Shen Qing still remembers it clearly.
That was last autumn, and the weather was similar to now, just the right temperature, not too cold or too hot. Widow Li was already pregnant, and Shen Zhigao had been making a fuss at home for quite some time, demanding to divorce her and marry another woman.
Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen originally disagreed, but they could not resist Shen Zhigao's insistence and the noise he made, so they slowly gave in.
Shen Qing didn't understand anything at that time and was extremely panicked. He was afraid that if Shen Zhigao really succeeded, his sickly mother, who was unable to support herself, would be kicked out of the house.
Shen Qing could only go up the mountain secretly and chop and sell firewood desperately, thinking that if Miao was really driven away, he could still secretly give money to Miao so that Miao would not starve to death.
As for himself... he no longer cared about what kind of situation he would be in if a stepmother came into the family. He already had a hard time living a good life, so what would happen to him?
At that time, he also had to take care of the work on the Shen family's fields. The autumn harvest is approaching, and the condition of the crops in the fields changes day by day. Farmers have to stay alert and watch the weather, preparing for a sudden heavy rain. Shen Qing simply couldn't spare much free time, and he worked hard to save up just a few hundred coins.
He only saved up half a load of firewood that day. Fortunately, the owner of the dental shop took pity on him and liked the way he kept the firewood neatly, so she took it. Shen Qing was walking back with the little bit of money in his pocket. At the city gate, he happened to meet the county magistrate's younger brother's carriage entering the city.
More than a dozen large carts were fully loaded, blocking the city gate tightly. Shen Qing was waiting there and heard the story of the county magistrate's younger brother's divorce from the scholar next to him.
That day was the first time Shen Qing knew that one could take the child away even after a divorce. Even if it is a boy, as long as his elder brother is the county magistrate and has enough power, many conventional rules in this world can be broken.
So, Shen Qing got inspired. He followed their example and borrowed the power of Miao Xing and Miao Wang, successfully leading the Miao family out of the quagmire and starting a new life.
At this moment, Shen Qing was looking at the county magistrate's younger brother, who was sitting not far from him. Shen Qing had never seen this man before. The county magistrate's younger brother did not get off the carriage that day. But this person, whom he had never met before, inspired Shen Qing's wisdom and gave Shen Qing a lot of courage unintentionally and without his knowledge.
Shen Qing stared at the county magistrate's younger brother with a serious look. He was looking at the county magistrate's younger brother, but at the same time, Shen Qing felt that he was looking through this person at himself who was lost and helpless last year. Suddenly, he had grasped a life-saving straw, a beam of light leading to the way forward.
Before he knew it, Shen Qing's eyes felt sore and hot, and he almost cried.
Shen Qing's servant, the shopkeeper Xiaomiao, and Brother Tieshan in the shop:?
Lin Ning:? ?
The county magistrate’s younger brother:? ? ? ? ?
The county magistrate's younger brother was completely at a loss. What was going on? Had he ever seen this person before? What's your connection with him? Why is he crying?
One year after my divorce, am I still so attractive?
He looked around and found that the shop assistants were all secretly watching this place, which made him even more uncomfortable. He quickly waved his hands to refuse: "No, no, we have already eaten, and the bill will be paid, so there is no need." He held Lin Zao'er in one hand and called to Lin Ning with the other: "Ning brother, let's go back?"
Lin Ning looked as if he was in a trance, and was pulled out by him, looking back every three steps.
Shen Qing sniffed and blinked back the hot tears in his eyes. He didn't know what happened. Thinking back on what happened last autumn, it seemed like a lifetime ago. He was no longer the helpless boy in a difficult situation. But at this moment, when he saw the county magistrate's younger brother and the reason for "saving" him and Miao from the quagmire, he felt a tremor in his heart.
Shen Qing turned his head away. He did not notice that the shop assistants were secretly looking at him. Instead, he instructed the shopkeeper Xiao Miao: "If that man... that guy just now comes again, forgive his bill."
The county magistrate's younger brother has been divorced. Although he is used to dressing like a husband because he has been married before, Shen Qing doesn't want to call him that.
"Oh!" Shopkeeper Xiaomiao came back to his senses and quickly agreed. No need to ask, he knows who it is! But he was really confused in his heart. What happened to Qingge'er because he was acting so abnormal?
Not only him, everyone in the store was curious! After Shen Qing left, the rest of the people in the shop began to gossip about the boss behind his back: "The boss sent Mr. Jie and Miss Jie to teach in the south of the city. I was wondering why the boss didn't like them? How good-looking are Mr. Jie and Miss Jie? So the boss likes this kind of people?"
That guy seems older than their boss and is dressed as a husband. Is he married?
Ruyi had also been thinking about this before. Although she has moved to a new place, she grew up in the Jie family and has a deep affection for the family. She really hopes that the Jie brothers and sisters can follow Shen Qing. After all, Shen Qing is an outstanding talent, has a good temper, and is a decent person.
The most feared thing about getting married is that the man is not good enough. If you meet an irresponsible man, even if you are the wife, you will be unlucky. If you meet a responsible man, your life as a concubine will not be bad either.
But Shen Qing didn’t pay much attention to the Jie brothers and sisters before, and Jie Miyun even failed when he offered himself for her. Could it be that his taste was not right? But she was more informed than others: "Don't make blind guesses, that person is the county magistrate's younger brother, who got divorced and came back to live with his brother. Our young master and young lady are the relatives of criminal officials and the descendants of criminals, and that person is the county magistrate's relative... But if you want to make this connection, you should also look at the county magistrate's son. Could it be love at first sight?"
The way Shen Qing looked at the county magistrate's brother just now was so sharp that it almost stared a hole through him!
Several people started talking at once, even the little girl Feicui, who was still a child, joined in the fun. Tieshan and Xiaomiao, the shopkeeper who knew Shen Qing's background, said: "...It's impossible for the boss to like that guy. Maybe there is another reason?"
Ruyi looked over immediately and said, "How do you know? Has the boss told you what he likes?" If possible, she would like to find out and teach the Jie brothers and sisters.
That’s of course because Shen Qing is a boy! But Shen Qing had told them before that it would be convenient for him to travel around the county as a man, and he would also have to deal with government officials, so he asked them not to talk nonsense, otherwise they should pack up and return to the village. Naturally, I didn't dare to speak out at this moment and revealed it privately. He wanted to say something but stopped himself, and after a long while, he swallowed the words back into his stomach. "The boss won't like that guy anyway."
"In fact, it's good that our boss and that guy are together." The rest of the people ignored them and wentssiped for a long time, leaving Tieshan and Xiao Miao aside: "The county magistrate is the most senior official in our county. If we become related to him, how can we expand our business?"
Regardless of what the waiters in the room were thinking, the hurried return of Lin Ning's uncle and nephew also caught the attention of County Magistrate Lin and his wife: "What happened? Didn't you go out for a snack? Why are you back so early? And you look so flustered as if you were chased by a dog?"
County Magistrate Lin frowned. The last time Lin Ning and Lin Zaoer came back in such a panic, they were teased by the boy from the Zhou family. His expression turned cold, "Is there another blind person bullying you?"
"No, no," Lin Zaoer waved her hands quickly. But he didn't know what had happened, he was just thinking about eating!
There were still two skewers of fried potatoes on the plate that had not been eaten yet, but they were taken away. Lin Zaoer felt very sorry.
Lin Ning still looked dazed and didn't say much.
"What happened? I'm really worried." County Magistrate Lin turned to look at his brother and said, "Xiangcao, tell me."
Lin Xiangcao looked at Lin Ning awkwardly, then at County Magistrate Lin, and hesitantly told her what had just happened. He quickly explained, "I really have never seen that man... I shouldn't have seen him, I don't have any impression of him at all!" He knew that Lin Ning liked that Master Chen, and he kept talking about Master Chen's shortcomings at home every day. What was happening now!
"I am living on my own with my child now, and it's fine. I don't want to get married anymore." He held Lin Ning's hand and comforted her, "Don't worry, Ning'er, even if he has any ideas, I will never agree!"
It took Lin Ning a long time to come back to his senses. In such a short period of time, he broke again. But after breaking himself into pieces and putting himself back together, Lin Ning thought, maybe it's not impossible?
Didn’t he already decide that even if Master Shen wasn’t married, he wouldn’t marry him? Well, since Mr. Shen will not marry me, marrying my uncle is better than marrying someone else, right?
Lin Ning has complicated feelings towards Mr. Shen! If he said he liked her, then of course he liked her, but it wasn't the kind of obsessive love that required him to marry her. He hadn't even talked to Master Shen much, and they didn't know each other, so how could it be this necessary?
To be precise, it is a yearning for handsome men and a little bit of possessiveness.
If Lin Ning were a modern person, he would have heard the term "face fan" plus a little bit of "dream man".
However, as for the possessiveness, if the Lin family occupies it, it is almost the same as if he has occupied it, and the good things should not be let go to outsiders! If she married her uncle, he would look at her twice more... Lin Ning stood firm against the wall and said firmly, "I'm fine, uncle, you can do whatever you want, don't worry about me!"
But how could I not care? Lin Xiangcao had no idea about Lin Ning's ups and downs in her mental journey. She never went to Shen Qing's shop again after that day. But Lin Zaoer was really craving for it, so she begged Lin Ning to go there a few more times. But as luck would have it, she never met Mr. Shen again.
Shen Qing is very busy these days! After the spring ploughing, the men in the village had free time, so Shen Qing started to open a workshop in Shiqu Village.
The village chief of Shiqu Village has been looking forward to this day! From time to time, they would send some aunts and daughters-in-law who were closely related to the Miao family to Lantang Village to visit the Miao family and get close to them. They had been looking forward to this for a long time, and now that it was finally going to happen, they could finally put their minds at ease.
The village chief Miao of Shiqu Village is more clear-headed than Zhao Youdang. It could also be that Shen Qing was not from their village after all, and since they were not that close, they naturally had to be more respectful to him. Secondly, Shen Qing was from another village and could not interfere in the affairs of Shiqu Village. Naturally, Village Chief Miao did not have the same guard against Shen Qing as Zhao Youdang did in his heart.
At this time, he just greeted Shen Qing with a smile: "Look at this piece of land, it's so flat, you don't have to shovel the stones on the ground to build a house, and it's close to your mother's family. It's most suitable to build this workshop here!" With Shen Qing looking at the land for a while, Village Chief Miao said with a smile: "Who do you plan to let manage this workshop? Your uncle's eldest son Miao Ren is not bad. The boy has grown up and is about to get married. You can let him be the manager and start a family together. What a good thing, it will also make the girl's family look decent. Let our boy help him when the time comes, and you can rest assured about the workshop."
See how beautifully this is said? Even though Shen Qing knew that Village Chief Miao had his own little thoughts, he felt relieved after hearing this: "I think so too. My brother Miao Ren also helps out at the tofu shop at home and has some experience. But how old is he and how much has he experienced? My uncle is busy with his own business and can't spare the time to help. When the time comes, they will have to rely on the village chief to give them some advice."
Shen Qing's words also made Village Chief Miao happy. The two of them praised each other. Village Chief Miao also mentioned that Shen Qing should take care of the young people in the village: "Before, you took the grandson of Brother Xiucai to the city to be a shopkeeper. The villagers praised you for your kindness and righteousness. Now that you have a promising future, you know how to take care of your own family." Shen Qing and the Shen family broke off their relationship. Village Chief Miao was eager to establish this relationship with Shen Qing: "In our village, I'm not bragging to you, it's different from other villages. You can just drag a kid running around the village, and he can read. If you have the chance in the future, take them to see the world. They are all smart kids who can be used."
He regrets it now! If he had known that Qing'er was so successful now, when Chunlei got divorced, he would have forced Chunlei to take Qing'er back to Shiqu Village. Even if the brothers Miao Xing and Miao Wang were unwilling, he would have beaten them to make them agree! But who can have eyes in front and back? Now we can only watch as Lantang Village builds a workshop and does prosperous business.
To go to Lantang Village from the county town, one has to pass through Shiqu Village. People in Shiqu Village often see horse-drawn carriages from the city rushing to Lantang Village to purchase goods. They are so envious. Zhao Youdang, that brat who is a generation younger than him, is now proud of himself when he sees Village Chief Miao!
Fortunately, Qingger was a man who cared about blood ties, so he built his second workshop in Shiqu Village. Village chief Miao watched Shen Qing greeting people along the way. When he met the strong man who helped the Miao family with their divorce last autumn, he even chatted with him to thank him. He felt even more satisfied and secretly thought that it would be great if he could coax Chunlei and Qingge'er to live in the village for a long time.
When he returned, he allocated an extra piece of residential land for Miao Xing and Miao Wang's family. We are just about to build a wedding house for Miao Ren and the ground has already been broken, so what’s wrong with building two more rooms? The house is spacious now. Isn't it appropriate for Chunlei to come back more often to take care of me?
The two talked as they walked, and finally arrived at the village school. Shen Qing wanted to take a closer look so that he could run a school and learn from others' experience in the future.
There were about ten kids sitting in the room, all of them about seven or eight years old. There were four or five young boys and girls standing nearby, listening quietly.
The person sitting in the front and giving a lecture was Miao Tongsheng, whom I hadn’t seen for a long time.
He has lost a lot of weight. He was originally a weak scholar, and now wearing the loose robe, he looked even thinner. Shen Qing and the village chief listened outside the window for a while, and a few boys who were not paying enough attention kept looking out the window. Miao Tongsheng put down the book and followed his gaze. Seeing that it was the village chief and Shen Qing, he smiled slightly.
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