Chapter 14: The Head of the Zhong Family
Yi Xifeng saw that there was such a big difference in the attitude of the old man before and after, so he thought he was treating him like this because of himself. However, the other party obviously did it in good faith, so he didn't want to annoy others, so he decided to get some information from this little old man.
"Old shopkeeper, we are all sensible people. Since I bought this spiritual nourishing fruit, I naturally know its value. The price alone is not less than one thousand five hundred taels."
At this point, he paused, leaned over and whispered: "I also have a master to take care of me, so I want to ask more, who ordered this courtesy?"
The old man rolled his eyes, and an order came down from above, asking them to give them some benefits when they see this little Taoist priest wearing a white robe. Even if they do business at a loss, they must take good care of this distinguished guest.
At first, the old man didn't care much about it. After all, the things he sold belonged to the second floor of the Bao Pavilion. Such a big customer would definitely not stay on this floor for a long time, so he That scene at the beginning.
"Haha... This distinguished guest, I am also working in the Zhong Family Trading Company to earn a living. There are things I should say and things I shouldn't say. I really don't know!"
Seeing that the old man was quite stubborn, Yi Xifeng walked over and deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Well, if you tell me who spread the message, I can go back and tell the people above me. To be honest, Zhong Home is not for me, but for the people above me.”
After thinking about it for a while, the old man suddenly felt that what the young man said was 80% reasonable. After all, at his age, it was indeed impossible to get such care from the family master.
The old shopkeeper lowered his voice and said: "In this Ruilingbao Pavilion, the person who can give such an order is wrong. He is either the head of the family or a member of the master's family."
"A member of the master's family?" This was the first time Yi Xifeng heard this title, so he asked.
The old man raised his eyebrows, but quickly controlled his emotions and looked very calm on the surface. Yes, this scene still caught Yi Xifeng's eyes. Based on his years of listening to gossip news... Well, it should be based on his years of experience in conducting salary list intelligence inquiries. The old man's expression at that moment just showed that there are many, many things here. Wonderful gossip can be mined, oh, no, intelligence can be discovered.
"Oh, I heard that the Zhong family is originally from Luo Yun State, so the head of the family is also from Luo Yun State?"
"I think this information, little brother, is good! The head of the family is indeed from the Luo Yun Kingdom, but as for the master's family, they are locals from the Kingdom of Beasts."
Hearing this, Yi Xifeng's heart moved. It was exactly as he guessed. This Zhong family firm was once the leader of the Zhong family, one of the six great families of Yinren. And this head of the family was most likely the former Zhong family. Zhong Qianhe, the head of the Zhong family, is Zhong Lingxi’s grandfather.
Thinking of his old friends from Yinren Town, Yi Xifeng felt a little sad. No matter what, being able to meet his old friends in a foreign land was a rare thing for him who was always away from home.
"Mr. Zhong...is he in good health?" Yi Xifeng asked softly.
The old shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "Mr. Zhong? Are you talking about the head of my family?"
Yi Xifeng came back to his senses, blinked and asked in confusion: "Is the current head of the Zhong family very young?"
The old man grinned and said: "That's natural. Our Zhong family leader is also a young and talented person! Otherwise, she can..."
At this point, the old shopkeeper realized that he had let something slip and immediately shut up.
"Oh, haha, I followed my master to learn Taoism in the mountains since I was a child. I didn't expect that things would change so quickly after not coming down the mountain for so many years. I guess the head of our Zhong family only became the head of the family in recent years, right?" Yi Xifeng said seemingly casually. asked, but his heart was far less calm than he appeared.
The old man was a little stunned, nodded and said: "The head of the Zhong family is the grandson-in-law of the previous head of the Zhong family. It was only after their marriage was settled that the position of head of the family was established."
As soon as these words came out, Yi Xifeng's hands visibly stopped, and even the inner energy around him became a little unstable. After a while, he laughed at himself and said: "It's been so long, things will naturally change! Haha, I should have thought of it earlier."
When the old man saw the opposition, his heart of gossip was suddenly ignited again, so he quietly observed Yi Xifeng from the side without interrupting him, and listened carefully to every word the young man said.
"If Zhong Lingxi gets married, won't she have to come back from the Qingyun Sect?" Yi Xifeng asked directly. At this time, he had a calm expression on his face.
The old man didn't expect that this young man knew so much. He was shouting "Mr. Zhong, Mr. Zhong" just now, but now he directly revealed the details of Zhong Lingxi. You should know that because Xiu'er, the head of the family, is in charge of things in Ruilingbao Pavilion all year round, people who hang around here don't talk about the real female head of the family in name!
"Um...Actually, they are just engaged, not married yet." The old man stuttered back.
"Oh? Then I am even more curious about the identity of the head of the Zhong family? Who is it? Can Lingxi be willing to marry?" the young man asked in a deep voice.
The old shopkeeper was stunned on the spot, and even his breathing became a little short.
So exciting! Something big is going to happen! This guy probably has a close relationship with Miss Lingxi! He actually called him Lingxi directly. The key is that he called it so smoothly...
The old man's thoughts were racing. Seeing that the other party was staring at him, he said in a panic: "Uh, oh! You said the head of the family is Mr. Zhong Rui!"
When Yi Xifeng heard this reply, his eyes shrank first, then turned around and left the stall.
The old shopkeeper, who was still stunned on the spot, came to his senses after a few breaths. He rushed towards Yi Xifeng and shouted: "Wait, wait!"
The movement here successfully attracted the attention of others, and even the guards hiding in the dark moved towards this side.
Yi Xifeng found helplessly that not far in front of him, he was already blocking the way, so he had to stop and wait for the old man behind him to catch up.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Why did you just leave?" The old man finally ran over, but it was obvious that he was out of breath because he ran too fast.
"Oh? Are you going to sell me the nourishing fruit and red fruit for nine hundred taels?" The young man wearing a moon-white Taoist robe asked calmly, but he did not lower his voice so that the surrounding guards who were watching the movement could hear. arrive.
The old man nodded and continued: "Well, of course!"
"Well, before I entered the venue, I had already paid a thousand taels of silver. Do you know how to deduct the fee?" Yi Xifeng asked again without waiting for the other party to say anything else.
Regarding the admission fee deduction mechanism, Ruilingbao Pavilion is relatively advanced. Whenever customers come to the stall, they will register there with the inner energy breath, and their admission ticket (which costs one thousand taels) The one I bought) also retains their own inner energy.
When they finally left, everyone handed back their tickets, and Baoge would check with everyone again based on the buyer information left in the store.
"This is all registered, no problem." The old man said pitifully.
Yi Xifeng tilted his head and asked in a cold voice: "In that case, do you have anything else to do with me?"
The old man suddenly became a little stuttering, "This is between you and the head of the family... that, between you..."
Looking at the way the other person scratched his head, he naturally understood the pain of being aroused by the soul of gossip. That desire to be strongly satisfied can only be satisfied by more gossip. This is probably why many middle-aged women like to listen to and understand gossip. important reasons.
After all, as the old saying goes! "The way of heaven is to make up for the excess of damage!"
However, Yi Xifeng would not satisfy the old shopkeeper's pursuit of gossip. Without looking at him, he resolutely turned around and left, heading towards the third floor. Before leaving, he whispered to the other party: "You didn't tell me anything, and I don't know the connection. You just made a miscalculation and came over here to give me change."
The old man looked at the back of the young man leaving on the trail, and naturally understood the warning in his words. At the same time, he was increasingly looking forward to the development of the subsequent events.
…………Dividing line…………
In the empty room on the sixth floor of Ruilingbao Pavilion, Xiu'er was having lunch with her maid. As a resident of the Kingdom of Beasts, the big families here are different from the aristocratic families in the Central Plains. Influenced by Confucianism, the Central Plains aristocratic families divided people and things in the world into the so-called "lords of heaven and earth, relatives and teachers", and even divided people into three, six or nine grades.
The Kingdom of Ten Thousand Beasts is different. It has even been looked down upon by Confucians. It is willing to associate with monsters. Naturally, there is no class distinction as Confucianism talks about. People in the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Beasts also feel that the people of the Central Plains countries are too hypocritical. These monsters have grown up with their masters and are more reliable than the most reliable companions. Why can't they keep company with them?
Naturally, the aristocratic families in the Kingdom of Beasts do not agree with the hierarchy of the Central Plains aristocratic families, where master and servant are subordinate. In their minds, dining with servants can not only bring them closer to each other, but also provide safety.
After all, they had heard that many aristocratic families in the Central Plains died because their servants were bribed and poisoned. To them, this is indeed stupid and ridiculous.
At this time, a strong man dressed as a guard leader reported outside the door.
Xiu'er pushed the food box in front of her, wiped her mouth with the wet handkerchief on the table, and said, "Come in!"
The strong man pushed open the door and walked in. After walking a few steps, he knelt down on one knee and cupped his hands and said, "Report to the master's house. The young Taoist priest who is being watched has information to report."
Xiu'er, who was dressed as a girl in front of her, frowned slightly, but it could be seen from his spread-out eyebrows that although she dressed like a girl, her speech and behavior were close to that of a young woman.
"Just say it!"
"The little Taoist priest walked around on the first and second floors for less than half an hour, and then after entering the third floor, he started to make purchases."
When Xiu'er heard this, her frown relaxed a bit, and she said calmly: "It's good to buy on a large scale. What's wrong?"
The strong man raised his head slightly and did not see the girl's face. He could only vaguely see the long, slender and round legs from under the table!
Taking advantage of the emptiness of the other party's questions, he only dared to glance at it with his peripheral vision, and then answered honestly: "The main thing is that the things he bought were all on credit!"
"What? Credit?" After hearing this, Xiu'er's eyes widened.
The strong man obviously knew the temper of this little ancestor, and immediately explained: "From the third floor upwards, we have set up auction houses of different sizes. This kid did not take credit at the ordinary stalls, but kept raising the bids. Then he bought all the auction items he liked at extremely high prices.”
At this point, the girl also understood the other party's routine. After all, auctioning is different from selling from a stall. The stalls on each floor are subject to one-hand payment and one-hand delivery, while the auction involves bidding first and then leaving the venue before the actual gold and silver delivery takes place. After all, all the customers who come here to bid have paid an admission fee, and no one is stupid enough to deliberately amuse the Zhong family business, so it is rare that the bidding price is too high and the final delivery cannot be made.
"What did he buy?" The maid on the side suddenly interjected and asked.
The steward of the escort took out a piece of yellow paper from his arms, the ink on it was still fresh.
Xiu'er took the yellow paper passed from the maid's hand, and after scanning the contents, she found that this young man had bought a lot of medicinal materials, as well as some weapon refining materials, and there were several barrels of good quality Western Regions in the list. wine!
"That's interesting. Why would Brother Rui pay attention to such a person?" She looked at the amount on the paper and found that the cost was about three thousand taels. Then he asked the kneeling strong man again, "How much did he pay for these things in total?"
"In total, it adds up to ten thousand taels!"
After hearing this number, the girl made a judgment in her mind. If something worth three thousand taels can be sold for five thousand taels at auction, the auction house will make a profit. You must know that this industry is actually not easy to work in. As long as the goods are good, they will not be sold. There are many good goods that are placed there because of the price, and in the end they can only be unsold.
But something like Yi Xifeng, which cost only more than 3,000 taels, actually sold for a high price of 10,000 taels. It was not an auction item, but a list of items, and in the end he chose to pay on credit.
Then nine times out of ten, this person is deliberately looking for trouble.
Xiu'er nodded and whispered: "Let us check, who does this little Taoist priest communicate with more closely on the first and second floors?" The maid on the side immediately bowed and accepted the order.
Then she looked up at the guard leader and said calmly: "In that case, if we at Ruilingbao Pavilion can afford these more than three thousand taels, let's agree to his credit first. Besides, I don't care about this person. I’m getting more and more curious. When he gets to the fifth floor, we’ll make arrangements. I want to meet him.”
The strong man also followed the order and left. At this time, Xiu'er was the only one left in the entire hall. She stood up from her seat, raised her hands and stretched, and a proud curve appeared at the girl's hip and waist! She slowly walked to the window and looked towards the street to the south.
Ruilingbao Pavilion is located in the center of Nanshi Street in the Nancheng District of Xuanwu City. From here, she can clearly see the southern city wall and the dense woods outside the city.
"Brother Zhong, Xiu'er will definitely handle the things you entrust me with. You should also think of Xiu'er in Luo Yunguo!"
