Pork costs twelve cents per catty, and mutton costs fifteen cents.
Plus the old hens at home, fish exchanged for millet, and a braised duck.
There was a table full of dishes, including chicken, duck, and fish, and it didn’t cost more than a hundred pence.
On the dinner table.
Everyone was very happy, especially Ning Caichen's eldest brother Ning Hui.
Ning Hui was not well-educated and worked as a waiter in a cloth shop when he was a teenager. Later, he was spotted by a master dyer and hired his son-in-law to work for the owner with his old father-in-law.
But with his status as a door-to-door son-in-law, it would be embarrassing to talk about it.
In the past, it was inevitable to be scolded by my father-in-law and criticized by my neighbors.
Now a distinguished guest has come to the house. He is riding a white horse and has a graceful demeanor. He looks like a distinguished young master at first sight.
Ning Hui also felt that he was flattered and brought his wife and children back for dinner. Not only was he greedy for the money, he also wanted to cheer up his wife: "Look, I am your son-in-law, but my brother is not. My brother
If you make a wide range of friends and read a lot of poetry and books, you will have a bright future."
"Mr. Zhang, I am old and useless. I am afraid that you will dislike me if I add more food to you, but you must eat more. The food at home is simple and the greetings are not good."
Ning's mother is actually not very old, only in her fifties or sixties.
Put it in the real world, I guess I haven’t even retired in my workplace, and I can’t even get a place in square dancing.
But she looked like an old man in her seventies or eighties, hunched over, with a weathered face, and her smile always had a somewhat flattering look.
This is also inevitable.
The Ning family has long since declined, and Ning's father died early, so the entire burden of the family falls on a woman's family.
It was not easy for her to raise her two children together. She was used to being a lowly child in the past. If she wanted to speak out, Ning Caichen had to win the election to be able to raise her head.
But this possibility is slim.
Ning Caichen is not Cui Hongjian, he is not that knowledgeable.
Zhang Heng has seen Cui Hongjian's articles and the ancestor worship articles he wrote for the village. They are really full of flowers and wonderful pens.
On the other hand, Ning Caichen's article can only be said to be quite satisfactory, with nothing outstanding.
Moreover, his thoughts were very dangerous. After Zhang Heng chatted with him freely, he opened his mouth and said that demons are rampant in the world because treacherous ministers are in power and the saints are stupid.
Good guy.
Who is the treacherous minister, the examiner of the provincial examination, or the official of the six ministries?
Not to mention the foolishness of the Holy One.
Confucianism emphasizes heaven and earth, kings, relatives and teachers. The king is still at the forefront of the closest relatives. A scholar actually said that the saints are fatuous. If someone with a heart listens to this, he will be exiled for three thousand miles at least.
"Don't worry, I'm a person who travels all over the world. I know everything, but I won't be polite."
Zhang Heng answered while adding two chicken legs to Ning Hui's two children: "Here, eat chicken legs."
"Thank you, uncle."
Ning Hui's two children are not very old, one is five or six years old, and the other is seven or eight years old.
I was so skinny that my mouth watered when I looked at the fat meat in the bowl, because there was no oil or water in my stomach, and the fat meat would satisfy my craving.
"Is Master Zhang here?"
During the meal.
Someone was shouting outside.
"Master Zhang?"
Ning's mother looked confused: "Did you find the wrong person?"
Zhang Heng thought for a while and said, "Maybe they are looking for me."
Ning Caichen hurried to open the door.
As a result, when I opened the door, it was Kuai Dao Liu who came.
He took off his detective clothes and put on burlap casual clothes, holding a pangolin in his hand: "Mr. Zhang, I was doing errands for someone in the afternoon, and the person gave me a pangolin. I am a rough man, and this kind of thing is not worth it."
I didn’t understand what I was eating, but when I thought about you, Mr. Zhang, staying at a friend’s house, I borrowed flowers to offer to the Buddha, so as not to waste the good things.”
"Ah, it's Captain Liu!"
They are all people on the street. If you don’t know anyone, you have to know the policeman on your own street.
Seeing that Kuai Dao Liu was here, the Ning family looked at a loss and stood up one after another: "Why are you here? Can we sit down and have something to eat together?"
Zhang Heng's expression remained unchanged and he only glanced back.
He guessed that Kuai Dao Liu saw that he was generous and felt that he was a rare commodity. After returning home, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, always wanting to have some relationship with him.
As a result, I didn't lose my composure. I got a pangolin out of nowhere and came here.
The rank is still low.
If you were a smart person, you would have to endure it today and create a chance encounter tomorrow.
But it’s normal to think about it.
In his thirties, he still has the unique skill of sharp swordsmanship, but in the end he is just a policeman. If he really had a high rank and knew how to scheme, he wouldn't be like this.
"I won't eat anymore. I have to patrol at night."
Kuai Dao Liu and Zhang Heng smiled, put down the pangolin and left.
good.
He's not too stupid, and he's not really sitting down to have a few drinks with Zhang Heng as soon as Ning's mother invites him.
If he sat down as soon as he was invited and asked Zhang Heng to toast him, Zhang Heng felt that one of them would be extremely embarrassed.
"Brother Zhang, are you a friend of Agent Liu?"
After Kuai Dao Liu left, the Ning family's sister-in-law looked at him with even more intense eyes.
Because for ordinary people like them, they don't have to pay for breakfast. When they finish eating, they have to take two more kilograms of fried dough sticks back with them. It's very nice.
On the street, if anyone has a friend who is a policeman, he will speak in a louder tone, and the local gangsters will not dare to mess with him.
"friend?"
Zhang Heng shook his head: "It doesn't count."
He just met Kuai Dao Liu today, and he had never heard of such a character before.
It's a bit exaggerated to say we know each other, let alone be friends.
"Brother Zhang, since you are not friends, why did he give you a pangolin?"
Ning Caichen picked up the tied pangolin: "This thing is not common in the world. It can be sold for a lot of money in restaurants."
Um...
Zhang Heng was speechless for a moment and said vaguely: "Maybe he and I hit it off and want to be my friend."
Hearing this, everyone had different reactions.
Ning Caichen's eldest brother and sister-in-law were all smiling.
Even Ning Mu's wrinkles on her forehead have relaxed a bit.
Kuai Dao Liu is a well-known figure on the street. He wants to make friends with Zhang Heng. This shows that Zhang Heng is extraordinary.
What does it mean that Ning Caichen can invite Zhang Heng to his home as a guest? His son has great vision.
After one hour.
After three rounds of wine, everyone enjoyed the meal.
Ning's mother and Ning Caichen's sister-in-law were packing the dishes, while Zhang Heng and Ning Caichen were walking in the backyard.
"Brother Zhang, my house is a bit shabby, but fortunately the place is big enough."
"There are three courtyards in the front, middle and back, and more than 20 rooms. I have tidied up the backyard and can move in at any time."
Ning Caichen accompanied Zhang Heng for a walk in the backyard.
When the Ning family was wealthy, the backyard would have been a garden and an attic.
But now, the garden is gone and has been turned into a vegetable field. It is already winter, and the bare fields look particularly desolate.
As for the attic, it was also in tatters and had lost its former glory.
Even the window paper is made of scrap straw paper. Who would use this to paper windows if they had the conditions?
"It's easy to find a place to stay. I brought my own bedding and tent, so I can sleep anywhere."
"As for the Qing family, if you have time tomorrow, you have to take me to see them. I will know their origins at a glance."
The family whose daughter is to be married to Ning Caichen is named Qing.
The name Qing is not common, and there are different opinions on the origin of the surname. Among them, "History of the Road" records: "Qi Taigong had a descendant who lived in Qingyang, and took the place as his surname, so he was named Qingyang, or Shanzi Yiqing.
Zhang Heng still doesn’t know the origin of the Qing family.
However, since the opposite party has a name and surname, it should have some origin. Even if it is like Ning Caichen guessed, it is a group of goblins who have become goblins, they are also goblins who have read poetry and books.