The beautiful girl in the cage wearing a curtained hat walked up to the attic frequently and gracefully, causing everyone to look at each other, and they all exclaimed that this young man who had won a night of spring dinner was really lucky.
A crisp bell rings! The next party started. As the saying goes, the best is always behind. Everyone’s eyes widened. The red gauze pouring down from the high platform slowly slid down. A young girl in a crimson dance dress was like a delicate rose, blooming on the high platform. On the gorgeous stage, she has a hairpin and bird feathers, a veil on her face, silver bells on her bare feet, and she dances to the beat.
Sometimes the girl lowers her eyebrows, sometimes she relaxes her hands, and her long sleeves crisscross left and right, like a fairy walking in a dream.
Su Xiaolou held a folding fan in his hand, his mind wandering, when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the corridor.
"Dong dong dong!"
There was a knocking sound at the door. The maid put down the wine bottle in her hand and went to open the door. Su Xiaolou looked at the person who came. He was a middle-aged man in his forties with a Chinese character face and two large gold rings on his hands for fear of fear. Others don't know that he is rich.
After the middle-aged man came in, he introduced himself: "I'm Qian Guiming. I'm next door to the young master. I heard that the young master is here to find a salt partner. I happen to have a batch of salt on hand, and I'm here to seek cooperation!"
Su Xiaolou leaned back, found a comfortable position, and pretended to be cynical: "Boss Qian may not have heard clearly. I am here to find a stable salt supply partner, and the quantity must be large. There is no other way. Too many salt stores at home are also troublesome!”
“Absolutely large quantity and stable!”
"Oh? Jia Baoyu, come and pour wine for Boss Qian."
Boss Qian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the second-generation ancestor opposite him, who was stupid and had a lot of money, revealed his intention to cooperate. He heard that the imperial envoy came to Yangzhou in advance to inspect the salt. This made him anxious. He had this batch of salt. If the road is not right, you must take action quickly, otherwise you may be in prison in your next life.
After sitting down, Boss Qian asked calmly: "May I ask where Mr. Jia is from?"
"Nanjing."
Boss Qian looked at Su Xiaolou's gold silk and satin clothes and thought about his network of contacts in Nanjing. He had never heard of any Jia family in Nanjing!
"My father is engaged in politics and business. When I go out, I usually use a pseudonym to avoid unnecessary trouble. Boss Qian understands official matters. If you don't want to be involved, don't pry so much! I will pay you to sell the goods. We each get what we need.”
"Yes, yes, yes!" Boss Qian naturally knew the power of this and nodded repeatedly. However, since he came from an official family, he should know that the imperial envoy came to patrol the salt. How could he collect salt at this juncture? This second-generation ancestor either has something wrong with him or his family is extremely powerful.
"This is my first time going out on business, so naturally I have to be more cautious. I also want to show the old man at home what I am capable of. Just now, Boss Qian swore that the amount of salt in his hands was large and stable. I don't know what Boss Qian has in his hands. Where does the salt come from?”
Boss Qian squeezed the wine glass tightly, with a confused look on his face. He didn't know how to explain: "This... Mr. Jia, the quality of the salt in my hand is definitely not a problem. You can go to the warehouse to inspect the goods. As for the place of origin, this... indeed It’s hard to explain.”
It’s hard to explain because it’s from a wrong place. This is what Su Xiaolou was investigating on this trip. He pretended to be very reluctant and muttered: "In that case, let’s inspect the goods first! I am too lazy to look for other places, which delays me. The young master is happy and free."
"Then let's do it tomorrow!" Boss Qian was elated and drank a few more drinks.
…
After Su Xiaolou walked out of Fengxian Tower, he felt that he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember it.
Something doesn't seem right. Could it be that I drank too much, my mind is confused, and I haven't had a few drinks!
"Boss!" There was a sound of footsteps behind them. The fat man and the scholar ran out chasing Su Xiaolou, shouting: "Boss, why didn't you call us when you came out!"
Su Xiaolou smiled awkwardly: "I said I forgot something, but it turns out I forgot you guys!"
The blind man said proudly: "Fortunately, I have sharp eyesight. I saw a bunch of gaudy things swishing past my eyes. It even dazzled my eyes. When I looked again, it turned out to be you, the boss!"
Su Xiaolou shouted angrily: "I will give you a pestle, but you don't want that eye either."
"..."
A young man came after the blind man. The blind man rubbed his hands in embarrassment and said hesitantly: "That...boss! Me! I don't know if I want to come to such a high-end brothel, and I don't have enough money! Otherwise...you can do it for me..." Pay it forward.”
Su Xiaolou kicked the blind man on the butt, and his blood pressure soared. He chased the blind man and kicked him: "I said, what are you looking at here! It turns out that you are waiting for me to pay the bill for you! You spent all your time picking up girls in front of me and asked me to Come and pay for you, you are so good! They can pay it, so why can’t you! Why don’t you borrow it from them!"
Everyone's expressions darkened and they remained silent. The waiter's face was full of contempt and he reminded him: "They only ordered one girl."
Su Xiaolou was so embarrassed that he dug his toes on the ground. This was so embarrassing. He really wanted to draw a clear line with these weirdos. The eight of them couldn't scrape together a few taels of silver, and they didn't know what the girl was feeling at that time. She was alone with eight of them. The picture was so exciting that Su Xiaolou couldn't even imagine that if this girl's family didn't have a seriously ill mother, a younger brother with huge gambling debts, and an illegitimate child to be raised, he wouldn't be able to convince himself to fight for this money.
They, the poor Su Xiaolou, knew this, but they never expected that Lu Datong would be so poor, and all their fortunes would be wiped out just like that...
"How much is left?"
The boy said: "There are still five taels of silver left!"
Angry, Su Xiaolou still took out his wallet and paid the money for them. Who would let himself be exposed to these weird people! After the boys left, Su Xiaolou kicked each of them, making them scream.
In the evening, Su Xiaolou met with He Bi and his group. He Bi was slumped on the chair and rubbing his temples. He felt that his head was buzzing and his whole body was feeling bad. He didn't even take a few bites of dinner.
Lu Datong's father, Dr. Lu, was found to be selling illicit salt. This meant that the amount of salt issued by the Cleaning and Transportation Department did not match the amount of salt supplied by the salt farm. Since they did not match up, the people in the Salt and Transportation Department simply stopped pretending. It's a showdown, Xiao Shangao's account books are stacked on Yanyunshi He Bi's desk, check it out! Just look it up! We don’t even understand it ourselves!
Why bother lying there with the few accountants he brought over to read the account books all day long? Their heads were about to explode. The account books were simply a mess. Either there was an extra sum of money, or there was a few pounds of salt missing. There were so many things to sort through, so I asked the accounting clerks directly why they had to call everyone in the Salt Transportation Department to clarify the reasons for each expense.
These people all blamed Lu Langzhong for things they couldn't explain, as if they had reached a consensus, which was really disgusting.
It seems that there is little hope of finding evidence from the account books that Yangzhou corrupt officials have embezzled salt affairs!
