Chapter 356 Scholar visits relatives

When the carriage entered the village, it was already seen by the villagers.

Except for the officials who come to collect taxes and grains, this barren small mountain village usually has no carriages coming here at all, and only the village chief's family owns the ox-carts.

Therefore, when they saw such a luxurious carriage entering the village, the sharp-eyed children immediately ran home and told the adults at home. Many women and elderly people staying at home poked their heads out of their homes to take a look.

They all had timid expressions on their faces, and they restrained the children from going out, for fear that if they accidentally bumped into the nobles, they would get into big trouble.

Not long after, an old man on crutches hurried over and asked anxiously: "I am Fang Dashan, the village chief of Fangjia Village. What are the duties of these two nobles in our Fangjia Village?"

Seeing that the village chief had been alerted, Qiao Ran quickly bowed and said, "Old man, this is Sun Xiucai, here to see his sister's family."

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Fang turned to Sun Xiucai who was standing aside.

Sun Xiucai hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Sun's sister is Fang Sun, and my brother-in-law is Fang Chenghai. Sun came to visit my sister and brother-in-law, but I didn't want to alert the village chief. It's really a sin."

Village Chief Fang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he was visiting relatives.

He looked at Sun Xiucai for a few times and then recognized him. This was because Sun Xiucai had not been to his sister's house for many years, and Village Chief Fang almost didn't recognize him.

In the small village of Fangjia Village, all the people in the village have the surname Fang, and they are all relatives of the same clan. Speaking of which, the village chief Fang is also Fang Chenghai's cousin, and he has met Sun Xiucai before.

"Oh, so it's Sun Xiucai? You haven't been to your brother-in-law's house for several years. Your sister and brother-in-law often talk about you. They all say they want you to come and live in our Fangjia Village, but you don't want to. Your sister is worried about you. Just come! Just come! When you come, settle down in our village! There are few people in our village, so it would be nice to have more people. I will let you guys build two houses for you later. , you stay at your brother-in-law’s house first, isn’t your nephew going to the Capital Academy anyway? There happens to be an empty room!”

Village Chief Fang thought that Sun Xiucai was moving to their Fangjia Village at the invitation of his sister and brother-in-law, so he greeted him warmly.

Sun Xiucai said awkwardly: "Uncle Fang, I'm not here to live at my sister's house. I've already found a job as a wife in the suburbs of Beijing. I'm here to say hello to my sister and the others. From now on, we'll be close enough to visit each other frequently."

Village Chief Fang was a little disappointed when he heard that the man did not come to settle in his village. His wish to have a scholar in the village failed.

However, he became happy again when he heard that Sun Xiucai was in the suburbs of Beijing and would often visit his sister's house.

"Is that so? Okay! Okay! It's good to have a job. Your brother-in-law and the others will definitely be happy for you after hearing this. Oh, after talking here for a long time, you'd better go to my house and have a sip of hot tea to warm up! I'll ask someone to hurry up. Go and call your brother-in-law back, they are clearing away weeds in the dry land on the other side of the mountain!"

With that said, Village Chief Fang quickly led the two of them to his home, and asked his two grandsons to call Fang Chenghai and his wife back.

Qiao Ran tied the carriage at the gate of Fang Chenghai's courtyard and followed to the village chief's house.

Village Chief Fang's home is also a mud-brick thatched house, but the yard is quite large. There are two houses on each side of the main hall, and there are three or four houses built side by side outside. It seems that the family population is not small.

Village Chief Fang asked his wife to take out the tea leaves that he had collected for a long time, and poured two cups of tea for the two of them in coarse porcelain teacups.

There is also a charcoal pot burning in the house, but it is obviously half-burned charcoal taken from the stove at home. When it is lit, it smokes so much that it makes people choke and can almost close their eyes. It is similar to the kind used by people in Qingshui Village. Smokeless and odorless charcoal is completely different.

Qiao Ran only sat for a while, then walked out of the living room on the pretext of looking around.

She walked to the entrance of the courtyard and was about to walk around when she saw two people running hurriedly not far away. Behind them, there were two children following in the distance.

Seeing the surprised and anxious expressions on the faces of the man and the woman, Qiao Ran guessed that they were Sun Xiucai's sister and brother-in-law, and quickly stood aside.

At this time, the two of them wanted to see Sun Xiucai in a hurry. When they saw someone standing at the door of Village Chief Fang's house, they thought it was the coachman hired by Sun Xiucai. They didn't have time to greet her, so they just nodded to her in a hurry and rushed to her. Entered the courtyard of Fang Village Chief’s house.

Qiao Ran also followed and walked in again.

Ms. Fang Sun rushed into the main room, and when she saw that it was her brother who was looking for her, she rushed forward in surprise, took her brother and looked around, and finally said with heartache while wiping her tears:

"Yuanzhi, I haven't seen you for a few years, but you have lost so much weight! It's true that you don't have anyone to take care of you. You refused to come to my sister's house to live with you, which makes my sister very worried!"

Sun Xiucai quickly comforted his sister, saying that he had not lost much weight and his body was still fine! On the other hand, my brother-in-law, whom I haven’t seen for a few years, seems to be much older.

Fang Chenghai sighed: "Alas! The harvest has not been good in the past two years. We can only open up more land and plant more land so that we can harvest more food. However, we country people are prone to aging in appearance, but our bodies and bones are still good. Here we are! If you move here and we can take care of each other, your sister won't have to worry about you all the time."

Sun Xiucai quickly explained his purpose of coming: "Sister, brother-in-law, I have now found a job in Qingshui Village on the outskirts of Beijing. I am a tutor for their village school. Lisheng recommended me to this job. Yeah! From now on, when I can make money, I will be responsible for Lisheng's cultivation!"

"How can this be done? You live alone, are still sick, and often need to take medicine. I am relieved that you can take care of yourself. How can I let you be responsible for Lisheng's cultivation? You keep your money yourself, I You and your brother-in-law will work hard to increase the number of lands, and we can still afford Lisheng's Shu Xiu."

Fang Sunshi quickly refused.

She was very happy for her brother if he could find a good job to support himself, and she would not have to worry about him not telling them that he had no money.

Over the years, she also asked someone to bring money to her brother several times, but her brother refused to accept it every time, and even added a few hundred more coins to have someone bring it back to them.

After a few times, she had no choice but to stop giving money to her brother. She just hoped to bring him to Fangjiacun so that she could take better care of him by her side.

But she didn't expect that her younger brother could actually find a job with her husband in the suburbs of Beijing. Although she couldn't move to Fangjia Village, it was still close. She could also visit her brother from time to time to see if he was doing well.

"Qingshui Village on the outskirts of Beijing? Where is it? I don't think I've ever heard of this village."

Village Chief Fang suddenly interrupted.