When we came to Longchi Pier after many years, no one wanted to eat at home, so they all went to a restaurant down the mountain to enjoy the night view of Longchi.
At night, Longchi Pier was brightly lit, with orange-red lanterns hanging in front of the shops. The merchants who came to Longchi Pier to purchase goods, the merchants and crew members who had just disembarked, and the travelers who passed through Longchi Pier did not leave for a while.
Everyone gathered in the market of Longchi.
There is no curfew or city walls here. As long as merchants and tourists are willing, they can have fun all night long.
Zhou Man and the others skipped their own shop and went up to the third floor of a restaurant and sat by the window. They looked at the people coming and going below and looked in the direction they were walking. They couldn't help but let out a sigh and pointed diagonally across the street.
The very lively Lou asked: "Didn't that shop sell silk and satin before? Why is it so lively at night? There is also the sound of silk and bamboo."
Zhou Lang took a look, coughed, and began to vomit, but when he met his sister's curious eyes, he suddenly remembered that she was also someone who had visited Hualou and tossed huge ingots of gold, so he calmed down and said, "That's Hualou."
Bai Shan frowned, "Why did Hualou see this street coming? Didn't there used to be many buildings on Housan Street?"
In the beginning, every business was planned.
Zhou Lang said: "There has been chaos for a long time. Now who has the money to rent a good location and do whatever business they want, the county magistrate doesn't care."
He said: "This flower house was opened by Japanese people. The geishas there are all Japanese. Their dances are a little different. If you are interested, you can go and have a look..."
His sister will never suffer anyway.
Zhou Man: "Fourth brother, do you go there often?"
Zhou Lang shook his head, "I don't like the smell of them, but if the businessmen who are passing by insist on going, I will accompany them. Their wine is not as good as ours, and I still prefer to talk things in the restaurant."
He winked at Zhou Man, "And with your fourth sister-in-law's temper, do I dare to do anything nonsense?"
No matter how rich the old Zhou family is now, their family has no rules about keeping concubines and misbehaving outside. In his mother's words, if they can't even manage the family well, they can't even think about doing anything outside.
Zhou Man was interested and looked at Bai Shan: "I want to take a look."
Bai Shan:……
He turned to Zhou Lang and asked, "Are there many Japanese people in Qingzhou? I remember that Governor Guo defeated the Japanese at sea a few years ago. In recent years, no one from the Japanese has come to pay tribute."
Zhou Lang thought for a while and then said: "Not much, just in the past two years. This flower building was only opened in the past two years. They brought a lot of silver to buy land and buildings, but the county magistrate disliked them.
The Japanese people are unwilling to sell their land, and the shops in Longchi are becoming more and more valuable. Except for a few people who are in urgent need of money, no one is willing to sell them."
"So in the end they only bought one place, and finally rented two places on the left and right with a lot of money, and then they built it into the current flower building."
Bai Shan nodded slightly, looked out at the flower building, and directly rejected Zhou Man, "There is nothing interesting to see. If you want to see it, we will take you to see it later when we have the opportunity to go to Japan."
Bai Shan asked Zhou Lang, "Can you find a boat for us to go to sea?"
Zhou Lang hesitated for a moment and then said: "There is only a ship to Silla, and it can also go to Japan. You are going to Tianfang. Don't say I can't find the ship now. Even if I find it, I won't allow you to go."
He asked: "Do you know where Tianfang is?"
Zhou Lang also went to sea several times, but every time he came back from the sea, he was frightened, for fear that he would not be able to come back.
The sea is much more dangerous than on land. You can still run if you encounter danger on land, but you have nowhere to run if you encounter danger in the sea.
Bai Shan didn't argue. He glanced at Zhou Man and nodded, "Then let's go to Silla first."
Mingda's heart surged when he heard this, and he couldn't help but poke Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang has been to Silla, but Mingda has not been, so he immediately said: "We want to go too."
Yin You didn't say anything, but he also raised his head and glanced at Bai Shan.
It would be fine for them to take a sea ship from Yangzhou to Qingzhou. It is closer to Silla from here. If the ship is fast, it can be reached in one day and one night. Even if it is slow, it will only take two days, so he nodded without any objection, but...
He looked at Mingda and said, "Princess wants to go over to the court..."
Mingda said reservedly: "I'm not going there in the name of princess, I'm just going for a walk."
She paused and said, "I'll talk to Your Majesty."
Bai Shan nodded.
Seeing that they no longer talked about going to Tianfang, Zhou Lang breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "I'll ask Uncle Shi to follow you and be your guide."
He said: "Uncle Shi has a good reputation. He has been responsible for our maritime affairs at the dock these years. A lot of goods go to Silla. He is familiar with the people there and has learned their words.
Don’t worry if he follows me.”
Zhou Man asked: "Last time I wrote a letter saying that his son finally married a wife. How is his heart problem?"
"I feel much better after taking your medicine. His father has not let him worry about it in the past few years, and his heartache has improved a lot."
Zhou Lang said with a smile: "He has always refused to get married, saying that he didn't want to drag down other girls. This time, it's good. His wife gave birth to a big fat boy a year after entering the house. Uncle Shi has got what he wanted now, and he wants to save more.
I will use some money to buy my grandson a wife in the future."
"Ask him to go with you to Silla, and he will be called the right one."
Since moving to Qingzhou, the people around Uncle Shi have changed. There is no one to take care of people who are not familiar with the place here. He has his own intentions, so he has never gambled again. He also knows that he has nothing to do with gambling.
I have no self-control, so I always stay away from casinos.
Regardless of whether it was in the county town or at this end of Longchi, he would take a detour when he saw the casino, and Mrs. Shi would also keep a close eye on it when she got here, so the life of the Shi family gradually became stable.
It's just that the medicine Shi Dalang needs to take costs a lot. Even if Zhou Lang gives him a lot of wages, it will be difficult for the Shi family to save money.
This was still Zhou Man's concern for the old friendship. No matter whether he came to give Shi Dalang an injection or prescribe medicine, he didn't charge a consultation fee.
Later, Zheng Gu took over the medical office here. Everyone in the medical office knew that the Shi family had an old relationship with Zhou Man, so they all collected money according to her rules. They never charged money for acupuncture, and all the medicinal materials that could be exempted were waived.
But Shi Dalang has a heart disease. This problem requires taking medicine for a long time, and the medicine is not cheap. He must relax his mind to stabilize his condition.
Uncle Shi also knows that it will be difficult for the Shi family to return to the past, and he has always felt ashamed of his wife and children, so in addition to the work given by Zhou Lang, he occasionally thinks of other ways to make a living.
For example, you can occasionally take the lead for some caravans and earn some hard-earned money, or you can make some money by doing accounting for some small caravans without accounting rooms.
Zhou Lang also knew his situation, and besides Uncle Shi's other qualities, he could not go wrong in terms of loyalty, so he never restricted him from making extra money.