At dusk that day, a large cloud floated in the western sky.
The setting sun falls on the top of the clouds, almost falling.
The locals call this celestial phenomenon "old clouds picking up the driver", and the weather the next day will be mostly cloudy and rainy.
Mother Lu, the companion of the third wife Wei, came out with a can of new tea and met Xu Chunjun who was coming to have dinner.
"The fifth girl is here," Mother Lu said, with her round face and small eyes, which are almost invisible when she smiles. "The fourth girl has just arrived too."
The fourth girl is Xu Chunsu, the legitimate daughter of the third wife, who is only half a year older than Xu Chunjun.
Even if Xu Chunjun doesn't smile, he always has a friendly look on his face, which makes people approach him.
Mother Lu was the confidant of the Wei family. As a junior, she never neglected. She nodded with a smile and said, "Mom, go ahead if you have something to do. I'll go in by myself."
There is a smell of leather in Wei's house all year round. That's because she keeps a lot of leather goods in her box, and she has to take them out to dry out every now and then.
Xu Chunsu was wearing a flowing red embroidered waistband today, with a green pleated skirt underneath. She was sitting next to Wei, muttering something unknown, but she stopped talking when she saw Xu Chunjun come in.
Xu Chunjun greeted both Wei and Xu Chunsu, and then, as every day, he and the maids placed spoons and chopsticks and placed the two best dishes in front of Wei's seat.
Xu Chunsu helped her mother come and sit down. She looked exactly like Mr. Wei. She was not ugly, but her cheekbones were higher, which made her look a bit mean.
The third master, Xu Gai, was born with bad eyesight. Whatever he looked at, he had to hold it in front of his eyes to see clearly.
Because of this, it was not easy to choose a bride, and in the end I reluctantly chose the Wei family.
The Wei family was not as high-born as the eldest wife and the second wife, and her temperament was not generous. Her life was not so easy in the past. When the Xu family went downhill, she became more and more mean.
Xu Shangshu and his wife felt sorry for their son, and thinking that it was already enough to get a wife, they decided to give him a good concubine, and selected Xu Chunjun's biological mother He from thousands of choices.
He was not only knowledgeable and sensible, but also good-looking. Unfortunately, he did not live long and died of illness when Xu Chunjun was less than five years old.
He was a very nice person, so even the difficult Wei didn't really feel sorry for her.
Xu Chunjun was very much like his mother, and he had done nothing wrong with Mrs. Wei for so many years. Although Mrs. Wei did not love her, she did not treat her harshly.
As soon as the food was set, the third young master Xu Daoqing opened the curtain and came in.
This young master was born to be a prodigal. He only thought about squandering all day long when he was only sixteen or seventeen years old. He and a few incompetent children in the county traveled in groups, sleeping in flowers and willows, everywhere.
Of course, these are outsiders' evaluations. In the eyes of his mother Wei, Xu Daoqing is simply a living treasure like a unicorn and a phoenix.
"Hurry up and sit down to eat!" Ms. Wei grabbed her son and asked him to sit down next to her.
"Why are there still these few dishes?!" Xu Daoqing glanced at the table and became unhappy: "The four dishes and one soup that make people feel sour just looking at them."
Although the Xu family eats in separate rooms, the chef always cooks the food in the big kitchen, and the maids and wives in each place carry it back.
Only on New Year's Day or someone's birthday, four or two more dishes will be added.
This rule was also set by Xu Lang. When the family was in a low position, they naturally had to live frugally. However, the Wei family and their son were not very satisfied, feeling that Xu Lang had deducted all the money from the father-in-law.
"Be content, my ancestors! You may not be able to eat in the future." Mrs. Wei put the chopsticks into her son's hands: "Listen to mother and don't run around these two days."
Xu Chunjun kept his head slightly lowered. Apparently, Wei had also heard the noise.
She was not surprised at all. When Zi Ling told her, Xu Chunjun knew in her heart that Xu Lang would not hide this matter from everyone. Because if he wanted to save his second brother, he would inevitably have to discuss countermeasures with his family.
Either contribute money or contribute effort.
Even if the news is not allowed to leak out, it is just a matter of hiding it from the second room.
Xu Daoqing laughed disdainfully after hearing this and said: "Everyone thinks that the second brother has been wronged. From my point of view, this is probably not the first time. There are some private goods in the ready-made ship, and when it is sold, it all belongs to him."
Who wouldn’t do this in your pocket?”
"Shut your mouth and eat quickly!" Ms. Wei interrupted her son and stopped him from continuing.
She may not have thought so in her heart, but after all, Xu Chunjun was here, so she couldn't be too explicit.
However, Xu Daoqing did not take Xu Chunjun seriously. In his opinion, his concubine girl was just like the cats and dogs in the house and had nothing to guard against.
Xu Chunjun put down his chopsticks knowingly and said, "Madam, I'm full. I haven't finished the work for my second sister yet, so I'm going back first."
"You go!" Mrs. Wei was very satisfied with this concubine who knew how to advance and retreat. She had a lot of personal things to say to her children.
It was already dark when Xu Chunjun came out of the courtyard where he beat Wei. She was thinking about something, so she didn't say a word.
Compared to Xu Chunjun's silence, the Wei family, mother and son, were chattering non-stop.
"Something happened to the second room, we have to make plans early." This sentence had been in Wei's heart for most of the day.
"Mom, what are your plans?" Xu Chunsu asked: "Second brother is selling smuggled salt and we won't be implicated, right?"
"After all, the woman is ignorant," Xu Daoqing sneered: "We are all eating from the same pot, how can we not be affected?"
"I think so too," Mrs. Wei said worriedly, "Third aunt and grandma will definitely use money to fish people out. Before the people can be rescued, the money must be spent."
"It costs everyone's money to save him." Xu Daoqing curled his lips and said, "This is a very good deal."
"Your third aunt has always been partial," Mrs. Wei sighed deeply, shaking the candles on the table: "We agreed last year that you would do business with Dao An. Who would have thought that there would be less than two people before and after?
The moon drove you back."
When Mrs. Wei mentioned this, she was filled with grievances and resentments.
In fact, her son Xu Daoqing was useless and misappropriated the money from the goods on the counter.
But she felt that since doing business was inevitable, she had to lose some money, and it was not like the two young masters in the second bedroom had never lost money, so why would her son be driven back?
What's more, she had already asked her son to beg for mercy from Xu Lang. After all, she was her sister-in-law, but she didn't show any mercy at all.
"I have long said that the child that the second sister-in-law is carrying is unlucky," Xu Chunsu interjected: "People say that children born in the Year of the White Tiger are unlucky."
"We have to find a way to separate our family from them." Wei said: "Before the money is spent, we can still get our share."
"Then if we separate, we can't live here, right?" Xu Chunsu hesitated: "Otherwise, we won't see each other until we look down..."
"Silly girl, your mother is already in her forties. Don't you have any plans for this? She took the property from our house and turned it into money and went to your grandfather's house." The Wei family wanted to separate the family for a long time.
It's been two days, but it's just that I can't say it without a legitimate reason: "Didn't Dao Kai already go to your uncle's house? We will go to your maternal grandfather's house to visit relatives then, who can hold back?"
Can’t we leave?”
Xu Daokai is the youngest son of the Wei family. Last month he went to his grandfather's house in Zhan County to visit his family.
"Split the family? Why split the family?" Xu Daoqing put the tea bowl cover upside down on the table and turned it like a top: "As long as the old aunt is here, we will not get any advantage!"
"Then what are you going to do?" Wei heard something else from her son's words.
"It's better to seize power than to divide the family! Now that the big house has no roof, the second house is in trouble again," Xu Daoqing said with a bad smile: "It's time for my third young master to take charge of the house."
