"Didn't Mr. Cha say that price increases are not allowed?"
"Why did you just leave like that and take a few of them without locking them?"
"That's someone making a false accusation against the shop!"
"Everyone, it's not that small stores are randomly increasing prices, but they are indeed running out of medicines."
"If you think it's expensive, just wait until the new medicine comes in."
Everything else can wait, but can illness wait?
The adults in the family can endure it, but can the older ones and the younger ones resist?
Just bear with it, hold your nose and buy it?
The backs of the officials went away, and the resentful eyes of the people selling medicine at high prices were instantly transferred to these officials. They did not dare to shout with their mouths, but they cursed in their hearts.
Zhao Shi did not go through the front door, but accompanied by several shopkeepers of Lianhuatang who nodded and bowed, he walked out of the back door with his head lowered and full of thoughts.
The rain had stopped long ago, and there was obviously no wind, but Zhao Shi felt a little cold.
He lowered his head and walked quickly through the crowd, unable to resist looking at the anxious people who were wailing in front of the Mi Liang Medicine Shop. He was like a child who had done something wrong, his face full of tears.
It's shame.
Just walking like this, half an hour later, the purple gate of his Cheng'enhou Mansion was clearly visible. The Zhao family was no longer the Zhao family before, and the family status of the small family was now out of reach.
The magnificent gatehouse, the towering eaves, those arrogant slaves standing at the door...
Suddenly, Zhao Shi felt that the two lifelike lion statues at the door of his house were particularly dazzling.
A wealthy family pays attention to inheritance, and this inheritance is about glory and wealth. And there is a large house with a deep gate, hundreds of people, everyone is well-dressed and well-fed, everyone is a master, how can you maintain it? Just rely on it.
Those fields?
"The young Marquis is back!" The porter's sharp eyes saw Zhao Shi from a distance, and four or five servants suddenly ran out to greet him.
"Go away!" Zhao Shi scolded with a rare cold face, and walked towards the backyard amidst the servant's plea.
To go to the backyard, you have to pass through the front hall. There are faint voices and bursts of laughter in the living room.
Zhao Shi knew that it was his father who was receiving guests. There were always many guests at home, his father was always busy, and the warehouse was always filled with gifts from unknown sources.
He quietly looked over there, as if he hadn't spoken to his father properly for a long time. Even when father and son talked, they were not as casual as before.
Go through the front hall, then through the garden, then through the moon door, then through the corridor, and then through the triple door...
It wasn't until Zhao Shi was tired from walking that he reached the backyard.
The styles of the backyard and the front yard are completely different. The front yard is dignified and grand, while the back yard is magnificent with carved beams and paintings.
Standing at the door, what comes into view are the hard pens depicting lotus flowers, and then there are corridors with various story paintings outlined under the eaves.
Those colorful story paintings are exquisite and lifelike. Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, Generals of the Yang Family, Tieguai Li, Lan Caihe...
He watched quietly, suddenly feeling an indescribable strangeness to these things.
At the same time, his mind suddenly flashed back to his small family home when he was a child.
The house was not big, so I was riding on a wooden horse. In the main room, I could see my mother and sister in the kitchen. Amid the smoke and heat, the two of them were always picking vegetables while complaining about the evil nature of the vegetable sellers and the rising price of meat.
.
I always say that the rice is not fragrant and the fire in the house is not strong.
Then when it gets dark, my father will come home on time, exhausted.
At that time, his father would lift him up, prick his little face with his stiff beard, and tease him by raising a paper bag wrapped in pig head meat.
When they got to the dinner table, he and his nephew pushed and shoved each other to grab the most delicious pig. He was always the winner, but the price of victory was that his nephew grinned and cried, and his mother scolded him.
And my sister always secretly buries his favorite pork belly in his bowl and watches him eat it with big mouthfuls.
"Little Marquis, you are here!"
A little maid of thirteen or fourteen years old saw Zhao Shi at the entrance of the courtyard and bowed respectfully.
Zhao Shi noticed that she was holding a bowl of hot soup in her hand.
"What is this?" Zhao Shi asked.
"Go back to the young marquis!" the maid whispered, "Master Sun and the second young master have not eaten for the past few days. My wife ordered the kitchen to make bird's nests to replenish the health of the two masters."
Bird's nest!
I had never heard of it when I was a child. At that time, when I was sick, I could only eat two pieces of rock candy!
"Little Shitou is back! Come in quickly!" Mother Zhao's loving voice came from the main room, "Hurry up and bring a bowl of bird's nests to Xiao Shitou!"
Zhao Shi opened the door and opened the curtain. In the hall of the main room, on a round table of red sandalwood with hollow carved iron and porcelain, there were two plates of bright red fruits, exuding a fresh fruity fragrance.
The two maids stood outside the bedroom with their hands down, waiting to be called at any time.
The floor is made of ceramic tiles that reflect one's own figure. Each piece comes from the official kiln in Jingdezhen and is of great value.
In the bedroom, two children with slightly yellow faces were leaning against Zhao. The older one was the grandson of the Zhao family, and the younger one was Zhao Shi's half-brother.
"Brother!" Seeing Zhao Shi enter the room, the child stretched out his pink hands with a smile on his face.
Suddenly, Zhao Shi felt pain in his heart again.
Since the child was born, his mother has held him in her house and raised it personally. Until now, the child only recognizes his aunt and not his biological mother.
"Just came back from the palace?" Mrs. Zhao patted her little grandson and said with a smile, "Can you see the empress and the prince today?" Then she said, "Son, it's very dignified to be an official in front of the emperor, so you have to do it well."
Damn it, don’t embarrass your sister. The third lady from Duke Zheng’s house came this morning and said that their family wanted to ask for the favor of a bodyguard, but they didn’t get it! Tsk tsk, that’s the emperor’s maternal clan..."
Amid Zhao's babble, Zhao Shi sat down with mixed feelings and looked at his mother.
Today’s mother is so graceful and luxurious, how can she still look like she used to have daily necessities and daily necessities?
"Why don't you know how to change your clothes when they are dirty?" Mrs. Zhao saw the muddy stains on the corners of her son's skirt, frowned and said to the maid outside, "Go to the young master's room and put the newly made Su silk clothes..."
"Mother!" Zhao Shi said, "My son has something to say!"
Under Zhao's surprised gaze, Zhao Shi said with difficulty, "What does Lotus Hall have to do with our family?"
"Why did you ask about this?" Mrs. Zhao was a little surprised, but she still smiled, "Since you asked, mother won't hide it from you. Our family owns 30% of the shares in Lianhuatang. It's not that I won't tell you. You are still young, and mother is afraid to tell you.
To delay you..."
"Mom, how did our family get involved with the drug store?" Zhao Shi asked again.
"It's not like they are deliberately currying favor with you!" Ms. Zhao said with a smile, "The boss of Lotus Hall and your father are from the same hometown. A few years ago, your father was looking for the ancestral graves. After hearing this, people rushed back and forth, but they couldn't find the ancestral graves.
I'm here, but I also found some distant relatives from your father's side. He always comes to kowtow politely during festivals and festivals, he's a kind man!"
"Tell me about buying shares!" Zhao Shi's eyelids jumped.
"It's not about buying shares in the beginning!" Ms. Zhao patted her little grandson in her arms and touched the child's forehead and continued, "Don't we have some spare money in our hands? If your sister enters the palace, the emperor will reward her with a total of eighty-nine.
One thousand taels of silver."
"It's okay to keep this money. Shopkeeper Zhang said that we can lend it to their Lotus Hall and give us interest!"
Zhao Shi's temples also jumped. This is loan sharking!
"Later, your father said it was not good to borrow money, so shopkeeper Zhang came up with a compromise, and our family became a shareholder..."
"Mom, you are confused!" Zhao Shi couldn't help it and said, "Lianhuatang has four shops in the capital alone, and 25% of the herbal medicine business is in their hands. There are also semicolons in Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Suzhou. Eight thousand
Two silver dollars sounds like a sky-high price, is it enough to pay for 30% of the shares?"
Mrs. Zhao looked at her son strangely for a few times, "Do you really think your mother is a woman who doesn't know anything? Our family may not have enough money to invest in shares, but his Lotus Hall is begging our family!" She said with a smile, "
Without our family greeting them in the past few years, how could he have grown his business so big?"
"Since you know this, why do you still do this?" Zhao Shi stood up abruptly, "Don't you know that the imperial court has repeatedly issued orders that noble families are not allowed to mix with businessmen?"
"Don't other people do the same thing?" Mrs. Zhao's eyes stood up and she said displeased, "Why are you so surprised?"
Zhao Shi sat down slumped and sighed.
Although he had only a short time in the palace, the things he saw were completely different from those outside the palace.
There are some things that the Emperor is not just talking about, and it does not mean that he does not know. When the day comes when he really wants to be serious, he will lose his face.
"Mom!" Zhao Shi begged, "remove your penis?"
"What?" Ms. Zhao said in shock, "Why, that's ten or twenty thousand a year..."
"Money, money, money, money!" Zhao Shi couldn't bear it anymore and shouted, "Is that how you value money? Is your family short of money now? Do you know that Lianhuatang relies on our family's power to do things outside?
What?"
"I'm doing this for your own good!"
"You are harming your son..."
Snapped!
A slap hit Zhao Shi directly on the face.
Wow!
The two children burst into tears.
Mrs. Zhao said with a cold face, "I am your mother, and you are talking to me like this? Is it okay if I don't recognize money? Your sister is in the palace. Do you want to pay tribute to the family for three days and two birthdays? Do you need money for favors? Just today.
Three thousand taels are sent to the palace, do you think this money comes in the wind? In the future, you will find a wife, build a house and garden, you will have a younger brother, you will have a nephew..."
"I won't talk to you anymore!" Zhao Shi snorted, turned around and left, "I'm going to find dad!"
"you......"
With a bang, the door was slammed.
Mrs. Zhao sat on the bed and began to wipe her tears, "Little beast, you have been disobedient to your mother since I raised you so big! Who am I doing this for? You ungrateful little beast!"