After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 277 Asking for help

Zhou Shigong simply handed over the new task to Hai Jiao. He was relieved, but he suffered a lot from Hai Jiao.

He said to his younger sister Haitang with worry: "If I were my original self, I would have watched my grandfather deal with passing caravans since Guazhou. If I encountered this kind of thing, I would not think there was any problem. But now I ...Twenty years have passed. How can I still remember those caravans? At most I can only tell you about the caravans I met in Suzhou and Ganzhou after my rebirth. I have really forgotten all the others. !”

He looked at Haitang helplessly: "Little sister, can you help me? Do you still remember?"

Haitang looked away with some guilt. To be honest, although she retained Xiao Haitang's memory in her mind, it was not 100% accurate. After all, Xiao Haitang was still young, so she didn't pay attention to many things she saw. Haitang, who inherited her memory, could only remember some fragmentary fragments. If Haijiao wants her to systematically summarize the information about the caravans that "he" has come into contact with or heard about... he'd better go to bed early!

But Haitang is not unable to cope with it: "How old was I when I was in Guazhou? And I spent all my time eating and playing. Even if I had seen a caravan, I would not take the time to remember the names and background information of the caravan members. Now my brother asked How do you answer me? You might as well ask Grandpa. There is no caravan that often travels on the trade routes in the northwest, whether it is from Dachu or from the Western Regions. Grandpa doesn't know about it. You can ask Grandpa, isn’t it more reliable to ask for advice than to ask me?”

Hai Jiao sighed: "How can I still not know that it is easiest to ask grandpa? But great-uncle Zhou will come to me because he doesn't want to alarm grandpa. He seems to think that if he bows his head to grandpa, he will lose face... …”

Haitang was speechless. Does Zhou Shigong think he has any face to speak of in front of his brother-in-law? Back when he was easily manipulated by Mrs. Ma and almost cheated himself and his family, but was pulled out of the quagmire by the Hai family, he had no face to speak of in front of his brother-in-law, Hai Xiya! Isn't it a bit redundant that he only thought of this kind of thing now?

Haitang said to Hai Jiao: "Brother, just ask grandpa. Grandpa doesn't talk much. How can my uncle know where you got the news?"

However, Hai Jiao was wary of some people in the family: "Uncle Ma, Aunt Ma, they might tell my aunt. My aunt has never liked lying to her uncle, and she only had some reservations about matters involving Mrs. Ma and Zhou Jinpu." . Recently, her great-uncle has been gentler to her than before. She is so happy that she no longer has any reservations. How can she care about others? She tells her great-uncle a lot about our family affairs. "

Haitang was surprised: "How did brother know?"

Hai Jiao curled his lips. Naturally, he knew this from the young masters of Zhenguo Palace.

The male and female servants in the third room of the Zhou family have gone through a great purge. Now, except for Zhou Shigong's confidants and the people used by Zhou Ma in the main courtyard, as well as Zhou Jinpu's wife's dowry, etc., there are only a few left. The vacancies in the servants were filled by people sent by the Zhenguo government. These people were not servants of the third room of the Zhou family, so naturally they would not hide anything from the masters of the third room of the Zhou family. Someone among them heard the conversation between Zhou Ma and Zhou Shigong and felt that something was not appropriate, so he reported it to Mrs. Zhen Guo. General Tuesday's wife, who was present at the time, listened completely and complained to the people around her after returning to the hospital.

People in the third room of the Zhou family may not know these things, but within the Zhenguo Palace, it is no longer a secret. Hai Jiao made friends with the young masters of Zhenguo Palace. The young men liked him and couldn't help but remind him to be more careful about his relatives. Haitang became even more speechless upon hearing this. What does Mr. Zhou have to complain about Mr. Ma’s gossip? Hai Xiya and Ma's husband and wife were very affectionate. There were no concubines or intercourse in the family, and there was no more children after the death of their only son. They could only raise their grandchildren with peace of mind. What's wrong with that? The third room of the Zhou family has not had a concubine for many years. Mr. Zhou Ma only gave birth to one more daughter than his younger sister. How come he still has a sense of superiority now? A lot of messy things in their own family have not yet been resolved. They have more children and grandchildren than the Hai family. Can they deceive themselves and others into thinking that they have not lost?

Haitang didn't bother to comment on the words and deeds of Mr. and Mrs. Zhou Ma, and she didn't want to comment on whether the people in Zhenguo Palace were a bit talkative. She only lamented that her brother was really generous and kind: "My great-uncle has the time to gossip about our family, and my brother is willing to You helped him find out the news, but you didn't ask grandpa for help because you had to take his feelings into consideration. You are really considerate and kind-hearted!"

Hai Jiao blinked. He always felt that there was a bit of ridicule in his younger sister's words. He coughed and ignored it: "If there is really no other way, I can only speak to grandpa. Anyway, my uncle is embarrassed, and it doesn't matter. It's my business. It involves Mrs. Ma, and I'm not happy to see her escape the blame. In the past few decades, she has secretly collected money from others to do things for others without telling everyone. I don't believe there is no taboo in it! If not, why would she hide it from others?"

Haitang also didn't want to see Mrs. Ma escape smoothly. She had a feud with this old woman for two lifetimes - including her previous life and her brother Hai Jiao's previous life.

She thought for a while: "If brother really wants to know the news about the Northwest Caravan, but can't go to grandpa, then I suggest you ask second uncle. Second uncle helped grandpa a lot at that time. If our family hadn't returned to Chang'an , there are many acquaintances of the second uncle here, who prevent him from doing business. Maybe he has already bought a shop and opened a shop for business! He has already had this plan, so he has been very concerned about business matters since he was in the border town. .”

She gave an example. She went out with her second uncle's family today. Whether it was shopping or going to a teahouse, she would always meet his acquaintances. He usually lives in seclusion, how can he recognize so many friends? If you look closely, almost 80% of them are businessmen and shopkeepers. Some were old friends he had known since his youth, but many were caravan members he had met in Guazhou and Suzhou, and some were new acquaintances he had made after returning to Chang'an. He had really inspected the streets and shop leasing conditions in Chang'an City, and had also gone to various shops to inquire about the situation. If he had not been blocked by others and had obtained a teaching position, he would have planned to go into business after the year.

Haijiao was amazed. He lives with his second uncle's family across from each other every day, and he doesn't even know that his second uncle has such a plan!

However, he had no qualms about asking his second uncle for help. He made up his mind immediately, went back to dinner, and went to the opposite door to ask his second uncle.

The upper room announced that dinner was ready. Haitang quickly went to the upper room with his brother Hai Jiao.

At the dinner on the first day of the Lunar New Year, only Hai family members sat around. The two elders, cousins ​​Xie Wenzai and Cao Gengnian, had made an appointment to have a drink with someone. Although Lu Bainian was at home, he had already said hello and wanted to have a drink alone.

Ma asked people to bring him delicious food and fine wine, and also ordered Cui Xiaodao to pour wine and serve him, but the latter was sent away immediately.

Grandpa Lu said that it was rare for him to have a quiet night alone and enjoy the entire room to himself, so he didn’t want to be disturbed by others!

(End of this chapter)