Chen Qingzhi who travels south in all clothes

In the early spring of the following year, after packing up his luggage and saying goodbye to his mother and sister, Qingzhi took the ox cart to the city and headed to his uncle's house.

Qingzhi's father had four elder brothers. Except for the eldest uncle who served as the county magistrate in Guoshan County, the second uncle moved to Luling County as an official, and the third and fourth uncles settled down in other villages in Guoshan County.

The eldest uncle, Chen Yuannian, inherited his grandfather's second-entry house near the government office. He has four sons and two daughters.The daughters are all married, except for the elder son and the younger son, they also live with the elder uncle's family, and the third and fourth children have been separated in the county.Even so, the younger generation has already married and had children, and the old house accommodated a dozen people.

The mother said that she had sent a letter to her uncle, but the letter was rather ambiguous about Qingzhi's study and becoming an official, and there seemed to be difficulties.Qingzhi decides to visit him in person, no matter what, he must strive for a chance for his future and fulfill his father's last wish.

When we arrived in the county, it was already afternoon.Qingzhi thanked his grandfather who was driving the car, and went to look for the government office in the northeast of the city.

After a quarter of an hour, I saw a bright house with black tiles and red walls, with a fence guarding the gate, just like the government office in that country's mountain.Following my mother's instructions, I walked a few hundred steps further to the east, and there was a mansion with an area of ​​less than two acres. House" plaque, I think it's my uncle's house.

Qingzhi adjusted his clothes and knocked on the door. The boy who answered the door was a young man about the same age as Qingzhi. He was dressed more neatly than Qingzhi, and he was not afraid of strangers. , but looking for my grandfather, grandfather is still in the government office, and he will return in an hour, or is there something else?"

It turned out to be the younger nephew of which elder brother, Qingzhi clasped his hands and said, "Chen Qingzhi is here to look for my uncle Chen Xiancheng, may I let my nephew wait for him to come back?"

The young man Gu Panshenghui stared at him for a while, and then he opened his mouth and called timidly, "Uncle Qing", and welcomed him in, walking and saying,

"Grandfather and grandma said that you will come home in a few days. I didn't expect Uncle Qing to arrive so soon. You can rest in the hall first, and I will tell grandma!" After taking him to the hall and sitting down, he poured a cup of tea, and I hurried to find someone, but Qingzhi didn't have time to ask about his tooth sequence.

Qingzhi glanced at the mansion environment, there are three houses in the front yard, the main hall is in the middle, the study room is on the left and the dining room is on the right.Just passing by the yard connected to the backyard, there is a square well, and there are several simple earthen houses on the left and right. I think it is the kitchen firewood room and storage room. There is a osmanthus tree in the middle of it. At this time, the house is surrounded by houses. I think it is my uncle's family. live.This is the place where his father grew up when he was a child. He ran and jumped here, and received his grandfather's teachings under the osmanthus tree, all of which made Qingzhi feel very close.

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted Qingzhi's thoughts. Pan Shi, an old woman in her fifties, came in. Her hair was already pale and her face was wrinkled, but her eyes were still shrewd. She looked at Qingzhi's way,

"You are a child from Yuanshan, your name is Qingzhi, right? I'm your aunt. How hard is the journey? I wanted your fourth brother to pick you up, but I really can't go away. You and your father were very sad when they were young. In the same way, your father was brought up by me, it's a pity that he left early."

Qingzhi made a junior salutation, "Hello, auntie, please take care of yourselves, all the way is fine! Just because I have finished reading the book at home, I can no longer improve my knowledge, so I want to ask my uncle for advice, and I will learn a lot from him." For the interruption, Wan Wangnian is on the face of the dead father, forgive me a lot."

Seeing that he was straight to the point, Mrs. Pan was unambiguous, and said with difficulty, "Your uncle hasn't come back yet, so I might as well tell you directly. It's because the family has a lot of people, and your uncle only has a small salary of a few buckets of rice. Fortunately, your eldest brother and fourth brother are also working in the government office. Your second and third brothers have been separated and lived alone. Women and boys are just making ends meet. It’s not easy to mention your family background in the letter, and your uncle is a real person. I have to take care of some younger brothers’ orphans, so I didn’t refuse.”

Qingzhi nodded and said, "I also know that uncle's family is in a difficult situation, but if there is another way out, I don't want to disturb it. It is true that my nephew is dedicated to serving as an official, and uncle's help is indispensable. As long as there is a tile to cover and porridge to eat, it is enough. The uncle's family will do some work to pay for it, and I hope my aunt will not hesitate to encourage."

Mrs. Pan wondered, "You know, our big family has a lot of things in the yamen, and we didn't hire a servant and servant girl to help. The boy who answered the door was your fourth brother's boy, who is the seventh among the younger generation. It was the women in the family who did it by themselves, so that they could weave and embroider to subsidize their family income. It was really difficult.

If you don't mind, give your uncle a job. He is leaving an old groom. If you want to ask someone to go, why don't you do it, okay?It's just light work such as delivering official documents, driving chariots and horses, and feeding stage horses. If you live, you can live in the county government and eat public food! "

Mrs. Pan had already discussed with her husband. She considered that the government would assign two rough envoys to the county magistrate, one magistrate, and they could recruit people by themselves, and the government would pay the salary. .Uncle couldn't save that face, but the family really couldn't support idlers, so she decided to come to find out first.

Qingzhi bowed, "Thank you, auntie, for thinking about my nephew. My nephew must try my best to do it!" Study in the county.

In the evening, my uncle came back, met everyone one by one, had dinner, and asked him about the books he was reading. Since the problem of his stay was solved, my uncle was relieved and had a good chat with him.