Although the "Australian Hanfu" produced by No. 82 is similar to the Ming Dynasty style, it uses modern tailoring technology to make it more fit and beautiful. It is made of fine materials. It also has a set of gorgeous handmade hairpins. Cai Lan
Dressed up very stunningly.
Jiang Qiuchan was a little surprised. Although Cai Lan's visit to Elder Xie could not be described as "cold", it was quite perfunctory. She was reluctant to bathe and change clothes, and did her makeup and makeup in a hurry. Why did she mean "to please herself" today?
coming?
What did Mr. Hao say to her that caused such a big change in her mood?
"Auntie, do these clothes look good?"
"It looks perfect on a girl." Qiu Chan praised sincerely. It is true that "people want clothes, Buddha needs gold"! Cai Lan was originally just a middle-aged person, even Qiu Chan couldn't understand why Australia
People are so attracted to her. Now that she dresses with care, it is really different!
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Cai Lan's mouth. This was the first time Qiu Chan had seen her smile like this in these days. She couldn't help but be full of suspicion and didn't dare to ask more questions.
Xie Erren came to the Third General Office in a sedan chair. Every time he came to Cai Lan, the sky was already dark and there were almost no pedestrians on the street at this time.
On weekdays, when he goes to the Third General Office, he always first inspects the National Army and the naturalized civilian personnel stationed here. But when he comes to Cai Lan, he doesn't go anywhere. The sedan goes directly through the corner gate and goes directly to Cai Lan.
Get off the sedan in Lan's yard.
When he came here earlier, Cai Lan was very cold, let alone coming out to greet him. Recently, he found that this woman was more enthusiastic about him and seemed to be emotionally attached to him. This made Xie Erren secretly proud. Sure enough, he still had to pick up girls.
Look at the effort of "soft grinding".
Today when he got off the sedan chair, Cai Lan was already standing in front of the steps, leaning down and receiving a deep blessing.
"Happy sir..."
Xie Erren waved his hand, said nothing, and walked directly into the main room. He unbuttoned the cotton cadre uniform outside and took off his coat. A maid hurriedly came up to catch it, and used a bamboo hanger to hang it on the coat and hat.
On the shelf, another maid brought him straw slippers and put them on for him.
"The bath water has been heated up. Please change your clothes and take a bath." Cai Lan whispered.
Xie Erren sat in the enamel bathtub, lit a cigar, and admired the small yard outside the window while bathing: the bathroom was designed and renovated by himself. Under the enamel bathtub is a heating chamber, which burns fire from the outside to heat the air and then heats the entire bathroom.
and a bathtub, so that it will not "boil people" and can heat the air in the entire bathroom. Although it is summer now, I guess I have to work here for a year or two. Wuzhou during the Little Ice Age probably also
It won't be warm.
Opposite the bathtub is inlaid with glass shipped from Lingao. Outside the window is a "Japanese-style garden" of less than two square meters that he designed and supervised. It is exquisitely decorated with white sand, gravel, water bowls, and vegetation. When taking a bath,
Appreciating it while smoking allowed him to relax mentally and physically, freeing him from the busy official duties during the day. It allowed him to transform from a veteran, Wuzhou regional director... back to an ordinary man.
After taking a bath, he put on the silk pajamas specially provided by No. 82 and came to the main room. The maids and servants had already avoided the main room and left the main room, and a kerosene lamp was brightly lit.
There were not many drinks and dishes on the table, but they were quite exquisite. Cai Lan poured wine for him, and Xie Erren took a few sips, feeling comfortable all over.
It seems that it is better to go out to work. How can I have such exquisite enjoyment in Lingao! Xie Erren's original resentment has calmed down a little. Looking at Cai Lan who is waiting at the side, he also feels that he is gentler and more charming than before.
, he was in a good mood and asked casually:
"A few days ago, you went to the Dragon Mother Temple to offer incense?"
"Yes, my slave has gone."
"How is the situation over there at the Dragon Mother Temple?"
"It's quite quiet," Cai Lan said.
"Oh," Xie Erren became interested, "How are the people?"
"It's not bad at all." Cai Lan said, "It's just..."
"Just what?" Xie Erren became interested. In the past, when he talked to Cai Lan, he would always ask and answer questions. It was rare to hear Cai Lan express his own opinions.
"Everyone says that food is too expensive." Cai Lan said, "Taoist Priest Wu Yuan told me that the public security outside is not good and the tenants are unwilling to pay rent. I am afraid that we will not be able to count on food this year. The rice on the market is too expensive and I will soon be unable to afford it."
It’s amazing.”
"Don't they also have household registration rice to buy in their temple?"
"This slave doesn't know..."
Taoist Priest Wu Yuan did say this to her, and the purpose was simply to hope that Cai Lan could give Director Xie a pillow to see if he could get some benefits for the temple - to please the favored concubine of a high-ranking official. This is the temple
Tried and tested method.
"This is nothing. After a few more months, the ground will become quiet, and the rent will naturally be collected."
It will fall soon. Don’t worry!”
The day after Xie Erren's visit, it was Qiu Chan's day to rest again. Jiang Qiuchan's natal family was in Wuzhou City and ran a silk and satin shop called "Ruijintang". It was not a big business, but it was also a heritage.
It is a century-old brand with a strong financial background.
Qiu Chan's father is no longer here, only her mother is here, and her eldest brother Jiang Rongxian is in charge of the family business.
At this moment, the head of the Jiang family was sitting in the accounting room behind the shop, frowning.
When he heard from his family that his sister was back, he nodded slightly, threw the account books he had looked through countless times on the table, and felt secretly worried.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and everyone's debts must be settled one by one. During the Dragon Boat Festival, after the war, shops were damaged and households fled. Therefore, no one has settled their accounts. It will only take two months.
It's the Mid-Autumn Festival, and this time, the scores must be settled.
The account book was brought to him by the accountant, and he looked through it countless times and flipped it on the abacus countless times. What he was worried about was not the losses - profits and losses are common in business. It was the current situation of making progress but not making progress.
"Ruijintang" was also robbed during the Battle of Wuzhou three months ago. Almost all the funds in the store were looted by the government under various pretexts, resulting in heavy losses. At last, the store and goods were saved, and the whole family was not ruined.
.
It's just that although the market in Wuzhou has recovered, silk and satin are easy to do business when the world is at peace. With the current situation in Guangdong and Guangxi, it is still difficult for ordinary people to make a living. Rich people are not willing to spend money on business because they have suffered many disasters.
One can imagine how deserted it is.
Business is not good, but expenses are high. According to Xie Yuanlao's instructions, the shop must be opened even if there is no business. Workers are not allowed to be laid off, and they must be maintained. Although they are not paid, maintaining these people is still an expense.
The Jiang family has many relatives in Wuzhou. After the battle of Wuzhou, many relatives and friends were ruined and came to ask for help. Out of kindness, the Jiang family had to help to some extent. In addition, after the liberation of Wuzhou, Elder Xie said "
"New Deal" were all distributed by the aftermath bureau to various businesses. The Jiang family only made accounts but did not record them. You can imagine Jiang Rongxian's troubles.
It happened that at this time, his own sister was killed by the soldiers. He did not dare to go back to his husband's house during the war, so he took the children to live at home. As an elder brother, he had a duty, but his wife at home was not so virtuous. Seeing this
After my sister-in-law had been living at home for three months, she began to complain. Fortunately, my sister recently got a job and could earn one tael of silver every month, so she finally felt a lot more relaxed.
In addition to the shortfall in the accounts, he still had a secret account in his heart. He had to calculate it, and found that it was less than two thousand taels, and a thousand taels was a big figure.
His eyes returned to the account book, and he searched hard to see which ones could be "dealt with" and which ones had to be paid.
Fortunately, his biggest headache can be relieved. The suppliers of silk and satin are all in Guangzhou. In the past, people were sent to Wuzhou. After collecting the accounts, they used money to purchase the goods in Wuzhou and then transported them back to Guangzhou for sale.
, you can earn money twice. The road is currently rough, and it is unlikely that the family will send someone to collect the debt at the risk of their property being robbed.
In this way, you can save nearly one thousand taels of silver. Of the remaining seven or eight hundred taels, some of them must be paid, and some can be put off for a while. After calculation, you will find that there are almost 500 taels of silver.
To pass the test.
Of course, he still has money. There are still more than three hundred taels of silver saved in the shop and in the accounting room at home. His mother and his wife and concubines have some private money. It is not difficult to scrape together five hundred taels. But in this way,
There was no cash at home in the shop - the goods in the shop couldn't be sold, so we couldn't exchange the satin for rice - and the rice shop wouldn't do it either.
When I think of the rice store, I also think of the large number of index fingers in my family, which means a huge expense for food every month. "Rui Jin Tang" employs six waiters and three apprentices. There are five male and female servants in the family. Just buying rice every month
It's a huge figure - but food prices are skyrocketing again! Even the "hukou rice" sold in Australian government offices is two or three times more expensive than before the war.
When will these days of war and chaos end?
Jiang Rongxian thought over and over again in his mind, and calculated over and over again, the account that should be paid was still indispensable for one tael of silver. He couldn't help but feel agitated - it would be best if he could make a fortune of several hundred taels of silver!
Thinking of this, he smiled bitterly: I didn't expect that I would have such a ridiculous idea!
He suddenly remembered something. His sister is now working as a companion for the "concubine" of the Australian senator. It is said that this concubine is very much favored by the "true concubine" - if he can find some way out of this woman
, it would be nice if I could blow some pillow wind and give myself some business...
But he thought with frustration that his family's business was silk and satin, which Australians had no use for and were not interested in.
The most profitable thing to do now is, of course, the grain business. There is a shortage of grain in Wuzhou, and the price of non-Hukou rice has doubled from the normal price. If anyone can get grain at this time, the profit will be doubled immediately.