Several bankers looked at the scribe standing opposite with disgust. This scribe had been here for several days and couldn't get rid of him.
"Dad, didn't you go call the city guards? Why didn't anyone come?" A young man asked curiously.
The middle-aged man at the head shook his head, stared at the scribes opposite him with vigilance, and whispered: "Lao Gao said there is no order from above, so they can't just come and arrest people."
The young man said angrily: "What kind of order do you need? This man is obviously here to secretly learn how to grow vegetables in our greenhouse. Why don't we just ask Uncle Gao to arrest him and torture him to extract a confession?"
"You brat, it's not as simple as you think. You and I can't control the actions of the city guards. Do you know the military orders like this?"
"Then, let him stand here and watch and learn?"
The young man was very unwilling.
The middle-aged man thought for a while, then suddenly had an idea and said, "Come on, let's move some bricks."
"What are you doing moving bricks?" someone wondered.
The middle-aged man smiled evilly, "Let's build a screen wall to block it, as long as it doesn't affect the ventilation. The screen wall can block the outside view, so he can't see inside, hehe."
"Young, yes, big families have screen walls, so let's build one for the vegetable shed as well."
Just do what you say, and the farmers didn't do it themselves. The news spread, and soon people in other vegetable sheds also began to build screen walls.
Originally, standing outside the vegetable shed, I could secretly see the layout inside, but now I only have a glimpse of the brick wall, and not a single thing is visible.
Chen Deng did not expect this result. In the next few days, he tried to bribe some bankers.
Unfortunately, he gave too little, and the bankers were even richer than him.
Nowadays, farmers no longer value copper coins. What they value is food stamps and cloth stamps. Even if they can't afford meat stamps, that's not a problem.
But Chen Deng couldn't get anything. His connections were in Xuzhou, not Hedong, and he didn't have any acquaintances here.
Moreover, he had to be wary of the city guard's inspections. Although no one specifically made things difficult for him, he still had an inexplicable feeling of being unable to move forward. What the hell was that?
Chen Deng sat speechless in the corner of the washer hall. It was already winter. There had been a light snow a few days ago. The temperature had plummeted these days, and briquettes had been lit in the washer.
Looking at the briquette stove in front of him, Chen Deng looked at it habitually. If the shopkeeper hadn't stared at him at the counter, Chen Deng might have dismantled the briquette stove to see what was inside.
"Oh, I've eaten it."
At this moment, several merchants walked in enthusiastically, and the straw mat curtains were opened, letting in gusts of cold wind.
Someone complained: "Hurry up and close the curtain. You are so stupid. I have been waiting for you for a long time. You are so hungry that we will eat first."
The dozen or so merchants were obviously from the same group, and judging from their accents, they should be from the Guanzhong area... Chen Deng listened carefully and judged in his heart.
Someone said: "Do you know why you guys are late... Hahaha, look what is this?"
"Hey young!"
"It's amazing, Old Sun, you can do it!"
"Autumn clothes and long trousers, hahaha, there are three sets in total. Brother Sun, how did you get them?"
A merchant surnamed Sun bought a pass. After drinking a bowl of turbid wine, he said slowly: "I exchanged it for a stone."
"Stone?" someone exclaimed.
Chen Deng, who was sitting in the corner, and others in the washery also looked at the merchant.
"What stone is so valuable?"
"Yes, one set of these autumn clothes and long trousers costs five cloth tickets, and three sets are fifteen. Why are your stones so valuable?"
The businessman surnamed Sun glanced at the people around him, especially Chen Deng and his group in the corner who were not wearing simple clothes.
"..."
Naturally, he would not advertise it widely, but only shared the information with a few of his close companions.
Several merchants who heard the news looked at each other, first in disbelief, then in ecstasy.
"Brother Sun, are you really, really fake?" a thin man asked flatteringly.
The businessman surnamed Sun frowned and pretended to be unhappy and said: "If you don't believe it, forget it. If I didn't know that your home is closest to there, do you think I would drag you along to make a fortune together?"
The man laughed in embarrassment and hurriedly stepped forward to pour wine for everyone. He covered his mouth and whispered: "Brothers, I'm not afraid to tell you that I still have a lot of stones like that at home. They were all made by An Da since he was young.
Taken from the stream..."
···
It's quiet at night.
In a deserted, quiet alley behind the tile house.
Half of Chen Deng's face was hidden in the darkness, and he frowned and asked, "Did you do it?"
The black shadow hiding in the dark remained motionless, and a voice responded: "Here we go, just a few ignorant mountain people."
"What can attract Wei Zhongdao's heart?" Chen Deng got straight to the point.
Heiying seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then said: "It should be a kind of rough stone. As expected, it should be the rough stone of Lantian Nuanyu. It is said that Wei Zhongdao just passed by and took a look, so he bought it at a high price."
A trace of inexplicable confusion slowly appeared on Chen Deng's brows, and he confirmed in confusion: "Just an ordinary rough stone?"
The shadow hesitated again for a while before saying: "It should be."
"should?"
"Yes, my subordinates also speculated based on the descriptions of those mountain people."
Chen Deng always felt that things were not that simple. Who was Wei Cheng, who would spend so much money on a stone?
You must know that the autumn clothes and trousers just launched by Wei's are worth as much as five oxen. Although jade is also worth some money, except for being used to make jewelry accessories, it seems that it has no practical value anymore.
.
"Are you bored by playing with things?"
"I heard that he also collected a large amount of gold and silver before..."
"No, no, no, he is not such a person."
"Maybe it has some purpose that I don't know about?"
Chen Deng was a little lost. Whether it was gold, silver, or jade, they were not worth mentioning in the dynasties before the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Nowadays, what is valuable is salt and iron, and what is circulating in the market is grain and cloth. Although the currency is copper coins, the value of copper coins fluctuates too much. People are still used to bartering, especially cloth, which is almost the most stable currency.
.
If we insist on breaking it down into a standard, ordinary linen cloth is equivalent to copper coins, better silk cloth is equivalent to silver, even the finest satin is gold, and Wei's latest cotton cloth is equivalent to expensive diamonds.
Wei Cheng's move was equivalent to exchanging three large diamonds for a useless stone.
Do you think Chen Deng can avoid getting lost in the lake?
"No, no, no, it must not be that simple!" Chen Deng said decisively.
The shadow in the darkness hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be that he just likes to collect these useless things?"
Chen Deng frowned slightly and sneered: "What do you think?"
The shadow clasped his fists and saluted, "I'm just guessing. Prime Minister once said that when all possibilities are eliminated, the remaining one that is impossible may be the truth."
Chen Deng's father, Chen Gui, was an official of Pei State. Obviously, this shadowy man was an old subordinate of the Chen family.
"No, it must not be that simple. Let's check again!"
Chen Deng still felt that Wei Cheng must have some ulterior secret in buying the rough stone at a high price.
Well, if Wei Cheng finds out, he will definitely call him 'very smart'.
There is indeed a secret. The jewelry company is about to open its doors, and it is in urgent need of a few unique treasures to attract big customers.