat, I will never let Brother Yaozhi starve. You can participate in the scientific expedition with peace of mind. Here, little brother, I have a lot of crow's mouth, even if it doesn't work this time, I think: It's no problem for the Yangwu Hou family to raise you one more Qingke. When the time comes, I will continue to participate in the next township exam, otherwise, what a pity for Brother Yao's talent. ”

Listening to Wu Shigong's words, Sun Chengxiu was very excited, and he was about to stand up and give Wu Shigong a big gift. Wu Shigong hurriedly got up and pressed Sun Chengxiu back into the chair and said, "Our two brothers don't have to be separated. At that time, I was in Guozijian, and your brother Yao also helped my younger brother a lot and regarded me as a good friend. Now, little brother, I'll do what I can, and don't be too polite. ”

Sun Chengxiu's lips trembled, understanding that Wu Shigong was not just doing what he could, and felt very warm in his heart, and said to Wu Shigong: "Don't thank you for your kindness, I won't say anything more for my brother." ”

Xiao Er quickly took two bottles of wine, and the dishes were served quickly, and in just a while, the dishes were piled up on the table. There are too many dishes. Wu Shigong hurriedly stopped Xiao Er and asked, "How many dishes are still on our table?" ”

"There are more than 30 more." Wu Shigong was speechless. He also took the thinking of modern people and misestimated the price of silver in the Ming Dynasty. He always thought that a tael of silver was equivalent to fifty to a hundred pieces in modern times, and that a drink in a tavern would cost five hundred dollars, even if it was more, it would not be more than that. Unexpectedly, the silver of the Ming Dynasty was indeed relatively valuable.

"Forget about the ones that have already been cooked, and the rest of the dishes will be returned." Wu Shigong instructed Xiao Erdao.

"This?" Xiao Er listened to Wu Shigong's instructions and looked embarrassed.

To deal with this situation, Wu Shigong has a lot of experience in modern times.

"In this way, the extra silver, I will give you a penny as a tip, and the rest will be recorded in the account, and let the gentleman opposite come to pick up the food later, how about it?"

"Done." Xiao Ermei replied very simply with a smile, you can take so much tips, why not be satisfied?

Sun Chengxiu has already received too much favor from Wu Shigong today, and it doesn't matter if there is one more such thing, so he accepted it calmly. Waiting for Xiao Er to leave, Sun Chengxiu asked Wu Shigong with some curiosity: "Brother Xian used to be a little silent, but today really impresses Brother Wei?" ”

Finally, someone noticed that his personality was a little different from before. Instead, it was embroidered bamboo, because every day the two of them talked together, and embroidered bamboo didn't have any special feelings. Wu Shigong also disagreed with Sun Chengxiu's question, and said with a smile: "This time, the little brother's head was kicked and he was also kicked awake. What's the point of feeling that the hard days of the past are clinging to it? Let's get married in peace and live that rich life. ”

"In addition, I have an experience this time, little brother. What about the person, score three points. The first is the one who is raised with a golden key in his mouth, and he is rich and noble for a lifetime. Our brothers didn't have such a good fate; The second type is born in a poor family and has been depressed all his life. The lives of our brothers did not deteriorate so much; The third is the balance between good and bad, that is, the golden mean, which we have learned. This is the fate of our two brothers. The first half of my life is haode, and the second half of my life is bad. If the first half of your life is bad, the second half of your life will be fine. For example, I had a bad life in Wu Mansion before, but after I got married, I went to Xue Mansion to enjoy a rich life. And what about you, Brother Yao? Although it seems to be unlucky now, it will definitely walk on the Golden Strip in the future. ”

Sun Chengxiu nodded when she heard this, feeling very warm in her heart for her friend's comfort. So, the two of them drank happily, and Sun Chengxiu, who let go of his worries, was a little indulgent and drunk himself.