Chapter 35
After Chang Ning stood on tiptoe to see the person in the painting clearly, her grape-shaped eyes were filled with joy. Xiao Pang pointed at herself in the painting and said, "Ning Niang is in it! Ning Niang likes this!"
Before Fan Changyu opened his mouth, Xie Zheng asked the scholar, "How do you sell your paintings?"
The scholar was stunned for a few moments before he realized that this handsome man who looked very tough was asking him how much the painting cost. He quickly said, "No money, no money. Just consider it as a gift from me to you and your wife."
Fan Changyu was still embarrassed by what the scholar had just said, but he thought the painting was pretty good. Seeing that the scholar refused to talk about the price, he thought for a moment and chose the smaller piece of bacon from the two pieces he had originally intended to give to Captain Wang. He said, "I'll give you this piece of bacon as a New Year's gift."
Then he pointed at Changning and said sternly, "This is my sister."
The scholar was pleasantly surprised to get a piece of bacon, and he said as many nice things as he could: "I am short-sighted and didn't recognize it. I wish you and your husband a pair of twins next year, who will be happy and full of children."
Fan Changyu: “…”
She wanted to say something more to the scholar, but since she and Yan were a fake couple, it seemed unnecessary to tell someone who had nothing to do with them.
Even after he left the scholar's stall with the painting, Fan Changyu still felt awkward, and from time to time he glanced at Xie Zheng who was walking beside him with the rolled-up painting.
When I found that he looked normal, I felt a little less awkward.
They returned to their previous stall location, packed up their things and planned to go to the bookstore to buy paper and ink. The owner of a nearby New Year's goods shop probably saw that Fan Changyu had sold more than 20 pieces of bacon in less than an hour. He was greedy for business and dragged his fat body after her: "Young lady, please stay."
When Fan Changyu heard the voice, he turned around and saw the fat shopkeeper in the New Year's goods shop walking over with a smile on his face. He asked, "Young lady, will you come here to sell bacon tomorrow?"
Tomorrow is the second day of the Chinese New Year. Fan Changyu not only has to open his own pork shop, but also has to supply brine to Yixianglou. He is afraid that he will not have time to come here to sell bacon, so he shook his head and said, "I probably won't have time to come here in the next few days."
The fat shopkeeper smiled and said, "The old man wants to do business with you. Whatever bacon you have at home, please bring it to me and sell it in my New Year's goods shop. I will split the profits with you 40% and 60% respectively. You get 60% and I get 40%. What do you think?"
Fan Changyu thought, isn't this what Manager Yu said, "getting something for nothing?" He doesn't have to spend a penny and he just lets him deliver the bacon, and he can get half of the money after selling it.
This bacon is not as good as fresh meat. If you hang it in a cool and ventilated place at home, it can be stored for a year or two without any problem. Naturally, its price is much more expensive than fresh meat.
During the New Year holidays, Fan Changyu's price was 65 wen per catty, and if one really bargained, the price could be reduced to 60 wen upwards or 65 wen downwards.
According to what the fat shopkeeper said, at 40% to 60%, even if she sold all the bacon at 65 cents per pound, she would only make 39 cents per pound. It would be better for her to sell it in the shop herself.
Fan Changyu said, "I don't want a share. If you really want to buy, we can just settle the bill and sell it by weight."
The fat shopkeeper laughed and said, "It's obvious from the first glance that the young lady is not someone who knows how to do business."
Just as Fan Changyu was about to speak, Xie Zheng beside him suddenly said, "We can split the profits."
Fan Changyu and the fat shopkeeper both looked at him. Fan Changyu looked confused, while the fat shopkeeper smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits: "This young man looks like a business man with a long-term vision..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Xie Zheng glanced at him coldly and said, "Twenty-eight."
The fat shopkeeper's smile froze on his face: "Little brother, you are asking for too much."
Fan Changyu estimated in his mind the profit of 28 cents, which was the amount he would get from selling the bacon.
If the price is 65 cents per catty, she can get 52 cents. If the price is 60 cents per catty, she can get 48 cents.
But Fan Changyu really had no intention of doing this business, and said, "What's the point of sharing? Just sell it by the pound. The minimum purchase price of bacon in the market is also about fifty coins. I'm still worried about sending the bacon without getting a penny. Let's go, let's go to the bookstore to buy you some paper and ink. We have to go to Captain Wang's house to pay New Year's greetings later."
She pulled Chang Ning and was about to leave. The fat shopkeeper saw this and said hurriedly, "20-80 is 20-80."
He smiled rather helplessly: "Young lady and little brother are good at playing the role of red and white cop. I also saw that the bacon sold by the young lady today was of good color and looked like high-quality goods, so I wanted to make this deal with the young lady."
Then he called the three of them to go to the New Year's goods shop: "Let's draw up a contract, and the young lady will bring the meat to me later."
When Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng looked at each other, they both looked a little dazed, as if they had not expected that the deal would be done like this.
Xie Zheng's expression remained calm as he said to her, "Go sign the contract."
It was obviously not the first time that the fat shopkeeper had done this kind of business of getting something for nothing. He quickly drafted the contract and showed it to Fan Changyu. Fan Changyu still did not dare to take it lightly. He read it word by word and showed it to Xie Zheng: "Do you think it is OK?"
After Xie Zheng nodded, she wrote her name with a flourish.
The fat shopkeeper gave them a deposit of one or two taels of silver, then smiled and sent them out the door.
As Fan Changyu walked along the road, he muttered to Xie Zheng, "I have to open the butcher shop tomorrow morning and deliver the braising pork to Yixianglou. I'm afraid I'll have to deliver the bacon in the afternoon."
Xie Zheng said, "If you are too busy to come, I can hire a car to bring it to you."
Fan Changyu felt embarrassed and said, "Then I'll pay you the wages?"
Xie Zheng glanced at her, and Fan Changyu felt that she was right, he seemed unhappy again.
Changning was a heartless person, he walked in the front skipping and jumping, he didn't dare to let Fan Changyu buy any gadgets he liked, he just stared at Xie Zheng eagerly.
Xie Zheng bought some for her here and there, and Changning held a bunch of them in her arms, her two fat hands almost unable to close.
Fan Changyu threatened her, "Ning Niang, if you want to buy everything you see again, I won't bring you to the county town next time."
Chang Ning looked down at his toes being trained.
A man's cold voice came from the side: "I want to buy it for her."
Fan Changyu felt that this person seemed to be competing with him, so he pursed his lips and said, "Children are ignorant, how can we just let them do whatever they want? She likes all the things on the street, can we buy them all? There are some principles that we have to teach her, so that she can understand."
Xie Zheng said nothing more, and as the three of them continued to walk forward, even Changning could sense the strange atmosphere between Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng.
She looked at the two of them, then at the pile of things in her arms, and suddenly stopped, turned around and stuffed all the little toys in her arms to Xie Zheng. The fat boy grasped the corner of his clothes and said, "Ning Niang doesn't want it anymore, brother-in-law can take it and return it."
Fan Changyu saw that her eyes, which looked like black grapes, were already filled with mist. He sighed, squatted down, touched her head and said, "This is it. You can't do this again in the future. Do you understand?"
Changning nodded with tears in her eyes and stretched out her chubby little hands for Fan Changyu to hold her.
Fan Changyu held the child in his arms and patted her back gently, his tone half doting and half helpless: "Why are you crying? I didn't mean to hurt you."
Chang Ning said with a nasal voice: "Sister, don't be angry with your brother-in-law. Ning Niang knows she was wrong."
Fan Changyu looked at Xie Zheng standing next to him with a bunch of gadgets, and said helplessly, "I'm not angry with him."
Chang Ning said: "You ignore your brother-in-law."
Fan Changyu asked with a smile: "How could I ignore him?"
Changning's tears welled up in her eyes: "You don't even talk to your brother-in-law."
Fan Changyu thought that she didn't talk to Yan Zheng very often, but seeing that her sister looked like she was about to cry, she still coaxed her, "We were talking just now, but we're not talking anymore now."
The bean-sized tears finally fell out of Changning's big eyes that looked like black grapes, and fell to the ground with a "thump". "Sister is just angry."
Fan Changyu surrendered and asked, "What do you want me to do to make you feel that I am not angry?"
Chang Ning thought for a moment and said, "Holding hands, holding hands means reconciliation!"
Fan Changyu was silent for a moment, then said, "Can I talk to him all the way?"
Chang Ning insisted on the children's approach: "Holding hands is the way to reconcile."
Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng looked at each other. Xie Zheng's face showed no emotion, but she felt uncomfortable in her heart.
She coaxed the child, "Look, your brother-in-law is holding so many things, and your sister is also holding something, all with one hand, how heavy must it be?"
Chang Ning stopped at this point, but as he walked ahead, he would look back at them from time to time.
Fan Changyu was afraid that Changning would make some weird requests again, so he said to Xie Zheng: "Children are just making noises, don't take it to heart."
Xie Zheng said: "I didn't think she was making a fuss. I was probably going to leave after the Chinese New Year, so I thought of buying her some more small things."
Fan Changyu didn't expect that there was such a reason behind him buying so many things for Changning.
When I heard him say he was leaving, I felt strange emotions rising in my heart, and said, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you just now."
Xie Zheng looked sideways at her: "What's the point of apologizing?"
Fan Changyu said: "I misunderstood you and said harsh words to you, so of course I have to apologize."
She pursed her lips and asked, "Are you leaving so soon? You're not going to leave until your injury is completely healed?"
Just as Xie Zheng was about to answer, a group of soldiers on horseback rushed over in front of him, knocking down many pedestrians and merchants' stalls along the street.
When the warhorse approached, Fan Changyu reflexively squatted down to protect Changning, while Xie Zheng raised his hand and used his cloak to block the mud splashed by the horses' hooves for them.
As the team of soldiers walked away, many pedestrians who had been hit or had mud splashed on them were spitting and cursing angrily.
When Fan Changyu looked up, he saw that half of Xie Zheng's tent was covered in mud. He frowned and asked, "Are you hurt?"
Xie Zheng shook his head, but his eyes were still following the group of soldiers going away, with a dark coldness hidden in his eyes.
A peddler whose stall was knocked over spat fiercely in the direction and cursed: "These damn officials, they can't keep quiet even during the New Year!"
Fan Changyu asked: "Why are there more soldiers coming to Qingping County? Are they here to suppress the bandits?"
The peddler said, "Suppress the bandits? They are a group of debt collectors, coming to steal food! Haven't you heard about what happened in Taizhou? There is a shortage of food at the front line, and the army can't collect food, so they just forcibly rob the people, and if they don't give it to them, they beat them to death."
Another uncle nearby said, "Looking at this situation, I'm afraid we'll have to recruit soldiers again soon."
The author has something to say:
Mini-theater:
Scholar: You two are a talented man and a beautiful woman. Your little daughter is adorable. And you will have a little son next year!
Changyu: This is my sister.
Scholar: Then I wish you two will give birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix twins next year!
Changyu: ...
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