Bai Shan listened to his complaint in a good mood. After he finished speaking, he said: "Tomorrow is thirty, let's celebrate the New Year together?"
Bai Erlang said there was no problem and asked: "Where will we go?"
Everyone looked at Yin He who was sitting aside.
Yin Er had no objection and said that he could just listen to them.
So after everyone discussed it, they decided to stay in Mingda and Bai Erlang's mansion, because that was the most spacious place.
Xiao Qian went there early in the morning to make preparations. Zheng also asked people to bring a lot of ingredients from home, and the whole mansion was filled with a delicious aroma all day long.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man didn't see anyone today, so they settled comfortably on the couch in the side room and played leaf cards.
When Bai Shancai mentioned the salt farm casually, Zhou Man shouted: "We agreed not to talk about business today."
She felt that if Bai Shan discussed business matters, she would not be able to bear it.
Bai Shan held back and changed the topic, "I wonder if our New Year's goods have been sent back to the capital?"
Yin You calculated the time and said, "It should be here."
Because they were too busy, although the housekeeper at home reminded them early, they were still a little late in preparing the New Year's goods, so they were also late in sending them out.
Especially Yin You, the Yin family has been sending letters to him since the twelfth lunar month, urging him to return to Beijing. However, he has been reluctant to go back. In order not to bother his family, he deliberately sent back the New Year's goods a few days late in order to prevent his family from annoying him.
The New Year gifts given by Bai Shan and others are not expensive, they are all specialties from Qingzhou.
The Zhou family doesn't pay attention to this. They think it's silly to travel thousands of miles to send New Year's goods to Qingzhou. If you come here and there again, it's just to buy goods, so how much money will be wasted?
So they decided to give away money!
When a guard or bodyguard went back to deliver the letter, Lao Zhoutou and Qian received a box of silver and wrote to Zhou Man, "Buy whatever you need. Don't starve the child. Get more rest."
Don’t tire yourself.”
Mrs. Liu, who was planning to pack the New Year's goods for Bai Shan and the others, couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and finally followed the example of the Zhou family and sent money there. She was not afraid that the two children would be hungry, but said to Bai Shan: "I know you guys
Now is the time to spend money. If you don’t want to chip in, tell your family that although public and private matters need to be separated, you really can’t find the money to build the pier, so your family can subsidize one or two first.”
The money Mrs. Liu gave could not be brought over by just one guard or bodyguard, so in the end I sent a few more servants to bring over a cart full of money.
It was also because of the money given by Mrs. Liu that Bai Shan had the confidence to tell Cheng Jiulang that he would account for half of the cost.
Every household in the capital has indeed received New Year’s goods from Qingzhou today.
The guards of the princess's palace went directly to the palace and presented the gifts prepared by the princess and the consort to everyone. After receiving the news, they happily went back to their homes to celebrate the New Year.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man consciously prepared gifts for the emperor, prince and others, and sent them to the palace together with Ming Da. They were indeed local specialties and did not cost a lot of money.
In fact, if Ming Da and Bai Er were not in Qingzhou and they wanted to send New Year gifts to the palace, they would not want to give gifts to the royal family.
Zhou Man didn't give gifts to Xiao Yuanzheng this year, he only had them brought to relatives.
Lao Zhou opened the box curiously and took out a bronze mirror. He was speechless for a long time.
The guard who came back with New Year's goods said: "Qingzhou's bronze mirrors are well-made and cheap. My wife thought they were very good after using them, so she bought a large bronze mirror for every lady in the family."
Not only can the head and face be illuminated, but once the inlay is in place, the entire body can be taken in and the view can be clearly seen. It is a great tool for trying on clothes and jewelry.
The guard said with a smile: "Both the lady and the princess like it. I thought that the ladies will also like it, so I bought two sides for my family, hehehe..."
Lao Zhoutou silently put down the mirror and went to look through other things. Finally he found something he liked, "Is this wine?"
"Yes, Master Lang personally selected this. He said it is a famous wine in Qingzhou and you can give it to your uncles and gentlemen to try."
One of the uncles, Zhou Lang, expressed great interest. He came up and smelled it and said, "It smells good. It must be good wine. Dad, can we drink this for dinner tonight?"
Old Zhou was also a little happy and nodded.
So the people of Lao Zhou's family happily came forward to distribute the New Year's goods. Lao Zhou looked at them and murmured, "It's too expensive to send them here and there. It's not like these things are not available in the capital."
Qian said: "They have all been sent back. Please stop complaining. This is also what the children want. By the way, the in-laws are also packing up the New Year's goods, right? Sanniang, you can follow me to invite the in-laws to celebrate the New Year today. Good luck!"
Bao and Manbao are both not at home, so we can’t let the in-laws celebrate the New Year alone.”
Old Zhoutou: "This is natural."
Liu Sanniang also smiled and agreed.
Zhou's family members were also in disarray. Zhou Lixue and Zhou Ligu went abroad, and even Zhou Lizhong returned to his hometown.
He will take the county government exam next year, so he went home early in order to adapt better and avoid getting sick on the road after spring.
Mr. Zhuang wrote a letter of recommendation and asked him to attend the county school to study.
In addition to students who have passed the examination, the county school does have quotas for auditing, but it is not cheap to study.
People like Zhou Lizhong who go in outside the opening hours of school not only need to be admitted to high school, but also need to be recommended by someone special.
Otherwise, if you don't have a strong relationship, you won't be able to get in.
Mr. Zhuang is now well-known in Luojiang County, and the Zhou family is different from the past, so he went with a letter of recommendation, and the county magistrate immediately agreed.
Knowing that Zhou Lizhong's goal was to take the county clerkship examination, the county magistrate wanted to say that I could squeeze a spot for you elsewhere.
However, looking at the Zhou family's appearance, they didn't seem to want to use his back door, so he put it aside for the time being.
The Zhou family really didn't want to use his back door. In Zhou Lang's words, "There is a carrot and a pit in the county government. If you follow his path, you will definitely squeeze out others. Who will squeeze you out for nothing?"
"
Zhou Lizhong felt that his third uncle was right, so although it was painful, he still held the back of the book and insisted on practicing calligraphy every day, hoping to pass the exam on his own ability.
During the Chinese New Year, when Guan Li was touring Qili Village, he specifically went to sit with his in-laws. When he saw him holding a book and squatting outside the door to endorse it in the cold weather, he couldn't help but ask: "Why don't you go inside to read? It will be warmer at least."
?”
While making tea for Guan Lizheng, Zhou Erlang said with a smile: "I want to sleep when it's warm. It's better to be colder and I'll be refreshed."
Guan Lizheng couldn't help but admire the Zhou family's family tradition and the diligence of his children.
Zhou Man is no longer what he used to be, and the Zhou family is considered to be in the limelight, but their family is not as arrogant as those in power, but more diligent than the poor.
He couldn't help but said: "It really can't be done, I have a quota for a government servant."
Guan Lizheng smiled at Zhou Erlang and said, "If you need anything, you can come to me. I will just take Li Zhong to the county government office."
This quota was a reward given to Guan Lizheng by the county government. He had been working as Lizheng for a long time and had been diligent, so he only got this quota three years ago. It was useless for him to keep it.
? ? ?Good night, today is the Ghost Festival, everyone should go to bed early, there is a missing chapter, I will make it up tomorrow