The next day, An Ying went to Batou Street. Although Hong Sheng Ji Tea Shop is not as luxurious as Zheng Yishun Tea Shop, there are not as many tea shops here as on Gaosheng Street. This tea shop is surrounded by cloth shops, gold and silver shops, north and south goods stores, etc. Many people come here to have tea. It's a woman. An Ying walked straight to the counter and asked the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, let me ask you something. I am from the An family. My father was imprisoned a few days ago. I heard that the same thing happened to your master. . I want to inquire, you see..."
When the shopkeeper heard this, he looked An Ying up and down, nodded and said, "I heard about it, but I didn't expect that the eldest girls from the An family are here. If the eldest lady doesn't come with me to my wife's place, you won't be able to do this." If you are looking for us, we must also look for you.”
The lady in charge of Hongshengji is settling accounts in the back room. She has an oval face, wears an azure top and a brown-green skirt. She has her hair tied up, a string of rice beads on her hair, and a sapphire bracelet on her hand. It's not flashy, but it's very decent, and it's easy for people to like it.
An Ying was led to the table, where a cup of fruit tea and a plate of snacks were already placed. "Miss An, I didn't expect you to come here first. I planned to find you in the next two days. It's not easy for me to make tea at my girl's house. Try this fruit tea. It tastes sweet."
The owner of Hongshengji Tea Shop is called Shen Lizhi. "Thank you, Mrs. Shen." An Ying thanked him and took a sip of the tea. It was indeed sweet. It contained pickled plum blossoms and preserved fruits. The pastry was white rice cake with some sugar. , it tastes soft and delicious, with just the right amount of sweetness.
"We all know about your father's affairs. We thought it was just a trivial matter and it would be over with some money in a few days. Unexpectedly, your father hasn't come out yet, and my father has also gone in. I sent someone to go to the Yamen yesterday. ," Mrs. Shen took a sip of the soup, "Everyone said that they were caught first from Fujian this time. From what Dali Temple said, the superiors were dissatisfied with this batch of molds, so they sent people to investigate. But. According to my brother-in-law, the boss usually doesn’t care about tea cakes and even wrote a poem about the astringent taste of tea cakes. However, several ladies love to eat sencha, especially the lady from the Lin family. My brother-in-law said that some days ago, there was a Something happened." Mrs. Shen paused and looked up at An Ying.
Listening, An Ying thought to himself: It's indeed right. Seeing Mrs. Shen's pause at this moment, An Ying answered knowingly: "Is this Mrs. Lin sick?"
Mrs. Shen nodded and shook her head and said, "You know it as expected. But to be precise, he was poisoned and has been unconscious."
"I also heard that Mrs. Lin likes the little phoenix dumplings very much. It probably has a symbolic meaning." An Ying thought for a while and then said: "Actually, I checked all the tea shops that were impounded in Zhejiang, and I found it a bit strange. Yes. They say the mold is wrong and short of weight. In fact, most tea shops have made new molds. Those who were detained are not those who make the most tea cakes, nor are they the ones who use new molds the most."
After hearing this, Mrs. Shen's expression changed. Mrs. Shen, who was originally leaning, sat upright.
An Ying smiled slightly and said: "You see, I have copied the cargo lists of several tea shops that have been seized recently." An Ying took out a piece of paper from his purse. Mrs. Shen took a look and saw that what was drawn on the paper was In the horizontal and vertical grid, the left side is the name of the store, the right side is the name of the various tea cakes, and the corresponding numbers are below. Mrs. Shen was used to making account books. She took a quick look at them and nodded, saying, this is a good method, it’s clear.
An Ying pulled out a silver hairpin from his head and pointed it out: "Look, the biggest tea shop in Huzhou is of course Zheng Yishun. I went to Mr. Zheng's warehouse in Beijing yesterday. They are very nice." , even the tea cakes made with new molds cannot be sold. I looked at the warehouse in their backyard, and most of them are made of copper coins. Look, what is in the tea cakes made by my father and your family this year? , this Xiaofengtuan style accounts for most of it, it seems that the problem lies in this mold?"
Mrs. Shen said sternly: "I didn't expect you to think of this step. Everyone is asking for connections and giving money. When you think about the joints of the matter, you know that the relationship will not work. This is not a matter of how much money, it is terrible. It’s about losing your head.”
An Ying paused and said: "I think there is still room for maneuver. There should be some reason for this matter that cannot be openly investigated. Otherwise, my father and the others would not have kept it under investigation. .”
Mrs. Shen took a deep look at An Ying and said after a long time: "Did you figure this out by yourself?" An Ying nodded and said: "I have been thinking about it for a long time, but I still don't quite understand it. I only slowly realized it last night. Come here, so I came to discuss with you today.”
Mrs. Shen nodded and said: "I didn't expect you to think of this step. I was anxious before and asked people everywhere, but it was my eldest sister who gave me a reply and I finally thought about it. I was thinking about how to get along with you. Please explain the matter clearly. It seems that there is no need for it now." Mrs. Shen took a sip of tea, looked at An Ying and said, "My eldest brother-in-law is a member of the Ministry of Revenue. There will be a banquet at my eldest sister's house in the next few days. My eldest sister arranged for me to go there and said there is some news. Then you can go with me."
An Ying did not expect that Mrs. Shen would help to this extent, and did not react for a moment. Mrs. Shen, however, smiled and said, "Don't think too much. Your mother and I are familiar with each other, and we had frequent contacts in the past few years. It turns out that there are some beads from South Korea in this house, which were all brought by your mother. Later, your mother passed away and no one sent me a message. I found out later." Mrs. Shen pulled out the pearl rice hairpin and handed it to An Ying, saying: "Your mother is very good at playing with these jewelry. This bead is Isn’t it a little smaller?”
An Ying nodded. The beads of this beaded hairpin were not big and small. It was a good thing that the workmanship was skillful, but the luster was a bit poor. Mrs. Shen took a sip of the tea soup and said slowly: "This is the first jewelry your mother made for me. At that time, I had just gotten married. Who knew it would be like this? I couldn't keep anything I had on hand. That day I Go to my eldest sister's house. Your mother is having tea with her there. It just so happens that my eldest brother-in-law has brought some precious stones and beads to her. My eldest sister knows that I am short of money and insists on my choice. I can't refuse, so I choose a box of beads. It was for children to play with. My eldest sister insisted that I choose a good one, but I didn’t want to, so I stayed there. Your mother came out and said that although the beads were small, if they could be made into a row of hairpins, they would be very beautiful. She volunteered to help me make it, and she has been wearing this hairpin since then, and your mother often comes to my place."
An Ying handed back the hairpin and said: "It turns out there are so many things about my mother that I don't know. There used to be a bead shop at home, but then my mother left and no one took care of it, so my father closed it down."
Mrs. Shen nodded and said: "I know that. At that time, I went to your shop to see if I could buy it. It was just a thought. Later, your father said that there was no supply of goods, and your mother's When I was doing my wedding, I said I was going back to Min."
An Ying nodded and said, "That's true. It turns out that both grandma and grandma were ill and wanted to return to Min and return to their roots. My father also understood that it was not easy for them, and we are all grown up, so he agreed."
"When I heard about this news, I felt very unhappy. You were only that old at that time, but later you became ill. Your father sent someone to find me, and I helped find a doctor. Later, you gradually recovered and even opened the shop. Stand up. I thought about asking your father to bring you over for dinner this year to get to know each other, but I didn't expect that we would meet under such circumstances." Mrs. Shen said, taking a sip of tea.
An Ying was stunned. It turned out that he and Mrs. Shen still had such a relationship. He thought it was strange that his father never mentioned such a thing. When Mrs. Shen's family said this, An Ying immediately returned: "My father has never told me about it. I think there have been many things at home in the past few years, and I haven't had time yet. I will definitely come to visit with my brothers and sisters in the future."
Mrs. Shen smiled. There was a little maid outside the door who raised the curtain. Seeing An Ying sitting there, she was very hesitant. Mrs. Shen motioned to her and said, the little maid hurriedly said: "Madam, the second master and the old lady are here. I'm here. I'm in the lobby at the front, and the shopkeeper asked you to come over."
Mrs. Shen smiled, put down the tea bowl, and said: "Miss An, I have something to do, so I won't keep you here. You'd better make preparations in your mind for the banquet. Fireworks, take Miss An out of the back door."
Yanhua took An Ying out from the east corner door of the back room, and faintly heard crying from the front on the way. An Ying looked at the anxious face of the fireworks and asked, "Did something happen to Mrs. Shen? The front is the flower hall of the tea house. Such a noisy situation will affect the business."
Yanhua was a half-grown girl, and she looked about the same age as An Ying. When she saw Miss An asking this question, she started talking loudly: "Isn't that right? The old lady and the second master came to play and wallow again. They asked for money a few days ago. Today, they said that it was the wife’s fault that the master was locked up. They wanted to divide the family property, and they didn’t even want to lose face. If they make such a fuss, our tea house will not be able to do business. You think it’s irritating or not.”
An Ying nodded. He was about to say a few words, but the fireworks ran back as soon as they reached the door.
