Judgement

Chapter 9 Forced to Helplessness

The largest Zhengji Shoucai shop in Lin'an City is located beside the Selling Fish Bridge. It opened here in the late Tang Dynasty. It has gone through six generations from a small shop and has become the largest Shoucai shop in Lin'an City.

In the morning, not long after the door was opened, a man and a woman walked into the longevity shop, the man was thin and the woman was short and fat.Boss Zheng clasped his fists at the man and the woman and said, "Xiao Ke's surname is Zheng Anji, and he is the shopkeeper of this shop. Are the two of you a fairy at home?"

Anyone who runs a longevity shop cannot introduce their products to others like other businessmen. If you say to people: "How good is my longevity material, do you want it?" Unlucky, it's not bad if you don't smoke, so this deal can only be seen by the buyer, and it can only be decided by others whether to buy or not.

Chen Yougui and his wife asked Boss Zheng: "Shopkeeper, do you have any good birthday materials here?"

"Hehe, both of you. It's not me, Zheng Anji, who is bragging. I won't talk about it. If there is a better longevity than Zheng in Lin'an City, Zheng is willing to climb a circle in Lin'an City."

Chen Yougui and Chen Jiujin didn't care about the quality of the coffin. They only cared about the price of the coffin. It shouldn't be too expensive. If it's too expensive, you'll get less money in the future, and it shouldn't be too cheap. If it's too cheap, it won't be in Chen Mengsheng's hands. how much money.The couple were wandering around in the Zhengji Shoucai Shop, and the shopkeeper Zheng was also a handsome figure. Looking at the outfits of the couple, and looking at their posture, they already guessed eight or nine points in their hearts.

"Hehe, do you guys have any interesting longevity materials? Come on, you two let me, Huang Po, sell melons back, and someone Zheng can be your adviser. You two come with me." Shopkeeper Zheng led Chen Yougui The couple went to the inner room, and Chen Yougui smelled a strange fragrance as soon as he entered the inner room.There are more than ten mouthfuls of birthday cakes placed inside, and each mouthful of birthday cakes is covered with red silk.

"You two, this longevity material is the treasure of our shop." As he spoke, he slowly uncovered the corner of the southernmost longevity material, and the room was filled with light immediately.This longevity material is actually carved from a whole piece of Hetian jade, green and transparent.The eyeballs of Chen Yougui and Chen Jiujin almost fell out, they were so beautiful.

Chen Jiujin asked stupidly, "Isn't this longevity material going to cost a lot?"

Shopkeeper Zheng smiled without answering and only held out a finger.

"1000 taels?" Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head lightly, and Chen Yougui and his wife couldn't help but secretly gasped.

Shopkeeper Zheng said: "Both of you say that gold has a price, but jade is priceless. This longevity material is called Fugui Ronghua. It is a whole piece of Hetian jade that has been carefully carved by more than 300 craftsmen for five years. The price is 1 taels of gold. , This longevity material is carved with "Before the shopkeeper Zheng finished speaking, Chen Jiujin was scared by the 1 taels of gold and covered the red silk, for fear of accidentally breaking it.Shopkeeper Zheng had already seen from their clothes that the two of them were definitely not rich and powerful people, it was because when they entered the store, they spoke too much, saying what to look for, even the kings and grandchildren are not so big Therefore, even if Shopkeeper Zheng wants to kill Chen Yougui with his arrogance, how can ordinary people use jade coffins?Shopkeeper Zheng saw that the couple were frightened and foolish, and the goal had been achieved.

"You two, what do you think of this birthday cake?" Shopkeeper Zheng lifted the red silk from the birthday cake next to him, and a rich fragrance came out. "This longevity material is small-leaf rosewood from Persia."

Chen Jiujin hurriedly asked, "How much does this cost?"

"3000 taels of silver."

Chen Yougui also knew that Zheng Ji's longevity material shop in Lin'an City really deserved its reputation, so he said with a smile: "Shopkeeper Zheng, let's not joke. We can't afford this kind of longevity material. My eldest brother Gangxian left, and only kept One is an underage kid. That's why I, a brother, helped to pick out the best birthday cakes."

"Then I don't know how much longevity material you want to choose?"

This is also what Chen Yougui is worrying about, and Chen Jiujin beside him said: "My elder brother has been in business for more than 20 years, and we don't know how much property he has, but the family has three acres of fertile land and a big house. You should choose a few hundred taels of longevity material."

Shopkeeper Zheng twirled his three long beards and thought for a while, thinking for a while that the three mu of fertile land plus one big house would cost 300 taels of silver, and said, "Then how about the two?"

Chen Yougui and his wife followed shopkeeper Zheng to a corner of the outer room, and saw a mouthful of golden lacquer longevity materials.The front of the coffin is painted with cranes and deer in the stele hall, and two snow-white cranes are soaring above the glazed tile hall. On both sides of the hall are lush green pines, and on both sides of the coffin are two golden dragons chasing and teasing. Orbs.Around the dragon are painted weapons used by the Eight Immortals such as Lu Dongbin, also known as the "Dark Eight Immortals", as well as Guqin, ancient paintings, plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, bamboo, peach, durian and longevity fruit.All the pictures on the coffin are made of powder, gilding and other techniques, as well as the deployment of pigments, which fully incorporate the painting style of ancient Tang Sancai into it, making the whole coffin solemn and dignified.

Shopkeeper Zheng said: "I was born in Suzhou and Hangzhou, and died in Liuzhou. This birthday cake is made of Liuzhou wood, and the price is 500 taels. What do you two think?" The birthday cake that shopkeeper Zheng mentioned was actually earlier. It was ordered by a member of the staff in Lin'an City in 200. At that time, he paid 200 taels of silver and entrusted shopkeeper Zheng to beat a mouthful of birthday cakes in Liuzhou. However, the water ran out of the house and the whole family was burned to clean, so the mouthful of birthday cakes has been kept. Shopkeeper Zheng even paid [-] taels of silver after paying the shipping fee.

Chen Yougui and Chen Jiujin both thought it was good at first glance, and Chen Jiujin countered the price to shopkeeper Zheng.But shopkeeper Zheng said: "If there are less than 600 taels of Liuzhou wooden longevity wood in Lin'an City, I would rather not take a penny." Later, I came to Chenjiazhuang to collect the money and wrote down the receipt.Shopkeeper Zheng ordered his staff to set up a donkey cart and send it to Chenjiazhuang.Chen Yougui and his wife boarded the ferry from the West Lake, and headed west all the way to Chenjiazhuang.

When we arrived at Chenjiazhuang, it was already late, and all the masters in Chenjiazhuang were amazed when they saw this Liuzhou wooden coffin.Unexpectedly, this Chen Yougui was really nice to his elder brother, and he was willing to spend 500 taels of silver.Chen Mengsheng had never had a good impression of Chen Yougui and his wife since he was a child, especially Chen Jiujin.

Chen Jiujin said to Chen Mengsheng: "Qingzhu, we will be a family from now on. Your second aunt watched you grow up, and you are much more filial than that girl." He would bring lame Yang Laoliu back to her natal home to have a look, but every time Chen Jiujin would open his mouth to ask for money, that girl simply stopped coming later.

Chen Youfu's funeral was also very grand. Chen Yougui even called monks to do the funeral, just after he was buried in the earth.Chen Yougui and his wife brought the treasurer Zheng from Lin'an City to Chen Mengsheng's house and asked Chen Mengsheng for money.As soon as Chen Mengsheng heard it, he understood that the second uncle had cheated him, and his heart was filled with grief and anger.

After Chen Mengsheng finished Chen Youfu's funeral, he took out all the money he had with him, and put it on the table.Chen Jiujin saw that Chen Mengsheng had only given out such a small amount of money, so he howled and scolded Chen Mengsheng for being unfilial, and hiding the money even after his father died.The cited neighbors all came, and Chen Jiujin howled even more vigorously.

Chen Mengsheng had no choice but to say to shopkeeper Zheng: "When my father left first, he only gave me two taels of silver, and three hanging coins. Now that my second uncle owed the money to my husband for my father, Mengsheng had no choice but to transfer the land and money to him. The ancestral house is mortgaged to Mr.

Shopkeeper Zheng thought that he would have to go to court with Chen Yougui, but he didn't expect this child to be really stubborn.Chen Yougui and his wife never expected that the elder brother really didn't leave any money for Chen Mengsheng.In desperation, he handed over the land deed and house deed to shopkeeper Zheng. Chen Mengsheng only took a few winter coats, but Chen Jiujin still didn't believe it. None of the copper plates.Chen Mengsheng looked at Chen Jiujin coldly.He loosened the bun on his head, and took off all the clothes on his body, leaving only a pair of slit trousers that were slit all the way between his waist and thighs. It was the twelfth lunar month of winter, and Chen Mengsheng was immediately bruised from the cold.Throwing the clothes to Chen Jiujin in front of everyone, Chen Jiujin touched the clothes for a long time before returning the clothes to Chen Mengsheng.

"Second Aunt, you have to check carefully." The neighbors watching in the yard scolded.Chen Mengsheng got dressed and took out a piece of paper from the desk drawer.Walking in front of Aunt Osmanthus: "Aunt Osmanthus, this is your family's Jinlian's birthday. I, Chen Mengsheng, have no luck and cannot let Miss Jinlian suffer from the cold with me. Aunt Osmanthus, I really feel sorry for you."

"Good boy, I don't blame you. It's just those two beasts in human skin."

Chen Mengsheng took down the magic ruler hanging on the outer room, and was about to walk out of the courtyard. "Wait..." The one who stopped Chen Mengsheng turned out to be shopkeeper Zheng.Shopkeeper Zheng saw that the child in front of him liked it so much, and he had only three girls, so he felt pity for him.

"Little brother, where are you going in this place, why don't you go back with me."

"Shopkeeper Zheng, thank you for your kindness. I know that the land and the house are not enough for your 500 taels of silver, but Chen Mengsheng is already penniless. I appreciate your kindness."

Shopkeeper Zheng took out a purse from his arms and stuffed it into Chen Mengsheng's coat, "If you have any difficulties, come to me in Ancheng."

Chen Mengsheng left without looking back.