It was the same restaurant near Dingfu Street. At a table on the first floor lobby near the counter, a strong man and a short man were drinking and chatting.
"Second brother, why hasn't the eldest brother come yet?" The strong man picked up a peanut, threw it into his mouth and chewed it a few times before asking the short man. After speaking, he reached for the wine bottle again, preparing to fill it up for himself.
Wine glass.
When the short man saw it, he stretched out his hand and slapped the strong man's hand holding the wine bottle and said: "Don't drink so much. Brother is looking for us. Something must be wrong. You have to drink too much. Don't blame us if something good happens. We won't call you."
"
The strong man smiled, retracted his hand, and said to himself: "Actually, it's okay, I can drink well."
When he finished speaking, he saw the short man glance at the empty wine bottles on his right. The strong man scratched his head in embarrassment, blinked, and quickly changed the subject: "Second brother, that place outside the city
The cement road has been repaired and it looks really good. This cement is used for building houses and building roads. It is an excellent material."
The short man understood that his third brother had changed the topic, but he didn't mind. He followed the third brother's topic and said, "Yes, the eldest brother said before that he got information about cement and wanted to make us rich together."
While the short man was talking, the strong man picked up another peanut, and then replied: "Yes, the elder brother said so, but there has been no movement."
"I guess I haven't found out the specific information, otherwise my eldest brother would have told us." The short man didn't eat, he put down his chopsticks and looked at the strong man.
The strong man nodded, and suddenly he put down his chopsticks, leaned his head close to the short man and said, "Second brother, is there any news about the eldest brother's date with us this time?" [
The short man shook his head: "I don't know that. I'll find out when my brother comes over."
At this time, the door curtain in the restaurant lobby opened, and a man who looked like a businessman came in. After glancing at the lobby, he walked straight to the table of strong men and said as he walked: "Second brother, third brother, I have kept you waiting for a long time.
.”
When the strong man and the short man heard this, they looked up and saw that it was their eldest brother. They quickly stood up to greet him.
The merchant walked to the table, glanced at the table, and found that there were only some dishes to go with the wine. He shouted to the counter: "Shopkeeper, please bring some staple food quickly." Then he sat down.
When the strong man saw it, he quickly asked: "Brother, what's wrong? Are you in such a hurry?"
As soon as the merchant sat down, he picked up his chopsticks and started picking up the food. When the strong man asked, he replied: "I'll go outside the city in a while, to the cement factory."
The strong man and the short man were overjoyed when they heard this and quickly asked: "Any news on cement?"
The two of them were a little excited, so they spoke loudly, which made several tables far away from them look over, wondering why they were shouting so loudly.
The merchant shook his head and said, "Don't think about cement."
When the strong man and the short man heard this, they felt cold and asked hurriedly: "Why?"
Just as the merchant was about to reply, the waiter came to him and served them the staple food.
The strong man and the short man had no choice but to be patient and help the waiter to move the space and put the staple food.
The merchant waited for the waiter to go down, reached out and took a steamed bun into his hand, and then said to the two sworn brothers: "I was late just now. Because of this, the imperial court sent invitations to all the major merchants in the capital, inviting them to come this afternoon.
There was an auction for glassware at the cement factory. My boss got one and asked me to go check it out."
"What about cement?" The strong man was obsessed with cement because he had observed the effectiveness of the cement on the spot. Especially when it rained a few days ago, he went to see it once and felt that the cement was really good, so he asked the merchant again.
"It is said that the cement production is not enough and we are not planning to sell it." The merchant answered his question, which made him give up his desire to make cement.[
"Brother, we don't have an invitation, so we can't go." The short man didn't just focus on the cement.
"It's okay. I can bring two followers, so I feel sorry for the two good brothers who are now the eldest brother's followers." The merchant took a bite of the steamed bun, chewed it a few times, swallowed it, and then replied.
"Brother, when exactly does it start?" the short man asked with concern.
The merchant estimated the time and said, "There isn't much time left. Eat quickly and rush over after eating."
When the strong man and the short man heard this, they stopped talking and began to eat together.
About half an hour later, the carriage in which the three sworn brothers arrived arrived at the entrance of the square in front of the cement factory.
The soldiers from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division who were guarding the entrance stopped the carriage and asked for the invitation. No other people could enter.
The merchant motioned to the strong man to open the curtain, then took out the invitation from his sleeve and handed it to the soldier for inspection.
After checking the invitation, the soldier pointed to a single-family building not far away and said: "You go directly to the auction hall. Don't wander around. If you are caught, you will be beaten."
The merchant seemed to know the rules here and did not react in particular. After agreeing, he ordered the carriage to go to the auction hall.
In the car, the short man asked the merchant strangely: "Brother, how come there are soldiers guarding this place, and they are so strict that they have to slap a board if they wander around?"
The merchant listened and explained: "This place is close to the cement and glass factory. The imperial court set up soldiers to guard it to prevent the formula from being leaked. It is said that there are also Jinyi guards guarding it. Remember not to wander around after getting off the car. Do you understand?"
The strong man and the short man nodded, not daring to mess around.
When they arrived at the door of the auction hall, the carriage stopped, and the strong man got out of the carriage first and jumped to the ground.
He felt that his footing was smooth, but the strong man was a little worried about whether he would dent the cement square due to his heavy weight. He quickly moved a step away and took a look, and found that there was no trace of denting.
He looked around and found that there were two soldiers from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division at the door of the auction hall, checking people getting out of a car in front of them.
Seeing that no one was looking at him, the strong man stepped hard a few more times, then moved aside and looked at the place where he stamped his feet, and found that there was still no trace left.
At this time, the merchant had already gotten out of the carriage. He happened to see the strong man's movements and said with a smile: "Don't talk about me, look at this car. Are there any wheel marks left on the cement road?"
The strong man really took a look behind the car and saw no trace. He couldn't help but smile at the merchant, and then whispered: "The rain in the past few days has not softened the cement road surface at all, which is really good."
After the short man got out of the carriage, he and the strong man followed the merchant, pretending to be his entourage, and then walked towards the door.
As for the car, they don't have to worry about it.
After passing the inspection by the soldiers, we came to the door of the auction hall.
Short and strong men were a little in awe of places like government offices, and followed closely behind the merchants, as if doing so would give them a sense of security.
Unexpectedly, the merchant suddenly stopped. The short man and the strong man were unable to catch up, and they both bumped into the merchant's back.
"Brother, what's wrong?" The short man thought something happened in the house and asked quickly.
"You two come forward and take a look." The merchant did not explain, but just let them take a look on their own.
The strong man was relatively tall, his eyes looked directly past the merchants in front of him, and his mouth formed an "O" shape.
The short man walked around the merchant and suddenly found that there was a large transparent thing blocking the front.
He stretched out his hand and felt something cold, then looked at the merchant and said, "Brother, this is..."
"Glass." The merchant replied without hesitation. He almost bumped into it because he didn't expect the glass to be so transparent, let alone that the glass was so big and could be used as a door.
"Brother, is the glass so big?" The strong man also spoke at this time. It's not like he has never seen glass before. When he exchanged Ming Jiusi Bao banknotes for silver coins, he saw it at the Ming Dynasty Royal Bank.
There are glass, but they are all relatively small pieces.
The two soldiers from the Military and Horse Division who were guarding the steps were paying close attention to the situation of these three people. Seeing that none of them hit the glass door, Soldier A stretched out his hand towards Soldier B opposite him.
Soldier Ding Yi so-called took out a one-cent Ming Dynasty Jiu Si Bao banknote from his arms, handed it to Soldier Ding A, and said: "I finally won for you."
The three sworn brothers naturally didn't know that someone would bet on the glass door. The strong man stretched out his palm and opened it gently against the glass, letting the two brothers go in first.
After the three of them entered, they bypassed the screen wall and entered the hall. Unexpectedly, the hall surprised the three of them again.