Linxia

Chapter 120, Windward

The next day.

Huang Di looked at Liu Hongwen, who was yawning, and asked, "Shopkeeper Liu didn't come back last night?"

"No, I had dinner with Brother Hong at Juxian Pavilion. The wine and food at Juxian Pavilion were really good. When I was happy, I forgot about time."

Liu Hongwen sighed: "It is not easy to meet a bosom friend in life, especially when making friends, it is best to have people of the same status. It is not good if the other person is of higher status, nor is it good if the other person is of lower status. Otherwise, it will not be fun to get along with each other. Only when the status is equal can it be the basis for making friends. Under this premise, it is even more difficult to have the same hobbies."

"Brother Hong and I don't go whoring or gambling. We only care about the desire for food and drink, especially wine. Because of this hobby, Brother Hong and I often get together in our spare time. We go to restaurants and hotels in the city, drink and chat happily. We are so happy..."

All I can say is that wine is indeed a good thing. Throughout history, many business deals have been concluded over wine, and many friends have been made over drinking.

"I smelled some literary air about Manager Hong yesterday." Fang Lin suddenly said.

"Yes, Brother Hong's family also sells books. His bookstore is called Shuxiang Pavilion, which is two streets away from our Xuanmozhai."

Xuanmo Zhai and Shuxiang Pavilion actually have some influence on each other, but it is not too big and they have always lived in peace.

When Fang Lin heard this, he subconsciously frowned.

Huang Di also felt something was wrong and reminded him in a joking tone: "Shopkeeper Liu, colleagues are jealous of each other. It is rare that you and Shopkeeper Hong can be friends... I think the food and drinks are not cheap. If you overdo it, it will really waste money and energy..."

"You don't understand. Brother Hong and I are friends of gentlemen. It has nothing to do with status. When we get along, we don't take advantage of each other and we share the food and drink equally. As for expenses, the money for food is not too much for us." Liu Hongwen waved his hand.

Fang Lin wanted to give some advice for the sake of Manager Liu, but after hearing what Liu Hongwen said, he gave up the idea because he knew it was useless to persuade him.

It is still the same as the evaluation of Liu Hongwen at the beginning. On the surface, Liu Hongwen seemed to be friendly with them, but in fact, he was arrogant and difficult to get close to. It was uncomfortable to get along with him. Essentially, he did not regard the three guys as people of the same level.

……

In the following days, Liu Hongwen often went out to eat and drink with the shopkeeper Hong Yingheng, and their gatherings became more and more frequent, sometimes staying up all night and not returning until drunk... The two of them were arm in arm, calling each other brothers, and looked closer than wife and daughter-in-law.

Liu Hongwen focused his energy on eating and drinking, so naturally he didn't pay much attention to business. In fact, running a bookstore also requires some skills, such as selecting and checking the books that are purchased, adjusting the quantity of various books, maintaining old customers, etc. There are some things that Fang Lin and the other two cannot replace.

The business in the store had become a little worse. Fang Lin and his two assistants saw it and tried to persuade Liu Hongwen once or twice, but he wouldn't listen. Chai Yiwei had a special status, so when Manager Liu came over one time, he said something about it. Manager Liu then called Liu Hongwen over and scolded him. Liu Hongwen then restrained himself for a while and stopped going to Hong Yingheng for food and drinks.

However, Liu Hongwen did not go, but Hong Yingheng came by himself, carrying gifts to visit: "Brother, why didn't you come to me for a drink these days? We haven't seen each other for a few days, and we are a little estranged. Today I came to see you, brother."

Liu Hongwen was a scholar, honest and loyal. He was very touched by the visit and immediately went out to find a restaurant to have a good gathering, order some food and drink. After that, Hong Yingheng would come to visit him every now and then with things in his hand. Liu Hongwen could not refuse such a warm welcome and gradually returned to his old ways.

More than a month passed and the business in the store was affected again. On the contrary, the business of Shopkeeper Hong's Shuxiang Pavilion was getting better and better.

After Manager Liu scolded his eldest son last time, he became concerned. Seeing that his eldest son did not repent, he came back and scolded Liu Hongwen. He then took charge of Xuan Mo Zhai again and brought Liu Hongwen with him to teach him from time to time.

Strangely enough, when Manager Liu was in the store, Hong Yingheng stopped visiting him. However, two days later, Hong Yingheng's younger brother Hong Yingdou came to visit him.

Hong Yingdou took out an account book and put it on the table. "Mr. Liu, my brother is kind and righteous. He often helps you and even forgot to write an IOU. But you know, my brother and I are in business together. I manage the store, but I can't just ignore it. As the saying goes, brothers should settle accounts clearly. I came here today to ask Mr. Liu to pay the debt."

After hearing the other party's intention, Shopkeeper Liu looked at Liu Hongwen. When he saw the embarrassed expression on his eldest son's face, he immediately knew that this was true.

It turned out that when Liu Hongwen and Hong Yingheng went to eat in restaurants, although they did not take advantage of each other, they either shared the cost of food and drinks, or you treat me today and I treat you tomorrow, but with such changing ways of eating, the profits of Xuan Mo Zhai were in the hands of Manager Liu. Liu Hongwen himself did not have much money, and gradually he became short of money and refused to go.

After knowing this, Hong Yingheng said, "I treat you as a brother. You have difficulties, but you only tell me now." Then he waved his hand and lent ten taels of silver. Liu Hongwen said he wanted to write an IOU, but Hong Yingheng stopped him and said, "Since you have said that you recognize me as a brother, isn't the friendship between brothers worth ten taels of silver?"

What does it mean that a friend in need is a friend indeed? This is it. From then on, Liu Hongwen regarded Hong Yingheng as a close friend. In the past one or two months, the other party had given him thirty or forty taels of silver.

After hearing the whole story, Shopkeeper Liu confirmed with Liu Hongwen that the accounts were correct, returned the money, and after sending Hong Yingdou away, he immediately scolded Liu Hongwen again.

This time he was so angry that he didn't allow Liu Hongwen to stay in the store. He sent him back to study and came back to run Xuan Mo Zhai.

Not even two days passed.

Shopkeeper Liu talked about his eldest son Liu Hongwen and sighed, "My silly son, he thought people were sincere when they were obviously trying to trick him."

"After the money-demanding incident a few days ago, Hong Yingheng came to him again and said something like, 'This is a private matter between you and me. Even if you don't pay me back, as a brother, I have nothing to say. But sometimes I feel awkward. We opened the store together, and he also has a stake.' After hearing all these complaints, Hong Wen forgot about it and started calling the other party his brother again... But fortunately, he still knew his limits and stopped eating and drinking like a bro."

Fang Lin listened and shook his head secretly: "As a friend, he cut off his friend's retreat without making a sound. This is what we call friends who only drink and eat together. "

"Forget it, let's not talk about him."

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head and said something else: "A few days ago, we received news that the Beijing Supervisory Office published "The Water Margin", and the Imperial College of Yingtian, the secondary capital, followed closely and also published it... In the future, maybe we can also sell popular novels."

Fang Lin's heart skipped a beat, he knew exactly what this meant: the publication of "The Water Margin" by the Beijing Inspectorate and the Yingtian Imperial College showed that the government had officially recognized the status and legitimacy of popular romance novels!
The trend of popular novels is coming!
……

(End of this chapter)