Little husband's market life

When Sheng Shaoyuan came back from the field, Sheng Ying couldn't open her mouth to borrow money from her father.

After lunch, Qiao Zhishu listened to Sheng Yao's order and took the elder sister back to the yard.In the study there were only the three of them plus a small post, the old lady was behind their backs, and the siblings were whispering.

Sheng Yao: "In the front hall, why did the eldest sister say that the family is not rich? Brother-in-law went to gamble again? How much did you lose this time?"

Sheng Ying was still gentle and gentle, with her expression unchanged, "Why? I said I'm not rich. When I went back to the village, I met my sisters before I got married. I said a few words to them. I heard that they said that I was not rich this year. I used the word also."

The younger brother is about to take a scientific examination, and she will not say anything to affect him.

Sheng Yao frowned and asked: "Why didn't brother-in-law come? Did he go to gamble again?"

"You child, your brother-in-law's family has no land, but they still support a shop. They are back, who will look after the shop? Who will take care of your little niece?" Sheng Ying said angrily, "I don't think you have grown up yet, Jing said Nonsense, I'm asking for a fight."

Qiao Zhishu lowered his head and smiled secretly, but Sheng Ying saw him and beckoned him to come.

"My younger brother brought you to my house the year before last. I just gave birth and was taking care of myself, so I didn't have time to entertain you properly. Come here and let the elder sister take a good look."

"Eldest sister." Qiao Zhishu approached with a respectful attitude. He was very aware of the position of elder sister in his brother's heart.

Sheng Ying took out some sachets that she had embroidered. The sachets were still made of silk, and each was embroidered with a tiger's head with colored threads. They were round, cute and luxurious.She learned embroidery from her stepmother. If she didn't learn it well, she could only make clothes for her family.

"It's stuffed with realgar mugwort leaves, and the eldest sister will tie it on for you." All the good wishes for the younger generation to get rid of illness and seek wealth are placed in these sachets.

……

In the end, Sheng Ying didn't ask to borrow money to buy a loom. She helped the family clean up the fields for three days, and on the pretext that her daughter was going to cry after being away for a long time, she took the carriage that Sheng Yao wanted to go back to the county school, and went back to her husband's house.

**

As soon as Sheng Yao and Sheng Ying left, Sheng Xue became assertive.She and her mother Fang Heqi stepped into grandma's yard, she put her arms around grandma's arm, Fang He went to put her arms around Gang'er, and told Qiao Zhishu to pack her luggage.

Qiao Zhishu looked at grandma, but grandma didn't nod. He hid behind the door when he went out, and didn't go to pack his luggage.

Sheng Xue: "Grandma, my shop has been repaired, so let Qiaoer and my younger brother go to the county with us. My younger brother has also recovered recently. You know that Qiaoer is careful, so I appointed him to take good care of my younger brother."

Fang He asked his youngest son at the right time: "Gang'er, I will live with my mother in the county from now on. No matter how busy my mother is, she will take you with her and coax you to sleep at night, okay?"

Sheng Gang wanted to get out of the yard, but he was crazy. He was still young, and he didn't think about things comprehensively, so he nodded repeatedly.

Only Mrs. Sheng hesitated a little, but never nodded.

"Mom, I really have to take them away! In the past, we only set up a stall for ten days, and the capital was all on the ingredients. Now it's different. To open a shop, you have to pay rent and hire people. The pastries in the shop are day by day. All have to be sold.

But pastries are not something people can afford every day, and Bazhenzhai in the county town has been selling pastries for decades, and rich masters are their customers.

But Qiaoer knows how to steam Longyou hair cakes. She is big and full and cheap. Anyone in the county can afford this cake. There are so many people who buy it, why can't relatives and friends talk about our shop?Didn't the name of this shop spread? "

Qiao Zhishu and the others had to take it with them, they could make money, they could run the halls, and they could take care of the youngest son without paying him wages.

Mrs. Sheng always felt unreliable, "Gang'er is weak, and the county is messy. What if something dirty hits him?"

Sheng Xue: "The shop is only one street away from Ci'an Hall. If my younger brother feels unwell somewhere, it won't take a quarter of an hour for the doctor to come over."

"Isn't it? Just give enough money." Fang He also said, and shook his young son in his arms again, "Let's go to the county magistrate to experience it. After gaining knowledge and earning money, we will bring grandma here in the future, okay?"

……

In the end, Sheng Gang threw himself into his grandma's arms, saying that he was going to earn some money and buy a big yard for his grandma, younger brother, and elder brother, and the old lady nodded.

"Forget it, Gang'er is also seven years old, and the child in the family was sent to a private school when he was six. He is a year too late. He can see the wind this year, but the strong wind has been blocked by his elder brother and younger brother. You It's his own mother, so there's no need for my old lady to teach you how to raise your son, it's just a piece of meat that fell from your body, you must pay close attention to him..."

"Mother, don't worry! Girl Xue and I have been focusing on making money for the past few years. Isn't it all for the baby? He needs money for medical treatment, money for medicine, and money for studying. He will have to marry a wife when he grows up. Son……"

The old lady Sheng hugged her precious grandson tightly, turned her head and said to Qiao Zhishu who was hiding behind the door: "Go and clean up."

Only then did Qiao Zhishu move out. Although it was true that he went to the county seat, it was more convenient to find a doctor and get medicine, but...

He asked slowly, "What about grandma?"

Sheng Xue was the first to laugh when she heard the words, she walked over and poked Qiao Zhishu on the forehead, "Come on, you, you've learned how to flirt, isn't the second uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle still at home?"

"You don't touch him!" The old lady raised one hand and patted Sheng Xue's hand away, with her left arm around Sheng Gang, and her right hand. Qiao Zhishu hugged her, feeling reluctant and moved.

The old lady hugged the two baby bumps, and educated Sheng Xue, "Xue, you have great abilities at a young age, and your daughter's family can be proud at the right time. When you go to the county town, there are many high-ranking officials and nobles. You are so arrogant at home." Ang's appearance has to be restrained."

The expression on Sheng Xue's face froze for a moment, and she thought to herself: If it weren't for me, my brother would have died a long time ago. I have done so much for this family and changed my tragic fate, so you only see me arrogant?

She twitched the corners of her mouth, "Of course I know, as long as there is a high-ranking official in the family, I can't be like this."

After she finished speaking, she didn't look at anyone, turned around and left the yard with a sullen face.

The old lady Sheng was stunned, and after a while of reaction, Sheng Xue had disappeared before explaining loudly: "My grandma is teaching you, you child!"

Fang He has been very close to her daughter in the past few years, and she is often impressed by what her daughter said, but now she is just perfunctory to her mother-in-law, "This child, I will take care of her when I go back! Mother, don't take it to heart, this child has grown up, yes Pay attention to the tone of your conversation with them, you won't offend them at all..."

"Do it well... My old lady can't afford to offend you, so you should go back quickly. I'll have a chat with our grandsons."

Mrs. Sheng has lived to such an advanced age, and she has a grandson who is not close to her, but she has more than respect for her.As the mistress of the Sheng family, she not only needs to be kind to the children, but also to teach them seriously. If there are more children, there will be more solid ones, so it is inevitable that she must speak harshly to calm down.

Unexpectedly, the second granddaughter can't even listen to a serious word now.

Seeing Qiao Er's furrowed eyebrows and angry appearance, Mrs. Sheng raised her hand and knocked the two little heads into her arms, and whispered to Qiao Er to take good care of herself and protect her younger brother.

**

county seat.

The shop that Shengxue bought was a two-story structure with a store in the front and a square in the back. It was the same as most of the shops nowadays, with production at the back and sales at the front.

The shop and the houses at the back are built around it, with an open-air workshop in the middle.shop

The outside has been repaired and refurbished, and the rooms in the back are not so new, and they still smell bad. Fortunately, the windows in the house are very large and ventilated.

Qiao Zhishu was too busy to get out of the kitchen to prepare pastries before opening.

Xiao Gang'er was locked in a room on the second floor, looking down at the busy people in the workshop through the window.

When he came to the county town, he coughed a few times. Qiao Zhishu went to see the doctor. The doctor said it was an old problem, so he prescribed some lung-nourishing medicine and left.Fang He guessed that his youngest son had caught wind, so he was not allowed to leave the room.

He was very happy at first, after all, he had never seen so many people, he was curious about what others did and was willing to watch.

But it got boring after four or five days.

Seeing that his little face was calm day by day, Qiao Zhishu finally waited until the first day of the store's opening. Taking advantage of the busy work ahead, he went back and stood at the end of the balcony on the second floor with his unhappy ganger in his arms, watching the people hurrying on the street.

Sheng Gang, who was wearing a tiger head hat, was tightly wrapped around his body, his little hands warmly wrapped around his brother's neck, and began to confide in his grievances.

Xiaozui bababa: "You said that no matter how busy you are, you will take me with you, coax me to sleep, lie to me..."

Qiao Zhishu hugged him upright and paced back and forth. Although Sheng Gang was seven years old, he was short and light.

"You are seven years old. My brother and I slept by ourselves when we were seven years old. How can you be more comfortable? You still have me with you."

Sheng Gang was still aggrieved, children have a natural longing for their mother, and he has already begun to wipe tears with his small mouth.

Qiao Zhishu hugged him back and forth on the terrace, softly coaxing him: "You don't want to look at the street when you cry, and you will have a headache at night when you cry."

Fang He was wearing a lilac-purple pomegranate dress, a reddish-brown beige, and gold on her head. She already had the charm of a proprietress.

She came to urge the fat cake to come out of the pan, subconsciously looked up at the second floor, saw her youngest son twitching, and asked distressedly: "What's wrong with Gang'er? Why are you crying?"

Sheng Gang lost his temper and ignored others, hugged his brother's neck and buried his big head.

Can Fang He still not understand?But he really couldn't care less, so he could only sigh, "Qiao Er, hurry up and take your brother into the house, carefully, the wind will blow too much and you will get a headache."

For the cake, Qiao Zhishu had already prepared the batter and put it on the pot, and it would be enough to put it in a cage and steam it in a pan. Fang He returned to the shop after urging, hired a waiter, and handed over a string of copper coins.

"Go to Suyanglou to buy a bowl of small wontons and come back."

Sheng Xue is also wearing a green silk dress and cute flat buns. She has been standing behind the counter to see what the customers are buying. Sure enough, the cheap Longyou hair cakes are the most popular.

Seeing my mother sending someone to buy food, I asked in puzzlement, "Who wants to eat wontons?"

"Gang'er cried again, probably annoyed that I haven't had time to accompany him." Fang He said this in a low voice, probably because he was also sad.

Sheng Xue looked at the backyard, "It's just that they doted on him too much. He wasn't like that at home before, but he's even more delicate in front of Mother."

For three years, Fang He has gotten used to her daughter thinking and talking like an adult.

But Gang'er was born with an illness, and Fang He, a mother, felt distressed and guilty for him.So she poked her daughter's forehead and felt that her daughter's family was too pampered.

Fang He: "Your mother also doted on you when you were a child. You have never brought up a child, and he is so young. Shouldn't they dote on you? It is more reliable than your sister who has a belly."

Sheng Xue rubbed her forehead, and spoke back dissatisfiedly, but because she was still in the shop, her voice was extremely low.

"How else can I be reliable? Have the two of you paid for ginseng money?"

Fang He clicked his daughter's tongue, the ginseng money has been paid out of her own pocket, and her daughter's pastry money has been saving to buy a shop, right?

It just so happened that people from Dong's Embroidery Village came to congratulate the grand opening, so she gave up and went to the door to greet her.

Probably because the youngest son lived far away from him before, Fang He himself felt that he was raised under his nose, and found that the youngest son was particularly troublesome.

Fortunately, it has finally opened, and I can spend a good time with my youngest son in two days.

**

On the first day of opening, because there was Dong Siye from Dong's Embroidery Village, that is, Dong Xiaomei's own brother, he brought friends to join him, and the profit can be said to have exceeded the family's expectations.

There was residual heat on the second day, and the business was also very good.

On the third day, Fang He finally found time, and did not dare to do embroidery work with needles. After lunch, he hugged Xiao Ganger, put on a tiger-head hat, and walked near the shop tightly wrapped Go for a stroll.

Qiao Zhishu and Sheng Xue are in charge of the overall situation in the back kitchen. Generally, there will be more people buying pastries in the afternoon, and then in the evening, there will be a small peak when there are many people going to the market through the night market.

Everyone performs their duties, lighting the fire, kneading the dough, kneading the cake, steaming the cake...

At this moment, the boy in the front hall ran to the back yard, looking for someone in a hurry.

"Have you seen my boss?"

He didn't find Sheng Shaoyuan, so he ran into the kitchen and said to Shengxue: "Little boss, there are people making trouble up front, surrounded by many people, you go and see, should we report to the police?"

The impatient Sheng Xue rushed out immediately after hearing this.

Qiao Zhishu took a step back, remembering that he once heard his brother chatting with his uncle, saying that doing business would inevitably encounter "exorbitant taxes, and a run on peers".

So when he took off his apron and went to the shop in front, the place was already in chaos.

Several men with loud voices shouted in unison: "Unscrupulous merchants, you are short of money! Get your money back! Get your money back!"

The sharp and crisp voice of the little girl Shengxue couldn't shake these people, they seemed like people who only chanted slogans but had no thought.The onlookers looked curious, those who were going to buy in the shop did not dare to buy, and those who had already bought and wanted to leave went to Xiao Er to return the goods...

Seeing this, Qiao Zhishu picked up the scale and rushed to the door of the shop, shouting: "If you want to get your money back, come to me!"

"What's causing the trouble? Why retreat?" Sheng Xue frowned to pull Qiao Zhishu, and said in a low voice, "I've sent people to Dong's house, and I'll wait for Fourth Master Dong to come and clean them up!"

Dong Siye is the elder brother of her unmarried sister-in-law Dong Xiaomei, a well-known figure in the county.

Qiao Zhishu also replied in a low voice: "They made such a mess. If we don't stand up and explain clearly now, people on the street will think that we are short of money and will not come to buy pastries anymore. Sister, let me try."

He grew up beside Sheng Yao in the past few years, read some books, and learned a lot of truths.

Qiao Zhishu raised the scale, "If there is any shortage, you can tell with one scale."

He is short and thin. He has recently changed his voice. His voice is hoarse and waxy, so the men don't take him seriously, and even make fun of him: "Where is the boy, do you know how to weigh?"

Qiao Zhishu faced the door of the shop, feeling extremely nervous, and pretended to be serious with a sullen little face, "Everyone here is older than me, and even if they don't do business, they often buy things. They must know how to look at the weight, so why don't you listen to it?" Am I right?"

Qiao Zhishu was not in a hurry, and his conversation was clear and orderly. Everyone present fell silent, wanting to hear what the boy had to say.

"Everyone knows that a catty is 16 taels, but do you know the reason?"

Someone in the crowd replied with a smile: "Because it's half a catty."

Someone else said: "The rules handed down by the ancestors have their own reasons. We act according to the rules, so what if we don't know?"

Qiao Zhishu pursed his lips, pinched the scale, and said courageously, "My brother is a scholar. My brother said that 16 taels per catty was set by the first emperor. After the first emperor unified the six countries, he asked Prime Minister Li to specify the measurement standard. , but Li Cheng couldn’t make up his mind about how many taels he would pay for a catty.”

"So Prime Minister Li went to ask the first emperor to make up his mind, and the first emperor only wrote four big characters on the paper - the world is fair."

"Then Prime Minister Li used the strokes of these four characters to set a catty tael. From then on, the unified catty in the world is 16 taels."

After Qiao Zhishu finished speaking, the crowd applauded. Everyone said that reading is noble, but there are too many people who can't afford to read, and they can't be noble even if they want to be noble. Many common sense in life use the phrase "old The ancestors decided to explain it, but I don't know the allusion.

Qiao Zhishu steadied himself amidst the applause. He held the scale with both hands, and raised his voice: "Look, everyone! These scale stars are only white. This is Emperor Shi Huang telling the merchants that business must be open, fair, and just." , can't be black-hearted (star)!"

"These scale stars are the Big Dipper, the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper, and the Three Stars of Fortune, Fortune, and Shou. So if one or two is missing, you will lose your fortune, if you miss two or two, you will lose your fortune, and if you miss three or two, you will directly lose your life! Our Xiangxue Sweet Cake has been set up in the county for three years. There are old and young in the family, as well as famous scholars, it is impossible for us to do things that are short of weight! Besides, it is even more impossible to do things that are short of weight now that we have opened a shop, because the shop is here... No more!"

"Well said!" A middle-aged man in silk and silk came forward from the crowd, "This is the shop run by the second daughter of the Sheng family? Do you still remember me?"

Sheng Xue's eyes lit up, "Why don't you remember? Three years ago, I sold cakes at a stall, and you were the first customer! I still remember that you bought honey chestnut cakes at that time."

"Hehehe... I said you were immeasurable at the time, and it really is! It's just... I didn't expect that each of your Sheng family is inestimable. My child, how old are you? What's your name?" The middle-aged man looked at it approvingly. Qiao Zhishu.