Chapter 2: Chen Family's Auntie

  Among the billions of people, God chose Xiao Fan to cross over, which is a kind of affirmation of his character. If such an unlucky thing happened to him, is there anything more unlucky than this?

  As for his current situation in the Chen Mansion, it's nothing compared to what happened before.

  Xiao Fan is very confident about changing this situation.

  Fortunately, Xiao Fan is quite handsome, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, clear-cut features, a gentle and elegant appearance, and a refined demeanor. If he were to travel the world, he would be fully qualified to bear the nickname "Jade-faced Flying Dragon".

  When he saw his reflection in an ancient bronze mirror, he was enchanted.

  If I had such a face in my previous life, why couldn't I even get hired as a male public relations officer with a monthly salary of 30,000? This is the gap between people!

  However, being handsome in this era is not necessarily useful. If he wants to make the most of his days after crossing over, Xiao Fan feels that some things must be clarified first.

  This son-in-law seems to have a very poor relationship with others. Since waking up until now, not to mention people coming to comfort him, there isn't even anyone who dares to talk to him. Everyone who sees him gives him a weird look and walks around him.

  Xiao Fan was very calm about this, he knew that everyone in the mansion had already regarded him as a madman.

  In ancient and modern times, no one wants to deal with a madman.

  So, Xiao Fan is a lonely madman.

  This madman now knows two things: first, this is ancient times, as for which dynasty, wait to understand.

  Secondly, he himself lives in the Chen Mansion and is a son-in-law of the Chen family. However, he only has the name of a son-in-law and has not yet married the daughter of the Chen family. As for his new identity, what's his surname and given name... where's his hometown... all to be understood later.

  This piece of information was a bit too thin for Xiao Fan.

  So Xiao Fan decided to perfect his information and get familiar with this strange environment in the shortest time.

  Xiao Fan's method of gathering information was very direct. He squatted in the flower garden on the side of the front yard of the Chen residence for half an hour, then caught a passing servant.

  The garden is not all flowers, it also has secluded and uninhabited corners, belonging to the "gray area" of "calling heaven without response, calling earth without spirit".

  Now, this unlucky servant is being pressed down by Xiao Fan in this gray area, calling out to heaven but getting no response, calling out to earth but getting no resonance.

  The underling was very frightened, his lips and lower body were shaking at the same time, his face turned dark purple with a sign of shock. - Being caught by a madman is not a pleasant thing, the underling's reaction is normal.

  Xiao Fan observed for a while and felt that this servant was not very brave, being quite obedient in the face of violence. This made Xiao Fan feel delighted - Xiao Fan disliked violence, but he disliked even more when others resisted violence.

  "What's your surname?" Xiao Fan revealed a gentle and elegant smile, with an impeccable demeanor.

  The man's face turned even more purple, and he stuttered for a while before tremblingly saying: "My surname is Chen."

  "Good surname!" Xiao Fan said politely.

  The subordinate responded with an even uglier smile than crying.

  "There are a few questions I'd like to ask you, and I hope you won't be stingy...won't be stingy..." Xiao Fan scratched his head, he was not quite used to the flowery language of ancient people.

  "Would you be so kind as to enlighten me?"

  Xiao Fan smiled and said: "Right, I also hope you won't be stingy with your teachings."

  "Go ahead and ask." The servant was a very sensible servant.

  "What dynasty is it now?" This was what Xiao Fan cared about most.

  "The Great Ming Dynasty." The servant replied without hesitation.

  Xiao Fan nodded thoughtfully. Tomorrow morning, hmm, very familiar. Xiao Fan was not illiterate and had some knowledge of history.

  "What is the year?"

  "In the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu... winter." The servant replied very briefly, and he, who had fallen into the hands of a madman, fully demonstrated his clever quality.

  Xiao Fan's expression changed slightly: "Hongwu? Zhu Yuanzhang as Emperor?"

  "Ah!" The attendants were shocked and turned pale, "You... you dare to directly address the name of Emperor Hongwu..."

  Xiao Fan's face turned serious as he explained: "I'm a madman, didn't you forget?"

  The people below calmed down, yes, a madman can say whatever he wants without any restrictions, how can you blame him? Fortunately, the Hongwu Emperor was wise and abolished the Embroidered Uniform Guard a few years ago, otherwise the Chen family would have been killed by this madman...

  "There are still several questions... Who am I?"

  The people below widened their eyes and looked at Xiao Fang's gaze as if they were looking at a madman...

  Of course, this kind of gaze is correct.

  "This lunatic has lost himself..." The servant thought to himself, in a moment of mortal danger, he could come up with such an artistic and profound conclusion. Chen couldn't help but admire his own eloquence.

  Xiao Fan stared at him unblinkingly, secretly vowing that if this servant gave him some academic answer like "true self", "small self" or "great self", he would definitely be a time-traveler too, and he would not hesitate to strangle him to death. As the saying goes, rarity is precious, and time-travelers are rare, one is enough, two is too many...

  "You are the brother-in-law of the Chen family..." The servant smiled and gave an answer that satisfied both parties.

  …………

  …………

  After a while, the man was released by Xiao Fan with an unfulfilled intention. As he walked away, his lower body was wet and soggy, but of course, this had nothing to do with Xiao Fan. It was normal for someone with poor mental quality to be scared out of control.

  After Xiaoren left, Xiao Fan stood in the garden with his hands behind his back and began to daydream again.

  In the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang is now old and frail, the crown prince is weak, the King of Yan is restless in Beiping, the two heroes are about to contend for the throne, the world is about to be turbulent, and Chen Fu's brother-in-law... hmm, he is still Chen Fu's brother-in-law.

  Mind your own business and think about how to survive in Chen's house first.

  Yes, survival is a big problem.

  Xiao Fan is currently in a place that is quite close to the capital city of Ying Tian Fu. In fact, it's located in the lower reaches of the county of Jiang Pu, which is under the jurisdiction of Ying Tian (present-day Nanjing). It would only take about an hour on horseback to reach the capital city.

  Chen Fu, a merchant who rose to wealth with the spring breeze of Zhu Yuanzhang's founding of the country, started his business by farming and storing grain. In just over 20 years, he developed into a wealthy merchant with hundreds of hectares of good land, abundant grain stores, and many shops. He has more than a dozen shops in the county town, which is considered a well-known township enterprise in Jiangpu County according to past standards.

  The head of the Chen family is also surnamed Chen, and he is Xiao Fan's nominal father-in-law. The head of the household is nearly forty years old this year, and he has a very interesting name, Chen Si Liu.

  In fact, this name was very common in the early Ming Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, the rulers did not allow Han people to take names. After a child was born, they were generally named after their parents' age or birthdate. This resulted in almost all uneducated or non-official citizens within China being named with numbers. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was not originally called Zhu Yuanzhang at birth, but rather Zhu BaBa (Eight Eight) or Zhu Chongba (Double Eight), because he was born on a day that coincided with the eighth month and eighth day, making it an auspicious date. It's said that old Zhu's birthday was indeed a lucky day, full of good fortune, and if he hadn't become emperor, he would have made a great merchant and gotten rich easily.

  Chen Siliu's name also roughly means the same thing. He was born when the Yuan Dynasty had not yet been driven out of China, and the rulers were still Mongolians, so Chen Siliu's generation can be said to have caught the last wave of the fashionable trend of taking names with numbers.

  As for Xiao Fan's identity as the Chen family's son-in-law, it's actually quite embarrassing.

  This was thanks to Xiao Fan's old man. For generations, the Xiao family were farmers, and for three generations they had been living in a village under the jurisdiction of Jiangpu County, tilling the land as typical poor peasants with a good class background. At that time, Chen 46 had not yet become wealthy, and when he went to the countryside to collect grain, he was bitten by a colorful poisonous snake and lay on the edge of the field, humming and waiting for death. Just then, Xiao Fan's father happened to pass by, and as peasants are generally kind-hearted and generous, he saved Chen 46.

  Chen Si Liu was so grateful that he immediately took out some silver to express his gratitude, but Xiao Fan's father refused to accept it with a noble demeanor. Chen Si Liu wanted to repay the kindness but had no way to do so, and was very troubled. —— It turns out that people who are not wealthy still have a good conscience.

  In the evening, Chen Siliu stayed at Xiao Fan's home. Chen Siliu was also a bold man, and although his injury from the poison had not healed, he started drinking with Xiao Fan's father. The two men clinked cups together, drank until their faces were red and their ears were hot, and before long they were addressing each other as brothers, their friendship quickly deepening. In just one meal, they became as close as childhood friends.

  Chen Si Liu was drinking when he saw Xiao Fan, who had a runny nose, and suddenly an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. He thought of a way to repay the Xiao family for saving his life. Pointing at one-year-old Xiao Fan, he insisted on forming a marriage alliance with Xiao Fan's father, crying and shouting that he wanted to betroth his unborn child (whose sex was still unknown) to Xiao Fan. Xiao Fan's father tried to stop him for half the night but couldn't.

  So, being a good person will be rewarded by heaven, and doing one good deed a day is really necessary. Saving someone's life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, but getting a beautiful wife in return is a real bargain.

  Another important thing is that even if you're not a good person, your drinking etiquette must be good. When you get drunk, just lie down and sleep honestly, don't make random promises about anything, otherwise when you sober up, it'll be too late to regret.

  Xiao Fang dared to bet that after Chen Si Liu became successful, he would definitely slap himself in the face many times when it was late at night and quiet.

  After a year, Chen's family became more prosperous and his wife gave birth to a daughter named Chen Ying'er. Later, Chen Siliu worked hard to increase production for the country, and in his diligent farming, his wife gave birth to another son, named Chen Ning.

  A boy and a girl brought joy under their knees, the Chen family had descendants, and the family was naturally harmonious.

  On the contrary, Xiao's family encountered a streak of bad luck.

  The sky has unpredictable winds and clouds, Xiao Fan's parents both died of pulmonary tuberculosis (which was an incurable disease in ancient times), leaving behind their orphaned child. Before his death, Xiao Fan's father suddenly regained his memory as if aided by a divine power, recalling a marriage arrangement from over a decade ago. He grasped Xiao Fan's hand tightly and instructed him to go to Jiangpu County, to seek out his future father-in-law, hoping that the old man could provide some guidance or support for his son-in-law, perhaps paving the way for a brighter future, which would be better than spending his whole life as a farmer.

  Xiao Fan was a filial and honest son, so he nodded in agreement with tears in his eyes.

  Xiao Fan sold off the remaining land in his home, used the money to bury his parents, and then went alone to Chen's house.

  Xiao Fan thus became the uncle-in-law of the Chen family. If being an uncle-in-law is considered a profession, then he has nearly twenty years of seniority.

  I am the long-awaited dividing line of two months.

  A tender and lovely newcomer releases a new book, seeking everyone's collection, and accepting all kinds of votes... (court summons are not accepted)