Early the next morning, the Dongfu prepared the "happy fruit". The three red lacquered gold wooden boxes are full of these gifts to the north, west and south provinces. Another 180 boxes were prepared and handed over to relatives and friends. Originally, 360 baskets of red eggs were to be prepared for delivery to close people, but they were finally too busy to put them away, saying that they would be delivered on the day of production in the future.

The house sent Xiguoer, the old lady assigned Ju'er to go, the people in the East Mansion did not give labor, here, the old lady said to the East Mansion, the punishment of the uncle is sincere, and the love of the people in the house is also sincere, and the root is up, that is, the meaning of reward and punishment is clear, how many people who love the East Mansion come. The Qin family didn't say anything else, but Aunt Xi felt a little unfair, and there was jealousy.

The first mansion was sent to the north mansion, and Cao Shiqiao went out to read the accounts of the shop early that morning, and he didn't meet him when he staggered it, it was a gift received by Zhuang Xuan, and he handed Ju'er a tael of silver. The next time it was sent to Xifu, the county lord received the gift, and returned to the auspicious jade lock to answer. Later, it was Nanfu who sent it, and Nanfu returned a jade unicorn.

After the good news was completed, the wives returned the gifts one by one to the wife of the East Mansion, and Ju'er returned to the Middle Mansion to explain to the old lady. Hearing that Zhuang Ju's return gift was one or two silver, the old lady was silent, took a piece of Hetian jade from it to make up the amount, and asked Ju'er to send it to Dongfu.

At this time, it was a knot, but I didn't expect Cao's to come back from outside, and learned that the little aunt in Dongfu sent "Xiguoer", so she opened the box and saw that there were four grids inside, which contained red eggs, yellow and white fruits, black chestnuts, and green peanuts. Cao Shi was stunned for a while, and sat down deflated. Zhuang Xuan was puzzled and asked, "What's wrong with this, wife?" ”

Cao Shi responded: "It's not like giving birth to a man." ”

Zhuang Xuan said with a smile: "That's a happy event, and the lord should be happy." Aren't our multiple brothers? ”

Cao Shi took a sip and said, "What do you know?" After finishing speaking, he thought about it for half a minute, and then asked: "Did the other wives send it?" ”

Zhuang Qi replied: "It was sent by Ju'er in the old lady's house." It's all gone. ”

Cao Shi said coldly: "Look, it's not an upstart. Two upstarts, old lady, your sister and son will have no weight in the future. Ju'er, what else did the girl say? ”

Zhuang Qi said: "Say that on the second and fifth day, I will hold a banquet with my fifth sister on her birthday, so that I can be happy." ”

Cao sighed: "Hey, the old lady is really overjoyed. How can there be a gong and drum on the pregnant head, it is too inappropriate. It's trouble-free, and the five girls are happy in their hearts? ”

Zhuang Xuan was puzzled, didn't ask, turned around and wanted to leave. Before she could leave, Cao stopped her again and asked, "What kind of gift did you return?" ”

Zhuang Qian was surprised, she didn't know that there was a return gift, but she gave Ju'er a tael of silver, and she answered truthfully. When Cao Shi heard this, he kept saying "Oh, my mother" again and again, blaming Zhuang Qi for not being sensible.

Zhuang Qi said: "Mrs. will send whatever she wants." I don't know what the rules are for returning the courtesy, you haven't told us, and I haven't seen it. When people come to send happiness, I think it is hard, and it is in the old lady's room, so I will reward a silver for tea, and it has never been rude. Mrs. is like this, and she wants to say that I did something wrong. I didn't take it, and my wife was going to say that I didn't do it right. All day long, I don't do this right, I don't do that right, my wife might as well point someone to help you do it, why bother asking me to pick you up. ”

Zhuang Xuan finished speaking in a series of words, and left angrily.

Cao Shi chased angrily: "Little hoof, don't want a façade, your Lao Tzu's face will be lost to you." I'm embarrassed to lose my temper. Out of this house, who looks at you as a sister? If you have the ability, you can compare with Miss Qi, and I will serve you. ”

Zhuang Xuan is not allowed to manage her mother's words, on weekdays, this mother and daughter are judged like two people. No one is around, the Cao family is always looking for their daughter, nothing more than how good her daughter is, so that the mansions and the old lady will look at it differently. Zhuang Ying is just that, her temperament is not with the husband and wife, she is surprisingly quiet, that Zhuang Ying is different, her hot temper is the same as Cao's, and no one can say anyone. In the end, the mother and daughter were either scolding or arguing in their own house, and they felt that others didn't know. But where is there a fire that is not burning, girls, you pass me and I pass you, the whole world knows it, but they think that no one knows about it behind closed doors. This is also the reason why the second old man Zhuang Lu doesn't like to stay in his northern mansion, and he doesn't want to see the Cao family.

After Zhuang Qi left, Cao asked Yuyuan and other girls to prepare snacks, eat some indiscriminately, and then asked Guiyuan to go to the East Mansion to take a look, if all the people there are in the house, and then come back to inform her.

Guiyuan went, and when he went to the outside of the Dongfu compound, he happened to see Zhuang Hu finding a few nurses from outside, and at this moment they were lining up to enter the house for a physical examination.

Gui Yuan pulled a little girl passing by outside the courtyard and asked, "What is this for?" ”

The girl replied, "Find a nurse for the little aunt's belly." ”

Gui Yuan pretended to be happy and said: "It's too early, I heard that the third wife was pregnant with the third master at that time, and there was only one nurse who waited until eight or nine months to find it." ”

The girl replied, "What we don't know, right now the old lady and the lady are telling you to go down and pay attention to it." ”

Gui Yuan asked again: "Are the wives and aunts there?" ”

The girl replied, "Yes." Mrs. also cooked and stewed Yuepo chicken soup herself. ”

Gui Yuan didn't ask anymore, and rushed back to Beifu to report as such. After Cao finished eating at the moment, Yuyuan and other girls were cleaning up, where she sat and ate tea by herself, and when she heard Guiyuan's reply, she was even more angry.

Guiyuan saw that the Cao family was not happy, so he flattered a few words and said: "There are several wet nurses, but when the third wife had a third master in the past, didn't I hear that there was only one?" I chose it in August and September. "Tell the third wife about the past of the county lord, so that Cao's heart is comfortable.

Unexpectedly, Cao said: "That's Xifu's intention to please the old lady, pretending to be a gesture, and you didn't see it behind the captivity." ”

Gui Yuan didn't dare to say anything, but Yu Yuan, who was cleaning up the broken table on the side, said: "If you want me to say, the little aunt in Dongfu also enjoys it early, and she is not afraid of overdoing it with the Yuepo chicken soup that makes up so much, and her stomach is not visible, let alone eating it after giving birth." The eldest lady also made it for her personally, but it wasn't the uncle who broke her heart, and did it for her, poor the eldest lady. ”

Cao Shi snorted and said, "If it were me, I would be willing too." You call your second master to give birth to one, even if he is not pregnant, I will give him Yuepo chicken soup every day. ”

After listening to this, Gui Yuan and Yu Yuan laughed. At the end, Cao Shi took out a piece of white marble with gold and gold from the treasure chest in the room, wrapped it, and led Guiyuan to Dongfu to congratulate him.

Cao's arrival here, Zhuang Hu has finished checking the nurse's body, leaving four people to check, waiting for October, and then leaving one by two, leaving the best one for the little aunt. The nurse who went out passed by Cao's and had some etiquette, and Cao's also went back to Italy.

When he arrived at the lobby, he saw Zhuang Hu making a note, and Cao said: "The eldest girl can just send the housekeeper to do it, why bother to do it yourself." ”

Zhuang Hu raised his eyes and said with a smile: "What the old lady pointed out, others have done errands, and I have to bear the guilt." It's not a matter of embarrassment, it's just a matter of effort. ”

Cao Shi didn't wait for anyone to say hello, as soon as she hurried to find a place to sit down, the girl served tea, she took it and sipped it up, and said with a smile: "I just heard that my little aunt is happy." ”

Zhuang Hu said: "Ju'er in the old lady's house didn't send Xiguo'er?" ”

Cao said: "It's here, it's here, and I just entered the house, and I saw it." Immediately kept coming. After a slight pause, he looked around: "Where's Mrs." ”

Zhuang Hu said: "The soup in the south." ”

To the south is the aunt's residence, which is exactly what it means.

After hearing this, Cao Shi took out the golden jade from his body, and said with a smile: "That's right, I'll take a look too." ”

Zhuang Hu was surprised to see the gold and jade in Cao's hand, and asked, "What is the wife holding in her hand?" Good is exquisite. ”

Cao Shi turned around, showed Zhuang Hu, and said, "It's not very valuable, the girl has to wait for me to come back and send it to me." I sent it. As soon as he opened it, he drifted out of the house and went to the south room.

When I arrived at the south house, I saw a few girls drying their clothes, and there were some birds chirping around me. As soon as Cao arrived, he laughed and asked the girl who was drying clothes: "Mrs. and your little aunt are in the house?" ”

The girl replied: "Back to the second wife, they are all here." ”

After getting the words, Cao's didn't let it be communicated, so he went in by himself.

In the back room, the little aunt was lying on the bed, her face dissipated, slightly haggard, seeing Cao's arrival, her spirit cheered up a little, and the Lord Jue greeted her and gave up her seat. The Cao family gave the Qin family a salute and sat down.

Cao said: "I just came back from outside, and I knew that Tian Xi was happy." He also said that holding a New Year's banquet with the five girls is not the best of both worlds, the icing on the joy, and the joy on the other. ”

Qin smiled slightly, he was sitting on the edge of the bed and talking to his little aunt, but when he saw Cao Shi say at this moment, he said, "The second wife has a heart." ”

Cao said: "Where is it, it should be." As he spoke, he took out the golden jade mantang, handed it to the Qin family, and then said, "Happy to get your son." ”

Qin Shi said lightly: "This is not born yet, and you know that it is a ......"

Cao Shi broke off and said: "It's good to look forward to, and that's what the old lady means." There are four things to give, don't point and don't know. Then he laughed.

The Qin family handed the golden jade to the little aunt, and the little aunt took it in her hand, frowned slightly, barely showed gratitude, and said, "Second Mrs. Xie." ”

Qin asked the girl to come in and clean up the soup bowls and cans. For a while, the girl went in, and Cao Shi watched them busy, and when she saw that the little aunt was in a slightly worse spirit, she got up to leave. The Qin clan took the Cao clan and went out with him.

Outside, the Qin family "spit" a mouthful of Cao's and said, "Good duan, you personally sent such a valuable one." Your family has a lot of gold and silver, and precious jade. ”

Cao said: "What did the Nanfu and Xifu send?" ”

Qin Shi gave her a blank look and did not answer.

Cao said: "Mrs. Hengzhu also sent me back then, isn't it also full of gold and jade, neatly two girls and three girls, you sent two." I don't have a chance to give it to my wife, do I? This time, I have to pay back the bill. ”

The corners of Qin's mouth twitched a few times, and he was stunned to say something but couldn't say anything.

Cao Shi said happily: "My heart has also arrived, so I will go back first." The second master is coming back, give him some food, so as not to look for me again. ”

Qin still didn't answer, and watched Cao's twisted posture leave. The Qin family was about to return to the lobby when he met Zhuang Hu at the bottom of the steps, and Zhuang Hu reported what the Cao family had come to. The Qin clan didn't say anything, and walked away thoughtfully.

Zhuang Hu caught up with the Qin family again and said, "The second wife sent a gold-inlaid jade, I don't think it's good." I was going to say that she was going fast again. ”

Qin Shi smiled reluctantly: "She has this temperament, you know that she has a lot of gold, and she doesn't like to touch gold and silver with things." ”

Zhuang Hu said: "The old lady knows, and she has to say it again." ”

Qin Shi left with an "um". Zhuang Hu could see that the Qin family had something on her mind, and she didn't think much else for a while, when she was worried about Zhuang Wei's illness.

This Fang Yuan also has a story, that pregnant woman has joy, send the fruit to people, the return gift should be white jade, Fang is the meaning of congratulations, jade white to pure, is He De Guizi, the child will grow after giving birth will be a hundred Ling, healthy white fat, smart and extraordinary, if with other variegated colors, not to pure white, always not very auspicious.

Back then, the Qin family gave the Cao family these two pieces of gold and jade, but she didn't think about this, because she was born in the rivers and lakes, how could she have these theories? It was a mistake to add so many years of blockage to the Cao family, and the Cao family won the Qin family's gold and jade hall one after another, and gave birth to two daughters, which is really a blockage. That's why there is this story.

Cao's leaked so many years of blockage, but he was happy. Back in Beifu, after a short time, Zhuang Lu came back from outside, and she told her about the return gift. Zhuang Lu didn't listen, and he jumped up in a hurry when he heard it.

Zhuang Lu pointed at Cao's nose and said, "Confused things, not to find people to dislike." ”

Cao said: "The co-author has suffered twice, and his heart is comfortable?" ”

Zhuang Lu said: "If you don't fight for yourself, you still rely on the eldest lady to go?" Pass it to the old lady and see how you end. ”

Cao said: "If you didn't stop me at the beginning, I will tell the old lady back." ”

Zhuang Lu "hummed" and said: "Villains and women are difficult to raise. Then he threw up his sleeves and left, and the food that Cao Shi prepared did not eat at all.

The Cao family wanted to chase it back, but Zhuang Lu said: "The master has his own place to eat, and you don't want to manage me." ”

At this point, her daughter was not at home, and her husband was angry with her, and Cao's heart was empty, still feeling that he was all thinking about his own family, for this family. After all, no one wants to stop thinking about her. After so many years of hard work, the old man Zhuang Lu turned a blind eye. Seeing that there was no one around, he quietly wiped his tears a few times, and in the end, he gritted his teeth and endured it.

In the afternoon, after waking up from a nap, the Cao family thought about going to Xifu, wanting to inquire about what Xifu had sent, and then wanted to knock on the county lord and Aunt Fengxian to wake up, so that the five girls would not be allowed to hold a banquet with the little aunt, and they had the intention of provoking. After thinking about it, I felt that it was inappropriate, so I didn't leave. Lying lazily like this, when he asked for dinner in the evening, seeing that Zhuang Lu did not come back, he asked Guiyuan to go to the Qian Zhuang in front of the second master and ask the first two people.

How do you know that Qian Zhuang and Zhuang Lu went out and didn't come back, and the first household took leave and couldn't speak. Guiyuan returned to Beifu Yuming, Cao had to make a count after listening, and then called Zhuang Qi and Zhuang Ying to have dinner, and said that the two daughters went to Miss Jinghua Xie Qi for a day, and stayed at the old lady's place to eat at the moment.

Hearing this again, Cao's anger was not in one place, he smashed the bowl and smashed the plate, and he was so angry that he couldn't breathe.

Fortunately, Yuyuan comforted on the side: "The second girl is clever and knows how to take the initiative to find Miss Qi." Fang means walking around in front of the old lady. How could the wife not know the girls' thoughts? ”

Cao said: "I have no interest in myself, how can I get out of my head when I look up to other people's noses?" What a heartless girl. ”

I didn't eat a light meal, so I drank a sip of tea and went back to my room to lie down. For a few days, if it weren't for the old lady's order to come to her to help arrange the banquet for Zhuang Hu, she would not have gone out of the door, counting accounts in the house every day, and her hands were a little empty, and when she saw that the second girl and the third girl were going out, she scolded a few words mercilessly. Moreover, since that day, the second master Zhuang Lu has not been waiting to see her, going out early in the morning all day, and returning after three or four watches in the evening.

The day before the 25th, Cao couldn't help but ask Zhuang Lu: "In January, the mid-year accounts will be settled, but the master is working for that?" ”

Zhuang Lu said: "I'm not the only one who looks at the accounts, don't you want to look at it?" If you name the number that is wrong, I will ask them to check it. ”

Cao said: "It should be like this, the master doesn't have to worry about it, he goes out early and returns late all day, I don't know where he went?" It doesn't even touch the house. ”

Zhuang Lu said: "You can manage me." Don't eat and drink with people, the second half of the expenditure of this whole house, take it from your box Are you willing? ”

Under the words, the Cao family didn't say anything anymore, and Zhuang Lu was also away from home day and night. Do everything possible to shirk the affairs of the business field. Cao had doubts in his heart, and it was difficult to guess, so he asked someone to find Qian Zhuang, asked some questions, and promised that it was the same as the second master.

In this way, it will be the twenty-fifth day, and after the twenty-fifth issue, who would have thought that later, there will be a lot of articles here, and the Cao family could not have imagined it, and even Yu Qi was implicated.