In mid-September, there are still more than ten days before the Winter Clothes Festival. Other paper money shops are often still in the warm-up and preparation stage for the Winter Clothes Festival. However, the paper money shop in the east courtyard of the Chu family is already crowded with people. Nowadays, those who buy and sell paper money know that burnt paper with copper coins and paper ingots sell well. Even in many towns under the county seat, people have begun to come to Changqing Street to purchase goods. They are afraid that Chu Ji’s paper ingots are in short supply, so they naturally have to go early. Some came to purchase.
Fortunately, most of the workshops in the backyard of the Chu family's old house are used to make paper ingots. There is no problem in supplying them. It's just that Jiang Quan, who is responsible for purchasing materials and delivering goods to the county, has a hard time. Although he has Lin Ji's fleet, Yes, but he needs to personally follow and supervise every time, which is not an easy job.
Since the paper money shop has entered its peak season, Shen Luzhu has temporarily stopped painting coffins. Every day, he and Chu Xiuxiu help Song He who is very busy. On this day, Shen Luzhu is busy in the east shop. Song He, who had just gone out to help a boss load goods, came in and said, "Madam boss, the Jiang brothers have delivered the goods."
As soon as Shen Luzhu looked up, he saw Jiang Quan carrying paper money into the shop, followed by many brothers from Lin Ji's team: "Cousin, I will move these paper money to the warehouse at the back first, and I will come out to talk to you later."
"Okay, take your time, don't rush."
After all the paper money was moved into the warehouse, Shen Luzhu took some reward money to everyone in the motorcade and invited everyone to drink tea. Then he took Jiang Quan to the main room, and then went to Jiang Juan who was doing embroidery work. Come over with Chu Yi who is making coffins in the west courtyard.
When Jiang Juan heard that her brother was coming, she hurriedly put down her work and ran out: "If I remember correctly, it was not my time to deliver the goods later. How are my father and mother lately? They are in good health. We are at home. The farmland should be harvested soon, remember to ask Dad to hire some laborers in the village to help, so as not to tire yourself out."
Jiang Quan looked at his sister from side to side, smiled and comforted him: "Don't worry, sister. I will take care of my father and mother, and I have also found someone to help in the fields. Let's not talk about it for now. My cousins, I came here early this time because I have something to tell you."
Chu Yi refilled the tea cup that Jiang Quan had just finished in front of him, and then said, "But what happened in the workshop?"
Jiang Quan shook his head and said, "It's not over there. The workshop and Brother Chu Ping's shop are both fine. Yesterday at noon, Sister-in-law Yuan Shuang's aunt Fat Auntie went to the house and said that she met a stranger when she was chatting with people in the village. People were asking about you in the village. The fat aunt said she didn’t think those two people were good people, so she stopped the villagers who wanted to talk and sent them away. Chu Ping, Brother Zhao Cheng and the three of us discussed it. It’s better to tell my cousin and sister-in-law about this as soon as possible, so I sent the paper money two days in advance.”
Shen Luzhu was a little confused: "Inquiring about us? Could it be that people from other villages were curious about what happened to us in the county, so they went to the village to ask?"
"No, cousin, the fat aunt said, those two people just asked about the location of the Chu family's old house, whether there was a shop, and where the workshop was. When someone talked to you, they started to ask you about your previous affairs. It's not like ordinary people. Villagers curious and chatting."
Chu Yi heard this and asked, "Fat Aunt, did you tell me what the characteristics of those two people were like, their clothing or appearance?"
Jiang Quan replied: "Fat Aunt seemed to have only said that those two people were not dressed like people in our village, but they didn't look like they were from rich families. I don't know the rest. I wasn't there at the time, so maybe she said What did Brother Ping forget to tell me? If my cousin wants to know, I’ll go find Fat Aunt and ask after I go back. It’ll be quick, and I’ll be here early tomorrow morning.”
Chu Yi waved his hand and said, "No, I'm just asking casually. What's the fuss about? Even if Fat Aunt remembers it, we may not know who the other party is."
"But……"
Shen Luzhu also advised: "Just listen to your cousin. All the brothers in the team have left. Just stay at home for a few days and spend time with your sister and Xiaobao."
"Whatever you want to eat tonight, my cousin will go to the restaurant to order it later."
Jiang Quan chuckled and said, "Okay, then I will listen to my cousin and sister-in-law and stay at home for a few days before returning to the village."
To the two people who went to the village to inquire about their affairs, the young couple secretly
Li has been guessing for a long time, but there is no evidence, let alone the purpose of the other party asking about their past affairs, so the guess can only be a guess.
Around the Winter Clothes Festival, while the Chu family was busy buying and selling paper money, Shen Luzhu's painted coffins quietly became popular again.
The cause was the old lady who bought the brown-red nanmu coffin with golden auspicious cloud patterns. It was only then that Shen Luzhu learned from the neighbors that the old lady’s husband’s surname was Meng. That day, the man who accompanied her from her shop and called her "Aniang" was not Mrs. Meng's son, but her son-in-law.
Mrs. Meng's family originally came from this county. In the early years, the man did some small business, and the family was relatively comfortable. The old couple only gave birth to a son and a daughter. When they grew up, they found good marriages. , But the good times didn't last long. After Mrs. Meng's wife left, her only son naturally inherited the family's small business. However, he was not a business person, and he lost all the family property in just a few years.
In the early years, life at home was pretty good, and her married daughter would show some filial piety to her from time to time. Mrs. Meng still had some private money in her hands. The family business could no longer continue, but life had to go on, so Old Mrs. Meng used her private house from time to time to supplement her family income.
But even though she had made money, she couldn't bear to spend money every day. As time went by, Mrs. Meng's money became tight. As her days became poorer, the greedy and selfish true colors of her daughter-in-law and son were gradually exposed. After he couldn't get any money out of his hands, he kicked the old lady out of the house and sent her to her sister's house.
After all, Old Mrs. Meng's daughter and son-in-law were filial, and they had been living happily together for the past few years. Until a few days ago, Old Mrs. Meng's health became worse and worse, and she passed away peacefully one night.
Old Mrs. Meng has gone, so the daughter and daughter will naturally inform the only male member of the Meng family. Knowing the virtues of their brother, the couple has no intention of leaving the old lady's funeral in other hands. The family has already taken care of everything that needs to be done. But unexpectedly, they underestimated the shamelessness of the Meng family's sons. Not only were they indifferent to their grandmother's funeral, they even had other ideas.
The sons and daughters-in-law of the Meng family actually complained that the daughter and son-in-law of the Meng family had misappropriated Old Mrs. Meng's private house, saying that it was the property of the Meng family, and that when Old Mrs. Meng was still at home, she could use a few taels of silver every month to supplement it. Yes, after all these years I have been staying at my daughter's house, but I still have a hundred or so taels in my hands. I will not give up until these coins are returned to them.
The daughter and son-in-law of the Meng family were very dissatisfied with what the couple had done for so many years. How could they agree to such a rogue request? They ignored them and planned to bury Mrs. Meng at home. However, the couple interrupted the funeral procession. They were forced to stop on the street and made a fuss on the road for a long time. Finally, the government intervened and calmed down the farce.
Such a shocking incident naturally attracted many people in the county to watch. While everyone scolded Mrs. Meng's son and daughter-in-law, many people also noticed the red-brown car that was forced to park on the street. , a coffin painted with golden auspicious cloud patterns. After asking around, I found out that it was the coffin used for Chu Ji's funeral on Changqing Street.
This matter caused quite an uproar in the county town, and it was the talk of people's mouth for several days. Sun Zhang, Sun Ji's nephew who was left in the county town to look after his family's ancestral coffin shop, naturally knew about it, but this farce did not stop him. The words were just passing by, but it was the coffin that was said to be very special that aroused his slight interest.
The Sun family's subordinates will naturally inquire about anything that interests the master's family. Besides, it is not a secret. Within an hour, the name of Chu Ji's funeral reached Sun Zhang's ears.
It's the Winter Clothes Festival recently, and the paper money shop in the east courtyard is busy, but the west courtyard is no different from usual.
When there were no customers in the coffin shop, Gao Tongshan would move a chair and sit in front of the shop. While continuing to look after the shop, he would help some customers in the shop next to him who bought more, loading and unloading their cars.
"Mom, please slow down."
Gao Tongshan had just reached out to help the white-haired lady who came out of the paper money shop. She looked up and saw an extraordinary man walking straight towards this side from across the street.
Gao Tongshan glanced behind the man at the carriage and driver waiting there. When he looked at the man again, he had already arrived at the steps in front of the shop.
Seeing this, Gao Tongshan hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Master, are you here to see the coffin? Come on, it's very cold outside, come in and take a look."
Sun Zhang walked up the stairs leisurely with square steps. He first stopped for a moment in front of the large sign with the price, and then walked into the coffin shop called Chuji under the guidance of Gao Tongshan. .
There are nine coffins in the middle of the shop, which are similar to ordinary coffin shops. Most of the materials selected are pine and cypress, but some have patterns or meaningful patterns on them.
Sun Zhang walked around these coffins. After looking at them one by one, his eyes moved to the layout of the entire shop.
"Sir, please don't look at the fact that our coffins are sold at a reasonable price. The materials used for these coffins are also ordinary wood. Our boss personally selected each tree, so it is guaranteed to be a whole piece of wood.
And look at our craftsmanship, the thickness of the wood is even and moderate, and the surface is polished smoother than a mirror. If you reach out and touch it against the grain, you won't feel it at all, whether it's the grain of the wood itself or the gaps in the inlay. of.
The most important thing is that our coffin has its own characteristics. Look at these pictures and decorations. They are all painted bit by bit by the owner himself. It’s not as beautiful as it is symbolic, right? "
Seeing that the other party nodded lightly and did not say anything, this kind of performance, if said to be dissatisfied, was looked at very carefully, but if it was said to be satisfied, it did not look like it.
Combined with his clothes, Gao Tongshan felt that this person must be the son of a wealthy family. He must not be dissatisfied because of the price. Could it be because the material is too ordinary?
So he continued to sell: "If you think the pine and cypress ones are a bit ordinary, we also have nanmu ones. If this nanmu one doesn't appeal to you, I have an idea.
If you are not in a hurry, you can wait a few days and ask my boss to find some more expensive wood for you. It can be custom-made, but at this price, it will be more expensive than these already made ones. So some. "
