When Yan Yan came out of his room, Deng Jiang was talking to several apprentices in the yard.
The second uncle of the Deng family was getting older and was only responsible for cooking and no longer took care of things. The eldest son, Deng Jiang, naturally took over his father's responsibilities.
In the past, Deng Jiang was in charge of all arrangements for banquets and banquets at the village. He had a steady personality and practical actions, and was highly appreciated by Bi Cheng.
While honing his skills these days, Bi Cheng also paid the most attention to Deng Jiang's guidance.
This time when he came to Hao Mansion, Bi Cheng appointed Deng Jiang as the assistant chef.
Bi Cheng went to see Boss Hao, and Deng Jiang took advantage of this free time to tell everyone about the rules that need to be paid attention to.
There was nothing going on here for Yanyan, so she strolled outside, got familiar with the big kitchen, and then headed forward.
The location of the back kitchen is located in the atrium of the entire mansion, not far from the main hall where guests are entertained. Probably for the convenience of serving dishes, there is only a small flowered corridor between the main hall and the back kitchen.
With this kind of courtyard layout, firstly, the distance for serving food is close, so the food will not get cold easily. Secondly, the kitchen fumes can be blocked by the green trees and flower garden. This layout can take many things into account, and is clever and cheap.
Yan Yan walked along the corridor towards the main hall. Although it was a cold winter, everything she could see was filled with spring scenery.
It is indeed a mansion of a wealthy family. At this time of year, just waiting for the spring scenery in the garden is enough to break the backs of a group of people.
At the end of the corridor, there is a small rockery made of Taihu stone. After bypassing the rockery, a large bluestone courtyard that is as bright as a mirror suddenly opens up. In the middle of the courtyard is the living room of the mansion.
There are relatives from the Hao family who came here in advance; boss Hao’s old and new friends from business...
Yan Yan hid behind the rockery and leaned out to look out, and at a glance he saw three large characters on the golden plaque on the lintel of the main hall: Money Hall
Wow, you are really rich!
As the boss, Boss Hao has no time to spare. The one who greets him here is the chief steward of Hao Mansion, Hao Huaian.
After listening to the rich butler's clichés, Yan Yan felt that it was too boring. She was about to turn around and go shopping elsewhere when she saw a group of people led in by the little boy who was leading the way three doors away.
The leader was a short, fat man with a dark face, wearing a fur cloak, animal skin boots on his feet, and a strange-shaped belt around his waist. He had an aura of wind and dust all over his body.
The short fat man was followed by a dozen tall, well-built men, wearing leggings and wristbands, and pure animal skins and breeches, all of whom looked dusty.
From the first glance, this group of people seemed to have traveled a long way to get there.
Yan Yan carefully looked at the waistband of the short fat man.
She was more interested in the black and gray material with a metallic luster.
Hao Huaian greeted the previous guests with a teasing and flattering expression. When he saw the short fat man come in, he immediately stepped forward with a smile on his face and bowed his hands.
"Oh, it's the Fifth Master, you're back! My boss mentioned you the day before yesterday. You've worked hard on this business trip. Please come to the west hall, where we have prepared the best Mingquan tea and fresh flowers.
Meatloaf fruit..."
As soon as Yan Yan heard about "this business trip", it became clear that it was the caravan from the Hao Mansion that had returned.
In the realm of mountains and seas, caravans are the main way of transporting goods between major cities.
Trading is the most common method of doing business in this world, and it is also an important way to communicate with the outside world, between cities, and even between countries.
The caravan here is not just about buying and selling in the simple sense.
In addition to selling the goods they carry, caravans also do business such as escorting goods, carrying travelers, and sending valuables along the way. In fact, they include all long-distance businesses such as escort agencies, passenger travel, and express delivery.
To put it bluntly, caravans do all business that requires traveling on the road.
Therefore, in addition to the high cost of carriages and horses, doing business requires hiring capable people as caravan leaders at high prices, as well as bodyguards who specialize in protecting caravans.
Caravans are an absolute big deal.
Ordinary merchant houses can't even support a caravan, let alone like Haofu, which can support more than a dozen merchant teams at the same time.
Outside the Hao Mansion, it looks like various businesses occupy several industries. In fact, the caravan is the real main business of the Hao Mansion.
For this reason, everyone in the Hao Mansion, including the owner Haomai, was extremely respectful and courteous to the members of the caravan, especially the caravan leaders.
Yan Yan followed a caravan on her way to Luwucheng, but compared to the small caravan she took, the men and horses under the Fifth Master were obviously much better equipped.
The fifth master was not interested in the good tea in the west hall, so he stood in the courtyard and talked to Hao Huaian: "The tenth day of the winter lunar month has passed, has the uncle come back?"
Hao Huaian responded with a smile: "I haven't come back yet. I sent someone to send a letter back five days ago. The caravan picked up an order for expensive goods on the way. I need to make a hard trip myself. It will be about two days late. I will be there in the next few days."
arrive."
"Expensive goods? Haha!"
Fifth Master snorted coldly in his nose: "Isn't it just a bottle of Yi Yan Pill? When did Yi Yan Pill become a valuable commodity? Who dares to accept the Xuan Ming Cleansing Powder?"
As soon as Mr. Wu left his mouth, Yan Yan, who was hiding behind the rockery, couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
She wasn't interested in the mysterious elixir at the back, but she was a little curious about the "Yi Yan elixir" in the front.
I don’t know if the effect of this elixir is literal.
If she could really change her face, she would also like to buy a bottle and try it.
This appearance... Yan Yan raised his hand and touched his face...
It’s hard to describe in one word!
In her current situation, it's really not a good thing to have too much recognition in appearance. It's not as convenient as before with Bai Ya's face.
The great butler always wore a submissive smile, but did not answer the Fifth Master's words.
While the two were talking, there was another noise at the third door outside. After a moment, the steward from the third door personally brought in three people.
The great butler who was originally talking to the fifth master raised his head and saw the visitor, his expression immediately showed awe, he quickly stepped forward with his long gown in hand and greeted him personally.
"Oh, it's the uncle. The uncle is back! When did you enter the city? Why didn't you send someone to send a message back? I went out of the city to greet you myself..."
As soon as Yanyan heard Hao Huaian's extraordinarily cautious, humble and respectful words and gestures, he knew that the person who came had an unusual status, at least a level higher than that of the Fifth Master.
Yan Yan leaned out again and saw clearly the appearance of the person who came in.
The man must be in his early thirties, he is very tall, about 1.9 meters tall, with broad shoulders and waist, and a posture as strong as a pine tree. Standing there, he feels like he stands out from the crowd.
A face with sharp angles, two sharp eyebrows flying into the temples, a high bridge of the nose, and deep eye sockets, giving him a bit of the unruly and unruly temperament of a man from the Western Regions.
The thin lips are slightly pursed, and the lip shape is slightly depressed, making the originally three-dimensional and profound facial features appear a bit inhumane and cold and arrogant, and the nasolabial folds are darker...
Yan Yan could tell at a glance that this man had been in a high position for a long time and was used to giving orders.
Although this man has outstanding appearance, such men are usually resolute and ruthless in nature. If they are very capable, they can easily be willful.