In the early morning of the next day, the shopkeeper Chen sat in the room and read the account books, and the abacus in his hand made a "whooshing" sound.

Xi'en came in from outside, casually splashed the residual tea in front of his father, added leaves, and brewed a new cup.

"Our business is getting better day by day, child, you are clever, you must not relax, Hongchang Dyeing Workshop is not easy today." The Chen family dyeing workshop was handed down from his grandfather's generation, and in his hands, it can only be regarded as barely making ends meet, and sometimes it is difficult to make ends meet. At present, not only has the shop at home expanded, but two new stores have been opened, and suddenly there is such a big scene, and the shopkeeper Chen is still a little uncomfortable. A heart is always carried, calculating day and night.

Xi En swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and then smiled, "Don't worry, old man, although our business is good now, it is still a small business after all, and there is no big profit or loss." ”

Shopkeeper Chen finished settling the accounts and carefully totaled them, and there were about one hundred and fifty taels of silver this month. Only this month can catch up with the profits of previous years, and he is indispensable, with a goatee, a pair of blistered eyes and a smile that he can't move the account book.

"The second master has been back for several days, don't always stare at the account books, if you want me to say, you will accompany him everywhere today, and the two brothers will talk well." Mrs. Chen stepped through the door and complained.

Xien hurriedly helped her mother sit down, her brain turned, and she also helped to persuade, "What my mother said is exact, according to the child's view, it is best to go to Qipan Mountain." First, it is not far away, and it is only a little more than half an hour on foot; The second is that the environment is elegant, which is the most suitable for chatting and playing, and the second uncle must like it. ”

The smiling face of the shopkeeper Chen turned cloudy for a moment, and he "hummed" in his nose, "With that kung fu, I should keep an eye on it in the dyeing workshop, the silver is not easy to come by, if he wants to be an official, he doesn't have the silver to see what he does." ”

However, where can he be verbose, Mrs. Chen knew him with affection and reason, and finally "persuaded" him out of the house.

"Alas, although I know that he is a debt collector, who makes the family, it's just that." Mrs. Chen sighed for a while and went to the backyard.

Xi En figured it out for a while, and roughly guessed what it meant. At this time, Yan Rui came in, "Dad, his old man agreed?" ”

Naturally, he had already gone out to play with his second uncle, saying that he would not be able to come back until evening. It's up to you and me to do this, and he'll wait to see the results. Xi En said unusually relaxed.

Yan Rui wondered, when did Dad be so reasonable? It's about because my sister's intelligence is above mine, and I don't know.

In the Hongchang Dyeing Workshop, Xien and Yanrui are totaling the amount of pigments.

"In the past, it was the amount of a piece of cloth and a penny, do you think how much you should use now?"

Xi En frowned, "It's a little less than a penny, it's better to have less than more." ”

"The water temperature doesn't change."

"Then I'm starting to unclothe?"

"Well, just this one, let's see the condition first."

"Sister, guess what I just saw?" Xiangxiang is holding a flower basket in his hand, and his black hair is combed into a delicate beauty bun, which is very good-looking with the golden step on it.

Chen Biyun is embroidering, red flowers and green leaves, peony flowers are not delicate, but they are just half embroidered. She raised her head and said, "You are used to wandering around, and I don't know what kind of rural rumors you hear at this time." ”

"You don't want to hear it, but that Li Molin is said to be going to Beijing to take the exam in the autumn of this year, if he wins the champion, he will be called Huazi and become a phoenix, and he will become the champion lady." She put the flowers in the basket into the bottle one by one, "It's just that our eldest lady is not rare, and he doesn't care if he is the champion or not." ”

As soon as she heard Li Molin, Chen Biyun put down the work in her hand, "Dead girl, I'm still playing dumb riddles with my sister, hurry up, I'm good with you." ”

Yuan Xiangxiang came back from outside, and happened to meet a few guys from the dyeing workshop sitting under the gatehouse chattering. She listened attentively to a few words, and then she realized that the eldest lady and the eldest young master were dyeing cloth in the dyeing workshop, and specially branched out the others.

She is a big ghost, and she has more eyes than others, and when she came back, she told her sister about it.

After listening to this, Biyun couldn't help beating a drum in his heart. Why do you want to dye cloth well, isn't there a secret to it?

Yan Rui looked at the mess of blue cloth dyed by himself in front of him, and stood aside dejectedly.

Xi En picked up the cloth and looked left and right, nodding from time to time. After a long time, Fang said, "I'll put this cloth first, it's better not to tell my father to know." ”

"Didn't you say that Daddy had already given you permission to dye the cloth?"

"The horizontal and vertical cloth has been dyed, I naturally have a way, you just wait and see." Xi'en confidently comforted his honest eldest brother.

Yan Rui's eyes were already the size of a copper bell, when did he disobey his father and do such a thing, his heart was terrified, imagining that a board must not be able to run away.

Xi En carried the basket and walked out, and Li Molin had been waiting outside for a while. She only arrived at the second gate, and it happened that the shopkeeper Chen and the second master Chen came back from outside.

Chen Erye and his brother don't look very imaginary, with slender faces, medium stature, and a little fat, and they dress up to be both literati and official. He shook his folding fan and said, "Where are you going?" ”

"Send something to Aunt Li's house." Xi'en greeted him with a smile and said respectfully.

"Sister Xi'en, my mother sent me over to pick up something, so I won't let you send it over." Li Molin walked closer in a few steps and took the basket in Xi'en's hand.

Second Master Chen admired Mo Lin's talent very much, and when he saw him coming, the kindness that an elder should have appeared on his face that was originally not smiling, "The virtuous nephew should study hard at the window at this time, such trivial matters, why bother with your reasoning." ”

Shopkeeper Chen was a little uncomfortable, "Although the scholar should concentrate on his studies in order to achieve the ultimate goal of fame, but he should also have some experience in general affairs, otherwise he will be unsatisfactory in his fame, and he is not diligent in his four bodies, and he is not divided into grains, isn't it a dilemma, and he is in a dilemma!" ”

Second Master Chen saw that his brother was embarrassed in front of his juniors, his originally not white face became more and more gloomy, he snorted coldly in his nose, and was about to leave with his sleeves flicked.

"Dad, uncle, my mother asked the child to come over to greet the two, today my mother prepared a few good dishes, and the best court tribute wine brought from the capital is waiting for the two." Chen Biyun has a pink face with a thick smile, looking well-behaved, sensible and understanding.

Second Master Chen also didn't want to stiffen the relationship with his brother, although he was a bit old-fashioned, but he was not bad for his only younger brother. borrowed a donkey to go downhill, "Why don't you go and have a drink with the eldest brother and the younger brother?" ”

Seeing the two turn around, Xi En secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Biyun said suddenly, "What is this basket of Brother Mo Lin, show it to my sister." As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed the basket. Li Molin was caught off guard, but heard Biyun shouting, "Oops! ”

Shopkeeper Chen turned around, only to see a messy piece of cloth that had been dyed scattered on the ground, and saw that Xi'en and Li Molin were both uneasy, with a panicked look, and couldn't help but be suspicious.