The protective wall outside the village entrance has been built, and in time it will surround the entire Caojia Village, forming an outer protective wall. However, the academy and his workshop are not within the boundaries of Caojia Village, so the protection of Caojia Village does not include these places.
After sending the children to the academy, Cao Xiangnan got off the carriage and stood outside looking at the vast wilderness, thinking about some things in his mind, but some of the things he was thinking about could only be thought about now, and he had more urgent things to deal with.
"Let's go." He got on the carriage and asked the boy who drove the carriage to go into the village.
The boy from the Liu family didn't know what the master was standing there looking at for a long time. Anyway, he didn't understand. The silly boy thought that he just had to serve the master well.
Lao Hei walked into the village familiarly.
When passing through the village gate, Cao Xiangnan paid special attention.
The village's protective wall had been under construction since he proposed it two years ago. Caojia Village was not very big, and the wall was about 70% to 80% completed. The remaining part was the back section. Because his and Cao Gang's houses were at the end of the village, the last section of the protective wall passed by their place.
"Seventh Grandpa, Seventh Grandma." Cao Xiangnan came to Li Zheng and put down the gift he brought back from Nanyang, which contained two jars of tea. He knew that Li Zheng loved to drink tea, and the tea he brought back was good tea, so he brought two jars to Li Zheng.
Since moving to the town, he came to Li Zheng less often.
"Hey, Nan, you're here. I haven't seen you for a while. Have you been to Nanyang?" Li Zheng saw the boy coming to his house. When he smiled, his eyes showed deep crow's feet. Knowing that he often went to Nanyang, he guessed that he was away from home when he didn't see him for a while.
Cao Xiangnan replied, "Yes, I just came back from Nanyang yesterday." Li Zheng
invited him to sit down, took the things he brought, and said something polite to the boy. He couldn't let go of the two jars of tea in his hands. This boy always gave her things that touched her heart.
The old lady saw her husband's appearance and smiled and shook her head.
He did not stay here for long. After sitting for a while, he got up and went into his room. He picked up the half-finished clothes and began to sew them slowly, stitch by stitch. They were clothes for his Fuer. Thinking of his sons who were away from home, he missed his sons.
Not long after he was in the room, Wang Lan heard his wife calling outside, telling him that he and Nan Xiaozi had gone out. He glanced at the old servant who was serving beside him. Zhao Ama understood what the lady meant. She went outside to see the old man and Cao Silang out, then closed the door of the yard and walked back.
The repair of the wall in the village has always been a matter of great importance to Cao Gaozhi, the governor. At his age, he has also experienced things, so he naturally knows how important the role of this protective wall in Caojia Village is. The wall was built, and the descendants of Caojia Village benefited from it.
Even the old lady of the Sun family, who had never been involved in anything, came out to the village to take a walk and take a look
when she had time. "Oh, I don't know yet. I'll go over and take a look later." On the way, Li Zheng heard that his father seemed to be sick. Cao Xiangnan went to Nanyang and didn't know about it. No one in the town went to tell his family, so he naturally didn't know about it. Li
Zheng sighed when he talked about the illness of Cao's father. He had several boys, and these four boys were filial since they were young. But he didn't understand the good of the four boys. Not only did he drive them out of the house, but now he offended them and moved them to the town. Some of the people in the family were lazy and some were lazy. The eldest son was a weak-willed man who was afraid of his wife. All the work at home fell on Cao's father alone. How could he not fall ill from exhaustion? He also heard that Cao's second son went to the town to gamble again.
Cao Xiangnan also had a rough understanding of the compound. To put it bluntly, his father was just a man who suffered from his own faults. Who could he blame? But he had to go and see the sick man, and he was very upset.
When they passed by, Cao Gui, the village chief, was helping with the work here, covered in sweat and dirt. Since Cao Gui became the village chief, he would go wherever he was needed in the village. When there was a shortage of workers here, he would bring people here to repair the wall. He did not have the airs of a village chief at all. His tanned face was unrecognizable, and he smiled with a mouthful of white teeth.
"Li Zheng, Xiang Nan, how did you find time to come?" Seeing the people coming, Cao Gui wiped the sweat from his forehead casually. This was a simple man, and his personality was as mellow as his.
"Xiang Nan happened to be here, so let's come over together to see if there is anything we can help with?" Li Zheng would usually come here to help. He could roll up his sleeves and dig soil and move bricks. He was no worse than a young man in terms of working hard.
Many of the people who were repairing the wall here were old men in the village, who still had some strength left and could do these heavy work.
The sun was just out and not too bright, and it hadn't rained for a long time, so the weather was getting hotter. Li Zheng asked everyone about their work, and knowing that the sun was getting hotter, he reminded everyone to drink more water. There was a big bucket of boiled water under the tree, and those who were thirsty could drink it themselves.
Sun Yanmiao was in charge of repairing the secret passage in the village, and Cao Xiangnan followed Li Zheng to see the secret passage being repaired. The repair of the secret passage is quite secretive. It is used for escape. Don't let those who don't know what's good for you disclose it. If so, the whole village will be implicated. After that, everyone sat down to talk about the things in the village. Cao Xiangnan reminded them slightly. He didn't say it too obviously, so as not to cause panic if the word got out. But we should keep this sense of crisis in mind and be more vigilant.
Caojia Village is good now. At least Li Zheng is a reasonable person with a long-term vision. Later, Cao Gui became the village chief. He is down-to-earth, but he is not afraid of things. Sun Yanmiao is even more so. The children of the Sun family are talented. Sun Yanmiao was taught by Grandma Sun himself.
As for the others, they also helped with the things in the village.
"Okay, I'll go right away." When things here were almost done, Sun Yanmiao whispered in his ear that it was Grandma Sun who wanted to see him. Naturally, he had to go to see the elder who summoned him. Cao Xiangnan didn't see Grandma Sun very often, but he showed all the respect he should have for the old man.
When things here were done, Cao Xiangnan went to Grandma Sun.
Bamboo is one of the four gentlemen, plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. The bamboo joints are high one by one, symbolizing the noble character of a person. Grandma Sun stood here looking at the green bamboo. He also liked bamboo, one of the four gentlemen, years ago, but he realized later how difficult it was to be a person with noble character.
Years pass by in the mountains, and many years have passed in the blink of an eye.
"Old lady." Cao Xiangnan stepped back, implying that he was here to remind the old man standing there. He stood not far behind him, bowed, and called out "Old lady". Old lady Sun turned around, without putting on airs. Tea was already placed on the stone table, waiting for people to come and taste it together.
"You sit down too, no need to stand." Old lady Sun sat down with the help of her little great-grandson, and said to the standing boy.
The little great-grandson was also a half-grown boy. He helped the old lady sit down, poured tea for the old lady and the guests, and then sensibly stepped back to stand. He stood upright without moving, and it was obvious at a glance that he was not a child raised by an ordinary family.
From many details, Cao Xiangnan could find that this old lady Sun was unusual, but he had never been a curious person. He knew what he should know, and he was not curious about what he should not know.
Cao Xiangnan replied "yes" and sat down opposite the old man. The two sat face to face.
He did not ask the old lady why she wanted him to come, waiting for the old lady to ask him.
"You are a smart boy. I know you know why I want you to come, so I will not beat around the bush with you. I want you to come today because I have something to ask you." Old lady Sun said it very directly, without the literary style of a scholar. He had to say several words in a roundabout way so that people could understand his meaning.
"Okay, old lady, you said, Xiangnan will tell you everything he knows." Thinking of the conscription in the village before, and the fact that he had just returned from Nanyang City, Cao Xiangnan knew that Old Lady Sun was looking for him now to ask him about the court.
As soon as Old Lady Sun opened his mouth, he asked about the current war between the court and Zinuo. Cao Xiangnan knew that there was nothing to hide, and the news would reach them later, so he told the truth.
"Gone, all gone..." Old Lady Sun's face was full of shock, and then he was stunned.
After staying with Old Lady Sun for a cup of tea, Cao Xiangnan said goodbye to Old Lady Sun and left. Grandmother Sun did not keep anyone, and the little grandson who was serving beside him went forward to see the guest out sensibly.
When they reached the door, Cao Xiangnan took out two candies from his arms, put them in the child's hand, smiled at the child, and led the boy who followed outside away. The child lowered his head and looked at the candies in his palm, with a smile that belonged to his age on his face, and then turned and went in.
The Cao family compound was quiet. When Cao Xiangnan went in, he only saw the dirty yard. His mother was sitting at the door of the kitchen like a ghost. When he went in, she looked at him, and he called "Mom" and asked him where his father was.
His mother looked up at the main hall, and he said something to his mother and went in.
"Dad." The room was chilly and exuded an unpleasant smell of medicine mixed with mold. When Cao Xiangnan entered, he saw a figure curled up on the bed. He called out. The person on the bed turned his head and looked towards the source of the sound. His cloudy eyes identified it and realized that it was his fourth son. He answered.
Cao Xiangnan went over to help the man up, and the Liu family boy who followed also went to help.
"Go to the kitchen and boil some hot water. Bring some hot water over." He ordered.
Liu Qiang went outside.
When he came back, he didn't see anyone else in the yard. Usually, he would see Cao Laowu and his brothers and children at home. Cao Xiangnan asked where the people at home had gone. Father Cao thought about it and told Si'er, "Your fifth brother has nothing to do at home. His wife mentioned that she wanted to do some small business in the town. Your fifth brother also had the same idea. Your fifth brother told me, and I couldn't say no, so I agreed."
So Wu'er moved to the town with his wife and children.
The money naturally came from him. He was a man of flesh and blood. Si'er became the richest man in the village. He was most looking forward to Wu'er's promising future failing the exam and bringing his big brother back from outside with a big belly. After all, he would have a wife and children.
As a father, he also understood what kind of character Wu'er was. Wu'er was afraid of the heavy work in Si'er's place, and Father Cao also knew what Wu'er was thinking. His fourth son also moved to the town because of this matter, and he was probably angry with his father.
Cao's father had seen that his fifth son had been at home for such a long time. Since he wanted to learn how to do business, then let him go. Fortunately, the wife he married was also smart and could help him. After careful consideration, Cao's father still took out the money for the fifth son to do business. After
listening to his father's words, Cao Xiangnan probably understood a little bit in his heart, and was speechless immediately. At this time, all the shops in the town are about to close. Cao Laowu is running to the town to do business?
Well, it's your ability to do well, and he can't control if you don't do well.
"Your second brother, ah..." Speaking of the second brother, Cao's father sighed, and he was also sick because of his second brother. When Cao Xiangnan heard that Cao Laoer had gone to the casino in the town again, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Dad, I will take care of this matter, don't worry."
Before leaving, he did not forget to ask Liu Qiang to ask a doctor to check on his father.
As for Cao Laoer, you are not afraid after cutting off one finger? Then cut off another one. When all ten fingers are cut off, then cut off the toes! Cut until you are afraid! He was not free to stare at Cao Laoer at this moment, so he asked someone to do it.