Chapter 173 Chapter 173 Update.
"Girl, please don't make things difficult for us. After something like this, we really can't afford to owe you any more. I'm afraid if we delay any longer, it will become a bad debt."
"I know debt collectors are annoying, but we're just doing people's work, there's nothing we can do about it."
Seeing that she had settled the accounts, the accountants finally softened their words.
"I understand your difficulties. It's not right not to pay back debts. I'll settle your bills for you."
However, her restaurant had only been open for over a month, and with the opening promotion, she had to pay a lot of money to attract customers. So, all in all, she didn't make much. Adding the money she earned from her other two stalls and the money she had kept for turnover, she could barely make three hundred taels.
A while ago, I spent twenty taels to build a gatehouse. Now I have to pay back a large bill of two hundred taels. The rest of the bills add up to sixty taels.
After settling the bill, there were only twenty taels left. The money box felt lighter, and her heart felt lighter too.
The accountants here left, and she counted the money again and paid the employees last month's wages. Among them, the two waitresses downstairs were paid 600 coins each, and Qiu Gu was also in charge of soliciting customers, so she was paid 700 coins. The monthly wages of Che'er were one or two taels, the big yak were paid 390 coins, and the four beans, five blessings and six grains were paid. Jindou came first and was more experienced, so he was paid 60 coins. The other three beans were now paid 50 coins each, and the same went for the five blessings and six grains.
A total of nearly four taels were spent here.
"For Aunt Zhang and Aunt Wang, please trouble Aunt Qiu to deliver them to them for me."
This refers to the other two waitresses, both of whom have families in Anling Town and are not here now.
Since the restaurant was closed down, Qiu Gu had nowhere to live, so she temporarily lived in the same room in the backyard of her home with Si Dou, while Che'er and Wu Fu Liu Gu lived in the gatehouse in the front.
Qiu Gu looked at the debt collectors and returned her share.
"It's not my place to decide between the two of them. If you say to send it, I will send it. But it's my business. I was kicked out. Fortunately, Xu Niang gave me a place to stay. Now she lets me stay at home. This money is my rent."
"I was the one who brought you here in the first place, promising to provide you with food and shelter. I originally intended to keep this going forever. But now this has happened. I was too naive. Take it all while I still have it. This is what you deserve. Don't be upset because of me and refuse to accept it."
After persuading them, I distributed the money to everyone one by one. This should have been a happy thing, but everyone in the room started crying.
Among them, Chen Che'er received the message and traveled thousands of miles to work for her, but she never thought that they would be separated in just one month.
Ji Xu felt upset, but there was nothing he could do. How could an ant shake an elephant? Chen Che'er also lowered her head and wiped her tears with her sleeves.
"I'm tired, I'd better take a break now."
After everyone left, Ji Xu closed the door and lay down alone.
Tian paced back and forth worriedly outside the door. Just as she was about to knock, she faintly heard the sobbing and tearful voice from inside, so she put her hand down.
Now, not only is there no one to turn to, but except for Mrs. Song, all the wives of officials on good terms with me are avoiding my home. I have sent many invitations to visit them, but no one is willing to see them. There is really no way out.
Her daughter has always been tough and rarely cries. Opening a restaurant has been what she wanted to do since she was a child. Now that it is ruined, it is like plucking out her heart.
Cry, maybe it will make you feel better.
Tian waited outside until the noise died down, then she went inside and persuaded her to take the newly prepared medicine, then held her in her arms.
"We still have mother. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid..."
Half a month later, Tian came back from the dock wearing dusty and tattered old clothes.
Guo Dalang, who once was beaten by her and sold liver, gloated over her misfortune:
"Isn't this Mr. Tian? Why are you at the docks carrying and moving things instead of enjoying yourself at home?"
Aunt Li, who sells fried fish, also used to scheme against the braised food stall, but nothing good happened. She pointed at Er Feng who was coming back and said with a smile:
"Look at her body covered in mud. Doesn't she look like a spotted dog?"
Ji Feng no longer studied. That day, she begged Tian Shi to come out and do some work, saying:
"I'm not cut out for studying. When the weather gets hot, I'd just doze off. I'd rather come out and earn money for the family. My sister has always been the one earning the money and always thinking about me. Now that I'm older, I can take good care of her."
The second daughter was just like her, rough-hearted and a bit cunning, not the type to study hard. In her opinion, there was nothing wrong with her going out to work, so Tian agreed.
Later, she worked as an apprentice in a government-run workshop in Gao City. Fortunately, the workshop was not under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Agriculture, but of the Minister of the Household, so no one deliberately made things difficult for her. Ji Feng had been there for the past half month, learning how to make pottery and earning some money.
She couldn't bear to sell the four beans in her family to human traffickers, so field beans and broad beans also worked in the workshop with Ji Feng, and they came back together.
The mother and daughter retorted fiercely and went back home. Only when they reached the gatehouse did they take out the things they had hidden on their bodies.
Tian shook out a lot of wheat from her waist. Following her instructions, Ji Feng also hid two red pottery bowls and knocked them against each other.
"This is good, it could be worth a lot of money."
Tian said.
Tian Dou took out two unique pottery cups with handles. However, Candou was too timid to steal them. Tian taught him:
"It's fine if you don't dare to take it. You're so clumsy and will be beaten if you're caught. Just don't tell your mistress, or I'll beat you up and sell you off."
As he said this, he hid all kinds of things of dubious origin in the gatehouse. The two people named Wufu Liugu who lived in this room had recently followed Master Yangcheng to ask the wealthy family he was in charge of to build a house with bricks and sand, which was hard work.
"You've just gotten better, and you're already busy with all this. Stop it, you're exhausted."
Entering the inner courtyard, she saw Yindou had gone to pick up Xiaozhu from the elementary school, Jindou was tidying up the kitchen, and Jixu was there boiling a pot of fresh braising liquid. Her forehead was covered with sweat, but she didn't feel tired at all.
"It's better to make these, Mother. I want to take them to Weiqiaotou to sell tomorrow, just like we used to do back home."
Because there were many people living along the Wei River, even though there was no market, there were still peddlers wandering around selling goods, and the market officials could not stop them.
They would choose the time to sell, and most of the items they sold were small groceries like soapberry, bamboo salt, burnt stone, and some also sold chicken and duck eggs.
The three stalls at home have been investigated for such a long time, but there is still no result. The restaurant is still locked and sealed by the government. They say that the things inside are evidence and cannot be touched.
"There are so many people there, what if they step on you? What if they crush you?"
Tian persuaded Ji Xu, but she still wanted to go. She said:
“Just think of it as starting over again.”
No one knows a daughter better than her mother, so Tian advised:
"Go out in the morning when it's not too hot, and come back when the sun gets hot. I'm afraid you can't stand the dog days of summer."
Ji Xu agreed, and the next day, he, Jin and Yindou each carried a basket and went out to sell braised food along the Wei River.
Many people recognized her as a Jinnv Niang and had eaten her famous braised food.
"There are several places selling braised food in Jiaomen now, but none of them taste like yours."
"Yours is still the authentic one!"
It’s sold here just right, I just heard:
"The clerk is coming!"
He asked everyone to disperse first, and Ji Xu also carried an inconspicuous basket and walked by as if he was passing by.
But the market official passed by the men selling soapberries and eggs and came straight towards her. He snatched her basket, poured all the braised food onto the ground, and crushed it to pieces with his feet.
"You are not allowed to sell it. If you get sick from her food, don't buy from her! Otherwise, I will arrest you!"
"Who got sick from eating my food? Tell me, explain it clearly!"
Ji Xu snatched the things without letting go and was pushed to the ground. All the good things were ruined because she scratched the clerk's hand during the struggle and he wanted to take revenge.
"Never mind, never mind."
She was stopped by the other one, who whispered something in his ear before the two of them let her go.
I saw that the Wei Bridge was bustling with activity. People were selling things. A peddler selling bamboo swords coaxed the children and said:
"Xiaolang, buy a bamboo sword and kill the Xiongnu like the Han army did."
The child threw away the bamboo sword and asked his mother:
"Do I look like a General of the Imperial Guards?"
Just as he finished speaking, he saw a group of Yu Lin Lang riding past on the street, shouting in a hurry.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
The child who had just bought a bamboo sword pointed at the "Yulin" flag and was full of joy.
"It's Yu Lin Lang! Mother, I want to be a Yu Lin Lang in the future!"
Ji Xu was pushed to the ground and picked up his basket. He saw a cloud of dust kicked up by horse hooves in front of him. He wanted to avoid it, but the dust was too strong and his vision went dark.
Fortunately, a kind-hearted old nun helped her to the side of the street, where she leaned against a mulberry tree to recover. She glanced at the passing team and felt that the person leading the team looked vaguely familiar.
The old woman massaged her back to calm her down, and said:
"Girl, you're covered in cold sweat. What happened?"
Ji Xu was not interested in these things anymore. He held the old lady's hand tightly and asked:
"Can you recognize the one headed by Yu Lin Lang?"
"Of course I recognize him. I saw him sitting on his horse when the Han army returned victorious. He was once an unknown marquis outside the pass, but he made military achievements and is now a general of the imperial guards. The young men in the streets and alleys are determined to become his imperial guards!"
"Guanwai Hou... is he the Marquis of Muping, whose fiefdom is in Qingzhou?"
Ji Xu had grasped something in his mind and looked excited.
"I don't know about that."
"It's the Marquis of Muping, who is said to be a small marquis with a fiefdom of only 500 households." said someone else.
It's him!
She wondered if he had any connections and could help her. Apart from that, she couldn't think of anyone else who had the will and the ability to compete with the Li family. Even if there was a glimmer of hope, she had to give it a try, so she asked:
"Where is Yulinlang going?"
They all said they didn't know, but Ji Xu asked about his residence, which was said to be a newly granted residence in Changling Town, where high-ranking officials of the rank of 2,000 stone and nobles from Qi and Chu gathered.
She didn't have the strength to ride a horse, so she hired a cheap ox cart and went to Changling Town, where she saw only wealthy families and luxurious cars.
Ji Xu seemed out of place when he arrived here in an ox cart, and he ignored the gatekeepers when they asked for directions.
Fortunately, the braised food she just sold had earned her twenty coins. Ji Xu gave her the money and someone showed her the way.
"General of the Imperial Guards? It's the one on Chisheng Street, the one that hasn't had time to get a plaque on the gate yet."
Ji Xu found the house as he wished, and asked the driver to go to the house in Sangshu Lane to collect the rent and send a message.
"Go find Aunt Tian. She'll recognize the basket when she sees it and tell her her daughter is here to see an old friend and will be back later. Tell her not to worry."
The driver left, and the creaking ox cart was seen as extremely disgusting by the servants of this house.
The girl who got off the car was dressed in ordinary clothes, her face was red from the sun, but she came to ask questions at his house.
"Hello, old man. Is this the residence of the General of the Imperial Guards?"
The old servant wanted to tease her and said:
"It's not here. Go to Huayang Street."
Ji Xu had just come here from there asking for directions. It was quite far from here. She looked around and found that this was the only shop on Chisheng Street that did not have a plaque. She didn't know who was deceiving her.
But I have used up all my money and I have no more money to bribe this servant. However, the one who gave me money before is more trustworthy, so I will try to wait here.
"No one can stand here. Go away and don't get in the way."
The servant drove him on again, and Ji Xu went down the steps and waited under the shade of a tree beside the road.
The cicadas were chirping incessantly during the hottest days of summer, and a wave of heat was rising from the ground. Ji Xu kept wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.
But my heart was not as lazy as before. I looked back with hope and was able to hold on.
"Who is that?"
The servant who had just returned to the door pointed under the tree and asked.
"She said she knew our General of the Central Army. Who cares about her? I sent her away, but she refused to leave. She was exposed to the sun." The old servant chuckled.
There were cars coming and going in front of the gate, and many of them were family members who came to give gifts to the General of the Central Army. When Ji Xu saw this, he knew he had come to the right place.
Listening to the old servant's flattery of those nobles in gorgeous clothes, she became more determined to wait because the General of the Central Army had gone out on business early in the morning and had not returned home yet.
Until the sun was setting, another group of craftsmen came, saying they were here to repair the garden. The old servant at the gate treated them with disdain and made things difficult for them for a while before letting them in through the side door.
One of the nuns who was planting trees was carrying some saplings. Seeing Ji Xu alone, she chatted with her for a while, then pointed at the old servant who was showing off his power and said:
"He's the most arrogant person in the whole house, and he's always trying to make things difficult for us."
He kindly gave Ji Xu some water to drink. She had been waiting for most of the day and was really thirsty, so she felt embarrassed to drink it.
"You are the same age as my daughter. I don't know how long you have to wait. Take it and drink it."
The nun poured all her water into Ji Xu's bamboo tube, and when she saw the foreman in front calling them in, she hurried away.
After waiting for another half an hour, her face brightened up. She saw that the person coming was a man in plain clothes riding a horse. When he saw her, he dismounted with a look of joy to recognize her.
"Xu!"
It was Youlu, who had been a patrolman in his hometown. Later, he followed Zhuang Gaiyi, who was still in obscurity. He led her into the mansion while talking loudly.
"Brother, you're on business in the Hangu Pass area and will be back tonight. It's been over a year since we last saw Youzhou. Are you all right? Since you're here, why don't you just sit inside and wait for me?"
Seeing that she only talked about how the year was going and avoided talking about the waiting outside, he knew the reason and sulked at the servant and scolded him:
"You old beast! How dare you embarrass her!"
Seeing that the Zhonglang Jiang's brother of a different surname valued her so much, the arrogant servant immediately knelt down and said a lot of words to confess his guilt and beg for mercy.
Yulu led the people in and said to her:
"There are some unruly slaves left in this old house. They will be dealt with sooner or later!"
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The author has something to say: Babies. Because the meeting was different from the estimate, the copy was changed [hug][hug]
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