Carpenter's Lady

Chapter 84

On September [-]th, the autumn was crisp and clear, Ding Erye and A Zhu invited their wife and classmates to have dinner at Wangxianglou. They also came with Master Yan, two yamen servants, and the magistrate of Tongtai County!
Not to mention Azhu, even the county magistrate has many dishes that have not been eaten before: Yuzhang Baoxin, Mingzhu Tofu, Shouwu Chicken, Baihua Duck Tongue, Stewed Deer Tendon in Casserole, Arhat Prawns, Skewers, Tomato Horseshoe , braised straw mushrooms, white fungus in pepper oil, canned fish lip, lotus leaf meal porridge, the tea is Yanghe Spring Green, and the wine is Yanghe Daqu.

After the dishes were all ready, the shopkeeper came over to greet the magistrate. The county magistrate, who was only in his twenties, was already fat and strong, with a chubby belly. He said to the nodding shopkeeper, "I said Lao Ai, I dare you to bring your specialty dishes to the table today, there are so many, I have never seen it before, and I have never seen it on the ground?"

The shopkeeper glanced at it, cursing inwardly, seeing a ghost, and said with fear on his face: "Your Excellency, you are joking, I also know that you are going to visit this time, and I am afraid that you will get tired of it, so I specially transported it from Taizhou!"

The meaning of the words is that there is no charge for this table!They did their best!

"Okay, okay, I'll just ask a little more, just to please you, Lao Ai, you go about your business, and I'll come to meet you again tomorrow!" The county magistrate waved his short, fat palm, and the shopkeeper immediately Backed out tactfully.

A Zhu and all the masters and students in the academy couldn't help but secretly frowned. Why did the county magistrate look at it like a commoner?
After exiting the private room, the shopkeeper couldn't help but let out a long breath after closing the door, "Come on, this time I have to stick to death again!"

The shopkeeper said while going to the back kitchen, fresh shellfish and fish lips, are they so easy to buy!If his master hadn't told him to do better than Ye Tong's, he wouldn't have brought these ingredients back from Taizhou City.

Feeling irritable, he kicked open the kitchen door, "Do you have Yuchun and fresh shellfish?"

Some chubby master masters were sitting on a small pier by the door directing the fire of a few young apprentices. When the door was kicked open suddenly, their thick body went straight forward and made a dog planing food, feeling very angry. He cursed at the exit, "Which son of a bitch..."

The boys in the back kitchen roared with laughter, "Master, what are you talking about, we didn't hear clearly!"

The vigilant master, before he finished his sentence, heard the shopkeeper's roar, glared at the young apprentices, turned to look at the shopkeeper, "Oh, shopkeeper, why don't you say anything, my fall is terrible!" It fell hard!"

"Go, go, don't mess with me, I am very angry right now!"

"What's the matter, why don't you have eyes?" The master hurriedly brought over the small pier he was sitting on just now, and motioned for the shopkeeper to sit down.

"It's not that Zhou Baopi, who would have thought that Ding's family would invite him too! Now it's over, the fresh shellfish and fish lip that I bought yesterday have to be recreated if they don't exist!"

The shopkeeper's heart is bleeding when he thinks of this, this time the Ding family is giving away for free, not to mention a hundred taels of silver, 20 taels of silver is what they want. Even 50 taels of silver can't stop it!

The master chef looked at the face of the shopkeeper with a look of pain, and suggested: "Otherwise, please ask Master Yan again?"

"Oh, it's not convenient, once or twice is fine, you can't ask Master Yan for help every time! We still have to pay for this blood!"

After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he looked at the steam rising from the stove and let out a deep breath.

In the private room, after drinking for three rounds, the magistrate seemed a little drunk, he shook his head and said to A Zhu: "Brother Zidan, why didn't I see your brother today?"

"Back to your lord, my brother inherited my father's craftsmanship. He was looking at the shop on West Street. He couldn't get away, so he didn't come here. I hope your lord will forgive me!" The magistrate of the county felt that the tofu he had just swallowed was about to roll out.

This person is also from a Jinshi background, and he is considered a scholar anyway. He has been an official for several years, and he has such a virtue!Seeing the dean shaking his head slightly at him, Ah Zhu had no choice but to hold back the nausea in his heart.

"Brother Zidan, I heard that my junior sister Li Xiu'er in my hometown married your sister-in-law's ex-husband? Is there such a thing?"

Both Ding Erye and A Zhu felt their brains were in a daze at this moment. The county magistrate actually brought up this unspeakable addiction of a woman on an occasion where they were both scholars!

The 14-year-old A Zhu was not so sad and angry when he was robbed!This person actually talked about his sister-in-law's chastity!

Ding Erye looked at his son's clenched fists, hurriedly stepped on his son's feet under the table, met A Zhu's eyes, and shook his head slightly!
Master Yan, who was sending fish lips to his mouth, was also taken aback. My lord is so confused now, not to mention that Azhu is a member of the provincial examination, how many outstanding students have been trained by Dean Li of Huishan Academy, this person His reputation is not something grown-ups can ignore!

Master Yan looked at his drunken boss, coughed slightly, took over the conversation and said, "My lord is so nostalgic, and my mentor who enlightened me in the past has been thinking about it like this. You are really a role model for me and other scholars. Come, let me offer you a toast." !"

Saying that, Master Yan drank a glass of wine.

"Okay, okay, in fact, I've always been refreshing, my lord will accompany you to drink, drink!" The magistrate squinted his eyes, picked up a glass of wine on the table, and cleaned it up.

Master Yan suggested that everyone should have a drink with the parents and officials in this county!
The topic changed like this, the long gowns on Azhu and Ding Erye had already wet their backs, but one was out of grief and anger, and the other was worried that his son would be impulsive. Fortunately, it was late autumn, and the clothes outside were dark in color Not to mention, a coat was added inside, otherwise, the father and son would be really embarrassed!

It was a good thank-you banquet, and because of the magistrate's nonsense, everyone was upset. Before leaving, Dean Li patted Azhu's back and told him: "The road is long and the journey is long. You have to search up and down!"

Watching the people leaving the empty private room, Ah Zhu's chest felt tight, and he asked his father after a while, "Father, Zhou Gou deliberately picked up the past of his sister-in-law in front of all these people today. Is he going to gossip about his sister-in-law behind his back like so many women in the town?"

He heard it with his own ears. Before the sister-in-law married in, there were many gossip women in the town, talking about the second marriage of the sister-in-law, who would have to pay the king of hell after her death. , smelly and shameless!
Her sister-in-law is capable and kind, why can't those people see her well?

Looking at his son with slightly red eyes, the gloom in Ding Erye's heart could not be dissipated for a long time, and he could only sigh: "A Zhu, you have to bow your head under the eaves!"

This is Tongtai County, and Zhou Gou is the local emperor here, not to mention that they have no fish or meat, but their words are frivolous, even if their money is really robbed, they have nowhere to complain!

"No, father, I must make him apologize to his brother and sister-in-law!"

The 14-year-old Ah Zhu has never had such a moment. He hopes that he can make a fortune and become a high-ranking official!This has also become the driving force for the young A Zhu to work hard for the next ten years, even 20 years, 30 years!

He wants to protect the dignity of his family!

When going downstairs, Ding Erye took out 30 taels of silver from his pocket and threw it on the counter, shouting: "Check out, don't look for it!"

When the boy called the shopkeeper over, the father and son of the Ding family had already left. The shopkeeper held the three ingots of silver in his hand, and his heart, which had been cut off, felt a little better. !"

He made it clear that he wanted to pay for the money, but he probably thought it was only around ten taels for a table, thinking that there was still some leftovers, and he said "don't look for it!" His uncle, the cost of a table would be twenty taels!
"Hey, something is better than nothing!"

The shopkeeper carefully put the 30 taels of silver into his sleeve.

Wu Ling and Zhang Mu, who were busy in the bamboo strip shop and women's school hall on West Street, seemed not to have imagined that Ding Erye and Ah Zhu, because of the depression they received today, would pack up from West Street at night, and Wu Ling would still be there. I deliberately went to chat with A Zhu, but was told by Ding Erniang: "These two, I don't know how much they drank today, and when they came back, both of them fell asleep!"

"Mom, socializing is inevitable. Besides, Dad and Azhu are happy today, so don't take it to heart!"

Zhang Mu took Xiao Fufu from his mother-in-law, while persuading him.

The child is willing to grow, Zhang Mu almost felt that if he went out every day and came back, his daughter would look the same, which made Wu Ling laugh at her: "As long as you have sharp eyes and Fufu's hair, you can see it!"

"Hey, Amu, your mother will go back the day after tomorrow, so take some time to take her out for a stroll and buy something to bring back!" Ding Erniang reminded of this matter.

Mrs. Zhang on one side smiled and said: "No, no, sister of the Ding family, my daughter-in-law is really blessed for several lifetimes to meet such a kind mother-in-law like you! I don't need anything, just look forward to it." You and your family live a good life, and Amu can add another big fat boy!"

Mrs. Zhang's eyes became watery as she said that, her daughter's life today is really easier than that of a lady in her boudoir, as long as there is another boy, this day will be truly complete!

"Mother-in-law, Ah Mu and A Ling are both filial, you can go out with them to watch the excitement, otherwise, when you leave, these two, don't regret it for a while!"

These days, Ding Erniang also feels that Mrs. Zhang is honest and easy to get along with. Now she is satisfied with Amu, her daughter-in-law, and she is willing to spend some time to manage the relationship between the in-laws!

It's just that the Ding family in Liuye Lane didn't know, or rather, didn't know, life wasn't something they could live well and smoothly just by thinking about it!
Within a few days, there was another rumor in the county town, saying that the Gongjin Women's School is a place to teach prostitutes!

(End of this chapter)