in spring

Chapter 105 Worrying
Uncle Lu's eyes lit up: "Please tell me."

Hu Fei thought for a while, and then expressed his thoughts.This embroidered picture is a masterpiece of Gu Embroidery, which is usually favored by female relatives of literati families.Originally, the grandmother accepted this gift during her lifetime, and it should be buried with her when she died, but it was kept because it was not the grandmother's favorite.In order to curry favor with the official of Prince Ke's mansion last year, Hu Peng found out that his main family was from a scholarly family, so he dug out this embroidery and sent it along with other belongings. Only afterward did he know that the wife didn't care about things at home. Yes, I regretted it immediately, and then I gave another big gift to the official's concubine, so I got connected with his family.

That lady didn't care about business at home, she only chanted scriptures every day, and was almost bullied by her concubine's house. She didn't care about the poor character of her servants, who stole a lot from them, so everyone secretly laughed at her as Mrs. Nuomi.If you want to get that embroidery, you just need to find the girl and daughter-in-law next to the lady, and you can get it out easily. When people ask, they just think that the original owner disposed of it by themselves.

Hu Fei said: "That lord doesn't care about internal affairs, and he doesn't know anything about the jewelry of the royal family. He has never heard that Princess Jing is looking for this embroidery, so he should not stop it. It would be best if Uncle Lu could think of a way Really, I know a woman next to his wife, her husband is the best wine drinker, and I happened to hear someone mention the restaurant I usually go to."

When Uncle Lu heard this, he was overjoyed. When he learned the name of the restaurant from him, he got up immediately: "It's not too late, I'll find someone to go. Thank you Brother Hu for your help." After saying that, he bowed and left.

Hu Fei was a little dazed, and then he became confused again. Could Second Uncle Lu be so considerate to him just for a piece of embroidery?He couldn't believe it.

With Hu Fei's information, Second Uncle Lu quickly got the embroidery and delivered it to the young master.A few days later, he came to chat with Hu Fei again. In the words, he mentioned that the young master was dealing with a well-known imperial merchant in Beijing recently, and found that the guy who came to contact him was not very reliable. He seemed to be suspected of embezzling public funds by falsely declaring the price , and told the imperial merchant, who knew that the guy's sister was the imperial merchant's concubine, and she was very dignified in front of the owner. Although the two sides did not quarrel, the business froze.

After Hu Fei asked about the origin of the other party's name, he told Uncle Lu that the fight between wives and concubines in the imperial business was so fierce that the old people in the family hid in the temple, but the old man of his family was still very influential in the family's business. Yes, often give orders to his son.So Uncle Lu tried a way to let the old man know about it, and the problem was quickly solved.

From then on, Second Uncle Lu chatted with Hu Fei from time to time, intentionally or unintentionally inquiring about some wealthy families in Beijing, sometimes it was about the in-law relationship or friendship of a certain imperial businessman, and sometimes it was about the ulterior motives of a certain dignitary. Hobbies, and sometimes the owner behind several big shops... Hu Fei has been with his father for many years, he may not have paid attention to these things, but he has experienced or heard of them, and he is more or less familiar with them. After understanding, they told Uncle Lu one after another.Gradually, he also became aware of it, knowing that Second Uncle Lu was using him to find out the secrets of the imperial business circle.

Hu Fei was a little worried.Originally, Second Uncle Lu was Chunying's uncle, and he helped him so much when he was in trouble, and even brokered several deals for him, which made him earn a lot of money. He should try his best in terms of emotion and reason. Repay, let alone just say a few gossip?But he couldn't help being afraid.The object and content of Uncle Lu's inquiries seem to imply something. If you continue to tell him the matter, will you get burned?

In addition, from Uncle Lu's tentative words, Hu Fei noticed that his father seemed to have an ulterior relationship with some ministers in the court, and after his death, this relationship was inherited by his elder brother Hu Peng And carried forward.If I continue to "chat" with Uncle Lu, will my father be accused of a crime one day, and there will be no peace when he dies?
Hu Fei was worried, and finally, a month later, Uncle Lu mentioned again in the "chat" that the young master recently wanted to buy a good bottle of Guanyin to honor the old lady. He heard that Liang Taishi's family had a very exquisite white jade Guanyin , is a treasure tributed by foreign feudal vassals. I don't know if there are similar ones on the market.He seemed to have just mentioned it inadvertently, but Hu Fei knew it well.

He took a deep breath and said: "Although Uncle Lu is only thinking about the young master of your family, the white jade Guanyin is extremely rare and expensive, so why bother to make such an idea, and it will be thankless in the end? Think about who is Grand Master Liang? That kind of family status is not something our Hu family can climb, how can I know these things?"

Second Uncle Lu picked up a melon seed and said with a smile: "This is too modest. You must have never heard that your elder brother with eyes on the top of his head gave a bottle of Jade Guanyin to the old man in the Liang Mansion a while ago. Fengjun, in the end, he just said a few words indifferently, and then put it aside without looking at it, because there is a more precious Guanyin statue in the Liang Mansion. I was just curious for a while, wanting to know what is better than that What does the statue of Guanyin look like? People say it is a treasure tributed by foreign feudal clans, so why did it go to the Liang family?"

"This is someone else's private matter, how do I know?" Hu Fei straightened his back, "I'm not afraid of Uncle Lu's jokes, I have already been kicked out of the house, and I have severed ties with Hu Peng's family from now on. What crime did he do? He has to bear it himself. I just hope that he will settle down a little bit so that he can take care of the property left by his father, accumulate more virtue, and do less things that violate his conscience, so as to avoid retribution on me in the future. gone."

Second Uncle Lu chuckled: "Look at my mouth! Of course the Hu family has nothing to do with my little brother. Everyone in the capital can see it. No matter how many evils he commits, he can't be considered my little brother." Come up. It turned out that I was negligent, and I said something wrong on a whim, and it's all my fault. I'll replace the wine with tea and make up for you, right?"

Hu Fei hurriedly stopped and said, "I dare not take it, I'm being rude." The two pushed back and forth, and Second Uncle Lu looked for an opportunity to bring up other topics before breaking the matter apart.

Thinking back afterwards, Hu Fei broke out in a cold sweat, and hated Hu Peng even more in his heart.Originally, as an imperial merchant, the Hu family would inevitably have to socialize with important officials in the court, but when their father was there, they had always grasped the propriety and did not get involved too deeply.As a result, as soon as Hu Peng took over, he thought he was smart. Maybe the Hu family's family business would be destroyed in his hands in the future!
Presumably after this conversation, Second Uncle Lu won't come to him for information again, right?Even if he comes again, he has no secrets to offer.In the previous year, he served his sick father, and he didn't care much about external affairs. Most of the news he knew was old and useless.In the final analysis, this kind of thing can't be done for a long time. If the people of the Qingguo Hou Mansion want to know the latest news in the imperial merchant circle, they should find a serious imperial merchant.

Hu Fei also thought of the few businesses he had made under the advice of Uncle Lu, the money was easily obtained, and things went very smoothly, it seemed that there was nothing to worry about in the future, but he was doubting that once he couldn't do it again Provide information to Uncle Lu, will these help no longer be available?At that time, besides dozens of taels of silver, what else will I get?
At the beginning, he decided to start from the middle man and start a family from scratch, so that he could stand out in the future and defeat Hu Peng. However, if he got used to the "help" of others and stopped working hard, he might gradually lose his wits to strive for success.When that day comes, how can I have the face to say that I have to rely on my own efforts to trample Hu Peng under my feet? !
Hu Fei made up his mind, and after finishing his middleman business, he stopped taking new ones. He just stayed at home every day, helping Wei Gong and Aunt Wei with some carpentry work, and even learned how to boil water for cooking. meal.

Second Uncle Lu felt something in his heart, but he didn't show it on the face, but he was thinking about it in his heart.Recently, because of information about Hu Ershao, the Eldest Young Master has made a lot of contributions in front of Lord Hou. Not only Lord Hou valued him more and more, even Prince Jing looked at him with admiration. The wife has already become vigilant and restrained for the time being. better.After all, Hu Ershao did meritorious service. It's not beautiful to push him too fast.

So he stopped mentioning those rumors to Hu Fei. When chatting, he only talked about where the cloth was produced, where the chickens and ducks were plump, which shop had the most delicious wine, which restaurant had the freshest fish, and which restaurant had the freshest fish. The young lady is beautiful, which young master is young and talented, which aunt is hot, which girl is delicate... It's just a matter of romance, and even the middleman's business is occasionally introduced to one or two, not as many as before. .

Seeing him like this, Hu Fei breathed a sigh of relief. After thinking about it carefully, he was still doing business with middlemen, but spent more time at home.Chunying felt a little strange, so she ran to ask him: "You always went out a few days ago, why are you staying at home these days? Could it be because you are sick?"

Hu Fei was puzzled by the usage of the word "house", and said with a smile, "How could that be? I'm just thinking about what I'm going to do in the future."

"In the future?" Chunying blinked, "Didn't you do a good job as a middle-aged person? If you continue like this, you will earn thousands of taels of silver in two years. With these capitals, you can buy land if you want." Okay, it’s okay to open a store, or go outside to do business, didn’t you think about it a long time ago?”

"But it didn't depend on my own ability." Hu Fei hesitated for a moment before saying, "In the end, others only asked me to do it for Uncle Lu's face, and Uncle Lu also found both the upper and lower families. No need to worry about it. I feel that I am not as useful as when I was on Funing Street. At that time, I found a buyer for Father Jiang by running errands by myself. Although I earned less money, I felt more at ease. I ...I can't always rely on Uncle Lu's help, I have to find a way to make a living by myself."

Chunying finally found out that there was something wrong with what the second uncle said that day.That's right, the business that the second uncle entrusted to Hu Fei was completely arranged. If it was just to avoid offending acquaintances and avoid red eyes from others, there was no need to arrange it and then hand it over to Hu Fei. It's like sending money.In this way, the second uncle suffered a disadvantage, and Hu Fei didn't learn any experience except for money. How could the two be compatible?
So she asked: "Then what do you think? How about... find a job yourself? You used to be a middleman on Funing Street, can't you just follow suit?"

Hu Fei shook his head: "It's not that easy. I originally thought it was too simple. To do this business, you must not only have a good reputation, but also be familiar with every household in the streets and alleys. Uncle Lu has arranged everything, and I often encounter difficulties. Even if I wanted to get to know those neighbors, I was afraid of alarming my elder brother. Although he has the care of the Hou Mansion, he dare not do anything to you and Uncle Lu, but this place is still far from the Hou Mansion. Who knows that he was forced to What will you do in a hurry?"

Chunying lowered her head and thought for a while: "Then...you can't be a middleman anymore? Anyway, you have earned some money and have capital, so why don't you start some other small business? Should you rent a small store, or go to Tongzhou to buy goods? Let go elsewhere?"

"My little money may not be enough. Who else is richer and more powerful than me? If I rent a store, I'm afraid that when the Hu family comes to the door, I won't be able to escape."

"So..." Chunying tilted her head, "You want to find a way to make money that doesn't require too much capital and is easy to get away with?"

(End of this chapter)