He imitated the master's style and just hummed softly, picked up the tureen and gently plucked the tea leaves, looking at his nephew who was standing there at a loss and a little scared.
After a long time, he coughed: "Hey, please sit down."
"Yes Yes."
"It's not that I, as an uncle, am bragging. The Chen family in Nansha was able to keep safe this time because of my negotiation with the Australians to protect the safety of both sides!" He said this without feeling too proud, "Don't forget to say,
Without me, how could the Australians come to this Nansha village to run a sericulture pilot project? Can Australians specially send troops to patrol? Can Australians specially train local braves in our village?"
Chen Lin didn't know what to say, so he could only echo "yes" several times.
"My dear nephew, I believe that when you came back this time, you heard that I took over the weaving workshop, and you felt somewhat resentful..."
Chen Lin quickly stood up and said: "Don't dare, don't dare, this weaving workshop was originally the property of Shang Sanfang - in a big way, it is also the clan's property. Since my father is gone, it is only natural for my second uncle to take over. My nephew
How can I dare to be resentful? Besides, the current situation is so chaotic that even my young nephew can’t handle it! Even my second uncle asked my nephew to take over, but my nephew doesn’t have the ability."
Chen Xuan looked up and down with some surprise, and said leisurely: "My dear nephew, your trip to Guangzhou was not in vain - you have made a lot of progress!"
Chen Lin's face turned red, and he almost crawled into the cracks of the ground with embarrassment. But at this moment, he couldn't allow him to think too much, and immediately said: "In the past, it was my nephew who was young and ignorant. Second uncle, please don't blame me."
"You and I are biological uncles and nephews. We have broken bones and connected tendons, and I am the elder. How could I blame you?" Chen Xuazhi said proudly, "What are your plans for returning home this time?"
Chen Lin now dares to say anything like "reorganizing the family business" or "opening a cotton spinning mill", so he can only cover it up: "Now my nephew has lost his father. Although Guangzhou is good, it is not his hometown after all. My nephew is
When I came back this time, I wanted to take shelter in the ancestral hall and have a place to stay."
"That's a good point." Chen Xuan nodded, "Now after the catastrophe, everything is waiting for improvement. It is the time to employ people. You are familiar with the weaving workshop and have spent many days in Guangzhou - I must have seen it.
I’ve met many Australians…”
"I have never seen the real Australian elders, but I have seen some of their naturalized citizens."
"It's good if you've seen him before." Chen Xuandao, "It's a suitable job now."
Only then did Chen Lin know that his family's weaving workshop had indeed been attracted by the Australians. The Australians had now specially sent some people to join forces with the Chen family's weaving workshop to engage in "rural sericulture improvement."
"...You have stayed in Guangzhou and dealt with Australians. I leave it to you to handle the Australians."
Chen Lin was shocked. To be honest, he didn't expect that his second uncle would "reuse" him. He subconsciously speculated: "Isn't this appropriate?"
"What's inappropriate?" Chen Xuan said, putting on an "adult-heavy" face, "We are uncles and nephews, and I don't have a son. When the family becomes one, it won't be all the juniors like you! You help me knit the knitting."
If the workshop is well done, your benefits will be indispensable in the future!"
"Yes, yes, thank you for your help, uncle!" Chen Lin stood up with "tears of gratitude" on his face, and immediately stood up and bowed to the end.
Chen Xuan was not being hypocritical. He was the steward of the weaving workshop under the protection of his elder brother, but he was indulged in enjoying himself and did not pay attention to the work of the weaving workshop. He spent three days fishing and two days drying nets. As for silkworm raising and weaving,
I can only be regarded as slightly better than an outsider. In empty talk, I seem to know a lot, but when I really get into actual operations, my true colors are immediately revealed.
Since he started "cooperating" with the Australians, Chen Xuan gradually felt that he was unable to do what he wanted. And as he cooperated with the Australians more and more, he found that their "aims were too big" and it was difficult for him to adapt with his own abilities.
Although most of the craftsmen in the weaving workshop originally came back to resume work, after he and his third brother had a falling out, the third brother went to Sanliang and took away several of the stewards and important craftsmen below. Now, although work is barely starting
, but the efficiency of the weaving mill is far less than before. It has been almost half a year since the Australians jointly established the silk factory with him, and the production has not yet been on track. The Australians are very dissatisfied.
There are quite a few people under him who flatter him, but none of them are familiar with the weaving workshop. Now that Chen Lin has come back, he has no choice but to borrow from him.
Chen Lin still couldn't figure out the second uncle's trump card at the moment, but since the second uncle was now willing to use himself, he might as well follow the trend and take a look at the situation in the weaving workshop - and also get to know the details of the Australians who cooperated.
Chen Xuan then asked where Chen Lin would stay. Chen Lin originally wanted to stay in the ancestral hall, but it seemed that his second uncle regarded this place as his hometown, so it was not suitable for him to stay here.
"Now that my nephew's house has been completely destroyed and he has no suitable place to go, he plans to stay at Brother Ji's house..."
Brother Ji Wu is Chen Qing's father. He is from the lower fifth branch. His family is very poor, but he is an honest man.
"Aji's family - his family is too poor. Although there are a few empty rooms, I'm afraid you won't be able to eat or sleep well there... Anyway, I'll ask someone to send him some money and rice later."
Chen Lin came out of the ancestral hall, feeling anxious and thinking about the next step. To be honest, he couldn't figure out the real intention of his second uncle: he could tell from his conversation that he was testing himself everywhere and was very wary, but he wanted to
It doesn't look like a lie to work for the weaving mill. What medicine is the second uncle selling in this gourd?
He followed Chen Qing back home, and told Brother Ji and his wife that they would stay here longer, and gave him a few taels of silver as expenses. Brother Ji naturally agreed. After a while, Chen Xuan also sent the clan members
He brought two shi of white rice and a few slings of money, saying it was for Chen Lin's accommodation expenses. He also asked him to go to the weaving mill tomorrow to meet the Australians. Ji Wu Ge and his wife got the money and rice and their son came back safely. They were so happy that they killed him that night.
They cooked chicken and wine and cooked a good meal for the uncle and nephew. Chen Lin asked his sister Chen Yue to move here too. They took care of each other.
Early the next morning, he came to the weaving workshop.
This weaving mill is located by the river at the east end of Nansha Village. It was Chen Lin's grandfather who first opened a silk shop, named Fengshenghe, which specialized in purchasing raw silk from silkworm farmers in Sixiang and selling it to merchants. Because the business has always been good,
Various branches of the clan also invested a lot of money, and coupled with the hard work of his grandfather, Fengshenghe gradually became famous. In his father's generation, he began to outsource raw silk hair to weaving machines in the village and nearby.
I purchased a loom from Guangzhou and started to set up my own weaving workshop.
This weaving workshop was renovated and expanded by his father ten years ago. It is more than double the size of his grandfather's. Chen Lin stood in front of the gate now, feeling sad and happy at the same time.
What’s sad is that my father’s lifelong efforts fell into the hands of outsiders! Fortunately, the weaving workshop survived the war. Although there are traces of fire on the walls, it is generally well preserved. Two pieces of wood are hung on the side of the gate.
The long sign with white wood and ink calligraphy - this is no stranger to Chen Xuan, who has traveled to Guangzhou: this is how Australians do it.
On the left is the "Fengshenghe" Silk Weaving Factory" and on the right is the "Nansha Sericulture Improvement Institute".
I finally kept the font size, Chen Lin thought to himself.
But if you look closely, you can see that there have been many changes in the courtyard. First of all, the steps to enter the door have become slopes, and the stone threshold of the door has also disappeared. There are also two more village warriors standing guard in front of the door.
In the past, water bandits were rampant in the local area. The raw silk, satin and money piled up in the workshop were the targets of the bandits. Therefore, the courtyard walls built at the beginning were particularly high and thick. Now, at the corners of the courtyard walls, turrets are built with bamboo and wood.
There are clappers and lanterns with local heroes standing sentry on them. Although the door is open, you can see two layers of horses inside.
The security was so tight, and the Australians were obviously very interested in the weaving workshop. He thought, no wonder his second uncle asked him to come to the workshop to help. He obviously couldn't handle it with his little ability.
There seemed to be a red brick chimney standing in the backyard, emitting black smoke. He had seen this red brick chimney in Guangzhou. He knew that it was a chimney for a "boiler", and the boiler was specially used to heat hot water.
Speaking of hot water, it is indeed needed for reeling, so there is no need to get a special boiler to burn it, right?
Entering the front yard, the changes were even bigger. Not only were a lot of things added to the yard, but the layout also changed. New houses and sheds were built, taking up more than half of the originally spacious yard. Objects were piled everywhere.
What tricks did the Australians do to make a neat compound so cramped? Chen Lin secretly wondered.
Without waiting for him to take a closer look, Chen Xuan led him into the reverse room on the north side of the first entrance courtyard. This was originally the accounting room of the weaving mill. Chen Xuan's father also often worked here and received customers. Now there is a room here.
Different wooden signs were hung in front of the doors of each room, and all the original windows were replaced with glass windows.
This is really exquisite. Chen Lin murmured secretly. The second uncle took him to one of the rooms, but he saw that there were several large Eight Immortals tables put together into a long table, with some stools placed messily on both sides. There were also some standing upright against the wall.
A black wooden board with white ash remaining on it.
What's so special about this? Chen Lin has seen a lot of "Australian scenery", but this is the first time he has seen such a display.
Chen Xuan asked him to wait here for a while. After a while, he heard footsteps approaching outside. It seemed that there were many people coming. Chen Lin hurriedly straightened his clothes and bowed slightly to wait.
But when he saw a group of people coming in from outside, the leader was a woman. Chen Lin was startled.
I saw that the woman was about thirty years old, slender and frail, wearing a blue cloth dress and combing her hair. At first glance, she looked the same as a local woman. However, at a second look, her expression and eyes were completely different. Chen Lin was also in Guangzhou.
I have seen many "true Kuns" from a distance, and I can tell at a glance that this is a "true Australian"!
Looking behind her, there was another girl, about eighteen or nineteen years old. She looked very similar to her. Chen Lin was very curious: He never expected that two Australian women would come to such a small Nansha village like his own!