On the tenth day of the lunar month, the light snow that had stopped for two days floated again, and the pure white snowflakes that were close to transparent colors drifted down from the sky and melted instantly into the Peishui River. At noon, the wharf was rarely quiet, and several cargo ships arrived in the morning had been unloaded, and the laborers gathered in the riverside curie, drinking hot tofu soup and eating big steamed buns with two noodles, while talking and laughing loudly, talking about what New Year's goods the family had done, and what padded jackets the daughter-in-law had made, which made everyone laugh from time to time.

On the bluestone official road leading to the wharf in Lingfeng City, a small pine carriage came from afar, with carved windows, blue cotton curtains, a boxy roof covered with thick linoleum, and two small wooden doors in front of the car pasted with yellowish cotton paper.

On the left side of the carriage sat a coachman in his thirties, with a gray-black torn cotton jacket, barehead without a hat, his face was purple from the cold, holding the reins in one hand and a shiny whip in the other.

On the right side of the chariot is a little steward in Tsing Yi, about twenty years old, with a long face and a pointed chin, a few sporadic beards, a wide forehead, light eyebrows, a pair of small eyes with more white eyes and fewer black eyes, and his bones are turning, looking full of treacherous appearance, at this time he is scolding the coachman to be careful to catch the car, while turning back to the door and saying, "Master, Ma Shan is about to go to the dock, if the eldest lady knows that the master is coming to greet her, she will be very happy." ”

As soon as his words fell, a shrill answer came from the carriage, "She is happy to have a useless, useless thing, let her go back to her parents' house to see, and bring back some good silk, but the result is good, other people's shops have been sold for half a month, and she turned around." If he brings less silk this time, I will see that I will not stop her. ”

The little steward's sycophant didn't shoot well, but he was scorned, so he hurriedly remedied, "The master is too worried, Madame's mother's family is a big silk family, and it is also one of the best in our martial country, and I will definitely be able to bring back a few boats of good silk." ”

"It's just a side girl, and she always puts everyone on a show with me, if it weren't for business, I..." The old man's voice became lower and lower, obviously these complaints were not intended to be heard by outsiders, and the little steward shrewdly immediately turned around and sat down, and chatted with the coachman without a match, to show that he did not hear his master's words.

The carriage traveled all the way to the dock, and the little steward looked at the upper reaches of Peishui from afar, and there was no shadow of the boat, so he jumped out of the car and said, "Master, Madame's boat, I'm afraid it will take a while to arrive, I heard that there is a restaurant at this pier, why don't you accompany you to sit down, let Lao Chen wait here, the boat is coming, let him go and tell him, how about it?" ”

"Okay." The old man in the car answered, the carriage turned around, and in less than a moment arrived at the gate of the riverside residence, and it happened that the bolt came out to pour water, and when he saw a guest coming to the door, he turned around and shouted, "Auntie, a guest is coming." ”

Sister-in-law Zhang responded, lifted the curtain to welcome out, and saw the carriage open the door, a big fat man wearing a silk and satin cotton robe stepped on a low stool and got out of the carriage, Sister-in-law Zhang carefully identified it for a long time, and immediately trotted forward and smiled, "Isn't this Master Zhang, why did you have time to come to the dock today?" Sit in the fast house. ”

Master Zhang obviously didn't know Sister-in-law Zhang, and looked at the little steward with some doubts, but unfortunately the little steward didn't recognize Sister-in-law Zhang, so he had to ask, "Where has this sister-in-law seen our master?" ”

Sister-in-law Zhang greeted them inside, and said with a smile, "Master Zhang is busy, and he doesn't know the slave family, the slave family is from Yunjia Village, and he once tenanted the paddy field of the old man's family last year. When I was paying the rent, I was fortunate enough to meet the master. ”

The little steward heard that it was his own tenant, and immediately put away the politeness on his face, nodded slightly, and the old man Zhang in front didn't even look at it.

Sister-in-law Zhang didn't feel that there was anything wrong, so she led them into the first room in the south, busy serving tea and water, very respectful and courteous.

Rui Xue was originally making dumplings, and when she saw her like this, she called her over in a low voice and asked, "Sister-in-law, who is this person, and what favors did he have for your family before?" ”

"Favor?" Sister-in-law Zhang didn't know why she asked, but she still said truthfully, "No, this person is Master Zhang in the city, do you remember, I told you that the paddy fields outside our village were bought by him, and our family had tenanted two acres last year, and we met when we paid rent." ”

"Is this old man very generous to the tenants in the village?"

Sister-in-law Zhang remembered the brown rice that she had in her foot bucket when she paid the rent last year, and she was forced to say that she had nine points, and she had to go to one bucket to give up, so she pouted and said, "This is an iron rooster, let alone generosity, you can't even be fair." ”

Ruixue lowered her head and continued to make dumplings, and said with a smile, "Then how many acres of paddy fields do you plan to plant this year?" ”

Sister-in-law Zhang thought for a while and said, "I'm busy in the shop with you, your eldest brother makes tofu in the morning and does farm work during the day, I'm afraid I don't have the extra strength to share the paddy fields." ”

"That's it, my sister-in-law just treats him as an ordinary guest." Rui Xue lightly threw down a sentence, and opened the door with a full curtain of dumplings to send them to the back of the house to freeze.

Sister-in-law Zhang was stunned for a long time, and suddenly understood, Rui Xue couldn't see that she flattered Master Zhang as a master, but think about it, his own family does not tenant his paddy fields, nor does he owe him food, he came to the shop to rest and eat, isn't it just an ordinary guest, but he is not angry, how can he see someone, so he lowered his identity and treated himself as a person.

She figured this out, so she went to the basin to wash her hands, called the stone and said, "Send the hot tea on the table in, and by the way, ask the guests if they can order some food?" ”

Ruixue came back and saw Sister-in-law Zhang making dumplings, smiled slightly, stood next to her and rolled dough, and talked about when she would enter the city and buy New Year's goods.

Shi Shi entered the house, put the fine porcelain teapot on the table, and said with a smile, "Guests, please drink tea, it's cold outside, I don't know if the guest can order some hot food?" ”

Master Zhang heard the crowds in the opposite room, as if it was more lively than the restaurant in the city, and his heart was itching, and he was waiting for Sister-in-law Zhang to enter the house and ask carefully, but the person who came in to serve was actually a half-grown child, he was a little unhappy, and asked in a sharp voice, "What about the woman just now, let her in, how can there be a master who still doesn't come forward to serve?" ”

Seeing that Sister-in-law Zhang was so enthusiastic just now, he only said a few words to the master and then replaced him in, so he guessed that there was some reason for this, so he replied, "The shop is busy, Aunt Zhang is preparing to eat in the stove, this guest officer is Aunt Zhang's master's family, the little one is disrespectful." originally thought that Aunt Zhang was a farmer, but she didn't expect that she was a domestic slave of a guest officer. ”

The tenant in the law of the martial arts stipulates that the relationship with the landlord is employment, one party out of the field, one side pays the grain, strictly speaking, it is really not a master and servant, but the peasant temperament, born cautious, always difficult to treat the landlord to straighten the waist, over time, the landlord actually really treats the tenant as a person.

At this time, the stone seemed to be unaware of the question, but the old man Zhang choked up, how could the little steward let go of this opportunity to flatter, and immediately opened his mouth to reprimand, "You little second child talks too much, let you call people, you call it." ”

The stone smiled, saluted, opened the door and ran out.

When Sister-in-law Zhang heard that Master Zhang asked her to go in to serve, her brows furrowed, her hands full of flour, and she said with some embarrassment, "Why don't I go in and have a look?" ”

Rui Xue smiled, "Go ahead, but don't answer too carefully if he asks anything." Don't wash your hands, so that he doesn't think you're too idle. ”

Sister-in-law Zhang understood, got up and entered the south house, and said with a smile, "Master Zhang has chosen what to eat, and the slave family will tell the shopkeeper to prepare it in the stove." ”

"I'm not busy, I'll ask you a few words first." Master Zhang said that he raised his hand to get the teacup, but it was empty, and he was about to reprimand Sister-in-law Zhang for not knowing how to come forward to pour tea, but when he saw her hand full of flour, he frowned, and turned to scold the little steward, "The blind dog slave can't come and pour tea." ”

The little steward glared at Sister-in-law Zhang fiercely, and hurriedly came to the front to serve with a smile.

Sister-in-law Zhang smiled secretly in her stomach, and she didn't say much, waiting for Master Zhang to ask.

Master Zhang faintly felt that her attitude seemed to be very different from when she first met just now, but he couldn't tell what was lacking, so he asked, "How was the harvest at home last year?" ”

"Thanks to the old man, the harvest is fine."

"How many acres of paddy fields have you occupied?"

Sister-in-law Zhang said with a smile, "I tenanted two acres the year before last, and I didn't tenant again this year." ”

Master Zhang frowned slightly, didn't he tenant again this year? That is to say, their family is not his tenant now, so if you want to ask the details of this shop from her, I am afraid it will be a little difficult.

He pretended to be fair, and asked, "Why haven't you been tenanted again this year, but what have the stewards below done to withhold your food, if so, I will definitely punish them severely when I go back." Tell me the name of your husband and master in a while, and next year I will explain to the people below that you will receive two liters of rice per mu. ”

Ruixue was going to go into the north house to deliver tea, but she heard Master Zhang's voice sharp, some similar to eunuchs, so she listened to it out of curiosity, but she almost didn't laugh out loud.

Sister-in-law Zhang also smiled, "Thank you Master Zhang for your generosity, but the slave family and the husband have work to do, and they only have their own three acres of dry land, I'm afraid they are still a little too busy, so they won't share the master's paddy fields." ”

The fat on Master Zhang's cheeks trembled obviously, and he lowered his head and took a sip of tea, but he immediately spit it out, and said angrily, "What kind of coarse tea is this, is it for guests?" ”

Sister-in-law Zhang quickly moved away, lest the cotton shoes be soaked, and said, "Back to the master, the good tea that we originally prepared for our guests in the store has been drunk, which is often drunk by the guests of the North House on weekdays, and everyone says that although this tea is bitter, it is very refreshing." ”

Master Zhang heard her mention the North House, so he took advantage of the situation and asked, "I heard that the house is very lively, and the business in this store is very prosperous?" ”

"The house is filled with laborers who work on the docks, and when they don't have work, they come in for a bowl of hot tea and a lunch."

Master Zhang's eyes lit up, "The laborers on the dock, there are hundreds of people, they come to lunch every day, the income of this shop is not small, how can you earn a hundred taels of silver in a month, right?" ”