"Ning'er, where's your box?" Fan Tiezhou rubbed his hair and asked with a smile.

He hadn't seen him for a few days, and he really missed his son.

"I'll only have one day off, and I'll have to come back tomorrow night."

"It's too late to leave early the day after tomorrow, Daddy has a boat, and I promise not to let you be late."

Fanning walked on the boat and found that the boat was actually not small, with a canopy in the middle, which was very neat and comfortable, and there was a small window on the canopy.

Fanning stepped into the cabin, laid down his baggage, and looked around.

"Daddy, is this ship new?"

"Fortunately, seventy percent new, I brushed it again with tung oil, and it looks like new."

"How's business?"

"It's just the beginning, but there are seventy or eighty wen a day, which is more than fishing, and there will be more regular customers in the future, and at least two hundred wen a day."

Fan Tiezhou is in a very good mood, there are more than a dozen acres of land at home, one acre of land can earn two times a year, and there are twenty or thirty times a year for farming, plus transporting passengers, and then removing the field tax and exemption money, an average of four to five times a month, in the village, this is also the middle and upper income.

"How's my mother?" Fanning asked again.

"Your mother is fine, she made a table of good dishes, just waiting for you to go back!"

Fan Tiezhou smiled again: "Your fourth uncle is not bad, he teaches in primary school, everyone says that he teaches better than Mr. Gu before, your grandfather praises you for your ability!" ”

"Didn't he say I was stupid?"

Fanning really didn't care about his eccentric grandfather, but in his father's face, he casually responded with a few words.

"I won't say it anymore, he also plans to reward you with five dollars, and I don't know what's going on, your grandfather went to Wuxi, and suddenly figured it out."

Speaking of rewards, Fan Tiezhou remembered something and said to his son: "Yesterday, the patriarch of the Fan clan in the town came to me and gave our family ten yuan. ”

"Why do you want to give ten kan money?"

"This is the rule set by your third grandfather a few years ago, he donated all his property to set up the Fan Charity Fund, all the Fan children who are admitted to the school will be rewarded with five yuan each, and if they are admitted to the four universities, they will be rewarded with ten yuan to subsidize the children to study."

Historically, Fan Zhongyan did donate most of his property to fund the family's children to study.

Fan Ning was lying in the cabin, his head resting on his hands, looking at the sky and white clouds, and he didn't know how Fan Zhongyan was doing now?

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When she got home, Zhang Sanniang hugged him and cried as if she hadn't seen her son for many years, and when she was eating, she found that her son had lost a little weight, and she was so distressed that she burst into tears.

She sat on her son and kept serving him vegetables, "Ning'er, this piece of meat is good, my mother specially kept it for you." ”

After a glance, she suddenly roared, "Fan Tiezhou, that chicken leg is for my son, who let you eat it?" ”

Fan Tiezhou held a bitten chicken leg in his hand, he didn't put it, he didn't eat it, he stayed there.

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After dinner, Fan Tiezhou took the initiative to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, and Zhang Sanniang took out two sheepskin jackets from the box, which she asked someone to buy in the library town, and made of the best lake sheepskin.

"Da Lang, Ning'er, you two come over and try it first, one for each person, hey! Last year, 700 yuan was enough, but this year it has risen to the same amount, and this year, the money is becoming less and less used. ”

"The lady is right, I wish I had known that we bought it last year." Fan Tiezhou smiled flatteringly.

Zhang Sanniang glared at him, "What's the point of saying this, did our family have the money to buy it last year?" ”

She threw the sheepskin jacket to her husband, "Go and sew the buttons yourself, I don't bother to care about you." ”

She turned around and smiled at Fan Ning and said, "Good son, try it for your mother to see if the size is appropriate?" ”

Fanning put on a close-fitting sheepskin jacket and a straight jacket on the outside, which was really much warmer.

"What's going on today?"

As soon as Fanning got home, he felt that his mother did not have a good face, of course, not to himself.

"Humph! Ten times the money is what my son deserves, and it's his business if he's unhappy, so why should we return it to the family. ”

Seeing his father's embarrassed face, Fanning asked, "Daddy, what's going on?" ”

Fan Tiezhou sat aside and said with a wry smile: "Your fourth uncle was admitted to the county school, and the family didn't give him any rewards.

However, the family refused, and your grandfather was angry and asked us to return the ten yuan to the family, but of course your mother refused, so your mother has been complaining about me. ”

"It was meant to be!"

Zhang Sanniang sewed buttons while saying to her son: "Don't think that your mother is a person who sees money, I have my own way of doing things, yesterday your grandfather sent five yuan of money, and I have no opinion on the reward for my grandson, but why say that it is compensation for the separation, I will confiscate it in a fit of anger." ”

Fan Tiezhou was threading the needle, he hurriedly put down the needle and thread to explain, "Since he mentioned the compensation for the separation, it shows that he still feels guilty about this matter in his heart, and besides, it is normal for people to say the wrong thing when they are old, I believe that his original intention was to give Ning'er a reward, and there is no other meaning." ”

"Anyway, I won't ask for that money, I don't want to owe favors."

Zhang Sanniang is a knife mouth and a tofu heart, although she was angry with her husband and asked him to sew buttons by himself, but when she saw him pick up a needle and thread, she stepped forward to take back the sheepskin jacket.

"Forget it, I'll sew it for you! Save someone saying I bullied his son. ”

Fan Tiezhou breathed a long sigh of relief, and the lady finally lost her breath.

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Early the next morning, Fan Tiezhou took Fan Ning to his grandfather's house.

On the way, Fan Tiezhou said: "Your fourth uncle was really a prodigy when he was a child, he could speak when he was less than a year old, he could read and write at the age of three, he went to school at the age of five, and he was the first in every exam. ”

"Which eight words?" Fanning asked with interest.

"The official road and business journey are unspeakably expensive!"

Fan Tiezhou sighed, "It's these eight words that make your grandfather like a demon, cultivate your fourth uncle at all costs, and be obedient to him and love him very much." ”

Fan Ning was silent for a moment, and then asked his father, "Yesterday, my mother said that the fourth uncle was admitted to the county school that year, and the family did not give any reward, why?" ”

"There are many reasons, on the one hand, the relationship between the old patriarch and your grandfather at that time was very bad, of course, you can't completely blame the family for being unfair, in fact, there are other reasons."

Fan Tiezhou looked to both sides, lowered his voice and said: "Some things can tell you now, your fourth uncle was actually not admitted to the county school affiliated school at that time, and your grandfather finally entrusted favors to spend money to send him to the school to study." ”

Fan Ning was stunned, "Didn't the fourth uncle get in?" ”

"It's not!"

Fan Tiezhou shook his head, "Even the county school costs money, and it costs two hundred taels of silver to buy an auditor place, and in order to provide him with education, almost your grandfather's old bottom will be emptied." ”

Fan Ning suddenly understood his grandfather's almost pathological obsession, and he wanted to let the fourth uncle get famous, because he spent a lot of money on the fourth uncle, and if the fourth uncle couldn't pass the exam, then the money would be spent in vain.

When I came to my grandfather's house, I saw that my grandmother Yang was counting a young man squatting on the ground, and my grandmother looked much better and in good spirits.

"Grandma!"

Fanning shouted and ran over.

Yang suddenly smiled, pulled Fan Ning to look up and down, and said with a smile: "My family has become a talent!" ”

People rely on clothes and horses to rely on saddles, and in the past, Fanning wore short clothes and shorts, barefoot, no matter how you look at it, she is a country cow herder.

Now he is wearing a scholar's straight jacket, a square scarf on his head, and thick-soled cloth boots under his feet, and he is indeed a little showman.

"This is the chilblain medicine I bought for Grandma in the town!"

Fanning shoved a bottle of ointment into his grandmother's hand, and last time he noticed a crack in her hand.

Yang stroked his grandson's head lovingly, "Be good, and buy medicine for Grandma." ”

At this time, Fan Tiezhou walked in and looked at the young man squatting on the ground in surprise, "Tie Niu, why are you here?" ”

Only then did Fan Ning know that the young man in black was his third uncle, Fan Tieniu.

The four brothers of the Fan family, the best mix now, is the second Fan Tiege, who opened a grocery store in Changqiao Town, Wu County.

The worst mixed is the third Fan Tieniu, who plugged the door upside down for others and became a door-to-door son-in-law.

There is a saying in the countryside of Wu County, which is called 'It is better to have no money than to plug in one door.' ’

That is to say, it is better to be penniless than to be a son-in-law to others,

The fate of the son-in-law is more tragic, living under the eaves of the woman's house, without any status, and giving birth to children must be with the woman's surname.

Walking on the road, people will point at you behind you and secretly laugh at you.

If the woman's family is kind, she can still raise her son-in-law as half a son, but if she encounters an unscrupulous family, the son-in-law is not as good as her subordinates, and beating and scolding are even more commonplace.

As for what Fan Tieniu did and what kind of son-in-law he came to, the Fan family was very secretive about it and never mentioned it.

Fanning only heard her mother mention when she complained about her grandfather, "If he hadn't been so partial to the fourth child at the beginning, the third child would not have come that far." ”

However, it was the first time Fan Ning saw his third uncle, only to see him with thick lips, wide nose, honest and honest appearance, wearing a black coarse cloth short coat, wrapped in a round turban, and his body was very strong.

At this time, I only heard my grandfather shouting in the room: "The guy who has no interest, has he been beaten and fled back?" ”

Fan Tieniu covered his head and muttered, "This time you won't give me food!" ”

Fan Dachuan walked out of the room, he glanced at Fan Ning, and there was still no smile on his face.

He glared at Fan Tieniu and said, "Why don't you give you food?" ”

Fan Tieniu's body is extremely strong, even stronger than his eldest brother Tiezhou.

He was very afraid of his father, and whispered: "Last year, my father-in-law promised me that as long as I planted 200 acres of land this year, he would let Niuniu have my surname."

I planted 200 acres of land desperately this year, and it was easy to harvest in the autumn, I brought up the matter of Niuniu, but he denied it, saying that there was no such thing, I couldn't be angry, and said that I wouldn't plant next year, but he locked me in the cowshed, didn't give me food, and I was so hungry that I climbed out of the window to escape. ”

At this time, the fourth Fan Tongzhong also came back, and he was furious when he heard this: "The Lu family treats the third brother as a slave, Daddy, it's okay if this marriage is divorced!" ”

Fan Dachuan glared at him fiercely, "You will pay back the two hundred taels of silver?" ”

Fan Tongzhong suddenly wilted.

Only then did Fan Ning understand that the two hundred taels of silver that the fourth uncle went to school in the county were the dowry of the third uncle, and he was strange just now, with his grandfather's income from one hundred and ten acres of land, how could he get two hundred taels of silver at a time?

Fan Dachuan turned back to his eldest son Fan Tiezhou and said: "You send the third child back, you tell Lu Yuanwai that my son is not a slave or a livestock, and if he dares to abuse my son, I will report to the official!" ”

"That's right! Report to the officer. Fan Tieniu jumped up.

"Shut up!"

Fan Dachuan angrily reprimanded him: "Go back and live honestly, don't think about it, when your son grows up, you will naturally have a bright future, do you hear?" ”

Fan Tieniu nodded silently.

Fan Ning really couldn't stand it, this strange grandfather, for two hundred taels of silver, actually asked his son to be the inverted door.

He said to his father: "Daddy, I have something to do with Zhou Yuanwai, so I will go first." ”

Fan Tiezhou nodded, "Say hello to your grandfather and leave!" ”

Fan Dachuan's ears were very smart, and when he heard that he was going to find Zhou Yuanwai, he immediately laughed and said, "Go ahead!" Say hello to Zhou Yuanwai for me. ”

Fanning nodded, and saluted her grandmother again, "Grandma, I'm leaving?" ”

Yang hurriedly took out a hot boiled egg from the kitchen, gave it to his grandson with a smile, and touched his head.

Fanning greeted the two uncles again and turned to leave.

Inspector Fan Tieniu looked at Fan Ning with his neck in the distance, his eyes were full of loss, and Dumb forgot about himself.