Chapter 246: Pomp and circumstance
Xia Daohua knew Jiang's worries, so she thought that even if they couldn't get together, being able to exchange letters frequently would be a comfort to Jiang.
What's more, she still had some little ideas in mind, thinking that if she was lucky, she might be able to trick Jiang's smart, capable, broad-minded and emotionally intelligent sister-in-law over.
Jiang's family is a rare family that is easy to worry about.
Even among sisters-in-law there is some competition and secret fighting, but everyone knows what is going on and has a bottom line and sense of propriety.
If I could get help from Jiang's family...
Xia Daohua thought about it and sighed.
Due to age and gender limitations, it is difficult to gain recognition from adults. Especially when it comes to money and business, who would dare to trust a half-grown child without reservation?
This kind of thing is very rare in modern society, let alone in the conservative and backward time and space of the Great Chu Dynasty.
However, Xia Daohua's main purpose in writing the letter was to resolve Jiang's worries.
As for hooking up with my aunt, it was purely a side job.
After Xia Daohua finished writing the letter, she took a bag of copper coins, walked out leisurely, and went to the Fuwei Escort Agency which was closest to Daohuaxiang. She found a caravan heading towards Beiguan Town and asked the leader and escort of the caravan to help deliver the letter.
After coming out of the escort agency, Xia Daohua saw a large crowd of people on the street, all walking towards the county government office. Out of curiosity, she followed them.
When we arrived near the county government office, we saw people beating gongs to clear the way. Several tall horses with red silk tied to their waists walked in front, followed by three wide carriages with blue silk covers, and behind them followed a row of horse-pulled carts loaded with many large and small boxes and luggage, and a dozen young men and women in uniform.
Such a big new thing naturally attracted countless idle people in Jixiang County.
Xia Daohua is not a lazy person, but when she sees such a bustling scene, she will stop and take a look.
The group of people ran towards the street behind the county government office.
It looks like a new county magistrate has arrived.
Xia Daohua approached an officer who was on duty near the county government office, handed him a bag of spiced watermelon seeds wrapped in oil paper, and tried to get close to him with a smile:
"Thank you for your hard work, my dear officer. I would like to ask you a question. Whose owners are these magnificent carriages? The people in the carriages all look unfamiliar!"
The officer took the watermelon seeds and looked Xia Daohua up and down. Seeing that she was a young lady not even as tall as his shoulders, his temper softened a bit.
This young lady had a good appearance, a bright smile, was neat and tidy, and wore clean and fresh clothes. The material she wore was also cotton and silk. Although it was not particularly expensive, it was not something that ordinary people could afford. Her attitude became even more kind:
“My dear, this is the new master’s arrival.
This is the first time we have seen such a grand ceremony.
No one knows what the new master's temperament is like yet.
Young lady, please don't be too trusting. If you follow the crowd to get close to the master, you might get bumped by someone or offend the master. Wouldn't that be unfair?"
After hearing this, Xia Daohua nodded obediently, bowed with a smile and thanked him: "Thank you for your advice, Brother Cha."
The officer felt even more happy when he saw this. He waved his hand and urged Xia Daohua:
"All right, all right, move away and don't hang around here any more. If you want to see the excitement, just go to the teahouse over there from a distance."
Xia Daohua glanced at the teahouse over there. The decoration was a bit old and business seemed a bit slow. Despite such a lively scene, there were not many people in the teahouse.
The geographical location of this place is good, but given such a good location, why is the business of this teahouse so slow?
Xia Daohua was thinking about doing teahouse business at the moment, so she naturally paid more attention to various teahouses. She also planned to observe the style of the new county magistrate, so she went to the teahouse that was obviously a bit deserted.
After entering the door, the waiter listlessly welcomed her to the private room on the second floor.
Xia Daohua asked for a private room facing the street and by the window, but there were three or four rooms available, and she could choose any one she wanted.
Xia Daohua booked a room, gave him a tip of about twenty copper coins, and started talking to him.
When the waiter saw the copper coin, his eyes suddenly brightened up, and his originally listless look disappeared in an instant. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a tightly-mouthed river clam into a chatterbox.
No matter what question Xia Daohua asked, he could rattle off a long list of relevant content.
Xia Daohua couldn't help laughing when she heard this.
"What? Sir, why is the business so quiet here? Hey! It's all because of that magistrate's trouble!
The county magistrate booked two private rooms in my house, and he often invited guests to drink tea, talk about poetry and painting, and visit relatives and friends here, but he always kept the bill and never paid any money..."
"When people learned that the county magistrate liked to hang around here, some of them who liked to curry favor with him came up to him, but they didn't like to pay...
Many more people just avoid it.
Everyone knows that Master Xie doesn't like the smell of money and hates businessmen the most. When we merchants meet Master Xie, where is our place to stand?
Those businessmen who used to drink tea in my shop no longer dare to come..."
Xia Daohua got a lot of information out of the talkative young man and felt that this man was more and more useful, so she rewarded him another ten coins.
The young man was inexplicably excited and revealed some information:
The boss is planning to sell the store, but he has not yet put the store up for sale because he is still a little conflicted and reluctant to part with this ancestral store.
Business was slow at the moment, and the business was basically supported by the previous savings. The boss wanted to see what kind of style the new county magistrate had.
If the new county magistrate is a good official, he will persist and continue this business.
If the new county magistrate is not a good person, he will sell the store, return to his hometown, buy a few acres of land, rent it to others for farming, and collect rent to support himself in his old age.
Upon hearing this, Xia Daohua began to observe the layout of the store more carefully.
She thought this place was really nice.
However, I had just planned to buy a shop to open a teahouse, and this teahouse suddenly appeared on its own. This kind of thing is too much of a coincidence.
She planned to observe it for a while, and if the store was listed in a dental clinic, she would come back to ask for the price.
As for not going through the brokerage firm and doing the transaction directly with the boss privately, Xia Daohua declined the offer.
She was not familiar with the laws of the Chu Dynasty, so how could she know whether there would be any hidden dangers in transactions that did not go through a broker?
After chatting with the waiter for a while, Xia Daohua ordered a pot of jasmine tea and some snacks. Then she sat by the window and watched the new county magistrate and his family move their luggage to the house behind the county government office.
Apart from anything else, just the horses pulling the carts are all top-quality Hu horses.
(End of this chapter)
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