Chapter 3510: Extra Chapter 42
After many years, we came to Longchi Wharf again. No one wanted to eat at home, so we all went to the restaurant at the foot of the mountain to enjoy the night view of Longchi.
At night, Longchi Wharf is brightly lit, with orange lanterns hung in front of shops. Merchants who come to Longchi Wharf to purchase goods, sea merchants and crew members who have just disembarked, and travelers passing through Longchi Wharf, all gather in the Longchi market.
There is no curfew or city walls here, and merchants and tourists can have fun all night long as they wish.
Zhou Man and his companions skipped their own shop and went up to the third floor of a restaurant. They sat by the window, watching the people walking by below. They followed the direction they were walking and couldn't help but exclaim. Pointing at the bustling building across the street, they asked, "Didn't that used to sell silk? Why is it so lively at night? I can even hear the sound of stringed instruments."
Zhou Silang leaned over to take a look, coughed, and began to swallow. But when he met his sister's curious gaze, he suddenly remembered that she had also visited brothels and gambled away large ingots of gold, so he calmed down and said, "That's a brothel."
Bai Shan frowned. "Why did the brothel open on this street? Didn't they have a lot of brothels on Housan Street before?"
There was a plan for each business at the beginning.
Zhou Silang said, "It's been a mess for a long time. Now, whoever has the money to rent a good position can do whatever business he wants without the county magistrate interfering."
He said, "This brothel is run by Japanese people. The geishas there are all Japanese. Their dances are a little different. If you are interested, you can go and have a look."
Anyway, his sister will never suffer any loss.
Zhou Man: "Fourth brother, do you go there often?"
Zhou Silang shook his head. "I don't like the smell of them, but if the merchants insist on going, I'll go with them. Their wine isn't as good as ours, so I prefer to discuss business in a restaurant."
He winked at Zhou Man, "Besides, your fourth sister-in-law has that kind of temper. Do I dare to mess around?"
No matter how rich the Zhou family is now, they have no rules about taking concubines or having affairs outside. In his mother's words, if you can't even manage your own home, don't even think about achieving anything outside.
Zhou Man became interested and looked at Bai Shan: "I want to go and see."
Bai Shan: ...
He turned and asked Zhou Silang, "Are there many Japanese in Qingzhou? I remember that Governor Guo defeated the Japanese at sea a few years ago, and no one from Japan has come to pay tribute in recent years."
Zhou Silang thought for a moment and said, "Not much, only about the past two years. This brothel has only been open these past two years. They brought a lot of silver to buy land and buildings, but the county magistrate looked down on them because they were Japanese and refused to sell the land. The shops in Longchi are becoming more and more valuable, and except for a few people who are in urgent need of money, no one is willing to sell them."
"So in the end they only bought one place, and then rented two places on the left and right for a lot of money, and then connected them to create the current brothel."
Bai Shan nodded slightly, took a look outside the brothel, and directly rejected Zhou Man, "There's nothing good to see. If you want to see it, we can go to Japan when we have the chance and take you there."
Bai Shan asked Zhou Silang, "Have you found a boat for us to go out to sea?"
Zhou Silang hesitated for a moment, then said, "There are only ships going to Silla, or to Japan. If you want to go to Mecca, don't tell me I can't find a ship now. Even if I did, I wouldn't let you go."
He asked, "Do you know where Tianfang is?"
Zhou Silang had also gone out to sea several times, but he was always terrified every time he came back from the sea, fearing that he would never come back.
The sea is much more dangerous than the land. If you encounter danger on land, you can still run away, but if you encounter danger in the sea, there is nowhere to run.
Bai Shan did not argue. He glanced at Zhou Man and nodded, "Then let's go to Silla first."
Mingda's heart was filled with emotion when he heard this, and he couldn't help but poke Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang had been to Silla, but Mingda had not, so he immediately said, "We want to go too."
Yin Huo didn't say anything, but looked up at Bai Shan.
They could take a ship from Yangzhou to Qingzhou without any problem. It was even closer to Silla from here. If the ship was fast, it could reach the destination in one day and one night. Even if it was slow, it would still take two days. So he nodded without any objection, but...
He looked at Mingda, "Princess, please go over there. The court..."
Mingda said modestly, "I'm not going there in the name of a princess. I'm just going out for a walk."
She paused and said, "I'll talk to His Majesty."
Bai Shan then nodded.
Zhou Silang was relieved to see that they no longer talked about going to Tianfang. He smiled and said, "I'll let Uncle Shi go with you and act as your guide."
He said, "Mr. Shi is very eloquent. He has been in charge of our maritime affairs at the dock for many years. A lot of goods are shipped to Silla. He is familiar with the people there and has learned their language. I feel at ease with him following me."
Zhou Man asked, "The last time he wrote, he said his son finally got married. How's his chest problem going?"
"I feel much better after taking your medicine. His father hasn't worried him much in the past few years, so his chest pain has improved a lot."
Zhou Silang laughed and said, "He has always refused to marry, saying that he didn't want to be a burden to other girls. But this time, his wife gave birth to a big fat boy within a year of marrying. Uncle Shi can finally get what he wanted. He was just thinking of saving a little more money to marry his grandson in the future."
"Let him go with you to Silla, and he will be as good as you say."
Since moving to Qingzhou, the people around Uncle Shi have changed. He is unfamiliar with the place and has no one to guide him. He is also determined and has never gambled again. He also knows that he has little self-control in gambling, so he always stays away from casinos.
Whether in the county town or in Longchi, he would take a detour whenever he saw a casino. With Mrs. Shi also keeping a close eye on it, the Shi family's life gradually became stable.
However, the medicine that Shi Dalang needs to take costs a lot of money. Even if Zhou Silang pays him a lot of wages, it is difficult for the Shi family to save enough money.
This is because Zhou Man has always cared about the friendship they had in the past. Whether he went to Shi Dalang's house to give him acupuncture or prescribe medicine, he did not charge any consultation fees.
Later, Zheng Gu took over the medical department here. Everyone in the medical department knew that the Shi family and Zhou Man had a past relationship, so they charged according to her rules. They never charged for acupuncture and waived all the medicinal materials that could be waived.
But Shi Dalang has a heart disease, which requires long-term medication, and the medicine is not cheap. He also needs to relax in order to stabilize his condition.
Uncle Shi also knew that it would be difficult for the Shi family to return to the way it was before, and he always felt guilty towards his wife and children, so in addition to the work Zhou Silang gave him, he would occasionally think of other ways to make a living.
For example, you can occasionally lead some caravans and earn some hard-earned money, or help some small caravans that don't have an account office to do their accounting and earn some money.
Zhou Silang also knew his situation, and although Uncle Shi's character was okay in other aspects, he would never make mistakes when it came to loyalty, so he never restricted him from making extra money.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
