Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes and stared at Wu Ming, thinking in his heart, although talented people cannot come from the same family, their age gap was large, Wu Ming was seventeen this year, and he was forty this year, with a gap of twenty-three years.

Wu Ming had lost his determination to climb high because of the intervention of him and Zhulan. It could be seen from Wu Ming’s desire to form a group that Wu Ming had no confidence in himself but wanted to find support.

The Emperor must know about Wu Ming’s actions today. Wu Ming had no determination to fight alone and had lost the initiative. If he were the Emperor, he would probably regret choosing Wu Ming as the top scholar, and Wu Ming would be polished in the future.

If the Emperor did not abdicate, Wu Ming could not rise, unless he could show great talent. Otherwise, how to say, the first impression was very important, and the Emperor no longer had a good impression of Wu Ming.

Zhou Shuren thought to himself that even if he didn’t recognize Wu Ming, it would take Wu Ming many years to remember him. Zhou Shuren calmed down a little, “You get up first, I have a question for you.”

Wu Ming stood up, “Uncle, ask.”

Zhou Shuren looked directly into Wu Ming’s eyes, “Are you sure you don’t regret it?”

Wu Ming hesitated. He slowly calmed down and figured out what his uncle could think of. Regret? No, he didn’t. He had a lot of people to protect. He had to consider his grandparents and his brothers and sister. He had two younger brothers who were still studying. As the eldest brother, he didn’t need to be reckless. What he wanted now was stability. “No regrets.”

Zhou Shuren curled his lips, “Okay, I have another son today.”

Wu Ming smiled and said, “Son is pleased to meet Godfather and Godmother.”

Zhou Shuren smiled more, now he would protect Wu Ming a little, and he would pay him back in the future. He believed that the big boss was still the big boss. Although Wu Ming would be suppressed now, his foundation would be more solid. With the accumulation of strength, Wu Ming would be glorious. There was no free lunch in the world. Even brothers had to settle accounts clearly, not to mention that they were not related by blood. “Okay, okay.”

Zhou Shuren said to the onlookers, “Today, the Zhou family has three happy events. Our family has booked a banquet at a nearby restaurant and invites everyone to have a drink.”

Zhulan silently glanced at the number of onlookers. One restaurant was not enough, so she called Lichun to take out the silver bill and handed it to Lichun, “Go and book two restaurants nearby and order a banquet of ten taels per table.”

“Yes.”

Lichun took the silver bill and ran away quickly. Today was a big happy event. The mistress was really willing to spend money. Four silver bills of one hundred taels meant forty tables!

Zhulan felt painful to take it out, but people who went to the restaurant would definitely bring gifts. South City was a gathering place for merchants, and there would be no such thing as free food. The Zhou family now had the top two candidates in the imperial examination, and the future was bright. No one wanted to leave a reputation of being a freeloader. Not only would it be embarrassing, but they would also have no chance of making a living in the capital in the future. When Zhulan thought of the gift, the pain in her heart disappeared!

Zhou Shuren took Wu Ming and others to the restaurant, and Zhulan and Li Shi also returned to the courtyard. The women would not visit today, not because Zhulan’s status had changed, but because there were no families close to Zhulan’s family nearby, so the women did not dare to visit rashly.

Boss Zhou came back a little late, his clothes were wrinkled, and his forehead was covered with sweat, “Mom, where is my dad?”

Zhulan looked at the copied list and said, “Your dad went to the restaurant, you can go and help him entertain the guests.”

Boss Zhou was wondering why there were so many people in the restaurant near his home, “Ok, I’ll go over there.”

Zhulan said again, “By the way, you have a new dìdi, and you are now the xiōng of Zhuangyuan.”

Boss Zhou was just stepping over the door, and he fell to the ground without standing firmly, “Mom, what did you say?”

Zhulan, “.”

Boss’s reaction was a bit big, he fell so hard that she felt the ground shaking, how painful it must be!

Boss Zhou stood up by the door, it hurt him so much!

Zhulan coughed, “You have a didi who is Zhuangyuan, Wu Ming will be your didi in the future, are you happy? Surprised?”

Boss Zhou, “.”

He was just frightened, and then silent, mother not only liked to tease Li Shi but also liked to tease him!

Zhulan watched Boss Zhou walk out with a wooden face and limping, thinking to herself, that Boss was getting more and more boring, Li Shi was still better.

Zhulan put down the list. The Emperor of this dynasty really didn’t play by the rules this time. This time was the most special. The number of people was the smallest. There were seven people in the second class and seventy in the third class, a total of only eighty!

She thought that there would be more people who could be admitted without re-examination, but she was naive.

However, the gold content of this year’s gold list was higher, and the future of those admitted was bright.

Zhulan put away the list, Zhou Shuren came back to see it, but unfortunately Zhulan didn’t see Zhao Bo’s name in the second place. Zhao Bo’s name was in the third list, and he was almost at the end of the third list.

This gap is quite big, Zhao Bo must be depressed!

In the afternoon, Zhou Shuren and Wu Ming came back. Neither of them drank too much. They had to go to the palace to thank the Emperor tomorrow, so they couldn’t smell of alcohol. They came back with clear eyes.

Zhou Shuren left Boss Zhou, and Zhulan signaled Li Shi and others to go out.

Only Zhulan and her husband, Boss Zhou, and Wu Ming were left in the main hall.

Zhou Shuren said, “I’ll ask you again, do you regret it?”

Wu Ming’s heart might have struggled with it, that was inevitable, but he did not regret it. “I have to take care of my grandparents in their old age and raise two younger brothers and a sister. I do not regret it.”

Zhou Shuren smiled, “No, you are wrong.”

Wu Ming was puzzled, “Wrong?”

Zhou Shuren called Boss Zhou and pushed him, “After we become your godparent, you not only have to take care of your younger brothers and sisters, but also take care of the two gēgē, two dìdì, a jiějiě, and a mèimèi in the Zhou family. Don’t look at me like that. Chang Lian was born in September, and you were born in June. You are older than Chang Lian.”

Wu Ming, “.”

Was it too late for him to say regret now? He finally reacted, Uncle Zhou, no, this was what the godfather meant by regret this time!

Zhou Shuren smiled, and he calculated again. He was not young anymore. When he retired, Wu Ming would have a solid foundation and climbed up step by step. The profit from this business would still be greater than the loss.

Zhulan’s eyes were full of smiles. It was the first time she saw Wu Ming stunned.

Zhulan coughed and said, “You won’t forget that your sister has accepted Zhao Shi as her master!”

Wu Ming, “.”

He really forgot. He was so excited at that time that he didn’t think so thoroughly.

Zhou Shuren would not allow Wu Ming to regret, “This is easy. Zhao Shi has always asked Wu Ning to call her sǎozi, and no outsiders know about it. It’s OK to say that you are accepting Zhao Shi as your mèimèi.”

He was the head of the family and he had the right to be willful.

Zhulan, “.”

Now it was not that Wu Ming wanted to regret, but Zhou Shuren wanted to hold on to Wu Ming.

Wu Ming, “.”

Boss Zhou was in a daze. Well, dad was the oldest in the family, no, dad was the second oldest in the family. If mom didn’t refute, dad was the one who followed. Anyway, Wu Ning’s affairs were not a big deal, Wu Ming’s affairs were a big deal!

Zhou Shuren signaled the eldest brother to pour tea, and said to Wu Ming: “Please pay your respects!”

Wu Ming was very quick, took the teacup, and knelt down, “Godfather, please have some tea.”

Zhou Shuren took the tea and took a sip, “Godfather doesn’t have anything good to give you, but I know you are short of money, so I will give you half of the gifts I received today.”

Today’s gifts were not sent separately like last time, this time they were sent together, so who knew who they were for?

Wu Ming had a wooden face, yes, today’s gifts were all given to the Zhou family.

(End of this chapter)

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