The day of departure has finally arrived. Chunying grinded for a few days. finally persuaded Second Uncle Lu to take her to the dock to see Hu Fei together. The three of them took a carriage and pulled their luggage up to the Chase Bridge outside the East Gate.

This was originally the end point of the arrival of the boats from the south, and many people in Beijing wanted to go south, and many of them started from here and took advantage of the east wind of the boats to go south, so the banks of the river were extremely lively.

The wharf was full of people, cars came and went, and there were many coolies waiting with poles and rope hooks, waiting for others to be hired. Chunying lifted the curtain and looked out a few times, and saw that the Tonghui River was actually not very wide, and there were not as many boats parked by the river as expected, only four or five twenty or thirty meter-long boats were unloading. However, there are many pedestrians walking on the Chase Bridge. There were also a few soldiers in military uniforms, leisurely carrying spears, pointing at the boatmen and laughing as they walked ashore.

Uncle Lu parked the carriage next to a tree under the Chase Bridge, and there was a restaurant nearby. Although it is not the time for dinner, there are many customers in the building, and several private rooms on the second floor have also lifted bamboo curtains, and from the outside, you can see that there are men sitting in twos and threes, or chatting softly, or fighting for red faces, and Xiao Er holding a tray containing wine and food. Lengthened his voice and shouted the name of the dish, shuttling upstairs and downstairs.

Opposite the restaurant is a row of shops, with all kinds of Beijing specialties and foreign goods. The guy recruited the guests loudly, and when he saw that Second Uncle Lu was approaching, he hurriedly went up: "Guest officer, buy some southern goods, silk and satin, fat powder sesame oil, tea cakes, gold and silver incidents, the shop has everything, as well as Jingdezhen porcelain, Dai Chunlin's incense powder ......" and lowered his voice again: "I just arrived a batch of good Hu monk medicine, I will pack you down, and you ......will be happy."

Second Uncle Lu took a bite at him: "Get out of here, I didn't see my niece here, don't talk nonsense!" Chunying was getting out of the car, and when she heard this, she turned her head and asked curiously, "Second uncle, what kind of medicine is he talking about?" The man covered his mouth with a grin, and turned to pull the other guests.

Chunying felt a little strange and wanted to ask Hu Fei what was going on, but saw that his face was flushed, and she held back a sentence: "Sister...... Don't ask, it's a joke...... Chunying guessed that it was probably something improper, and she blushed a little, coughed lightly, and then opened the topic: "Second uncle, what boat is Brother Xiaofei going to take?" Do you want to ask how many boats over there will give him a ride? ”

Second Uncle Lu smiled: "You don't care about this, naturally there is a boat to sit on." I'm afraid it's not here yet. Chunying frowned, and said to Hu Fei: "Brother Xiaofei." Don't think I'm verbose, when you go out, it's not as good as before, you have to take care of yourself. I've made you a dozen new shoes, and a few new clothes, all in that blue cloth bag, and you have to remember to change them. Although the weather in Nanyang is hot, if you sweat and blow the wind, you will catch a cold, don't be lazy, pay attention to changing clothes. Spend what you need to spend, don't treat yourself badly to save money......"

When she read a sentence, Hu Fei nodded once, and Second Uncle Lu was impatient when he heard it: "Chun'er, why didn't Second Uncle find out that you were so verbose before?" Brother Hu is such a big person, don't you understand this? Besides, he's going to be in charge, and you're still afraid that he won't be called by then? ”

"You can't say that." Chun Ying retorted, "He has never tried to live alone, and he doesn't know anyone outside, who knows if the people he serves are careful enough?" Away from home. It's still up to you. ”

Second Uncle Lu smiled: "Yes, just Chun'er is the most meticulous in doing things, and no one can compare to you!" He put his hand on the pergola and looked into the distance, and dropped a sentence: "I'll go and inquire." And he walked away.

Chunying was angry at his jokes, so Hu Fei coaxed her: "You have been confessing since last night, and the second uncle has been listening to it, so he will feel impatient." But I know in my heart that you mean well, don't be angry, just say a few more words, I love to listen. ”

As soon as he said this, Chun Ying felt embarrassed: "I also know that I am too verbose...... "Touching his head, he suddenly remembered something, so he climbed into the carriage and turned around and beckoned to Hu Fei: "Brother Xiaofei, come here." ”

Hu Fei was puzzled, so he got on the wheel and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Chunying looked left and right, and saw that no one noticed her, so she took out a small cloth bag from her arms and handed it to Hu Fei: "This is for you, take it, don't let people see it." ”

Hu Fei took the cloth bag, opened the knot and saw that it was actually ten silver tickets, all of which were ten taels of denominations, each of which was neatly folded into two inches square, and was taken aback: "Where did this come from?!" ”

"After you sold your things, didn't you return my principal and dividends to me?" Chun Ying said, "I put that silver, plus some broken silver that used to be stored in the house. I became the third young master again and gave me a jade plaque a few days ago, and I scraped together enough one hundred taels of silver to exchange it for a small silver ticket. I inquired, this money bank has branches in Nanjing, Suzhou and Zhangzhou, and the silver ticket is universal. ”

Hu Fei's eyes widened, he remembered that the silver he returned to Chunying was only sixty or seventy taels, although he didn't know how much silver she had saved in the past, but he couldn't think of much more, and he had roughly estimated the value of the jade plate, and this one hundred taels was almost a dump for Chunying. He hurriedly stuffed the cloth bag back into her: "No, I can't take your money, aren't you about to save money?" ”

When Chun Ying heard this, her expression darkened: "Don't mention it...... I wanted to save more money, but I was going to ...... In the future, he redeemed his whole family, so that he could live outside without worrying about food and clothing...... Fortunately, in the past year, my mother almost forgot about it, I mentioned to her, she was impatient, the last time she came to see me, even planned to buy a little girl, said that other housekeepers have it. Our family is not too ashamed...... This was all instigated by that Aunt Ma! My mother said that Aunt Ma has been a little short of money recently, so if it is convenient, I will lend her some silver. Hmph, I don't want to borrow her, anyway, most of this money is earned back by you, so it is better to spend it on you! ”

Hu Fei sighed, and still handed over the cloth bag: "Anyway, I can't ask for it, sister, you have helped me a lot, this is the silver you have to prepare for your family." It's time to keep it away. ”

Chunying pushed the cloth bag back: "If I keep it myself, and my mother speaks again, I won't be able to excuse myself." I really don't want to make my money cheaper than others. Brother Xiaofei, if you don't want to go, you will treat it as the money I invested, just like we used to be a partner, you can do whatever you like! ”

Hu Fei thought about it, then put on the cloth bag, and said: "In this case, I will never let my sister suffer." ”

Chunying smiled, and suddenly caught a glimpse of Second Uncle Lu coming back, and hurriedly jumped out of the car to catch up: "Second Uncle, how is it?" What's asked? ”

"It's coming soon, just wait a minute." Second Uncle Lu looked at the river from a distance, "I just asked someone, and said that it may have passed through Tongzhou, and it will be there soon." ”

After another half an hour, the ship he had spoken of finally arrived. However, to Chunying's surprise, this is not "one" ship, but a fleet, with two large boats and three small boats in front and behind, slowly sailing down the river. The two big boats led by the head were both hung with lanterns on the bow, one was blue, with the word "Li" written on it, and the other was white, with the word "Huo" written on it. Chunying suddenly realized that this must be the arrival of the eldest young master, his aunt's wife, and Miss Cousin.

Second Uncle Lu almost saw the shadow of the boat, so he left Chunying and Hu Fei and ran away, and after a while, he brought back two people dressed as Hou Mansion and stood on the shore waiting. It turned out that from the day after he returned to Beijing, there were four family members of the Hou Mansion at the Datong Bridge wharf working day and night, waiting for the news of the Huo family's arrival in Beijing. Now as soon as they saw the boat, the other two hurried back home to report the news, and the two of them, together with the second uncle Lu, were responsible for the reception on the dock.

The boats docked in turn. Soon a few long planks were set up between the side of the boat and the river bank, and a few people came down from the boat, and the second uncle Lu and the two family members went up to meet them, and talked a few words, and one of them went to the bridge to hire a porter. Then another person came down from the boat, with upright facial features, good eyebrows, a square scarf on his head, a gray-blue plain silk robe, a black silk rope tied around his waist, and only a white jade pendant hanging, simple, Shi Shiran stepped off the boat, although the plank shook badly, he didn't panic at all, and he looked very stable and generous.

As soon as Second Uncle Lu saw him, he greeted him and bowed down, although Chunying couldn't hear him, she also knew that it was the eldest young master of the Hou Mansion. I saw that the eldest young master looked at Hu Fei a few times, Hu Fei made a gesture from afar, he nodded, then turned around and ordered the servants, and then walked to the restaurant.

Second Uncle Lu glanced at Hu Fei, who knew it in his heart and said to Chunying: "Sister, take care of your luggage, I'll come when I go." Chun Ying answered, saw him enter the restaurant, and went upstairs to the elegant seat with the eldest young master one after another, knowing that they must have confidential matters to discuss, so he waited outside the door with peace of mind, pulled the carriage, and turned his head to look at the boats.

After hiring a few sedan chairs and telling the people on board, the boatmen on deck retreated to the stern, and out of the cabin came a dozen or so stout servants, holding rolls of dark blue coarse cloth in their hands, and spread out to block the road on both sides, and opened a way to avoid people, until it reached the front of the sedan chair. The sedan chair bearer had already been driven away by the family.

Chun Ying was interested, and stared at the situation on the ship, but only heard a few faint sounds of girls talking, and then the soft squeak of the wooden bridge, the sound of light and rapid footsteps, the click of shoes on the stones, but other than that, nothing could be heard. By the time the servants had collected the coarse cloth, the sedan chairs were already standing in the ground, and even the curtains were tightly placed.

The family told the sedan chair drivers carefully, and the latter was also trembling, not daring to make mistakes, carefully lifting the sedan chair and taking the first step.

At this time, the eldest young master happened to come out of the restaurant, and someone brought a horse, and handed the whip, he turned over, whipped twice, and the horse quickly caught up with the sedan chair and drove away.

At this time, the porters began to carry the ship's luggage. Hu Fei walked back to the carriage and said to Chunying with some reluctance: "Sister...... I have to go. ”

Chun Ying was startled and bit her lip: "I know ......" She jumped out of the car and helped him with his luggage, Hu Fei hurriedly took it, opened his mouth, and finally only said two words: "Cherish ......" and resolutely turned her head and went in the direction of the boat.

Chunying's eyes were red, and she suddenly took a step to catch up, running faster and faster, seeing Hu Fei get onto one of the boats, she was about to call him, but she heard someone calling herself: "Chun'er? When I looked back, it turned out to be my father. She was stunned: "Daddy......"

Lu Yougui was a little surprised, and a little surprised: "Why did you come?" Your second uncle brought you here? Quick, come and help Dad with the luggage, it's all good things, Dad made a special trip to bring it to your mother and your sisters! ”

Chunying took two steps towards him, and then turned back to look at Hu Fei, who was no longer visible. She quietly wiped her face before bowing her head and walking towards her father.

(It's late again, sorry!! 》_《)。.。