Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 35
Wang Heng greets Mrs. Zhu once every morning at [-] o'clock in the morning. At that time, Mrs. Zhu is doing something in Baoxia Hall. Feng's sister-in-law is now in charge of everything in the family. She can't make up her mind on major matters. It will be up to Mrs. Zhu to decide the time.

The showers have just stopped, and outside the Baoxia Hall, the pomegranate flowers are burning brightly, and the plantains are green and dripping.

On this day, Wang Heng just stepped through the door, and the maid Guixiang came up to greet him with a smile: "What a coincidence, just now the lady was saying that three are missing and one is missing, which hurts people's hearts, but here comes the seventh young master."

Wang Heng said with a smile: "The eldest mother has ears to repay the gods for help."

Mrs. Zhu called him to sit next to her and said, "Qilang, the mahjong tiles that have recently come out in Taicang Wei are really fun. Let Guixiang teach you how to play them eight times."

Wang Heng was embarrassed and said, "Don't dare. I'm broke. If I lose, I have to do long-term work for the aunt."

Guixiang said narrowly: "Just because the Seventh Young Master is timid, I have to accept you as my disciple and teach you to show off my abilities."

Madam Zhu laughed and said, "Guixiang, lend your apprentice two ounces of gambling money to strengthen his courage."

Mr. Yu Ming, who was a guest in Shenliu Courtyard, was also present. Hearing this, he said, "Master's wife is too kind to one and favors the other. I am also Sister Guixiang's apprentice. Why don't I ask Sister Guixiang to lend me a few ounces of money?"

Wang Heng met Mr. Yuming, thanked him for his kindness in donating the book, and joked: "Mr. Yuming is a rich man who has been a county magistrate, but he still wants to compare with me, a miserable person."

Yu Ming then said: "Brother, I am worthless as a retired county magistrate. It's not because I couldn't survive in the Imperial Capital and came to seek refuge with my mentor and wife."

Guixiang complained: "You are the master of our family, why are you not richer than a girl like me?"

Wang Heng said: "The girls in the whole house can only get sister Guixiang's one and two taels, the first share."

Mrs. Zhu held Guixiang's hand and said happily: "I'll give them two slings of money to save you from pinching them."

Taicang Mahjong was invented by the people who looked after the grain warehouse in Taicang Wei. In order to prevent the sparrows from stealing the grain, the people who looked after the warehouse were playing sparrows every day. Their days were boring, but they invented this kind of mahjong tiles, which became popular in Loujiang for a while.

Mahjong is very simple and easy to learn. The dealer draws fourteen tiles and the others draw thirteen tiles. After Guixiang gave a few instructions, Wang Heng got started.Regardless of the size of the tiles, he would eat whatever he wanted and touch whatever he wanted. He also didn't mind the rubbish of two and three flowers. As a novice, he and Guixiang actually won a small victory for a while. Wang Heng didn't think that he was quite talented in mahjong tiles. They are all a little carried away.

Mrs. Zhu is the most proficient in poker skills, but unfortunately she is not very lucky. She has never been able to get good cards, and she lost a small amount of money after a few rounds.

Guixiang sat opposite Wang Heng, and suddenly he stretched out three fingers to wipe his sweat. He wiped his left hand with his right hand, always with three fingers. Wang Heng's heart moved, and he saw a "Three Shuttles" in his hand, so he walked out.

Mrs. Zhu spread her cards and laughed and said, "If you touch Hu, Qi Lang will rush out for me."

Mr. Yuming's cards are naturally the best. He plays cards very readily. He plays cards first and then touches them, which is different from ordinary people. Therefore, he sat down for several laps and couldn't get a draw.

Mr. Yuming was chatting and laughing, but he didn't take it seriously. Finally, he made a big hand, all the flowers bloomed on the bars, and he recovered the losses in one fell swoop.

Wang Heng murmured in his heart, this uncle's master is obviously an extremely confident person, no wonder he can be an official when he is active, and write a story in retirement.

At noon, the game ended with a pre-dinner card game. The winning or losing was very small, and it was a lot of fun. Everyone was happy.

Mrs. Zhu kept them talking for a while. When she mentioned that Mr. Yuming's first wife had been dead for more than two years, Mrs. Zhu felt a little complicated. She secretly thought that if it hadn't been for all the complications, a good thing would have been done long ago and neither of them would have to be so complacent. Bitter.

Mrs. Zhu said sternly: "For the sake of future generations, you should also marry a new wife. If you are interested, I have a very good marriage here for you."

Mr. Yuming, however, was ashamed and could not explain why.

Wang Hengsheng was afraid that his presence would make others uncomfortable, so he stood up with a playful smile and said goodbye to his wife: "Today, my aunt is a vegetarian, so my nephew will not accompany you to eat. My nephew is still delicious with big fish and meat."

Mrs. Zhu nodded: "Go ahead." On the way back to the study, Wang Heng secretly thought about it. The day before, Zhuang Gongren, the wife of the second-fang family leader, came to visit with his concubine and third sister, and asked him to go out to meet the guests. , I think I came here for the third sister’s marriage.

The second uncle's family, Mr. Yu, is a fourth-rank magistrate in Henan. His concubine's daughter is not good enough for a good job. Mr. Yuming is a second-ranking Jinshi. She is still very young. Being his step-mother is a good way out. .

In addition, it was time to find a way to make some money. His father had given up the three-bedroom house and the land to the second family, and the whole family had long been deprived of permanent property.

With one tael a month, it is enough to live in his uncle's house, but in the future he will have to take the imperial examination and study abroad.Now that he is still young and taking the county and government examinations, his eldest uncle should be willing to contribute money. If he fails in the examinations repeatedly, there is no reason to rely solely on his uncle's support.

If you fail to study in the future and find a living, you will need a certain amount of funds.

How could he earn money? His whole family had always been lazy and had no one to teach his children how to make a living. He couldn't figure it out, so he had to leave it alone.

Wang Cai had been looking for the girl who was disguised as a man. From time to time, he would check the gate of Tangliyuan to see if anyone was coming in or out. If he had nothing to do, he would wander around the house, even putting aside learning skills in the kitchen.

In the afternoon of this day, the sky was dark and uncertain, and it was so quiet that there was no wind. The heat, which was not suitable for the weather in early summer, might be a sign before the storm came.He then walked to the rockery in the back garden, only to hear the cry of "嘘嘤". Xiao Shao, the little girl in the garden, sat down on the edge of the lake and cried until her nose and tears flowed.

"Sister Xiaoshao, why are you so sad?" Wang Cai has always had a sense of justice and would not tolerate bullying.

"Brother Xiaocai." Xiao Shao wiped her nose and said, "Grandma Sun was sick in bed and couldn't get up. She asked her sisters to catch twenty or thirty toads for her. None of them did anything, and only ordered me to do it. Go catch them, I don’t know the nature of water, how can I catch these many toads?”

Grandma Sun is the old mother who is needed by Miss Wang Wang Taozhen. She usually takes care of things in Tiantanguan. This time she came back to Xiangtao Pavilion in the back garden. It can be seen that she is seriously ill.

"Just catching a few toads is worth crying." Xiaocai patted his chest and said, "I'll take care of it, brother Xiaocai."

He went to the kitchen and borrowed a pair of tongs for burning the stove, took a sack, and asked Xiao Shao to open the sack for him.

The weather was so sultry that the toads that usually crawled around the lakeside in the back garden were roasted to the point of disappearing. "Papa papa pa" The raindrops fell without any trace, and the white flowers were everywhere. The wind blew loudly, blowing the big trees to the right and left. The lake suddenly became active. Listening to the sound of toads, the little man spent a lot of time. , used fire tongs to pinch dozens of them from the rocks and grass, tied the mouth of the sack tightly with a straw rope, and handed it to Xiaoshao.

"Hurry up and get on the mission."

Xiaoshao was so blessed that she walked towards Xiangtao Pavilion with a sack on her back.

Rain was streaming down from the top of his head. Xiaocai rubbed his eyes, unable to open them. He felt that his body was soaked, and he quickly ran out of the Moon Cave Gate and returned to Helai's study.

"My little talented brother, why are you so wet when you go to the garden?" Wang Heng spent his leisure time reading on the table. His clothes were neat and tidy, so he liked to see his little follower make a fool of himself.

"Good people and good deeds are punished by God." Xiaocai wiped his face and said, "I helped Xiaoshao, the little girl from Xiangtao Pavilion, catch toads."

"Catch a toad?"

"Yes, I caught it for Granny Sun."

"Why does Grandma Sun want a toad?"

"I don't know, maybe the second lady wants it."

A member of the Taoist sect who looked like a wandering crane asked his servants to catch toads to do something for him. Wang Heng could not figure out that this cousin Tan Yangzi was really a mysterious person.

(End of this chapter)