"Brother Chen." Ye Yongjia came to Chen Tongpao's residence and saw that he was packing his luggage and ready to leave.
Tongpao Chen raised his head and bowed: "Thank you, Magistrate Ye, for the hospitality these days. Chen is deeply grateful."
"Once you leave this time, I don't know when we will see each other again."
Chen Tongpao walked downstairs, dragging his luggage, and said: "The prefect can go to Yangzhou with me someday, so that all parties will know your details better, and they will not dare to act recklessly."
After hearing this, Ye Yongjia said with emotion: "Chen Tongzhi really thinks about me. If Brother Chen hadn't come to visit, I wouldn't have known..."
Tongpao Chen stopped, looked at him resolutely, and patted his shoulder: "This is nothing. Dear brother, please remember: the hard days are gone, just let go and do it."
These kind and powerful words made Ye Yongjia feel very warm. He watched Tongpao Chen walk out of the door from a distance and saw his figure standing in the cold wind, and his eyes couldn't help but moisten. It's been a long time since he made a friend who could maintain such true feelings.
The period when Chen Tongpao was away from Yangzhou was the most stressful time for playing house. Although Wenzhong helped the Hunan people successfully take over the important task of the dyeing workshop, his reputation has not been established yet, and Wenzhong only relied on Wenzhong to support the scene.
However, Wen Zhong was still committed to helping his family get back on track, and had not yet taken into account these external things; the people in Hunan and others did not dare to disobey him, and just watched his power grow stronger.
On the surface, he treated Wen Zhong like a big brother to his compatriots, agreeing with everything he said and being as humble as ever, but secretly he was scheming with the managers and was determined to seize power.
Since Wenzhong often had to take care of the gambling house, he wanted to hand over all the seals and other items to the Hunan people and ask him to handle the official affairs of the dyeing house. The people from Hunan declined and said: "The people from Hunan are young and energetic, and they are ignorant and always make mistakes. Why don't you choose another person to do it, and I will be a little involved."
After hearing this, Wen Zhong thought that all his family members were mediocre people, and that the people of Hunan were honest and loyal, so they should have no suspicion, so he called Master Guan Qi to come over, gave a few instructions, and then handed over the seal. .
The people of Hunan were about to take this opportunity to check their thoughts. When they saw that Guan Qilai had to take over the job in the end, they could not help but feel dissatisfied and had many opinions.
The stewards became indignant: "This man is just a thug in a gambling house. He is a gangster. He has committed many cases of killing and wounding people. This year, he has become even more glorious!"
Some complained even more: "Such a villain came to take care of our family's dyeing workshop. I really don't know how high the heavens are... If Wen Zhong is allowed to continue to ruin it, where will the dignity of the family be?"
Not only that, during daily life in Hunan, he also heard his sister-in-law say: "Brother Wen is going too far. He asked Guan Qi to take care of our business, and I don't let you, brother, take care of it..."
The people of Hunan also took advantage of the situation and kept their words of refusal silent. With the chattering and complaints in the house, the gap between them and the gambling house gradually deepened.
Since there is a conflict between the government and Wenzhong's gambling house, the Xiang people's strategy is half successful. He wanted to further develop his plan, so at the instigation of several stewards, he went to ask Guan Qi for his seal.
"Okay, you can go." Guan Qi stamped his seal on the list, handed it to the dyer, then yawned and closed the door with his backhand.
"Damn, I'm not used to pretending to be a shopkeeper!" He spat, and was about to sit back in his chair when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the wooden door several times, so he turned around and asked, "Who is it?"
"People from Hunan."
"Brother," Guan Qi opened the door, maintaining a serious expression and speaking in a calm tone, "I'm afraid you're tired from attending the funeral of my late brother all day long. Come and sit down."
When Xiang Ren walked into the room, Guan Qi poured a cup of tea himself because he liked his character. Xiang Ren smiled and said, "You're welcome, Master Qi."
"Well, I'm afraid I haven't had time to taste a good tea in so many days. I'll try it here too. Don't say more." Guan Qi firmly placed the tea in his palm.
The Xiang people took a sip and found it bitter and tasteless.
"How?" Master Guan Qi asked.
The Xiang people shook their heads and smiled bitterly: "My late brother passed away, and I am extremely sad. I don't even know the taste of good tea."
"Good boy..." Guan Qiye sighed heavily.
"I have decided," Xiangren put down the tea bowl and seemed to get to the point, "in order to live up to my late brother's kindness, I must manage the dyeing workshop well. 'Success and fame' are his last wish..."
Guan Qi's mind turned quickly and he suddenly looked at the young shopkeeper. What does this guy mean? He thought that he had always only seen the loyal side of the Hunan people, but suddenly they made such a move in the middle of the road. He was surprised and almost caught off guard. I even thought I heard something wrong, but I never doubted that I had misunderstood.
He coughed and said something subtle: "To shoulder such a heavy burden, the pressure is not something ordinary people can bear."
"This is my late brother's last wish." Xiang Ren's eyes red from crying looked directly at Master Qi. Now he was no longer pitiful, but rather scary.
After all, Guan Qi had seen ups and downs. He was stunned for a moment and thought: "This guy is shrewd." I didn't give him this thing before, but now he wants to fight with me. You didn't reward me even a penny for playing house. If it weren't for the shopkeeper Youwen, how could I expect to receive your treatment! ’ Then he was ready to refuse to agree and embarrass him.
"You..." As soon as Guan Qi left his mouth, he suddenly changed his mind: 'Our family is today's glory because of the complementarity of each other. If anger offends the house, the gambling house will be in danger. '
"Master Qi, tell me." Seeing that he seemed to be hesitating, the Xiang people urged him.
"Your brother has such great ambitions. He is indeed a famous member of the Jiangnan Province. If you want to inherit his ambition, you must practice more now," Guan Qiye said, taking out a few seals from the corner of the table and holding them in his hand. Palm, "It's useless to talk. Shopkeeper Wen has told Guan that it's inconvenient for me to hold the seal after all, so I might as well hand it over to Si Xing. Now that I have the opportunity, it doesn't matter if you take charge of everything."
The Xiang people stopped being respectful and stretched out their hands to receive the seal letter, but still bowed deeply: "Thank you Qi Ye, regardless of the Hunan people's rudeness."
"With the seal in hand, don't you think it's convenient to go out with the filial piety on you?" Guan Qi asked with reluctance.
Xiang Ren said: "If the Qi Dynasty declines for one year, if you stick to the rules, nothing will be accomplished. If the elder brother has a spirit in heaven, he will not want the younger brother to be idle." After saying this, he clasped his fists again and went straight out. go.
Before the Xiang people left the house, Guan Qi left the house, hurriedly walked along the corridor, walked to the door, and stopped the slave in the stable: "I will go to the dyeing workshop with your master, and prepare the horses quickly."
The slave was stunned for a long time, said "Oh" twice, and picked out a dark horse. At this moment, Guan Qi was still thinking about the Guoxiang people in the dyeing shop, and his thoughts were drifting to Wen Zhong in the gambling shop.
He jumped on the horse absentmindedly and raised his whip three times. The slave was thrown to the ground by his whip and almost got hit by a horse's hoof.
