Xianjin straightened up, wiped the bib around his waist clean with his hands, and went out with Aunt Zhong and Xiao Suoer to meet them.
An ebony plaque with the words "Sincerity, Admonition and Mechanism" hung above the main hall of the Jixi workshop. Old Madam Qu sat at the top. The second master Chen Cai and the third master Chen Fu both came and sat down on their left sides in turn.
Qu Da Mao bowed to accompany him. When he saw Xian Jin coming, he quickly gave up his seat on the lower right, smiling, and bending down to his knees, "How about the cold rose honey tea?"
Xianjin nodded casually, untied her skirt and sat down. At first glance, she saw the "unknown man" mentioned by Suo'er who was sitting opposite her.
It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with him.
At first glance, he is Chen Fu's son. He looks like the slicked-back Chen Silang, and has a typical appearance of the Chen family - slightly upturned eyes and a slightly hooked nose, a thin body, and a pair of eyes looking around as if looking for something.
Chen Sanlang.
Qu Da Mao served a cup of specially cooled rose honey tea, smiled flatteringly, bowed and stood at the back of the hall.
Chen Sanlang's gaze followed Qu Damao's figure. He raised his chin unconsciously and looked at him with an examining attitude.
Xianjin took a sip of herbal tea, slowly put down the teacup, and waited quietly for Madam Qu to speak.
"Jin Jie'er." Old Madam Qu spoke slowly and sounded very intimate. "Come and meet Sanlang. You have been at your uncle's house, traveling all over the world with your uncle from the Sun family. You haven't been back during the New Year. You have been at home for more than ten years, and this is the first time I see you."
Xianjin nodded towards him and said, "Sanlangjun."
Madam Qu introduced Xianjin again, "This is our storekeeper He. You know her mother, the former He Xiaoniang from Yiyuan. Now she is in charge of all four shops in our family. She is very capable and has made great contributions to the success of the Chen family."
Chen Sanlang also nodded slightly to Xianjin, "Congratulations, Shopkeeper."
After the two of them had greeted each other formally, Madam Qu smiled graciously and said to Xianjin, "You can just call him Bofang. This generation of people follows the third character, Jianfang, Bofang, and Zhufang."
In this day and age, is it too intimate to call someone by their name?
Xianjin's eyelids twitched, and she felt a little uneasy. She didn't know why she was uneasy, but she couldn't find the reason. She smiled and evaded the question subconsciously, "The name is related to the eight characters. There are many people in our Jixi workshop now, so we'd better keep it secret for matters involving our lives and property."
Speaking of metaphysics, Xianjin did not give Madam Qu a chance to speak, and continued with a smile, "Although I have never met Mr. Sanlang, I have heard of your great name for a long time. When I was young, I had a chance and was taught by an old Taoist priest. I have been hiding from disasters at my uncle's house. It's like listening to folk operas and legendary paintings. It's very mysterious."
Madam Qu sighed, "Who said it wasn't? He should have stayed until he was 20, but now he's still a year short. Who would have thought that his uncle would have had a stroke at the beginning of the year? The four or five children in the family, the legitimate and illegitimate children, are fighting like black chickens. His mother thought about it and decided to ask him to come back, so that he wouldn't get into trouble without getting the meat."
Xian Jin laughed cheerfully, “Hehehe.”
Do you think I believe it or not?
Madam Qu continued, "It's actually best to come back. Although you were living with your closest relatives before, you were still living under someone else's roof after all."
Chen Sanlang's eyes flickered very appropriately, and then the corners of his eyes turned red.
Xianjin:?
Or is he a talented actor?
Madam Qu looked at Chen Sanlang with pity, sighed, and softened her tone, "I shouldn't have let Sanlang go at this time. You have to deal with tribute paper and the autumn examination papers, which is already very busy. But you also know the third son's strengths and character. Can you ask a good child to follow his father to eat in restaurants and write small things every day?"
Chen Fu frowned and slammed the teacup on the table with a clang. "If he is willing, then there is nothing wrong with it! This bowl of rice is not bad!"
Madam Qu covered her chest with her hands.
Chen Sanlang hurried forward, half squatted down to help Madam Qu calm down, and said the second sentence of the day, "Grandma, don't be angry. Although I am not good at writing, it is okay to write about small restaurants and criticize bad things. If father doesn't want me to interfere in the family business, I will listen to the elders and never dare to disobey."
The voice is clear and crisp, like a male lark.
Xianjin lowered his head, picked up the tea lid and scraped the non-existent tea trowel.
Chen Fu stood up immediately and said, "That's great! I will recommend you to the bookstore right now. You just write and I will arrange the book number and printing for you. You won't starve to death anyway, so why bother trying to compete with Xianjin for food!"
Madam Qu stopped covering her chest and frowned, "You always speak harshly. I don't know who are the blind people who like to read the rubbish you write!"
After that, he lowered his head and looked at Xianjin kindly, saying earnestly, "Don't listen to your Third Master's nonsense, what's the matter with stealing food... Bofang came to work at Chen's, so he is naturally under you, you can just treat him as Li Sanshun, Zhou Ergou and the like - by the way, didn't you make uniforms for everyone? Give him a set, just one stripe on the sleeves, he is definitely not here to steal your position when he first arrived."
"You have to trust me as a grandmother on this."
Very frankly.
Xianjin laughed happily, "Hehehe."
Now you guess again, do I believe it or not?
Not believing it is one thing, but accepting it is another. The descendants of the Chen family wanted to come to the Chen family's shop and work hard. She could not find any legitimate and reasonable reason to refuse this request.
What's more, Madam Qu has already been very humble.
It's not like he was parachuted in to become a boss right away. It's already very approachable for the second generation of a family business to be willing to start as an ordinary employee, okay?
"Please tell me in detail what you plan to do for Sanlangjun?" Xianjin said after a pause, "To make paper in the pond? Or to be an accountant? Or to do purchasing?"
As soon as Xianjin finished speaking, he received an ambiguous look from Chen Sanlang.
Madam Qu waved her hands repeatedly, "I'll do whatever you say! You're the head shopkeeper, if you think the workshop needs someone to do odd jobs, just put him there!"
No requirements, the hardest thing to do.
Xianjin pretended to think carefully, raised his head and said considerately, "Then follow Master Li Sanshun to make paper. The descendants of our Chen family cannot convince others if they don't know how to make paper. It just so happens that Zhou Ergou went to recuperate from his leg injury and Master Li needs a helper."
Madam Qu smiled deeply in her eyes, "That would be great." Her thin face showed a sense of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders. She turned to Chen Sanlang and said, "You should put aside your pride and learn from Shopkeeper He, Master Li, and the other employees. A thorough understanding of the world is knowledge, and a good understanding of human nature is writing..."
What followed was a long series of speeches.
Xianjin took a sip of rose honey tea and felt that the half hour he had just spent was not wasted as it was such delicious tea.
After Mrs. Qu and her entourage had dinner, they stayed at the Jixi workshop. Aunt Zhong took over all the arrangements for the group's food and clothing, and Xianjin was happy to be a hands-off manager.
When it was time to finish work and return to the hospital at night, Xianjin suddenly realized why he felt uncomfortable during the day - everything Madam Qu said and did seemed to be deliberately avoiding the issue of her and the Third Master's father-daughter relationship.
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