After the steward retired, Mrs. Yan looked at her eldest daughter-in-law and said, "Huiyun, Hongxuan should have told you that your grandfather will be back soon."

"Mother, Hongxuan told me about this. I listen to the steward's meaning, my grandfather has been to Anyang, Guizhou, counting the time of stay, the fast is ten days, the slow is a month or two to get home, the last time I saw my grandfather was eight years ago, Huaiyuan's generation of children have never seen their great-grandfather, this time I can see. Zhou Huiyun replied happily.

"Yes, it's been eight years, time flies so fast, Huaiyuan is eight years old in a blink of an eye, and when his great-grandfather set off on his travels, he was just born." Mrs. Tai looked at Xue Huaiyuan's three brothers and sisters, her face full of emotion.

Xue Huaiyuan heard his grandmother and mother mention his great-grandfather, and subconsciously sat upright, wanting to hear more about his great-grandfather.

Xue Huaijin was in her mother's arms, and before she could speak, she heard the third brother ask her heart.

"Grandmother, is my great-grandfather the great-grandfather who gave me a model ship and a trap dog for the New Year?" Sitting next to the eldest brother, Xue Huaijun ran to Mrs. Tai's side and asked.

Mrs. Tai hugged Xue Huaijun and said, "Yes, it's the great-grandfather who gave you a lot of toys every year is coming back."

Mrs. Tai hugged Xue Huaiyuan's brothers and sisters one by one, and after inquiring about their recent study and life, there was a steward who came to look for the resettlement of the clansmen who came because of the old lady's recent homecoming.

After listening to the steward's report, Mrs. Tai said to Zhou Huiyun: You are responsible for this matter, it is estimated that there will be many clansmen in the future, you look at the placement and entertainment. ”

"Leave it to me, my mother can rest assured. Then I'll take the children back first, and the clansmen have already come, and although the steward is settled according to the old practice, I'll go and see if there's anything else to add and replace. "Zhou Huiyun will come here, just looking for work.

Zhou Huiyun, as the eldest daughter-in-law, if nothing else, is the next patriarch's wife and the wife of the head of the long house, so on weekdays, the concubines only need to go to Mrs. Tai's to ask for peace on the first and fifteenth days of the new year, and she often comes over.

In other words, who doesn't want to be in charge of the house, women are not like men who can go to the court to earn fame, so they can only toss at home. Her luck is good, her mother-in-law is a famous family, the clan has been an official for generations, the family style is upright, and there is basically no existence of concubines, but it is also boring, she happens to be the eldest daughter-in-law, the next patriarch's wife and the next wife of the head of the family, often come to her mother-in-law to help, that is, to share her mother-in-law's worries, and to familiarize herself with affairs in advance, but also to find something to do for yourself, otherwise it will be boring.

And the mother-in-law also intends to cultivate herself.

Zhou Huiyun sent the three Xue Huaijin brothers and sisters back to Qingzhu Courtyard and went to get busy.

The three brothers and sisters discussed it and decided to go to the study to read.

There is a study room in Qingzhu Courtyard that is specially used for the three brothers and sisters, and the desks and stools are customized according to their respective heights. At the beginning, the three of them sat in their seats and read books, and after a while, they became two elder brothers who taught Xue Huaijin to read and write.

Xue Huaijin looked helplessly at the eldest brother and third brother who were getting more and more interested, although he remembered these simple words in the school, but for the sake of their fun, he could only accompany them.

At first, I was in the mood of playing, but in the end I unconsciously began to be serious, and I really learned a lot of words, until my mother came to call the three of them to dinner, and the three of them still ended this teaching.

When I went for a walk after dinner, the three brothers and sisters stopped playing, and they all pestered their father to ask about their great-grandfather.

Third brother: "Dad, how old is my great-grandfather this year?"

Father: "Your great-grandfather is sixty-eight years old"

Third brother: "Wow! Many, much bigger than us! ”

Xue Huaijin: "Dad, why didn't my great-grandfather come home?"

Father: "Your great-grandfather was going too far to go home, and now he is done and will go home."

Third brother: "My grandmother said that my great-grandfather gave me a model of a building ship and a trap dog, so this time my great-grandfather came home, did he have any gifts for me?" ”

Father: "I don't know if your great-grandfather prepared a gift for you, but you receive a gift from your great-grandfather every year, so what about your gift to your great-grandfather?"

The three brothers and sisters were stunned......

The next day when he went to Mengxue, Xue Huaijin just went out in the morning, and saw the third brother boxing at the gate of his courtyard, and understood that he was waiting for him to go to Mengxue together.

When Xue Huaijun saw Xue Huaijin, he immediately collected his merits and ran over: "Sister, have you thought about what gift to give to your great-grandfather?"

"Not yet, what about you?" Xue Huaijin asked curiously.

"I went through all my stuff last night, and I couldn't do it, none of it satisfied me!" Xue Huaijun spread his hands helplessly.

For this, Xue Huaijin said that she couldn't do anything, she was also worried, all her things were given by her family, the most interesting, and the favorite was given by her great-grandfather, she couldn't send it back, and she also needed help!

By the way, there is also the eldest brother, today to see if luck can meet the eldest brother, and everyone will discuss it when the time comes.

When they arrived in Mengxue, their attendants couldn't go in, Xue Huaijin and Xue Huaijun followed the attendants in Mengxue to Dingshe, although she and the eldest brother and the third brother were all in Mengxue, Mengxue was also differentiated according to age and level of knowledge.

Yanjing Xue's family school is divided into Xue's Mengxue and Xue's clan.

Xue's Mengxue is from the age of three to the age of ten, learning a little bit of everything, mainly to lay the foundation and cultivate temperament habits.

Xue clan studies need to pass the exam to enter, and begin to selectively study in depth, starting from the age of nine, to the age of eleven, a total of three exams can be applied, and by the age of eleven, the children who have not passed the exam will quit the clan study. As for what to do after dropping out of school, it depends on the arrangements of the respective families.

Xue's Mengxue is divided into the main family Mengxue and the branch Mengxue. There is only one family in the school, in the ancestral house, only the descendants are paid. There are many separate Mongolian schools, which are opened separately or combined according to the size and region of each side branch, and only the side branches are collected.

There is only one Xue clan study, in the ancestral house of the family, the descendants and side branches are all accepted, and as long as they pass the exam, they can enter.

In Xue's Mongolian Studies, men and women are treated equally in the same room, and in Xue Clan Studies, men and women are treated in different rooms.

Xue Huaijin didn't know what the Xue clan study was, but he only knew that the exam to enter the Xue clan was particularly difficult, and the pass rate was very low. Unlike in Xue's Mengxue, where you learn a little bit of everything, in Xue's clan studies is a selective in-depth study, only six years of study, and after six years, the family arranges to enter the major academies or Guozijian for further study. The rest is not clear.

Although the Mengxue and Xue clan studies are both in the outer courtyard of the Xue Mansion, one is in the west and the other is in the east, which is far apart. She and her two elder brothers are both studying in their own family, and they are more clear about their own family learning.

The Mengxue family is located in the east of the Xue Mansion, located in the outer courtyard of the Xue Mansion, and all children aged three to ten in the Yanjing Xue family must go to the school. There are two schools in this family, from 3 to 5 years old in Ding, and from 6 to 10 years old in Bing House, and different schools have different commuting times. Ding She is the easiest to study, go to school late every day and leave school early, and go to school early and late every day.

At present, three-year-old Xue Huaijin and five-year-old third brother are both in Dingshe, and the eldest brother is eight years old in Bingshe.