Xu Da, who was following Zhao Xin, had sharp eyes. He saw the driver's eyes staring blankly, and he stepped forward and cursed in Ningbo dialect: "Nong Lei is familiar with the match point, then Am Zongsa came to express his gratitude to Xu's head and scratched his head. Just like a benevolent person with big eyes!"
Zhao Xin and others looked at each other with big eyes. He seemed to have clearly heard the words "Nong" and "Thirteen o'clock" in the first part, but the second part was completely the same as the heavenly book.
Liu Sheng turned to Pan Xiucheng behind him and asked, "What did this guy just say? I didn't understand a word."
Pan Xiucheng whispered: "It seems that he is scolding those coachmen, but I can't understand it." Pan Xiucheng is from Dongtai, Jiangsu Province, and Xu Dayong speaks the dialect of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. It would be crazy if he could understand it. Woolen cloth!
When several coachmen saw what Xu Dayong was wearing, they knew he was a servant. However, people like me were staring at other women's family members, so they deserved to be scolded, so the coachmen quickly bowed and apologized. Zhao Xin ignored him. He took a step forward, stepped onto the carriage and entered the carriage.
Liu Siting asked: "What were they talking about just now?"
"How can I understand it? Xu Dayong seems to be swearing in dialect. It's okay."
There were three carriages for the group, with Shen Jingdan, Lao Huang, Zhao Xin and Liu Siting riding respectively. The four Liu Shengs who were dressed as bodyguards could not ride in the car, so they could only walk on both sides of the carriage, pretending to be looking after their boss. Liu Zheng and Lu Shoushan trotted closely behind the carriage to keep up.
Xiaodongmen Street is bustling with people, and shops are lined up on both sides of the street. The shops are densely packed with signboards and banners, selling soybeans, wine, rice, rouge and gouache, restaurants, restaurants, porcelain shops, and antique calligraphy and painting shops; there are also stalls on the roadside. Fortune tellers, fish sellers, meat sellers and vegetable sellers, porters carrying burdens, traveling bamboo silk sedan chairs, etc.
Liu Siting carefully opened the door curtain of the car, looked at the scene on the street and said, "It's so lively!"
"It turns out that Shanghai was so prosperous before it opened as a port!" Zhao Xin was very surprised to see how prosperous the streets were through the gap in the door curtain.
Although Shanghai was very prosperous near the county seat at this time, the most prosperous port in this era was Guangzhou, and even Zhapu Port in Jiaxing was more prosperous than Shanghai. It was not until 1843 that Shanghai was officially opened as a port. With the influx of large amounts of foreign goods and the establishment of warehouses, docks, banks, and concessions, the center of Sino-foreign trade in the Qing Dynasty gradually moved from Guangzhou to Shanghai.
There are many wealthy sand ship merchants here in Shanghai, and they are much grander than Zhao Xin and his group. But when the vendors and pedestrians on both sides of the road saw the tall Liu Sheng and others, they couldn't help but look sideways and exclaimed: "These guys are so powerful!"
In Sunan, where the average height is 1.65, almost no one has seen someone as tall and strong as Liu Sheng, who looks like a bear; but Wang Yuanfang and others have a figure of no more than 1.8 meters. All of a sudden, more and more people were watching on both sides of the street. The brave ones just stared at Liu Sheng and the others and pointed; the timid ones peeked sideways and whispered to the people around them.
"I wonder how many bowls of rice this man can eat in one meal."
"How many bowls? Oh, a few kilograms is about the same!"
"Looking at these people, they look like they are guarding the hospital."
"Who can afford to hire a guy like this without impoverishing the boss?"
"Such a big guy, I'm afraid he didn't turn into a mountain spirit, right?"
"Looks like a bear spirit to me."
"Do you think the flower monk Lu Zhishen is just like that?"
Liu Sheng and the others were originally looking around curiously to see the strange things, but they didn't expect that people like themselves would become the biggest strange things on the street. Although he didn't understand what these locals were talking about, Liu Sheng saw countless eyes on the street looking at him and pointing, so he quickly bowed his head, supported the carriage with one hand, and strode forward.
Not to mention Liu Zheng behind him. He was afraid that the braid on his head would fall off because it was not firmly attached, so he covered the back of his head with his hands and lowered his head to follow. Lu Shoushan, Pan Xiucheng and Xu Dayong saw this scene and quickly ran to the first carriage to clear the way for pedestrians on the street.
Fortunately, Shen Jingdan had previously asked the sailors to sail the sand boat from the Huangpu River into the Fangbang Waterway outside Shanghai, and stopped outside Xiaodongmen. Several carriages walked east from Xiaodongmen Street. After about a mile, they turned right into Xiangua Street. After walking a few dozen steps, they arrived at the door of Shen Jingdan's house on Taiping Street.
As soon as the carriage stopped, the servant Ah Si, who heard the commotion, had already opened the door. After Shen and Huang waited for Zhao Xin and Liu Siting to get off the car, they raised their hands to greet them and invite them into the hospital.
This time Liu Siting didn't dare to jump out of the carriage by herself. She first waited for Zhao Xin to get off, and then waited for him to lift the curtain of the car. Then she held Zhao Xin's outstretched forearm and lowered her head to get out of the carriage. After that, she got out of the carriage honestly. He followed Zhao Xin and entered the yard with small steps.
Seeing the usually arrogant Director Liu looking like this, the four Liu Shengs suppressed their laughter and followed Lao Huang into the courtyard. Liu Zheng and Lu Shoushan also followed in pretending to carry two satin bundles each.
After the courtyard door was closed, Xu Dayong, who had his ear against the courtyard door, waited until the rumble of the carriage disappeared, then nodded to the people in the courtyard. Liu Sheng and the other four couldn't hold it in any longer, holding their stomachs and laughing loudly, and walked into the front hall.
Liu Siting took off the veil on her head, looked at Liu Sheng and others in surprise and asked, "Why are you laughing?"
"It's okay, it's okay." Wang Yuanfang shook his hands and explained quickly.
"De Xing~" Liu Siting rolled her eyes and said angrily.
Ah Si, who was standing aside, felt strange about the words and deeds of Zhao Xin and others. Why did the master and his wife talk so casually to the servants? These guys who look like nursing homes are burly and scary. Fortunately, Shen Jingdan had given instructions before, saying that there would be several businessmen from the north in the house, and their conversation and behavior would be different.
Shen Jingdan saw the surprised look on the servant Ah Si's face and said to Zhao Xin: "Dong Zhao, this is my old servant Ah Si. He has been in my house since he was a child."
"Oh." Zhao Xin smiled and nodded at Ah Si, and Liu Sheng and others on the side also nodded as a greeting.
Ah Si quickly saluted Zhao Xin and Liu Siting before going down to get tea and snacks.
At this time, Zhao Xin took off his hat, took off his mandarin jacket, unbuttoned one button of his gown, picked up the fan and started fanning.
"I'm soaked inside. It's already August 15th and the weather is still so stuffy!"
When the upper class of the Qing Dynasty went out for a visit, the servants around them not only ran errands, but also had an important task of carrying the owner's clothes and bags. Many officials and wealthy businessmen have servants who are responsible for clothes bags, which usually contain one or two pieces of casual clothes. The types of clothes depend on the season; in short, they are all for convenience and comfort.
When Shen Jingdan saw that Zhao Xin's back was wet, he realized that he couldn't stand the heat, so he quickly took Zhao Xin to the backyard to wash and change clothes. After the two left, the others sat in the flower hall and continued chatting, curiously looking around at the furnishings inside and outside the house.
Lu Shoushan outside the door looked up at the sky for a while and suddenly said: "I'm afraid it's going to rain tonight."
After chatting for a while, Zhao Xin walked in wearing a gray cotton gown. This dress belongs to Shen Jingdan. It is too small. Not only are the sleeves short, but the skirt is also a lot shorter. It looks like a long top. But Zhao Xin didn't mind. After washing and changing clothes, he felt much cooler.
That's the bad thing about pretending to be a gentleman. No matter whether the weather is hot or not, you must keep your clothes decent. Liu Sheng and the others were playing bunt, but they didn't feel hot.
Liu Siting asked Zhao Xin: "Where should we go tomorrow?"
"Director Liu, don't worry about it. We are not here for fun at all this time. You don't even have a personal maid, so how can you go out? Don't forget about business." After saying this, Zhao Xin did not look at Director Liu. With a look on his face, he turned to Lu Shoushan and said: "You three will go take a look at the newly bought yard in a while. There are so many of us, whether there are enough beds, and see if there is anything missing. If you finish cleaning it, come back and let us know."
Lao Huang listened on the sidelines and said quickly: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, the furniture is enough for everyone. But the house is a bit far away from here, on Sanguantang Stone Street."
Lu Shoushan said: "No problem, please let Mr. Huang know the specific location."
After Lao Huang finished his explanation, Lu Shoushan and the others went out.
Liu Siting also felt that the weather was a bit stuffy at the moment, so she got up and said she wanted to wash her face. Shen Jingdan quickly took her to the well in the backyard. He also helped fetch water and found a new cotton towel. The reason why he was so attentive was because when he met Liu Siting a few days ago, the other party told him that Oginoto was pregnant with a son. Liu Siting also showed Shen Jingdan the images and photos from the B-ultrasound examination and explained to him what the biparietal diameter, femoral length, fetal heart rate data, etc. were.
Shen Jingdan was ecstatic at the time, shouting that the Shen family finally had a child; he even knelt down to thank Liu Siting.
Now Director Liu Da is visiting his home. Because there is no other maid in the house in Shanghai except an old woman who cooks, Shen Jingdan takes care of him personally. Anyway, he also learned during the days when he lived in Beihai Town that people like Zhao Xin were not that particular about "the relationship between men and women". As long as actions and words are not excessive, it will be easy for everyone to get along with each other.
Towards dinner time, it started to rain. Xu Dayong and a boy from Lao Huang's family came back together with umbrellas; it was Lao Huang who arranged for people to clean the yard on Sanguantang Stone Street.
"Master, the yard has been swept clean." Xu Dayong saluted and said to Zhao Xin respectfully.
"OK. We'll go there after dinner."
Lao Huang suddenly said: "Zhao, Mr. Zhao, I don't know your requirements for servants, so I didn't dare to hire servants in advance. Do you think we should send a few people from my house to serve you first?"
"No, we can handle it on our own. Shoushan and Dayong are enough. Besides, we can't stay here in Shanghai for two days."
"Then tomorrow" Lao Huang means to ask Zhao Xin how to arrange tomorrow.
"If it still rains tomorrow, we won't go out. If anything happens, I'll ask Dayong to come find you two. By the way, Boss Huang, can you help me get a copy of the commodity prices in Shanghai tomorrow? "
Old Huang said: "This is easy to handle. I'll let the shopkeeper handle it. Take it over tomorrow night."
There was no words after that. Everyone had a hasty dinner at Shen's house, then got on the carriage Xu Dayong found, and headed to Sanguantang Stone Street in the heavy rain.
Because it was getting late and Liu Sheng attracted too much attention, the group did not pass through the city. Instead, they walked south around Shanghai County for more than an hour before arriving.
Sanguantang Stone Street is located southwest of the South Gate outside Shanghai County. The yard that Lao Huang bought is on the south side of the street. Not far from the door is Qianshi Street, which is very convenient for traveling by land and water. In order to avoid accidents, Shen Jingdan also parked a small boat on the nearby river so that he could board the boat and evacuate at any time.
After the carriage arrived, Lu Shoushan and Pan Xiucheng, who had been waiting for a long time, went out to greet it. Zhao Xin and others got off the car and quickly walked into the yard. Since this place is at the junction of urban and suburban areas, the yard is not very luxurious, but it is very large. The courtyard faces south from the north, and the five-bay main house has two entrances in total, with side rooms on the left and right. There is no sedan hall at the entrance, only a concierge; several straw sheds were built in the backyard.
In addition, there is a street to the west of the courtyard, a courtyard to the east, and a small alley to the north. Go out and walk more than a hundred meters to the west to reach the river.
"This yard was built by a Haizhou businessman five years ago. The straw shed in the backyard was originally a warehouse for storing beans. The businessman made a fortune in the bean business and moved his family to Suzhou. I looked at this place, although it is not rich. But he wasn't too shabby, so he decided to buy it for Zhao Xin's family." Lao Huang stood behind Zhao Xin and explained with a smile.
"It's good. We're not that particular."
Lao Huang's assistant, Lu and Pan respectively carried lanterns and took Zhao Xin and others to look around the courtyard.
After reading it, Zhao Xin said with satisfaction: "Boss Huang, Boss Shen, thank you both very much. It's getting late now, so I won't leave you two alone. If anything happens, I will send someone to find you tomorrow."
Lao Huang has already told Lu Shoushan the location of his shop. If Zhao Xin has anything to do, he will send someone to contact him there directly.
"Dong Zhao, if you all go out for fun, you must tell us in advance to avoid unnecessary trouble." Shen Jingdan said with cupped hands.
"Don't worry, don't worry."
Shen and Huang didn't have the rules of serving tea and seeing off guests until Beihai Town, so they took their waiters and said goodbye. Soon, Zhao Xin and his party were the only ones left in the yard.
Wang Yuanfang stood under the eaves and said excitedly: "This is our first stop in Manchuria!"
Everyone was excited and expressed their opinions one after another.
Liu Zheng fantasized about overthrowing the Qing Dynasty all day long, so he first suggested setting up an intelligence station here to spy on the Qing court. Others also agreed after hearing this.
Zhao Xin didn't see it that way. He felt that although Shanghai County had prosperous trade, it was not the center of Jiangnan. Judging from the preliminary information learned from Shen and Huang, Shanghai is still dominated by sand ship merchants, and most of the rich and powerful officials, gentry and literati live in Suzhou or Yangzhou; these people are the ones who have the best access to the inside information of the Qing court. A fast group of people. If you really want to build an intelligence station to spy on news, the best place is Jiangning or Suzhou.
Jiangning is where the governor's office of Liangjiang is located, and Suzhou is where the governor's office of Jiangsu is located; and Shanghai and Yangzhou can just establish a contact point. But right now it's just lip service. If we really want to build an intelligence station, we won't have enough manpower.
Even if all these pirates in Xu Dayong surrendered, they would only be able to run errands in the markets to get information, and they would not be able to enter the circle of upper-class gentry at all. Even Shen and Huang are in trouble. Their current status in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang business circles is only middle-to-lower. Even if Zhao Xin works hard to support the two of them, it will take time for them to enter the circles of Suzhou or Jiangning through the literary connections in Yangzhou.
In addition, telegraph operators also need to be trained. Liu Zheng's training at the signal relay station established on Flower and Bird Island is okay, but he is still needed to take care of the horses in Beihai Town, not to mention that Liu Zheng can sometimes treat people's illnesses on an emergency basis.
As for Lu Shoushan and Pan Xiu, their achievements are even worse. First of all, these two people are escaped slaves of Ning Guta, and Dongtai is under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture. If they are bumped into by an acquaintance, it will be troublesome.
"Oh! Take your time, there's really no need to be in a hurry."
Everyone chatted in the front hall until late at night to no avail, and finally yawned and each found an empty room to rest. For safety reasons, Lu Shoushan took Xu Dayong to the concierge to stay, while Pan Xiucheng took the bedding to the thatched shed in the backyard.
(End of chapter)
