On the corridor, with the sparse lights coming from the surrounding courtyards, he lowered his head and flipped through the invitation card, glancing at the general content.
Junior sister's birthday party will be held tomorrow night.
The location is Xunyang Building, which he is familiar with.
Ouyang Rong will be very busy during the day tomorrow, but he will have nothing to do in the evening. There will be no conflicts and he can go to the banquet.
It's just that before that, the younger junior sister's relatives of the Xie family in Chen County didn't come.
Ouyang Rongben was preparing for the night of his junior sister's birthday. He called Da Lang, Liu Lang, and Xiao Niangzi and several others to have a small dinner together and cook to celebrate his junior sister's birthday.
For now, it must be over.
Ouyang Rong nodded lightly.
Returning to Yinbingzhai, he casually placed the handmade oil-paper umbrella, gold-gilded invitations, and the unopened gift box given to him by his junior sister on the cabinet.
I turned around and went behind the flower and bird screen to take a bath and wash myself.
There was the sound of the door opening from outside, and it was the familiar footsteps of a silver-haired girl.
Ye Weilai walked behind the flower-and-bird screen with a blushing face, holding a pile of clothes.
"Tan Lang, I put the clothes on the shelf."
"good."
Ouyang Rong rested the back of his head on the jade pillow on the edge of the tub, covered his face with a hot towel, and responded.
The atmosphere in front of the bathtub was quiet, with only a faint mist filling the air.
After putting away the clothes, Ye Weilai walked forward silently, twisting the straps of her skirt with her fingers, shrinking her shoulders slightly, revealing her fair collarbones, and the skirt slid down to her ankles like a slide.
Ye Weila stepped forward, dipped her fingers into the water, tested the water temperature, nodded gently, grabbed the hot towel, her cheeks were flushed, and carefully wiped the body of the sweetheart in front of her, scrubbing it with soap locust.
The man's healthy wheat-colored skin that has been rubbed with a towel is slightly red.
When she bent down, the girl's long snow-white hair hanging loosely around her shoulders was wetted by the steam rising from the tub.
At a certain moment, a catkin as smooth as a snake was about to slide downwards from the chest of the man who had his head raised and his eyes closed.
The next moment, she felt her little hand being held down by a big hand, holding it with her fingers together, preventing her from sliding down.
Ye Weilai turned around and looked.
Ouyang Rong raised his head and closed his eyes, his face covered with a hot towel, breathing evenly, as if he was about to sleep.
Somewhat tired and tired.
Thinking of how busy Tan Lang has been these days, even taking a break, Ye Weilai's eyes felt cherished and no longer messed around.
The master and the servant clasped their fingers together for a while.
After making sure that Tan Lang was asleep, Ye Weilai turned around, wiped his wet hands, and walked out of the screen quietly.
When Ouyang Rong woke up, the water temperature was slightly cold.
"Why did you fall asleep?"
He rubbed his face, stood up, took out the bucket, wiped it, put on new clothes, and walked out of the screen.
"Tanlang, are you awake?"
"Hmm." Ouyang Rong asked casually: "What are you doing?"
Ye Weilai folded her hands together, rested her white chin, and lay in front of the cabinet. She smiled and pointed at the gold-plated invitations and other items in front of her:
"Tomorrow is Miss Xie's birthday party?"
"Um."
Ouyang Rong wiped his long hair and walked to the desk.
"Tan Lang, what's inside this gift box? It's well packaged. Is it a gift for Miss Xie?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head: "I don't know, please help me open it and take a look."
"good."
Ye Weilai asked curiously while opening the gift box:
"Is this the handmade umbrella that Tanlang is going to give to Miss Xie? Hey, why is there an extra... painting of a lady on it?"
"Yeah." Ouyang Rong nodded: "I asked my friend to draw it. Does it look good?"
"It's pretty good-looking. Miss Xie should like it, but..."
"But what?"
Ye Weilai said hesitantly with a small face: "Umbrella means 'San', and giving an umbrella means sending it away, right?"
Ouyang Rong immediately replied: "Can't it be 'good' and send 'good'?"
"That's okay." Ye Weilai puffed her lips slightly: "Just don't be misunderstood by Miss Xie."
Ouyang Rong shook his head, looked out the window and whispered:
"It rains a lot in Jiangnan, and there are also many beauties. Green tile alleys, rain and snow falling, lilac beauties... When you meet an oil-paper umbrella, you have arrived in the real Jiangnan."
Ye Weilai was slightly stunned: "Is there such a thing? Tan Lang, where did you say this?"
"I was just fooling around."
"..."
Ouyang Rong sat down at the desk, stretched and said with a smile:
"The main reason is that I have always felt that an umbrella brings calmness, and a woman holding an umbrella is as quiet as a virgin, elegant and intellectual. In this regard, the junior sister still needs to learn to be less aggressive and more calm."
Ye Weilai suddenly nodded, "So that's how it is, slave thought that Tan Lang gave the umbrella as a hint that he wanted to protect Miss Xie from the wind and rain."
Ouyang Rong smiled.
"Tan Lang, look!"
At this time, Ye Weilai opened the valuable gift box and took out a jade of extraordinary quality.
"It seems to be a jade jade with a cloud and dragon pattern. Ah, Tanlang, this seems to be very valuable. It can even buy the mansion we live in. Who gave it to me?"
The silver-haired girl looked surprised at first, then looked worried again, and turned around and asked:
"Do you want to go back? What if it's a bribe?"
In front of the desk, Ouyang Rong raised his head, looked at the expensive jade in her hand, and pursed his lips slightly: "I'm not an outsider. Put it away first."
"Yes, Tanlang."
Ye Weilai was very obedient and didn't ask any questions. She put the jade jade with cloud and dragon pattern intact back into the gift box and put it back in its original position.
"Weila, you should go to bed first, I may be late."
Ouyang Rong lowered his head and said.
Ye Weilai looked back and found that Tan Lang was skillfully playing with the strange thing called an abacus on the table again.
This was made of bamboo by Tan Lang a few days ago. He gave some away and sent a pair to Luoyang.
He kept two sets for himself, one for his home and one for the Jiangzhou lobby.
Lately, every night, Tan Lang goes to bed late, typing out this abacus. Under the lamp, burying his head in a sea of books, he seems to be settling accounts.
Sometimes Ye Weilai wakes up in the middle of the night to urinate, and can vaguely see Tan Lang pacing in front of the desk.
Tanlang should be doing something very important and complicated.
The girl felt distressed, but she couldn't do anything to help him, so she could only not disturb him.
The same is true tonight.
"Okay, Tanlang, you go to bed early. You have to attend Miss Xie's birthday dinner tomorrow."
"good."
…
Ouyang Rong deliberately got up early today.
While it was still dark, he got up, put on his clothes, and quickly washed up.
The girl on the bed in the back room behind the quilt, with her little head raised and bleary-eyed, confused and hopeless,
He pushed open the door and left the Huaiye Lane mansion.
In winter, the days are short and the nights are long, and the dawn comes very slowly.
The wharf of Xunyangdu has already become lively, and the more industrious traders and footmen are already carrying their burdens, cherishing the rare sunny day in winter, and going around selling and shouting.
Therefore, Ouyang Rong didn't get up too early, perhaps it was considered very early in Huaiye Lane where there are many rich and powerful people.
But he knew very well that there were many people in Xunyang City, especially Xingzifang, who were forced by life and were more diligent than him.
Even if he is the governor of Jiangzhou, so what?
In this era, apart from the rich and powerful, the only people who can sleep in every day are probably lazy people.
Of course, except Yuan Huaimin.
Xunyang was crossing the river. In the early morning, the river breeze was biting and cold, biting into the back of people's necks.
Ouyang Rong clasped his hands to his mouth and breathed in a few mouthfuls of white mist.
Thanks to his hard work, he went out this morning and specially wore a snow-white fox fur shawl. The large clusters of white fur on the fox fur were quite warm, but he was prone to yawning.
Ouyang Rong stood outside the door of Xunyangdu City Trading Department and waited for a while, then turned his head and looked at the dock behind which was getting busier.
It is still the Yuan Zhengqian holiday, and Yuan Zheng Day is approaching, and the streets and alleys are filled with a joyful and festive atmosphere for the upcoming New Year.
But Ouyang Rong didn't come here early today to do some New Year shopping.
"Brother-in-law, I've been waiting for a long time."
Wang Caozhi and other wealthy businessmen came to gather one after another, greeted each other, and exchanged greetings.
Ouyang Rong nodded and his eyes fell on the unfamiliar faces around Wang Caozhi and Shopkeeper Ma.
These are wealthy businessmen friends introduced by Wang Caozhi and others.
A few days ago, after introducing each other at the second party in Xunyang Building, Ouyang Rong began to discuss with them the share of shares.
The money gap required for the plan to excavate the double peaks and build the Xunyang Grottoes has been filled, but the specific shareholding needs to be discussed in detail.
Ouyang Rong originally planned to negotiate with Yuan Zheng after the New Year.
However, the recent calm situation in Xunyang City made Ouyang Rong feel a little vigilant and decided to speed up the progress and seize this window period.
Try to finalize everything before the year, so that we can start digging directly at the beginning of next year.
It happened that Wang Caozhi, shopkeeper Ma and other wealthy businessmen were also celebrating the festival in Xunyang City.
This is also the reason why Ouyang Rong is still busy during the holidays, even taking time to have dinner with Da Lang, Liu Lang and other friends.
Although they are partners who have had previous friendships.
But in business.
Regarding the distribution of interests, Ouyang Rong, as the governor of Jiangzhou, with the Jiangzhou Hall behind him, represents the interests of the people of Xunyang City.
Naturally, he argued hard and refused to give in on certain issues of principle.
Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Ma and others, as well as the newly joined wealthy businessmen, also competed for their own interests and put forward various conditions, although many of them were ruthlessly rejected by Ouyang Rong.
However, everyone is still consistent in the general direction.
These are just minor frictions and differences that need to be discussed carefully.
Today is the deadline for them to give an answer and finalize the plan.
A large number of wealthy businessmen arrived one after another.
Ouyang Rong's sweeping gaze lingered on the two people beside Wang Caozhi for a moment.
This is a tall old shopkeeper and a young woman with peach blossom eyes.
The woman with peach blossom eyes is quite young, wearing something that looks like a maid's skirt, her hair is combed into sideburns, her hands are placed in front of her belly, and she stands dignified and respectful.
At first glance, it seems that he has received strict ethical education from a wealthy family.
However, she showed up and came here to discuss business without wearing a veil to avoid suspicion.
When Ouyang Rong saw it for the first time, he suspected that it might be a personal maid who came here as an agent to observe.
After contacting her, it turned out that it was indeed the case. She called herself a slave. According to Wang Caozhi, her name seemed to be "Qingshu".
The tall shopkeeper next to her is named Guo.
The old shopkeeper knelt down in front of Qingshu and obeyed her words, as if he respected her.
Qingshu and Shopkeeper Guo were the guests brought by Wang Caozhi to attend the second Xunyang Tower dinner, and they occupied one of his recommended places.
Ouyang Rong allowed the firm behind them to participate in this construction project.
Ouyang Rong was quite relieved about the friends recommended by Wang Caozhi, but he still asked.
Wang Caozhi didn't reveal much. He just said with a wry smile that the owner behind this business was a lady who came from the wealthy Yangzhou and had some friendship with his family. She was interested in Xunyang City's plan and Ouyang Rong's deeds.
Very appreciated.
Wang Caozhi felt embarrassed, so he recommended him.
It's just that the owner's wife keeps a low profile and doesn't want to reveal her name, so she only sent her maid Qingshu and shopkeeper Guo to act as full agents.
Ouyang Rong specifically asked if the source of this lady's money was clean, and whether it was white-glove money laundering or something. Wang Caozhi immediately patted his chest and assured that it was definitely not some gray property such as lending money or evading business taxes.
He also said that the business run by this lady was a coat shop.
Different from ordinary clothing stores, this is a high-end business that deals in attire for rich and noble people. It has been established for many years and has a long-standing golden name.
He has a monopoly on the Chinese clothing business in more than a dozen states in Jiangnan Province... He has very strong financial resources and extensive connections.
This lady can be regarded as a big businessman from Yangzhou.
Yangzhou is the most fertile state in the Jianghuai region. It has prosperous commerce and a large number of wealthy businessmen. There are only a handful of people who can be called giant merchants.
While shopping the day before yesterday, Ouyang Rong inquired from his junior sister that this coat store is indeed very famous and the owner is indeed a low-key lady, which is no different from what Wang Caozhi said.
Only then did he feel relieved.
At the door of the Trade Department, Qingshu seemed to be aware of Ouyang Rong's scrutinizing gaze. He turned his head, his eyes curved into crescent moons, smiled softly at Ouyang Rong, and said hello.
Qingshu was very respectful to this weak-guan Changshi, who seemed to be admired by his wife.
These days, when everyone was discussing in detail, she said very little and mainly let shopkeeper Guo do the talking.
Qingshu spent most of the time silently observing the surroundings, not knowing what he was recording.
Regarding Ouyang Rong's plan, she and Shopkeeper Guo also had the least disagreements and were quite cooperative with him.
Ouyang Rong had a good impression of them.
Facing Qingshu's gentle smile to show his goodwill, Ouyang Rong also smiled back and turned his head:
"Are you all here? Let's go then. It's cold outside. Let's go in and chat."
He said hello and led Wang Caozhi, Qingshu, shopkeeper Guo and others into a reception room of the Trade Department.
The door slowly closed.
A new day, the last discussion begins...
This time the consultation lasted from morning to afternoon.
At the beginning of time.
Finally, the door to the living room was opened from the inside.
Ouyang Rong, Wang Caozhi and other merchants came out.
Everyone's expressions are different.
Ouyang Rong's face was relatively calm, his brows relaxed, and he seemed to have finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Ma, Shopkeeper Guo and others who came out behind him smiled bitterly and shook their heads.
They looked at Ouyang Rong's back in front of them with helpless eyes.
Qingshu didn't seem to care about the profit distribution plan that had just been finalized. His wonderful eyes moved and he glanced at Ouyang Rong.
"Master Ouyang's terms are too harsh. You are not allowed to do this, and you are not allowed to do that. Alas, and in this way, the leadership of Jiangzhou Hall is too strong."
The wealthy businessmen who were forced to accept the terms sounded helpless:
"With more concessions, we can add more money and cooperate more, right?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head slightly and said resolutely: "Everyone, you can't do any business. You must abide by the rules I set."
After a pause, he showed a relaxed smile:
"Now that everything has been finalized, let's go and take you all to the Twin Peaks.
"It can be regarded as a first step to take a look at the location of what we are about to do, the major event that will change the pattern of Xunyang City."
Everyone agreed and agreed one after another.
Ouyang Rong took them to the Shuangfeng Peak outside the city and took a familiar walk around.
During this period, while resting by a certain spring, Qingshu suddenly approached and asked sideways:
"Sir Changshi, there is something that I don't understand. There are obviously some more profitable business opportunities. We can cooperate and it will be a win-win situation for you and me. Why did you refuse so decisively and set so many rules for everyone?"
Ouyang Rong turned his head and glanced at the maidservant with peach blossom eyes, whose expression was curious:
"How can all the benefits in this world be taken advantage of? There is no shortage of smart people in the world, but if all the profit-making businesses are done by smart people, will the people still have a place to make a living? This business will not last long and will not be left behind.
Just a little, everything will last a little longer if you leave a little."
He pursed his lips and said:
"A great merchant cannot rob the people of his family."
Seeing the extremely serious expression on the young man in white fox fur in front of him, Qingshu smiled, nodded slightly, and agreed:
"Lord Changshi has a long-term vision."
Ouyang Rong didn't pay attention to being praised and said a few polite words.
Not long after, all the merchants finished their visit, said goodbye to each other, and most of them left with satisfied faces.
Ouyang Rong patted his sleeves, glanced at the sky that was approaching dusk, and turned around to prepare for the birthday party.
By chance, I found that Wang Caozhi was also attending the banquet.
The two of them traveled the same way, took a carriage together, and drove slowly back to Xunyang City.