Late Qing Dynasty Executioner

Chapter 54 Two Sichuan Snakes
After reaching an agreement with Chen Tao, Chen Gu knocked on the door of the second room in the east wing.

The second brother Chen Qi is a handsome young man, but he is also a bit frivolous. He has been married for more than a year. When he heard the knock on the door, he opened the door and came out holding a baby.

"Haha, it's you, Prajna. I was wondering why the knock on the door sounded so strange. What's the matter?"

"Hello, Second Brother!" As for Chen Qi, Chen Gu always felt that he was not as frivolous as he seemed on the surface. He was more like a smiling tiger. Well, he was very similar to the feeling Bai Wencheng gave Chen Gu. In contrast, Chen Gu felt that the eldest brother was closer to him.

Therefore, Chen Gu did not let go of himself just because Chen Qi acted easy-going and approachable. After bowing respectfully, he said, "I need a batch of farm tools. The master said that there are many craftsmen in the south city that Second Senior Brother inspects, so I hope Second Senior Brother can help me check them to prevent me from being cheated."

"You came to see me specially, I'm afraid you must need something very big!" Chen Qi guessed.

"What we need is indeed a lot. The key is to create a new type of agricultural tool!" said Chen Gu.

Chen Qi looked at the dim skylight and said, "It's getting late today, let's talk about it tomorrow. If it's urgent, you can come to the Sihai Teahouse in the south of the city to find me at the end of the morning tomorrow. I will definitely be there."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. Sorry to bother you, Second Brother!" Chen Gu said as he bowed to Chen Qi again.

Chen Qi waved his hand and said, "Okay, stop trying to trick me. Go back home early. If you keep talking, it will be curfew."

The next day, Chen Gu went to pull the wood back and chopped it for half a day. After breakfast, he called Zhang San over.

Zhang San had no choice but to take the sword with a sigh. Looking at Liu Er rocking in the rocking chair, Zhang San rolled his eyes and said, "Old rocker, my boss has been chopping wood for so long. I think his strength has almost been trained. Isn't it time to practice something else?"

Liu Er looked at Zhang San and smiled, saying, "Chen Gu is indeed a man who can endure hardships. In fact, you can learn from him. Chopping wood is not that difficult. As long as you endure the pain at the beginning, you will not feel it much after ten days or half a month at most."

Chen Gu glanced at Zhang San and sneered, "You are not good at studying, and your physical strength is not that good, what else can you do?
Do you only eat plain rice?
You are so big, but you can't chop wood as fast as me. Don't feel ashamed. Do your job well. I will come back to check later. If I am not satisfied, I will beat you up again. "

"Goodbye, little brother!"

"But this is not what I do, otherwise I would have followed you a long time ago, and how could it be Chen the Executioner's turn?" Zhang San couldn't help but curl his lips. It was he who introduced Chen the Executioner to be the executioner.

Of course, Zhang San at that time wanted to earn some introduction fees. After all, it was not easy for Liu Er to recruit apprentices. He promised that anyone he introduced could get a hundred cents as an introduction fee.

"Ah, you want me to help chop wood again!?" Zhang San's face was full of reluctance. Every time Chen Gu had something to do, he would ask him to help chop wood, and he was not allowed to be lazy.

Yesterday, when Chen Gu went to the mountain stronghold and came back, he found that he didn't cut out much, and Zhang San was beaten up.

"I have something to do outside. Please continue to help me chop wood!"

Liu Er smiled and was too lazy to pay attention to Zhang San anymore. However, Chen Gu's progress was indeed very fast. There was not much point in continuing to chop wood every day, but he could learn something new.

At this time, Chen Gu had already arrived in the south of the city. Jiangjin County was only two or three square kilometers in size, and it would not take much time to travel around the city.

Sihai Teahouse is called a building, but it is actually a two-story wooden building, with a total height of about five or six meters. There is a patio in the middle with a stage, where opera singers, storytellers, singers, and acrobats can perform. The reward money is divided into 30% and 70%, with the boss providing the venue taking 30% and the performers taking 70%. Of course, if you are very good and can bring business to the boss, the share can be negotiated, and it is also possible not to take a share.

The first floor is the general consumption area. The cheapest bowl of gaiwan tea costs only one cent, and you can sit down and watch a day's program. However, you cannot refill the water, and most people are not so shameless.

In fact, ordinary people don’t have that much free time. People come to teahouses just to have fun. They not only drink tea, but also order some snacks.

Most people came to discuss business. For example, as soon as Chen Gui came in, he saw two people sitting at a table with their sleeves put together, discussing the price.

In order to prevent others from learning business secrets, businessmen in this era not only use a lot of jargon, but also put their hands into their sleeves to gesture when discussing specific prices.

This situation continued until the 1990s. At that time, for a big business like buying and selling a cow, people would still go to a teahouse to drink tea, and negotiate the price by gesturing in their sleeves.

The people on the first floor were mixed, with all kinds of people. Chen Gu also saw Wang Jian and Wang Wu from the Cao Gang at a table in front.

After taking a rough look at the situation in the teahouse, Chen Gu looked for Chen Qi while being on guard against anyone approaching him. He had 1,000 taels of silver notes on him, and it would be a big trouble if someone stole it.

Fortunately, Chen Qi was wearing the uniform of a yamen official and was very conspicuous, so Chen Gu soon saw him.

Chen Qi was not far away from Chen Gu, and beside him were two men who were also wearing yamen runners' uniforms. Opposite Chen Qi sat a middle-aged man in brocade clothes, and the two were talking about something.

When Chen Qi walked over, the middle-aged man gave Chen Qi a silver coin, then stood up and walked outside, making room for Chen Qi.

Seeing Chen Gu coming, Chen Qi pointed to the empty seat opposite and motioned Chen Gu to sit down. Then he picked up a white sign similar to the bidding sign at an auction and shook it.

Immediately, a waiter came over with a tray, cleaned up Chen Ke's seat, and left a new bowl of covered tea before leaving.

Chen Gu looked at the three white, red and green signs on the table and couldn't help but be surprised. This method was quite convenient.

"No rush, let's have a cup of tea first!" Because the teahouse was a bit noisy, Chen Qi's voice became much louder.

Chen Gu nodded, looked around while drinking tea, and finally looked at the stage in the middle, where a Sichuan opera was being performed.

Chen Gu took a quick look and then stopped watching. He really couldn't appreciate this kind of national quintessence. But Chen Qi watched it with great interest.

Chen Gu felt that he was wasting time, so he asked, "What's so good about this?"

"It's pretty good. Don't you like listening to opera?" Chen Qi asked in surprise. After all, there were not many entertainment activities in this era, and listening to opera was already a relatively luxurious entertainment.

"Two Sichuan snakes fought with a Henan monk for a Zhejiang man, but ended up flooding Suzhou. How irrational!"

(End of this chapter)