Chapter 1 Leaving Home (One)

In the evening, Zhang Youcai, the old owner of Hanyuan Warehouse, held a lotus leaf bag in his hand and walked home with a shaking step by step.

The lotus leaf bag is wrapped with a pig's waist, half a foot wide and three inches thick. Through the two thick layers of lotus leaves, a warm oil still seeps out. Zhang Youcai's heart is also full and soft like the lotus leaf bag in his hand, and it exudes warmth from the inside out.

"Uncle Cai, has he cut his flesh again?" Li Blacksmith, who was opening a shop at the entrance of the alley, smelled the fragrance of meat in Zhang Youcai's hand from a distance. He strode forward and greeted him with a smile.

"Yes, yes!" Zhang Youcai weighed the meat in his hand hard, fearing that the old neighbors could not hear it clearly, so he responded in a long voice, "Good guy, just such a big bone, Ding'er dares to ask me two and a half pieces. Wei Laosi, who killed pigs, almost used a knife to chop people! Is there anything wrong tonight? Is it okay, go eat at home?!" (Note 1)

"No, no!!" The blacksmith Li Lian waved his hand, but swallowed a few mouthfuls in his throat. People in Lucheng are the most particular about face. Zhang Youcai invited him enthusiastically, but he could not come rashly. Otherwise, if he was not worthy of the identity of other guests tonight, it would be difficult to raise chopsticks on the table. In the future, he would be criticized by the neighbors as jokes for several days.

"Hey, there are no outsiders!" Zhang Youcai stopped and continued to weigh his purse hard, seducing the eyes of the neighbors with "pa", "pa", "pa", "pa", "pa", "pa", "pa" and "pa" "just your eldest nephew, your third nephew and our three grandfathers."

"The Third Young Master is back?" Li Tiejiang was tall and his voice was bright. Even if he spoke in a low voice, he seemed to thunder. "When, why did he come back so early this year?!"

"Graduated! So it's early for a holiday." Zhang Youcai glanced at the other party and responded casually.

"What! Graduated. Graduated from China's middle school?!" Li Blacksmith seemed to be frightened, took two steps back, and instantly the news spread throughout the alley, "It's so fast. It was only when he went to catch the train..."

He gestured to his waist with his hands. He tried to find the appearance of the third son of the Zhang family in his memory. But suddenly he felt that this action was not suitable now. He quickly put away his thick big hands and rubbed them on his apron to add, "I mean, I mean, life is so fast. In a flash, the third young master and the third young master have grown up!"

The old neighbors around had already heard the conversation between the two clearly, and put down their work, surrounded them and congratulated Zhang Youcai, "The Third Young Master is graduated?!"

"Laocai, San'er will arrive home tonight?"

"Uncle Cai has done this time. The eldest is the first iron abacus in our Lu County, and the second is also a good craftsmanship. The third brother graduated from high school again this time. He just found something to do, and he took it home in fifty or one hundred a month..."

"Go, go, go, you can recognize money in your eyes! The third young master is the material for studying, why don't he go and study at Tsinghua University or Peking University? When he is released, he must be a county magistrate..."

Amid the sound of envy or jealous blessings, Zhang Youcai's waist slowly straightened up, and his face was covered with pride as his father, "His second brother asked someone to find him an errand in a foreign company in the provincial capital, but he has not settled yet. I want to ask him what he meant. If he still plans to continue reading, he will close the shop and I will also raise money to send him to Peking!"

"Look at what you said!" Everyone shook their heads and joked with a smile, "The university in Peking City is not the money-robbing yamen in the provincial capital! I have heard that it is only about twenty yuan a year, which is lower than the middle school in the provincial capital!"

"It seems to be in charge of food!"

"It seems that I'm still wearing clothes. I'm wearing them all in winter and summer. I'm so energetic. I saw them in Nanjing the previous year. They were dressed in a clean and elegant manner!"

"You are the Central University in Nanjing. Not Peking!"

Everyone talked again, gathering the news that they heard from each other. Zhang Youcai listened with a smile, neither correcting the mistakes in everyone's words nor in a hurry to express his true plans. He was just enjoying this moment and enjoying a rare glory.

As the saying goes, the first twenty years of the father and son, and the next twenty years of the son and father. Zhang Youcai's half of his life was worthy of his ancestors and his children and grandchildren. He started to support a family at the age of twenty. With his smart mind and two big hands, he turned the pair of peddlers' burdens left by his father into a large grocery store in Lu County. It was all over the country, the mountains and waters, and as long as it was something that the yamen allowed to sell, he could find it. Even if a certain product was in short supply and difficult to find, as long as Zhang Youcai wrote a letter to the trustee to send it out, from Chahar in the north to Fuzhou in the south, someone took the initiative to come to the door for credit.

The business is booming outside, and the three sons in the family are also good at one of them. The eldest son was fourteen years old and J got a disciple from the county grain shop and followed him around the country. Now he can support most of the family business. After graduating from high school, the second son went to the provincial capital to learn how to repair cars with others, and now he can take his own apprentice. The third son was just a piece of material for studying since childhood. He jumped to elementary school and jumped to junior high school. This year, he was only seventeen years old, and he had already obtained the graduation certificate of the Provincial National No. 1 Middle School. If you go to Peking to find a university to polish it for a few years, and after graduation, you will be the manager of the foreign company! Not only can you earn more than 200 yuan a month, but you are wearing a straight suit. Even if you deal with the Japanese, you don’t have to bow to them in a low voice! (Note 2)

Since spring, Zhang Laocai has already calculated the plan. The family business he has been busy with most of his life will be completely left to the eldest son. With the rich connections he has left and the plan of his life, even if he cannot continue to grow and grow the warehouse, at least it will not be a problem to maintain the current scale. As for the second son Yanling, with his skillful car repair skills, he will be able to spread his branches in the provincial capital. The third son Songling, the way out is either in Nanjing or in Peking. No matter where he goes, he will put down his business and bring his wife with him.

He went together. The couple looked at him from the side and urged him to focus all his attention on his studies, instead of going to the streets every day to sprinkle flyers, shouting slogans, and shouting "country and nation!" like those unemployed little guys in the provincial capital university hall. Chairman Jiang and Chairman Han, holding machine guns and cannons, are you not in a hurry. What are you calling out for by a poor scholar who can't even lift a knife?! Besides, what about the slogan "country, nation!" that has been called by President Yuan since he was in power, have you seen anyone really treat it as a scam? (Note 3)

Since people holding machine guns and cannons are not in a hurry, people from Lu County who are reluctant to eat a few meals a year, especially those like Zhang Youcai, will not join in the fun with the poor students. They went back to the provincial capital to visit their two sons, and the poor students were marching, and the flyers were scattered all over the sky. Zhang Youcai did not hide for a while, and several were stuffed in his arms. He said that the Japanese lack of greed, after occupying Chahar, they would occupy Hebei and Shandong in the next step. If the Chinese did not rise up and resist, they would be slaves of the country like when the Qing Dynasty entered the pass.

These words sound scary, but after careful consideration, they may not be very scary. Is it just a dynasty change? Is there anything worth being afraid of? Who can keep the people from dressing and eating?! As long as the people still have to dress and eat, the Hanyuan Warehouse in Lucheng City has a deal to do. Hanyuan Warehouse has a deal to do, and money to make money, it is not worth Zhang Youcai handing over his wealth and life to a group of guys who are not reliable in speaking and doing things.

"No!" Not only can I not, but also can't do the three sons! I have to watch them marry and have children and pass on the family line. When I was so old that I couldn't walk and could not speak, I lay on the Grand Master's chair, and there were a group of daughters-in-law, grandson, and granddaughters standing around, wiping tears and calling dads and grandpa. At that time, the old neighbors and old guys who came to visit would wiping the corners of their eyes while saying enviously, "Uncle Cai is worth living in this life! Life is delicious!"

"No!" Just thinking about the future, Zhang Youcai was not careful and said the words in his heart came out of his mouth. The old neighbors around who had already begun to recall how hard the third young master of the Zhang family worked was shocked and quickly closed their mouths and stared at his face.

Zhang Youcai was staring at her and his face was hot. He quickly tried every means to make up for it. "I mean, I can't let the mistress come back from the train station. It was too hot, and he was weak in his body. If he got the chance to get a job, the matter of going to take the exam would definitely be delayed!"

"Look at his Uncle Cai, I don't take it seriously, and I feel so stupid!" The neighbors suddenly realized and joked with a smile.

"Hehe, hehe!" Zhang Youcai went down and smiled and agreed to what his neighbors said.

"Uncle Cai, treat us. Let's stick to the blessing of the Third Young Master!" Li Blacksmith stared at the pork in the lotus leaf bag for a long time, and finally waited for the right opportunity and immediately put forward the old words again.

"Treat, treat!" Zhang Laocai agreed without hesitation, "I'll go to my house tonight to eat, I'll let the child have more delicious food."

"How can you just let Uncle Cai spend money alone?" Boss Zhao, who is in the wooden business, understands the difficulty of making money by the old guy, and said with a smile, "Since you are a third son, everyone will make some money together! I have two big roosters in my house, and I will slaughter them later and take them there!"

"My in-laws just sent a large salted fish, and I was worried about how to finish eating it!"

"A cart of Hengshui Laobaigan has just entered my shop. I'll ask my friend to send a few jars later!"

"I have the best mushrooms from the north, so I brought them here! Just soak them with a handful of them and you will be awesome!"

"I, I..." Li Blacksmith looked back and couldn't find the gift he could take. He made up his mind and shouted loudly at the blacksmith shop: "Xiao Liuzi, take out the white copper hotpot I just snatched yesterday! My third nephew went to school outside, and there must be an object in his hometown around him no matter what!"

"That won't work, that won't work!" Zhang Youcai quickly refused loudly when he heard this. Prices have soared these days, and a white copper pot can cost more than five yuan. After he really accepted this gift, Li Blacksmith and his two apprentices were in vain this month!

"Hold, hold, hold!" Although I was very reluctant to leave, Li Blacksmith refused to pretend to be poor in front of others. "My third nephew has loved hot pot since he was a child. When I went to other places, even if I could buy the pot, I might not be able to find the ingredients as good as mine!"

"No, no!"

"It's not for you! Lao Cai, if you let me go, I'll be annoyed!"

While pulling, footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the alley. Zhao Renyi, the young man from Hanyuan warehouse, the nephew of the wooden merchant Boss Zhao, ran over with sweat on his face and panting. He saw his uncle and old boss from afar, stumbled forward a few steps, grinned and cried, "Uncle Cai, go chase, hurry up and chase. The Third Young Master, the Third Young Master has someone to kidnap away!"

"Ah?!" Zhang Youcai was stunned, his body softened, and the pork purse in his hand fell heavily to the ground.

Note 1: Bone Ding, dialect, describes extremely small pieces.

Note 2: High school and higher primary school. During the Republic of China, primary schools were divided into primary and higher grades. The fourth year of primary school, two years of higher grades, totaling six years.

Note 3: Chairman Han Fuqu, Chairman of Shandong Provincial Government, vigorously developed local education, economy, and promoted clean government construction, which was well received by the public. Later, he abandoned Jinan because he did not fight and was ensnared and executed by the Kuomintang Central Government.
Chapter completed!