Village chief Lu Li also took the imperial examination several times when he was young, but he was still a child student. He was not selected as a scholar until he was forty years old, so he gave up. After finding connections and becoming the village chief, he devoted himself to serving the people of the village.
Although I have occasionally used this position to obtain some benefits over the years, these are only minor troubles. Within the acceptance range of the villagers, I still act impartially in most cases, so I have a good reputation in the village.
Lu Li admired Yuan Suijun and Zhang Chengwang, two people who were admitted as scholars at a young age, and he was willing to help them with small matters. As for what others said about being noble, in his eyes
These are just minor problems. Young people who have become talented at a young age are more or less arrogant.
Compared to Yuan Suijun, Zhang Chengwang visits less frequently.
The village chief took out the good tea that he was usually reluctant to make and made him a cup.
"O rare visitor, come and drink some tea to soothe your throat."
Zhang Chengwang took a sip and quickly put it down. He is not very demanding about food, but he is relatively picky about tea. The tea tasted like old tea when he drank it, which made it difficult for him to swallow.
After all, he is also the village chief, so he actually entertained him with this. You must know that he is now a scholar, but he didn't entertain him with some decent tea. There is no way that when Yuan Suijun came, he would entertain him with this kind of tea.
.
Zhang Chengwang only felt that the other party was deliberately treating him differently, and his uncomfortable emotions continued to spread. He did not immediately tell the purpose of his visit, but just chatted with the village chief. The village chief was confused and did not know what he was talking about.
What medicine are you selling?
After holding a stick of incense for almost a while, Zhang Chengwang mentioned it casually, "Our village has been really lively recently. I haven't seen such a scene for a long time."
The village chief smiled, "Yes, thanks to Su Yueling's plan to build that big house, we found a job for the people in the village."
"And the pedal spinning wheel, it looks really good. I don't know how her mind came up with it." Lu Li's tone was full of admiration.
Zhang Chengwang saw that there was no trace of jealousy on his face, he just felt that the village chief was not ordinary arrogant.
He said nonchalantly: "Yes, thanks to them and his wife, the life of the villagers has been much better this year. Now the whole village is very grateful to them. If Suijun had not had lofty ambitions, it would not be difficult even if he wanted to be the village chief -
—”
As if realizing that he had made a mistake, he changed his subject.
"I was rude. Suijun and his family must not be interested in this position. I see that Suijun's health has improved a lot now, and I am very happy for him. Suijun will definitely take the exam next year."
"With his talent and learning, his reputation as a successful candidate is almost certain. With a brother like him, even if Sui Feng still hasn't decided what he wants to do in the future, he will have no worries about his future."
On the one hand, he pointed out Yuan Suijun's reputation, implying that it was Yuan Suijun who didn't bother to secure the position of village chief Lu Li.
Then he pointed out the existence of Yuan Suifeng, hinting to the village chief that even if Yuan Suijun was not interested, what about Yuan Suifeng?
What he did was just to make the village chief create dissatisfaction with the Yuan family. The Lu family itself is the largest surname in the village, and Lu Li has been the village chief for so many years. If he wants to cause trouble for the Yuan family, he will definitely make the Yuan family have trouble.
The pain is unspeakable.
Lu Li had been able to sit in this position for so many years, and he was not a fool. He naturally understood the implication of Zhang Chengwang's words. His face darkened, and Zhang Chengwang saw it in his eyes, and his heart became happy, "I still have to review, I will go back first, and I will try again another day.
Come and have tea with the village chief."
Lu Li nodded and did not get up to see him off. Zhang Chengwang just thought that he was too upset to see him off. Not only was he not angry, but he was even happier.
Lu Li sat in his original position, with a dark expression on his face.
His wife Lu Li happened to come over and was shocked when she saw his expression. After all, Lu Li's temper has gotten better and better over the years and he is always smiling. Even as his pillow person, she rarely sees him
What he looked like at this time.
"That's unreasonable!" He clenched his hands into fists and pounded the table hard.
Mrs. Lu poured him a cup of tea and asked, "Who made you angry?"
Lu Li drank the tea first and then sneered, "Who else could it be besides Zhang Chengwang? Am I that stupid? I can't wait to come and provoke me to deal with Suijun."
"He spends his mind on these things all day long. No wonder his talent in reading is only slightly worse than that of Suijun, but his talent and learning are far behind Suijun."
He would only deal with the Yuan family when he was out of his mind. Whether it was building a big house or a spinning wheel, it was obviously beneficial to the whole village. Moreover, he had watched the two brothers of the Yuan family grow up, and he couldn't understand their temperament better.
.
Yuan Suijun is cold on the outside but hot on the inside, while Yuan Suifeng has a carefree temperament and yet has a sense of loyalty. In the past, when the Yuan family was having a hard time, Lu Li did not add insult to injury and was very protective of their family. With the personalities of the two brothers, they would definitely not agree with him.
Fight.
Only people like Zhang Chengwang can think of people in a narrow-minded way. He also underestimated his character. In his eyes, is he such a narrow-minded person who cannot tolerate meritorious people?
When Mrs. Lu and others learned the whole story, they were a little annoyed and said, "I'll go get a basin of water and clean the chair."
How unlucky!
"You are still a scholar, how can you be so small-minded?"
Originally, Mrs. Lu and Li wanted to reluctantly help his sister Zhang Xinghua's marriage for Zhang Chengwang's sake. Now Mrs. Lu and Li have given up this idea. Neither Zhang Chengwang nor Su Yuewei have good character, and the Zhang Xinghua they raised cannot be trusted.
.Besides, Zhang Xinghua usually shows a sarcastic side outside, and is usually lazy and greedy. If you introduce her to a marriage, you may not harm other people's families.
She should stop being such a villain.
The Lu family has never been sorry to the Zhang family, but he wants to instigate a fight between the two families. What is wrong with him?
The more he wants to see them fight, the more she wants to befriend the Yuan family and make him mad.
Mrs. Lu Li also had a clear side of love and hate in her heart, so she immediately packed up the eggs just laid by the chickens at home and gave Su Yueling half a basket.
In the next few days, she sent things to the Su family every three days. Today she gave a handful of chestnuts, tomorrow pears grown by her parents' family, and the day after tomorrow impatiens grown by her family, which can be used to dye nails. Although it is not expensive,
It’s something, but it’s also a feeling.
Courtesy reciprocates. If Su Yueling likes the food, she will return the gift. Her return gift is nothing more than snacks, pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
In short, in the eyes of outsiders, the village chief's family and the Yuan family can be said to be getting closer and closer.
Zhang Chengwang looked at it in his heart and felt puzzled.
Could it be that after hearing what he said, the village chief was afraid of falling in love with the Yuan family, so he made his old wife bow down to please the Yuan family?
Or did he simply not understand what he meant?
If you really can't get on the stage, no wonder you are just a child after taking exams for so many years.
Although he was annoyed that things did not progress as he imagined, Zhang Chengwang could not speak more clearly in front of the village chief for the sake of his own image, and could only watch the relationship between the two families getting better and better.