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

Chapter 727 Picking people
After a simple lunch, Little Stone couldn't wait to get on the horse and head to another place he wanted to go.

Haitang and Jin Jiashu followed him, and Ma Changnian and Lu Ga Wa followed them. When they arrived, Lu Ga Wa also joined in teaching Xiao Shitou horseback archery skills. Ma Changnian also talked and laughed with him, and the two even talked about life in the border town.

Lu Ga Wa grew up in Chang'an City. The farthest he had been was a village at the foot of a mountain a few dozen miles outside the city. Although he was also a son of a military family, his personal ability was not as outstanding as Zhou Xiaojian. The quota for joining the army in his family had long been given to his cousin from his uncle's family. His widowed mother Aunt Lu was not willing to let him seek another military position. She believed that if she could work for others in the city with her son for the rest of her life, it would be stable and satisfying enough. Lu Ga Wa was filial and followed his mother's arrangements in everything, but he still yearned for the outside world in his heart. When his mother was not around, he wanted to find someone to inquire about the border affairs, and while listening, he imagined what kind of scenery his deceased father saw when he was alive.

Lu Ga Wa, Ma Chang Nian and Xiao Shitou formed their own small circle and got along well with each other. Not far from them, Hai Tang did not want to continue chatting with Jin Jia Shu Chun. It was rare to go out of town, so we should make the time pass more efficiently.

So she also began to teach Jin Jiashu some tips on how to save energy when riding a horse, or led him to speed up the horse, and told him how to deal with various unexpected situations in order to protect himself to the greatest extent and reduce risks. Even if they got tired of riding and dismounted to find a place to rest, Haitang would seize the time to show him some self-defense and escape techniques when attacked by others, so that he would not really encounter any bad guys after entering Beijing, and the guards would not be able to follow him all the time, leaving him alone in danger.

Jin Jiashu originally wanted to continue chatting with Haitang, but he didn't expect that he had no time at all. What Haitang taught him was very practical. If he didn't listen and learn well, he would be letting down his sweetheart's kindness. But if he listened and learned well, and wanted to talk about some private topics, there would be no time, and the atmosphere would not be right. However, this was at least an opportunity to be alone with Haitang. After a little hesitation, he cooperated and studied seriously.

The other three people who came with them didn't think there was anything wrong with this. Ma Changnian even ran over to help Haitang demonstrate twice, and pulled Lu Ga Wa to demonstrate the movements of counterattack and escape when facing an attack. He was very attentive. But Xiao Shitou was a little too straightforward. Seeing Jin Jiashu's slightly embarrassed appearance, he leaned close to his sister's ear and whispered in a voice that Jin Jiashu could hear: "Brother Jin is not good! His skills are not as good as mine. If he encounters danger, won't he have to rely on his sister to save him?"

Haitang thought that she had saved Jin Jiashu more than once, and she was used to it. Jin Jiashu was a weak scholar, so could she expect him to study hard and become a martial arts master?

Haitang's emotional intelligence is much higher than her cousin's. She told Xiao Shitou, "Brother Jin suffered a lot from being treated badly by his stepmother since he was a child, and his health is not good. His foundation is not good, so he will have to spend more time recuperating when he grows up to have a healthy body like ordinary people. You also had a serious illness when you were a child, so your physical foundation is weaker than others. If you want to be like your second uncle and brother, a person with a strong body and both civil and military skills, you have to be obedient, eat well and sleep enough every day, and you can't be lazy. You must study hard and practice hard."

Little Stone listened obediently and said, "Don't worry, sister. Mom is watching me eat every day. My health has recovered a long time ago!"

Haitang smiled and touched his head: "In addition to exercising, you should also remember to study. If you are only good at fighting but have no strategy, you are not a talent, but just a reckless man. Didn't you say that you wanted to be a general?"

Little Stone frowned with a bitter smile and replied in a long voice: "I know——"

Because they were worried that it would get dark early, they rode back home when the sun was setting. When they arrived at the door of their house, it was already dark. Haitang said goodbye to Jin Jiashu in front of the house and went in with Xiao Shitou. She saw many people standing in the front yard, men and women, old and young, all lined up in an orderly manner, with their hands clasped and their heads bowed. There were people talking in the living room. From the sound of their voices, it was a man and a woman, both of whom sounded unfamiliar.

Haitang guessed that this was the boy who brought people to choose for Grandmother and Second Aunt. But it was agreed that this matter would be done today and should have been finished before noon, so why was it delayed until now?
The people in the living room heard the noise outside, and soon Aunt Cui came out: "Sister and second brother are back? Madam and second madam are in the house. Second madam asked if second brother was tired after playing all day. If he was tired, he could go back to the yard to rest, otherwise he could come in and sit down. Second madam was just thinking of picking a servant for second brother, so second brother should take a look himself, in case the elders choose someone you don't like."

After hearing this, Little Stone said hurriedly, "Then I have to go and see for myself!" It's not that he didn't have servants before, but the servants who had been his playmates at home, Cui Xiaodao was actually Hai Jiao's servant, and Suo Zhu followed his father Hai Chang'an, neither of them was his manpower. Now his mother wanted to pick a servant for him, to accompany him to study, play and practice martial arts every day, so of course he had to pick one who was compatible with him and had a similar temperament.

Little Stone skipped into the living room, and Haitang followed him in.

In the living room, Ma sat in the main seat in the middle, and the second aunt Hu sat beside them, looking at the servants standing in the middle of the room, and the matchmaker stood on the side. The matchmaker lowered her head and stared at the floor in front of her, not daring to look around, while the matchmaker introduced the servants to the two big customers.

"Qiu Shugen's family are all honest people, and they know the rules very well. They originally worked for the imperial merchant family in the capital. They were either born in the family, or the couple devoted themselves to the family when they were young, and then had children in the master's family, so the whole family worked in that family." The matchmaker lowered her voice, "They originally served a young master, who was born to the family's favored concubine. They didn't intend to interfere in the family business, but he couldn't study, and he was unwilling to be suppressed by his eldest brother all the time, so he asked his concubine to cry and make a fuss, insisting that the master agree to let him go out with the caravan to see the world and do big business! The master of the family couldn't persuade him, so he let him go out with the shopkeeper of the caravan to gain experience, and the concubine also arranged for two families and two big girls to go with him, for fear that he would suffer on the road. But who would have thought that this young master was not cut out for business at all?!"

This spoiled young master of an imperial merchant came all the way from the capital to Chang'an. He was spoiled and overconfident, and he got into so many troubles that I won't even mention him. After arriving in Chang'an, he made such a fool of himself that even Ma had heard some rumors about him. It seemed that he was cheated by someone, and he didn't listen to the good advice of the shopkeeper and his assistants. He spent a lot of money and bought fake goods, which almost made the entire caravan travel two thousand miles in vain. He also owed debts to local merchants.

When the imperial merchant received the letter from the shopkeeper, he was so frightened that he immediately came over to clean up the mess. Although the debt was eventually cleared and he also received a batch of decent quality goods, which more or less made up for the loss, he dared not trust his concubine's son anymore. Not only did he send him back to the capital, he also took his anger out on the people around him, selling the two families' family members and two big maids in Chang'an, and had no intention of bringing them back to the capital to deal with them.

The matchmaker told Ma and Hu, "This is an unexpected disaster. The other family members were smart and saw that the situation was not right. They quietly flattered other wealthy people in Chang'an. As soon as this family was sold, someone over there bought them back. Only the Qiu family is left. They are all honest people. They stay here honestly, waiting for kind-hearted customers like Madam and Grandma to buy them back!"

(End of this chapter)