Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 43

Two months passed in a blink of an eye.

Lai Shangrong took a concubine on his own, but acted like a normal person. Except for giving some extra compensation to Zhang Hua's family and asking to take Zhang Hua and his son to the Yamen to go through the divorce procedures, his parents did all the other matters in person and discussed them with Qin Ye and You Lao Niang. Manage.

The wedding date was also set on the 22nd of the winter lunar month. Everyone said that marrying a daughter-in-law would be a good way to celebrate the New Year. They originally planned to have it at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, but they wanted to make it a big deal, but they were afraid that it would be the end of the year when the Jia family was about to have a wedding. People can't get away, so they set such a date.

However, he is not completely idle. He has a lot of things to do, and of course there is no use for it. In addition, my mother hopes to be completely proud of this matter, so that her son can truly get rid of the shackles of a slave, so although he does not need the three books and six etiquette of marrying a wife, , but the betrothal gift for taking a concubine is really not cheap.

In recent years, the Lai family has almost emptied out their family property by building a house, and most of the income in the past two years has been spent on purchasing furniture and decorations. Naturally, it was also mentioned.

Seeing that all the gold on the bedside was gone, and there was still a banquet to be held, and at least ten thousand taels of silver were in short supply, Lai Shangrong had no choice but to plan in advance and plan to sell the paper accumulated in the papermaking workshop.

It was not easy to sell ancient paper in large quantities. Only bookstores and bookstores had such demand.

Due to the low status of merchants in ancient times, even if a noble family did something like a merchant, it would be a white-glove job for the servants or commoners who failed to achieve their goals.

But the business of bookstores and bookstores is different. Publishing and selling books is a commercial matter, but after all, it is also arty and has the function of educating, so noble nobles love to run it.

Furthermore, there was no such thing as copyright in ancient times. In addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, these bookstores and bookstores also sold some novels, and some even had specialized writers. This involved the problem of piracy, and it could be managed by powerful people. Minimize this loss.

So if Lai Shangrong wants to sell paper, he can only sell to these people.

But later on, he wanted to use this papermaking technology to gain fame. In order to minimize the consequences, he mainly targeted the four kings and eight princes.

However, he did not dare to stroke the four kings' beards, and only targeted Hachigong, who had a similar status in the Jia family.

The reason why he did this was that he thought about it for a long time.

The Jia family belongs to a lineage of four princes and eight princes. Even if they find out that they are the ones selling paper, they will first suspect that the Jia family is involved and will not take immediate action.

Although this is not a masterpiece, it is similar to it.

Of course, there is a loophole in this. Even if the improved papermaking technology is announced, the cost will not be a secret. When they think about it and know that it has nothing to do with the Jia family, it is hard to say whether they will hold grudges.

For this reason, he also left a backup plan.

The cost savings come in several aspects.

One is the cost of raw materials, which leaves little room for maneuver.

The second is labor cost. Because he used the steam engine, he saved a lot of labor cost, so there is a lot to do here.

As long as the function of the steam engine is concealed and the price is appropriately lowered, even if these people come to you, they can explain it clearly.

Although you will inevitably earn less money, you must make some choices to be on the safe side.

Don't cherish your life when doing big things, don't forget your life when you see small gains.

correct!

Although Lai Shangrong is not rich, these ten thousand and eight thousand are just small profits in his eyes.

Unlike Wang Xifeng, who would accept lawsuits and loan sharks just for a small profit.

After lunch that day, Sister Feng, who was always welcome to come, had just returned to the hospital to take a nap.

There was a message from outside that Zhao'er, who had gone to Suzhou with Jia Lian, was back.

Busy called in to answer. "What are you doing here? When did the second master come back?"

Zhao'er said: "The second master sent me back. Mr. Lin Aunt disappeared on the third day of September. The second master took Miss Lin and sent Mr. Lin's spirit to Suzhou. He will be back around the end of the year. The second master sent me to report. I wrote to say hello, and asked the old lady to show her, and to see how nice my grandma’s house is, and to ask her to bring some big woolen clothes with me.”

Sister Feng nodded and asked Zhao'er: "Is the second master okay?"

"All good! I just look forward to coming back soon."

Sister Feng smiled and said, "Do you think I'm the one who's easy to fool? I'm afraid he's just having fun fooling around outside."

Then he warned: "Be careful when you are out there. Don't make your second master angry. Always advise him to drink less. Don't seduce him to meet those bastard wives. If you let me know, I will break your legs when you come back."

Then he ordered Ping'er to prepare. He worked until night and packed six large boxes, including ten sets of winter clothes of various types, as well as middle coats, bijia, bedding, etc., all ready.

Let Zhaoer take him back overnight.

After finishing all this work, I had dinner with Ping'er.

Sister Feng, who had been tired for a day, slumped on the official chair in the main hall.

Ping'er smiled and said: "Grandma has been tired for a whole day, why don't I give you some water to soak your feet for some relief?"

Seeing Sister Feng wave her hand, she went out to get a basin of hot water, placed it in front of Sister Feng, squatted down and helped her take off her shoes and socks, revealing a pair of evenly fleshed feet.

"Ah! Hiss..." Sister Feng screamed softly, raised her foot and exclaimed: "Xiao Lang Hoozi, do you want to burn me to death?"

Ping'er wasn't afraid of her either, and said with a smile: "Rot your feet and your body will be warm. Grandma's body is cold, so it's time to burn her some more."

Sister Feng raised her calf, hooked Ping'er's chin with her garlic-like toes, raised Ping'er's face, and said with a smile: "You little rascal, I know your second master is coming back, I'm afraid I'm going to be so hot right now. right?"

Ping'er blushed at what she said and said, "Grandma makes fun of me."

Sister Feng was just joking, but now she blushed with embarrassment, but became jealous.

"When your second master comes back, I will go to the Dong Mansion to find Brother Rong's daughter-in-law for a day and give this house to you, so that the second master can comfort you and save you from your complaints."

Ping'er has been with her for so many years and has a clear mind.

You said resentfully: "Second Master only has grandma in his eyes, and I won't take offense to that. You two are like honey mixed with oil, and you like to make fun of me."

Although she was Jia Lian's first wife, Sister Feng was so jealous that she couldn't tolerate others, so she only wanted to bring her out in order to gain reputation and block everyone's mouths, but in fact she couldn't get involved in sex more than once a year.

Sister Feng smiled and said, "I'll leave it at that. If you regret it yourself, don't blame me!"

Ping'er was afraid that he would make too many mistakes, so he didn't want to dwell on this topic anymore, so he changed the subject and said, "Why did Grandma Zhen's sister be given to Butler Lai's son? Or be a concubine! Aren't you afraid of people laughing at her?"

"She is from a small family, and she has spent a lifetime of being married to our family. But now she has to fall apart."

"Kekeke!" As he said this, he didn't know what he was thinking of, and he shook the meat gourd tremblingly.

Ping'er asked in confusion: "Grandma, why are you laughing?"

Sister Feng stopped laughing for a long time and said: "Brother Rong's daughter-in-law is unwell this year. She has taken charge of the East Mansion and is still acting like a mistress in front of me. Now my sister is married to a slave as a concubine. It is ridiculous that it is our house." The people here show that this Dongfu is getting worse and worse!"

(End of this chapter)