Qiao Mansion is still solemn and solemn, the fragrance of osmanthus can still be smelled from far away, and the old gatekeeper is still leaning at the corner of the door, drinking some wine and eating peanuts.
Xue Poye rushed over early in the morning after breakfast.
Although the old man is a janitor, the material of his clothes is very good. Xue Poye couldn't help but secretly sigh, this big family is a big family, even the clothes of the servants are not comparable to ordinary people, the old man's head is already covered with white, so
It is not easy for an older person to still guard the door, so Xue Poye made his smile as bright as possible and his voice as soft as possible: "Old man, I'm here again, I still need to bother you to inform you, thank you for your work.
!”
The old man didn't even get up this time. He waved his hand and said, "I've told you, I'm going to be busy today and I won't be visiting. You go."
Xue Poye frowned, but immediately smiled and said: "The Qiao family has a huge industry, and it is normal for the old man to be busy. I just want to ask the old man to help me. It is not easy for us to come to Suzhou, and there are a lot of things there.
, please take some time out of your time, let me say hello to you, please do your best!"
The old man chuckled, shook his head and said: "Xiao Xue, I can't make the decision on this matter. I'm just a servant. I will do whatever the old man tells me. If the old man says he won't see you, he will just disappear. You'd better come back another day."
Xue Poye hesitated. It's not a problem to keep dragging things around here. There are still a lot of things behind this. If you talk to the Qiao family as soon as possible, you can do things as soon as possible. How can you do things if you can't even see each other? You can't do it every time.
Spend the day wandering around Suzhou.
The old man seemed to notice that Xue Poye was in a bad mood and said with a smile: "Xiao Xue, you can't be in a hurry when doing things. Come on, come on, I just have nothing to do. If you are not busy, come and talk to the old man. Hehe, I don't know what you think.
Don’t you think highly of me, a servant?”
Xue Poye smiled bitterly. The servants of the Qiao family were much better than ordinary merchants. Seeing the old man's pleasant appearance, he couldn't help but sit down on the threshold next to him and said with a smile: "What do you call the old man?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then he immediately smiled and said: "I've lived past my age and I don't have a name, so just call me Qiao Bo."
Xue Poye said "Oh", touched his nose and said, "Hello, Uncle Qiao!"
Uncle Qiao put two peanuts into his mouth, chewed them gently, and said vaguely: "Young people are very good at etiquette. My great-grandfather likes young people who know etiquette. Hehe, Xiao Xue, you can find our great-grandfather."
Are you in a hurry?"
Xue Poye glanced at Uncle Qiao and did not answer. He looked around and saw large tracts of sweet-scented osmanthus forest. However, the Qiao family, which was extremely wealthy, did not have many guests. According to his own understanding, such a wealthy family,
The crowds are not enough to describe the liveliness. I really didn't expect that the place would be so deserted. I casually said: "It seems that there are not many guests coming?"
Uncle Qiao leaned comfortably at the corner of the door, took a sip of wine, and said leisurely: "It's good to be clean, it's good to be clean. In the past few years, when there were many people, the family couldn't cope with it. When there were too many people, we couldn't do business.
It’s so nice to be so clean, I have a lot more free time.”
Xue Poye asked curiously: "Are there no people who come to discuss business?"
Uncle Qiao chuckled and said: "Today, our Qiao family doesn't need to talk about business. There is a lot of business that should be done, and we won't do business that shouldn't be done. Even if we really want to talk about business, we must talk about business."
There is no need to go to the door."
Xue Poye praised: "To do business to this extent, you are already very proficient. The Qiao family is a well-deserved business family."
"What are you talking about?" Qiao Bo didn't seem to agree, and said leisurely: "To preserve the business of our ancestors, my grandfather is not big-hearted, and now the business is done step by step, there is nothing to worry about."
Xue Poye laughed and asked in a low voice: "By the way, Uncle Qiao, this master is already old. Has he... hey, hasn't he handed over the burden to his descendants?"
Qiao Bo's expression immediately darkened, and he was extremely gloomy. He packed up the peanuts and some wine, ignored them, went straight into the hospital, closed the door, and left the stunned Xue Poye outside.
Holy shit!
Xue Poye was surprised. This old guy has quite a bad temper. Wasn't he very kind at first? But why did he have such an attitude when he asked about the descendants of the Qiao family, and his face was gloomier than a coffin board? What's the reason?
Tieniu, who had been waiting by the carriage, couldn't help but come over and said angrily: "Shopkeeper, the Qiao family... I broke down the door and took out their grandfather."
Xue Poye was covered in cold sweat, rolled his eyes at him, and said coldly: "If you touch a hair of Mr. Qiao, we will definitely not be able to leave Suzhou. You really love to joke, and you want to smash the door? Don't smash the door.
Oh, our heads have been smashed." He secretly lamented that although Tieniu is powerful in terms of force, his intelligence is really average.
…
…
From ancient times to the present, every place has its own characteristics, which include many aspects, such as customs, sounds of speech, and even local delicacies.
The Qiao family refused to see anyone. Although Xue Poye was disappointed, he did not give up. Even a powerful figure like Liu Bei could visit the thatched cottage three times. He himself had to go to the house several times no matter what. If he couldn't do anything else, he would resort to other methods.
Mingxu was a monk, so he recited sutras along the way, but he was not reciting the real sutras, but muttering that he wanted to go to a restaurant to have a special meal. Xue Poye was very disdainful at first, but he listened to Mingxu reciting the sutras one by one.
The name of the dish made people salivate, and their minds were stirred, so they took the two of them to a very famous restaurant in Suzhou - Tai Xiyuan!
This is a very strange name, but the business is extremely popular.
Of course, Tai Xiyuan has a very ancient style, and the people who come to dine seem to have some status. Although there are many guests, it is not very noisy.
"Crab rice dumplings, sauce meat, garlic crab, thirteen-spice lobster...!" Mingxu ordered the dishes very politely, but without hesitation, he was very familiar with them.
"Have you brought any money?" Xue Poye couldn't help but ask.
Mingxu stopped talking when he mentioned "Snowflake Needle Mushroom" and looked at Xue Poye aggrievedly: "Shopkeeper, don't you have money?"
Xue Poye touched his nose and said, "I can't spend my damn money like this even if I have money. I really admire you. Can you finish all the dishes?"
Mingxu grinned and said: "You don't have to finish it, you have to taste it, don't you think so, shopkeeper?"
Xue Poye wanted to speak, but the waiter next to him couldn't help but interjected: "Do you want anything else?" Looking at Xue Poye, there was a trace of contempt in his eyes, obviously disdainful of Xue Poye not even having a meal.
Such fussing and fussing.
Xue Poye sighed, waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, that's all."
The waiter turned to leave, but Mingxu couldn't help but said: "Brother, add another pot of Biluochun." Seeing the cold eyes of the helmsman looking over, he hurriedly lowered his head and said nothing.
This Tai Xiyuan only has two floors, which is much less impressive than my own Han Garden. However, the second floor is very lively, as if a grand party is being held.
Before the food was served, I saw a group of people coming in from the gate. They were a middle-aged man in brocade clothes. He was a little fat and had a mustache. Although he had a smile on his face, there was something hidden underneath the smile.
He looked like a rogue, with a big belly, as if he were six or seven months pregnant. He held two iron gall bladders in his right hand, which made a "stabbing" sound. Behind him were six or seven big men in black, each of them
Very vigorous.
Xue Poye frowned. It seemed that that extremely bloody scene was about to happen again. He turned his face away and did not look at them.
When the customers in the store saw these guys, they all showed disgust and horror. They also lowered their heads and stopped talking. Only the laughter still came from upstairs.
A guy who looked like a shopkeeper had already come forward and said with a smile: "Master Hu, you are here, please come quickly!"
Mr. Hu's right hand was flexible, and the two iron galls were spinning in his palm. He made a harsh sound, and without even looking at the shopkeeper, he swept his eyes around the store, suddenly showed a strange smile, and shouted: "Shopkeeper Fan, so you are here
Here, it’s easy for me to find you. What’s the matter, do I have any grudges against my brother? It’s not a problem to avoid me all day long. It’s better to get things done early so as not to burden your family.”
Everyone followed his gaze and saw a man standing in the corner, trembling all over, bending over, hanging his head, and his voice was trembling: "Hu... Master Hu...!"
Many people expressed sympathy, it seemed that Shopkeeper Fan was going to be in bad luck.
Mr. Tiger walked over slowly and said with a smile: "What's the matter? You are shouting about having no money every day. Aren't you still here living and drinking?"
Shopkeeper Fan said with a grimace: "Master Hu, we are talking about business so that we can earn money to honor you."
"Honor me?" Mr. Hu chuckled: "That's not true. Mr. Hu, I told you that I don't like those trivial things. I can give you money and hand over the land deed of your drug store.
It’s easy for me to say anything. I’m trying to make things easier for you, Mr. Hu, but you also have to give Mr. Hu some face, right?”
The big men behind him all crossed their chests and crossed their arms, with strange smiles on their faces.
A friend of Shopkeeper Fan's deskmate stood up, a little angry, and said with a foreign accent: "Why are you so unreasonable? Can the land deed and house deed be given casually? That is someone's livelihood."
"Be reasonable?" Mr. Hu squinted his eyes and touched his mustache and said, "Master Hu likes to reason the most. Come on, try to reason with me."
A man immediately jumped out from behind Mr. Hu. He stepped forward and grabbed the outsider by the collar and lifted it up. He picked up the wine bottle on the table and smashed it down on his head. There was an extremely clear "bang" sound, and the wine bottle
It shattered, and the foreigner's head was immediately bruised and bloody. The blood and water flowed down with the drink. His face instantly turned pale. He let out a cry of "ah". As soon as the thug let go, the foreigner suddenly collapsed like a puddle of mud.