Extra 2
Lu's Logistics' transit point in the suburbs of Beijing has expanded a lot compared to the previous two years. The storage warehouse is connected to the dormitories for the farmhands, occupying a whole row beside the ridges of the fields, with a total of 17 or 18 rooms.
Lu Shang had informed people in advance and had cleared out a room on the side, and had prepared new bedding so that he and Jiang Wanning could move in directly when they arrived.
After getting off the carriage, Lu Shang first put the luggage in the house, and then led Jiang Wanning to the storage warehouse to check.
The storage warehouse here is divided into two parts. One part is the goods shipped from various places, and the other part is the things brought from the sea. The latter accounts for the majority. Because the items are precious, there are people on duty day and night, and everyone entering and leaving must register, and even Lu Shang is no exception.
Last year, Zhan Shunan brought back two Western clocks, one large and one small. He kept the small one for himself and gave the large one to Jiang Wanning. The Western clock would tell the time every half hour and was still very accurate after using it for a year.
Jiang Wanning liked it very much and did not forget to bring the clock with her when she moved.
Lu Shang thought she liked some tricks, so after asking the warehouse manager, he took her to a room in the center. This warehouse was filled with small mechanical gadgets, most of which were useless, but they were exquisite and beautiful, and quite thoughtful, and were very popular among the ladies.
Like the music box, it played the same tune over and over again. In Lu Shang's eyes, it was unremarkable, but Jiang Wanning was extremely interested in fiddling with the spring and couldn't put it down.
Lu Shang accepted the music box without thinking.
The two of them walked around the room and picked out a palm-sized Western trumpet and a nutcracker. There was originally a violin placed in the corner, but unfortunately Lu Shang didn't know how to play a musical instrument, and Jiang Wanning had never seen one before, so they simply didn't take it and left it for someone who was destined to play it.
In addition to these contraptions, the adjacent room also houses many specialties, clothes, and jewelry from overseas countries.
The skirt of the Western dress was extremely large, supported by a crinoline, and was heavy and cumbersome. Lu Shang just picked it up, and Jiang Wanning repeatedly waved her hands to refuse. While refusing, she was curious: "Do people outside wear this kind of clothes? It's difficult to sit down with such a big skirt. Isn't it very inconvenient for daily life?"
Lu Shang didn't understand, but he still urged: "A Ning, are you really not going to try it? I think the pattern is very beautiful. Why don't we take it back first, and you just wear it for me to see."
"..." Jiang Wanning had been eager to try it out, but after hearing his words, she no longer had any thoughts at all. She took the skirt expressionlessly and quickly put it back in its place.
"Hey——" Lu Shang raised his hand to stop her, but he saw Jiang Wanning hurried out, so he had to catch up quickly.
Jiang Wanning couldn't accept these novel clothes, but she liked some exaggerated jewelry very much. Even if it was not convenient to wear them outside, it would be fine to keep them in the jewelry box.
Lu Shang did not urge her and just accompanied her to look at them one by one. However, if she looked at something for a little longer, he would decide to keep it. In the end, he had collected two boxes of items, big and small.
These things brought back from overseas filled six or seven warehouses and were neatly arranged on shelves. One room could hold more than a dozen shelves, and each shelf was three or four stories high. It took the two of them a whole day just to look through these warehouses.
In addition, Lu Shang rarely comes to the transit point outside Beijing, so he has to check the accounts.
Fortunately, with Jiang Wanning's help, it only took me an hour to finish looking through the account books for the past few months.
Lu Shang found the manager here again and asked him about the situation carefully. He also asked him to add a fence outside the storage warehouse and increase the number of night patrol personnel as appropriate.
"We've accumulated two years of experience in shipping. We'll be bringing back more and more goods from overseas. Furthermore, we have Lu's Logistics as our backing, and we can deliver overseas goods to all parts of Dazhao. By then, our reputation will be well-known, and this place will be the biggest guarantor of our maritime business operations. We absolutely cannot afford to make any mistakes."
"Also, I just noticed that many houses have charcoal braziers. Now that the weather is getting warmer, if the charcoal braziers are no longer needed, they can be removed. Don't let sparks catch fire one day, which could cause a disaster."
"In the summer, you must be more careful about fire prevention. If you feel you are short of manpower, you can recruit more permanent or temporary workers. If you still need anything, you can come directly to the Jiang family in the capital to find me."
Lu Shang grabbed the steward and gave him some instructions, and then scolded the farmhands present.
The treatment at Lu's Logistics has always been good. Both wages and holidays are much better than those of similar businesses. There are also holiday gifts and annual bonuses. As long as they work hard, they will never be treated unfairly.
Lu Shang said, "If the logistics team suffers losses due to the negligence of one or more individuals, not only will they be held accountable, but these individuals and their families will never be employed again."
Everyone was shocked and promised again and again that they would do their job carefully.
As it was getting dark, some long-term workers who lived close to home were going to go back home and only stay in the dormitory when they were on duty, but because the boss was coming today, almost everyone stayed.
The steward here came to ask Lu Shang about his dinner requirements. Lu Shang turned around and discussed with Jiang Wanning for a few words, then turned back and said, "Isn't it time for you to eat? No need to prepare anything extra, we will eat with you."
"This..." The steward was still hesitant.
The food in the logistics team is not bad, but it is impossible to eat meat every day. Generally, a big meat dish is added every three to five days. On ordinary days, it is just a little minced meat to enhance the flavor.
The farmhands' dinner had already been prepared: a big pot of stew and a pot of noodle soup. In their eyes, as long as they could fill their stomachs, it was enough. However, when the meal was served on the master's table, it was inevitably a bit shabby.
Fortunately, Jiang Wanning saw his dilemma and added, "I just saw that there are many families in the village who raise chickens and ducks. Why don't we buy a few more chickens and make a stew?"
After hearing this, the steward breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, ma'am."
The manager took people to buy chicken for stewing, while Jiang Wanning followed Lu Shang to take a look at the other storage warehouses. If she saw anything wrong, she would write it down so that she could report it to the manager later.
The farmhands at the transfer point were originally afraid that the master would come to inspect and find some problems, so they were frightened for two or three days. But on this day, they realized that as long as they had not done anything wrong, there was nothing to be afraid of.
On the contrary, if the master and mistress of the host family had not come, they would not be able to eat a whole pot of chicken like that!
The housekeeper bought twenty chickens, scalded them, washed them, and poured them into a large iron pot. He stewed them over high heat for half an hour until all the chicken was soft and tender, and then he took them all out.
The chicken was said to be prepared for Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning, but they couldn't eat much, so the rest was distributed to the farmhands here, making it a good meal for everyone.
The next day, when Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning's carriage left, a bold worker waved and shouted from behind, "The boss's wife comes often!", causing everyone to laugh.
Jiang Wanning, who was in the carriage, also tried to hold back her laughter, and only recovered after leaving the village.
According to their plan, the next step was to go to a farmhouse and stay there for two or three days in the beautiful scenery to relieve their fatigue.
The farmhouses in the suburbs of Beijing are run by local villagers. More than a dozen families worked together to renovate the houses in the village and found some gimmicks with good environments to specifically attract wealthy people from Beijing.
Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning had lived in the village for many years, and the village environment did not have much appeal to them. Besides, the small farmhouses built by only a dozen households were far inferior to Lu Shang's mountain farm in Nanxing Village. The so-called vacation was just to spend a few days leisurely.
Jiang Wanning chose a room facing the water, with only her and Lu Shang living there. Because they had told them in advance, the owner of the farmhouse would not come to disturb them and would only deliver meals at mealtime.
The vegetables and meat in the farmyard are all grown and raised by themselves. The taste is similar to that in Tang Town. I can’t say it’s particularly delicious, but there is nothing wrong with it.
The two of them stayed there until Jiang's mother brought Xiao An'an and the others back, and then they were willing to go home.
But whether they go home or not doesn't make much difference to little An An, because she already has Grandma Lu and Mother Jiang by her side, and the degree of care they pay for their child is far beyond what Jiang Wanning and the others can match.
Fortunately, the couple didn’t feel it was inappropriate at all. Now that they have someone to help take care of the children, they can still have some free time.
It just so happened that the house that Lu Shangxiang had his eyes on was purchased. The new house was also in the center of the capital, only one street away from the Jiang family, which would make it convenient for the two families to travel to each other in the future. With the house deed in hand, the next step was to renovate it.
Previously, the houses in Tangzhen and Fucheng were simply decorated, and we would add to them later if anything was missing.
That was because we were in a hurry to move in, so we didn't have much choice.
But now the two of them live very comfortably in the Jiang family, so it doesn't matter whether they stay for another month or a year. They can put their minds to the renovations and buy them bit by bit.
Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning discussed that they would purchase the main courtyard together, while one of the two side courtyards would be handed over to a specialized renovation team, while the other would be simply decorated. After two years when An An grew up, she would be allowed to make her own decision.
It sounds like all that is left is a yard that needs to be decorated, but actually doing it is not an easy task.
Lu Shang and Jiang Wanning spent three days running around various shops on the streets before they bought everything they needed for the master bedroom. Most of the items were ready-made, but they hired an experienced carpenter to make the bed.
Just when they were thinking about how to decorate the study, they saw a white-faced, beardless man following Jiang's father back home. He asked to see Lu Shang and waited in the hall for an hour and a half, insisting on seeing Lu Shang.
As soon as the two of them arrived home, they were invited into the main hall by the servant.
Seeing them coming, several people in the hall also stood up one after another. Father Jiang personally introduced them: "This is Eunuch Fang, who is by the side of His Majesty. He is here to convey His Majesty's oral instructions by His Majesty's order."
"Eunuch Fang, this is my son-in-law, Lu Shang."
A flash of surprise crossed Lu Shang's face, but before he could speak, Eunuch Fang bowed and greeted him, "Mr. Lu, it's been a long time since we last met at the Qionglin Banquet. It's been over two years, about three years since we last saw Mr. Lu."
Lu Shang returned a half-bow and asked tentatively, "May I ask if you are here..."
Eunuch Fang smiled and, without avoiding Jiang's father and the others, said, "We are here on the orders of His Majesty to invite Master Lu to the palace for an audience."
It's time for the tanking duo to get back on their feet.
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