Update time:2012-10-08
Where there is truth there is lies, there is black and there is white, there is crying and there is laughter, there is life and there is death.
It is normal to open a coffin shop opposite a medical clinic. Of course, it still seems awkward to be face to face with only a foot-long street in between, treating the living while making money from the dead.
Moreover, the facade of the People's Medical Center is also refreshing, and the couplets hanging at the door are even more neat. The first couplet is "The good hand and the benevolent heart remove the suffering", the second couplet is "Morality and art win the spring breeze", plus a horizontal line of "Hanging the pot to help the world"
, put some more medicinal flower pots in the shop, and the doctor sitting in the restaurant holds a book about a saint in his hand, this posture alone is enough to beat the dark coffin pavilion.
Pedestrians on the road also habitually pass by the medical clinic instead of the coffin shop. Why? It’s not a taboo! [
Is there anyone in this world who likes coffin shops?
Officials are divided into nine grades, and their professions are divided into three hundred and six. This person is also divided into three, six, and nine grades.
The one who hangs the pot to help the world is a high-class person, second only to the official. Compared with the scholar who has no fame, he is not bad. The coffin bearer is a low-class person. From the boss to the clerk, he is not bad anywhere.
Treated with respect.
A serious person would only deal with the people in this coffin shop only when they meet with casual matters. Normally, if he lowers his head and disappears, he will not see him if he raises his head.
unlucky!
However, Xia Laosi, the owner of the coffin shop, never regarded himself as humble. On the contrary, he regarded himself as superior to others, especially Mr. Zhao, who was sitting across from him. Not for any other reason but because his coffin shop was a humble business.
, but the amount of money earned is terrifying.
He, Mr. Zhao, is a Chinese medicine practitioner who only earns a few copper coins. If he meets someone with a poor family, he might even apply a few medicines. Only when he meets an official or a wealthy family can he earn a few taels of silver.
But he, Xia Laosi, has really made a lot of money. The coffin only costs a little wood, man-hours, and the cost is only a tael of silver. But if it is sold, the starting price is 5 taels, and there is no need to negotiate for a tael less.
Those who buy coffins are all eager to restrain their loved ones. How can they care about it? If they stretch out their heads and shrink their heads, they will also be slashed. They can only bite the bullet and buy it. Add some useless items, and a coffin will at least earn a profit.
Sixty taels of silver.
A pound of pork is only seven coppers. These six taels of silver can buy a fat pig. In addition, there have been constant wars outside the customs in the past two years. People will die in these wars, and the dead will need coffins. Naturally, poor families cannot afford it.
But you can’t stop there are many rich people.
Looking at Ningyuan City, there are more and more wealthy families. Not to mention the original big households, there are thousands of merchants traveling from north to south. Who is missing money in their pocket?
Birth, old age, illness and death are commonplace. People die every day, and people have to lie in coffins every day, not to mention the countless people who died in the chaos of war.
In a radius of a hundred miles, even Xia Laosi only has three shops that specialize in selling coffins. How can this business be booming?
Money is in danger, those businessmen risked their heads and came to the outside of the pass just for money. He, Mr. Xia, gave up his family business in the pass and ran to Ningyuan City just for money.
Those people make money from living people, while Xia Laosi makes money from dead people.
A dead person's money is also money, and it won't be hot if it's money, so you can feel at ease when you hold it. I'm not cheating, so why should I treat myself lightly?
These days, those who have money are the uncles. Emperor Taizu set the ancestral system back then and forbade merchants to wear silk and satin. But look at it now, which wealthy businessman doesn't wear silk and satin?
Could it be that the government could still arrest everyone wearing silk and satin?
So, don't take too seriously what is noble or low, only pay attention to money. As long as you have money, the government will not care what you wear.
[
Turning the beads in the abacus, he glanced and saw that Mr. Zhao had sent away another poor woman who came to treat a disease. Mr. Xia couldn't help but sneered: "That's good, I posted it out again."
You said the same goes for those poor people. If you don’t have money, you will get sick if you don’t have money, so you can just wait to die at home. Why don’t you come all the way here to hear that Zhao Shihe, an old man, is willing to see a doctor for free and take medicine on credit? Bah,
The hanging pot will help the world. The hanging pot will help the world. One day, I will help you, an old immortal.
There is no such thing as doing business!
Pay money with one hand and deliver goods with the other hand, this is the right thing to do!
You damn old man, let’s see how long your medical clinic can last!
A mouthful of saliva came out of his mouth. Before he could wipe his mouth, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and a man entered the shop.
"Shopkeeper, how do you sell coffins?" the man asked, but he came to the coffin placed in the center of the store, looked up and down carefully, and knocked it here and there with his hands from time to time.
When he saw the business coming to his door, Xia Laosi immediately beamed with joy, but he couldn't put a smile on his face. He pretended to be sad and walked to the man's side, sighing: "Is there a funeral at home?"
The man said "Yeah": "Brother is gone." His eyes were always looking at the coffin, and he never glanced at Xia Laosi again.
There were so many people coming to buy coffins. Xia Laosi was not surprised to see so many people. He knew that this man was checking whether the coffin was good or not.
Pretending to be kind, he said: "Since he is his brother, I have to buy a better coffin, otherwise I will be sorry for my dead brother."
The man only looked at the coffin, and when he heard the words, without raising his head, he said: "That's right, my brother's funeral must be arranged in a more honorable manner, and of course this coffin must be made of good materials." He paused and took the picture.
He took a picture of the coffin in front of him and asked: "Sir, this is a good coffin. What's the price?"
"My brother has a good eye and can tell at a glance that this is made of high-quality wood." Xia Laosi first complimented the man, then raised his five fingers and said, "It's not expensive, only five taels of silver!"
"So expensive?" The man was stunned for a moment. The price was quite different from what he imagined. He originally thought that he could buy it for two or three taels of silver, but he didn't want to buy it for five taels of silver. If he bought it at this price, the guard would give him
The money is not enough. I also thought that even if I only have two or three taels of silver per mouth, the money is not enough. What should I do?
Seeing the man's hesitation, Xia Laosi thought that he was too expensive and was afraid that the business would be ruined, so he hurriedly said: "Brother, you get what you pay for, so I charge five taels of silver for the right reason. If nothing else, I Xia
The coffins sold in our shop are guaranteed to last for a hundred years! For others, hey, if they can last for ten years, that’s pretty good.”
When he heard that it would be immortal for a hundred years, the man's eyes lit up and he agreed without hesitation: "Okay, I want this coffin."
Xia Laosi was overjoyed and said hurriedly: "Okay, where does my brother live? I will send it to your house with my assistant."
But the man shook his head: "Don't worry, I want more than one bite." After saying that, he glanced towards the back of the store. There were several waiters behind the store who were busy making coffins. He looked at it for a moment and asked Xia Laosi first.
He asked: "How many ready-made coffins do you have in your store?"
How many are ready-made? This question made Xia Laosi couldn't help but be stunned. He hesitated and asked the man hesitantly: "What?... Something big happened at home, brother?"
The man didn't speak, he just looked behind him, as if he was planning something.
Seeing this, Xia Laosi knew a lot. It seemed that many people in this man's family had died, either from the plague or from the soldiers. If there were many people who died, they would need more than one coffin.
Big business, big business![
Xia Laosi suppressed the beating of his heart, and said to the man with a bit of sadness: "My family has encountered such a misfortune, I should take more care... But I don't know how many coffins I need?"
The man first turned his head and thought for a moment, then turned to Xia Laosi and said: "Seeing as your store is not big, it won't be difficult for you, just fifty people."
Fifty people?!
Xia Laosi was almost stunned after hearing this. He looked at the man in disbelief: There are so many people in your family?
If fifty people died at once, wouldn't that mean the whole family was wiped out? Hey, it's too miserable, it's too miserable. I don't know what evil this family has done in their previous life.
After the shock, there was ecstasy. Fifty coffins, one coffin cost five taels of silver, which is two hundred and fifty taels of silver, plus the funeral items used for the funeral, I can even have three hundred taels!
Gee, my fortune is really high today, I’m going to make a fortune!
He was ecstatic in his heart, but his face could not show it at all. Xia Laosi pretended to be in a difficult position and said to the man:
"My brother wants too much, and there are only about a dozen of them ready-made in the store. I'm afraid the guys will have to work all night, and it will take a day or two to work quickly and slowly. I also know that although the ingredients are all prepared, it's hard to make them one after another.
It is very time-consuming to complete.”
"One or two days?" After hearing this, the man pondered for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, you can pack all the coffins in two days."
"Okay, I'll let the guys get started."
Fearing that the man would go to another house and buy more, Xia Laosi opened his mouth and said: "Fifty mouthfuls are two hundred and fifty taels of silver. I wonder if I will pay now or when it is delivered?"
After hearing this, the man took out a money bag from his arms, weighed it in his hand, then threw it on the coffin and said: "My lord gave me so much when I came, so you can take it all."
"
grown ups?
Xia Laosi is a little confused. Is this man from the government?
It doesn't matter if he is from the government or not, just give him some silver. Thinking in his mind, he took the money bag from the coffin. He was thinking that it might be filled with gold. Two hundred and fifty taels of silver is quite a lot for one money bag.
Where can I fit it? There can only be gold here, otherwise it will not be enough?
When he opened the money bag and took a look, he was dumbfounded: What was in this bag was not gold, it was clearly silver, and it was only twenty or thirty taels of silver at best, which was more than half the difference from two hundred and fifty taels!
"Brother, is this a deposit?" Xia Laosi didn't think about anything else, he just thought that this man was giving a deposit.
Unexpectedly, the man shook his head at him with a stern face, and then said: "It's not the deposit, it's all the money to buy your fifty coffins."
"What? That can't be done!"
To be continued...