Chapter 73 Chapter 73 Scores twice
Kang He smiled and asked, "Does the shop my husband promised me before still count?"
Mr. Zou knew he couldn't deny what he said. Even if Kanghe had acquired the candle-making skills, they wouldn't be of much use to him. But since they were all making a living in the city, who knew who would be rich and who would be poor in the future.
He said, "That's easy to say. Just get the job done for me. How can I ignore the kindness of my brother?"
Kang He just smiled and said nothing.
Mr. Zou knew that this man was not easy to fool, so he first took him to Shuiqiaofang to take a look at the shop.
Shuiqiaofang is not one of the four main streets, and is not much different from Douhuifang where the Fan family currently runs a shop. However, this street is for entry only and not exit, and the shop is at the end.
Just as Mr. Zou said, the shop is big, and there is a small yard behind the shop, which is spacious for storing sundries and boiling water and cooking.
Mr. Zou said that this was the shop where he sold candle oil before. Later, when his business became popular, he moved to a bigger shop with a better location.
It was rented out before, and the monthly rent could be earned at three strings of cash. However, the lease was not renewed at the end of the term, so it became vacant.
Kang He saw that the advantages and disadvantages of this shop were obvious. He had looked at many shops for rent before and had some idea of the rental prices. He knew that such a large shop could not be rented for only a few guan, but the three guan mentioned by Mr. Zou was too high.
At this position in this market, if you really rent it for three strings of cash, it's no wonder that people are unwilling to renew it.
The rent for the shop was about two strings of cash, and he estimated that the shop price would be over a hundred strings of cash, which was quite high.
Kang He was not too picky. As long as he knew that no one had deceived him, he let it go.
You can't ask someone to open a shop for him on the Fourth Street, but if he uses his skills to recruit people, it may be possible.
But if he angers Mr. Zou and makes him his enemy, it will not be easy for others to control him once they get the prescription.
Everything should be done in moderation.
Kang He said a few nice words and accepted the shop contract with a smile.
Two days later, Kang He went out to find a rough old villager who seldom went out, and gave him some instructions. The old man then took the prescription to Mr. Zou.
People met at the candle oil shop. The old man was so inconspicuous that no one paid much attention to him when he entered and left the shop.
Mr. Zou had a dark face full of wrinkles and dirt in the cracks of his nails. He didn't look like a sensible man at all.
He thought it was no wonder that Kang He was able to get so many good candles from others. He and Kang He paid five hundred coins for a pair of candles, and he wondered if the old man would get fifty coins for a pair of candles.
"Dad, you have great skills. They say that masters are among the common people, and I think it must be someone like you."
The old man was flattered, but he didn't respond. He had a stern face and said, "What's the point of saying these empty words? I have to go to the mountains to work soon. I have to finish my work quickly."
Seeing this, Mr. Zou glanced at Kang He who came to accompany him.
Kang He winked and made faces, indicating that his father had a strange temper and was a wicked person.
Mr. Zou nodded. He was also very thoughtful and asked the old man again: "Dad, we agreed on this number. I have prepared everything here. Have you brought anything?"
He made the "28" gesture with the old man, trying to find out if Kang Heda was playing tricks on him.
The old man pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and slammed it on the table: "Thank you for all my hard work."
Seeing that the old man had no objection to the price, Mr. Zou thought that either Kang He and the old man had already agreed on how much he would take, or that the old man really didn't want to be greedy for the money here anymore.
When he saw the secret recipe, he took out the Jiaozi he had prepared early in the morning.
Counting money with one hand and looking at the direction with the other.
Mr. Zou saw that the recipe was written in great detail. He knew how to make candles, so he could tell at a glance if someone was trying to deceive him. Although he tried not to smile, the smile in his eyes could no longer be concealed.
He felt that the content of the prescription was fine, but he was puzzled: "Why are the handwritings on every two lines different?"
The old man said, "I can't read. If I ask someone to write this recipe for me, it would be useless. So I have to find a few different people to write it down for me in a mixed up way."
Mr. Zou felt happy, thinking that although the old man was rough, he was quite considerate in his work. Moreover, when he saw the old man like this, he felt more at ease. Even if he did this business again when he came, it would not cause any trouble.
The deal was done, and Kang He and Zou Fulangyan saw the old man off. Then they left the street and quietly disappeared into an inconspicuous place.
The old man quickly handed the Jiaozi to Kang He. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked: "Can I perform well?"
"How could there be anything wrong with it? It scared even such a big shopkeeper."
Kang He took out a hundred taels of silver from his pocket and gave it to the old man, saying, "Come to my place later and I'll give you three pounds of good meat."
The old man was overjoyed and kept thanking him.
After seeing the old man off, Kang Hefu returned to Zou's shop. "This old man's words are not pleasant to listen to. Every time I go there, I eat the first-class food. Today, he took away so many bills, but he still asked me for a few pounds of pork."
Zou Fulang was delighted to receive the recipe, and said to Kang He, "You are a country bumpkin who loves to take advantage of small things. It's not a big deal if I ask you for a few pounds of pork."
Kang He smiled, he was not at a loss.
"My husband has found a good business here. You, an old man, are very far-sighted. The medicinal candle business will probably be run by your husband alone from now on. When he becomes successful in the future, don't forget me, the errand boy."
Zou Fulang also felt that Kang He had done a good job in bringing this together. He said, "How could I forget you? If you hadn't introduced me, I wouldn't have gotten this business today."
Kang He said a few compliments but did not ask for any guarantee of wealth and prosperity.
People's hearts are fickle. If they are kind, even if they have not made any guarantees, they will not forget their old friends even when they become rich. But if they are evil-hearted, even if they make promises out of happiness now, they may turn the promises into a knife that kills people in the future.
After talking for a while, Kang He returned to the shop.
Fan Jing was cutting pork with someone in front of the stall when he glanced and saw a tall man walking briskly towards him.
The man walked up to him, smiled and helped him wrap the pork, and whispered in his ear, "It's done."
Fan Jing's brows slightly raised. He had been busy with moxa candles for more than a month. It was a miracle that he could be patient enough to work on selling a prescription for so long.
The two of them tacitly didn't say much about what was going on. This matter was not something that should be made public.
At noon, while Chen Sanfang was taking a nap, the two of them made an excuse to go out to buy sweet water, and Kang He took Fan Jing to take a look at their new shop.
"It looks big, but the location is not as good as the pork shop we rent now."
Fan Jing walked around the shop and found that there was nothing special about it. Many shops in the city were very different. The only thing that was so attractive about this shop was the courtyard at the back.
He also felt that the shop was in a poor location, being at the end of the alley. But if it weren't for the poor location, no one would be willing to give it to anyone so easily.
"I originally thought that since he gave me a shop, I could move the pork shop here if it suited me. After all, I own the shop deed, so I can just pay the rent and still have so much more space."
Kang He said, "Seeing this shop makes me feel relieved."
Fan Jing said, "Business over there has just started, and it's not easy to get regular customers. This side is a few blocks away, and if we move over, we will lose regular customers too."
"That's exactly it."
The two men discussed it and decided that they didn't want to go through the trouble of moving the shop, and they also didn't want to lose customers, so they simply found a broker to rent out the shop, and the two sides offset the rent.
At night, Kang He took out three Jiaozi notes and showed them to Fan Jing, two of which were worth 100 strings of cash, and one was worth 80 strings of cash.
The two of them sat cross-legged on the bed barefoot, looking at the few light pieces of paper, whose value was no different from a bed of copper coins.
This time I became much richer overnight.
Kang He asked Fan Jing, "Do you want to build a big house in one go? We have enough money now."
Fan Jing actually didn't have much idea about where to live, as long as it could shelter him from the wind and rain.
Of course, who would complain about a better house? Besides, he was not such a selfish person that he would not want others to be rough just because he was rough himself.
Since we have money to spend on this thatched hut at home, we should really clean it up. It is really troublesome when it leaks in the summer, and it is extremely cold in the winter, so we can't do without charcoal fire.
Fan Jing said, "Building a bigger house is good, but how can we explain the cost to our family? Even if we know about it, how will others see it?"
Everyone in the village knew that their family had rented a shop in the city to sell dried pork, but the business was only started in early February, and in mid-July they demolished the old house and built a big one. What kind of business could make money so quickly?
Furthermore, once you have money, you don't have to be so anxious to exchange it for something else. Keep it on hand so that you can use it when something happens. Don't be unscrupulous and sell your land and things for money. Not only may you not get a good price if you sell things in a hurry, but sometimes you may not be able to sell them at all if you don't sell them properly.
Kang He also thought about these things. If the matter were to be passed on to Mr. Zou's ears, it would arouse suspicion, and then the previous plan of hanging the man would be in vain.
"Then let's stick to the original plan and buy some bricks and tiles to repair the roof and floor. We can just live here for now. In a few years, when the time is right, we can set aside some land and build a bigger house."
This matter really cannot be rushed. It's just like building a road. If you want to make it wider and bigger, the land you occupy must be wider than it is now. You also have to negotiate with others about buying and occupying the land. It's not something you can do by just slapping your thigh.
Fan Jing responded and said, "If we use the original land here, I don't want to consider Feng Shui again. But building more than a dozen houses will definitely occupy other people's land. If we choose another location, we will have to ask a Feng Shui master to look at it, and he may not choose our land."
Kang He was also troubled by this. He said, "Let's put this matter aside for now. If there is suitable land, try to buy some and keep it in your hands."
Fan Jing nodded, and Kang He laughed again. No matter what, having the money in hand made him feel more at ease.
He carefully put away the Jiaozi and the shop deed, hugged Fan Jing, kissed his chin, and the two of them prepared to rest.
The child was less than four months old, and at this time, he was at his most unstable. Kang He didn't dare to do anything. He was so calm and obedient that he almost caught up with the time when he first came to the Fan family.
He stretched his neck and blew out the lamp when the room suddenly became dark. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a gong outside.
Kang He hesitated and stood beside the bed for a while: "But it thundered?"
Fan Jing sat up from the bed, then got off the bed and said, "It's the sound of a gong."
Kang He frowned, wondering who would ring the gong in the middle of the night for no reason. He lit the oil lamp again, put on his clothes, and went to wake up Father Fan.
"What's going on? Is there another thief?!"
Father Fan and Mrs. Chen had just closed their eyes when they heard an urgent knock on the door and hurriedly lit the lamp.
"I don't know what's going on. There's a gong outside. I'd better be cautious and stay awake."
Father Fan stretched out his ears to listen, and indeed he heard the sound of a gong.
The night, which had just quieted down, became noisy again with the sound of the gong.
But in a moment, under the cover of darkness, someone ran past on the village road outside.
They were shouting, "There's a thief, heading towards the south of the village! Chase him!"
Kang He and Fan Jing, who were standing in the yard, looked at each other, picked up their weapons, and hurried up the village road to follow the crowd.
Father Fan and Mrs. Chen didn't dare to run out. There were two little girls at home. They just shouted from behind, asking Kang and Fan Jing to be careful.
The night wind was rustling. Kang He held Fan Jing's hand tightly and said, "A Jing, go slower."
Fan Jing nodded. If he had gone forward, he would have already jumped out.
At the moment, I am concerned about the baby in my belly and don't do anything reckless.
The two men looked around and actually saw a dark shadow slithering into the field, with the strong men in the village chasing after it.
More and more people gathered, some carrying hoes and some holding sickles, chasing the thief, whose shadow could be seen at that time and then disappeared, all the way to the south end of the village.
Kang He and Fan Jing were careful and walked slowly.
When the two men caught up with the men from the village, they saw that they had stopped in front of a house and hesitated to continue chasing them.
"I saw him come over here, and then he disappeared. Maybe he just ran into the house."
"What do you mean by unsure? If he didn't get into the house, then he could be hiding somewhere else. Let's go in together and hold him down!"
Kang He and Fan Jing walked over and saw that this was the Cheng family's house.
"There's only a widow and a young widow living in the Cheng family. It's not fair for a group of grown men like us to rush in at night. Let's shout and ask the people inside to open the door."
"If you were to go in so slowly, the thief would have already run away. Last time, he stole dozens of kilograms of bacon from my house. I couldn't bear to eat it myself. How could he get away from here?"
Several families who had been robbed were still angry about losing their rice, flour, and meat, and now they were robbed again, which made them even more angry.
Who cares whether she is a widow or not at this moment? A young man named Feng Saner rushed over with a weapon in his hand and was not willing to listen to anyone's advice.
The three men behind also plucked up their courage and followed in.
Kang He frowned, feeling that something was a little strange about what happened today, but he couldn't help but think too much about it at this moment.
The door was slammed open, Fan Jing drew his bow, and a scream was heard from inside the house.
"The thief cult has detained him?!"
"It sounds like Brother You's voice to me."
The people outside were muttering and wanted to go in to see what was going on, but before they could wait, the men who had pushed the door open and entered came out again with their heads down.
Seeing this, Kang He grabbed Fan Jing's hand holding the bow and signaled him to put it down.
"Why are they all stuck here? The thief has been apprehended!"
Xu Yang held a torch and called a dozen villagers to come running over in a hurry. The light of the torch was so bright that it seemed as if daybreak was about to break.
Overnight, more than twenty people surrounded the Cheng family's house. Not to mention thieves, even a bird that flew out would be shot down.
"Feng San'er, why did you come out so quickly after going in? Where's the thief?!"
Feng Saner, who rushed in first, was caught by the villagers and asked, his face flushed with embarrassment: "No...no..."
"Nothing! Are you trying to drive me crazy? Let's go in and take a look!"
Feng Saner quickly grabbed the person and said, "Don't go in."
One woman seemed to have noticed something was wrong and said, "Darling, you, a man, shouldn't go. I, a woman, can go in. There are two widows here!"
The man who had been clamoring for food calmed down a bit upon seeing this, and let the woman call her brother and wife to go in and take a look. But Feng Saner still stopped them.
"What are you trying to do, kid? Are you in cahoots with that thief?"
Everyone was annoyed by Feng Saner. The Cheng family was also strange. They didn't even bother to open the door even though there was a commotion outside.
The impatient one started shouting, "Maybe it's these two widows out stealing. Every time I pass by their door I smell the aroma of meat. Let's go in and see for ourselves!"
The villagers fanned the flames and threatened to rush in. Feng Saner, seeing this, was both anxious and embarrassed, and shouted, "Don't go in, don't go in, the enemy is inside!"
The noisy yard was instantly silenced by this hoarse roar.
Everyone stared at each other in a daze for a moment.
"What are you doing at Cheng's house so late at night?"
I asked stupidly.
No one answered him. The Cheng family now only had an old widow and a young and beautiful widow.
During the day, men who know their place in people's homes stay in the yard.
What else could a man be doing in a widow's house in the middle of the night?
This matter was so embarrassing and shameful in public that no one dared to speak out about it.
It would be fine if it was any other man in the village, but it happened to be the village chief. What should we do?
"Village head... Why is the village head doing this? This has caused..."
When Mr. Qian heard that the village had been robbed again, he got up in a hurry. He heard that the thieves were blocking the Cheng family, so he hurried over to see what was going on.
He hurried over with his old bones, but he didn't catch the thief. Instead, he heard that his good apprentice was hiding in the widow's house, so the villagers thought he was a thief and was trapped in the house and was too embarrassed to come out to see anyone.
Mr. Qian was immediately furious and annoyed, and almost couldn't breathe.
Others were reluctant to go in, but he strode into the Cheng family. In a moment, cursing was heard from inside the house.
"You have no shame! What kind of person are you?"
"You've embarrassed me, you idiot! You can't even hold up your pants!"
With so many people in the village, Mr. Qian just wanted to save some face for Chen Yushun, but he was so angry that he didn't care about his face anymore.
The cursing in the room was so bad that everyone felt embarrassed to listen.
Kang He ran in to watch the fun with no good intentions, and the villagers also had some sense of propriety.
At this moment, even though he was smiling in his heart, he did not dare to go in and bring bad luck.
"Everyone, go away, go away. Grandpa Qian is here."
Seeing this trend, Xu Yang stepped forward and arranged for everyone to go look for the thief again. They didn't need to go too far from home, for fear that there would be no strong men in the house and the thief would go back and steal things.
Everyone dispersed at his shout.
Kang He looked at Xu Yang, and under the torchlight, they stared at each other without saying a word.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
