Starting from the beginning of the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, cold weather has enveloped Jiangning City. On the eighth and ninth day of the lunar month, it began to snow. With goose-like flakes of snow, a white coat quietly enveloped the entire ancient city.
The snow is not yet thick enough to prevent people from going out, but according to the usual practice, since it has begun to fall, it may continue until next spring, and the snow flakes will last for two to three months.
It rains intermittently. If you are a poor family, it is almost difficult to go out in such weather. In some places, people don’t even have winter clothes. When the mountains are closed by heavy snow, they can only wrap themselves in quilts and stay on the kang all day long.
Yes, winter is not an easy time for most people in this era.
A big city like Jiangning would be better. After all, commerce is developed and there are many people from better-off families. During the few days when the first snow fell, the schools were still open. Of course, a few students living outside the city did not come.
It is also common. There is a small pot of charcoal fire next to the lecturer, and the students can only rely on the doors and windows to block a little more wind. Fortunately, they are all young and vigorous, so the problem is not big. Two female students
Each had a beautiful hand warmer, nestled in their arms. Originally, the adults at home had stopped them from coming to school, but they couldn't bear to miss the stories Ning Yi told, so they still came to listen to the class.
Mr. Qin's chess stall has naturally stopped since the weather started to get colder. Ning Yi has gone to his home a few times, but of course it cannot be too frequent. But for the old man, someone who can talk to him will come to visit.
Of course it was a good thing, but I also met Kang Xian once. The old man brought several ancient paintings over to evaluate them, and asked Mr. Qin to stamp them after reviewing them.
After the heavy snow fell, Ning Yi built a snowman in the courtyard of the Su Mansion. At night, the scenery of the entire Su Mansion was the most charming. Looking out from the second floor, there were light spots swimming among the courtyards and houses.
It is warm, magnificent, antique, obviously in the oriental style, and those light groups seem to be leached from beautiful oil paintings. If there is a camera, Ning Yi would like to take a few pictures as a souvenir. However, it is also windy on the second floor.
After standing there for a while, Xiaochan came up to call someone.
On such an evening, after all, it is more interesting to sit in the living room downstairs and warm up by the fire, chatting, playing chess, and reading. Su Tan'er and several maids choose fabrics and do embroidery. Ning Yi and Su Tan'er
The relationship between the master and the servant is naturally good. They sit together and play backgammon. Myolie, who likes gossip, occasionally tells some interesting stories about what happened in the mansion. Occasionally, a few little girls will argue about the content of the stories Ning Yi tells. Fox Demon
Who is more fierce in a fight with the general? Does General Xiahou, who likes to eat his eyes, have a beard? Or will those killed female goblins be innocent? The content is endless. Occasionally, he comes over and asks Ning Yi,
Let him judge the winner.
Su Tan'er gradually became fond of backgammon with simple rules. Every few days, she would check the account books and sit by herself to make a plan. The three little girls would occasionally go over to help. If she was playing chess with Ning Yi,
I will also talk about some interesting things about the relatives in the mansion and briefly reveal the relationship between them.
Occasionally, relatives would come over at night to set things up. After it snowed, several of Ning Yi's students in the school would occasionally come over to say hello or something. In fact, they wanted to tell some stories. In purely storytelling terms, Su
Tan'er also liked to listen to these things. She took a needle and thread and sat aside to embroider while listening to the book.
Occasionally, some brothers and sisters would come over. The younger one called Su Tan'er "Second Sister". Most of them wanted to do something but had no money, so they came to complain to her or something, and wanted to extort some money. Su Tan'er was very concerned about these things.
They are all good people, and they also know that as long as they are sensible, Su Tan'er will most likely give it to them. If they want a hundred guan, they can always get 60 to 80 guan, but they usually have to listen to Su Tan'er's advice and nagging.
Nao. What they got was enough for them to drink good wine on the Qinhuai River for a few nights.
What these people say is an excuse to make progress, but what will happen in reality? Even Ning Yi, who is not very familiar with these cousins, can see clearly. Su Tan'er is still quite patient, no matter what
No matter what excuse the other party is looking for, she always acts as if she completely believes it, follows the topic and makes some sincere suggestions, and then tells the other party not to spend money randomly. If she wants to call him brother, her attitude is also relaxed.
Very low, her younger sister's image is extremely well-behaved, and she occasionally jokes: "When will that girl from Chunfeng Yuan last time become my sister-in-law..." She is very kind to others, and after they leave, she puts away the banknotes.
Xiaoxiang still had a bright and kind smile, and then told Ning Yi about interesting things about this cousin in the past. They were all good words, and pride overflowed with a strong sense of family affection.
Ning Yi looked at these scenes and found it interesting. There may be family ties, but he also understood why the third generation of the Su family was useless. Su Tan'er's marriage was delayed for a few years, and this year's ten
At nine years old, she is already an old girl, but in Ning Yi's eyes, this is not the case. In fact, his wife, who has begun to take control of the Su family's big house, still has the appearance and figure of a girl. She even has a smile when she talks and smiles.
Although a little green, the sense of propriety contained in various actions cannot be underestimated.
Being able to get together every day, play chess, tell stories and talk about family life, the atmosphere between Ning Yi and Su Tan'er became more natural than when they just had a meal every day. Later, Su Tan'er also proposed
In order for Ning Yi to go out with her occasionally and visit the homes of some people who need to visit.
The Su family's cloth business is very large, and it also has many vassal merchants, reliable or unreliable business partners. Su Tan'er occasionally goes out to visit other people's homes to discuss business, and it is always better to have a man follow her. In fact, in
These previous visits are not very necessary, but once the New Year is over, it will become very important for the two of them to go out together and visit every house to pay New Year greetings. Su Tan'er's invitation at this time actually hopes that Ning Yi can become more familiar with these things.
Of course, after a few days, she will be able to find to her satisfaction that Ning Yi is at least very competent as a decoration.
Ning Yi had little interest in doing business with these people. When others were chatting about business, he would pretend to drink tea, read calligraphy and paintings, and smile in a daze. If someone asked someone to talk about something, he would naturally use the essential oil trick to deal with it.
After a while, he only acted like a polite nerd. Su Tan'er brought him here, but actually only asked him to be able to deal with other people's greetings naturally and not make people feel bad. These people are more or less the same as the Su family.
They all had business connections and knew that Ning Yi was marrying into the family, so they would not make things difficult for him. Of course, some people heard about Ning Yi's reputation and found someone to talk to him about poetry. Such casual chats were not serious about taking exams. Ning Yi naturally
It’s also easy to deal with.
Which house to visit, often on the road the day before or the next day, Su Tan'er would tell Ning Yi the background with a smile. Some of them were seniors from the shopping mall who had taken care of the Su family, and some were...
Some of today's partners may be just losers. In this mode of getting along, she has a very harmonious relationship with Ning Yi. When she goes out, she will smile and tell Ning Yi about the results of the trip and how many meetings they have had.
A joke or a few small scoldings such as "Old fox, you won't let any wind pass through".
Most of the trips are boring things like this. Of course, there are occasional exceptions. For example, the visit on November 14th made Ning Yi feel that... he was really bored...
"...The scale of the silk business run by the He family brothers is quite good. The two brothers also have skills, but they have never been able to confirm it. After the batch of business negotiated with them last time was completed, this time, I heard that they have already negotiated with the Xue family.
Okay, let's cooperate. Coming here today is just a courtesy..."
On the carriage, Su Tan'er said while spinning the small bead chain in her hand. Ning Yi nodded.
"So, it's just a perfunctory thing?"
"Haha, my husband is just perfunctory." She smiled and put the bead chain on her wrist, raised her head, then tilted her head and stretched out her hand to tidy up the hair on the back of her head. "After finishing perfunctory, my husband will return this afternoon.
Is there something wrong?"
"I plan to go to the bookstores in the east of the city and look for a classic book from the Tang Dynasty."
"I'll take my leave this morning and go with my husband."
"OK."
It's a business that can't be negotiated. It's just a visit based on the idea of benevolence and righteousness. As Ning Yi said, just perfunctory is enough. However, if there is always a fly in the process of perfunctory that should be amiable,
The buzzing and shouting was quite annoying. Su Tan'er and Ning Yi were not the only ones who came to visit the He family this afternoon. There were also people from two merchants, so the eldest of the He family brothers congratulated
Jun, the silk merchant whom Su Tan'er called Shishu, entertained everyone in a side hall next to the garden. Several large stoves heated the surroundings. From here, you could also see the snowy scenery of the garden outside.
, the atmosphere was quite elegant when he spoke. Also accompanying the host was his son He Tingguang.
There are two people in charge of the He family. Apart from He Jun, He Feng, the second eldest among the brothers, is the most talented person. Su Tan'er just came over to say hello, but the tea party went on for a while, and she and the three
A maid and a few others went to the garden to enjoy the snow, and then they met He Feng coming from the other side. Looking over, they saw a few people talking there. There were fewer people in the side hall, so He Tingguang
He started to pester Ning Yi about his poetic talent. He probably didn’t believe how talented Ning Yi was and wanted to test him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much talent himself. Ning Yi muttered a few perfunctory words, but the other party was chirping, croaking, croaking.
Nagging, he hinted at his friendship with the great talent Xue Jin, and by the way, he mentioned a few of Xue Jin's new works for Ning Yi to review.
This guy is also a fool... Ning Yi felt bored. He Jun, He Tingguang's father, probably felt that his son was saying something boring, so he offered to help with a few words. Naturally, Ning Yi had to pick up the conversation: "Listen, Tan'er
The scale of the He family's silk business is impressive, right? It's mainly in the Shouzhou area?"
He Jun frowned, but He Tingguang already laughed: "Brother, please know that my family is mainly engaged in Luzhou and Chaohu areas. If brother has time to go out for fun in the future, don't make a mistake..."
Ning Yi was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Oh, that's it... Luzhou is not far from Shouzhou, raw silk is transported there..."
Over there, He Jun didn't know what he thought of, and his brows furrowed deeper: "Why did my nephew suddenly mention Shouzhou?"
"That's not true. Isn't the Xue family's batch workshop located in Shouzhou? That shopkeeper Yan is in charge of. I seemed to have heard someone say it last time... Well, so I thought He's business would be in Shouzhou..."
He Tingguang laughed loudly: "Brother, if you don't understand this, don't talk nonsense. Shopkeeper Yan is obviously in charge of Luzhou affairs. Most of the uncles here know this. If you don't believe me, you can ask some of them.
hehe……"
When he said this, people from the other two shops also laughed and confirmed. Ning Yi smiled and nodded: "I don't understand this. I occasionally heard a few fragmentary news. I got it wrong..." Everyone knew that he
As a son-in-law, he didn't find this matter surprising at all. He just smiled. But He Jun said in a deep voice: "I wonder where the fragmentary information my nephew said came from."
Ning Yi looked at his serious expression and thought for a while, then shook his head blankly: "I just...occasionally heard people chatting a little bit, uh...I don't know the details, haha, let Uncle Shi laugh.
, Tan'er knows a little bit about doing business, but I don't understand. I don't know much about the Xue family, but I confused Luzhou with Shouzhou, haha..."
After he was so perfunctory, the whole thing became a little weird. He Jun frowned and seemed to be really thinking about something important. Then he called a steward over and gave some instructions. Ning Yi frowned.
: I just said it casually, I can’t really guess it right...
He has been following Su Tan'er around these days. Although he is not interested in talking about business with others, he can slowly build up an outline in his mind of who does what business and how the overall situation operates. These things,
Even if he thought about it deliberately, a possible outline could be clearly or vaguely placed in front of him. Speaking of Shouzhou at this time, he just casually pushed away the topic of He Tingguang. He just heard from those days before.
During the casual chat, I had a vague feeling that the Xue family's business may have changed, and the focus of Luzhou may shift to Shouzhou, and in the direction of Shouzhou, there is actually a silk merchant who is in opposition to the He family, and may get involved... These things are happening in
He has only a vague outline, and there is no certainty about it. He can only feel the key points keenly, but judging from the results, he really made something right...
So not long after they arrived, they said goodbye and went out. When Ning Yi and Su Tan'er said goodbye to He Jun and prepared to get on the carriage, He Feng chased him from behind and exchanged a serious look with He Jun: "My niece."
Please stay. Regarding next spring's silk, I don't know whether Su's plans for nearby places have been decided. If my niece is free today, she has a batch of spring silkworm business, and I would like to discuss it with her..."
Su Tan'er turned around with a puzzled look on her face, not understanding why there was such a sudden change. With her back turned, Ning Yi rolled his eyes in boredom.