So I play chess

Chapter 138
Nearly 25% of the courtyards on the south side of Shaoshanfang in the west of Tongcheng City now belong to the Zheng residence.If the small courtyard assigned to the family's face-saving steward is included for private use, there will be a total of [-] mu of land.

The only one in Tongcheng that is larger than Zheng's house is the former Yang's house, but it is only larger than about five acres of land.

In comparison, Wen Gu's house is only less than six acres, which can be described as very shabby.

The Zheng family established a business in Tongcheng quite early, and the main house did not have such a large scale at the beginning, and it was [-]% to [-]% discounted compared to the current one.

However, with the progress of the ancestors of the Zheng family and the dilapidation and replacement of the original big families in the surrounding area, the Zheng family took over some nearby courtyards, coupled with the separation or integration of the previous generations of patriarchs and various houses, Zheng Tong's place is considered a In the most respectable period, those belonging to the Zheng family in Tongcheng were approaching, and they either demolished walls or opened doors, in short, they were all for one place.

On the east side, the six-bedroom house separated from the main house by a whole yard is almost the most dilapidated place in the entire Zheng family.

On the east side of this dilapidated courtyard, there is a dilapidated small courtyard, where a mother and son live.

The mother was in her early thirties and was called Lady Tian.Although the clothes are old but neat and clean, although the hair is frizzy but not disheveled, it is obvious that he still wants to keep a decent person.

But no matter how decent your heart is, you still have to fill your stomach.Leaving aside the aging appearance on her face, her hands were already rough. At this time, she was sitting in the yard mending, and there was a pile of old clothes half a person's height on the mat in front of her.

This is the only source of money for her mother and son.

The servants of the Zheng family gathered clothes that could not be worn any longer, weighed them and sold them to Mrs. Tian, ​​who then sewed and cut them, and sold the clothes that could barely be worn as used clothes. If you can't mend it, you can cut it and wash it to make some scattered rags, and then exchange it for some small money.

Lady Tian has been doing this for nearly ten years. Unlike ordinary mending maids, she has good craftsmanship and ingenious thoughts. The things she cuts out are not only practical, but also often embroider small patterns of flowers and plants, which can barely be regarded as monotonous old things. decoration.

Although it took a lot of effort, she was much younger than those who did the same job, and had better mental and physical strength, so she was able to persevere.So on the whole, there can be a net profit income of one or two taels of silver every month.

In addition, the sixth room of Zheng's family will send some rice noodles at the beginning of each month, and there are three or four tails of fish or two or three catties of meat in the middle of the month, but the mother and son are not too difficult to survive.

In the pile of clothes in front of him, there are always one or two pieces that are not so badly torn, and even a little mending can't even be seen, and the material of the clothes is not like ordinary servants in the mansion can afford to wear.

Every time Mrs. Tian finds this kind, she always feels secretly happy in her heart.And now she is sewing such a piece in her hand, and she is even humming softly some tunes that were out of fashion more than ten years ago.

While she was humming, the door on the side of the courtyard suddenly opened, and a man with the same clean clothes and a very fair appearance came out. His eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to hers, and he could tell at a glance that he was her biological son. On the face, you can even see the beautiful face of Tian Niangzi when she was young.

"Bai'er, did I disturb you?" She put down her needle and thread, stood up hastily, and said cautiously.

The man shook his head, and said: "Mom, I carefully read the notice on the city wall recruiting workers. It really didn't say that only refugees are needed. I still want to give it a try."

"What are you doing according to the notice again?" Mrs. Tian whispered softly, "Didn't you say yesterday that you have been studying for years and you have to be tested for fame, and now you work hard. Didn't you study in vain before?" gone."

"I don't want to delay my studies." The man insisted, "I thought that I don't need to arrange a place to live, but I can discuss it with the boss, and I can save an hour of work, so that I can still study when I come home."

Mrs. Tian knew that her son was stubborn, but she was not in a hurry or annoyed, and persuaded her: "Bai'er, you have never worked hard. When you get off work one day, even if you want to study, you will not be as strong as you are now." , after a long time, you won’t even want to read books.”

The man still wanted to argue: "Then I will try, if it doesn't work, I won't go anymore."

Lady Tian kept shaking her head, and only said things like "doing things from the beginning to the end", "where are these official places where you can come and go freely".

But these things couldn't persuade the man, and after talking about it, only Tian Niangzi kept sighing.

"Mother, I'll try it. I definitely want to study. If I really miss my homework, I will never go again." The man made up his mind and wanted to take advantage of this day to convince his mother.

Mrs. Tian had no choice but to grab his sleeve: "Bai'er, mother knows that you want to share some burden with mother, but after so many years, you are finally going to be famous in your studies. You study hard, no matter how hard your mother is, Two years, when the time comes, it will be much better than your hard work, no."

The man was obviously a little impatient, but he didn't get angry. He held Lady Tian's hand behind his back and said in a harmonious voice: "So I said, I will never delay my study. Mother, you have to trust me."

Mrs. Tian couldn't think of any rebuttals, so she was finally discouraged, and her voice became much lower: "But... the master likes scholars, and he won't recognize a son who works hard."

Zheng Bai finally became annoyed when he heard the words: "I knew it! If he wanted to recognize him, he should have recognized him long ago. Mother, you have been thinking about him for so many years, and you have been wasted until now, why do you still think so?"

"Oh, you don't know." Mrs. Tian didn't want to argue with her son about these things, but she coaxed him with a forced smile, "Master, he can't do anything himself, so mother expects you to win fame and make mother proud."

Zheng Bai said harshly: "Should I raise my eyebrows, and then go to the Zheng family's bastards to ask for face?"

"You are also from the Zheng family!" Lady Tian was also angry, "I always have such deep resentment towards your own family, after reading so many books, why don't you understand."

Zheng Bai didn't show weakness: "Where does he treat us as his own family? Across the yard, those servants of the Zheng family who are not as good as pigs and dogs, never come here without bossy, even if I get fame one day, I won't Self-deprecating and despising him as the ancestor of the Zheng family!"

Mrs. Tian was also really anxious. She wanted to punch her son hard, but in the end she gave up. She could only sigh to herself: "It's all the parents' grievances, you don't know. The master is still good to us and gave us a place to live. Before Twenty catties of rice were delivered just two days ago, won’t meat be delivered in a few days? You have to think about it.”

Zheng Bai had naturally heard this, and still wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly he heard a commotion outside the courtyard, as if a group of people were walking this way.

Mrs. Tian hurriedly took her son's hand to tell him not to say any more. After listening carefully for a while, she hurried back into the house.

(End of this chapter)