That day, Zhou Xueren hosted a banquet for his relatives at the most luxurious Golden Phoenix Restaurant in Fenghua City. Of course, his relatives called a few brothers from the officialdom. They could use them to get the official salt license. Zhou Xueren could only bear the pain and spend a lot of money to let everyone eat, drink, and have fun. After the banquet ended, he handed over the three silver notes he had with him to his relatives and let them arrange for him to send them away.
The three silver notes were from the largest bank in Fenghua City, De Cai Silver Shop. It had a high reputation in the local area and never owed money on credit. Most rich people liked to deposit their silver dollars in the shop. De Cai Silver Shop borrowed money to make money and indeed made a lot of money. In addition, the son of the boss, Zhang Deshui, had recently found a woman in the government office of Ningbo as his wife. Therefore, in Fenghua City, Zhang Deshui was considered a big shot.
That night, Zhou Xue finally parted ways with his relatives and the others. Other than having a good meal, he only had a few taels of silver left on him, which he used to pay for the carriage ride back.
Just now, the relatives said that after dinner, everyone would go to the Cuihua Pavilion in Fenghua's Willow Alley. There were always many beautiful women serving the guests there. As long as they were willing to spend money, they would do whatever they wanted and enjoy the style of the three palaces and six courtyards.
Everyone drank some wine. Once the desire for enjoyment in their bones was aroused, they could not help but want to vent. Therefore, they all applauded and agreed. Only Zhou Xueren remembered that the three banknotes in his pocket had been given to his relatives. Other than food, he only had enough for the fare home. He did not dare to agree to go together.
He knew that although the three banknotes had a face value of more than a thousand taels of snow silver, it didn't seem right to put them into the pockets of his relatives and then take them out to spend under his name. It was as if he had benefited from his relatives. Regardless of whether his relatives were complaining or not, he would lose face first.
Besides, he had just told his relatives that this money was for the license fee and could not be credited to the current expense account. In front of a table full of officials, Zhou Xueren did not want to lose any face.
Therefore, he could only pretend to be confused and tell his relatives that he actually hoped that others would hear that he had a lot of things to do at home and needed to rush back. Everyone could enjoy themselves and have fun with them in the future.
Everyone was in high spirits. After eating and drinking, they did not take Zhou Xueren seriously. They did not act like they had just entered the banquet and were polite to him on account of his hospitality. Now, it was the same whether they had him or not. Anyway, they were with his relatives and did not have to pay for themselves wherever they went.
His relatives had been in the government for a long time and knew that everyone's spending jar was deep. Sometimes, it was simply a bottomless pit. It was far from what the rich people in the countryside could compare with. They were worried that Zhou Xueren would accidentally spend more than half of his 1,000 taels of silver notes. He would have to pay for his work during the day. That would be a big loss.
Therefore, he really wanted to keep Snowman Zhou to play with him and throw all the entertainment expenses to him. Moreover, his relatives knew each other better. Snowman Zhou was famous for being lecherous. Every time he came to the city, he would always drag him to find a brothel. Today, he should have a good celebration, but he wanted to run away.
Hence, he reached out and hugged Zhou Xueren. With the help of the alcohol, he whispered," Don't leave, relative. Let's play together. Yin Feng in the Cuihua Pavilion was still talking about you yesterday, saying that you haven't come for a long time."
Zhou Xueren had come into contact with Yin Feng twice and was attracted by her beauty and talent. After playing, he said that Yin Feng was his confidant and would come to play often in the future.
When the relatives heard Zhou Xueren praise the Silver Wind talent, they secretly laughed in their hearts. They mocked Zhou Xueren for being short-sighted. He was a rich man from a small mountain valley who had never seen a woman in the city. He did not know that most city women were stunners who attracted men.
City women were not necessarily more beautiful than rural women, but they knew how to dress up. In addition, they knew how to read and write, and their skills in poetry, piano, painting, and calligraphy were profound. This imperceptibly increased the charm of a talented woman, making ambitious men have no choice but to bow down and be willing to kneel at the feet of a woman to find a feeling of life.
Silver Wind was very ordinary in the city, but in Zhou Xueren's eyes, it was amazing. How could a rural woman have the foundation of poetry, zither, painting, and calligraphy? It all depended on her natural face and figure. Once a rural woman worked hard, her figure would be much worse than a city woman.
It was difficult for such a woman to make a living in a brothel. The best way for a working woman to live was to marry into a poor family who needed their descendants to support them.
When Snowman Zhou heard his relative mention Yin Feng, the image of a gentle woman who understood men's feelings immediately flashed in his mind. The blood in his body could not help but stir under the stimulation of alcohol. He really wanted to indulge and celebrate the opening of a new road to wealth.
Thinking of the official salt business, Zhou Xueren felt as if there was a mountain of gold in front of him. It was all his property, and he could spend it however he wanted. He could not help but feel happy, and a new element was added to his happy life.
At this moment, he had 10,000 reasons to indulge himself and have fun. He was rich, and he had always been rich. Even if he spent all his savings, he was not poor. He would soon move back home with a mountain of gold. As the saying goes, money begets money, and he spent money to make more money.
He wanted to go home immediately to get some money. Today, he would go all out and have fun. He was just aiming at the official salt monopoly that was about to be obtained. No matter how much money he spent, it was something that could be repaid.
However, it would take at least four hours to go back and forth, and they would have to use the best carriage. Could their relatives wait patiently? Zhou Xueren smiled bitterly in his heart, blaming himself for thinking about the impossible.
Since everything was not going to work, he could only leave early and push all the trouble to his relatives. He pretended to be ignorant and did not mention giving money to his relatives in the future.
However, if his relatives complained in the future that the money on the three banknotes was not enough to spend, and that he had used up one-third of the money just to go to the brothel, he would need to be more lenient with the money for the license.
Zhou Xueren did not wait for his relative to tell him the amount of money. He immediately found the family's money box and took the initiative to give him a thousand taels of silver. He said a few good words and said," Since you've come, I'll treat you to a private game another day."
Zhou Xueren pretended not to understand what his relative meant and replied that he was too busy at home and had no time tonight. He had to go home.
In order to explain the importance of going home, he used his wife as a cover. His wife was very strict and worried that he would not go back to eat slats. He asked his relatives to let him go on account of his henpecked wife.
In fact, Zhou Xueren was not afraid of his wife at all. Usually, he only treated his wife as a maid and a butler. He did not have any respect for her at all.
His relatives often came and went, so they naturally knew that Zhou Xueren was talking nonsense again. They couldn't help but feel a sense of righteous anger. They complained that he didn't treat his relatives as family and didn't tell the truth. He even wanted to rely on his relatives to make a lot of money. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't do the official salt business, his relatives wouldn't want to pull him up at all. They would at least shake their heads and tail if he told lies to his relatives.
The relative was unhappy, so he was no longer polite to Zhou Xueren. He pulled a long face and complained to him quietly. I'm working for you, and the good things haven't ended yet, but you want to leave. Do you still want to earn big money?
The relative emphasized the words " make a lot of money." He was afraid that Zhou Xueren would only care about the expenses in front of him and forget the truth that money begets money. He couldn't bear to part with his children and couldn't hit the wolf. The relative wanted to use an allusion to stimulate him, but the words were not out of his mouth. He was worried that Zhou Xueren would misunderstand that he was using goading methods, which would make things worse. He could only say that the official salt business was profitable.
Zhou Xueren was attracted by his relative's words of making a lot of money. He thought to himself that he couldn't pretend to be stupid. He could only say that he didn't have enough money on him and let his relative spend all three banknotes first. He would bring a few more banknotes over another day.
The relative laughed. He thought to himself,"Why didn't you say so earlier?" He had to be timid and busy, making him worry about being scammed.
The relative ate Zhou Xueren's reassurance and was instantly in a good mood. He wanted to sell Zhou Xueren a favor, so he reached out and grabbed his hand. He said emotionally,"Don't go, relative. Stay and play together. Everyone will be happy."
Zhou Xueren had just complained that he had no money on him and felt embarrassed to step down. Now that he had spoken, he felt relieved and his mood to play became stronger. His desire to miss the silver phoenix rose, and he wished he could step into the Emerald Flower Pavilion to find the silver phoenix.
Thus, he turned around and cupped his fists at the table. It wasn't easy for everyone to meet today, so he was willing to accompany everyone to their hearts 'content. Eat, drink, and have fun! Come, come, come! Let's drink two more cups of wine and set off for the Cuihua Pavilion.
Everyone was excited and clinked glasses with Zhou Xueren. Seeing that they could play for free, they treated him as the boss of today's crowd and were willing to listen to his arrangements.
The relatives knew that they could borrow flowers to offer Buddha, deepen the bond of interest between the brothers in the officialdom, and sketch a more harmonious and happy life in the officialdom. They quickly suggested that they serve a few more dishes and everyone drink a few more mouthfuls before going to the Cui Hua Pavilion.
Zhou Xueren was relieved of the burden of lacking money and was willing to let his relatives entertain everyone to their heart's content. Even if he spent all three silver notes today, he would not jump for joy. He could not bear to part with his child, but he could not trap the wolf. He could not help but think of his relatives 'thoughts in the past. As the saying goes, great minds think alike. It was just that he and his relatives did not know about it.
If the modern brain speculators were already available at that time, Zhou Xueren would definitely need to know the thoughts of his relatives. Similarly, relatives also needed to know the thoughts that Zhou Xueren did not say out loud. They should be prepared for each other so that they would not lose face when dealing with relatives.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。