Respectfully

In less than half a month, the warehouse of Li Family Dyeing Workshop was filled with the red dye designated by Li Jinyan.The shopkeeper of the dyeing workshop came to the door in person and informed Li Jinyan of the news.

"Third Young Master, all the foreign firms in the six northern provinces have been visited by the people below."

The name of the shopkeeper is Li Bing. Three generations of his ancestors have worked in the Li family. Li Bing himself is quite talented. After Zhuang's business improved, he was promoted to become the big shopkeeper of the dyeing workshop.Li Bing and Li Cheng, the former chief housekeeper of the Li Mansion, were cousins. People in the Li family privately said that the two brothers, both inside and outside, were the second master's confidantes, and they really had a bright future.

Unexpectedly, Li Qinglong was invited to serve in the southern government, and he died within a year. Li Qingchang took over the business of the Li family, and the eldest wife managed the inner house of the Li family. Home.Li Bing's position could not be found for a while, so Li Qingchang had no choice but to continue to use him.Even if he really wanted to control the Li family's business in his own hands, Li Qingchang didn't dare to take a knife on these big shopkeepers, otherwise, Mrs. Li would be the first to spare him.Others were not as lucky as Li Bing. In less than a year since Li Qingchang joined the Li family's business, anyone who was promoted by Li Qinglong, or who was related to these people, was punished in various ways. The reasons are either dismissal or expulsion, which is also an important reason for the slump in the business of Lijia Dyefang and Cloth Zhuang.

It's not that Mrs. Li doesn't know these things, he mentioned it several times overtly and secretly, and Li Qingchang made a good promise on the surface, but behind the scenes, he still does whatever he wants.The eldest lady has no taboos when doing things in the inner house of Li's mansion. With the support of the eldest lady, Li Jinqin and Li Jinxing dared to push Li Jinyan into the ice hole, and they insisted on being stopped by others.

Later, Li Qingchang made his own claim and married the Lou family, and the conflict between the Li family's first room and the second room was completely put on the table.

The old lady Zhao looked at these with cold eyes and said nothing.After the Lou family formally set the dates for the appointment and wedding, they took the post sent by the Lou family and sneered, "The grasshopper after autumn will not be able to jump for a few days."

The big girl Lamei was beating the old lady's legs. When she heard the old lady's words, she paused and subconsciously bit her lip.The old lady turned her head and looked at her silently, her eyes were like poisoned needles, and Lamei's face suddenly turned pale.

"Lamei, how many years have you been serving me? Five or six years?"

"Slave, servant has been serving the old lady since she was 13 years old. It has been... six years."

"Oh." The old lady slowly closed her eyes, and put some withered hands on the hem of the large coat, "Nineteen, she is a big girl, no wonder."

"Old lady... I..." Lamei couldn't continue speaking.

"My son gave Jinyan a few brochures. Did you tell the boss? You stole the signature paper with Jinyan's birthday written on it, right?" The old lady opened her eyes. With both eyes, leaning on the pillow embroidered with flowers and riches, he asked in a calm tone: "Do you want to follow the old master? Or are you attracted to the young master? Tell me, the girl next to me has entered the big room. Say, it has to be an aunt."

"old lady!"

Lamei was so frightened that she fell off the edge of the bed and fell to the ground. She got up and knelt down on her knees, kowtowing, "Old lady, the slave is wrong, you should avoid the slave!"

The old lady looked at Lamei who kowtowed on the ground, and the smile on her face became more and more kind, "Now that the Republic of China is underway, it's not good to say that slaves are long and slaves are short. Since you are on good terms with Da Fang, I will help you."

When Lamei heard the old lady's words, she fell completely limp to the ground.

Chunmei, the big girl who had been waiting outside the door, came in with two women. The women grabbed Lamei's arm and lifted her from the ground. Smile: "Sister Lamei, my sister is here to congratulate you."

The old lady beckoned Chunmei to come over. Chunmei walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, obediently beat the old lady's legs, and said, "Old lady, look, Sister Lamei is so happy that she can't speak."

The old lady waved her hand, and the two women immediately dragged Lamei out. Within a long time, they changed their clothes, put on jewelry, and the newly dressed Lamei was sent to the big room. The people who sent it told the lady that Lamei It was the old lady who was the uncle's aunt.

When people left, the sound of broken porcelain was heard again in Da Furen's room.Su Xiuhua, the eldest wife's other concubine, was leaning against the door, stepping on the threshold, knocking sunflower seeds, and watching the bustle in the eldest lady's room.When Lamei, who was swollen with half of her face, was brought out of the house, she could vaguely hear the elder lady scolding: "Bitch! Shameless slut!"

Su Xiuhua has been with Elder Li for eight years, and she has suffered a lot from the eldest lady both openly and secretly, but she knows what the eldest lady, who was born in an official family, looks like in private, looking at Lamei walking past with her head down, a gleam of pity flashed in her eyes , then quickly disappears.She sneered, she was like this herself, so she still has the heart to pity others?This girl was able to hook up with the Eldest Master without making any noise, and the old lady personally sent someone to bring her here, so it can be seen that she is also capable. From now on, this Westinghouse will be very lively.

Su Xiuhua spat out the melon seeds, sneered twice, flung the curtain, and closed the door, thinking of the madam's face livid with anger, she threw herself on the bed, laughing.

After a long while, the smile on his face suddenly faded away, his slender and white hands touched his belly, and a look of cruelty flashed in his eyes.

The fight between the old lady and the big house did not affect Li Jinyan at all.Now he wished he could grow wings and fly to the dyeing workshop immediately.But he also knew that there was no rush.In history, the inventor of sulfonamide, Dommark, was far away in Germany, and he is still a child now.I have a head full of theoretical knowledge, but theory does not represent reality, so let him synthesize sulfonamide by himself, without even thinking about it.

Li Jinyan originally wanted to recruit people through Li Bing and others, and the target was foreign students with professional counterparts.But the current international students, no matter they are sent by the government or they have traveled overseas to study and return to China, are all high-level talents, and most of them are recruited by the northern and southern governments or the military governments under them to work, and few of them study chemistry and medicine. At least, don't look at Li Jinyan, even the Li family, they don't like it at all.

Learn literary and martial arts and sell them at the emperor's house.

This is still the idea that is deeply rooted in the minds of most people nowadays.Even if a patriotic young man wants to use his talents, the first thing he thinks of is to work in the government and the army, instead of working with a businessman who has money but no real power.It's the same even if the Li family has the name of a patriotic businessman.

The Westernization Movement in the Qing Dynasty developed for decades. After the Sino-Japanese War, national capitalists and patriots represented by Zhang Qian also voiced their voices to enrich and strengthen the country through industry and education.But today, the huge country is divided between the north and the south, and the warlords are rampant. Businessmen with huge sums of money have become fat sheep in the eyes of the warlords.

Li Jinyan knew that it would be difficult to walk this path alone, so he thought of the Lou family from the very beginning.But with just a few words, the red mouth and white teeth, not to mention Marshal Lou, may not believe him.If he wants to cooperate with the Lou family, he must come up with something that convinces the other party.

Li Jinyan pondered for a while, and accidentally knocked down the ink bottle on the table, staining his navy blue sleeves with ink.Li Jinyan smiled wryly, and was about to be nagged by Zhi'er again. The girl said yesterday that the ink was hard to wash, even if it was soaped twice, it wouldn't work.

Soap? !

Suddenly, a light flashed in Li Jinyan's eyes.

Sulfonamide is difficult, but making a few pieces of soap is not difficult for him.If you think about it carefully, the domestic soap manufacturing industry has just started. Even in Europe, the soap-making process has just been industrialized. Most of the current production is a single type of soap, which is incomparable with the various soaps of later generations.

Li Jinyan slapped the table violently, handmade soap!At the beginning, in order to please his girlfriend, he specially searched for information from the Internet. The raw materials are not difficult to find, and the production process can be regarded as simple.

No one will refuse to send your money, right?

The Lou family is willing to marry the Li family, apart from his horoscope being compatible with Young Marshal Lou, an important reason is for the money of the Li family, right?I took the initiative to offer the money, and seeing the real benefits, plus my own status, it shouldn't be too difficult to get help from the Lou family.In the six northern provinces, Marshal Lou is very eloquent. When the time comes, soldiers will come to the door with guns on their shoulders, and no one will dare to throw face at will.

Li Jinyan suddenly realized, why did he challenge the high difficulty in the first place?It's fundamental to start simple.

Snowflakes floated outside the window again, but a red plum bloomed proudly in the cold wind.

There are still two days before the day when the Lou's family will be hired, and the second wife is also busy. Ever since the winter plum in the old lady's room was sent to the big room, the west room of Li's family has become lively, taking photos three times a day, arguing a few times He even moved his hands, Mr. Li got a headache from being quarreled by his wives and concubines, and there was news that Mrs. Xiuhua was pregnant. Before Mr. Li was happy for two days, Mrs. Xiuhua was pushed to the ground by the young lady Li Jinqin. In the field, the child was not saved. After Aunt Xiuhua woke up, she clamored to hang herself. In order to comfort her, Master Li severely reprimanded Miss Li. Unconvinced, Li Jinqin contradicted Master Li and yelled He thought that he didn't touch his aunt at all, she fell by herself, but it fell on her head.

Aunt Xiuhua knelt down to Li Jinqin, and said in tears, "Miss, it's my fault, but, but the child is innocent, he is your younger brother..."

"Bah!" Li Jinqin didn't realize that Su Xiuhua had set her up in her words: "Who knows what that bastard is, what does the bastard's bastard have anything to do with me, don't put gold on your face! "

As soon as Li Jinqin said that, Mr. Li's expression changed. He said that Mrs. Xiuhua was pregnant with a bastard, so what happened to him? !

The eldest lady wanted to cover Li Jinqin's mouth, but Miss Li was used to being arrogant, and she still yelled and cursed unrelentingly. Li Jinxing also stepped forward to join in the fun and kicked Auntie Xiuhua on the heart.A cold light flashed in Su Xiuhua's eyes, she didn't dodge or dodge, she was kicked straight in the face, she fell into Mr. Li's arms, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Grandpa Li was so angry that his face was livid, and he yelled: "It's against you, it's really against you, you bastard!"

About to wave her hand to beat Li Jinxing, the eldest lady bumped her head into the arms of the elder, crying: "If you want to beat Jinxing, you might as well kill me! Our third mother is also a good companion. When Jincheng comes back, look How capable his father was, he beat his mother and his younger siblings to death just for the sake of his concubine!"

The eldest lady was crying, and she didn't care about her face anymore. Mrs. Xiuhua had already been carried into the house, and the girl hurriedly went to invite the doctor again.Lamei took the opportunity to provoke, and with a few words, the fire in the west room burned even more vigorously, and it lasted a whole day, and it didn't stop until midnight.The next day, the Eldest Master didn't go to work either. It is said that he was embarrassed by the Elder Madam and couldn't go out at all.

"Sister-in-law, you didn't see it. The bustle at that time was comparable to the old days of inviting New Year's wine and singing operas on the stage."

The third lady was helping the second lady sort out the name cards for the wedding banquet, while laughing. Thinking about the scene at that time, the second lady also felt happy.

"If you ask me, this Su Xiuhua is really ruthless, and she can even be ruthless to herself."

"How do you say that?"

The second lady gave the third lady a strange look. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, the third lady approached the second lady's ear and lowered her voice: "A girl next to me can talk to the thrush in her room. It is said that Su Xiuhua I consulted the doctor privately, and the pregnancy is not stable, the doctor said, nine out of ten it will not survive."

"what?"

The second lady was really surprised, "Really?"

"Really." The third lady nodded.

The second lady looked at the red invitation card in her hand and sighed, "It's not easy for anyone."

The third lady snorted, "Look, first there is Su Xiuhua, and then there is a winter plum, which is enough for our sister-in-law to drink a pot. Do you think the old lady would know in advance? Otherwise, why would she suddenly put the winter plum sent it over?"

"Where is this going?" The second lady gave the third lady a look, "What does this have to do with the old lady, don't talk nonsense."

"Yes, I'm talking nonsense." The third lady raised her finely trimmed eyebrows, "Just treat it as me talking nonsense."

"You."

The two sisters-in-law were talking, Li Jinyan opened the curtain and walked in, and said with a smile: "Mother, Third Aunt, are you busy?"

"Yan'er is here, come quickly."

Li Jinyan walked up to the second lady, glanced at the red and gilded wedding invitation on the table, twitched the corner of his mouth indistinctly, and then put the wooden box in his hand in front of the second lady, "Mother, take a look."

"For me?"

"Well, take a look, do you like it?"

The second lady had already lifted the lid of the wooden box, and before she could speak, the third lady had already said, "Is this soap?"

"Third Aunt is more knowledgeable." Li Jinyan picked up a piece and handed it to the Third Madam: "It hurts your hands if you use too much soap, and the soap sold in the market is not as good as the one I make."

"Really?" The third lady took it with a handkerchief, and sniffed it under her nose: "Not to mention, this smell is really better than the ones your third uncle got back."

Li Jinyan smiled and said, "My nephew made this with my own hands."

"You did it?" The second lady asked in surprise, "Did you do it yourself?"

"Of course." Li Jinyan took out a smaller box and opened it. Inside were three soap flowers. Although the shape was a little rough, it still made the eyes of the second and third wives shine.

"How did you come up with it?"

The third lady held the box and did not let go, "Sister-in-law, let me, give this to me, and let my nephew make it for you later."

The second lady smiled and said, "You are so grown up, why do you still look like a child. Okay, here you are."

The third lady hurriedly called the girl to come in, put the box away, "Send it back to me quickly, so that my sister-in-law won't regret it."

"Hey!"

The girl didn't know what soap was in the box, but she thought it was some kind of jewelry, holding it carefully, Li Jinyan frowned, it seems that there is indeed a door for this business.

When the third wife left, the second wife asked Li Jinyan, "Do you want to do this business?"

Li Jinyan rubbed his nose, "My mother is really discerning, she is a heroine!"

"Don't give your mother crazy soup!" The second lady patted Li Jinyan vaguely, "Mother doesn't ask you where this prescription came from, but have you thought about it, this business is done, it is the Li family or?"

The Second Madam’s worry is not unreasonable, the Li family has not yet separated, although Li Jinyan’s business capital can be paid out of his “dowry”, if Mrs. Li gets his mind up and Mrs. Li speaks, they are really not too good way.It's okay for them to confront Li Qingchang behind closed doors. She is Li Qingchang's sister-in-law and her peer, but if Mrs. Li is involved, things will be troublesome.

The second wife, Zhao Fengyun, also understood her father-in-law, for the sake of the Li family, he really could do anything.

Li Jinyan knew the worry of the second lady, so he revealed his previous plan. However, the matter of sulfonamide was kept a secret for now. After all, in this era, compared with soap and the like, the value of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs is comparable to gold. .

"I plan to hand over this business to the Lou family."

"To Lou's family?"

"Yes." Li Jinyan said: "Mom, this is just a small business. Don't worry, my son will not suffer."

Seeing Li Jinyan's resolute attitude, the second lady didn't continue to ask. Since her son is willing, what objection does she have?What's more, his son will live in the Lou family in the future, and doing so will also allow him to stand more firmly in the Lou family.Could it be that the son thought of this from the beginning?

If Li Jinyan knew what the second lady was thinking at this moment, three black lines would really slide down from the top of his head, and he would definitely say: Mother, it's not a good habit to make up your mind, you really think too much.

December 1911, 12 in the Gregorian calendar, October 16 of the Xinhai Year of the Lunar Calendar, is the day when Lou's family was hired.

Early in the morning, the Li family was busy up and down, and the big house, which had been flying around for days, was rarely quiet.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the front door of Li's house opened wide, Li Qingchang, the grand master, was waiting at the door early, and Li Jinyan was also called together.Logically speaking, it is inappropriate for him to wait here, but it is inconvenient for the second wife to show up. As the only male in the second room, he can only stand behind the elder.What is rare is that the third master Li Qingyun, who has not seen each other all day long, also showed up. Li Jinyan had a good impression of him as the third uncle, and greeted Li Qingyun face to face with a smile. As for Li Qingchang, he was not in front of outsiders. Both Li Jinyan and Li Qingyun I don't like to talk to him very much.

Snowflakes fell in the sky again, and the sound of horseshoes finally sounded in the distance, uniformly, like the drumbeat of a war drum, beating on everyone's hearts.

Li Jinyan looked up, and in the silvery white, more than a dozen soldiers in iron-gray military uniforms and a tough look were coming on horseback.It was Lou Xiao who took the lead.

Under Young Marshal Lou's crotch was a black war horse. There was no variegated color on his body. The black cloak on his body fluttered in the cold wind, revealing the scarlet lining, like blood sprayed in the silver-white world.

Li Jinyan narrowed his eyes, only to feel that his eyes were about to be stung by the man riding the snow on his horse.

As the team approached, Lou Xiao pulled the reins, and the two front hooves of the war horse raised up, neighing endlessly. Lou Xiao jumped off the horse, his black riding boots creaked on the snow, and his white gloves wrapped With a pair of big hands and a wide black brim, his sharp eyebrows and eyes could not be hidden. The whole person was like an unsheathed and sharpened sword.

This is a man so handsome that no one can even feel jealous.

As the man approached, it seemed that everything in the world became silent.

Walking closer, Lou Xiao put his military cap on top of the horsewhip in his hand, and looked at Li Jinyan intently, those black eyes seemed like a bottomless millennium cold pool.

At this moment, Li Jinyan suddenly understood what it was like to feel his heart pounding.