Bai Shan and the others stayed for lunch and drank a cup of tea with their husband before saying goodbye and leaving.

Today is New Year's Eve, so they must have had dinner early. Even if there is nothing they need to be busy with at home, it is hard for them to come back late, so Mr. Zhuang did not keep them much longer. He sent them to the door to watch them leave and then turned around.

Within a few days, the grandchildren became familiar with Mr. Zhuang again. They had nothing to do during the New Year holiday, so they stayed in the study together with their grandfather.

In fact, they were just playing by themselves, and Mr. Zhuang did not disturb them. He took a book and sat on the chair and fell asleep.

Zhuang Dalang came in, found an excuse to send the three children out, and then picked up the teapot from the stove to make tea for his father.

Mr. Zhuang squinted for a while and was awakened by the aroma of tea. He raised his head and glanced at his son. After sitting down, he asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhuang Dalang hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Dad, when Ji An is old enough, he wants to kiss you."

Mr. Zhuang nodded, "You're not young anymore, you can get ready."

Zhuang Dalang opened his mouth, and the next words were easy to say. He sat down and looked at his father and said, "What do you think of Zhou Man?"

Mr. Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Manbao is naturally excellent, but they are not suitable."

Zhuang Dalang frowned slightly, and Mr. Zhuang said: "Her marriage has been settled, and it should be settled soon."

Zhuang Dalang felt a little disappointed when he heard this, but he still smiled and asked: "Whose family is so lucky?"

Mr. Zhuang said: "That's her junior brother Bai Shan."

Zhuang Dalang was slightly surprised. The two family backgrounds were quite different. How could the Bai family be willing?

He looked at his father, "Is your father the matchmaker?"

Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly and said: "If the two families are interested, I can be the matchmaker. This will become a good story."

Zhuang Dalang understood that this was the intention of the two families and they had negotiated among themselves.

Mr. Zhuang picked up the tea cup and took a sip. He lowered his eyes and said, "I have read it. Although Ji An's education is average, it would be good to study for a few more years and take the arithmetic exam."

After graduating from the arithmetic department, you can go directly to the county government office to do errands. If you do well, you can be promoted to chief bookkeeper. This is much better than being an accountant.

The Zhang family where Zhuang Dalang is now is the head family of Master Zhang.

Zhuang Dalang said: "The chief bookkeeper of Luojiang County for twenty years has been the Zhang family. Dad, there is no one in our family. The benefits of Ji An's entry into the officialdom will not fall on him, but all the disadvantages may fall on him."

That's not what they say. People always have some ambitions. How can we hesitate to move forward because of something that has never happened?

But Mr. Zhuang opened his mouth, but he still didn't say this. When Zhuang Jian was born, before he took Master Bai to open a school in Qili Village, the father and son had a lot of quarrels over this.

He had often mentioned this principle when he was a boy, but Zhuang Dalang obviously had his own understanding.

Just as Zhuang Dalang couldn't understand him, he also couldn't understand his son's thoughts.

But later his old wife told him that everyone is different, and he cannot force his son to be the same as him. If he cannot be convinced, then he must learn to let go and let him go on his own.

Life is lived by oneself.

Mr. Zhuang knows that he has experienced a lot since he was a child, and stability is his greatest pursuit.

When Mr. Zhuang's place was taken by Chen Fulin, Zhuang Dalang was still too young, only over three years old. Even if he remembered early, he didn't remember much. He only knew that he was quite happy every day. His mother loved to lead him out in the alley.

, when I came back, I would see a candied haws-lub seller in the alley and buy him a bunch.

That should be the most stable period of time deep in his memory.

It was still Chinese New Year, and there was a lot of fuss about Mr. Zhuang being expelled from the school. The children who used to play with him in the alley no longer liked playing with him, and even pushed and hit him.

However, such days were short. They returned to their hometown soon, but they did not feel stable for long. Mr. Zhuang was very confident in himself, so he sold the remaining land at home and took his wife and children to Beijing to take the exams.

That time, they went with the idea of ​​staying in the capital.

Mr. Zhuang told his wife at that time that even if he really failed to pass the exam, he would find a job in the capital and stay.

At that time, the whole family was very confident, including Zhuang Dalang, who had become somewhat sensible. He was also very happy, thinking that his father could do it.

As a result, they left the capital in an even more embarrassing state.

Mr. Zhuang did not take them back to their hometown. Chen Fulin's foundation was too close to Mianzhou, and their return would be tantamount to committing suicide.

But their family's savings were almost spent in the capital. Mr. Zhuang suffered successive blows, and out of grief and anger, he fell ill on the road.

Not to mention Zhuang Dalang, even Mr. Zhuang will never forget those difficult days. He always felt that the reason why his wife died of illness early had a lot to do with that period of time.

Obviously, Zhuang Dalang thinks so too.

At that time, Dalang Zhuang was just over five years old. Mr. Zhuang fell ill and the family of three could not even afford to rent a house, so they had to temporarily settle down in a dilapidated temple.

Zhuang's mother went out to do the laundry every day. The money she earned not only feeds the family of three, but also buys medicine for Mr. Zhuang.

After the family got through the most difficult days, Mr. Zhuang became so thin that his clothes could hardly hang on his clothes, so he went to work as an accountant.

Life gradually got better, and after two years of stability, Mr. Zhuang thought about making a comeback, so he resigned from his accounting job.

He was already like that. It was difficult for him to continue his studies or to be an official. He could only work as a staff member for officials. In the future, he might be recommended to become an official. Even if he didn't become an official, it would be enough if he could wash away his grievances.

It is impossible to say that Mr. Zhuang does not feel resentful for being wronged in vain.

But it was a good thing that he didn't get involved in official matters. Once he got involved in official matters, his luck seemed to be very bad. He worked as an aide to two officials. In the last one, he even single-handedly helped people from the county magistrate to the position of Sima.

However, there was a disagreement about ideas halfway and he was expelled again.

The banker's life has become difficult again.

In Zhuang Dalang's memory, from the time he could remember to the age of fourteen, his life had always been unstable. Even during the time when his father was working as an aide and seemed to be highly valued, he had been ostracized in private.

.

Especially after his father's past was revealed by someone unknown.

In the school, the eldest son of Mr. Tong, whose father was loyal to him, kept looking at him with a look of disdain. He did not betray anyone at all and said directly to his classmates in front of him, "His father was expelled from the school because of his bad conduct.

I heard that when I was in the capital, I plagiarized my classmates' poems. If someone hadn't recommended me, my father would never have hired such a person, but it was just doing odd jobs and giving them a bowl of rice."

Zhou Dalang looked back on his entire childhood and adolescence. He felt that except for the less obvious time in his childhood, only the two years when his father worked as a bookkeeper did he live the most safely and happily.

So after returning to his hometown, he rejected his father's suggestion to take the exam and insisted on working as an accountant.

He feels that if you don’t have a foundation, then you shouldn’t touch officialdom.
Chapter completed!