Husband and Father Youwei

Chapter 17 The Zhou Family

Tu Lin understood Wang Butler's meaning as soon as he heard it, but he still asked: "I don't know what the old man means?

" How about giving you the price? Of course, if you are worried, we will sign a contract, and I can pay you a part of the deposit in advance, how about it?" Although he had already asked Song the shopkeeper of the charcoal shop, Butler Wang

also I understand that what shopkeeper Song said is just perfunctory himself in order to achieve the purpose of increasing the price. He really had no choice before, charcoal was in short supply as winter approached, and in the entire Fengyang County, only the charcoal shop of Shopkeeper Song, who was backed by the imperial merchant Jiang's family in the prefecture, might still have stock, so he had to deal with him patiently, but now he has After making a new choice, he naturally didn't want to go to shopkeeper Song to waste any more time talking.

But now that the weather is getting colder, the price of this charcoal will only become more and more expensive, especially the relatively rare silver frost carbon. Now that he has found more ways, he naturally wants to hold it in his hand. Let it go, whether it is for personal use or resale in the future, it will be a steady profit without loss.

This once and for all, even guaranteeing the sale of charcoal in the future, Tu Lin is naturally more than willing, but he didn't agree immediately, but turned around and asked Ruan Tang for his opinion. Tang also felt that this matter was feasible, and after expressing his agreement, he agreed to Steward Wang.

Seeing that Tu Lin and the others agreed, Wang Steward was also somewhat happy, although he expected it. After all, this silver frost carbon had a stable source, and he let go of a big stone that was weighing on his heart. Afterwards, Steward Wang led the charcoal to Steward Wang's house, and Tu Lin and the others led the ox cart to deliver the charcoal to Steward Wang's house, and signed the contract by the way.

On the way, Tu Lin learned from the conversation with Steward Wang that the family that Steward Wang served was Zhou, and his family had a rich population of scholars for generations. It was also one of the largest families in Fengyang County. There are also those who are officials in the court, it is never an exaggeration to say that they are aristocratic families.

Originally, for a family like the Zhou family, charcoal was prepared early every year to be used throughout the winter, but this year there was an accident, and the tens of thousands of catties of charcoal had already been put into storage. There was a fire, the warehouse was remote and there were few people. When it was discovered, most of the charcoal was burned to ashes, and the rest was soaked in water. It was no longer usable, so I had to buy it again. It's just that ordinary black charcoal is easy to get, but silver frost charcoal is not easy, and the more he wants, the more difficult it is.

When they arrived at Zhou's house, Tu Lin didn't need to do anything, so Steward Wang called the servants of Zhou's family to carry charcoal for weighing, while Tu Lin, Ruan Tang, and Tu An were invited by Steward Wang to a special room in the outer courtyard of the mansion. In the small hall for receiving guests, he ordered his servants to serve tea and pastries. Afterwards, Steward Wang asked Tu Lin and the others to sit temporarily, while he went to the inner room to prepare the deed and silver.

Although it was also the first time for Tu Lin to enter such a wealthy family, he had seen many big scenes in his previous life, so he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. The family is average, but Ruan Tang and Tu An are not as casual as he is, very reserved.

There was also a servant of the Zhou family who was left by the steward Wang standing beside him, and Tu Lin couldn't say much, so he could only say to Ruan Tang, "This tea is not bad, try it." He picked up another piece of soft tea. The sweet pastry was stuffed into Tu An's hand and let him eat it.

Ruan Tang picked up the teacup and took a sip, seeing the clear and pleasant aroma of the tea soup, although it was slightly bitter at the beginning after drinking, but the aftertaste lingered on his lips and teeth, and he couldn't help showing a bit of satisfaction on his face. Seeing that he liked it, Tu Lin poured him another glass with a smile.

Tu Lin went to look at Tu An again, but he saw that Tu An was holding a half-eaten soft cake in his hand, and instead of eating it, he raised his head and looked straight towards the roof. Tu Lin also looked up following his line of sight, But I saw only a thick beam lying in the middle, and I couldn't help but feel a little inexplicable.

Tu Lin withdrew his gaze, and was about to ask Tu An something, when he heard a noisy voice from outside the small hall. He turned his head and saw there were men and women, and several people dressed as servants of the mansion rushed towards him in panic. When he entered the small hall, he was still yelling "Master Qi, Master Qi", and searched everywhere.

Tu Lin sat without moving, but Ruan Tang couldn't help standing up, looked at Tu Lin, and opened his mouth as if to say something. Tu Lin didn't speak, but only gave him a comforting look, Ruan Tang's heart immediately calmed down, and he sat back down again.

The three of them just sat quietly in the living room. Naturally, these people who appeared suddenly noticed it. One of them went to ask the attendants left by Butler Wang, and learned that Steward Wang had invited them. After leaving, he stopped talking and asked the attendant if he had seen Young Master Qi, but the attendant shook his head and said he hadn't.

At this time, the small hall had been searched by these people, but they still couldn't find the young master Qi they were talking about, so a group of people hurried out of the small hall again, thinking they were looking elsewhere.

Tu Lin also noticed at this time that a certain young master of the Zhou family must have disappeared, but they were outsiders and had nothing to do with them, so he didn't pay much attention to it, and just waited for Steward Wang with peace of mind. It's just that Steward Wang didn't show up in the end, but another person who claimed to be the accountant came to see Tu Lin and the others.

"I'm sorry, both of you, for keeping you waiting. My surname is Qian, and I'm the accountant of the mansion. Butler Wang is in a hurry and cannot get out of his body, so let me hand over the deed and the silver to the two on his behalf. Please forgive me. This deed has already been signed by Steward Wang, please check if there is any problem, and if there is no problem, you can sign and make a deposit." As Mr. Qian said, he drew up Steward Wang and The signed contract was placed in front of Tu Lin.

Although Steward Wang missed some appointments, Tu Lin could understand, after all, the young master in the mansion was lost, and as a housekeeper, he naturally couldn't stay out of it, so he didn't mind. Without asking any more questions, he picked up the contract and read it carefully.

The deed was in duplicate, with the seal of the Zhou family on it. Tu Lin read both copies carefully, and signed his name after confirming that there was no problem.

After Tu Lin signed it, Mr. Qian put away one of the deeds, and the other was naturally reserved for Tu Lin, and then took out the money he had prepared, which was a total of one tael or eight taels of silver. Among them, one or two coins are needed to buy the one hundred catties of silver frost charcoal, and the other six coins are the deposit. After three days, Tu Lin will need to send another three hundred catties of silver frost charcoal to Zhou's house.

Once the deed was signed and the money was taken, the matter was over, and it was time for Tu Lin and the others to leave. Just as he was about to leave, Tu Lin noticed that Tu An was looking at the beam above his head again, and couldn't help asking: "Xiao An, what are you looking at?"

Tu An pointed to the beam and replied, "Brother, beautiful brother.

" When Tu An said this, the adults present were stunned for a moment, and looked up subconsciously. The next moment, a little boy on the beam suddenly appeared and shouted angrily, "Shut up, girl!" I'm only beautiful, I'm a boy, don't say I'm beautiful—"

Although the boy tried his best to deny it, Tu Lin felt that his son was right. Although the boy looked only seven or eight years old, he had delicate features, red lips and white teeth, and said yes She is not overly beautiful, and even has a somewhat indisputable feeling. It is difficult for Tu An to still be able to tell that he is an older brother.

Just when Tu Lin guessed that this child was probably the young master Qi whom those people were looking for just now, Mr. Qian beside him had already yelled "Master Qi", and it was indeed the young master Qi who caused everyone to fall on their backs.

Tu Lin saw that the beam was only half a meter wide. If an adult lay on it, he would not be able to cover his whole body, but a seven or eight-year-old child could. High, how did that child climb up.

Perhaps it was because the boy was too pretty. Although he looked annoyed, Tu An was not afraid at all, and insisted, "It's just beautiful."

The boy became even angrier when he heard that, he leaned out half of his body, pointed at Tu An and shouted: "You still say, you still say, wait, I must teach you a good lesson, see if you still dare to mess up!" Said—" Then he climbed up from the beam, looked left and right, and wanted to get down.

When Mr. Qian saw it,

his face turned pale with shock, and he hurriedly said, "Young Master, don't move, wait for me—" However, it was too late for him to speak, and he was only halfway through when he saw the boy who was propping himself up on his hands and was about to stand up suddenly. As soon as the soles of the feet slipped, the body suddenly lost its balance, and the whole person fell straight down from the beam.

Seeing that the boy was about to fall to the ground in the blink of an eye, Mr. Qian turned pale with fright, and Tu An also exclaimed, while Ruan Tang and Tu Lin instinctively rushed over to pick up the boy.

Fortunately, the boy was not far above Tu Lin and the others. Tu Lin and Ruan Tang rushed over in three steps at a time, and finally caught the boy at a critical moment.

The boy was obviously frightened too, his face was pale without a trace of blood, his eyes were a little dull, and he let Ruan Tang and Tu Lin hug him without moving, as if he had lost his soul. It was only then that Tu Lin and Ruan Tang realized that Master Qi was wrong in saying that he was a boy, because he had a small mole between his eyebrows like Tu An's, and he turned out to be a twin.

However, I heard that the servants of the Zhou family called him Master Qi, and he himself said that he was a boy. It seems that Zhou's family should be one of the few who would raise Shuang'er as a boy.

Ruan Tang couldn't help pity him when he saw him stunned, and hurriedly comforted him, but Tu Lin frowned. Even though the child climbed up the beam by himself and fell down by himself, he and Ruan Tang caught him and saved his life, but if we got to the bottom of it, Tu An couldn't get rid of the responsibility after all. If something really went wrong with this child, can the Zhou family let it go with him?

Thinking of this, Tu Lin couldn't help feeling a little worried. At this moment, Tu An also came over, and called out very worriedly: "Beautiful brother, beautiful brother, are you okay?" He said and tugged on the child's sleeve.

The child seemed to be awakened by Tu An's voice, his eyes rolled and fell on Tu An. Following Tu An's calls of 'beautiful brother', the child's eyes gradually became clear, and blood gradually turned on his face. It was obvious that he had regained his spirit, and Tu Lin heaved a sigh of relief.