Most people's lives are like a cup of warm water, not hot enough to kill anyone, nor can it make outsiders feel icy. Occasionally, there will be a few low-key and ambitious grassroots who will clench their fists and curse the heavens for burying their talents. Chen Ergou, a poor man, doesn't have such unrealistic thoughts. Now, apart from reading books and eating mantou, he only hates the summer vacation that should be punished with a thousand knives. The summer vacation made SD Bar close, it made Xiao Yao go back home with her parents, and most importantly, it made Chen Ergou, who didn't even dare to turn on the electric fan all night, almost get heat rash. He was used to the icy weather of Northeast China, but this southern summer is really too much. Zhang Sanqian, a young boy, has already had several heat strokes and is weak and spiritless. However, his greatest pleasure is accompanying Chen Ergou in reading books and newspapers. Chen Ergou specially bought a brush and ink to teach him calligraphy, from the initial scribbles to later standard characters, he made rapid progress, making Chen Ergou look at him with new eyes. Zhang Sanqian was different from Chen Ergou, he wasn't interested in math and science, the few books on macroeconomics and logic that Chen Ergou gave him didn't make him feel the charm of numbers and formulas. Instead, he had a near-obsessive infatuation with words, "Push Back Diagram" and "Whispering Language" were flipped through multiple times. Chen Ergou had a habit of making book excerpts, so later Zhang Sanqian became a diligent and responsible little book boy.

  A shaved head with a mind full of making money and starting a family, a shaved head with red lips and white teeth and a lively spirit, eating together, sleeping together, washing faces and brushing teeth together, reading books and practicing writing together, just short of taking baths and urinating together. Zhang Sanqian followed Chen Erdou's son into the threshold of Shanghai in a daze, although Chen Erdou did not have great prospects, but he gave this child from Zhangjiacun who could talk to wealth and nobility a quiet and peaceful haven that was neither rich nor flashy, which is also a good deed.

  Everyone knows how to laugh at people. Laughing at people is not a problem, but laughing in the right place is difficult, and it's even harder when you can laugh at people. Third Uncle, what does this sentence mean?

  At dusk, Zhang Sanqian sat cross-legged on the ground, writing a passage from "Sighs and Whispers" with a brush pen on old newspaper clippings. His posture was upright, his brush strokes were steady, and he looked like a model student.

  For Zhang Sanqian, every Chinese character was like a treasure trove and a maze. Mastering them seemed to hold the key to understanding the world. When these characters combined into words and sentences, they became even more magnificent. Zhang Sanqian loved practicing calligraphy with complex characters, just like Chen Ergou. In Ergou's words, only complex characters had the spirit of practicing calligraphy and cultivating one's mind. Of course, Zhang Sanqian didn't understand such profound theories. To him, complex characters were intricate and mysterious, and conquering them gave him a sense of accomplishment.

  "This sentence means that everyone knows how to make fun of others, but it's not easy to get to the point, and having the qualifications to make fun of others is even harder. To put it another way, all the people in Zhangjiacun make fun of you, Rich Uncle, saying he's stupid, but they're not getting to the point, and they don't have that qualification, so the more they laugh, the stupider they become." Chen Ergou, leaning against the wall studying a bound volume of "Business World" filled with economic jargon, explained casually.

  Zhang San pretended to understand but didn't really get it, and wrote down the sentence on a whole newspaper.

  He likes the smell of ink as much as he dislikes Zhang Shengli's bad breath. But Zhang Shengli can talk with spittle flying everywhere without spending a penny, while this bottle of ink costs several yuan, so Zhang Sanqian is not meticulous about every word, but rather every stroke and dot is extremely deliberate. For those rich kids who might use Sixuan Yipinzhai brushes and Huizhou Xuan paper, even an hour's worth of practicing calligraphy can be a burden. Zhang Sanqian also has his own burdens - he fears wasting even one cent of Third Uncle's money. The difference between their two burdens is like heaven and earth.

  Chen Ergou saw Zhang Sanqian's sweaty face and turned on the electric fan towards him, stroking his head: "Great things must be done step by step, one footprint at a time. This phrase is also from your book, I think it has a lot of flavor, it tells you that doing big things requires careful planning, eating too much at once will only choke you to death. Sanqian, we are Shanghai's authentic outsiders, we can't afford to be careless with our daily lives, whether the saying 'dripping water pierces stone and iron pestle grinds needles' is true or not I don't dare say, after all, I haven't been in Shanghai for long and haven't seen much, but the words passed down from our ancestors are definitely useful. As Li Sheng's little brat said, you and I are both extreme perfectionists, as for what that means, I won't blindly explain it to you, lest I mislead you, just take it as is, when you have time, think about it yourself, your Third Uncle's language skills are not good, can only be a master who leads you to the door, future cultivation depends on individual effort.

  "Third Uncle, I heard that Wang Hu and Wang Jiefang are busy decocting eagle, I want to go take a look, is it okay?" Zhang Sanqian asked in a low voice.

  "It won't work."

  Chen Ergou refused without hesitation, saying seriously: "Three thousand, the matter of fighting eagles and walking dogs is something that a mixed person like me can handle. Today, Third Uncle has put his words here, from now on you cannot gamble, play street games, watch martial arts, or fight. No matter how much grievance you suffer, you cannot cry, but also cannot be as reckless as in Zhangjiashan. You must honestly be a good citizen for Third Uncle. If you dare to die or become disabled, I will go back to Zhangjiashan and let Wang Hu's remaining men dig up your mother's grave. Did you hear?"

  Zhang San timidly said: "Third Uncle, stop digging up my mother's grave, can you dig up my father's instead?"

  Chen Ergou gave him a chestnut and said: "Let's dig together!"

  Zhang Sanqian furrowed his small face and obediently buried his head in practicing calligraphy.

  Blowing in the warm wind, Zhang Sanqian really wanted to turn the electric fan towards his uncle who was reading a book with his back to him, but he didn't dare.

  ——————————

  Zhang Xuanxuan was extremely bored during the summer vacation, spending her days sleeping and watching a series of idol dramas from Korea, Taiwan, and America that even she thought were extremely lacking in nutritional value. She would watch them non-stop, day and night, in her doghouse-like room, and the more brainless they were, the better. While watching these shows, Zhang Xuanxuan wished for a thunderstorm to come and strike her down, so she could just ascend to heaven and be done with it.

  Her boyfriend, Gu Kuai, had gone to Hong Kong with his parents, and Zhang Xuanxuan didn't feel like going back to their home in Ningbo. So, she stayed in the small apartment, feeling like a decadent ghost wandering aimlessly. This kind of idle life was shameful, and apart from contributing to the country's consumption, she couldn't think of any other valuable purpose for her existence.

  Today, Zhang Xuanxuan still hadn't put on makeup and was just wearing a sleep shirt, lounging on the sofa watching an idol drama called "The Ultimate Three Kingdoms". The more she watched, the angrier she became. She had been watching for half a day, but couldn't find any handsome guys that made her heart skip a beat. This made her very annoyed. The plot was okay, and the dialogue was cheesy, but how could the director not even manage to come up with two decent-looking young actors to carry the show? It was such basic common sense!

  When Zhang Xixi was fiercely tearing at the beef jerky, the doorbell rang. She had recently bought several World War II German battleship models on Taobao and estimated that it was a delivery. With a lazy expression, she went back to her room to put on some underwear before opening the door. However, it was a face she would rather not see, even if it meant re-watching the American drama "Gossip Girl". It was a middle-aged man with an air of success that made 18-year-old girls and 40-year-old women swoon. The fake Jiang Shidan watch on his wrist covered up his slightly short stature, and his bright clothing made his unremarkable face stand out several points. As soon as Zhang Xixi saw him, she pulled down her face, turned around, and walked back to the sofa without saying a word.

  The man didn't enter the room either, he just stood at the door and took a look around the apartment's decorations, finally fixing his gaze on Zhang Xixi and furrowing his brow: "Not planning to go home?"

  Zhang Xuan stared at the TV screen and said calmly: "Yes."

  The middle-aged man was a far cry from the gentle and refined Song Jieming, exuding an air of masculinity and superiority. He was clearly a chauvinist who was used to giving orders in his domain or circle, and his words were inevitably grating to the ear. "Is this kind of place where people live?"

  Normally, Zhang Xiang would have stood up and argued with the man a few sentences, but at this moment, she imagined Chen Erdou's doghouse in her mind and thought that if this wasn't a place for humans to live, then Chen Erdou wouldn't be a garbage house. This idea made Zhang Xiang feel very satisfied, and her strange smile made the man take a surprise. He hesitated for a moment and still stepped into the room, sitting on the edge of the sofa. Without expecting Zhang Xiang to pour him a cup of tea, he lightly sighed and slowly said: "Have you had dinner? If not, let's go to Shanghai Xintiandi together. Your uncle wants to treat us, and he specifically asked me to bring you along. You brought your childhood sweetheart and girlfriend to Shanghai, don't you want to see them?"

  Zhang Xixi continued to munch on potato chips and said, "If you don't go, I'll hurry up and help Xiaohao identify his girlfriend. Without my approval, those mediocre women can forget about getting into Xiaohao's bed, let alone entering Uncle Ming's family."

  The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh and cry at Zhang Xixi's childish words, and the little dissatisfaction in his heart suddenly disappeared. He looked at her with a gentle gaze for a long time, knowing that his sharp tongue and piercing eyes were often a result of being in the business world for too long, and he couldn't change it even when he came home. This habit was like smoking - he wanted to quit but couldn't. He joked: "Actually, you and Xiao Hao are quite a match. Uncle Ming has been hinting at me that I should make you his daughter-in-law. Do you have any thoughts about it?"

  Zhang Xuan's expression remained dull and unenthusiastic, saying indifferently: "That little scoundrel can be my younger brother, but as a husband, he still needs to go back to Tsinghua University for reeducation for over a decade. Those who come out of the Tsinghua University youth class are either abnormal or perverted. That little scoundrel has a tendency towards violence, I don't want to be dismembered by him."

  The middle-aged man helplessly said: "Don't talk nonsense, if Uncle Ming hears it tomorrow, he'll definitely spank you."

  Zhang Xuanxuan turned her head and looked at the man she should call father, asking: "Aren't you leaving yet?"

  The man stood up, knowing that his daughter was not joking or testing him, but had really issued an eviction order. He had thought about yielding and living a life of compromise over the years, but after fighting with his daughter for over ten years, both of them had grown accustomed to being at odds with each other. He was a man who enjoyed relentless battles in any field, and she was not a simple-minded girl who would be happy with just a few words of comfort. So the two continued their cold war, and he temporarily refused to concede, saying: "You have your own phone number, if you change your mind, call him."

  Just as the man who could make Zhang Xixi spend money like water was about to turn and leave, a young man opened the door and came in, causing him to sit back down on the sofa. A man with a key to this apartment, Zhang Xixi's father had no impression that Mu Xiaoyao had a boyfriend, and Xixi wasn't used to giving men keys to her apartment. Could it be that this unremarkable-looking guy was so powerful that he could change his daughter's principles? This was an interesting thing, but at the same time, it was also not something worth being happy about. His son-in-law, Zhang Dake, how could he be stronger than him? What kind of person was this poor kid?

  "Introduce yourself."

  Zhang Xuanxuan jumped off the sofa and ran towards the man holding the keys, who was still in a daze. With her back to her father, she kept making eyes at him, then very naturally took his arm and turned around with a bright smile on her face, looking at Zhang Dake. "This is my new boyfriend, his surname is Chen, nickname Second Dog, you can like it or not but you have to call him Chen Second Dog. If you don't have any opinions, I plan to marry him. Of course, even if you do have opinions, they won't be of any use, I'm the one who gets to decide on this matter."

  "Get married?"

  Zhang Dake, who was used to the turbulent waves, remained calm and composed, sitting on the sofa to size up Chen Erdou. He didn't seem urgent or anxious, although his first thought was to have someone break this unknown bastard's arms and legs. On the surface, he remained calm and collected, having been tempered by nearly thirty years of ups and downs in the business world into a deeply cunning old fox. He said calmly: "Alright. I only have one condition - give me a betrothal gift of 10 million yuan, and I'll let him go. If you think 10 million is too little for you, I don't mind if this man pays me a bit more."

  "Ten million?"

  Xiang Xiang coquettishly turned her face towards Chen Ergou, who was shrouded in mist and cloud, looking as gentle and weak as a young bride who had just fallen in love. Although one small hand tightly grasped Chen Ergou's waist, she could use her unique skill, the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, to take him down if he dared to make a move on her. But with a sweet and sticky expression, she said: "Ergou, are you willing to get 10 million yuan for me?"

  Chen Ergou maintained a stiff smile, not knowing what kind of play this man and woman were performing. He gritted his teeth and whispered to Zhang Xixi: "10 million? I'd give you 10,000 yuan just because I'm bored ****."

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