Lin Bin, Zhou Pu and others walked to Zhao Hu's house in the west of the village.

Zhao Hu is the eldest in the family, and there are three younger siblings below, all of whom have grown up one after another, and the old house has only three grass houses and built a squatter house and livestock shed, which is not enough to live for a family. Three rooms, are all blue brick houses, new paste window paper, doors and windows purlin beams are still wafting the fragrance of tung oil, there is a drying field in front of the house, and there is a vegetable furrow and chicken and duck liao and kennel in the corner of the yard. The earth dog raised by Zhao Hu sniffed the smell of people, rushed out of the kennel in the corner of the yard, barked at Zhou Pu and Chen Enze, kicked Zhao Hu, and screamed sadly and picked up his butt and pressed against Zhao Hu's feet to please.

The whole yard is half an acre in size, although it cannot be compared with those rich and noble families in the east of the village, the new yard is also quite eye-catching in the west of the village. When the yard was first built, Lin Jian and Lin Jingzhong also joked with Zhao Hu that they could get a good daughter-in-law just by relying on this house.

"Brother Huzi is the daughter of the old man Guo's family in Xialin Village, Hongying, you go to Jiangning to catch the exam, and the aunt will ask someone to say goodbye, and that side also has this meaning, but Brother Huzi drove over the township camp a month ago, and he regretted not talking about it over there." Lin Jingzhong talked about Zhao Hu's sadness.

Zhao Hu didn't care, and said, "What do you mean I'm in love?" It's all my mother's blind worries, not to mention pulling down, I still think his daughter has pockmarks on her face. ”

Lin Jingzhong said that this girl, Lin Jian has also seen it, there are a few white pockmarks on her face, but it is not obvious, or it looks more playful, although it can't be compared with Su Mei, Xiaoman or Seventh Lady, she is also a handsome girl.

Lin Jian knew that Zhao Hu had a hard mouth, slapped his shoulder, and said, "Is the girl interesting to you?" Do you want me to ask the Seventh Lady to help you find Old Man Guo's house again? ”

Lin Jingzhong also felt that Lin Tie's return this trip was a little different from before, in the past, Lin Tie would never take the initiative to take Zhao Hu's affairs on himself, not that the relationship between the three of them was not good, but that Lin Tie was naturally weak, timid and afraid of things, and he was afraid to ask for his own affairs, so how could he take other people's affairs on his body? Just now, Lin Jian refused the kindness of the Seventh Lady to arrange Zhou Pu's uncle and nephew on the street, which would not have happened before. Lin Jing Center thought: Maybe it was because he was admitted to the exam, and Lin Jian also felt that his identity and status were very different from before, and there was no need to be afraid of what to do; Maybe it was the encounter with bandits in October that made him see the world.

Zhao Hu couldn't think of it so carefully, and when he heard that Lin Tie was going to beg the Seventh Lady to tell him about his family affairs, he was a little shy, and said: "What do you say about this, settle down first, and find a place to drink," in the end, thinking that Lin Tie was a lifter in the new examination, he let Lin Tie live alone in the east wing, "If you sleep here, you will trouble Brother Zhou or the little guy to squeeze the west wing room with me," shouted into the courtyard of the old mansion next door, "Meizi, Meizi, your Xiucai brother is back, live with me for the time being, you come over and help clean up the ......"

Lin Lian said that he and Zhou Pu and Chen Enze squeezed the west wing, how could they occupy the magpie's nest.

Chen Hu insisted: "You will be a master in the future, no matter how familiar we are, we can't break the rules." ”

Lin Jian sighed slightly in his heart, and he didn't know if it was good to insist or not to insist on it.

Zhao Hu's sister Chunmei is a well-behaved girl, her skin is a little dark, she looked at it from the half-height courtyard wall, and she was still holding an embroidered cloth in her hand, and when she saw Lin Jian and others standing in the courtyard, she said happily: "It's really Brother Xiucai is back!" My brother just asked someone to send a letter to my mother to see Mrs. Seven, saying that you are back, but I still don't believe it...... You're going to live in my house first, huh? You wait, I'll come and help you clean up the house. ”

At this moment, someone outside the courtyard shouted: "Zhao Hu, Zhao Hu, Lin Xiucai and others are not here?" ”

Lin Tie and Zhao Hu walked to the courtyard wall, and saw a young man in an evergreen coat walking in the distance, one foot deep and one foot shallow from Tian Qitou, he saw Lin Tie and Zhao Hu poking their heads out, and said from a distance: "Xiucai, I can find you, the master heard that you are back, please go over, I chased from the end of the village to the west of the village, I knew that I was going to walk this way, so I led a horse out......"

This young man's name is Gu Changshun, and he is a close confidant of Lin Tingxun, the head of the Lin family.

"You follow Changshun to see the master first," Zhao Hu said, "We'll clean up the room, and Brother Zhou will also be entertained by us." Lin Jingzhong said that Lin Lian's return alive was a big deal for Shanglin Village and the Lin family, and it was no wonder that the head of the family hurriedly came over to summon him to meet when he heard the news.

"Don't clean up the room. When I came out to report the news, the lord didn't know that Lin Xiucai had decided to give the house to Lin Guisheng's family to live in, but the lord said that Xiucai had passed the exam, so why couldn't he live in the broken kiln house at the end of the village, there was a house in Nanxi Plateau that was empty, and the lord had already asked people to clean it up," Gu Changshun said, and patted his mouth again, "Look at me, I still call you Xiucai, Xiucai, if you should be called a man," he said this, and arched his hand towards Zhou Pu, and said, "This is the Zhou Ye who helped Lin Xiucai?" My lord also asked Master Zhou to come over and thank him in person. What kind of luggage, please Zhao Hu and Xiao Wu send Nanxi Yuanzi directly, and Gui Niang is there to help pack it. ”

Although Lin Jingzhong is also a child of the Lin family, after all, he is a side branch, and he failed to gain fame, he only works as an account in the warehouse, and his status in the Lin family cannot be compared with Lin Tingxun's cronies, Gu Changshun is also very smooth to call him up; Although there is some dissatisfaction in the Linjing Center, it will not be shown.

In the past, Lin Jian would definitely be flattered and ecstatic, and he would immediately get carried away and follow Gu Changshun to the mansion and run to Lin Tingxun to thank him.

In Shiliang County, there are many mountain villagers who don't know Liang Zuoren in Zhixian County, but there are very few people who don't know Lin Tingxun, the head of the Lin family. In the past 20 years, Lin Tingxun has been the owner of this land, and every time he goes to the new Shiliang County magistrate, the first thing he does is not to ask about the people's livelihood, but to hand over a post to the forest house to pay respects. As soon as Lin Tie came back, Lin Tingxun wanted to see him, and let him move into the house at the head of the village to live, in Shiliang County, in Shanglin Village, and in the Lin family, what an honor it should be.

Lin Jingzhong didn't care about what Gu Changshun sent him to do, and he was happy for Lin Jian with Zhao Hu on the side: "Look at it, as soon as you come back, something good will come to your door immediately-the house in Nanxi Plateau is really exquisite and beautiful." The second son took a concubine and planned to settle there, but the woman drove the second young lady out of Shanglin Village, and the house was always empty, I didn't expect the family to let you live in it - the family will definitely be more important to you in the future. ”

Lin Jian knew that the house in Nanxi Yuanzi was not big, but the garden was very exquisite, he had passed there before, and he had fantasized about when he could live in such a house and have no regrets in this life. However, when Lin Tingxun handed over this house to his eyes, Lin Jian didn't have any special feelings in his heart at all, he calmly looked at Gu Changshun in front of him, twenty-seven or eighteen years old, thin and thin, but he stood there respectfully with a shrewd face, no one thought that before he went to Jiangning to participate in the township test, Gu Changshun's attitude towards him was no more polite than that of him to Lin Jingzhong.

"Don't be so troublesome, it's good for me to borrow Zhao Hu's house, Zhao Hu doesn't like to add three more pairs of dishes and chopsticks, you wait for us for a while, these are cleaned up a little, and I will go with you to meet the master." Lin Jian said lightly.

Gu Changshun, Lin Jingzhong, and Zhao Hu changed their complexions when they heard this; Zhou Pu smiled, and pulled Chen Enze to take the package in and pack it up, this kind of thing, he couldn't interfere at all.

Gu Changshun's face became ugly, he didn't expect Lin Jian to refuse the master's kindness at all, and he didn't know what to say when he was stunned; Lin Jingzhong and Zhao Hu didn't know what medicine Lin Jian had taken wrong.

In front of Gu Changshun, Lin Jingzhong desperately squeezed Lin Bin's eyes, Zhao Hu directly pulled Lin Jian aside and suppressed his voice: "You didn't take any wrong medicine, right, where can my kennel compare to the house of Nanxi Yuanzi?" Are you worried that I will be uncomfortable with Jingzhong, don't worry, we will only be happy for you! ”

"I have my own plans to come back this time," Lin Jian comforted Zhao Hu and Lin Jingzhong, not planning to let Lin Tingxun's cronie Gu Changshun hear anything, and spoke in a low voice, "I'll take Brother Zhou to see the head of the family first, and I'll come back later to talk to you in detail......

Zhao Hu and Lin Jingzhong didn't know what Lin Tie had in mind, they never thought that Lin Tie could have any opinions, seeing Lin Tie's resolute attitude, they were very anxious, and they took his hand and wanted to go into the house to explain things clearly to him, lest he say the wrong thing when he went to see the head of the house, and good things would become bad things.

To change other people's impression of themselves is not something that can be done overnight, Zhao Hu and Lin Jingzhong are also kind, Lin Jian can only smile helplessly, and say to Gu Changshun: "Please wait in the courtyard for a while......" and entered the room with Zhao Hu and Lin Jingzhong first.

When he entered the room, seeing that Zhao Hu and Lin Jingzhong were eager to persuade themselves not to do stupid things, Lin Jian said with a smile: "Where will Lin Tingxun be good to me for no reason?" It's just to see that I am a person in the exam, and it is still somewhat useful, so I will give some benefits, and I hope that I will honestly be a chess piece in my family's hands in the future......"

"How many people do you know who would love to be pawns for their own family?" Lin Jingzhong anxiously persuaded, "Brother Huzi drove out the township camp, don't you look at Brother Huzi's face full of indifference, and regret it in his heart - isn't the entire township camp a chess piece in the hands of his family?" Although you can get a half-official position in the county, but you don't have the relationship of your own family to help you move around, even if your quota is registered, it won't be until the Year of the Monkey that it will be your turn? In the past two years, I have been working in the warehouse, and I can see it clearly, and I have accepted my fate! You said that you, who are usually sloppy and sloppy, why did you get high in your bones when you came back this time? He thought of something, his eyes lit up, he grabbed Lin Lian's shoulder excitedly, and asked, "Do you want to enter Yanjing to take the exam?" ”

Although the person in the examination has the qualification to be an official, he has to report to the Xuanfu Envoy Yamen, waiting for the vacancy to be filled, and waiting for a few years to be lucky to fill the real vacancy, usually just a local petty official. The promotion channel for officials from a high background is very narrow, and if they can mix in Qipinzhi County before they get old, they can already be regarded as smoking on the ancestral grave. There are also many people who have been mixed for half their lives and can't mix with an official and a half-job, but with fame, they are also a gentry in the local area, not only have classmates and connections in the officialdom in the same year, but also have many privileges in politics, culture and economy, and with their connections and these privileges, they can also be rich for half a lifetime. However, no matter whether they are officials or not, they have to fight in the local area, and they cannot confront the local wealthy families, and even the vast majority of them will take the initiative to protect the local wealthy families and collude with each other.

Lin Jian was originally a member of the Lin family, even if he had suffered the cold eyes of his family before, didn't everything have to look forward? Lin Jingzhong has been much more pragmatic in the past two years, and he knows that even if Lin Tie is promoted in the exam, if he wants to gain a foothold in Shiliang County, he still has to look at the face of his family, unless Lin Tie is determined to go to Yanjing to take the exam.