The Little First Grand Secretary in My House: 281. Extra: Ning Ning (6)

www.lnmao.org, the fastest update of the latest chapters of the little domestic helper!

This article can be read normally if the subscription ratio is ≥50%, otherwise it needs to be delayed for three days, and you can read it immediately after replenishing it==Chapter 1==

He knew he was dreaming again.

This dream appeared in his life for decades, day and night, entangled, seemingly deep into the bone marrow, and like flesh and blood. You can't throw it away, you can't dig it away, and if you don't come back for a day, it feels like something is missing.

But he had never had such a clear dream, so clear that it seemed like it was real.

"Dog, why are you so stubborn? Isn't my money your money? Why do I make money? Isn't it just to support your education and make you feel proud?"

"Why are you so stubborn? You said you are so stubborn, who are you showing your stubbornness to?!"

"I know you don't like me, but I've been like this for many years and I can't change it! I don't plan to change it either!"

"Look at Hong'er, does he look like you?"

……

Xue Tingyan suddenly felt someone shaking her. She opened her tired eyes and saw a dim inner room. Hu San's face was no longer young. Even the lines on the tent were so familiar. Only then did he realize that he was dreaming.

It’s just that the dream was too clear. The scent of sorghum in the air and the stubborn curve of her mouth made him immersed in it. There were also her tears of anger, which were crystal clear and shining with colorful light. He wanted to reach out and touch them, but was shaken awake.

"Sir, it's time to drink medicine."

Xue Tingyan was propped up and fed medicine. He was extremely ill and had to be served by someone even to drink medicine. He was no longer like Xue Shoufu, a highly respected minister who had dominated the court for decades.

Oh, no, he is no longer the chief assistant.

He has written a letter begging for his bones and plans to return to his hometown to retire. The Holy Spirit has approved it, but he has no hometown to return to and no relatives to rely on.

Actually, he didn't plan to go back.

"Master Zhang, Master Wang and Master Li and Master Cao all came to visit you, but they blocked the door at your request. They have been here every day, and today they are here again. Do you want to see me?"

What can they do? They didn't think that his illness was a stopgap measure, waiting for him to stand up and continue leading them to fight against the emperor, but he was really ill, terminally ill, and medicine was ineffective.

"Missing."

"Then please sleep a little longer, sir."

The room became quiet again, and Xue Tingyan's eyelids became heavy again. He blinked again and again and fell into sleep again.

……

"How can Mr. Wang have time to see me?"

Wang Mingsheng's eyes were a little complicated, but there was a smile on his face: "After all, we are ministers of the same court, so I should come to visit the Chief Minister out of emotion and reason."

"I didn't expect you, Wang Mingsheng, to say such false words, but are you here to see if I am dying for the emperor?" Xue Tingyan said sarcastically.

He is obviously an old man with a haggard face and is obviously on the verge of death, but just because of his calm, calm and somewhat unfathomable eyes, people dare not ignore him in the slightest.

After all, this is Xue Shoufu, and this name alone is enough to intimidate everyone. It was the deep-rooted legacy left by Xue Tingyan's three dynasties and decades of experience in the court. It was like a towering ancient tree with intertwined roots. He didn't have to do anything, just standing there was enough to scare everyone.

Otherwise, why would the new emperor have exhausted all his means, yet he still dared not act rashly and only dared to take that roundabout strategy.

"It seems that your Majesty has a lot of misunderstandings."

Xue Tingyan chuckled, half-closed her eyes, and said nothing, apparently too lazy to pay attention to him.

"Actually, I'm here for myself. I'm just here to see how the villain who abandoned his wife and son to join a dragon and a phoenix is ​​now in a miserable state of being alone. I'm afraid Master Xue is dead now, and he doesn't even wear sackcloth or mourning. He has no descendants. In fact, Mr. , or are you afraid that your true identity will be known to the world, reviled by others, and will be infamy for thousands of years?"

"You..."

"To say that you abandoned your wife and son is too embarrassing for you. You should kill your wife and son, right, Master Xue?"

No one knows all this. The world only knows that Xue Shoufu had a first wife before Mrs. Xue, but they don’t know what happened to that first wife. After all, it has been too long. Xue Tingyan has stood in the court for decades, and all his former, former, and current opponents have been trampled under his feet.

The world only knows that the First Assistant is friendly and courteous to others, but they don’t know that the First Assistant also has a sinister side. In recent years, anyone who tried to make a fuss out of his past events ended up being a ghost. No one knows how many innocent souls have been added to it. The only one who knows is probably Wang Mingsheng, the ‘sufferer’.

"You, you are..."

Wang Mingsheng came close to his face: "It's a pity that my mother's fate is great, and my fate is also great. The sunken ship did not kill us, but was saved by others. Do you know that over the years, I I want to see this scene day and night. Unfortunately, you live too long and have all the power. I can only climb up step by step until I can step down on you..."

"You are... Hong'er..." Xue Tingyan said this with great difficulty.

Wang Mingsheng stood up straight and smiled happily: "My name is not Hong'er, and my surname is not Xue, my surname is Wang. My mother remarried, to the man who saved us... You must not Excited, even if you die now, I am not your son..."

Wang Mingsheng has always been known for his calmness and restraint, hiding his secrets. This is probably the first time he has laughed so freely in front of others.

"By the way, you don't have to think that even if my surname is Wang, I can still pass on the Xue family to your family. Let me think about it. When Yuan Ji released the rumor that I had the good fortune of Long Yang, it seemed that you ordered someone to do it. I did it. You really got it right. I don’t like women, so I haven’t married for many years..."

He smiled and looked at the old man on the bed, seeing how shocked, sad and regretful he was.

But so what?

He suddenly found that he was not as happy as he had imagined, and even this smile seemed too fake. He suddenly lost interest, straightened the corners of his mouth, dusted his sleeves, and said: "Since Mr. Xue is okay, I will take my leave."

……

"I didn't, I didn't..."

"Sir, what are you talking about?"

Hearing this voice, the fog in Xue Tingyan's eyes suddenly dispersed, and he suddenly woke up from his dream with a tremble. The dark inner room came into view again, with Hu San's unattractive and even ugly face. There was a bitter medicinal smell in the air, and there seemed to be a rotten breath floating gently.

Xue Tingyan moved her lips, but no sound came out.

"Sir, what did you say?"

Hu San was very anxious and kept asking, but Xue Tingyan was speechless at all. Hu San could only ask based on his own guess: "Are you thinking about what happened before? Don't worry, your words have been passed on to Mr. Zhang, he already knows that Mr. Wang is your only son and will do what you ask."

Xue Tingyan blinked. Hu San thought he had something else to say, so she put her ear next to his mouth, but all she heard was: "I don't..."

No more content after that.

When Hu San looked up anxiously, he saw Xue Tingyan's wide-open eyes and gray-blue face.

He stepped forward with trembling hands and touched the other person's breath, but was so shocked that he sat down on the ground.

*

The cold wind penetrated through the holed window paper, blowing Xue Gouzi's face with a cold expression.

He was startled and opened his eyes.

What stood out in front of my eyes was a small house with blue brick walls and a black tile roof. The walls were plastered with white dust, but it looked gray. The beams were of a log color and were exposed because they had no bearings. There were several bamboo baskets hanging on them. There seemed to be something in the baskets and they were covered with blue cloth.

He was lying on a kang, covered with a quilt that was not old and new. The quilt looked clean and tidy, but in fact the cotton material inside was already hard.

Facing the feet of his kang, there was a row of dark brown kang cabinets. The cabinets were embedded with hinges with bare brass nails and copper spike handles. Simple patterns of auspicious clouds and flowing water were carved on them, making them look heavy and heavy. Without losing generosity. Although it is nothing in a rich family's home, it is already a piece of furniture that can be obtained by a farmer's family.

There is no problem in passing it down to several generations!

This is what his father said back then. His father was the best carpenter in the village.

Xue Gouzi felt that his head hurt, as if someone had hit him hard with a hoe. He tried to sit up, but he was too weak and fell back onto the kang.

Only then did he realize that he was Xue Gouzi, the eldest son of the second wife of the Xue family. Because something happened, he couldn't think about it for a moment and became angry and heartbroken. He had been ill for many days.

He is not Xue Tingyan, that Xue Tingyan is the person in his dream.

How could he be such a person?

To prove that it was all just a dream, he raised his hand and looked at it.

Sure enough! The hand in front of me is slender and white, and has not yet developed the muscles and bones that a man should have. He is only fourteen years old, how could he live to be over seventy years old and still die in peace in the end.

Xue Gouzi let out a heavy breath, looked around again, and finally felt a little calmer.

Someone was talking outside, and the voice came in through the cracks in the window.

"I said Zhao'er, it's not that the fourth aunt said about you. Look what you have become now. A girl who has never left home all day long has actually learned how to do business like those small merchants and hawkers. That business Is it something you can do? Look at your fourth uncle, you can’t lose a lot of money even if you run around outside all day long, so stop fussing, and if you have some time, help your fourth aunt with some work!”

The voice sounded like that of a young woman, but the sarcasm in her words was too strong. It is said that appearance comes from the heart, so it is no wonder that Mr. Sun has a mean face.

This thought flashed through Xue Gouzi's mind subconsciously, and then he was stunned. It was true that he hated his fourth aunt, but how could he miss her so much?

Before he could figure out the reason, he heard the voice in his dream.

"Fourth Aunt, I would like to help you with some work, but you also know that the dog has been ill for many days, and the family gave him a few cents for medicine at first, and he only took it for half a month. Grandma I just said that my family didn’t have enough money to spare, so I asked them to stop taking the medicine. The dog is my man, and I can’t just watch him get sick like this. It’s not impossible for my fourth aunt to ask me to help with the work. Why don’t you lend me some money to buy it? Medicine, can I pay it back to you slowly in the future?"

The owner of the voice was a young girl, and her tone revealed a sense of competence and crispness, mixed with a bit of teasing.

Yes, Zhao'er deliberately ran against Sun.

Ms. Sun has always had the temperament of only getting in and not getting out. It would be extremely difficult for her to come up with a penny, let alone lend it to her two half-grown children.

Now there are only two people left in the second room. The top family is only fourteen, but there is an older one, who is only sixteen and still a girl. Whenever Mrs. Sun heard rumors from the villagers that Zhao'er, a **** girl, had done some business to make money, she would look full of disbelief.

What kind of business this **** girl can make to make money is just digging three melons and two dates from the wild and using it to defraud people in the city in exchange for a few pennies.

"Your fourth aunt doesn't have any money to lend you. All our money is at my mother's place. It's up to you to take care of your mother!" Mrs. Sun patted her **** and stood up and went into the house, too lazy to talk to Zhao'er again. nonsense.

"Since the fourth aunt has no money to lend me, I dare not ask what grandma wants, so I can only figure out where to get some money to give the dog medicine!"

Zhao'er's voice was extremely loud. Naturally, he was not only speaking to Mr. Sun, but also to Mr. Zhao who was sitting in the main hall.

Sure enough, Zhao'er walked into the house with his front legs, and Mrs. Zhao stood at the door and scolded Mrs. Sun: "You haven't washed the pigsty yet, so you are going back to the house to dig out the corpse?"

Zhaoer curled his lips, lifted the door curtain and walked in. He met Xue Gouzi's eyes looking at her.

As for the headache, even the doctor couldn’t explain the cause.

After sending the doctor away, grandmother Zhao became angry on the spot.

She looks in her fifties, with her gray hair neatly pulled back in a bun. He has a long face, his eyelids are a little droopy, and his face becomes triangular-shaped when pulled, which makes him look particularly unforgiving.

Zhao didn't need to say anything, Sun just said it: "Zhao'er, it's not that the fourth aunt said something about you, you just like to make a fuss. Could it be that you deliberately torment us all, even if you don't like it..."

Before she finished speaking, she was pulled by the man Xue Qinghuai.

"Okay, just say a few words. Zhao'er is not ignorant. Besides, the dog is sick. It's better to find a doctor to see him, so that the family can rest assured."

"I said less and less, I didn't say anything..."

"You also said..."

The couple went out talking and tugging. Auntie Yang smiled at Zhao'er and then said to her mother-in-law: "Mom, let's go too and let the dog have a good rest."

Ms. Zhao glanced at the dog on the kang, snorted coldly, turned around and left. Just from her posture, it was obvious that she was very angry.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The Xue family cannot be called a very rich family. To hire a doctor from the town will cost at least one or two hundred bucks. With the Xue family's current wealth, how many times can it be done? ? ! In particular, the doctor's pulse diagnosis just now confirmed Zhao's guess that Xue Gouzi was deliberately pretending to be ill, and it was strange that she was happy.

Let Mrs. Zhao see that the two brats from the second bedroom are deliberately torturing the family, but since the eldest daughter-in-law has come forward to persuade them, Ms. Zhao will naturally not say more.

Generally speaking, among the three daughters-in-law of the Xue family, Yang is the most popular with Zhao. The eldest has an unusual status, and Zhao is willing to give some face to the eldest daughter-in-law.

After Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Yang left, only the third uncle Xue Qingbai and the third aunt Zhou were left in the house. The two of them didn't usually talk much, and they didn't stay too long. Zhao'er thought that it was hard work for his third uncle to be busy in and out just now, so he sent the two of them out with a smile.

When he turned around and came back, he saw Xue Gouzi lying on the kang with his eyes open, as if he had gone crazy.

She didn’t think much about it. She came to the kang and touched his head: “Dog, don’t think too much. They don’t believe you are sick but have a headache. I believe you. You should take good care of your health. Don’t Stop thinking wildly."

Xue Gouzi glanced at her, his mouth was dry and his throat was tight: "Zhao'er..."

"What's wrong? Are you still feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Feeling these not delicate but very warm hands touching his head and face, Xue Gouzi felt a sense of reality and happiness that he had never experienced before.

She is not dead, and neither is he.

Although he didn't like some of her daily actions, and even hated her as his child bride, he never thought about letting her die. How could he be the one who killed his wife and son.

But Xue Gouzi was still very flustered, because that dream was too real. After experiencing that dream for more than seventy years, it was as if he had also experienced that life. But when I woke up from the dream, I didn't dare to look back after all the vicissitudes of life.

"Zhaoer..."

"Hey!"

"Zhaoer..."

"Yeah."

"Zhaoer..."

A stream of heat suddenly flowed out unconsciously from the dry eyes.

This frightened Zhao'er so much that she didn't even think about the fact that the little man would never call her that, let alone get close to him. She took his head into her arms and anxiously Ask him what's wrong.

Seeing that he didn't speak and was just crying in his arms, Zhao'er couldn't help but misunderstand whether those people just now made him think too much. From Zhao'er's perspective, the little man just had a lot of things on his mind and never said it out loud, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten this serious illness.

She patted his back again and again, holding him in her arms like she had held him when he was a child, and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, dog, even if they don't send you to study, I will send you there, and I will sell the iron." I’ll send you all there.”

*

Xue Gouzi was recovering from a serious illness after all, and after experiencing such an incident, he drank some gruel for dinner and fell asleep.

Zhaoer covered him with a quilt and then went to pack the backpack he had just brought back.

The backpack was filled with needlework, thread and other items. These were rags that Zhao'er bought from the embroidery shop in the town. The reason why I got into this business was because I used to recruit children to carry bags made for women in the village and sell them in embroidery workshops.

There are no adults in the second room. Although the family is in charge of food, the pens, inks, paper and inkstones used by Xue Gouzi to study, as well as the clothes, bedding and some odds and ends for the two of them, etc., all require money.

It would be impossible to get money from the Zhao family. Although the uncle Xue Qingshan promised to treat his nephew as his own son, Zhao'er only saw the eldest son's mouth with a shiny face on weekdays. Xue Juncai There is never a shortage of pens, inks, paper and inkstones. In comparison, the little man was as thin as a bamboo pole, with a bald pen that Xue Qingshan didn't use back then.

Zhao'er has always been a strong person, and she couldn't bear to wrong the little man, so she had to rack her brains and look for money everywhere. There were no opportunities to make money in the countryside, so she went to the town and looked around. As long as it was within her ability and did not require capital, she would try to do it.

In the past few years, she has collected vegetables from the village and sold them in the town. She has taken jobs from the embroidery workshop and assigned them to the women in the village who are skilled in craftsmanship. She often goes to the mountains to find wild products to sell.

Now that this business has been done several times, Zhao'er has a sweet mouth and a thick face. The owner of the embroidery shop can't rely on her to grind, so he sells unwanted rags to her in packages. She took it back, trimmed it and cut it, then asked the women in the village to help make purses and other items. She could make a lot of money by reselling them in the embroidery workshop. It’s much better than before just collecting the wallets made by others and earning a penny from several wallets.

If it weren’t for the money he made from this business, I still don’t know when Xue Gouzi will recover from his serious illness. Mrs. Zhao would have stopped paying for the medicines. When he came, he had to hide it, for fear that other people in the Xue family would find out.

When he thought of this, Zhao'er's mouth tightened.

She has always been nimble with her hands and feet, so she stopped fussing with it after she picked some useful pieces of cloth. I chose clean ones and spread them out on the square table. I used scissors to cut these strange-shaped pieces of cloth into a uniform shape.

Zhaoer calculated this by herself based on how much fabric is needed to make a purse. It will not be more or less. She will not take out these rags for others to see.

It is not easy for country people to make a penny. If someone finds out about it, they will be robbed of the way to make money within a few days.

Zhaoer also wants to use this to make money for her little man to go to the town to study. She can only go to see Xue Jun, and her little man can also go. Zhao'er always prepared things with both hands. She knew that the big house would never let such good things happen to the little man.

It is better to ask for help from others than to ask for oneself, and it is better to rely on oneself than to rely on mountains and rivers for support.

Zhaoer has understood this since he was seven years old and had to be exchanged for money by his grandmother and father.

Zhaoer finished what he was doing and saw that the little man was sleeping soundly. He looked at the sky outside and saw that it was already dark, so he wrapped the arranged cloth in something and hurriedly took it out.

Yuqing Village is particularly peaceful at night. The pale silver moonlight shines on the village paths. Although the road cannot be seen clearly, it is not completely dark after all.

Zhaoer walked all the way without even being surprised by a dog.

This is not an ability that ordinary people can have. You must know that in places like the countryside, almost every household has a dog. Dogs are particularly alert at night. Whenever someone walks by the door, they will bark wildly. Even if a petty thief came to the door, he would have been frightened away by the dog.

Zhaoer only developed this ability after walking a lot at night.

Of course it also has something to do with the black man following her legs.

Heizi is a country dog, but he is stronger and bigger than other country dogs. Not many dogs in Yuqing Village can beat Heizi, and it is because of Heizi that Zhaoer dares to walk alone at night.

She went to a family's house in a familiar way. It was strange that the other party knew that she would come at this time and left the door open for her. As soon as she entered the door, the family's dog rushed over. Before she could reach her, a black shadow rushed over and threw the dog to the ground. The dog was so frightened that it lay on the ground and stopped barking.

Zhao'er gloated: "I don't have a long memory!"

At this time, a man came out of the house and smiled as he walked forward: "This black man is here to bully our family's wealth again. Please come in and sit down."

"Aunt Osmanthus, I won't go in, and I'm rushing back."

Zhaoer handed the things in his hands to the person who came, took some things from the other person's hand, wrapped them in cloth, and then went to the next house.

Zhaoer visited five families.

She is eager to make money, but there are few women in the village who are good at needlework. In addition, the person she is looking for must be tight-lipped and reliable. Otherwise, the whole village will know about it before the money is earned. She also makes **** money.

The reason why she said this is because when she collected vegetables from the village and sold them in the town, she was publicized by people who were not careful about the matter. As a result, she was criticized all day long. She was not afraid of being criticized, but these things eventually reached the little man's ears, and some villagers teased him about it, which caused a lot of conflicts between her and the little man. And after that, she couldn't receive any vegetables in the village. Even if someone sold them to her, they would be at a high price.

In the end, she had no choice but to go to other villages to collect vegetables, which was not a waste of time. Since then, Zhao'er has developed a good memory. To make money, she must make it secretly. Only by being secretive can she make a fortune.

When Zhao'er returned home, Xue Gouzi was still sleeping soundly on the kang.

She went to get some water to wash her face and wipe her hands before getting on the kang. There was only one kang in the second room. She had slept with Xue Gouzi since she was a child, so she was used to it.

Heizi was sleeping under the kang. He just invited his son into the house. Hei Zi slipped in at his feet and randomly chose a place to lie down. It looks like the dog's eyes are closed, but in fact its ears are upright and moving from time to time.

Before Zhao'er lay down, he leaned over and looked at the little man, then touched his forehead before he fell asleep with peace of mind.

*

Compared with the second room, which has only two rooms and one kang due to the sparse population, the treatment in the big room is obviously much better. The entire three east rooms were occupied by the big room. At this time, Yang was talking to Xue Qingshan in the east room.

Yang told what happened during the day, and Xue Qingshan immediately frowned after listening.

He is not at home during the day, so naturally he does not know what is happening at home. Nowadays, some respectable families will invite scholars to host their weddings and funerals, but if rural families can't afford scholars, some will hire Tong Sheng to make up the number.

They are all scholars after all, so they are different from ordinary people.

Today, Xue Qingshan was invited by a family from a nearby village who was holding a wedding event. No need to pay any courtesy, and after eating and drinking, he could even leave a piece of wedding money.

However, people in the countryside are poor, so the happy money will not be too much, at most a few tens of pennies.

Xue Qingshan likes this kind of work the most. At this time, he will randomly assign articles to the school children to memorize, and then go out for the whole day, and no one will say anything. What he likes is not only having money, but also this time is when he is most proud.

He was seated as the guest of honor, and the men who came to have a wedding banquet were all proud to chat with him.

He is Master Tong Sheng!

Of course, it would be better if Tong Sheng could be replaced by a scholar, Xue Qingshan would only dream of it. But over the years, I have become more or less self-aware, and I can't help but place my hopes on my son.

Unfortunately, someone is blocking this road now.

Xue Qingshan drank a lot of wine, his fair and fat face turned red, and he was holding his breath in his heart, so he cursed: "What kind of trouble is this bastard? Just give him a little bit of color and he will be happy." It’s time to start a dyeing workshop!"

Ms. Yang sighed faintly: "Who told you to agree to the second son so easily in the first place, but now you are riding a tiger and it is difficult to do so, it is a loss to our talented people."

"In that situation, the second brother seemed to be honest, and he wanted to show off to his brother before he died. If I had known that he was paying attention to that, I would have tried to silence him, but There are so many people present, and the second child’s accident happened because of me. If I don’t even agree to this, how can I stand in front of others.”

Of course Ms. Yang knew this, but she couldn't calm down. Just because of that **** promise, Dafang had been tied up. Her son wanted to study in the library, but he had to hide it and beg for favors.

She was a proud and arrogant person. Naturally, the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Her eyes were shining with fire, but her face was sneered: "Because he suddenly became so ill. Originally, dad planned to make the decision for us, so we can only Bear with it. But he has been sick for the past few days, and today he made such a scene again, and my mother is already annoyed. I asked my fourth daughter-in-law to tell my mother before that the dog is not afraid of pretending to be sick. I must have decided that by now He is pretending to be sick."

Xue Qingshan's eyes lit up: "That's a good idea. I'll go talk to my parents tomorrow and ask them to implement this matter." He smiled and hugged Yang's shoulders and said: "It's better. My wife is smart and prepared a backup plan early."

Ms. Yang gave him an angry look, and the two of them rested together, saying nothing for the whole night.

Zhao didn't need to say anything, Sun just said it: "Zhao'er, it's not that the fourth aunt said something about you, you just like to make a fuss. Could it be that you deliberately torment us all, even if you don't like it..."

Before she finished speaking, she was pulled by the man Xue Qinghuai.

"Okay, just say a few words. Zhao'er is not ignorant. Besides, the dog is sick. It's better to find a doctor to see him, so that the family can rest assured."

"I said less and less, I didn't say anything..."

"You also said..."

The couple went out talking and tugging. Auntie Yang smiled at Zhao'er and then said to her mother-in-law: "Mom, let's go too and let the dog have a good rest."

Ms. Zhao glanced at the dog on the kang, snorted coldly, turned around and left. Just from her posture, it was obvious that she was very angry.