One hundred and seventy-ninth chapter relatives (3)
Shen Rui had just changed his clothes here when the maid from Xu's room came to send a message: "Master Rui, Madam has invited you."
Shen Rui and Shen Jue have not yet formally adopted each other, and their servants are still calling "Master Rui" and "Master Jue". When the adoption is formalized and the order is re-arranged, Shen Rui will continue on the second step, and Shen Jue will move on to the third step.
Shen Rui lowered his head and looked at the new spring shirt he was wearing. He followed the maid directly over without changing.
Although he and Shen Jue did not formally pay homage to Shen Luo, their clothes also changed to plain colors. Even Shen Zhu and Shen Qin consciously avoided bright colors.
Mrs. Xu was sitting on the kang in the upper room. She was leaning over and looking at the things on the kang table. When she saw Shen Rui coming in wearing a New Year's shirt, she looked at it with a smile and said, "He looks more and more like a big kid."
"Auntie" Shen Rui bowed to Mrs. Xu.
Mrs. Xu heard his voice and asked: "Can you use the white fungus soup sent to you every day?"
When Shen Rui heard this, his face turned bitter. That sweet thing was really not to his liking. But he also knew that Mrs. Xu specially ordered the small kitchen to stew a bowl of it every day to help him maintain his throat, so he used it. Already.
Shen Rui nodded and said, "Auntie, can you just stew the white fungus without adding rock sugar? My nephew really doesn't like sweet things."
Shen Rui has been in Beijing for two and a half months. This is the first time Shen Rui has taken the initiative to make a request. Xu was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "The Tremella will not be put in the rock sugar. I will ask someone to send you a pack of snow sugar later. How much can you add?" See for yourself... Speaking of which, bird's nest is better. It's not that people like us can't eat it. It's just that it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Except for ginseng, which can replenish qi and improve life, your uncle has never advocated the use of other supplements. , even though I usually use white fungus to maintain my skin, I rarely use bird’s nest. We don’t need to recruit him for daily maintenance..."
Shen Rui listened with a smile, but was surprised in his heart.
It is the right way for an elder to be diligent and thrifty in running a family, and there is nothing wrong with the Xu family's "husband and wife follow each other". In terms of nutrition, bird's nest is indeed similar to white fungus and pig's trotters, but people at this time did not know that bird's nest and deer antler were the best supplements.
Even for country gentry like Shen Ju and Zhang Lao'an, they can have a bowl of bird's nest every day, but Xu's family only uses Tremella to nourish their skin.
If everyone in the second house was so frugal, Shen Rui wouldn't be surprised. The key is that the third master's place has a bowl of bird's nests that everyone can see every day.
After Mrs. Xu finished speaking, she also thought of the third master and said: "The situation at your third uncle's place is different. Master, the old lady didn't have it early, and your third uncle's biological mother has been gone for a long time. Your uncle is the eldest brother, and I am the eldest brother." Sister-in-law... After all these years of hard work, I finally managed to restore your third uncle's health. Not to mention the bird's nest, even the daily ginseng, your uncle and I will help you. From now on, you and Brother Jue will move into the second room. , we must also be brothers, and Brother Rui must also have an eldest brother to take responsibility..."
Since she meant to instruct her at the end of her words, Shen Rui lowered her hands and listened and agreed respectfully.
Mrs. Xu smiled and said: "You are an honest and sensible child. You are the one who takes care of Brother Jue. Why is there no need for my mother-in-law to make a lot of noise? Come up quickly and let us talk about business."
Shen Rui followed the order and stepped forward. Mrs. Xu pointed to the drawings spread out on the Kang table and said, "Look at this."
Shen Rui looked and saw a blueprint of a house.
The general layout of the house in the fifth front is similar to that of the fifth front in the Shen family's current Xiadong Road.
"Auntie, you want to clean up the yard?" Shen Rui was a little confused.
Jiuruju was newly tidied up a year ago. Shen Jue's new yard has also been repaired by the second master. Why does it still need to be tidied up?
"This is not a map of our old house. This is the house next door to the east. It belongs to our family as well. We bought it from a scholar who became an official in the Imperial Academy twenty years ago. Because the family has a small population, we don't need so much, so we just keep showing it. I went out and took it back a few days ago..." Having said this, he paused and said: "Your uncle is busy at the office and your mother-in-law is low on energy, so she wants to leave the task of cleaning up the house to Brother Rui. Is Brother Rui willing? To share my mother's worries?"
The number of people in the second room is really small, and there is really no one available.
Although Shen Rui's priority is studying now, he has no intention of becoming a bookworm who "cannot hear what is happening outside the window". He said: "My mother-in-law told me that my nephew will do his best, but he has never taken care of this matter before. Let's start work." After all, breaking ground is not a trivial matter, and I still need my mother-in-law to come up with regulations."
Seeing his gracious response, Mrs. Xu felt happy and said, "What regulations?"
Shen Rui thought for a while and said, "My nephew wants to know what I plan to do with this house? Is it a major renovation or a reconstruction? In addition to the house, is there any need to change the layout, such as building a garden?"
The three rooms of the Shen family combined together don't have many people in total. Now that they have entered the mansion in two or five directions, it is already relatively empty and there is no shortage of places for people to live. The Xu family had given away the east residence for 20 years, but it was taken back this year. It must have a use. .
Mrs. Xu looked at Shen Rui and was very pleased: "It's hard for you to think so thoughtfully at such a young age. My aunt is about to tell you that this house was built for your third uncle. Your third uncle and your third aunt only have two children." Entering the courtyard, now that you guys go there to study, the place is smaller, and your third aunt is afraid of disturbing you when she comes in and out..."
Speaking of this, she pointed to the house drawing and said: "Back then, the Hanlin bachelor's family had many descendants and built many houses, but our family couldn't use them. What I mean is that I want to keep the three courtyards in the front and the two courtyards in the south. I will build a school for you, and your third uncle and your third aunt will live in the third one. The last two will be demolished and a garden will be built properly. There will also be a place for strolling at home in the future."
The Shen family only had a small garden before, just northeast of the third master's yard, but it was very small, a few feet square.
After hearing this, Shen Rui hesitated.
Mrs. Xu saw that he was hesitant to speak, and asked curiously: "But Brother Rui thinks there is something inappropriate in the arrangements made by my uncle?"
Shen Rui hesitated for a moment and said: "Since I want to build a house for my third uncle and my third aunt, wouldn't it be better for my third uncle and my third aunt? Should I inform my third uncle and let him plan the house together?" Woolen cloth?"
Mrs. Xu shook her head and said: "Renovating a house is not something that can be done in a day or two. It is very easy for your uncle's body to recover well. You can't help but be tired."
Shen Rui asked again: "Auntie, do you think your third uncle looks better now, or did he look better years ago?"
Mrs. Xu smiled and said: "It goes without saying that you are looking good now. Earlier, your third uncle's face was so pale that he was frightened, and there was no red on his mouth. I know that you are all sensible children, and this is all because of you. It’s all thanks to a few people accompanying your third uncle.”
Shen Rui shook his head and said: "The third uncle put a lot of thought into sorting out the topics of the contemporary essays for us and collecting the annotations from the Four Books. Isn't it a good thing? My nephew feels that the care of the uncle and aunt will lead to chaos, and they will protect the third uncle too much. Yan Shi... Third uncle is not a child after all. He spends his days meditating and recuperating, so as not to worry about being angry or happy, but he is having a hard time figuring out how to be happy. If he finds something to do, he is not so bored anymore..."
When Mrs. Xu heard this, she couldn't help being stunned. After a while, she said, "Did your uncle and I protect your third uncle too strictly?"
Shen Rui nodded and said: "Even children who are locked up still want to go out to be naughty; people as big as their third uncle will definitely feel bored if they stay locked up for a whole month..."
The third master has just passed the age and is in the prime of his life, but he can be a homebody with peace of mind. He must be worried about his health and does not want to let his brother and sister-in-law take care of him.
"In recent days, Third Uncle has often asked about clan studies. He seems to be very interested in clan studies. He also inquired about Chunshan Academy where Third Brother Quan and Cousin He attended... My nephew looked at it and it seemed that Third Uncle was interested in teaching. Educate people..." Shen Rui thought for a moment and added.
When Xu heard this, he couldn't help but frown.
Setting up a quiet place for the third master to take his nephews to study to relieve their boredom is not the same thing as setting up a private school to recruit students.
Among the Shen Rui brothers, except for Shen Qin who is a bit talkative, the other three are filial and sensible children and do not need their elders to worry too much. Who knows what the nature of the students outside is like?
"Your uncle only has these two brothers, and your third uncle was brought up by him. Even if your third uncle is interested, your uncle will not agree. If something goes wrong, there is no place to take the regret medicine?" Mrs. Xu Instead of treating Shen Rui as a child, he told him the truth: "When my grandfather was on the sick bed, the thing he worried about the most was your third uncle. Your uncle swore an oath in front of my grandfather to take good care of your third uncle and protect him. Have a peaceful and happy life..."
When the Third Master himself was in poor health, he sought medical advice and gave birth to three sons and three daughters. The two older daughters died in infancy, the younger Third Master was sick, and only the middle three children were in slightly better health. Better.
For this reason, the Third Master was very fond of his youngest son. Every time he saw the little child being tortured by illness, he regretted that he was not greedy enough. He thought it was not enough to hold back two sons, so he forced a third son, otherwise the Third Master would not be reincarnated. When I went to the Shen family and became someone else's son, I couldn't live a happy life.
By the time the third prince passed away, his daughter had already found a suitable family to marry. The eldest son was able to establish a family and had a good wife to help him. Although the second son was a bastard, he still had his in-laws to rely on temporarily. Only the youngest son, who had a medicine jar body, Whether it can be cultivated or not is a matter of two opinions.
After all, the Third Master was a kind-hearted father. Even though he knew that his youngest son's inherent frailty would probably be difficult to heal in his lifetime, he still entrusted him to his eldest son and his eldest daughter-in-law.
After hearing this, Shen Rui understood in her heart that, the eldest master, it was true that Xu had a decree to take care of the third master, but his love for the third master was not adulterated at all, otherwise how could he have known that the third master was in his thirties, and the eldest master and his wife When it comes to this younger brother, I think about everything.
Pulling over an underage brother, marrying a wife, having children, and sharing a share of the property is considered as doing your best.
The eldest master and the eldest wife treat the third master as if they are obviously raising their younger brother as a son. No, it is not like raising a son. Raising a son will be as rough as raising a son like Shen Rui. It is more like raising a daughter and pampering him without any principles.
Fortunately, the Shen family's tutor is here, and the eldest master and his wife are both good-natured people. Otherwise, the third master's temper would have been spoiled by his brother and sister-in-law...