Chapter 59
59
"You want to go to the county town with me? Didn't you say before that you wanted to work on your own?" Cheng Yeran thought Yuanbao was a likable-looking and eloquent person. In ancient times, thirteen or fourteen years old was already old enough to get married and be independent.
Yuanbao rubbed his nose in embarrassment, "I know my cousin is a very capable person. I want to follow him in the future. I hope he won't despise me."
The little beggar at the side also smiled foolishly to please. He was also very good at reading people's expressions and would never show his teeth at such times.
"Okay, you come with me, but I have a condition." Cheng Yeran thought for a moment and asked him, "If you agree, I will allow you to go to the county town with me."
"What's the matter? As long as it doesn't involve killing anyone, I can agree to it." Yuanbao patted his chest and assured, and the little beggar next to him also patted his chest.
"It's not that bloody. I can't do business while I'm studying. When the time comes, the grocery store will be registered under your name. Do you have any objection? Think it over before agreeing. If you do business, you won't be able to study and take the imperial examinations in the future." Cheng Yeran made it clear in advance.
"I'm not good at studying, but I know my own limitations. As long as my cousin trusts me." Yuanbao knew that this was his chance to get rich, and he must seize it. His family members died little by little in front of him because they had no money. As long as he could make money, it didn't matter what he lost.
…
After Shen Yuntang spent his last year in the village, he went to the county town with Cheng Yeran.
A few years ago, they renovated the house and built a kang. In the winter, the two of them wrote together on the warm kang.
Because the Shen family had the skill of making tofu, they earned more money and saved some money. In addition, everyone knew that Cheng Yeran was now a wealthy family in the village. Cheng Yeran had no parents, so he treated Shen Yuntang's parents as his own. There were many people who wanted to become relatives, and many matchmakers came to them. The eldest brother and the second brother got married before the New Year.
The eldest brother was older and his wife had died before, so he married a widow who was three years older than him. The widow also had a one-year-old little girl. The eldest brother felt that he was lucky enough to be able to marry a wife and didn't mind that she had children.
My second brother did not marry a widow, but his wife's mother was a widow. The widow only had one daughter, and before the marriage, her family asked for separation and moving out.
The second brother fell in love with the other party, but after knowing the family situation, he was in pain for a while. Finally, Cheng Yeran said that he would go to the county town to study next year and rent the house to the second brother at a low price. The second brother would have a place to live and someone would take care of his house, killing two birds with one stone. The second brother discussed it with his wife's family, and the other party agreed.
The money in the family is enough for the two elder brothers to get married. My parents said that the third and fourth elder brothers should get married in two years. When my parents said this, the third elder brother said nothing except suppressing his envy. However, the fourth elder brother said that he was not in a hurry and wanted to go to the county town with Shen Yuntang next year.
His parents originally thought that Cheng Yeran would go to school during the day and come back at night. Since their boy was good-looking, he was often targeted by people in the village. If his family had not taken good care of him, he would have been taken advantage of by many people.
I heard that Cheng Yeran's cousin and the child he picked up went to the county together, but how could those two children protect Shen Yuntang? Who knows, they might become a hidden danger in two years.
Especially the little beggar who was picked up. He didn't look like a good person at first glance. He was blind in one eye, dumb, and skinny. However, he had fought with the villagers several times. Every time someone bullied Yuanbao or said bad things about Yuanbao, he rushed up like a mad dog and bit people. Yuanbao even gave him a name called Wild Dog, saying that a humble name would make it easier to keep him.
He said that Cheng Yeran should not be kept around such an unsafe person, as he would definitely cause trouble in the future.
The parents had discussed it long ago and decided to let the fourth child go to the county with Shen Yuntang. They originally thought that the fourth child was unwilling to contact people or go out, and it would take a while to persuade him. Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to propose it. The parents thought that the child had grown up and finally understood how to feel sorry for his younger brother.
In addition to renting the house to his second brother, Cheng Yeran also made arrangements for the family's fields. He did not sell or rent them out, but asked the village chief to help keep them. How could anyone help keep the fields? What he meant was to lend them to the village chief's family for planting.
During this year of traveling through time, he had given many benefits to the village chief, and the village chief had also protected him a lot, and he was willing to do so.
And if he sells the land and starts a small business, they will become merchants, and they can still maintain their current status by having the land.
Before, when he bought the shop from Manager Wang, he only bought the house. The writ of indenture he signed with Manager Wang stated that he rented the house to Manager Wang to open the shop. He was not doing business, but secretly he was the boss.
But this is rather dangerous. If the business becomes big and Manager Wang disowns it and embezzles the money, they won't be able to do anything to him.
Others would have to think twice, but Cheng Yeran didn't care. He was doing it for money laundering, and business was always a place where there were gains and losses.
Fortunately, Shopkeeper Wang is an honest man. In the past few months, he went to the shop to check the accounts in the middle of every month. The shop made a loss in the first month, but later, Shopkeeper Wang promoted the product concept of tribute and gift giving according to his ideas and gradually began to make money.
Even if he gave alms to beggars every day, he would not feel indebted. On the contrary, by treating more than a hundred beggars in the county to soy milk every day, he promoted the shop and made more kind-hearted people who burned incense and worshipped Buddha think that Shopkeeper Wang was a kind-hearted person. They also wanted to donate money to Shopkeeper Wang and do good deeds with him.
However, all of these were rejected by Manager Wang, who told them that buying their own cakes in the future would be considered a good deed.
Several wealthy families in the county town ordered cakes from Shopkeeper Wang. They always had topics to talk about when giving gifts, worshiping, and entertaining guests. When they mentioned that they bought cakes from Shopkeeper Wang, everyone would say that he was kind, and even the people who bought the cakes felt honored.
The drink shop across the street was originally a competitor of Manager Wang, but later it also specially bought cakes from Manager Wang as a sacrifice, as if this was more honest. The relationship between the two families is not so tense anymore.
Cheng Yeran kept the money earned from the shop as start-up capital and only used a small portion of it to ask Manager Wang to help renovate the house he rented in the county town.
The last time he came to the county town, Manager Wang helped him rent a house with a yard. The yard was full of weeds and several rooms were about to collapse, like a haunted house. He asked Manager Wang to find someone to repair it so that it was habitable, and they could move in and buy their own things after they moved in.
They set off just after the Chinese New Year. When the villagers got the news a few days before departure, they were all very surprised. Are they really going to the county town to study?
However, when they saw Cheng Yeran bringing Shen Yuntang, Yuanbao, Ye Gou and the fourth brother with him, how could they be studying with such a family? Xia Xiaowu went to the county town to study alone, and Cheng Yeran probably went to the county town to do business.
The villagers were unhappy. "If you leave, we will lose a way to make money. You can't be so selfish."
"Isn't it enough for you to earn in the village? You still want to go to the county. Don't you know your own worth? There are many capable people in the county. Don't lose all your family fortune by then."
"You'd better stay in the village. People in the county town look down on people from the village. You will be looked down upon if you go there."
"Don't worry, everyone. I'll continue to sell this dried tofu, but we'll have to buy it from my second brother." Cheng Yeran originally wanted to say that you can't stop me from leaving just because you've lost your way to make money. I'm not living for you. You haven't been nice to me in the village over the years. I won't owe anyone anything if I just leave.
But Shen Yuntang insisted on his own ideas. He always felt that the tofu was not made by them, and he would feel uncomfortable if he lied and said he made it, so he studied the method of braised tofu.
Finally, he really figured it out, and it tasted good, but it was different from the ones sold. He discussed it with Cheng Yeran and gave the recipe for making dried tofu to his second brother and sister-in-law. There were many modern seasonings in it, so they unpacked it and put it in a jar, and told them it was a secret recipe. When they had used it up, they could go to the county to get it. Later, the eldest brother made tofu and ground bean powder to send to the county, the second brother made dried tofu to sell, the third brother inherited his father's carpentry skills, and the fourth brother followed Cheng Yeran and others into the city to do business.
Talk about
Everyone is arranged.
In the future, if someone questions that the taste of the tofu has changed, they will say that since someone else made it, the craftsmanship will naturally change.
The villagers were relieved when they heard that the second brother of the Shen family continued to sell dried tofu in the village, and they all said that Shen Yuntang had married the right person.
In the past, the villagers often used the words "If you don't listen, I will marry you to a lazy man" to scare my brother, but now they regret it very much. How could Shen Yuntang take away such a big advantage?
…
The yard they rented was called a haunted house in that alley and had never been rented out. Later, they heard that it had been rented out. The neighbors were all very curious about who dared to rent this house.
But the owner was never seen. I only saw workers coming to clean and repair the house. It was quite a big deal, and the haunted house was transformed into a completely new look. The value of the house must have increased tenfold.
The family living on the left side of the yard is a family with the surname Zhao. They think that this is a wealthy family and they should get along well with them and take advantage of them.
This family with the surname Zhao was none other than the lazy man’s maternal relatives. In the past, the lazy man’s parents often went to the county town to visit relatives, and the relatives they visited were this family.
Later, the lazy man's parents died, and he lost contact with this relative. The lazy man was too lazy to go out, and this family never went to the village to see him.
However, when they met Cheng Yeran, Cheng Yeran was twelve or thirteen years old at that time. Even though he is almost twenty years old now and has opened his eyes, the Zhao family can recognize Cheng Yeran at a glance.
On this day, the little grandson of the Zhao family was playing with a group of children at the door. They saw a donkey cart coming in from the alley from a distance. The children were curious and ran over to take a look. However, the children of the Zhao family had received orders that if they saw a stranger moving in, they should tell the adults immediately.
The Zhao family's child quickly ran into the house and told the adults, "A donkey cart has arrived, with many people and boxes."
When the Zhao family heard this, they thought that the neighbors must have moved in, so Aunt Zhao took her daughter-in-law to go outside to take a look. If the other party brought their wives or husbands, they would start a conversation with them, get to know them, and then give them some gifts to show their friendship.
But when Aunt Zhao walked to the door, she saw Cheng Yeran on the donkey cart from a distance. Her face changed and she quickly pulled her daughter-in-law into the house, "Close the door quickly, a poor relative has come to seek refuge with us."
She made a shushing gesture to her daughter-in-law and the children, "No one is allowed to make a sound for a while, and no one is allowed to open the door even if someone knocks. If anyone dares to make a sound and the people outside hear it, I will give him a slap in the face."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
