Chapter 72 Brother Xiaoyun
In the blink of an eye, it was the day when Jiang Shen returned to Beijing. Jiang Chengzhun and Jiang Rui asked for a day off from school, so Jiang Rui went to the ferry with Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan was waiting in the carriage, occasionally lifting the curtain to look at the water ahead, her anticipation was beyond words. Jiang Rui, on the other hand, was very bored while waiting, yawning constantly, looking like he hadn't gotten enough sleep.
"When will big brother arrive?" Jiang Rui's tone was a little dissatisfied, as if he was complaining that he had left home too early.
"If you are sleepy, fourth brother, you can go back first." Jiang Rui felt a little uncomfortable when he was glanced at by Jiang Lan. He got off the carriage and waited outside.
Seeing the big ship coming from afar, the housekeeper hurried over to tell Jiang Lan and Jiang Rui. Jiang Lan also saw the ship coming and looked happy. Jiang Rui curled his lips and looked unhappy.
When the boat docked, Jiang Rui put on a happy smile again and ran to greet Jiang Shen who got off the boat. When he ran to Jiang Shen, he called him "Big Brother" affectionately.
Jiang Shen nodded with a subtle smile on his face and called him "Fourth Brother" in return.
Jiang Rui looked curiously at another person who got off the boat with Jiang Shen.
She looked about the same age as Jiang Shen, with a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes that were slightly tilted upwards, and she looked a little smiling, and seemed easy to get along with.
"This must be my little cousin. He's grown up so much now."
Jiang Rui was surprised. He didn't remember that he had such a cousin whom he had never met. When Jiang Shen was about to introduce Jiang Rui, he heard another voice of "Brother". He turned around and saw Jiang Lan coming over. He was stunned at first, probably because he didn't expect that she would come to pick him up in person. Then a smile appeared from the corner of his mouth. The originally reserved smile suddenly became a little unreserved. He was happy from the bottom of his heart.
"Xiao Lan'er,"
Hearing this name, Jiang Lan was stunned. For a moment, she had the illusion that Qi Wuhan had come. The next moment, a strange face appeared in front of her, looking smiling.
"Do you remember me?"
Jiang Lan was a little embarrassed and didn't remember seeing this face before.
"I'm Brother Xiaoyun~"
When Jiang Lan heard the name "Brother Xiaoyun", she felt both strange and familiar. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before, but she just couldn't remember where.
"Don't you remember that when you were little, I taught you to sing with leaves~"
Seeing the other person make a leaf-blowing gesture, Jiang Lan felt a sense of familiarity again. There was a hint of surprise in her tentative tone, "Are you Cousin Yun?"
Xie Yun grinned, "Sister Lan really hasn't forgotten me~"
The Xie family is the maiden family of Jiang Cheng’s first wife, Xie, and Xie Yun is Jiang Lan’s real cousin.
On the way back, Jiang Lan curiously asked how the two met, and Jiang Shen replied that they met at the ferry outside Sangcheng.
At that time, the boat that Xie Yun was on happened to dock at the ferry. He originally planned to travel in Sangcheng for two days and visit the Dongling Academy, which was rumored to be the place where "the top scholar came from". When he got off the boat, he happened to meet Jiang Shen who was about to board the boat.
When he saw Jiang Shen, he felt that he looked familiar, so he took the initiative to go over and say hello, which surprised Jiang Shen.
"When I went over to say hello, cousin Shen was so nervous that his face turned red," Xie Yun joked.
Jiang Shen blushed again, not because of nervousness but because of embarrassment.
Jiang Lan smiled and changed the subject, "Cousin Yun, are you here to take part in the Spring Examination as well?"
After the Autumn Examination, the newly successful candidates came to Beijing one after another to prepare for the Spring Examination next year.
The Dongling Academy has its own set of assessment standards, which are specially authorized by the emperor. The assessment is also held every three years, with a total of five tests. If you successfully pass all the tests, you will be eligible to enter the officialdom, which is equivalent to a Juren. You can directly participate in the Spring Examination. Once your name is on the gold list, you will rise to a high position in the world.
"I just want to be the third place in the imperial examination." Xie Yun grinned, with a kind of upright heroism and unrestrained attitude.
Jiang Rui felt that he was excluded and neglected by the three of them, so he interrupted and said, "You can't become the third place just because you want to."
Xie Yun smiled and said, "If you don't even dare to think about it, then you naturally can't become one."
Jiang Rui felt that the other party was indirectly mocking him as a coward, and he felt disgusted.
…
After arriving at the mansion, the housekeeper first took Jiang Shen and Xie Yun to see Jiang Cheng.
When Jiang Cheng saw his nephew Xie Yun, he didn't recognize him at first. After all, he hadn't seen him for more than ten years, and Jiang Shen didn't have time to write back, so Jiang Cheng had no idea that anyone was coming.
Upon learning that Xie Yun had just passed the autumn examination and had become a juren, and even the top scorer in the provincial examination, Jiang Cheng was very pleased with him. He asked Xie Yun to stay in his house and prepare for the exam with Jiang Shen, and they didn't have to go out to find an inn to save trouble.
Afterwards, the housekeeper went to report to Jiang Lan that cousin Xie Yun would stay in the mansion and prepare for the exam with Jiang Shen.
Jiang Lan was also happy and planned to buy another one for her cousin Xie Yun in the same way she bought for Jiang Shen.
When Jiang Shen was packing up, Jiang Lan came over and asked him if he had brought any gifts for her. Her tone was more like a joke, and she was not really asking him for a gift, but she was still looking forward to receiving one.
When Jiang Shenzhen took out the gift, Jiang Lan's initial reaction was a little surprised. She didn't expect that her elder brother would actually prepare a gift.
Although it's not nice to say this, to be honest, she has a stereotype of her elder brother Jiang Shen as being a bit dull. This is probably because he is usually introverted and focused on studying. He doesn't look like the kind of person who would prepare gifts in advance to create surprises.
She was thinking too narrowly.
Jiang Lan took out the gift hidden behind her and gave it to Jiang Shen. After they opened the brocade box, they found that it was filled with pens. They were both stunned.
Jiang Lan chuckled, and Jiang Shen laughed too.
In addition to the gift for Jiang Lan, Jiang Shen also prepared two gifts for Jiang Yao and Jiang Rui.
Jiang Lan looked at the three brocade boxes of the same size, thinking they should all be pens, and felt a little sour in her heart. But then she thought about it and realized that her elder brother was smiling at her, so she felt relieved.
But what she didn't know was that Jiang Shen had thought of bringing her gifts first, so he prepared three gifts.
Jiang Lan asked Qing'er to deliver the gift to Jiang Rui.
As for Jiang Yao's share, she estimated that someone would come tomorrow, and her eldest brother must have doubts in his mind.
It was clearly she who was engaged to the Duke's Mansion, so how come it was Jiang Yao who married him?
Why did Zhang suddenly go back to her hometown to recuperate?
These things have to be said, but not today. Let her elder brother have a good night's rest first.
She asked her elder brother to rest early. After leaving, she thought about whether she should go and see her cousin Xie Yun. After thinking about it, she asked Guier to go over there to see if anything was needed.
After Gui'er left, Jiang Lan looked at the fallen leaves on the ground and tried to recall that memory...
She didn't notice someone sneaking up behind her, as if to scare her.
When the other person quietly reached out his hand to pat her, Jiang Lan noticed something. She turned around and saw a face suddenly in front of her, which scared her.
Seeing Jiang Lan staring with a frightened look on her face, Xie Yun hurriedly apologized to her. Jiang Lan suddenly smiled, which scared Xie Yun.
He thought it was all over, he was so scared that he was stunned...
"Sister Lan, please don't scare me~" Xie Yun wanted to cry but had no tears.
Jiang Lan said happily, "I remember now."
When she turned around, she saw a young man reaching out, ready to pat her...
At that time, Xie Yun came with his father, Mr. Xie Sanye, and he never came again.
After Zhang got married, the contact between the mansion and the Xie family was basically cut off.
That time, Mr. Xie San brought Xie Yun to the capital to purchase goods. Xie's grandmother was worried about the siblings Jiang Shen and Jiang Lan, so she asked Mr. Xie San to stop by and see how they were doing.
Jiang Cheng was not at home at the time. Zhang asked the housekeeper to take the father and son to the hall to wait, and did not come out to receive them.
Xie Yun got bored of waiting so he sneaked out and ran into Jiang Lan by chance. He saw her squatting under a tree, like a lonely little mushroom.
He walked over quietly to scare her, but was discovered as soon as he got behind her.
He squatted with her under the tree and watched the ants moving for a while. He then picked two leaves and taught her to sing a song with the leaves. The sound attracted Jiang Shen, who was looking for someone nearby.
Jiang Shen finally breathed a sigh of relief after finding Jiang Lan.
That's when the three of them met.
…
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