Xianjin was of course unaware of Madam Qu's plan. After leaving the main hall, he took out two pieces of silver from his pocket and gave them to Madam Zhang, saying, "...I don't know what the Third Master likes to eat in Xuancheng. You can serve him something delicious."
After thinking for a while, he said, "No animal oil, offal, seafood, or river fish can be eaten."
Mother Zhang hesitated and returned one of the pieces of silver to Xianjin.
Xianjin thought again, "You can't eat cheese, fermented rice, or overly sweet fruits."
Mother Zhang was speechless and returned the other piece of silver. "I might as well go to the field and get some cabbage stalks for Master San. We can have three kinds of dishes with one dish."
Xianjin:...
It’s hard to raise a dad.
Chen Fu was like a paramecium, a single-celled organism. After a good night's sleep, it was as if the system had automatically updated itself. The next morning, he happily followed Xianjin to the Jixi workshop to check out the store. Xuancheng was obviously much larger than Jingxian, with black sheds and green tiles, and four rivers flowing to the east. There were many schools around, and the complicated but orderly streets were mostly filled with children carrying school bags in one hand and kites in the other. Most of them were waiting to get home from school early and then fly kites in the east wind.
In several streets and alleys, Xianjin also saw several shops with signs hanging with scrolls.
Looking along the way, Xianjin saw Li Ji, Heng Ji, Bai Ji...all of them were papermaking companies. When passing by the shop doors, he could smell the distinct scent of wood ash.
Chen's house is located in Qiuliu Lane in the west of the city. Beyond Qiuliu Lane is Xisheng Avenue. The road is divided into square sections by shops and houses, carrying the life events of 120,000 households and 250,000 people in the small Xuancheng Prefecture of the Wei Dynasty.
Chen Fu walked in front with his head held high. All the neighbors knew him. A familiar restaurant owner even stuck his head out to say, "Hey, Third Brother! Are you back from your hometown?!"
Chen Furu returned to his home turf and got the best of both worlds. “I’m back, I’m back!”
The shopkeeper asked again, "Have you eaten?"
Chen Fu winked at Xianjin to hurry up, his butt raised to the sky with pride, "How did you know that my daughter took me to the Jixi workshop to work! What position? The chief steward!"
People... people just ask if you have eaten...
What are you proud of...?
Xianjin, an E-person who thinks he is not socially anxious, meets Chen Fu, a senior E-person, and just wants to find a way to get in.
It’s just a short commute, but the whole Xisheng Avenue knows that “the third son of the Chen family is in charge of the shop, and his family has prospered, and he has also brought a little girl with him - the third brave man has conquered Jixi”!
After walking for a while to a sparsely populated area, the government allowed the mule carts to go on the road.
It's a bit like restricting the use of motor vehicles.
The mule cart took nearly half an hour to travel before Xianjin and his party arrived at the Jixi workshop.
Chen Fu was at a loss for words, "...So far?"
Xianjin got off the mule cart quickly and said, "The mules on the road didn't complain, so let's stop talking."
Chen Fu touched the mule's mane: You have worked hard.
Then he thought of himself: the mule that had been traveling could now rest, but his work for the day had just begun - the mule was just working hard, but he had a hard life.
At the store entrance, Manager Dong, Li Sanshun, the second son of the Zheng family who had no skin injuries, and Lu Badan were already dressed and in place, standing in the second row out of courtesy.
The first row is the original team of Jixi workshop.
Mrs. Qu's distant nephew Qu Da Mao, the current accountant Bai Dongtian, and three other "3Q" guys named Shiqiu, Shuiqiu, and Muqiu. These five guys stood closely together, with their eyes drooping listlessly, shoulders touching.
The contrast is obvious.
The second row is like the elites from the Fortune 500 companies, and the first row is like the bell-ringing monks who go south to work for one day and surf the Internet for three days.
Xianjin walked in front, followed closely by Chen Fu.
Manager Dong stepped out from the crowd, placed one hand on the outline of the three stripes on his uniform, and said in a respectful and gentle voice, "Congratulations, Manager!"
Li Sanshun and Lu Badan stepped forward, "Congratulations, Manager!"
Zheng Lao Er spoke the loudest, with his nose pointed upwards, "Congratulations, Master Shopkeeper!"
Qu Damao was so scared that he thought bandits were breaking in!
Xianjin stopped in front of Qu Damao.
Qu Da Mao's neck shrank, and he looked up with his peripheral vision: Wow, this girl has a sharp face, like a knife, and her upturned eyebrows are like the handle of a knife that is ready to be unsheathed at any time. Qu Da Mao shivered, "Three... Congratulations... Three... Congratulations... Three... Congratulations..."
He wasn't sure who to call first, so he just started rapping.
"He Xianjin, Xian means showing, Jin means gold." Xianjin pursed his lips and smiled, "You are Shopkeeper Qu, right?"
Qu Da Mao nodded repeatedly, his goatee shivering and looking very timid, "I... I am Qu Da Mao... I heard from my fifth uncle that Manager He will be working in the Jixi workshop in the next few months..."
He reacted okay to the parachuted-in people. He was not willing to be in charge of things. He just took the ten taels of silver salary every month and fished in troubled waters. What's wrong with that?
If someone comes to take charge, he will welcome it with applause as long as you leave him alone.
If the store becomes successful and he is given some dividends and profits, he will be fine with calling her "Boss" or even "Grand Ancestor".
It’s just... running this shop is really hard.
Qu Da Mao bowed and made way for Xian Jin, leading him inside, introducing the shop as he walked, "... our shop has been around for more than ten years, and we make a living every month by relying on Longchuan Creek. When the mulberry paper workshop in the east of the city and the lantern workshop in the west of the city can't handle the work, they ask us to do it. When the two workshops have good business, they can let some broth leak out through their fingers, and we can eat our fill."
I came in a hurry that day and didn't take a close look.
Now it was broad daylight, and he walked into the shop. He saw the mottled walls, peeling paint on the wooden beams, and mottled bamboo frames. Xianjin walked in silently, and along the way he saw the floor was warped and the bricks and tiles were falling off. He looked at the papermaking workshop, which had a large open space, but only three or two small pools, and the water in the pools was turbid, and even the bamboo curtain for scooping paper fluff was cracked in two or three places.
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