Tong Shuang pointed to the position on the side and said, "Did the fourth young grandmother come to see Shoujue again?" ”

Cao Liangjin shook his head and said with a smile: "This time, I'm here to find you." ”

When Tong Shuang heard this, he didn't know what was going on, so he put down the embroidery in his hand and went out with Cao Liangjin. The two then arrived at Tong Shuang's house, Cao Liangjin held the teacup and said with a smile: "Don't blame me for being rude just now, it's just that I listen to Jue'er is still young, so I shouldn't read these unlucky things." ”

Tong Shuang nodded and said, "Exactly, if it weren't for the fourth young grandmother coming in, I would have interrupted loudly." ”

The two talked, Cao Liangjin asked Xiaolian to show Tong Shuang the tricks that Mrs. Ye gave her, and said with a smile: "Look, which of these tricks do you think is good-looking?" ”

Tong Shuang took a closer look and found that it was a dress style, so she chose a pink iris according to Cao Liangjin's preference, and said with a smile: "Is the fourth young grandmother going to make new clothes?" ”

"It's to make new clothes," Cao Liangjin spread out the pattern again, and said, "But it's not for me to do it, it's for you." You just chose the style I like, I'm afraid it's for me, you pick and choose, choose the one you like. ”

Tong Shuang was a little surprised, and then laughed after a while: "I didn't expect that there would be my share." ”

Cao Liangjin immediately smiled: "You are the aunt of the Ye family, but the old lady personally ordered you to make new clothes, I don't dare to slack off." ”

Tong Shuang thanked Mrs. Ye, picked up a style and said, "The fourth young grandmother likes to wear pink, so I'll pick a crow embroidered rabbit silk grass." ”

After this choice, Cao Liangjin took it himself, and handed the rest to Xiaolian, asking her to return it to Mrs. Ye first.

Tong Shuang continued to talk to Cao Liangjin, and couldn't help but ask why she made clothes for her.

Cao Liangjin pointed to her head with a smile and said, "What should I say about you?" Isn't this about to be the New Year, naturally it is a new year and a new atmosphere. ”

Tong Shuang immediately remembered, and said a little shyly: "I don't know how this year is going to be." Cao Liangjin knocked the melon seeds and smiled: "I don't know how to pass, but depending on the old lady's meaning, it is good to make it lively." ”

Also, Ye Mansion should indeed be lively, in Tong Shuang's memory, Ye Mansion can push the cup and change the lamp, and the time when the gongs and drums are noisy is already very far away.

When Ye Lu'an came back at noon, Cao Liangjin and Tong Shuang were still happy, seeing this, Tong Shuang told Xue Qing to invite Ye Luhuan to come here, and the four of them had lunch together.

Ye Luhuan rubbed his shoulders and said that it was really tiring to follow Ye Lu'an and them out, listening to them talking to those bosses, his head was almost big.

Ye Lu'an shook his head and sighed: "How many families can keep their own property intact now?" Naturally, there are some things that need to be carefully considered. It's just that now merchant ships can't go out in winter, and they have to be charged a lot of customs fees when they pass through the horse pass when they are navigated. ”

"How?" Tong Shuang was taken aback and said, "I heard you say before that the customs clearance fee is just for passing and dotting." ”

"It was before, and now I don't know how those foreigners came from, and the "Trade Law" will be the same after a while, you listen to me. A while ago, a man transported a boatload of thatch, but he could not afford to sell all the grass for the customs clearance, and the man said that he would leave if he didn't sell it, and the foreigner detained his boat without saying a word. ”

"It's so deceitful." Cao Liangjin frowned, thinking about his own ships, he couldn't help but worry: "The imperial court won't take care of it?" ”

Ye Lu'an smiled bitterly and said: "I was drinking tea with my eldest brother and Lu Huan in the tea house today, and I heard an old gentleman say that the Qing government is already a foreigner's government, and now they can't protect themselves, where can they control us?" ”

After eating like this, he dispersed, and when he returned to the house, Ye Luhuan fell down on the couch, only saying that he was tired.

Cao Liangjin hung the clothes he took off on the hanger and said with a smile: "If you are too tired, you just don't go out in the afternoon." ”

"That's not going to work." Ye Luhuan replied in a sullen voice, he rubbed his shoulders and said, "Since I said that I would give you a good life, these things can't be avoided." ”

Cao Liangjin didn't speak, Ye Luhuan turned his head to look at her and said, "By the way, this time for the New Year, the eldest lady called a lot of people over, and yesterday I saw Hu Kui preparing an invitation." ”

"I also heard about it, saying that the Cao family, the Li family, and the Lu family will all come." Cao Liangjin replied, and asked Xiaolian to bring the stove closer, and the two talked for a while, and Ye Luhuan fell asleep.

A few days before the Spring Festival, someone arrived.

Master Lu took Lu Qing and his wife down, and Master Lu smiled and said, "Ling'er has a chill, and your sister-in-law can't get there, so she didn't come." ”

Old Madam Ye instructed her subordinates to take the Lu family to rest, and at the same time asked about Mrs. Lu's physical condition.

Master Lu replied politely, never mentioning the matter of the Lu Mansion before, Mrs. Ye was also an understanding person, and only smiled and invited Master Lu to drink tea.

At night, Mrs. Ye asked Master Lu for dinner, and Xiuwan heard this and came over to serve her personally.

"Brother eats vegetables." Old Madam Ye looked very happy, and personally took the wine glass and filled it for the two of them.

"Liufang," Master Lu drank a few glasses of wine, and then he had the courage to say: "You know that there is a saying, it is called falling leaves return to their roots." ”

Old Madam Ye smiled lightly and nodded, and Old Man Lu said again: "No matter what, you are the daughter of my Lu family." Old Madam Ye asked Xiuwan to remove the cold dishes: "I remember that my brother has a bad stomach, so I will remove these cold and spicy ones first." ”

"As soon as you leave, sure enough, there is another group of people from Dongying." Master Lu looked painful, he poured wine and ate it himself, and said: "Those sons of bitches are even more excessive than Fujii's gang, and they have been tortured to death by them!" ”

Old Madam Ye was shocked when she heard this, and asked, "Are they already so domineering?" ”

Master Lu nodded: "Right now, the Lu family has seen the fate of the painting and walked a lot...... Liufang, if you leave, the people from my Lu Mansion will also leave. ”

"Brother," Old Madam Ye saw that her brother was like this, so she naturally felt uncomfortable, so she persuaded: "I have always known that I am from the Lu family, and if the Lu family wants any help now, you can tell me." ”

When Master Lu heard this, he burst into tears with shame: "I'm sorry for you as a brother." ”

"That's it, brother, I'll just tell you," Old Madam Ye looked at Xiuwan, and said: "You are the head of the Lu family, and you naturally need to do things yourself, but you can't ignore this backyard." ”

"I know you're unhappy with your sister-in-law, and I'll talk about her well." Master Lu replied sullenly.

Old Madam Ye sighed and said, "Where am I wronged for me?" Brother, you know, when my sister-in-law married into my Lu family, she still had a bad relationship with the servants in her house. ”

Master Lu remembered that after Mrs. Lu did marry into the Lu family before, there were rumors that she and a servant brought from her house were not clear, she didn't believe it at first, until someone saw Mrs. Lu send a purse to that person, this secret was known to others, and in the end, it was also for the sake of Lu Qing, who was still young, that Master Lu was not to blame in the past. However, the fact that he was cuckolded has always been a thorn in Master Lu's heart.

"Besides, my sister-in-law is very busy worrying about the affairs of the house every day," Mrs. Ye saw that Master Lu's expression changed, and she softened her voice and persuaded: "I remember that my sister-in-law is still in charge of our Lu family's accounts, brother, if you feel sorry for your sister-in-law, you should let her rest more." ”

Master Lu nodded, and said, "That's the same, it's time for these things to be handed over to Qing'er." ”

Old Madam Ye smiled and said, "That's right." ”

Old Man Lu was drunk, and Old Madam Ye ordered her subordinates to help him go back. When Xiuwan also withdrew, Mrs. Ye asked Qiao's from the back room to come out.

"Thank you, old lady."

Over the years, it was Mrs. Lu who occupied the account room. Although the Lu Mansion was generous before, it was very close to Qiao's family, and in the early years, the Qiao family lacked a sum of money to do business, so they dragged Qiao's family to Mrs. Lu to intercede, but Mrs. Lu tried to refuse. In this way, the Qiao family missed such an opportunity, and after the war, the Qiao family could only eat and wait for death. How much Qiao's hatred of Mrs. Lu is, Old Madam Ye knows. In the same way, she would never forgive Mrs. Lu, and Qiao Shi also knew it.

In the next few days, the Li family and the Cao family also arrived.

Cao Liangjin saw his father and mother, and there was no need to elaborate on the joy and sorrow. It's just that Mrs. Ye was still in a trance for a while when she saw Li Sheng getting off the carriage with green branches, and when the Li family came in previous years, it was Ye Rong who got off with Li Sheng.

Green Branch gave birth to a daughter, and when she held the child, her eyebrows and eyes also carried the tenderness of motherhood. She greeted Mrs. Ye in an orderly manner, and the two of them shed tears when they talked about Ye Rong, but Xiuwan persuaded her: "It's been a good year, why are you crying again, I don't feel at ease when I think Miss will see it." ”

Mrs. Ye took it away, and saw the ingots standing on the side. The child was silent for a long time, and Old Madam Ye went over to pull him and smiled reluctantly: "Yuanbao has grown taller." ”

"Minglang, please say hello to grandma." When Yuan Bao saw the salute, he stepped aside and stood. Lu Zhi saw it and said with a smile: "Yuanbao has grown up, so naturally he is not as active as before." ”

"Hmm." Old Madam Ye looked at the green branch meaningfully, and called Ye Shoujue again: "Jue'er, this is your ......" Saying, Old Madam Ye thought for a while and said: "Brother Lang, can you take your brother down to play?" ”

Ye Shoujue was naturally happy, and went with the ingots.

Mrs. Ye was a little tired these days, and because of the festival tomorrow, she fell asleep at night. Ye Lusheng took Lu Qing and a few people to get together to drink and touch cards, Tong Shuang instructed Xue Qing to clean the house, and invited the female dependents to the house to drink tea.

In the middle of the night, everyone was still not tired, so Tong Shuang went to Zhang Luo for supper. Wu'er, Xiaolian and Xueqing all went over to help.

Yuan Bao and Ye Shoujue started to read in the house, Xue Qing brought two bowls of rice balls, Ye Shoujue smiled and ate with Yuanbao, and soon Ye Shoujue felt sleepy, Yuan Bao carried him to the bed to lie down, and saw the dark sky from the window, saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new.

"Brother Lang, don't you sleep?"