The two of them arrived in Shanghai that day and lived in Yuji Silk Inn.Gu Yingchun got the letter and came to meet him.Seeing that Hu Xueyan was a little shy, he naturally would not mention Grandma Qigu on such an occasion, first listen to Gu Yingchun talk about the market situation in Shanghai, the price of silk has risen, and because of Pang Er's support, everyone is of one mind , up for grabs, but the foreigners seem to be very good at it, and they do everything possible to go to the inland to collect the silk, and then transport it to Shanghai for distribution abroad. "Of course this situation will not last long. First, it will take a lot of time. Second, the cost is not light. Third, the Liangjiang governor's yamen has issued a notice. In order to maintain prestige, troops will naturally be sent to check the checkpoints. It is strictly forbidden to enter the checkpoints. According to me Look," Gu Yingchun said excitedly, "foreigners are about to give in. You came at the right time."

Hu Xueyan felt relieved after hearing this report.However, there are a lot of things to do on this trip, and they should be done in order of priority.The first thing to inquire about is He Guiqing's whereabouts. "I don't know!" Gu Yingchun said, "The school is going to various prefectures and states to take the examination for talents last year. I don't know where it is at the moment. But I can always find out. Leave this matter to me." "Not just to inquire, there is an urgent letter that needs to be delivered by someone." "That's easy. Just give me the letter."

This matter has been explained, and the second thing is to talk about Zhejiang's purchase of foreign guns.After receiving Hu Xueyan's letter, Gu Yingchun had already made preliminary contact, but the foreigner went to Ningbo, and it would take a few days before he could return to Shanghai, so he had to wait for now. Now that we've talked about the two most urgent things, it's time to talk about Grandma Qigu.On the way, Hu Xueyan had already discussed with You Wu that he had to avoid it at this time, so he gave him a wink, and You Wu made an excuse to find a friend, stood up, and prepared to go out.

"Fifth Brother," Gu Yingchun said, "I'll take the wind for Lao Hu, and we'll go eat fancier together." "What's so delicious about fan vegetables? I don't think it's troublesome to use knives and forks, so go!" Watching his back disappear, Hu Xueyan smiled and said: "Old Gu, you can hide it from me!" After saying this, Gu Yingchun immediately became anxious, "Are you talking about Seventh Sister? If I want to hide it from you, it means that I'm not enough friends." He said angrily, "If you don't forgive me, I will have no way out. gone!"

"Don't rush, don't rush! You tell me slowly, and we can figure out a way together. I don't believe that I can't be a matchmaker." Hearing these two sentences, Gu Yingchun was greatly relieved, "I was afraid that I would not be able to explain clearly in the letter, and also thought that you would come soon, so I simply didn't say anything. I wanted to wait for you to come and be my military advisor." Gu Yingchun said, "This matter has come to such an extent, you don't know how anxious I am. It's really a comparison—" He swallowed his saliva and couldn't continue.

"What is it like?" Hu Xueyan asked, "If you use an analogy, I can see where your difficulties lie." "I'm like a 'ghost hitting the wall', I don't know how it came to be like this." Hu Xueyan said with a smile: "Alcohol can mess with sex, and I meet someone I always like, and I put raw rice in the pot, but the rice is not cooked, it's really anxious!" "Yes, yes!" Gu Yingchun clapped his palms and praised, "Your analogy is really good. Let me tell you something from my heart. When I go to her place, I will be greedy in my eyes and hungry in my stomach. If I can't reach my mouth, I will be afraid of it." What's more, it's not cooked rice!"

"What? Really since that night, have you ever had a 'good' relationship with Seventh Sister?" Hu Xueyan thought of You Wu's words, saying that Grandma Qigu had told him that Gu Yingchun had never stayed overnight with her, and now hearing him say so, he couldn't help feeling suspicious.He knew the temper of a man, and Grandma Qigu was bold and unrestrained, she didn't care about anything. With the "good thing" that night, it seemed unreasonable why the mandarin couple did not continue. They are very familiar with each other and talk about everything. When it comes to the boudoir, although it is not moral, but in Qigu's grandma's situation, she is not considered an "abrupt beauty", so Hu Xueyan laughed and said: "Dry firewood is only burned once. This is kind of weird!"

"To put it bluntly, you don't think it's strange. I did it for two reasons: first, since you plan to marry the medium, you should respect Seventh Sister. That night, as you said, 'alcohol can mess with sex', it's another matter; second Two, there are still twists and turns in the marriage, and the consequences are hard to predict. If it doesn't work out, not to mention I'm sorry to Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother, even my own conscience is also uneasy. If there are people who don't know the inside story, they will definitely say that I have always been chaotic and abandoned. , there are the most gossiping people in the foreign market, if I have such a reputation outside, then I don’t know how unbearable people say about me!”

As soon as this remark came out, Hu Xueyan was in awe, "Old Gu," he restrained his smile, and said something that comforted Gu Yingchun, "With your intentions, the marriage will not fail. It's still early, we Go see Seventh Sister first." Gu Yingchun pondered for a while, and replied: "Then simply go to her place for dinner. We still have food at home today." With such a tone, it seems that Gu Yingchun and Grandma Qigu are already like a couple, they only owe each other a good dream.At the same time, it can be heard that his relationship with her is not bad.A couple is good for both, it's a matter of course, but "Cheng Yaojin" talks about family law, it's really hateful!

Hu Xueyan felt unconvinced, and immediately patted his chest and said: "Old Gu, don't worry! That old patriarch of yours, let me deal with him." "Come on, old Hu!" Gu Yingchun said anxiously, "That's one of my great-uncles who taught my father to read. You must not be reckless, but tell me how you deal with it." '?" "The word 'deal with' doesn't sound very pleasant to me. In fact, I'm not trying to make him 'defeated', but trying to make him docile." "That's right." Gu Yingchun asked happily, "Quickly tell me, it will make me very happy!"

"It's not the time to be happy at this moment, so I can only say that I don't worry. Things need to be considered, there is a way, but I need to talk to Seventh Sister first." "When will we talk? Do you want me to avoid it?" "It's best to avoid it." "That's it. After I go with you, I'll go to a foreign restaurant to buy some game, and you can talk there." After such an agreement, Gu Yingchun hired a "Hensmey" carriage and went to Grandma Seven's apartment on Qipan Street.As soon as we met, Grandma Qigu was overjoyed. "Uncle," she said, "after Lao Gu left last night, I made a tooth card, counting that a noble person will arrive today, and it turns out that you are here! The real life-saving Bodhisattva!" Then He glanced at Gu Yingchun again and said, "It's all because of their bad surnames! Meeting such a bull-tempered old 'gu', really makes me so angry that my stomach will lose my temper." "Don't be angry, don't be angry! As long as you are willing to listen to me, your surname is Gu!" Hearing this, Gu Yingchun stood up, followed the pre-discussed steps, excused himself to go to a foreigner's restaurant to buy game, and left his seat. As soon as he left, Grandma Qigu's attitude changed. In front of Gu Yingchun, she showed no concern because of her strong temper, but now when she was alone with Hu Xueyan, it was as if she had really met her own uncle. Comparing her grievance and panic with her usual heroic and carefree demeanor, it is unbelievable that they are the same person. "Uncle," she said in a slightly crying voice, "Look at me, what should I do if I can't get up or down? I have to strive for success in my life, but I have such a thing that I can't get up with! So I don't go back to Songjiang very much. It's really embarrassing to face people. Uncle, you have to find a way for me no matter what. " "Don't worry! There must be a solution." Hu Xueyan asked cautiously, "I need to find out. Is it because your relationship is inseparable, or is it just to save face?" "Both!" Grandma Qigu replied, "When it comes to saving face, women always suffer. Alas! It's also my own fault. I hurt myself by playing with flower guns." Hu Xueyan was the best at listening to people's voices, and when he heard the words, he immediately asked, "What kind of flower gun are you playing?" When asked this question, her expression was very strange, funny, proud, shy and regretful, mixed together, even a person like Hu Xueyan, who is good at distinguishing appearances and colors, couldn't guess what kind of medicine she was selling in her gourd. "What?" Hu Xueyan said deliberately, "It's fine if you can't say it!" "The words can be spoken, I'm afraid—I'm afraid my uncle won't believe it." "You don't need to worry about this. It's not that I'm bragging. Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with it. People say that whether it's true or false, how much it is true, and how false it is, you can't hide it from me." "I believe it." Grandma Qigu's expression changed again, becoming sincere, "I really have to tell my uncle about this, and I won't even say it to my fifth sister-in-law. Say it, She must be blaming me, but I'll ask my little grandpa first, what do people say about me?" "Outside? Where is there outside! I only heard my fifth brother tell me." "What did he say?" How can you say something like "Alcohol can mess with sex"?Hu Xueyan thought for a while, and then replied: "Fifth brother said, this matter is not to blame on Gu." Although the words were reserved, Grandma Qigu understood immediately, "Of course it's my fault! It seems to be self-deprecating, God is above," she said, "There is really no such thing!" "Nothing happened?" Hu Xueyan was stunned. This question, even a person like Grandma Qigu who speaks out loud, can't help but blush. She straightened her face, lowered her eyebrows and replied: "Young uncle is my elder, so it doesn't hinder my mouth when I say it. Until today, Lao Gu has never touched my body." "So that's what happened!" Hu Xueyan became more and more confused, "Then, how did 'that thing' come about?" "It's my fault." "Why?" "Why!" Grandma Qigu raised her face at this moment, "Don't tell me you don't even understand 'Bachelor Linglongxin' like you?" Think about it and you'll understand.It must be that Grandma Qigu was afraid that Gu Yingchun would change her mind and got him drunk on purpose, relying on him to have a physical relationship, so Gu Yingchun had to agree to marry her out of responsibility and conscience. Even Hu Xueyan could not have dreamed of this method.Grandma Qigu's behavior is different from that of ordinary women, and it is fully manifested in this method.Thinking about how well-intentioned she is, and she dared to make such a bold plan, I can't help but admire her! However, the friendship is deep, and Hu Xueyan really treats her as her own sister, so apart from admiration, there is more dissatisfaction, "You can really figure it out!" He said, "Don't talk about Fifth Sister-in-law, I will blame you too! Boss Gu has a conscience. What he told me is a real gentleman. If Gu doesn’t have shoulder blades, don’t you mean ‘I don’t have shoes, so I’m going to fall down first’? Good people, with such a reputation on the outside, you I don't care about it, causing Fifth Brother to walk out with no glory on his face. Think about it, is it worth it?" These words made Grandma Qigu feel regretful and extremely uneasy, "Ah yo!" She rubbed her hands together, breathed in and said, "Uncle, you reminded me! I didn't expect that it would bring down Fifth Brother! This! What to do about this?" Hu Xueyan had never seen her anxious look before, and Yu Xin couldn't bear it, so he hurriedly wanted to comfort her, but he had an idea, and felt that Grandma Qigu was not afraid of the sky, the earth, and would not be persuaded by others. Live to teach her a "lesson". So, he became even more stern, "Seventh Sister," his voice was calm, but also very serious, "I'm not saying that you only care about your own happiness when you do things, and don't think about others. Like this kind of self-destructive reputation The way you do it will ruin the reputation of your You family, and the old lady will feel sad in the underground. Your temper really needs to change." When mentioning her parents, Grandma Qigu's conscience was blamed more and more, she blushed and burst into tears, she only looked at Hu Xueyan begging for forgiveness and help. "A woman is always a woman!" Hu Xueyan said in a sincere and soft voice, "A woman's ability depends on the place. What a man can't do by nature, a woman can do it. This is the real ability. If you are as capable as a man, Only by marrying a useless husband can you show your strengths, otherwise, there will never be good results. Why, a husband with backbone can tolerate everything, but he can't tolerate his wife stabbing him in the outfield face!" Grandma Qigu was silent, not because she had nothing to say, but she felt that the people she met always praised her for being capable and capable, either complimenting her as a "female husband", or saying that she was more effective than a man. Hu Xueyan said that she It’s the first time I’ve heard it, so you have to think about it carefully. Thinking about it is like eating an olive. , only you know.When the lonely lamp is alone and the blanket is cold and the pillow is alone, the loud voice of "Seventh Sister, Seventh Sister" on the scene is useless. What I think about is my husband and children. Famous. "People have men and women, just like heaven and earth have yin and yang, and all things have hardness and softness. If women are like men, then there is only yang but not yin, only rigid but not soft, what kind of world is it? Besides, a husband and wife are both masculine. , how do you get it together? Seventh sister, are you right about what I said?" Asked by name, Grandma Qigu naturally wouldn't be silent anymore, and replied: "That's right! This is the first time I've heard what my grandpa said. If someone had told me this earlier, I wouldn't be like this now." temper." "It's still too late to change it now." Hu Xueyan also answered very quickly. "It's easy to change the country, but it's hard to change the nature." Grandma Qigu paused and said, "I'll give it a try." "Yes! As long as you have the determination to fight for your breath, you can definitely change it. If you can't change it—" Hu Xueyan intentionally stopped talking. Of course Grandma Qigu wanted to ask: "What will happen if you can't change it?" "Can't you change it? Let me be honest, you don't have to marry Gu Gu. If you marry him, you won't be able to match your temperament." She felt that this sentence was too much, but it was inconvenient to argue, so she had no choice but to not answer. "You don't believe me, do you?" "It's not that I don't believe my uncle's words." Qigu's grandma rushed to say, "Old Gu also comes and goes often, he didn't say anything!" "I know." Hu Xueyan replied calmly, "One, everyone should be polite at this time; two, both men and women will change their minds if they are not married or after they are married! What Lao Gu values ​​is your heart. Okay, you have a bold temper. Don't turn your strengths into weaknesses, but turn your weaknesses into strengths." Grandma Qigu admired these two sentences: "Young grandpa and uncle are very knowledgeable in these two sentences, I want to listen to them!" "That's right. If you are willing to listen to me, I will naturally intervene in your affairs. Otherwise, you will be scolded as a matchmaker, so why do you do it?" Hu Xueyan then asked, "Seventh sister, let me ask you first, are you willing to do it?" Don't want to change your last name?" "Change your surname?" Grandma Qigu asked with her eyes wide open, "What surname did you change? Why?" "This surname, of course, does not insult you. Oh," Hu Xueyan suddenly remembered something, and asked hastily, "I have another important question to ask you, has the old patriarch of the Gu family seen you?" "No. I haven't seen anyone from their Gu family." "That's good! It must succeed. I must use this trick of mine." Hu Xueyan's plan was to let Wang Youling recognize Qigu's grandma as a younger sister, not to mention a righteous brother and sister, so he changed his surname to Wang.As a result, the old patriarch of the Gu family looked at the magistrate's face, even if he really knew the truth, he was too embarrassed to refuse, not to mention that since he had never met, it was easy to hide it from him. Grandma Qigu laughed from ear to ear, "Uncle!" she said, "You are really Zhuge Liang, even if the old man of the Gu family is Cao Cao, it is still in your hands. But," she suddenly frowned and smiled. Gradually, "What is the identity of Mr. Wang, and what is my identity? How can I get so high?" "You don't have to worry about it, leave it to me." "Also," Grandma Qigu said again, "I don't know what Fifth Brother means?" "For your own good, Fifth Brother will agree to everything, and this is also on me." Grandma Qigu thought about it for a while, and thought it over and over again. There was nothing that would not work, but only a little concern: Do I look like the aunt of the magistrate's family? After thinking about it this way, she made up her mind again, "I must change it!" she said, "I want to look like an official lady!" "Yes! This is true." At this moment, only the sound of the rumbling carriage approaching from a distance, Grandma Qigu was used to this sound, she said: "Old Gu is back!" Then she opened the curtain and stared. Hu Xueyan also stood up to look, only to see two figures appearing in the twilight, one could be vaguely distinguished, one was Gu Yingchun and the other was You Wu.Waiting to go upstairs to have a look, it is really good.When Gu Yingchun handed over a large package of game such as smoked quail to Grandma Qigu, he couldn't help but stare at her intently. "How is it?" He saw that her eyebrows were stretched, and the depression that had been faintly present for so many days was swept away, so he asked, "What good idea did Lao Hu come up with?" Even You Wu's spirit was lifted by this question, and he looked around from side to side. From Hu Xueyan, he saw his sister's face, showing a look of eagerness to understand. This moved Grandma Qigu very much.She always thought that You Wu didn't care about her troubles, and didn't come to see her often. It was a deliberate expression of indifference, and she was quite dissatisfied in her heart. Only now did she know how concerned he was!Therefore, she was reserved and cautious instead, "Please tell me, my little uncle." She said, "I have to ask Brother Wu about this matter." After speaking, she went downstairs gracefully and went to the kitchen. So, Hu Xueyan explained his method for them.Gu Yingchun was very excited, but You Wu was relatively calm, and the opinions expressed were exactly what Grandma Qigu had worried about. "I know the friendship between Mr. Wang and you. If we say it, it will be successful. But we have to look in the mirror ourselves. Even if we have climbed to the top, Mr. Wang will not dislike it. Others will gossip." "Fifth brother, I don't admire what you say." Hu Xueyan said bluntly, "Are you the kind of person who is afraid of others' opinions and gossip?" You Wu looked ashamed, "I'm a man, to tell the truth," he said, "I've been a little afraid of things these two years. As the saying goes: 'After the first three years, the world will win, and after another three years, it will be difficult to move an inch.' I think about those two words a lot now.” Hu and Gu were silent, because they didn't know if You Wu meant anything, and they thought it was better to keep silent. "Let's not talk about it. Just follow my uncle's method. Please tell my uncle how I should prepare in terms of etiquette." "This is a trivial matter. Right now, we have to make plans for Lao Gu first, and we have to do things this way. Even if the marriage we talked about is not successful, we will start a new one and marry a young lady from the Wang family. This is how we pretend to be." "Yes!" You Wu said solemnly again, "There is a word! I want to ask my uncle to tell Ah Qi that we can't live here any longer, and go back to Songjiang first." When mentioning this level, Hu Xueyan suddenly thought of a sentence, and smiled at Gu Yingchun: "I'm sorry! I want to tell a very interesting joke to Fifth Brother You." Since it's an interesting joke, why not tell it to everyone, but tell it behind people's backs?It can be seen that this joke is related to himself.Not only was Gu Yingchun greatly troubled, but even You Wu felt strange. When Hu Xueyan said what Grandma Qigu had expressed, he really laughed. No matter how impetuous the girl is, she is still pure and clear! "What are you laughing at?" Gu Yingchun couldn't help it anymore, walked over and asked, "Let me smile too." You Wu and Hu Xueyan didn't answer his words, they glanced at each other and asked each other for opinions. "This should explain it!" You Wu said seriously. Of course Hu Xueyan should be the one to say it, he pulled Gu Yingchun aside and revealed the secret of Grandma Qigu. "No wonder!" Gu Yingchun cried out, feeling extremely relieved in his heart, because he solved a mystery that he could only keep in his wish for so many days and could not study it with others. Grandma Qigu was wearing a small jacket and sitting alone under the lamp, with tears in her eyes, and then said that she gave him everything, and asked him to swear to the lamp that he would never change his mind.He also really felt ashamed of the beauty, so he obeyed.But sometimes when I think about it quietly, I can't remember the beautiful scenery of "nephrite jade warm and fragrant", let alone the real ecstasy, what is it like?It is a pity that the most rare good night in life is spent in such a muddleheaded way without knowing it. It is really a pity than "Zhu Bajie eats ginseng fruit".Only now did I realize that "Zhu Bajie" had been deceived. But it is better to be deceived than not to be deceived!Gu Yingchun is not Qigu's grandma who does not want to marry, the main reason is to fulfill her responsibilities, but at this moment she has returned to the state of mind when she first met, "rectify and dedicate Qing" is admiration, so she bowed deeply to Hu Xueyan: Yucheng, the sooner the better!" "Good things take time, you have to be patient." Hu Xueyan rubbed his stomach and said, "I'm really hungry." You Wu and Gu Yingchun both felt the same way about this, they didn't know what kind of messy dishes the hostess was doing, and they couldn't cook.Just when I was about to go downstairs to visit, I saw Grandma Qigu brought up the vermilion lacquer tray with the little eldest sister. As soon as she entered the door, she smiled and said: "Today I eat Cantonese fish raw. This is the first time for me to make it. I don't know if it is good or not. If it is not good Eat, you scold Lao Gu, it’s because he can’t teach the law.” "It's your first time making it, and it's the first time I've seen it. How do you eat it?" As Hu Xueyan said, he walked over to look. In the middle was an empty large ice tray containing shark fin, and there were more than a dozen large and small plates containing raw fish, shredded radish, and fried vermicelli. Condiments such as sanzi, salt, sugar, sesame oil, and pepper, and a plate of green shredded silk cut as thin as a hair, he couldn't see what it was. "It's the leaves of the orange tree, which are used as spices." Grandma Qigu said, "It took me a lot of work to chop them finely." Hu Xueyan was quite surprised that such a bold and unrestrained "female Zhang Fei" could calm down and spend such meticulous effort, and at the same time was quite moved, so she couldn't help saying: "It's really hard for you!" "Don't compliment me first, let's taste it." So the four of them worked together, poured all the condiments into a large ice tray, stirred them well, and Hu Xueyan put a chopstick into his mouth, and it really had a special flavor. "Bring some wine!" said You Wu who hadn't spoken for a long time. "Today, I'm going to toast my uncle with a few glasses of wine." This meal was extremely enjoyable, and Hu Xueyan became "the target of public criticism", and the three of them tried to persuade him one after another. After drinking eight points, he ate two bowls of fish and porridge, and his whole body was warm. He said happily, "Fifth brother, Let's go for a walk!" "Where do you want to go?" You Wu asked. "Let's talk later." The two of them stood up, Gu Yingchun followed suit, shouted: "Seventh Sister!" Then said apologetically, "Lao Hu arrived on the first day, I should accompany him." After listening to Hu Xueyan's persuasion, Qigu's grandmother changed her temperament, and this change was only a moment of thought.Her previous thought was: What's so great about a man!There is nothing unusual about eating tea and talking about weights, and you will not frown when you go up the mountain of knives or in the pan of oil.But what I always remind myself is: I am a woman, the daughter of a good family, and I want to climb up to the palace to be an official lady. With this kind of thought in mind, she felt that Gu Yingchun's words would cause her fifth brother and Hu Xueyan to misunderstand that she couldn't do without her fiance, so she was not only shy, but also angry. "Young grandpa is here, you should accompany him, why tell me? It's like I'm meddling, and I'm controlling you so fiercely. I'm really smart!" After finishing speaking, she gave him a blank look. Grandma Qigu's beauty lies in her joy and anger, her white eyes are like blue eyes, and her speech is reasonable, so Gu Yingchun is still convinced when she is scolded. On the contrary, Hu Xueyan stopped Gu Yingchun, he was making it convenient for them, and he knew that when this matter had a turning point and the problem would be solved, the two of them would have a deep talk, but if he said that, even if Gu Yingchun was willing to stay Even Grandma Qigu would not agree, so he only looked for reasons from his own side. "Old Gu, no need! I have a few words to say to Fifth Brother, you don't have to accompany me." "Then," Gu Yingchun asked hesitantly, "where are you? I'll come back and look for you." "Well," You Wu said to Hu Xueyan, "let's go sit with the second child."