in spring

Chapter 129 Farewell
Seeing the excitement in Hu Fei's eyes, Second Uncle Lu smiled slightly, but said nothing.Chunying brought tea over, and he also signaled her not to disturb Hu Fei, Chunying felt a little guilty in her heart, seeing Hu Fei's eyes were straight, thinking he was thinking about something, so she obediently went down.

Second Uncle Lu drank his tea unhurriedly, glancing at Hu Fei from time to time.

Hu Fei was in a mess, surprised and hesitant, but he calmed down after a while, took a deep breath, and said, "Uncle Lu, what do you mean... you want me to be in charge? It's just me and The Huo family is not related, but Mr. Li and Uncle Lu are willing to entrust this job to me. I don’t know what conditions are there? To tell you the truth, Uncle Lu, although Hu Fei is now a mere ordinary citizen, he has no intention of giving up his identity."

"Hahaha..." Uncle Lu laughed, put down his teacup, and slapped Hu Fei on the shoulder vigorously, "Okay! I finally saw the right person! If someone else had listened to my words, I would have been so happy that I couldn't find the north." , the first thing must be to say that he will do a good job, how can you care about other things? You can remember to ask for conditions, and you are not willing to join a wealthy family just to get rich, so you have not lost your head!"

Hu Fei was stunned, but smiled a little embarrassedly.He just felt that the friendship between the young master of the Hou Mansion and Uncle Lu was not deep enough to entrust him with such a confidential matter, so there was no reason to simply entrust him with the errand.I am young and inexperienced, and I am not a child of the Li family or the Huo family, why did they choose me?

Besides, no matter how much he wanted to get ahead, he didn't plan to sell himself as a slave. If he did that, his father would surely die a grievous death. When he saw his brother in the future, what face would he have to accuse him of being unfilial?
Hu Fei respectfully said: "The boy is also very happy in his heart, and he is eager to get things done, but the meal has to be eaten bite by bite, so I have to ask Uncle Lu to explain it clearly."

Second Uncle Lu smiled, took another sip of tea, and said, "Actually, it's easy to say. This matter... the masters of the Hou's Mansion don't know about it. Our young master won the aunt and aunt——" It was the private trust of the master of the Huo family that quietly took over the job. On the face of it, the Huo family was in charge. There was someone in his family who was dedicated to this job, and the boat and manpower were ready-made. You can no longer take care of them, and you need to send a reliable and knowledgeable person to help. You are not from the Li family and the Huo family, but it is a good thing - because there is no interest involved, and there can be no interest involved! What happened in the fleet You have to consider all the big and small things you encounter on the way to Nanyang, and report them to the young master or me, otherwise... report to the aunt. If... There are other people in the Huo family or the Li family If you want to get in...you have to find a way to drive people away! In short, just keep an eye on the whole fleet." He raised his eyebrows: "How? Can it be done?"

Hu Fei thought for a while, then nodded slightly: "Although I have never done such a thing, I have seen it a few times when I was with my late father. If Uncle Lu and Mr. Li can trust me, let me try it." .”

"Not only do you have to try, but you also have to learn quickly." Uncle Lu said seriously, "You have to subdue all the people in the fleet before you go to sea, otherwise you won't be able to convince the crowd when you are on the road, what happened? We are thousands of miles away, but we cannot save you!"

Hu Fei gritted his teeth: "I promise I can learn it and do it well!" As long as you can be cruel and know the means, what else can't be done?He has given up his sense of shame a long time ago now, if people don't offend him, he won't offend others, if others provoke him first, don't blame him for being cruel!

Second Uncle Lu nodded in satisfaction. This young master of Huangshang is quite smart and calm in doing things. As long as he lets go and puts aside all kinds of worries, he will surely become a master.As for the ambition in the other party's eyes, he didn't take it seriously. How can a man live without ambition?He has known each other for a while, from his own private observations, to the comments of Duke Wei and the neighbors, plus what his young master heard from the fourth master's young master Xu, it can prove the young man in front of him. In terms of character, the other party should not be the kind of villain who breaks promises for money.

He smiled and brought up another matter: "By the way, the salary of the manager is 160 taels a year-this is also on the surface, and you can bring your own private goods in private, as long as you don't miss the company. The Huo family has always been going to Nanyang. Last spring, more and more people were thinking of going to Nanyang, so they planned to go to Xiyang (Note), but because Jin Shanbo was seriously ill, It was temporarily put on hold. When you arrive in the south, get started as soon as possible, and then you can talk about Nanyang, and take your time in the Western side. There are rules and regulations for everything, and you just follow it. If you don’t understand, just ask people. As for The things you bring by yourself... Tea, silk, porcelain, cane sugar, etc. are very popular on the other side of Nanyang. If you have less capital, you can bring more cheap goods. The price can be multiplied several times! Porcelain silk and satin don’t need to be high-grade, you can take it easy when you get to the south, don’t worry.” Then he approached Hu Fei and whispered: “When you return, remember to exchange more silver, Nanyang has many Silver, but... If you have good gems, pearls, corals, etc., you will naturally bring more, it depends on your palm..." He smiled slightly: "If you get such things yourself, you can sell them to others. Our young master, the young master will arrange a place to go, and the price will naturally not lose you."

Hu Fei took a deep breath, stood up and saluted him solemnly: "Thank you, Uncle Lu, for your guidance. If the boy messes up the matter, I will come to see you!"

The matter of Hu Fei's departure from Beijing was settled in this way, but he was going to Nanyang, but only Uncle Lu and Chunying knew about it.Chunying felt very uncomfortable, and once asked her second uncle in private: "Why did you ask Brother Xiaofei to go to such a far place? Long-distance sailing is still very dangerous at this time, what should I do if something happens?!"

Second Uncle Lu sneered and said: "We need such a person to do things, and he also needs a chance to make a name for himself. How much can Tongzhou achieve as a middle-aged person? There are certainly stable days, but is this what he is looking for? Don't stop him. He has been a rich and well-clothed son since childhood. He humbled himself to those vulgar women and was bullied by hooligans, so you won't feel wronged for him?"

Chunying opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.Second Uncle was right, she couldn't just want Hu Fei to live a peaceful and ordinary life just because she wanted to.He is young, talented, capable, ambitious and motivated. If he doesn't make a breakthrough, he will be very unwilling, right?
But she is really reluctant!

If it was modern times, she would treat it as a good friend or a big brother who went on a long trip, and would not think too much about it, but this is ancient times!It would take a year to go back and forth to Nanyang. In case of any accident, maybe she would never see him again, but she couldn't tell him not to go. This kind of mood is more than entanglement?

Chunying cried secretly in the room with her back on her back, then wiped away her tears, went to look for Hu Fei, and said: "Brother Xiaofei, you are leaving, I...I have nothing to give you, I will give you Would you like a new pair of shoes?"

Hu Fei put down the clothes in his hands, glanced at her red eye circles, and nodded silently.

Chunying knelt down, took out the cloth tape that served as a ruler from her sleeve, and measured Hu Fei's feet, but suddenly her eyes became hot, and she shed two tears on the ground. She quickly lowered her head to cover it, and pretended to smile: "Little Why is Brother Fei's feet smaller than before? Could it be that he has walked less recently, and his feet have also become smaller?"

Hu Fei clearly saw the tear stains on the ground, but he just pretended not to see them. He forced himself to laugh and said, "My girl is getting better at joking, why are her feet getting longer and smaller? You can make them bigger for me. I wear them to walk, so they need to be comfortable. some."

"The shoes I made are naturally comfortable." Chunying put away the cloth ruler, straightened up, leaned against the wall, and lowered her head, "Going out is better than staying at home, Brother Xiao Fei, you have to take care of yourself. Nanyang The weather is hot, but the sea breeze is also strong. Don’t forget to add clothes at night. Also, I heard that people who have been on the boat for a long time will suffer from a kind of scurvy, which can be fatal! When you go to the south, Remember to buy some oranges and other fruits and take them on board the boat. They can prevent scurvy and quench your thirst... There are many mosquitoes in Nanyang, and I heard that there is also miasma. You should take more pills with you, just in case... ..." After speaking, his voice was choked with sobs.

Hu Fei felt sore, and kept nodding: "I know, don't worry, girl..."

"Also, I know that you want to make a lot of money when you go back, but you can't make enough money. The most important thing is to save your life..."

"Okay..." Hu Fei turned around and wiped his face, then turned around and smiled, "Sister, you should be more careful when you are in Beijing. It's okay if you are at home, but if you return to the Hou's mansion to work again, remember to be cautious in everything, and don't be soft-hearted again. You should think twice when you encounter problems, and ask your trustworthy sisters more. There are too many shady things in the big family, and you can't manage them. You are just a little girl, let the masters take care of those things. , you have to save your life and wait for me to come back..."

Chunying's eyelashes trembled, and tears dripped down: "I know..."

The two faced each other silently, Hu Fei suddenly remembered something, hurriedly got up and went to the bedside to search for a long time, found a jade bead tied with a red and black silk rope, and handed it to Chunying: "This is the jade bead that was brought in last time. Among them, the most transparent one, I originally planned to give it to you on my sister's birthday, but now it's too late, so I had to send it in advance. My hands are clumsy, and the knots I tied are ugly and tight, so don't dislike it."

Chunying took it over and recognized that the silk rope was the kind she used for tying knots, but the knot was indeed very rough, but this kind of heart was rare, thinking that although Hu Fei had been selling makeup jewelry for so long, he himself was not. It is really difficult for a jeweler to do such delicate work.She tied the two ends of the silk rope into knots to make a bracelet, put it on her hand, and said with a smile: "Brother Xiao Fei is a good crafter. Look, isn't this beautiful?"

Hu Fei turned his face away, and when he turned back, he had recovered to the original shape, but there was still some redness at the base of his ears.He took a few deep breaths, wanted to say something, opened his mouth a few times, and finally his expression dimmed, and he only said: "Sister...be careful!"

Chunying nodded solemnly: "Brother Xiao Fei, you have to take care of yourself!" After saying that, she smiled and said, "Be sure to come back safely! Will you bring me a present?"

Hu Fei smiled, nodded and said: "I will, I... I will..."

*Note: "Western Ocean" refers to the Indian Peninsula, the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa in the Ming Dynasty.

(P.S. Do you have JQ?)

(End of this chapter)