Qin Mao's only advantage is that he is afraid of death and obedient, so Chen Sixu never worries about his betrayal, because he doesn't have the courage.
Chen Sixu simply turned a blind eye to the harmless shortcomings of his loyal subordinates.
So many people know that Qin Mao is both greedy and face-conscious.
In the kang room, Qiao Ruichen wanted to flatter Qin Mao, so he said what he should say and waited by his side when he shouldn't, listening quietly to Qin Mao's boasting.
After drinking a few jars of yellow soup and with the endorsement of Wuliangha, who was on good terms with General Dingbei, Qin Mao soon became close to Qiao Ruichen, and the atmosphere in the room was unusually good.
"Brother Zicheng, you were once a favorite of the Saint. It's not appropriate for me to serve in my small garrison. I'd like to arrange for you to serve in the Xiping County garrison, starting as a centurion. How do you do that?"
Qiao Ruichen's heart moved slightly. The General Dingbei's Mansion was in Xiping County, but the garrison was all on the border, not close to the General's Mansion. It would be difficult to have any connection with Chen Sixu at that time.
He also felt a little reluctant to leave his family.
He said humbly, "Zicheng is only a descendant of a criminal. How can I be worthy of the position of centurion? I am very satisfied to be able to do odd jobs in Lord Qin's mansion to earn some food for my family."
"That's wrong. Lord Qin's mansion has no shortage of handymen." Bayin interrupted with a laugh, hinting at something.
"The border troops north of the county city have many opportunities to fight and kill the enemy. If you can kill over a thousand enemies, Lord Qin can arrange for you to be promoted to the ninth rank of Renyong Xiaowei or even the eighth rank of Yuwu Xiaowei. That's more prestigious than a centurion or a thousand-man commander. With this official position, you, my son, can atone for your father's crimes and keep an eye on the news from the Gubei Army for Lord Qin. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"
A centurion or even a thousand-man commander is still a soldier no matter how many people he is in charge of. Only a lieutenant is a general. Even if Qin Mao is not there, Qiao Ruichen can get close to General Dingbei based on his military achievements.
Although Qin Mao held a high position in the Xining Town garrison, he had no say in the military.
There is a Zhaowu school lieutenant of the same rank stationed in Xining Town, nominally to guard the garrison, but in fact to prevent Qin Mao from extending his power too far.
Qiao Ruichen's mind raced for a moment, and he knelt on one knee again, "I am willing to serve you at my utmost."
When he returned home, Qiao Shengwen hit the nail on the head. "Although Qin Mao has done a lot for Chen Sixu, he's also worried that someone else might upstage him in General Dingbei's favor, or even take the blame for someone else's actions. It's understandable that he wants to meddle in military affairs. This is our opportunity."
Qiao Ruichen stood by the window, quietly watching the flickering candlelight in the east room. He had figured it out on the way.
Since the Qiao family is in Xining Town, Qin Mao can use him with confidence. He can do more things, but there will definitely be someone following him.
He had to hurry up and make a name for himself before Chen Sixu returned to the northwest, so he would not be able to go home often.
"Father, I've been working hard to take care of the family. It takes half a day to ride from the county seat to the town. I'll come back when I have time."
Qiao Shengwen stroked his short beard and nodded. After a pause, he remembered what his wife had asked him with a shy face.
He couldn't help but cough twice. "Yaozu is very smart, but his mind is still like a child. So I don't plan to let him take the Tongsheng exam this April."
Qiao Ruichen didn't understand why his father suddenly mentioned Sun Yaozu while talking about serious matters.
"He will be eighteen next year and an adult. It's okay for him to get married first and then start a career. People say that boys will mature a lot after getting married. I thought of asking him to get married first and settle down for two years before taking the exam." Qiao Shengwen said casually without looking at his son.
"But I'm worried about his temper. I'm afraid he won't be able to figure things out in the bridal chamber. I can't go to a brothel in broad daylight. There are a lot of places in the county town that sell fire avoidance brochures. You can buy some when the time comes."
Qiao Ruichen: "..." You haven't even cared so much about your own son.
Qiao Shengwen regretted not explaining it clearly before. Now that he has a granddaughter, he feels embarrassed to tell his son that his wife dislikes him. It is too embarrassing.
"It's just that I... ahem, your mother and I shouldn't talk about this to Yaozu. You must pay close attention and talk to Yaozu properly when the time comes so that he can give the Sun family more offspring sooner rather than later."
Qiao Shengwen looked at his son's furrowed brow calmly and emphasized, "If you don't understand something, there are so many men in the army, and chatting about dirty talk can help to build closer relationships. So, do you understand?"
With so many men, they can definitely teach their sons how to be filial, right?
Dad can only help you up to this point.
Qiao Ruichen was no less intelligent than his father, and he felt that his father's words were strange. Just as he was about to ask, Aunt Geng came over and called him.
"Ruichen, my wife wants you to go to the east room. Awan needs your help with something important."
Qiao Ruichen immediately forgot what he wanted to ask and got up to go to the east room.
Before entering, Geng held him at the door and told him implicitly what she wanted him to do.
Qiao Ruichen was also dumbfounded for the first time. This... this was just like a child. Wasn't it something that happened twenty years ago?
Geng pushed him, "Hurry up, Awan is very sleepy, and the rations left by Sun are running low. You should finish your work quickly and let Awan sleep a little longer. She will be up several times in the middle of the night."
Qiao Ruichen had no choice but to go in.
Miao Wan was yawning, her eyes full of tears and she was nodding sleepily, but she suddenly woke up when she saw Qiao Ruichen.
Asking is embarrassing.
Not asking is also a big embarrassment.
Although the two of them slept together many times, they had never been honest with each other.
Doing such a thing right at the beginning, no matter how shameless Miao Wan was, she really couldn't bring herself to speak.
It was Qiao Ruichen who reacted first, after all, it was about his daughter's food.
He dug out two new cotton towels from the side, covered his eyes with one, and handed the other to Miao Wan, "Mom said it would be a little painful. Taotao is asleep, right? If it hurts, don't hurt yourself."
Miao Wan widened her eyes. She had already sacrificed her face, and she still felt pain?
She puffed out her cheeks, not caring about the embarrassment, and blew out the candle in anger.
Since you can't avoid it anyway and can't see it, just pretend nothing happened.
All she could think about was how much it would hurt—
"Ah--ow!" Miao Wan only felt a sharp pain in front of her body and almost screamed. Fortunately, she had a handkerchief, otherwise Taotao would definitely be scared awake.
The two of them tossed and turned for a while, and soon sweat appeared on her forehead.
When Qiao Ruichen lit the candle again and let Geng in, he saw Miao Wan looking up with lifeless eyes, tears still hanging in the corners of her eyes, which looked like some kind of violent scene.
Geng: “…” You two have really had enough.
Even if there was an arrangement, Qiao Ruichen had to return to the camp first and wait for Qin Mao to transfer him to Xiping County.
Because he didn't know whether he would be able to come back by then, Qiao Shengwen gave him a piece of paper with the name he had thought of for Taotao on it.
As the eldest daughter of the third generation of the Qiao family, Qiao Shengwen also attaches great importance to her.
In fact, before Qiao Shengwen became an official, the Qiao family was just a landlord who had saved a little money. They only had a few dozen acres of land and no family tree to continue.
Therefore, following the custom of only writing three characters for males and two characters for females, Qiao Shengwen filled a whole page with them.
Qiao Ruichen fell in love with the word "Qian" at first sight. Like the nickname Awan gave to Taotao, this word implies vitality and energy.
He shared the same sentiment as his daughter-in-law, hoping that their daughter could live a vigorous and carefree life in the future.
"Qiao Qian, that's good. I felt at that time that Awan would definitely like this name." Qiao Shengwen smiled and decided on this word.
After hearing what Geng said, Miao Wan really liked it: "Qiao Qian, Qiao Qian, both sound happy, it's a good name."
After suffering so much pain last night, Taotao was now lying in her arms, and she was lying on the pillow with the child in her arms. The mother and daughter ate separately and had been able to cooperate very well.
Qiao Rui had forgotten what it looked like when she drank milk as a child. Now she was lying on the kang, half covering and half supporting her face with her little hands, staring at her niece while she was drinking milk with some embarrassment.
She raised her head and asked, "Qian, is it the same grass radical as mine? Qianqian sounds nice too."
Miao Wan patted the child with one hand and ate a piece of shaqi ma with the other, not forgetting to stuff half of it into Qiao Rui's mouth. "Yes, you are Xiao Aqian's elder, so of course her name should be based on you. In Dad's heart, Xiao Rui is definitely the one he loves the most."
Qiao Rui lowered her head embarrassedly, but still couldn't help grinning.
Seeing that her niece seemed to be about to fall asleep while eating, and her little mouth moved for a long time, she came close to the mother and daughter and whispered, "From now on, I will love little Aqian and my sister-in-law."
Miao Wan gave Qiao Rui a kiss that smelled like shaqima. "Then Taotao and I love you the most. From now on, there will be one more person in our family who loves Xiaorui!"
Qiao Rui thought about it and realized that it was true. The last bit of loss in her heart was comforted by her sister-in-law.
Geng took the child and burped him, and told Qiao Rui that she did the same when she was a child. Qiao Rui was even interested in watching the child sleeping with little bubbles of milk.
It was not until Taotao fell asleep that she reluctantly went to find her father to learn how to read and draw.
Ju Fu Restaurant became famous on the street within three days of opening.
There was no other reason. It was just that the aroma of the crystal agate meat was too strong when it was stewed every day. Especially since Zhang Sanzhuang was full of bad intentions and had tasted the sweetness of the restaurant on the street, he asked people to fan him outside with a palm-leaf fan.
If you pass by and smell something, just come in, hehe...
Although there were not as many people as in the first two days, the kang room had to be turned over every day.
There was only one thing: many people were thinking about the barbecue that had only been prepared for one day. Even the lively dragon dance at the Dragon Raising its Head could not overshadow the aroma.
Therefore, every day when the time comes, the guests who come in will ask: "Is there no barbecue today?"
Zhang Sanzhuang talked so much that his lips were almost dry, but he couldn't stop the customers from asking questions.
The customer was even more aggrieved than he was. "You should just not do it. You've made me itch, but you didn't succeed the first time. How can I not keep thinking about it? You're even more hateful than a half-dressed prostitute."
Zhang Sanzhuang: "..." If my clothes were half taken off, you probably wouldn't even be able to eat my crystal agate meat. How can you not be hateful?
If it's the same group of people, it's easy to persuade them.
But the merchants came to Xining Town in waves. After the second barbecue was done, the merchants who missed it almost stayed in the kang room and didn't want to leave.
The drunken guest went berserk in the kang room: "You don't run a business like this. If someone dies from eating, do you take responsibility?"
The waiter was almost crying, "Dear guest, please don't joke around. How could someone die from eating this?"
"You don't have the barbecue I want, and the crystal agate meat is also sold out. I'm dying of gluttony!" The customer said righteously with his neck stiff.
Waiter: “…” I’m almost scared to death by you.
After more than ten days of this, Zhang Sanzhuang couldn't bear it anymore.
He really couldn't wait for Miao Wan to finish her confinement and come back too late at night, so he ran to the Qiao family early in the morning and waited for Miao Wan to wake up.
It’s not that Qiao Shengwen doesn’t want to help him, the problem is that Qiao Shengwen has never opened a restaurant. He is just an ordinary old fox who came down from the court.
Killing without shedding blood? He can do it.
As for the restaurant issue? The most he could do was give Sun Yaozu to Zhang Sanzhuang to keep the accounts.
With a brother-in-law and a biological father in the restaurant, Qiao Shengwen no longer worried that Sun Yaozu would be bullied.
After Miao Wan woke up, without even opening her eyes, she reached into the pillow and found that Taotao's diaper was not wet. Then she slowly got up.
Now that she has unloaded the baby, she no longer uses a pillow at night and only uses it when feeding.
At night, I put the little girl in the pillow without worrying about her turning over and pressing on her.
When Taotao can roll over in the future, we don’t have to worry about him being too active and falling under the kang.
Both families found it to be a good thing. Mrs. Sun has been using it, and Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Yang both liked it when they saw it.
Yang also made one for her youngest son Maodan.
Geng came in from outside, "Awan, Sanzhuang wants to see you. Once you're done, I'll let him in."
"Why don't you go to the main room, or you might wake Taotao up later." Miao Wan suggested with a sweet smile, with a mother's gentle and considerate look on her face.
This girl of hers is too picky. She will frown if she hears any noise and won't wake up. She can't stand the light when she is asleep. Once she wakes up, she will kick her legs and punch her body in anger.
"No, it's still early. It's cold outside and windy. You'll get a headache if you get winded." Geng gave her a half-smile and annoyed look. "Taotao, it's time to wake up."
Normally, you should feed the baby once in the morning and let him/her poop and pee. Sometimes he/she will be awake for a while, and sometimes he/she will fall asleep directly. He/she will be more active in the afternoon.
Miao Wan turned around to tidy herself up, secretly sticking out her tongue.
She stayed in the house for more than ten days. She used to think she was quite a homebody, but it turns out that lying down every day would really drive you crazy.
And her mother-in-law exposed her little trick of wanting to go out for some fresh air. Eww…
When Zhang Sanzhuang entered the room, he saw Miao Wan looking at him dimly, somewhat puzzled. "What's wrong? Did I delay your breakfast? Why don't you just eat..."
Miao Wan immediately interrupted him, "It's okay, it's okay, Third Brother, the matter of Jufu Restaurant is more important."
What made her more miserable than not being able to go out for a walk was eating.
Although the women of both families had more free time, with Aunt Geng and Mrs. Sun around, there was no requirement that pregnant women only drink millet porridge and eat eggs. Chicken, duck, fish, meat, and even dried vegetables were always served to them.
But she is a person who will die if she doesn't eat spicy food. No matter what she eats, there is almost no saltiness, which is terrible.
Tears welled up in her eyes just thinking about it. She urged Zhang Sanzhuang to hurry up and said, "How can I still eat when I think about how hard you all work at Jufu Restaurant and have to deal with so many problems?"
Zhang Sanzhuang was deeply moved and said, "We didn't do well enough."
Geng was almost laughing.
Seeing that the little girl had already started to pupate, she patted the child gently and said, "Hurry up and tell me, Taotao will wake up soon."
This child is impatient and will cry when he is hungry and can't eat.
Zhang Sanzhuang said quickly, "Since Jufu Restaurant opened, the barbecue smoke has been too loud. The neighbors have complained several times that charcoal is hard to come by. I heard that you need to build a kiln, and you need a master to make charcoal. It will probably cost a lot of money."
Miao Wan was a little confused. "Then why not cooperate with the Yu family? They don't lack firewood. They can each contribute half of the money to build a kiln, and they can burn tiles and charcoal in the future."
Zhang Sanzhuang hesitated. "But I've heard many people say it's hard to find a skilled craftsman willing to teach us, and even if we do find one, he might not be willing to teach us. Besides, our restaurant doesn't need much. What if we make a lot of it, but end up burning tiles and charcoal and can't sell them?"
The Yu family is already famous for their carpentry work, but people may not trust the tiles and charcoal made by the Yu family.
Miao Wan understood Zhang Sanzhuang's concerns, but——
"You can't let a living person die from holding his urine. If they don't want to teach us, we can spend money to research it ourselves. As long as the product is made, we can sign a contract and let the Yu family sell all the products to us. There are so many merchants in the restaurant, there will always be someone who can consume them."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a loud fart on the kang.
It’s Taotao.
When Geng saw Taotao woke up, she just undid her swaddling clothes and wanted to help her pee. But before she could even pull out her diaper, Taotao farted so hard that her whole body trembled.
She stared with her big grape-like eyes, pouted her little mouth, and burst into tears with a "wow".
Zhang Sanzhuang: “…”
I get it, I get it. A living person won't die from holding urine, but can be scared by farts. These mother and daughter really have a tacit understanding.
The author has something to say:
I once heard my best friend’s baby fart so loudly that she scared herself and cried. I almost died laughing.
I searched on Baidu and it said that babies will fart starting from 7 days old. This happens if they swallow too hastily and swallow too much air. Has any mother encountered this?
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