Zhou Mashi was not really sick, and he knew that his sister was coming, so he naturally didn't need to pretend to be a sick person and lie on the kang to receive visitors.

She dressed neatly and entertained her visiting sister and grandchildren in the main room where she lived.

After the greetings, Haitang sent her own hand-embroidered magnolia embroidered handkerchief, Zhou Ma was overjoyed, and praised a lot: "It's so well embroidered!" Why do you embroider so well at such a young age? He also said that his sister Ma is blessed, her husband and wife are harmonious, her grandchildren are smart and capable, and she can be by her side, which is a hundred times stronger than her.

Ma didn't want to hear that. Zhou Ma's children are not around, but they are still alive in the world, and their daughters can go back to their parents' homes from time to time to save their relatives. And what about her? has only one biological son, but he went early, what kind of blessing is this?

She interrupted the eldest sister's words: "Okay, what are you polite to your family?" You sent a henchman to invite me over, could it be that you did it to say this nonsense?! ”

Zhou Mashi put away the magnolia embroidered handkerchief and said, "The little sister is now old, and her temper is also rising, and she can't wait for a while." Then he cleared his throat and gave his henchman a colorful silk look, "You go and take out the newly made dim sum made at home yesterday and give it to Young Master and Miss Cousin to taste, they are all Chang'an flavors, Brother Jiao and Sister Tang must not have eaten them." Then he whispered to Math, "Come into the back room with your forehead." ”

Is this the two sisters going to whisper alone?

Ma raised an eyebrow: "What is the secret?" Can't even listen to your grandchildren? E-trust the children of the E-family, why are you still guarding against them? ”

Zhou Mashi laughed dryly: "Little sister, it's not that the eldest sister can't trust your child, but this is the ...... It's not nice to say! ”

Ma Shi didn't say much, and only instructed the two brothers and sisters of Haijiao and Begonia: "Stay in the house, don't walk around." There are a lot of people in this family who have bad hearts, and they think about watching your aunt's jokes all day long, and they don't know how to calculate people! ”

Haijiao Haitang got up and responded, and watched Ma follow Zhou Ma into the bedroom. Cairo lowered the curtain again and stood by the door.

It's not easy to get close to eavesdropping.

The reef and the begonia glanced at each other and didn't say anything.

Cai Juan sent two boxes of fresh snacks up, looking at the flowers, in fact, they are all kinds of exquisite pastries. When Ma was in Suzhou and Guazhou, as long as he could find all the ingredients, he would make some pastries from time to time, but they were not as delicate as the Zhou family. The brothers and sisters of Haitang Reef didn't think it was unusual, but they also took one of them and ate it.

Haijiao ate a snack, drank a sip of noodle tea, cleared his throat, and said to Cai Juan with a smile: "Sister, how can this pastry filled dim sum be so sweet?" It's a little sloppy. I don't know if there is tea? Can you give me a drink? If there is no tea, white water also makes. ”

How could Cai Juan let the grandchildren of his mother's sister-in-law eat boiled water? Hurriedly instructed his sister Cailuo to make tea.

After eating the snack, Haitang got up and gave Cai Juan a look, and asked her to follow her to the door where there was no one, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the reef and got up to visit the house, so she lowered her voice and said that she noticed someone peeping on the way in, and asked: "My brother and I didn't see who it was, we only knew that he entered the door of the second courtyard on East Road, and I don't know who lives there?" ”

Caijuan's face was shocked: "This ...... Is Miss Biao sure it's the second yard on East Road? But it's a guest house......

Begonia was a little surprised. The ancestral house of the Zhou family's three rooms, the second courtyard on East Road, is not lived by his own family, but turned into a guest room?

Cai Juan told her that the first entrance of the East Road is the residence of the pro-soldiers and guards, and a third of the area is set aside to make a carriage and horse shed, the second is a guest courtyard for entertaining guests, these two courtyards are counted in the outer courtyard, and the third is the big courtyard where the eldest young master Zhou Jinpu's family lives, in fact, it is a three-entry courtyard, very spacious, and there are many houses, and there is a separate side door leading to the sandwich road and straight out of the gate.

The three-room guest house of the Zhou family has hosted many distinguished guests, but in recent years, except for the family of the Marquis of Yingchuan who was sent back by Mrs. Jing's family to ask Mrs. Ma for peace, only the comrades or subordinates of the second master Zhou Shicheng will come to stay overnight when they come to Chang'an on business. At present, there is a new guest in the guest house, who stayed the day before yesterday, but Zhou Shicheng's orphan in Minzhouwei's old department came to Chang'an to do business. The second old man wrote a letter, and Mrs. Ma enthusiastically left people at home. It's not the first time this kind of thing has happened, not to mention Zhou Shigong, even Zhou Ma won't say much.

Haitang blinked: "How old is this guest?" "Stayed the day before yesterday? The timing is so coincidental......

Caijuan replied, "It looks like about fourteen or fifteen years old...... It's about the same age as Young Master Sun of the big house. Young Master Sun had the heart to make friends with him, but the old lady told him not to disturb the guests, saying that the guests had business to do when they came to Chang'an, and they had no time to play with others. ”

This age is even more coincidental.

Haitang looked up at the reef, he didn't know when he walked behind Caijuan, and had listened to the conversation between the two of them.

Haitang smiled: "If this person is the only one living in the guest house, it shouldn't be that he is peeking at us, right?" He's weird like this, I don't know what kind of temperament he is. What is his last name? What is it called? What are you busy with when you come to Chang'an? ”

Cai Juan thought for a while: "I remember that the surname is Zhang ...... His old son and mother are dead, and the military position in the family is taken by his uncle, he is about to become a man, but he has no livelihood, and he wants to come to Chang'an to find his father's old acquaintances before his death, no matter where the guard is, as long as he can enter the army. Although the old lady invited him to stay, she didn't have time to find someone for him, and now she has to pretend to be sick, so she can't worry about him, so she probably has to stay at home for the New Year.

The old lady also sent someone to ask the wife to make new clothes for the guests, and the wife said that she was sick, so the old man handed over the cards to the young grandmother, and asked the young grandmother to go to the housekeeper. The young grandmother didn't want to spend money on outsiders, and she ran outside the main courtyard last night to point at Sang and scold Huai for a long time! "The old man moved to live in the study, and the wife had nowhere to sue if she wanted to, and she sulked all night.

Haitang laughed dryly, not very much wanting to eat the old melon in the third room of their Zhou family, so he continued to ask his own question: "Since this little brother Zhang is the orphan of your second master's old department, and he just wants to find an envoy in the army, can't your second master help?" It's okay to accept him as a personal soldier, why let him go back to Chang'an to find someone? If the second master of your family doesn't plan to help him, how can your old lady be so enthusiastic and leave people at home? ”

Caijuan sighed and shook her head: "Mrs. can't figure it out, and I've talked about it in private." But the old lady spoke, what could the wife say? It's just a homestay guest, and at most I will stay until the beginning of spring next year. Our Zhou family is not short of food money in the past few months, and what my wife is really worried about at the moment is something else. ”

Begonia looked at the reef, and the latter turned to look elsewhere, and then turned back to the inner door.

At this time, Cailuo came back with freshly brewed tea.

The Hai brothers and sisters changed seats, and Haijiao sat on the chair closest to the bedroom door, drinking tea quietly. He has a good ear, and even through the wall and the curtain, he can faintly hear the conversation inside.

Haitang used gossip to draw the attention of the Caijuan Cailuo sisters, and in addition to covering her brother, she could also make some excuses by the way to inquire about other news in the third room of the Zhou family.

The brother and sister were working together when they suddenly heard the voice of their grandmother Ma from inside: "What? No way! You listen to her nonsense! There was anger in his tone.

Haitang Reef glanced at each other, and invariably stopped moving, listened breathlessly, and just heard Ma's categorical speech again: "The old man has calculated the accounts for the border army in Chang'an for more than ten years, and he has also done the accounts under your old lady. If there is such a thing, can you not know about it? She said all nonsense, and she couldn't believe a word! ”

(End of chapter)