[Red House Chai Dai] Salted Pork Knuckle, Crab Rice Wine

On the golden nanmu Eight Immortals table, there are many bowls and plates, all of which are carefully prepared and eaten.Aunt Xue looked at her son Xue Pan, who was feasting, and smiled from ear to ear, even the fine lines at the corners of her eyes stretched.

Xue Pan was like a horse without a bridle every day. After eating at home with great difficulty, Aunt Xue felt comfortable. She only ate a few mouthfuls, but kept feeding Xue Pan with vegetables.Xue Pan looked at the dishes piled up like a hill in front of him and complained repeatedly.

Baochai saw him nearby, and said with a smile, "My brother is so busy all day long that he never leaves the house. I'm afraid I have to fill up all the food that I owe these days, and this will be the end of it."

Then she smiled at Aunt Xue: "Mother should also eat some food while it's hot. Too hungry or too full is not the way to keep healthy."

Aunt Xue shook her head with a smile and said, "Bao girl reads a lot of miscellaneous books all day long, and she likes to use this to persuade people."

Xue Pan nodded again and again, and said vaguely: "My sister has always been knowledgeable and capable, you only know it, Mom!"

Aunt Xue paused: "It's just you who like to talk! You've reached the age of marriage now, and you always hang out with a group of cronies, and your reputation outside is very bad. If you continue like this, how can you do it?"

It turned out that Aunt Xue had something on her mind.

Seeing Xue Pan getting older, she wanted to find a marriage for him in Beijing.A mother naturally hopes that her son will marry a good wife. At first, she saw that Tanchun was a top-notch girl, but after several trials, not only Mrs. Wang looked uncomfortable, but even Tanchun's biological mother, Aunt Zhao. The boss was reluctant, so the matter was left alone.

Turning around, he heard that Fu Qiufang, the younger sister of Tong San Fu Shi, was both talented and beautiful, so he hurriedly sent a matchmaker to come to inquire.Unexpectedly, the Fu family didn't give face at all.

Aunt Xue lost all her thoughts, and gradually realized Xue Pan's seriousness.However, Xue Pan didn't listen to persuasion, and had spread the reputation of being a dude long ago, so Aunt Xue was secretly worried, and whenever she had an opportunity, she would always read a few words of preaching.

How could Xue Pan be willing to listen to Aunt Xue's words, he went over with a haha, and immediately finished his meal, saying that he had something to do outside, so he changed his clothes and wanted to go out.

Although Aunt Xue was suspicious that Xue Pan would not learn well after going this time, and she couldn't persuade her son, she was about to speak, but Xue Pan came back with three steps at a time, and said to Baochai with an apologetic smile on her face, "I almost forgot, my sister A cotton cloth shop, I heard the business is very good, there is a batch of goods in our business, the shopkeeper Zeng entrusted me repeatedly, begging my sister to try to get it."

Baochai smiled slightly and said, "That's strange. Our firm has always dealt in spices and medicinal materials, and besides silk and satin, how could it buy cotton cloth and other common goods?"

Xue Pan turned his head and thought for a while, then said: "It's difficult for you to ask me like this. I don't know the reason. The shopkeeper Zeng mentioned it, and you know me too, so how can you remember these. Only vaguely I remember that it has something to do with the war in the north, and there is some princess in the middle."

Aunt Xue was disappointed when she heard that what he said was mixed and confused, and said: "It can be seen that it is nonsense again. What's the matter with the princess in the war in the north?"

Baochai smiled and said: "I think it must be the eldest princess who went to get married earlier. Her Highness asked for a marriage ceremony back then. In order to prepare her dowry, the imperial merchants in the capital were so busy every day that they never touched the ground. Did mother forget it? After less than a year, I heard that the eldest princess' husband died, so the princess returned to Beijing."

Aunt Xue also vaguely remembered this, she shook her head and said: "There is no reason for a married girl to go back to her mother's house casually, let alone a married princess. There must be a reason for this. I have also heard people talking about her, It is said that she has caused such a catastrophe this time, she must be punished by the court."

Baochai said: "Mother is right, I thought the same way before. Who would have thought that Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess has a scheming plan. Before returning to the capital, she inquired about the situation in the north, and there are capable people here. Several sets of maps were presented to the imperial court. Sure enough, wars started in the north again this winter, and the imperial court used her information to win the battle. The emperor, the emperor, and the empress dowager were delighted to see it, and gave her a lot of gold, silver and jewels."

As Baochai spoke, Xue Pan nodded and said, "That's right, that's what Shopkeeper Zeng said."

Aunt Xue showed an envious look on her face, she repeatedly sighed: "It can be seen that if a woman's fate is good, others can't stop her if she wants to. Before she wrote a letter saying that she wanted to get married, so many wives and ladies laughed at her behind her back, saying that Is it easy to go to that barbarian place? Even when she came back this time, there were still a few imperial orders saying that the court would not spare her. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be the fate of the Supreme Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and the rewards are generous. You said, don't you have both face and face?"

Baochai pursed her lips and said with a smile: "I think it's not all about fate, but she needs to be able to stand on her own. These are all gossip. Although this person has made great achievements in helping the court use troops, it has nothing to do with us. However, I heard that the imperial court bought winter clothes on a large scale before conscription. I think this batch of goods in the commercial store was collected at this time. I expected to fight for a few months, so it would be useful to store more cotton cloth. Who knows that the war will be fought in less than a month. If you win, this batch of goods will be left over."

Turning to Xue Pan, he said, "How many goods are there? At least you can tell me the number."

Xue Pan smiled and said: "I remember this, there must be two or three thousand taels of silver."

Baochai heard this, and while she was pondering, Aunt Xue was startled and said: "Your sister's shop is only a small shop, how can it handle so much? If it is really for business, you should find another powerful shop." Well, I would rather keep the price lower, in the end it settles a worry.”

Xue Pan said carelessly: "Mother doesn't know, my sister is very capable. What is two 3000 taels of silver? How can my sister's shop not pay thousands of taels of silver every month?"

Baochai hurriedly waved her hands and said, "I can't change my head and six arms. How can there be so many. Adding up the silk and satin shop and the cotton shop, it's only 5000 taels of silver this year."

Aunt Xue was secretly startled when she heard the words. Although she didn't care much about business dealings, she also knew that Xue's family had more than a dozen shops in the capital, and the annual interest was only more than 2 taels of silver. Baochai played with two small shops for a year, and actually earned 5000 taels of silver.This is naturally the reason why Baochai is good at management.But Aunt Xue didn't know the reason behind this, she only worked as a silk shop and cotton cloth shop to make money, she said to Xue Pan in a repeated voice: "Since there is a lot of money here, why don't our family open more cotton cloth shops?"

Baochai saw Xue Pan's sad face and distressed expression, so she hurriedly smiled and said, "If we open more shops, how can we find so many people in such a hurry? Besides, there are only a limited number of buyers. In the past, the imperial court used soldiers, and the price of cotton in the market soared. The store had a lot of stockpiles in advance, and it was dirty. After the new year, the price of cotton would inevitably drop slowly, and the profit of opening the store would be small. The shopkeeper Zeng of the firm is a sensible person, so he is busy shipping goods. "

Aunt Xue heard what she said, so she had no choice but to let it go, and then thought that Baochai had earned so much money in just one year. After all these years, Aunt Xue had only saved a few thousand taels besides clothes and money. As for Yinzi, he had some strange thoughts in his heart.It's just that before this idea has any clue, Xue Pan is about to go out, and because he asked Ming Baochai that there was nothing important, he urged her to go to the shop together and ordered the delivery to be clear.Baochai didn't want to go, but seeing that Xue Pan seldom cared about business matters, it was inconvenient to disobey him, so she had to take Yinger Qianxue out.

The few people had just sat down in the back hall of the silk and satin shop, and were about to send the staff to call the shopkeeper of the cotton shop to order things, when they suddenly heard a loud noise from the front hall.When he was busy asking people to ask, he said that some customers were reasoning because of the poor craftsmanship of the embroidery craftsman.

Baochai couldn't help being a little surprised.It turns out that this silk and satin shop has been in contact with several well-known tailors and embroiders in the capital all year round. It is convenient for customers who do not have familiar tailors to buy silks and satins and then cut them into clothes. The silk and satin shop only draws a thread to build a bridge. , don’t charge extra fees, and some customers are impatient, just report a size, or say a pattern, and let the silk and satin shop and the tailor and embroiderer go to work.Therefore, if customers come to the silk and satin factory because of poor embroidery skills, it is not considered that they have found the wrong place. The business is exquisite and harmonious, and the silk and satin factory will come forward to make everyone happy.There is only one thing, none of the tailors and embroiders who often walk around the silk and satin shop are well-known names, and all of them have some real skills, so why are they being picked on by customers.

Although Baochai was secretly startled, she didn't intend to ask.The so-called no need for suspects, no doubts for employers, since the silk and satin factory has been entrusted to the subordinates, it makes no sense that such trivial matters must be done by yourself, and the shopkeeper who asked at the moment is behind the front hall, so he didn't pay much attention to it. Medium-quality tea.

Unexpectedly, although Baochai is not much, Xue Pan is not a master who can be idle. When the guys are answering, he can hear clearly from the side, because the guy said, "The guest looks gentle, who knows?" But he is quite unreasonable." Xue Pan couldn't help being moved when he heard the words "he looks very refined", and he insisted on going out to have a look.

Baochai has been busy with business for more than a year, and often walks outside, but she is quite aware of her brother's daily behavior, and only hates her for being just a younger sister, so it's hard to persuade her very much.Seeing Xue Pan acting like this now, he was afraid that he would be moved by something he shouldn't have, so he hurriedly said: "This capital is no better than Jinling, I don't know what his background is, so don't provoke him."

Xue Pan laughed and said, "Don't worry. Although your brother has a rough temper, it still makes sense." After all, he didn't listen and strode out.

Baochai was afraid that Xue Pan would get into trouble and offend someone she couldn't offend, and she didn't care about anything else, so she led Qian Xueying'er along the corridor to the front hall. Quietly rushed upstairs, hid behind the screen and looked secretly, but saw a group of maids in the hall hugging a young man wearing a jade crown. Wearing a belt with bird pattern of the same color around the waist, there is a faint sense of extravagance in the movement, which makes people secretly startled.

For a moment, Baochai was not sure about this person's origin, so she turned her head and looked at the little maid next to him, and saw that the little maid was holding a pansi crane cloak with a plate of golden foreign thread in her arms, suddenly remembered something, and then secretly paid attention to that person Face, only then guessed a bit.

Suddenly I heard the man say loudly: "People in the capital say that He Ruiji's tailors and embroiders are the most brilliant, why can't they even embroider a Hui pattern?" I am speechless.