Chapter 115
Ruijin didn't see his father get on the carriage for a long time, and thought he was sitting outside the curtain with the coachman driving the horses. The weather was getting hot, and his father, being a big guy, was most afraid of the heat.
He stuck his head out from behind the curtain, only to see a strange face: "Daddy, who is it?"
Not only was he surprised, but Zhang Fangyuan also didn't know who called him.
Siyang City is big, and it is not uncommon for some people in the city to know him but he doesn't.
Seeing the two confused and similar faces, the visitor said politely, "Master Zhang, our master wants to see you."
Rui Jin's thick and handsome eyebrows twitched slightly. He was used to hearing people call him like that, but this was the first time he heard someone call him dad like that. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Zhang Fangyuan.
"I don't know who your master is. Do you want to discuss business or something else? I'm out with my son, so I'm afraid it's inconvenient to talk right now."
"No problem, please go together."
Zhang Fangyuan was even more confused at this moment. He took a look at the other party's carriage. It was just an ordinary carriage and there was nothing special about it.
"And lead the way."
Zhang Fangyuan got on his own carriage and told the driver to follow the carriage in front.
"Dad has something to do, why not just ask the driver to take me back?"
Zhang Fangyuan touched Ruijin's head and said, "It's okay. Let's go together and we'll be home soon."
The two carriages arrived at a nearby teahouse one after the other. The front carriage arrived first. When Zhang Fangyuan led the child out of the carriage, the owner of the other carriage was already standing safely at the door of the teahouse, and was apparently saying something to the servant who had just called Zhang Fangyuan.
Zhang Fangyuan glanced at the old man from a distance. The face that had almost turned gray in his memory suddenly became clear again, and his brows were immediately tightly knitted together.
"Master, please go upstairs."
After meeting the real master, Zhang Fangyuan didn't think much about going forward. He regretted coming here a little, but because the master was his elder, he was still hesitant and glanced at Ruijin who was holding his hand.
The servant seemed to see his concerns and said, "The master has never seen his great-grandson."
Rui Jin's eyes widened slightly. If it was Brother Xiaoli, he would definitely have to figure out what to call him as the great-grandson and what his relationship with his father was. However, his brother had a clear mind and knew immediately that he was his father's grandfather.
The family had never mentioned it before, and the children naturally didn't ask much about it, so it was a bit surprising that a great-grandfather suddenly appeared.
He followed his father into the teahouse and went up to the private room. An old man with a white beard and a dignified face was already sitting in the room. The waiter was pouring tea for him. The old man raised his hand and the waiter poured another cup for the guest.
"I haven't seen you for many years, and you've become a father now." The old man saw that the tea was ready, and then he glanced at the father and son. Seeing Ruijin, who was well-behaved and sensible, and looked handsome, his tone was slightly gentler: "Sit down."
"What else can I do at my age if I'm not a parent yet?"
The old man raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhang Fangyuan, seeming to be very dissatisfied with the way he spoke.
Ruijin sensed a hint of tension. He sat cross-legged quietly on the small cushion next to the guest seat, ready to play deaf and dumb and act like a small ornament.
"I heard that you started a business in Siyang City and it has made some progress. The Zhang family has also gathered together to build an ancestral hall."
Zhang Fangyuan was impatient: "Grandfather, did you ask me to come here today to reminisce about the past? But when I look closely, I see that you and I have only met a few times, and there is nothing much to talk about."
With a slap, the corner of the table made a dull sound: "That's how you talk to your elders!"
Before I could even sit down, the atmosphere in the private room became heavy and tense.
Ruijin silently picked up the cup of sweet water. Why should he be dragged into the quarrel? It would be better for him to go home and write a few more articles. If Xiaoli was here, he might be able to help his father curse a few words, so he came here in vain.
The room was silent for a while before the old man's expression eased a little: "I have been transferred to Siyang City this time. Since you feel that you have been apart from your grandfather for a long time, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
Zhang Fangyuan sneered: "I haven't interacted with my grandfather's family for so many years, and my mother has passed away for many years. Now he suddenly talks about wanting to mend the relationship. I really don't know what my grandfather is thinking."
"Back then, I was living in another county, and the journey to Siyang was long, so how could I travel often? Now that I am in Siyang, it is convenient for me to travel."
The old man seemed to find it quite difficult to talk to Zhang Fangyuan. He didn't like the child very much when he was young, and he didn't look like a likable child when he grew up. On the contrary, the child next to him who looked 80% like his father was quiet and steady, and more likable in comparison.
Since his father would get angry after just a few words to him, he simply started a conversation with the child: "Rui Jin, have you started to learn to read?"
Rui Jin was somewhat surprised that this great-grandfather, with whom he had not had any contact since he could remember, actually knew his name. After taking a peek at his expression, he replied, "To answer my great-grandfather's question, I went to the ceremony room today to register and prepare for the ceremony this year."
"Oh?" The old man's expression immediately eased up when he heard this, and he was quite interested: "I heard that you have just reached the age of taking the Tongkat Ali Examination this year, and you will take the examination soon. That's great. Only by taking more examinations can you be more flexible in dealing with situations."
"And the following can be read..."
Zhang Fangyuan saw that the old man and the young were able to talk to each other. He felt annoyed and after a few words, he made an excuse that Ruijin was tired after being out all morning, and left with the child in his arms. He didn't want Ruijin to talk any more with this man.
"Dad, why haven't you ever told me about my great-grandfather?"
"We have never been in contact with each other. Dad has only met this elder a few times. We should see him less often in the future."
Ruijin saw that his father was in a bad mood and nodded.
After returning to the house, Xu He had already asked the servants two or three times. Seeing that the father and son had not returned yet, he thought that the registration was not successful.
"Dad, I went to see someone today. I met him when I signed up." Rui Jin reported to his little dad in a low voice: "Let me call my great-grandfather."
Xu He's eyes widened, but he didn't ask any more questions immediately. He wiped the sweat off Rui Jin's forehead, glanced at the tall figure who was heading back to the inner room, and said to Rui Jin, "The servants have boiled some hot water. You've been tired all morning. Go wash up and cool down for a while. Rest for a while at noon before getting up to read."
"good."
After sending the child away, Xu He hurried into the house.
After so many years of marriage, not only the boy didn't know about Zhang Fangyuan's mother's family, but he also knew very little about it.
All we know is that Zhang Fangyuan only attended private school for two years, but he was literate, and from his conversation we could tell that his mother was a woman who could read and write.
The fact that she was able to read and write, apart from her own ambition, also showed that her mother's family was well-off, for which he had asked about.
Zhang Fangyuan only said that her mother was also a lady from a wealthy family, and they only talked about it briefly. Her mother passed away early, and she couldn't help but sigh when she talked about the past. Xu He was afraid that opening the scar would make him uncomfortable, so he didn't ask too much.
"I made it this morning. I chilled it in the well before taking it out. Try it."
Xu He brought some mung bean cakes into the room and placed them on the table. Zhang Fangyuan did not refuse and took one.
"I told you everything, little one."
Xu He nodded: "We have never been in touch before, why did you suddenly come to me?"
"He is actually an official. He used to be a county magistrate in Qiuping County. Later, he was promoted and transferred to Siyang. When he came back, I asked about it and heard that he had been promoted to the sixth rank of Tongzhi."
Xu He was a little surprised. In his subconscious, there were no relatives or friends of the Zhang family who were officials. He never expected that his mother-in-law's family actually had an official of high rank.
But how could a daughter of such a family marry a farmer? If it was the landlord's family, it would be fine, but at that time the Zhang family was just ordinary farmers who could barely afford to eat. How could they be worthy of the children of the county magistrate?
"In fact, I didn't really understand these things when I was young. When my mother was alive, she took me back to her parents' home several times, for my grandfather's birthday and my grandmother's death."
At that time, Zhang Fangyuan had been living in the village. It was the first time she saw such a wealthy family. She was quite impressed by how wealthy her mother's family was. But when she entered her maternal grandfather's house, she was met with many cold stares.
It was his maternal grandfather's birthday that year. His Zhang family was poor, but they scraped together some money and brought a fairly decent birthday gift. However, his maternal grandfather's family didn't even look at him. He and his mother were arranged to eat the banquet in a corner in silence. They didn't even say a word to his maternal grandfather. After the banquet, his mother's family didn't even try to keep him, and his mother took him back to Siyang overnight.
It was also the first time that I felt that behind the wealth and power there was such a lack of family affection.
"When my mother was alive, she said that my grandfather was not so unkind. He cared about his children and loved them. It was because my mother did something wrong that my grandfather treated her like this."
Zhang Fangyuan originally didn't want to mention the dusty past, but that family had now come to Siyang and had come to see him specially, and they might have to meet again in the future. He might not mention it to other people, but it was necessary for his husband to know the inside story.
"It was only later that I realized what the wrong thing my mother had talked about was."
Just as Xu He suspected, Zhang Fangyuan's mother's family, the Zeng clan, was a family of officials. Not only was one generation an official, but their ancestors were also officials, small and medium-sized. Such a family would never look down on poor farmers.
His mother was actually born to a concubine, and his biological mother was just a concubine sold to an honest family. However, because of her good looks, she was liked by his grandfather. Later, although his mother was a concubine's daughter, she lived a good life. Moreover, his mother was studious, so his grandfather still liked her very much among all his children.
Unfortunately, the year my mother came of age, she was beginning to fall in love. At a banquet, she met a talented scholar. My mother was also talented, and the two hit it off immediately and soon fell in love with each other.
Originally, the Zeng family was a family of scholars, and it was the best arrangement for the concubine's daughter to marry a scholar. However, the grandfather had his eyes on another wealthy merchant family and did not agree to their marriage. The scholar was not a good person either. Seeing that the duck in his mouth was about to fly away, he used sweet words to persuade his mother to go out, and the rice was cooked.
The Zeng family was a well-behaved family. Even after this incident, my grandfather never compromised with the scholar. He cut off all contact between the two and married his mother to another county.
For this reason, the Zhang family arranged the marriage. Otherwise, how could his father, a farmer, marry the daughter of such a wealthy family?
"I later learned from my fourth uncle that my parents' quarrel was not caused by my father getting drunk and beating my mother. In fact, the scholar came to my mother when he passed through Siyang and said a lot of unpleasant things. My mother thought about the past and felt sorry for my father, so she couldn't get over it. The villagers spread the ugly story, which was even more untrue."
Zhang Fangyuan got a headache thinking about these things. His parents were both deeply in love. One was obsessed with the past and kept repenting, but could not get comfort from his parents and was depressed; the other was an honest farmer who could not say nice things. In the end, both of them used the most extreme methods to solve the problem.
"My mother did make mistakes at first, but it was because she was young and ignorant. She later tried her best to correct her mistakes. But the Zeng family never gave her a chance to admit her mistakes. They never even asked about her death. They have never had any contact with her in these years, which is equivalent to breaking off all ties with her. I admit it. For this reason, I have never used the Zeng family to ward off disasters or ask for anything. But now the Zeng family is asking about the Zhang family as if nothing happened and trying to link us up as relatives. It really disgusts me."
Xu He frowned: "To put it bluntly, wealthy families value profit connection the most. I'm afraid they also saw that the Zhang family has become so successful, so they wanted to become relatives."
Zhang Fangyuan shook his head: "Merchants are not like officials. If I have an official relative, things will go much smoother. But even if life is a little more difficult, I don't want to marry into the Zeng family."
"Don't take it personally, just avoid it in the future."
Zhang Fangyuan said, "Keep an eye on Ruijin. I see that the old man is quite fond of Ruijin. It will be annoying if he takes the child away."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
