Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 47 Cultivating Private Interests
"uncle."

In the Gu family compound in Deqing County, Chen Qing bowed to Master Gu. Before he could speak, Master Gu beckoned him to sit down.

At this time, it was still raining outside, but it was not as heavy as it had been a few days ago, and the floodwaters had receded in most parts of Deqing.

Although the overall disaster situation cannot be said to be over yet, at this point, it is basically impossible for any major unrest to occur in Deqing.

Since no unrest was expected, the wealthy households lost their incentive to continue contributing manpower and resources. At this point, most of them withdrew their personnel and stopped donating grain.

Only the soup kitchen at the Gu family's house is still distributing soup.

However, since things were no longer very busy, both Manager Lu and Chen Qing returned to Deqing one after the other. Manager Lu returned a few days earlier and went back to manage Anrentang, while Chen Qing just returned to Deqing today.

Seeing Chen Qing sit down, Master Gu looked at him and said with a smile, "I have a rough idea of ​​what you want to see me about, my dear nephew. I have already sent someone to investigate those children you brought into the city from outside. If there are no problems, they can be registered at the county government office soon and allowed to stay in the city to work."

In this era, household registration was strictly managed, and it was difficult to enter the city without permission from the government.

Chen Qing nodded and smiled, "Uncle agreed?"

"Of course I agree."

Master Gu said with a smile, "From now on, you and Pan'er will still be in charge of this business. Naturally, you will need to have some of your own people. You have been very kind to these young people during this disaster. They will be working at Anrentang from now on."

"It will benefit both you and Pan'er. Besides, it's not a big deal for Anrentang to arrange a few more people."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing lowered his head and drank his tea, without responding.

He knew that Master Gu had misunderstood.

He brought Li Shiyi and others into the city to build his own team, but it wasn't necessarily because he wanted them to work at Anrentang.

Even if they were to stay at Anrentang for a short period, Chen Qing naturally wanted them to help him with his own affairs rather than have him do Gu Jia's.

However, this misunderstanding is harmless. Since Master Gu thinks this way, Chen Qing doesn't need to explain anything.

After talking for a while, Master Gu looked at Chen Qing and said with a smile, "I talked with Pan'er these past few days. Pan'er said that my dear nephew still doesn't have a courtesy name."

Chen Qing nodded and said quietly, "I didn't do well in my studies when I was young, and later I had no teacher or mentor. My father was an official in another place, so no one gave me a courtesy name."

"I've been free these past few days and I've come up with two ideas for you."

Master Gu stroked his beard, looked at Chen Qing, and said with a smile, "One is Bo Guang, the other is Bo An. What do you think, my dear nephew?"

Chen Qing was taken aback upon hearing this. He paused for a moment before putting down his teacup, looking at Master Gu, and asking, "Uncle, is my father coming to Deqing?"

The character "伯" (bo) has always been reserved for the eldest son of the legitimate wife. If a son is the eldest son of a concubine, he can only use the character "孟" (meng).

Using the character "伯" (bo) for Chen Qing's identity is perfectly acceptable, but at this point in time, Master Gu is choosing two names, both using the same character. It's clear he intends to use this courtesy name to make a statement, or at least send some signal to the outside world.

Master Gu looked at Chen Qing and nodded: "The letter I received yesterday means that Brother Zhaoming will probably be arriving in Deqing soon."

At this point, he sighed, "When I first heard you say that Brother Zhaoming dotes on that young lady, I didn't quite believe it, but now it seems that it is indeed true."

"That young lady was wronged, and Brother Zhaoming actually abandoned his post and returned to Huzhou."

Chen Qing took another sip of tea, then said to Master Gu, "I'm afraid it's because things have gotten so messy in Deqing that my father is worried that things will escalate and reach the ears of the censors."

"It will affect his career."

That's why I rushed back to Huzhou.

Officials in this era could not easily leave their posts, especially for trips like this that often involved hundreds of miles, which could take one or two months to make and return, and would seriously affect their work.

After leaving his post, Chen Huan will likely need to arrange his work and report to his superiors, namely the provincial government, otherwise he might lose his job if the imperial court finds fault with him.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Gu nodded and said, "That might be one of the considerations."

After saying this, he looked at Chen Qing and asked, "Nephew, you don't like either of these courtesy names?"

Chen Qing thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "Although I am the eldest son in the family, there is no need to keep mentioning this status, as if I can't live without it. I think it's better not to use the title of 'Uncle'."

Master Gu wasn't surprised by Chen Qing's answer, but shook his head and said, "I understand, you're probably still angry." As he spoke, he poured Chen Qing some tea and said, "Brother Zhaoming's coming over might cause a scene, nephew, why don't you go out and hide for a while?"

Master Gu added, "Your father still has duties to perform; he can't stay in Deqing for long."

"He'll probably leave after a few days if he doesn't see you."

Chen Qing remained silent for a moment.

After Chen Dashao's obsession dissipated, his memories of this life became clearer and clearer, and his memories of his father also increased.

In my memory, I was quite afraid of this father.

After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "You can't avoid it forever. We'll have to meet eventually. I'll wait here and not go anywhere else."

At this point, he stood up and bowed to Master Gu: "Uncle, I will arrange accommodations for those young people. When my father arrives, you can have Xiaoyue inform me."

Master Gu nodded and said "okay" at first. But when Chen Qing was about to leave, he remembered something and asked, "Nephew, do you have enough money for your expenses? If not, I'll give you some."

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Uncle, don't worry, we still have enough money to find them a place to stay."

"Wait a minute."

Master Gu stood up, went to the inner room, and soon returned with a somewhat worn key, handing it to Chen Qing. He said, "Go to the right and turn right into the alley. There's a small courtyard there. It used to be used to store medicinal herbs, but a large warehouse was built there, and it was abandoned."

"The courtyard isn't big, but it has three rooms. If you squeeze in, seven or eight people can live there. Nephew, let them stay there."

As he spoke, he called out, "A-Chang, take your son-in-law to that little courtyard."

Gu Chang, who was nearly fifty years old, immediately walked in with his head down and said to Chen Qing, "Young Master, please come with me."

Chen Qing took the key, nodded to the old servant, and followed behind him. Not long after leaving the Gu family, they found the courtyard that Master Gu had mentioned.

This was a standard small courtyard. After opening the gate, a musty smell wafted out. Chen Qing looked around, then went out and said to Gu Chang with a smile, "Thank you, Uncle Chang. I'll bring the boys over to have a look."

Gu Chang was not good with words, so he simply bowed his head and said "okay," then looked at the small courtyard and silently turned and left.

After he left, Chen Qing immediately found the eight people, including Li Shiyi and his sister, and led them to this courtyard.

"From now on, you will live here."

Chen Qing showed them around and then continued, "I'll go get some beds in a bit, but for the time being, you'll have to sleep in a shared room."

"As for food, we will take you to Anrentang tomorrow, where someone will take care of your meals."

It took Chen Qing half an hour to settle everyone in. When he was about to leave, Li Shiyi escorted him to the door. Then he looked at Chen Qing and took a deep breath.

"Young master, can we... stay here indefinitely from now on?"

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I'm afraid that won't work."

Seeing the boy's expression darken, Chen Qing continued with a smile, "It's too crowded for eight people to live here. When conditions improve, we'll let you live in a better place."

Li Shiyi looked up and stared intently at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing patted him on the shoulder.

"Manager Lu likes you very much. Starting tomorrow, you will follow him closely and learn from him."

Chen Qing paused at this point.

"As long as you put your heart into it, you and your sister will be able to live a good life in the future."

The young man lowered his head, said nothing more than four words.

"I got it."

(End of this chapter)