Infrastructure masters in the red building

The place where Shui Xian meets Jia Fang, Wan Qing Building, is a group of extremely gorgeous and magnificent buildings.A total of five buildings of different heights extend continuously, and the buildings are connected by flying bridge railings.Not long after the Lantern Festival, there are still lights of various colors hanging on the Wanqing Building at this time, and the lights are mostly decorated with colored glaze. Even in the daytime, they are still radiant and dazzling.

The coachman of the palace led Jia Fang and Zhao Cheng to the gate of Wanqing Building. Without ordering, the clever waiter came forward and led Jia Fang to a private seat on the second floor, asking Jia Fang to wait.

This private seat in the Wanqing Building is actually almost the same as a private room in a modern restaurant, it is an independent space separated by wooden walls.There is an Eight Immortals table near the window of the elegant seat, on which there are two white porcelain tableware from the official kiln, and a pair of ebony chopsticks inlaid with silver on the ivory white chopstick rest.

There is also a smoker cage placed in the corner of the room, which is continuously releasing heat, making the private room warm.The shop waiter helped Jia Fang take off the cloak outside, and hung it on the hanger behind the smoker cage.

There are not too many decorations in the private seat, and even many utensils are half-new, but there is a sense of natural prosperity everywhere.In addition, this private seat is very clean and spotless, which left a deep impression on Jia Fang.

At this time, there was a burst of talking and laughing from the next door, which was quite noisy.The waiter explained to Jia Fang apologetically: "The next door is the students from the Taixue, there are more people, so..."

Jia Fang nodded understandingly, thinking: It seems that sound insulation is still a headache!

As soon as Xiaoer left, Zhao Chengli sighed next to Jia Fang: "Master, this restaurant... is better than the mansion!"

As Jia Fang's servant, Zhao Cheng really didn't have a chance to go to luxurious places, so his eyelids were so shallow that even Jia Fang gave him a glare.But before Jia Fang opened his mouth to teach Zhao Cheng a lesson, the door of the private room opened, and Shui Xian walked in.He still followed the little Taoist boy, and also took off the crane cloak on Shui Xian and hung it up.

Shui Xian asked Jia Fang to sit down.But the little boy went to tease Zhao Cheng and winked at Zhao Cheng.Zhao Cheng nodded belatedly, and followed Daotong out on tiptoe.Only Jia Fang and Shui Xian are left in this private room.

Jia Fang cast his eyes on the other side, but didn't speak.He was thinking about how to speak to the other party.

Now he really needs money, but he hasn't figured out how to talk to Shui Xian about "authorizing the use of invention patents".

Unexpectedly, Shui Xian stared at his face for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Do you need money?"

Jia Fang: ...

He nodded slightly.Shui Xian raised his hand and clapped twice lightly.

After a while, a man who looked like an accountant walked in quickly, leaned over to Shui Xian, and Shui Xian gave an understatement, the accountant turned and went out, came in when he was young, and handed a mulberry paper envelope to Jia Fang respectfully, And quickly backed out.

Jia Fang picked it up, full of doubts, and looked up at Shui Xian, only to see that the other party was drinking tea with his head down leisurely.He opened the envelope and took out a banknote from inside.

"1000 taels?!" Jia Fang didn't want to look like Zhao Cheng, who had never seen the world, but he couldn't hold back his surprise.

The other party gave him a silver ticket of 1000 taels?

"I'll borrow it from you." Shui Xian put down the teacup in his hand and said indifferently.

Will someone lend each other huge sums of money the second time they meet?

Jia Fang raised his eyebrows and asked, "When will you pay it back, and how much will the interest be?"

But Shui Xian clapped his hands again, this time it was the waiter who came in, and handed in a water sign written on paper, Shui Xian glanced at it, and quickly ticked off a few dishes with a pen.

It wasn't until the waiter backed out that Shui Xian raised his head again and looked straight at Jia Fang: "If you agree to my conditions, it will be the first deposit from Baigongfang."

"If you don't want to agree, that's fine. It's a personal loan from me. There is no interest. You can pay it back whenever you want." Shui Xian said seemingly casually.

Jia Fang: ...you can pay it back whenever you want?If he reneges on the debt, wouldn't he be able to not pay it back for the rest of his life?

But he was determined not to ask those words—because he was not this kind of person in the first place.

"Well, since you are willing to trust me, I am willing to help you." Jia Fang made up his mind in an instant, and looked up at the other party, "I agree with what you said yesterday. The deadline is five years, five years Among them, you pay me 1000 taels of silver every year, whether it is ingenious tools or fashionable utensils, whatever I can think of, I will give it to the craftsmen of Baigongfang, and Baigongfang will realize it for me."

"As for how Baigongfang will copy and use these things, I don't ask at all. In short, Baigongfang can assume that these are all thought out by its own craftsmen and have all the control rights." The conditions are over.

Unexpectedly, Shui Xian who was sitting opposite frowned, and asked in confusion, "You mean... 1000 taels?"

The young King of Beijing Jing stood up suddenly, came to Jia Fang quickly, grabbed Jia Fang's arm, and pulled him away.The two quickly left the private room.In the corridor outside the door, there were waiters and servants shuttling back and forth, but when they saw Shui Xian dragging Jia Fang out, they retreated to both sides of the corridor, bowed their heads and hands, not even daring to breathe.

Shui Xian dragged Jia Fang to the end of the corridor, and pushed open the door of a small room.

Inside the door is a clean room.

Jia Fang was almost not surprised.

Because there is a modern toilet in front of him: when he enters the door, there is a large diorama mirror, which reflects every detail of people.In front of the diorama is the sink, on which there is a copper-nickel faucet.Jia Fang tried to unscrew it with his hand, and warm water gushed out, flowed into the sink, and flowed away along the pipe under the sink.

There is a furnace of sandalwood in a corner of the bathroom, and the rich aroma is slowly overflowing from the furnace.There is a cotton curtain hanging beside the sandalwood stove. Don't think about it, it must be the bathroom.

This toilet is almost completely comparable to modern sanitation facilities - Jia Fang was greatly shocked: Before that, he always had pessimistic thoughts, thinking that it would be difficult to promote these sanitation facilities on his own .But now it seems that he only gave a little guidance, and the ancient people could reproduce it perfectly.And a high-end catering institution like Wanqing Building is probably the best starting place to promote this clean habit and lifestyle from top to bottom.

And an "ancient man" is still holding Jia Fang's arm at this moment, and the two of them are facing the full-length mirror in front of the sink together.

"1000 taels... Do you know how much Wanqinglou's annual profit is?" At this moment, Shui Xian's voice was not as calm as he used to be, but on the contrary, he seemed a little angry, as if he was underestimated by others, Jia I don't understand what he meant by asking this.

"This is the first room in the Wanqing Building. After that, there will be many clean rooms like this in the Wanqing Building—the best private rooms will also be built. Guests who come to the restaurant can completely use this room Treat it as a private residence, a place for private meetings, and you don’t have to share such facilities with others, and you don’t need outsiders to serve you.”

"All the dignitaries and noble families in the capital will immediately know that there is such an extremely clean room in Wanqing Building, and there is absolutely no need for servants to clean and replace it from time to time."

"After that, clean houses of this size will immediately become popular among the wealthy households in the capital. By then, how much profit do you think Baigongfang will make?"

Jia Fang: ...

At this point, he fully understood what Shui Xian meant: this person probably felt that his bid was too low, and underestimated Wanqinglou's ability to promote and Baigongfang's ability to make money.

——When other people bargain, they always ask for a price and pay back the money on the spot. Why is it the other way around when it's his turn?

"I know the value and value of the designs and drawings I provided. I only hope that I can get an appropriate return for the time and intelligence I have spent. As for the Wanqing Building and Baigongfang How much profit is there, and what does it matter to me?" Jia Fang understood Shui Xian's meaning, but stubbornly insisted on his own opinion.

The amount of 1000 taels is mainly because Shui Xian lent him 1000 taels as soon as he came up.But even if Jia Fang needs money again, he will not open his mouth indiscriminately - money transactions are like this, and he needs to weigh how many catties and taels he has.If he doesn't know what's in his mind and is led by the nose, he will immediately fall into a passive situation.

Besides, who knows if what Shui Xian said just now is testing him?

When Jia Fang said this, both of them looked at each other through the diorama in front of the sink.The mirror was so clear that both of them could clearly see any change in each other's expressions.

Once Shuixian's expression is serious, his face seems to be covered with a thin layer of frost, his brows are slightly frowned, his eyes are sharp, and he stares closely at Jia Fang in the mirror, as if he can directly see through his heart .But after listening to Jia Fang's explanation, the lines of Shui Xian's face softened little by little, and a relaxed and freehand smile appeared on the corners of his lips.

He gently let go of Jia Fang, and then the two came out of the clean room one by one, and returned to the private room just now.

Just such a short time.Several delicate side dishes had been placed on the Eight Immortals table in the private room, and the waiter just brought two plates of steaming delicate side dishes into the room, put down the dishes, and left with a nod.

Jia Fang returned to his seat and sat down, a little lost in thought.It took a long time to hear Shui Xian calling him, and he quickly regained his senses, only to hear Shui Xian asking softly:

"Why five years?"