Chapter 1355: Kiss 2

When Zhuang Dalang came back and saw Bai Shan and the others, he smiled and took out money and gave it to Zhuang Ji'an, asking him to buy some fresh meat.

"Hurry up, today is New Year's Eve, and the stalls will close early."

After taking the money, Zhuang Ji'an ran out. Their home was not far from the meat stall, so they came back soon.

Zhuang Dalang and Bai Dalang are more familiar with each other, but they don’t have much to say, and they mostly talk about daily life.

However, this time he was particularly concerned about the date of their departure after the New Year. Obviously, Mr. Zhuang had told him that he would still go to Beijing with them after the New Year.

Zhuang Dalang specifically asked Bai Shan and the other two to take care of Mr. Zhuang. He knew that Bai Shan and the other two were different from Bai Dalang. They kowtowed to him and became his disciples.

Bai Shan and the other two responded seriously, and then both sides had nothing to say.

Zhuang Ji'an happened to come back. Zhuang Dalang smiled and stood up to help in the kitchen. Mr. Zhuang suddenly looked up and asked Zhuang Ji'an, "Ji'an, would you like to go to the capital with grandfather?"

Zhuang Dalang stopped in his tracks, frowned, and turned back. "Father, I'm going to take Ji An with me to train next year. Master Zhang also said that Ji An can take over my position in the future. The capital is too far away."

Mr. Zhuang ignored Zhuang Dalang and just looked at Zhuang Ji'an.

Zhuang Ji'an hesitated for a moment, glanced at his father and refused, "Grandpa, I want to stay at home."

Mr. Zhuang felt a little disappointed. After a long while, he sighed and nodded, "Okay."

With trembling hands, he took a piece of dessert from the paper bag and gave it to his grandson Zhuang Jiran who was sitting next to him.

Zhuang Jiran happily took it. Zhuang Dalang saw it and paused before saying, "Jiran, go to the kitchen and help your mother light the fire."

Zhuang Jiran stuffed a piece of dessert into his mouth and ran away.

In an instant, Mr. Zhuang was left with only a little grandson.

Mr. Zhuang reached out and touched his head, then smiled and handed him a piece of dessert.

For some reason, Manbao and Baishan Bai Erlang suddenly felt that the master was sad. Even Bai Dalang felt that the atmosphere was not right. The four of them looked at each other and immediately found a topic to divert Mr. Zhuang's attention.

Manbao said, "Sir, my fourth brother wants to buy some tea in the county. Do you know where to buy tea?"

Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "Luojiang County only has some loose tea, and there are no large tea plants. If we want to buy tea, we have to go to Suizhou, right?"

Mr. Zhuang began to wonder if he knew any friends who were familiar with Suizhou. When he thought about it, he found that there were indeed two.

Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "After the third day of the Lunar New Year, when your fourth brother is free, take him to the city. I'll introduce two of my friends to him."

Manbao just asked casually, but she didn't expect it to be true. She was surprised and immediately agreed.

The young Zhuang Jisi looked up at Manbao, then at his grandfather, and asked, "Grandfather, do you want to go out for something delicious?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled, nodded, and asked, "Are you going?"

Zhuang Jisi nodded immediately, "I want to go."

"Then Grandfather will take you there."

Manbao thought he was very cute, so he picked up a piece of dessert and gave it to him. However, Mr. Zhuang stopped him and said with a smile, "Lunch will be here soon, so you can't eat any more."

Zhuang Jisi just watched eagerly.

Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "Grandfather will keep it for you. You can have two more pieces tonight, and save the rest for later."

Only then did Zhuang Jisi feel happy.

Children can't sit still, and Zhuang Jisi is no exception. What's more, he doesn't understand anything his grandfather and his brothers and sisters say, so after eating snacks, he moves his little butt and wants to run out.

Mr. Zhuang didn't restrain him. He patted his little head and said, "Go out and play."

Zhuang Jisi ran away.

After he left, Bai Shan asked, "Sir, do you want to take Ji An to the capital?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled lightly and said, "His parents can't bear to let him go, so forget it."

He looked at Bai Dalang and smiled, "I was thinking maybe he would like to go to the county school. I'll ask Dalang's classmates there to take care of him."

Bai Dalang was surprised when he heard this. "Since Ji An was able to get into the county school, why doesn't Senior Brother Zhuang want him to continue studying and instead wants to keep him by his side?"

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said, "He's an average student and won't be able to get in, but I know a few friends who can give him a little money and get him into the county school as an auditor."

However, these bought-in auditors might be ostracized by students in the county school, so he wanted to ask Bai Dalang to help take care of them.

After all, he knew the teacher, but the teacher often did not care about the affairs between his students.

Bai Erlang muttered softly, "Sir, your knowledge is not inferior to those teachers in the county school..."

Mr. Zhuang sighed deeply and didn't speak for a long time.

He looked out the door, from where he could just see the kitchen across the street. After a long moment, he said softly, "Everyone has their own aspirations. As long as my children and grandchildren are safe, that's all that matters."

Even so, he still felt a little disappointed.

Originally, he had already given up and no longer thought about letting his children go down the path of officialdom. After all, he paid too high a price for this in the first half of his life, and Dalang was unwilling to do so.

But after another trip to the capital, he felt that he was not so bad after all, and then he started to think about training the younger generation again.

But Zhuang Dalang was unwilling to do so. No one knows a son better than his father, and similarly, no one knows a father better than his son. He understood both his son and his father.

In his opinion, his father was smart and powerful enough, but he was framed and ended up living like that.

His childhood was so hard, he didn't want his descendants to have to live like that at all.

He was not as smart as his father, and neither was his son, and he knew that neither of them could bear the hardship of studying.

It would be better for them to just be honest and live in Luojiang County. Although they are not rich, they have enough food and clothing and live a stable and comfortable life. In his opinion, this is enough.

Mrs. Zhuang also didn't want the child to go with her father-in-law. The child was so young, and he would be away from his parents. How could that be possible?

Seeing her husband enter the kitchen with a sour face, she glanced outside and asked quietly, "Why, did my father-in-law mention letting Ji An go to the capital again?"

Zhuang Dalang responded.

Mrs. Zhuang said, "I've already said in advance that I won't allow Ji An to go to the capital. He's still young."

Zhuang Dalang nodded, "I understand. I didn't agree."

Mrs. Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief. While chopping the meat, she glanced outside and whispered, "I just looked. The gifts the Zhou family sent this year are much more valuable. The patterns on the silk are particularly beautiful. I feel that they are much better than the ones sent by the Bai family."

Zhuang Dalang said, "Then keep it. Cut some off later to make new clothes for the maid and yourself."

Mrs. Zhuang happily agreed and whispered, "I haven't seen you for half a year. Zhou Man has become more beautiful. Our Ji An is also of age. What do you think of her?"

Zhuang Dalang frowned, "That's not good, there's a generation gap between us."

Mrs. Zhuang didn't care. "What generational relationship is this? Ji An also learned from my father-in-law when he was little. Isn't he his student? If their family is particular about this, then let Ji An also worship my father-in-law as his teacher."

Zhuang Dalang said nothing. Scholars really didn't care about this. There were many cases of fathers and sons being brothers from the same school. But...

Zhuang Dalang frowned and said, "I'll talk to Dad this afternoon."

He also thought Zhou Man was good, mainly because she was literate and well-mannered.

See you tomorrow

(End of this chapter)