After listening to Qu Sanweng's words, Zhou Jun lowered his head and fell into silence.
Qu Sanweng raised his hands and asked, "What do you call the young man?"
Zhou Jun: "My surname is Zhou. Qu Weng can call me Zhou Erlang."
After speaking, Zhou Jun asked Qu Sanweng again: "What did Qu Sanweng do in Guanzhong in the past?"
Qu Sanweng: "I farmed, but then the land disappeared, so I picked up my ancestors' old skills and became a bricklayer."
Zhou Jun nodded and asked: "Did Qu Weng's two sons also inherit your craftsmanship?"
Qu Sanweng: "The eldest son has learned a little bit and can do some small work in Chang'an; the younger son is too stupid and can't learn, so he can only do menial work."
"On the other hand, my eldest daughter-in-law, her mother's family is a needleworker, and she is very good at needlework. I just felt wronged and followed my son."
After Zhou Jun listened, he had some ideas in his mind.
The old man and the young man chatted like this for a while. The sun outside the house gradually set in the west, and the people who had gone out to help slowly came back. The whole Duckweed House became lively at first sight.
Qu Sanweng's eldest son, Qu Chaoli, limped into the hall with the support of his wife.
Qu Sanweng was shocked when he saw this scene. He quickly stood up and asked, "What's going on?"
Qu Chaoli forced a smile and said, "Ah, I didn't pay attention when I was working and fell off the climbing frame. It's okay."
Zhou Jun looked at Qu Chaoli's arm and saw bruises of varying depths on the outside of his forearm, which were obviously the scars left by using his arms to protect his head when he was beaten.
Qu Chaoli's wife had tears on her face. She was about to say something, but after thinking about it for a long time, she swallowed the words that came to her lips.
Qu Sanweng: "I've said it many times, don't be distracted when doing work."
Qu Chaoli quickly agreed and asked, "Where is Chaoyi?"
Qu Sanweng slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot, we have a guest here, this is Zhou Lang."
Qu Chaoli saw Zhou Jun and saw that he was dressed in rich clothes and extraordinary appearance, so he quickly bowed and saluted.
Looking at the sun, Qu Sanweng touched his waist for a long time and finally found three copper coins. He quietly took out the money and whispered to the eldest daughter-in-law: "Chun Niang, there are distinguished guests at home today.
Take the money and go to the street to buy some food."
Seeing this, Zhou Jun stretched out his hand to his arms and said, "Wait a moment, there is someone here..."
Qu Sanweng was startled, and quickly grabbed Zhou Jun, dragged him behind the curtain, and whispered: "What are you doing, young man?"
Zhou Jun was confused: "I plan to get some copper money, please buy it for me..."
Before Zhou Jun could finish his words, Qu Sanweng said again: "Since we are here at the old man's house, why should we ask the distinguished guest to pay for it?"
Zhou Jun said: "What Qu Weng said is wrong. A certain person came to visit, but he didn't even bring a door-to-door gift. Now that he has given me some money and bought some food, is it possible that Qu Weng still doesn't agree?"
Qu Sanweng was stunned for a while, knowing that it would be hard to persuade him again, so he responded with a wry smile.
Zhou Jun took out a small string of a hundred coins from his arms, handed it to Qu Sanweng, and said, "Don't forget to buy more cakes, meat, and wine."
Qu Sanweng held the money and said: "It's too much, it's too much, I can't use this much."
Zhou Jun ignored it and just kept urging.
In desperation, Qu Sanweng handed the money to Chun Niang and gave a few more instructions.
Chun Niang turned around, hid the small bunch of money in her underwear, carefully opened the curtain, and seeing that no one was paying attention, she lowered her head and walked out quickly.
Seeing the surprise on Zhou Jun's face, Qu Sanweng sighed and said, "You're telling me a joke. In this duckweed house, if you have wealth, don't show it to anyone, and if you have rice, don't lend it to your neighbors. It's a rule that everyone knows."
Zhou Jun: "I can understand why you don't show your wealth to others, but why don't you borrow rice from your neighbors?"
Qu Sanweng: "There are hundreds of people in Duckweed House. Even if you have money and rice, how much can you lend to others? Even if you lend to others today, what will you do tomorrow?"
"Also, the rations in everyone's hands are not much. If you give an equal share to others, maybe in the end, both of you will starve to death."
Zhou Jun could only sigh after hearing the emotion.
Not long after, Chun Niang ran back.
I saw her approaching, first carefully closing the curtains, then opening her bulging coat, and taking out food and drinks from inside.
Looking at the food and drink being placed on the table one by one, Zhou Jun could clearly hear the sound of the Qu family swallowing their saliva.
The next thing happened, which surprised Zhou Jun.
I saw Chun Niang put away the food and wine, and placed the remaining copper coins one by one in front of Zhou Jun.
Qu Sanweng was worried that Zhou Jun would shirk away, so he said: "The young man invited me to have this banquet, and the young man is already feeling uneasy. How can he dare to be greedy for money again? Just put the money away quickly."
Zhou Jun turned back to look at the baby in Rou Xing's arms, pushing the copper coin towards Qu Sanweng: "Take the rest to buy some clothes for your grandson."
When Chun Niang heard this, she bit her lip and bowed her hand.
The latter bit the bullet and said to Qu Sanweng: "Aye..."
Qu Sanweng glanced at his grandson, gritted his teeth and said, "That's all, Zhou Lang has been so kind to me, and Qu Sanweng has accepted it."
Seeing Qu Sanweng accept the money, Zhou Jun nodded.
Then, Zhou Jun accompanied Qu Weng and his family to eat dinner.
After dinner, Zhou Jun saw that it was getting dark outside and it was impossible to go home, so he stayed at Duckweed House and planned to spend the night.
After chatting with the Qu family, Zhou Jun learned that his ancestors were famous craftsmen in the Sui Dynasty.
The Qu family participated in famous Sui Dynasty projects such as Tongji Canal and Qindan Road.
Later, at the turn of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, wars intensified. In order to avoid being dragged into building cities and repairing city walls, the ancestors of the Qu family gave up their identity as craftsmen and lived anonymously by farming.
By the time of Qu Sanweng's generation, the Qu family's craftsmanship had already gone to sixty-seven years.
Their fields were annexed by wealthy families, so they could only do small jobs in Chang'an City to supplement their family income.
That night, everyone fell asleep.
Zhou Jun lay on the side of the wall, looking at the stars in the night sky through the large hole in the roof, and fell into deep thought.
There is no doubt about the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but behind this prosperity, in some unknown corner, there is a snowflake falling.
The displacement of this snowflake will cause the second and third snowflakes to collapse, causing an avalanche, and ultimately triggering the Anshi Rebellion eleven years later, and the collapse of the entire Tang Dynasty.
If you correct the position of this snowflake, will thousands of kind and hard-working people like Qu Sanweng have a better life?
If he corrects the position of this snowflake, will the Anshi Rebellion not happen? Will Datang be far away from the ending of being bullied by foreigners?
But the question is, what exactly is this snowflake?
How should I correct it myself?
In the early morning of the next day, Zhou Jun got up early, walked through the sleeping people all over the ground, and came to the courtyard of Duckweed House.
He immediately saw his horse tied to a big tree.
On the horseback, someone was worried about the cool night and even covered it with a cloth robe.
Zhou Jun came closer and saw that Qu Sanweng's second son, a young man named Qu Chaoyi, was curled up by a tree and slept with the horse all night.
He was only wearing a thin undershirt, and his lips were so cold that they lost their color.
Zhou Jun opened his eyes wide and then sighed deeply.
Taking off his coat from his body, Zhou Jun gently covered Qu Chaoyi's body, turned around and returned to the inner room of Duckweed House, and said to Qu Sanweng who had just woken up: "Pack up your belongings, I will take you somewhere."