Nearly two percent of the courtyards on the south side of Shaoshanfang in the west of Tongcheng City now belong to the category of Zheng Mansion. If you even count the small courtyards allocated to the housekeepers who have the face of the family for private use, there can be a total of 256 acres of land.

In Tongcheng, there is only the previous Yang Mansion that is larger than the Zheng Mansion, but it is only about five acres of land.

In comparison, the old ones are less than six acres, which can be described as very shabby.

The Zheng family established a career in Tongcheng quite early, and the main house at the beginning did not have such a large range, and compared with the current one, it will be reduced by seven or eight percent.

However, with the progress of the ancestors of the Zheng family, as well as the dilapidated replacement of the original clans in the surrounding area, the Zheng family has merged some nearby courtyards, coupled with the separation or integration between the heads of the family and the houses of the past dynasties, it is the most decent period for Zheng Tong, and it is close to the Zheng family in Tongcheng, or tearing down the wall or opening the door, in short, it is all in one place.

On the east side of it, the six-room house, which is separated from the main house by a whole yard, is almost the most dilapidated part of the entire Zheng family.

On the east side of this dilapidated courtyard, there is a more dilapidated courtyard in the early days, where a mother and son live.

This mother, who was in her early thirties, was called Tian Niangzi. His clothes are old but neat and clean, and his hair is frizzy but not unkempt, and he is obviously a person who still wants to keep his dignity.

But no matter how decent your heart is, you have to fill your stomach. Putting aside the old age on her face for the time being, her hands were already rough, and she was sitting in the courtyard sewing, and there were half-man-high worn-out clothes piled up on a mat in front of her.

This was the only source of money for her mother and son.

The Zheng family's slaves really wore clothes that could not be torn again, so they gathered in one place, weighed them and sold them to Tian Niangzi, and then she sewed and cut them, and those that could barely be worn were sold outside as old clothes.

Tian Niangzi has been doing this for almost ten years, and the general sewing is different, she has good craftsmanship, and her mind is also ingenious, and the things cut out are not only practical, but also often embroidered with some small flower and grass patterns, barely as a decoration on monotonous old things.

Although she consumes effort, she is much younger than the person who also does this kind of errand, and her mental and physical strength is better, so she can persevere. As a result, there can be a net profit income of one or two taels of silver per month.

In addition, the sixth room of the Zheng family will send some rice and noodles at the beginning of every month, and there are three or four fish or two or three catties of meat in the middle of the month, but the mother and son are not so difficult that they can't survive.

In the pile of clothes in front of him, there were always one or two pieces that were not so badly torn, and they couldn't even be seen with a little sewing, and the materials of the clothes didn't look like the ordinary servants in the house could afford to wear.

Every time Tian Niangzi finds this, there is always some secret happiness in her heart. And now she is sewing such a piece in her hand, and she even hums softly some tunes that have been in vogue for more than ten years.

She was humming, the door on the side of the courtyard suddenly opened, and a man who was also dressed cleanly and looked very white walked out, his eyebrows and eyes were also somewhat similar to her, and he knew at a glance that he was his own son, and from his face, he could even see Tian Niangzi's beautiful face when he was young.

"Pendulum, did you make a noise?" She put down the needle and thread in her hand, got up hurriedly, and said cautiously.

The man shook his head and said, "Mother, I carefully read the notice on the city wall to recruit workers, and it really didn't say that as long as there are displaced people, I still want to try." ”

"What do you do when you look at the notice, it's not good, it's not good." Tian Niangzi whispered softly, "Didn't you say yesterday, you have to test your fame after reading all these years, and now you go to sell coolies, and you haven't read it in vain before." ”

"Don't delay reading." The man insisted, "I thought that I would not need to arrange a place to live, but I would be able to consult with the principal and work less hours, so that I could study when I came home." ”

Tian Niangzi knew that her son was stubborn, but she was not in a hurry or annoyed, and persuaded her with good words: "You haven't sold coolies, and when you get off work one day, even if you have the heart to study, you won't be as strong as you are now, and you won't even want to read books after a long time." ”

The man still wanted to fight: "Then I have to try, and if I can't do it, I won't go anymore." ”

Tian Niangzi shook her head vigorously, and only said something like "You must have a beginning and an end to do things", "Where are these official places, where can you come and go freely".

But these couldn't convince the man, and when he said that, only Tian Niangzi sighed vigorously.

"Mother, I'll try, I'm going to study, and if I really miss my homework, I'll never go again." The man had made up his mind, and he wanted to convince his mother today.

Tian Niangzi had no choice, so she had to pull his sleeve: "Pendulum, my mother knows that you want to share some of the burden for your mother, but after so many years, you are going to read famously, you study hard, your mother will work hard for two years, and when the time comes, it will be much stronger than your hard work." ”

The man was obviously a little impatient, but he didn't have a seizure, he held Tian Niangzi's hand with his backhand, and said in a harmonious voice: "So I said, I will never delay my study, mother, you have to believe me." ”

Tian Niangzi couldn't think of anything to refute, so she finally deflated, and her voice was much quieter: "But ...... The old man likes to read people, and he will not recognize a son who sells coolies. ”

Zheng Peng finally became angry when he heard this: "I knew it! If he wanted to recognize him, he should have recognized it a long time ago, mother, you have been thinking about him for so many years, and you have been thinking about him until now. ”

"Oh, you don't know." Tian Niangzi didn't want to fight with her son about this, but she reluctantly smiled and coaxed him, "Master, he can't do it himself, so my mother is counting on you to make a name for yourself and raise your eyebrows for your mother." ”

Zheng Peng said fiercely: "Raise your eyebrows, and then go to the Zheng family's group of bastards to ask for face?" ”

"You are also the Zheng family!" Tian Niangzi was also angry, "I always have such a deep grudge against your own family, and I have read so many books, why don't I understand." ”

Zheng Peng did not show weakness: "Where does he treat us as his own family?" Across a courtyard, those slaves of the Zheng family who are not as good as pigs and dogs, who are not here to be arrogant, even if I gain fame one day, I will not despise myself and recognize the ancestors of the Zheng family! ”

Tian Niangzi was also really angry, and wanted to hammer her son twice, but in the end she gave up, so she could only sigh by herself: "It's all the grievances of your parents, you don't know." The lord is still good to us and gives us a place to live. I just sent 20 catties of rice two days ago, and won't I send meat again in a few days? You have to read it. ”

Zheng Peng naturally heard this, and still wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly heard a commotion outside the courtyard, and it seemed that a group of people were walking this way.

Tian Niangzi hurriedly took her son's hand and asked him to stop talking, listened carefully for a while, and hurriedly went back to the house.

(End of chapter)