Old man Zeng came from the backyard and reported, "Miss, Uncle Chen and I will be back this afternoon. The rapeseed is growing well and will be ready for harvest in half a month. It looks like our family's 100 mu of land, apart from paying rent and taxes to the tenants, can earn about six dozen taels of silver."
Chen Afu smiled and said, "Okay, you've worked hard, go back to your room and have a good rest." He then quickly asked someone to invite Wang and Chen Ming to come for dinner.
Chen Ahfu had the room cleaned up. Yang Chao was injured, so he had to sleep with his wet nurse, Li Mama, and they lived in the east wing guest room. The two little girls followed him to sleep in the upper bedroom, and Chen Dabao slept on the Luohan bed in the living room.
After packing up, he took his three children, three birds and two dogs to the east of Fuyuan to pick up Dabao and Alu.
The children of the servants in Tangyuan all knew that this was the time when Aunt Chen from Fuyuan would bring the young master to pick up Dabao, so they would rush here to play on time, and even Luo Mingcheng came. This was the busiest time of the day.
Chen Afu likes children and hopes that Chu Hanyan can spend more time with children. Every time he sees them coming, he takes out a few candies from his purse and hands them to them.
When Dabao and Alu came back, they saw Yang Chao and Yang Qian and the animal home was back. They were extremely happy and expressed sympathy for the injured Yang Chao.
Chen Afu took Dabao and Alu to give them a lesson on the spot, telling them not to play too wildly with their peers. If they got injured like Yang Chao, they would not be able to go to school. He especially told Alu, who was older, to keep an eye on Dabao.
A Lu said, "Don't worry, big sister. Mr. Jiang values Dabao more than anyone else. None of his classmates in the private school dare to mess with him."
Seeing his envious look, Chen Ahfu poked his little head with a smile and said, "Then you, as an uncle, should take good care of your nephew and don't let him be bullied by those who are unhappy with him."
A Lu nodded in agreement.
When I got home, not only Chen Ming and Wang came, but even Old Mrs. Chen came with Da Hu.
Chen Ming was very happy and drank a lot of wine. Although the output from the 100 mu of land was not much, it excited him more than any other income.
Old Mrs. Chen smiled and said, "Look how happy you are. That output is much lower than your income at Xinglong Restaurant."
Chen Ming smiled and said, "You can't count it that way. Although these fields were given to me by Ah Fu as a gift, I also contributed labor. As for the restaurant, I neither contributed money nor labor. No matter how much I earn, it won't make me happy as much as the output from the fields." He turned his head and asked Chen Ah Fu, who was eating at another table with the children, "Ah Fu, isn't your shop short of money? Dad will get the money at the end of the month, you can use it first."
Chen Ahfu smiled and said, "Thank you, Dad. Tangyuan gave me another 600 taels of silver to join the partnership. That's enough."
Old Mrs. Chen was stunned. How come she hadn't heard anything about this? However, she was smart enough not to ask immediately.
After dinner, Chen Afu and Wang took the children to the backyard to play, while Old Lady Chen and Chen Ming returned to Lu Garden.
Old Mrs. Chen whispered enviously, "Ahfu is really capable. He opened another shop. Is it in the town or the county?"
Chen Ming said, "In Dingzhou Prefecture."
Old Mrs. Chen sighed twice and asked, "How much of the shares does your family own?"
Chen Ming frowned and said, "Mom, it's impossible for my son to get involved in every business of Ah Fu. I won't take even a penny."
Old Mrs. Chen looked at him disapprovingly and said angrily, "You are just stupid. You raised her like your own daughter, so you deserve to have a few shares from her."
Chen Ming was a little unhappy, and raised his voice and said, "What are you talking about, mother? I have hands and feet, and Ah Fu has given me so much, how can you have the nerve to ask for everything." He softened his tone and said, "My body is better now, and I have the capital, so I can earn money in the future. I have been thinking about opening a shop in the town, which is close and easy to take care of. Ah Fu said it would be best to open a shop in the county town, where the purchasing power is much stronger and it is not far from home, and I can sell grain and watermelons there in the future. In the future, if Fuyunlai Commercial Bank has scarce and good goods, I will sell them to it. I will open a shop when Zeng Shuang helps me find a suitable shopkeeper."
Old Mrs. Chen said hurriedly, "Okay, okay, San'er is right, you can earn it yourself." She added, "Will you let your eldest brother invest in your shop? Don't worry, I will let the eldest brother pay enough money for the investment."
Chen Ming shook his head and said, "Mother also knows the temper of my eldest sister-in-law. She caused a huge disaster at Xinglong Restaurant last time. If she gets involved, she will think it is not enough no matter how much you give her, unless you give her everything."
Old Mrs. Chen gritted her teeth and cursed, "That prodigal woman, Mrs. Hu, is greedy and doesn't know how to restrain herself. She has brought suffering to the eldest son and Agui. My eldest son, you are pitiful." She then pulled Chen Ming's arm and said, "Second son, mother knows that because of her, you and the third son have had a rift with the eldest son. However, your eldest brother suffered the most when he was young. If it weren't for the eldest son, you and the third son would not have lived such a good life. Now that you are rich, you should also help the eldest son."
If it were the old days, Chen Ming would definitely give 20% of the shares to Chen Ye without hesitation. But the last time Hu Shi made a scene at Xinglong Restaurant, Chen Ming became more wary and fearful of the first wife, so he had better not have any financial ties with the first wife.
He said, "I have always remembered the help that big brother has given me. When the shop makes money, I will definitely honor my mother and thank big brother. In the future, I will let Agui buy more land. If big brother wants to open a shop, I will also lend him money."
…
In Fu Garden, Manager Luo came to give Chen Afu a silver note worth six hundred taels of silver, which was the money that Tangyuan used to invest in Fu Yunlai Trading Company.
Chen Afu only had a little over 100 taels of silver left, and the remaining 500 taels of silver were given to Zeng Shuang to open a shop. This little silver was only enough to rent a small building as a shop.
Now that she had more than 600 taels of silver, and Chen Shiying had given her a set of valuable headwear, she thought about selling the headwear and some of the gemstones and jadeite in the space. These things also had a provenance, so she said they were gifts from Chen Shiying. She could get more money and buy a shop, all at once.
Thinking that Chen Shiying would be heartbroken if he knew that the headwear he gave her was sold by him, he couldn't help but smile wickedly.
She told Manager Luo, "If someone from Tangyuan goes to Dingzhou, ask him to help find Zeng Shuang and tell him not to rush to rent a shop. Ask him to see if there is a good and larger shop, preferably a two-story building with a yard and wing rooms, which costs about two thousand taels of silver. If there is one, reserve it. I will make time to go to Dingzhou in a while. Lord Chen gave me some jewelry, and I took it to the silver shop to sell it."
The shops selling agricultural products do not have to be in a particularly golden port, as long as they are close to the rich houses. The shops here are not cheap, but they are not ridiculously expensive. More than 2,000 taels of silver should be able to buy a large shop. Such a shop can not only sell things, but also be used as a residence and warehouse.
Manager Luo smiled hesitantly and said, "Miss Chen, there is some silver on Tangyuan's account, and I have some silver myself. Otherwise, why don't you sell the jewelry? I will lend you some silver."
Chen Ahfu refused, "No, I don't like wearing those fancy jewelry. It would be a pity to keep them. I might as well sell them and cash in."
Manager Luo had no choice but to nod and say, "Okay, someone will go to Dingzhou tomorrow and ask him to find Zeng Shuang."
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