dhibooks Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Han Yan has been staying in the courtyard where Qi Si lived, and after a few days, that is, the morning when Chen Dadibao and Tang Dashan came to look for Master Qi, shortly after breakfast, Qi Si said to Han Yan: "You Follow me to the county seat."
There are eight jujube horses and two carriages in the Qijia compound. The coachman has been driving the Qijia compound for 25 years. His surname is Sun Mingtong, and he is from Heilongjiang. Deep, a bit fierce when looking at people quietly, but in fact he is an honest person.Seeing Han Yan, he was a little curious but didn't ask much.
Qi Si got into the carriage, which had already been covered with thick blankets, so that the carriage would be less bumpy when people sat on it.
Qi Si said to Sun Tong: "This is Han Yan. I hired him to grow the big fireworks. I'll take him into the county town to get the seeds today. You two will have to deliver the goods together in the future."
Sun Tong nodded, glanced at Han Yan, and said, "Come on."
Han Yan jumped on the carriage and sat down honestly, and Sun Tong drove the carriage on the road.
The wheels of the cart were rolling, the driver waved his whip, the horse ran fast, and the cart went straight out of the west gate of Yuanmao Tun, rolling all the way towards the main road of the county town.
The sun rises from the southeast, the sun is still soft, and it is not dazzling on the water surface of Huangnihezi.The swallow skimmed across the water, with a light figure, like a pair of scissors cutting through a paragraph, leaving long ripples behind it.The water chestnut flowers are blooming, dotted with stars, clusters here, clusters there, like the eyes of stars scattered on the water.On the other side of the river are endless fields.One or two ears of early-maturing corn were exposed, with a small red head on it.When the wind blows, it shakes its head, which is really cute.
Han Yan has been staying in the Qijia compound for several days. When he saw these familiar scenes, his face was full of smiles, and his mood relaxed. He has a lively personality, and he is not so fierce when he looks at the driver. They talked one after another.
"Master, what's your last name?"
"My name is Sun."
"Master Sun, you drove really well." Han Yan said sincerely, his son also took a horse-drawn carriage to go to the county town before, but the road conditions were not good, and his buttocks almost broke into four petals.
Sun Tong smiled and said, "The car is also good. My son, where is your family? Why do you come out to do work at such a young age?"
"I'm not young, I'm fifteen, and I'll be sixteen after the new year. My family owes the fourth master five loads of food, and the fourth master said that he can do the work, so I'm here." Han Yan said.In the past two years, the conditions at home were not good, he ate little, and his bones did not grow.When he first came to the Qi family compound, his complexion was still a little yellow, but after a few days of raising it, he had a lot of blood.
Sun Tong turned his head and looked at Han Yan, knowing in his heart that this was also a child from a poor family, "Son, you can't do this, you are still so small at the age of 15, you should eat more."
Han Yan blushed a little, and said, "I know, I ate two steamed buns in the morning!"
Sun Tong said: "Si Ye is kind, you do a good job, he doesn't care if you eat more."
Han Yan nodded, and responded with "Yeah".He turned his head and looked at the car curtain, and Qi Si was sitting at the back.After getting along with each other for the past few days, Han Yan also gradually felt that Fourth Master Qi was indeed not as scary as the rumors in the village, but a man who spoke and acted with reason and rules.
The road from Yuanmaotun to the county seat was not far away, and within an hour he reached the gate of the city.There was an endless stream of pedestrians beside the carriage, most of them had things on their shoulders and hands, and they were going to the county town to go to the market to do business.
Sun Tong was already familiar with the road, and he pulled the carriage to Lu's Medicine Hall before stopping.
A medicine boy at the door saw it with sharp eyes, and quickly shouted: "Young master is here!"
After a while, the curtain of the back room was lifted, and Lu Fengniang's mother, Lu Wangshi, came out. Although she had passed her forty years, but fortunately she was well maintained, and she could be called a middle-aged lady, and her charm still remained. .Seeing Qi Si get out of the car, she greeted her with a smile and said, "Ah Si is here! Come in and have a seat, your father-in-law just bought a good Maojian a while ago, and I'm waiting for you to try it out today." !"
Seeing Han Yan, she hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Why did you bring a half-grown child here? Where's your helper?"
Qi Si said: "The previous one has left, and this one is new. He is a bit younger, but he is still quick at work."
Lu Wangshi nodded and said, "You have an idea, so come in first."
Qi Si first explained what Sun Tong bought to take home in the afternoon, and asked Han Yan to find a free place at the entrance of the medicine hall to sit for a while, and then followed Lu Wang into the house.
Lu Wang led Qi Si to the kang, it was the end of August, and the weather turned cold, so she asked someone to lay an extra layer of mats on the kang, and asked the girl to quickly boil water and serve tea.
It was rare for Qi Si not to have a cold face, and watched Lu Wang's bustle indifferently.
"Your father-in-law doesn't know what he was thinking. He went for a bird walk with the old Wang next door early in the morning. I said that you will come today in all likelihood, but he still doesn't believe it!"
"This man is always restless. You said his teeth are broken. He doesn't know how bad it is. He wanders outside every day."
"Great joy, go! Go to the alley to see if the master is still there, and tell him that my uncle is here, come back quickly."
After a series of instructions, I was free to sit on the kang and gather up my sleeves.
The girl had already brought the tea leaves and hot water, Qi Si took the tea leaves and tea sets, poured water and made tea step by step.The tea is good tea, and when the hot water is poured, there will be a faint tea fragrance overflowing.
Mrs. Lu said: "How is Feng Niang? Is the eldest sister still behaved? The pharmacy is a little busy recently. Her grandfather and I won't be able to go to her birthday two days later. I have prepared all the presents. I just wait for you to bring them today." go back."
Qi Si handed Mrs. Lu a cup of tea, and said politely, "I'm sorry for your mother's trouble."
Just as he was talking, Master Lu came in with a birdcage in his hand. Seeing Qi Si, he smiled and showed his broken teeth.Mr. Lu was originally a good-looking man, but it was a pity that he fell while walking in the middle of the night, knocked on the door panel, and forcibly knocked out a few big teeth in front of the door, leaving a big hole, and the teeth leaked when he spoke.
Mr. Lu didn't care much, but Mrs. Lu was very sorry. She sighed when she saw Mr. Lu's tooth broken. She thought that she married Mr. Lu because of that face and big white teeth. It's only half a lifetime, and those big white teeth are broken, how can I not feel very depressed when I think about it?
Seeing Master Lu came back, Mrs. Lu Wang hurriedly got off the kang, and Zhang Luo went for lunch.
Master Lu hung up the birdcage, and inside it was a multicolored thrush, jumping up and down on the pedals, in a state of chaos, but it was not noisy.
Master Lu got on the kang, Qi Si offered a cup of tea, neither of them spoke, they drank tea leisurely.
Come to think of it, although Qi Si's attitude towards Lu Fengniang is not considered familiar, he has never been mean, and Qi Si also gives other people's mother-in-law what she should have. Apart from being afraid of Lu Fengniang's uncle, it is more because of Lu Fengniang's parents. Attitude.Master Lu is also a son of an official. Although he lost, he still has some particularities, such as drinking tea, walking birds and watching a play.I'm not interested in walking the birds and flags, but when it comes to watching a theater and drinking tea, the father and son hit it off, regardless of their identities as father-in-law and son-in-law, it seems a bit forgetful.
Lu Wang's family and Qi Si's mother are of the same type, they are both quite capable and cunning, otherwise they wouldn't lead the Lu family to prosper.His personality is extroverted and pungent, with a certain amount of advance and retreat, and he is friendly with others, especially towards good-looking people, Lu Wangshi often looks at them without batting an eye.But she is a serious woman, this kind of liking is just a love of beauty, and it is not deviant.
At the beginning, Master Lu and Master Qi had a good relationship. Although the Lu Wang family was not optimistic about Master Qi's temperament, they only endured it because of their face.Later, Mr. Qi had promiscuous sex and smoked opium, which made people look like ghosts.In private, Mrs. Lu advised Mr. Lu to stay away from him.Master Lu is soft-hearted, and his wife does whatever she says, and wants to slowly cut off contact with Master Qi.Who knew that Master Qi fell in love with Lu Fengniang, so he proposed marriage and said that he wanted to marry back and be his daughter-in-law.
Lu Wang said leisurely: "Qibiao is considered capable in Yuanmaotun, but is he going to marry our Lu family? It's still a bit close."
It is not allowed in private.But in my heart, I was thinking that you Qibiao is a rotten cucumber, so how can your son be any better?Why should I send my own daughter to be ruined by others?
Master Qi didn't say much, but he just brought Qi Si with him the next time he went to the city.At that time, Qi Si was only 19 years old, and his face did not have the immaturity of young people at all, and his advances and retreats were measured and calm.Especially that face, the edges and corners are not yet clear, and there is a bit of elegance in the uprightness.
Lu Wang welcomed him in with a smile on his face, and the first thing he said was: "Has the date of marriage been set?"
Master Lu has slept with her for more than [-] years, how can he not know that she has been fascinated by this young man, and quickly said to Qi Si: "Si, please sit down first, and your aunt and I will prepare it for you. Order a meeting gift." He took Lu Wangshi by the hand and dragged her into the back room.
Seeing her shining eyes, Mr. Lu got angry, and said bitterly: "Hey! Are you going to marry your daughter so soon? Are you afraid that Qi Yixiu will be like his father?"
Lu Wang's eyes were so beautiful that they formed a line, "I think that Yi Xiu is a hundred times better than his father, just look at his face!"
Master Lu was so angry that he blew his beard and stared: "You know how to judge by face! That's going to be your son-in-law! Please calm down."
Mrs. Lu gave Master Lu an angry look, and said, "I just took a look because I knew I was a son-in-law!"
The two chattered and discussed behind the curtain, and Qi Si found a place to sit by himself.Master Qi took him and left.
Qi Si's heart is clear.He knew that he was sold by Master Qi as a commodity.On the surface, Lu's Medicine Hall is engaged in the herbal medicine business, but in fact, behind the scenes, it also offers opium.Nalu Wang's elder brother is the head of the robbers in the mountains and forests in the north of Zhuhai County. He has dozens of rifles in his hand and more than 100 people. He is a well-known bandit leader in their area.Most of the time, they make a living by hijacking passing businessmen, and sometimes they come to the county town to fight teeth.The county government was trying to survive, thinking that one thing more is worse than one thing less, so it didn't care.
There are not many people who know the real identity of Lu Wangshi. Most people just know that there is someone behind her, but they don't know who it is.Master Qi also had a drink with Master Lu once, and he only found out after hearing that he slipped his mouth.
Originally, Lord Qi sent Qi Chen family to Liu Mazi, relying on him to commit crimes in Yuanmaotun, and later because of Qi Yishan, Qi Chen gave Liu Mazi a pillow breeze, and Qi master dared not do it again. With this relationship.Because of this, he was compared by Chen Yiping from the same village.
Master Qi didn't show it on the surface, but he was always thinking about how to take advantage of Lu Wang's natal family's influence, and when he added it up, he would add it up to the marriage.
Master Qi said to Qi Si: "You are capable. Your eldest brother has gone to serve as a soldier, and your third brother is not in good health. You are the only one who can rely on the Qi family compound. Then Chen Yiping relies on his son of a bandit. You are bullying us, what are you thinking about?"
Qi Si said, "What do you want me to do?"
"You've always been clever, come with me to lie down in Lu's Medicine Hall tomorrow." Master Qi said, "I'll take you to talk about business, remember to dress better."
It wasn't until Lu's Pharmacy that Qi Si realized what kind of business it was.Sell your son's business.
Originally, Qi Si thought that Master Lu and his wife could make things difficult for him, so he just refused.Who knew that Lu Wangshi was very satisfied with him, and he brought tea and water, and asked for his health, and he was so enthusiastic.Qi Si has always been bad at dealing with women, especially older women. He was a little at a loss for a while, but he agreed so inexplicably.
Qi regretted it after returning to the compound four times.Master Qi said: "You go to divorce now, I will take care of it for three years before you can take your mother to beg for food."
Qi Si was silent.Chen Yiping worked as the land protector of Yuanmao Tun for three months, and took away all ten acres of good land from the Qi family.The Qi family and the Chen family have been in contact for ten years, and the four Qi brothers would call "Uncle" when they saw Master Chen, and Master Qi even opened a gambling house with Master Chen in partnership.
Master Qi said: "I originally thought that if your brother joined the army, he would be able to become an officer, and the family would be able to borrow money, but who knew that once the bastard went to the customs, there would be no news at all, so it would be useless. Now people have bullied you to the top, you can bear it if you want, I will help you get rid of your marriage today."
Qi Si said: "How capable is Boss Lu?"
Master Qi said: "It's not Boss Lu, it's her wife. His wife is the younger sister of Erhuzi, the bandit leader in the northern mountains."
Qi Si said: "This is not a long-term one. One day, just like Chen Sanshun, it will be gone if it is gone."
Master Qi said: "Before they are gone, they will kill you first."
Qi Si stopped talking.That's how the marriage was settled.Not long after, Chen Dadibao sent back the extra ten mu of land.In the second year, Qi Si and Lu Fengniang got married, and the dowry they sent included two large bags of opium seeds.Master Qi set aside twelve acres of land to plant flowers on. He chose a remote place for fear of attracting jealousy.
Every year, just by growing and selling opium tobacco, the Qi family compound earns enough silver dollars to harvest grain from [-] acres of land.It is not an exaggeration to say that it is making money every day.
Master Qi made another good deal.