"Brother Chen, you are back!"
In front of Zhang's house, Zhang Xu was lying under a big tree, teasing crickets with thin willow branches. When he saw Wei Chen coming back, he quickly dropped what he was holding and came forward.
Wei Chen asked softly: "Axu, are your father and mother back?"
"No."
Zhang Xu shook his head, looking a little lonely.
Wei Chen patted Zhang Xu's head lovingly and asked, "Axu, do you know what your father and mother do every day when they get up early and stay late at night?"
Zhang Xu raised his head and said seriously: "I know that father and mother are working to make money."
Wei Chen smiled and asked, "Does A Xu think he can make money too?"
Zhang Xu nodded hurriedly: "Yes, of course I do! If A Xu can also make money, my father and mother won't have to work so hard."
Wei Chen patted his thigh: "Okay! A Xu, your brother will take you to make money together in a few days!"
"Really?"
Zhang Xu's bright eyes stared at Wei Chen without blinking, with seriousness written all over his face: "Brother Chen, you are a scholar. Scholars must keep their word, so you can't lie to me!"
Wei Chen was amused by his serious look, he laughed and said: "Don't worry, A Xu, I will never trick you."
After saying that, Wei Chen took Zhang Xu's little hand and walked into the back room together. The two brothers sat opposite each other in front of the desk. One held up the book to read, and the other held half of the remaining ink and played happily.
More than ten days passed in a flash.
These days, while Weichen was recuperating, he read all the books on the bookcase.
Most of these books are classics by famous people, but there are also some simple enlightenment books. Depending on the thickness of the book, the size of the font, and the binding method, a book can contain tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of words.
Wei Chen almost memorized them all at the speed of two or three volumes a day and knew them by heart.
With such an endorsement speed, whether in ancient times or modern times, people would probably call him a prodigy.
On this day, Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi went out before dawn as usual, leaving only two young men, Wei Chen and Zhang Xu, to look after the house.
In the evening, when the sky turned dark, Wei Chen and Zhang Xu's stomachs were already growling with hunger. Zhang Xu's parents, Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi, finally returned home exhausted.
There were several eggs in the basket behind Wei Ruyi, as well as half a leg of lamb wrapped in lotus leaves.
As soon as he entered the door, Wei Ruyi put down the basket and before sitting down for a while, he picked up the things in the basket and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Wei Ruyi was very quick with her hands and feet, and she prepared dinner quickly. The mutton leg meat was cut off to make porridge, and the bones were picked out to make soup. The mutton porridge was given to Wei Chen to nourish his body, and the mutton bone soup was given to Zhang Xu to satisfy Zhang Xu's craving.
After dinner was ready, Wei Ruyi placed the dishes and chopsticks, went into the room and called Wei Chen out. The four of them sat around the table, and the meal was quite lively.
Wei Chen picked up the chopsticks and wooden spoon, lowered his head and ate his patient meal.
It's still mutton porridge, it's been like this these days, the pattern never changes. Although Wei Chen is a little tired of the taste, he doesn't complain, because he knows the hard work of the Zhangs and his wife, and he also knows how hard it is to get these foods.
Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi eat much simpler than Wei Chen, just a bowl of thick white porridge each, and occasionally egg drop porridge.
However, something was different today. Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi actually had a small plate of mutton and a bowl of mutton bone soup in front of them. Zhang Xu had more mutton in his bowl, almost as much as Wei Chen.
Wei Chen couldn't help but be a little surprised when he saw this scene. Why was today's dinner so rich?
Seeing Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi drinking white porridge these days while he had meat every meal, Wei Chen felt very uncomfortable and thought about giving some meat away so that they could also taste the meat.
Who would have thought that today I would have no chance to speak.
Wei Chen couldn't help being curious and asked Wei Ruyi: "Aunt, is there any big happy event in our family today?"
Zhang Ming put down the sea bowl in his hand and said with a hearty smile: "Hey, Brother Chen can see it too. After all, he is a scholar, with a bright mind and a bright eye!"
Wei Ruyi glared at her husband, turned around and answered Wei Chen's question with a smile: "Brother Chen guessed it right. I met a distinguished person when I entered the county today!"
"Noble?"
"That's the eldest master of the Sheng family, Sheng Wei!"
Wei Ruyi talked happily about her experience in Youyang County. Wei Chen listened quietly and realized that this Sheng family was the home of one of the richest merchants in Youyang. There were more than ten shops and several factories in the family. , employs nearly a thousand workers, and has a wealth of more than 10,000 yuan.
Sheng Wei, the head of the Sheng family, also has a cousin who was born as a second-ranked Jinshi, named Sheng Hong. He is currently the general magistrate of Yangzhou and holds an official rank of the sixth rank.
And Wei Ruyi's sister, Wei Shuyi, is the side wife of Mr. Sheng Hongsheng.
When Wei Ruyi went to sell straw mats at a familiar grocery store in the county town today, she happened to meet Sheng Wei who came to the store to check the accounts. It was only then that she learned that this grocery store was also one of the properties owned by the Sheng family.
When Sheng Hong accepted Wei Shuyi's side house, it was Sheng Wei who brokered the deal and provided the money and land. Therefore, Sheng Wei and Wei Ruyi had met several times, but they still remembered his cheap "in-law" .
When we met in her shop today, Sheng Wei didn't pretend not to know her, but called Wei Ruyi and exchanged some pleasantries with her.
Hearing that Wei Ruyi's family was in a bad situation, Sheng Wei thought of the cute little niece that his sister Wei Shuyi had given birth to for his cousin, and he immediately felt sympathy. With a stroke of his pen, he ordered someone to pay ten liang from the account. Wen Yin was given to Wei Ruyi.
Don't think that these ten taels of silver are too small. You should know that at this time, one stone of polished rice only cost four to five hundred penny (Dazhou system: one tael of silver is equivalent to about one thousand penny). An ordinary family of three can only afford food and clothing for a month. It will be more than two taels of silver.
The ten taels of silver sent by Sheng Wei were like giving help in a timely need to Wei Ruyi.
Thinking back to the beginning, when her sister Wei Shuyi married an official from the Sheng family as a concubine, the Wei family received only fifty taels of silver. Now that they had another ten taels for nothing, what else could Wei Ruyi be dissatisfied with.
In fact, Wei Ruyi has always been reluctant to have too much involvement with the Sheng family. She is well aware of the gap between her family and the Sheng family. She hastily posted it just to annoy others. Maybe they will face it in person. If he is affectionate with you, he will turn around and call you a poor relative who comes to fight against the autumn wind.
But now, Wei Ruyi doesn't care about that much anymore.
Since selling the dozen acres of prime paddy fields left by Wei Chen's parents, the Zhang family's income has dropped sharply, and they have already been overwhelmed by the burden of supporting Wei Chen, a "sick man."
Although Zhang Ming and Wei Ruyi worked from dawn to dusk every day, they could barely keep the family from making ends meet. These days, Wei Ruyi and Zhang Ming were so worried about money that their hair was almost turning gray.
Therefore, facing the help offered by Sheng Wei, Wei Ruyi only hesitated slightly, but ultimately did not refuse.
After accepting the money, Wei Ruyi thanked Sheng Wei profusely and praised the eldest son of the Sheng family for his kindness.
Sheng Wei was so happy with Wei Ruyi's good words that he told Wei Ruyi very grandly that if he encounters difficulties again in the future, he can ask the Sheng family for help. His master, Shanda, will not stand idly by and watch this happen.
"Sheng Wei, Wei Shuyi, and Sheng Hong, they sound really friendly..."
At the dinner table, Wei Chen listened to familiar names popping out of Wei Ruyi's mouth one after another. He didn't show too much surprise on his face, but he was just a little bit emotional in his heart.
At the beginning of the time travel, Wei Chen knew that the place he was in was called Youyang County, and Wei Ruyi's sister was called Wei Shuyi. At that time, Wei Chen had some vague guesses in his mind, but he was not sure.
Now, after listening to Wei Ruyi's story, Wei Chen's doubts were all cleared up.
"Sure enough, this is Zhifu's world."
