Zhao Shouzheng followed him into the house, and before he could say anything, Zhao Hao handed him four ingots of twenty taels of silver.

Patting Zhao Hao's shoulder with satisfaction, Zhao Shouzheng turned around silently and put four ingots of silver in front of his brother.

Zhao Shouye was surprised at first, then he returned the three ingots and said, "I only need five taels, and I have some loose change on me, so I can make up the difference."

Zhao Shouzheng shook his head, stuffed the silver into his elder brother's pocket, and said with deep emotion: "Money is the courage of a hero. How can one be a real man without money? Brother, just keep it. If it's not enough..."

He looked at Zhao Hao in the room and didn't dare to say anything else.

Zhao Shouye was so ashamed that he couldn't sit still. He wiped away his tears and stood up to say goodbye.

Zhao Shouzheng couldn't stop them, so he and his son sent them to the bridgehead, waved goodbye and said reluctantly: "Brother, come often."

Zhao Shouye waved to his brothers, feeling mixed emotions.

Zhao Xian muttered quietly, "How dare you come here again?"

"Oh, let's go..." Zhao Shouye agreed with him and left dejectedly.

~~

Zhao Hao and his son stood at the bridge head.

Watching the two figures disappear into the night, Zhao Hao sighed: "I didn't expect my uncle to be so depressed."

"Yeah..." Zhao Shouzheng felt sorry for his brother for a while, and then he said with lingering fear: "Alas, I didn't expect that this soft rice would be so unpalatable?"

Zhao Hao agreed: "Oh, yes."

The two of them couldn't help but think sympathetically, if they had really been able to eat both free food and money back then, would they be twice as depressed as their uncle today?

After sighing for a long time, the father and son turned around and walked home.

On the way, Zhao Hao curiously asked why Zhao Shouye's wife had such a big grudge against his grandfather?

"Well, that's a messy account that can't be sorted out. Anyway, you just need to know that she deserves it."

Zhao Shouzheng was unwilling to talk about the past, and simply told his son that the Qian family had played tricks on his eldest brother's marriage, causing the old man to suffer a great loss...

Zhao Hao was just asking casually. Now that their families were separated and they didn't see each other, there was naturally no question of them disliking each other.

Zhao Shouzheng was in a depressed mood, so he went home and fell asleep on his bed. Zhao Hao put away the dishes and cleaned the main room, then he also washed up and went to bed.

But after lying down, I tossed and turned but had no desire to sleep. Just as I was wondering, I heard the sound of drums coming from the bell and drum tower in the distance.

Zhao Hao listened attentively and heard the first watch drum sound.

'The first watch is the first quarter of the Xu hour. Nanjing needs to add one quarter, so it is the second quarter of the Xu hour.' Zhao Hao calculated silently in his mind and suddenly realized, "It's only 7:24. No wonder I can't sleep!"

He didn't wake up until noon today. He had a full meal and did nothing all day, so of course he wasn't sleepy now.

In the past, he would either be busy all night without sleep, or go to bed before dark to save dinner. Zhao Hao still didn't realize how difficult this long night was.

"Looks like I need to find something to kill time..."

Zhao Hao was too lazy to light a candle. He lay on the bed with his arms as a pillow, staring at the dark ceiling with wide eyes. He silently wondered in his mind what to do next after solving the problem of food and clothing.

He didn't know how long he had been thinking about it. Just as he was dozing off and feeling a little sleepy, he suddenly heard a slight clicking sound.

In the silent night, that sound was particularly harsh.

Zhao Hao lost all sleepiness immediately. He lay there with his ears pricked up. He heard another creaking sound and the door of the main room was pushed open.

And in the east room, Zhao Shouzheng was snoring loudly!

"There's a thief!"

Zhao Hao's hair stood on end immediately, and he quickly reached out to touch the iron rod placed on the pillow... This was the iron rod he asked Gao the blacksmith to give him for self-defense the day before.

Then Zhao Hao went down barefoot, holding the iron rod, and walked to the door of the west room, looking into the main room through the door curtain.

He had kept his eyes open before and his eyes had long since adapted to the darkness. He vaguely saw a dark figure rummaging through boxes and cabinets... Oh no, the father and son were so poor that they didn't even have a box, let alone a cabinet.

Seeing the thief rummaging around for something, Zhao Hao's blood froze with nervousness.

Not sure whether the thief was armed with a sharp knife, he did not dare to shout, for fear that the thief would be cornered and bring about his own death.

The only thing Zhao Hao could rely on now was that the other party didn't know he had been awakened. Thinking of this, he tightly grasped the iron rod, hid behind the door curtain without breathing, and was ready to hit the thief on the head when he came in!

But who would have thought that the thief would not do as he wished and went to the east room first.

Zhao Hao was suddenly in a panic and couldn't even launch a surprise attack.

Just when he was at his wit's end and was about to shout loudly to wake up his father, he heard a sudden shout from the east room:

"Brother! Beat her!"

The thief was so frightened that his hand hung on the door curtain and he didn't dare to stretch it out for a long time.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned and walked towards the west room.

Zhao Hao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this, but then his heart rose to his throat again.

He gently wiped the sweat off his palms, tightly grasped the iron bar again, and raised it high above his head. Then he held his breath and stared at the gap in the door curtain without blinking!

The footsteps were getting closer and closer, and Zhao Hao's heartbeat was getting faster and faster.

Finally, the door curtain was lifted and a head poked its head in quietly.

Zhao Hao made up his mind, aimed at the dark head, and swung his arms down fiercely!

Unexpectedly, with a bang, the iron rod hit the eaves of the door.

The thief was so frightened that he took a few steps back and sat down on the ground.

"Catch the thief!" Zhao Hao used all his strength, shouted, and swung the stick at the thief again.

Zhao Shouzheng in the east room was also awakened. When he heard his son's shout, he shouted without thinking: "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!"

The shouts of the father and son instantly penetrated the roof and spread to the neighbors, immediately causing a lively atmosphere with the crowing of chickens and barking of dogs.

The thief was so frightened that he rolled and crawled back, but Zhao Hao hit him on the back with a stick, causing him to scream in pain...

“Ouch…”

Fortunately, Zhao Hao was still young and lacked strength, so he was able to endure the pain and get up. He stumbled out of the door before Zhao Shouzheng blocked his way.

Seeing the thief running away, Zhao Hao's legs went weak and he sat on the ground.

"Don't chase a desperate enemy." Zhao Shouzheng said to himself, then gave up chasing the thief and hurried over to look after his son.

"Is my son hurt?" Zhao Shouzheng carefully examined his son's body from head to toe.

"I'm fine, just exhausted." Zhao Hao wanted to stretch out his hands to support his knees to stand up, but found that even his arms were so sore that he couldn't lift them.

As the father and son were talking, they suddenly heard a scream from the street.

Zhao Shouzheng didn't bother to explore. He helped his son sit down on the bench and fumbled to light the candle.

He heaved a sigh of relief only after seeing that Zhao Hao was fine but his face was pale.

Just as Zhao Hao was about to speak, he heard heavy footsteps outside.

He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a burly figure walking into the yard.

Seeing that it was Gao Wu who came, the Zhao family father and son finally felt relieved. Zhao Hao looked at Gao Wu's naked upper body and muscular body, and suddenly felt a sense of security.

Gao Wu threw the object in his hand to the ground with a bang.

The father and son looked carefully and found that it was the escaped thief.

Gao Wu was organizing his words along the way. He didn't need Zhao Hao to wait too long. He pointed outside and said in a muffled voice: "I was sleeping when I heard Mr. Zhao and Master Zhao shouting to catch a thief. I just went out and ran into this guy running out. I gave him a kick in the heart and he fainted."

"Gao Zhuangshi is mighty!" Zhao Shouzheng gave a thumbs up and praised excitedly: "How can I find brave warriors to guard the four directions!"

ps. The second update is here. Please vote for recommendation and comment on the chapter. (，，´•ω•)ノ