The mica screen candle shadow is deep, and the long river gradually falls. Chang'e should repent of stealing the elixir, and the blue sea and blue sky are night and night. ----- Li Shangyin

The Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15, the night of the full moon, is also a day of reunion and homecoming since ancient times. A bright moon in the sky, as bright as day, I don't know how many literati and writers have been attracted to sing to the moon, expounding their own thoughts and melancholy. However, today, the wealthy businessmen in Beijing did not eat moon cakes with their families at home to celebrate the reunion, and they brought their families to Bai's house in the west of the city in the afternoon. Most of the wealthy merchants in the city knew each other well, but they were not interested in greeting each other at this meeting, and they were all a little uneasy. In last year's Lanyu case, Zhu Yuanzhang consciously killed a group of wealthy businessmen, and it is said that Shen Wanshan's son was raided because of the Lanyu case, and the rich man of Zhouzhuang for a while was almost wiped out. Everyone can feel the emperor's hatred for the rich businessmen, so they are usually cautious, lest they invite trouble, so some time ago I heard that the Bai family and the White Lotus Sect have something to do with each other, and the VIP buildings have been seized, so they don't dare to deal with the Bai family. But I never thought that just a month later, the Bai family actually distributed invitations, and what was even worse was that Jinyi Wei Tiqi personally sent invitations to the door, when the porter said that Jinyi Wei was outside to see the master, some rich businessmen were scared to pee their pants, but fortunately, they just sent invitations. After everyone understood the content of the invitation, they were even more puzzled, but no matter what, Jinyiwei couldn't afford to provoke anyone, so they had to come to the door on time.

The location of the west of the city near the Qinhuai River is the gathering place of the Gonghou Mansion, of course, the Bai family does not have such a face, but it can't stand the money of the people, so it is said that this street was originally called Fuyun Street, but because the people who live are all rich people, slowly everyone is called "Fuyun Street". Everyone came to the gate of Baifu, and did not find the domineering Jinyi guard, but there were already many carriages at the door, because there were too many guests, the Bai family opened the back door, and let the later people drive the car into the courtyard of the back door, so as not to crowd the street.

Old man Bai and Bai Wangru greeted at the door in person, everyone entered the Bai family after greetings, and found that the Bai family had a new look, clean and tidy, there was a group of beautiful maids with white veils standing at the door, but the clothes on the body were not uniform, the styles were diverse, and the colors were different, but they were very coordinated on these maids, and they gave people different feelings, such as youth and liveliness, demure and elegant, graceful and luxurious, and every time they came into the family, there would be a beautiful maid to lead them and take them to the seats in the courtyard to sit down.

After sitting down, the wealthy merchants found that a platform had been set up on the side of the Bai family's compound, and everyone's seats were facing this platform. Looking around, I found that they were all acquaintances, and they greeted each other.

"Boss Ma, I haven't seen you for a long time, where did you make a fortune recently? I heard that Boss Ma went to Beiping and bought a lot of Korean ginseng, right? ”

"Boss Wang, Ma is just making a little money, how can he compare with your jade business? I heard that all the ladies in the palace like your jewelry. ”

"Where is it, it's also the mother in the palace who loves her, don't dare to be it, by the way, Boss Zhang, I didn't expect you to come too, I heard that you filled a flower boat on the Qinhuai River again? I heard that it was burned by the White Lotus Sect before. ”

Boss Zhang has a tall and thin forehead, elegant temperament, and looks like a scholar, but he is the largest Qinglou boss on the Qinhuai River, and he has more than a dozen flower boats under his hands, but when he heard Boss Ma's ridicule, his face turned pale: "Boss Ma, you can't talk nonsense, that cheap woman has nothing to do with Zhang, and Zhang doesn't know that she is taught by the White Lotus." ”

......

Everyone greeted each other and livened up the atmosphere a little to avoid embarrassment and drumming in their hearts.

After a while, suddenly there was a scream from Boss Ma's seat, everyone was startled, and looked intently, and found that Mrs. Ma was holding a delicate and clear cup in her hand: "What is this?" Glass cups? So transparent? As he spoke, he handed it to Boss Ma: "Master, how much does this cost?" Is the Bai family going to give us this? ”

Boss Ma was also surprised, he was a jade expert, so he took it over and looked at it carefully, tapped it gently, and put it to his ear to listen to the sound, but the more he looked at his face, the more surprised he became, and muttered in a low voice: This is not glass, but how is it completely transparent, and it is so exquisite......

Others also opened the black box in front of them, and the sound of surprise sounded, the things in the box were different, some were cups, but the styles were different, some were transparent beads, and the most amazing thing was that Boss Zhang's box turned out to be a mirror, Boss Zhang couldn't talk when he held the mirror, but it was easy to understand when he thought about it, he was so big, he recognized his appearance for the first time, and he was too clear in the mirror, and even the hairs on his face could be seen clearly one by one. But he didn't look at it for long, he was robbed by his wife next to him, Mrs. Zhang is a fat woman, with a horizontal face, it is said that Boss Zhang was recruited in, so he was born afraid of guilt, so he didn't dare to say anything with a wry smile, so he listened to Mrs. Zhang's startled call......

In fact, Boss Zhang knew some inside information, but this mirror did calm him down, and now that the mirror was snatched away by his wife, he naturally looked around, and found that everyone's box was different, and he couldn't help but go to other people's tables to look, and so did others, and all the bosses vaguely understood why the Bai family invited them. So the scene was a little chaotic all of a sudden, and at this moment, a gong sounded, and Bai Zhong, the housekeeper of the Bai Mansion, jumped onto the stage and said: "Bosses, wives, young masters, young masters, young ladies, please don't mess around, these things can be seen casually, just pay attention to these glasses are a little brittle and easy to break, please be careful." ”

Unexpectedly, the scene was even more chaotic, and Boss Zhang rushed over with a mirror: "Butler Bai, what is this thing?" Does the Bai family sell? How much? ”

reminded everyone at once, and rushed over with a whin, and the white housekeeper was frightened and hurriedly struck the gong again: "Everyone, please be quiet, there will be a maid to explain to you in a while, as for the business and price, the master will tell you in a while." ”

After a while, the maid next to her walked into the field, and the work of each maid was distributed in an orderly manner, and each person was responsible for several tables to explain to the interested boss. And everyone sensitively found that the earrings and chains on the wrists of these maids are made of this kind of "glass", some young ladies want to take a look, and some young masters want to rub some oil, but these maids are handled very decently, neither offending each other, but at the same time not letting the other party take any advantage, just enthusiastically show the chain to the other party. When the phenomenon of harassment is discovered, the white butler announces in due course that if you harass the maid and are not interested in glass, please leave the white mansion. If everyone said so as soon as they arrived at the door, everyone would have gone back, but now, they won't go back if they are killed. The bosses are concerned about how much money can be bought for this thing, and how many Bai families have? How much money can I make by selling it myself? The ladies and ladies were really attracted, the kind of crystal clear glass ornaments, sparkling in the sun, eager to wear on themselves......

When the guests arrived, the old man Bai stepped onto the platform, today's old man Bai is very energetic, and the same as the previous days, his beard and hair have been carefully trimmed. Seeing Old Man Bai on stage, everyone couldn't help but quiet down. Old Man Bai glanced at it and said: "Colleagues, friends, everyone is welcome to give Bai someone this face, come to the cold house to participate in this banquet, the purpose of this banquet should have been guessed, but now, everyone should also be hungry, so eat first, and after you are full of wine and food, we will discuss the next step, everyone, please!" ”

After the banquet began, everyone found some differences, such as all the wine is placed in the glass, the white grain wine, the red wine is in the glass, it looks crystal clear, the wine seems to be delicious in the mouth, and the pastries and fruits after the meal are also placed in the glass plate, and the taste of the fruit is much cooler. Everyone chatted while eating, talking about the feeling of the glass and how much they planned to buy......

When everyone had almost eaten, Old Man Bai continued to come to the stage and announced that there would be a live auction of ten mirrors, a set of glass cups, and ten sets of beads today. Then a maid came to the stage, she took off the veil, revealing her true face, which attracted some admiration, I don't know where the Bai family found such a beautiful maid, look at this temperament, look at this look, how can you be a maid? I can't help but cause all the flower messengers to protect the flowers to burn. After listening to the maid announce the reserve price and the price increase, a hammer sounded, announcing the start of the offer, and the drunken rich businessmen began to quote under the influence of their wives and children......

The maids also worked very hard, from time to time with contempt, surprise, appreciation, helplessness, distress and other expressions to attract the hearts of the audience, the price was much higher than expected, the first five-inch mirror was sold for 5,000 taels of silver. The maid was overjoyed and bowed down again and again. Because the Bai family promised them to sell something, they gave them a percentage, which is five hundred taels of white silver.

......

An auction did not stop until the beginning of the month, all the rich businessmen left satisfied, and the old man Bai also announced that tomorrow in his store, there will be some retail cups, please everyone on a first-come, first-served basis. Everyone thanked Mr. Bai and went home.

After everyone left, the servants began to clean up the scene, and the Bai family couple and a pair of children sat in the back hall and began to count today's harvest. After a long time, Bai Fangrui calculated with an abacus and said: "Today's total income is 55,000 taels, excluding those women's commissions and eighty percent to Mr. Wang, our family will receive about 3,000 taels." ”

Although Old Man Bai roughly knew this amount, he was still shocked, this was just one night's income. Bai Wangru said with some regret: "Alas, sister, the commission you give to those ** is too high, although it is a Qing Qi person, but Yicheng earns more than our family." ”

Bai Fangrui glanced at him: "Okay, I'm afraid I won't be able to sell it for so much money without them, especially the first time new things are sold, they must be sold at a high price, and the price will be low for the first time in the future." Tomorrow morning, our Bai family will send the silver over, and it will inevitably trouble people in the future. ”

"Okay, okay, you must have your point."

Old Man Bai looked at it and said, "This time is really beyond my imagination, if only Mr. Wang could supply more." If you can get 3,000 taels a day, it's close to 100,000 taels a month. ”

"Dad, it's impossible, if you ship too much, it's not worth so much money. I hope that Mr. Wang's side can keep his promise and supply for a long time, and my daughter thinks that Mr. Wang is just a test this time, and there should be more things to come over in the future. Therefore, we have to notify Mr. Wang as soon as possible and withdraw 80% of the income. ”

Bai Wangru was a little reluctant, that was more than 40,000 taels of silver, just hand it over?

Old Man Bai couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and said, "No problem, I'll notify the cold guards tomorrow morning." ”

As the three of them were talking, the old lady Bai, who had not spoken all the time, said, "Are you very happy?" ”

The three of them were stunned, what do you mean?

Old Madam Bai said: "Don't forget, this money may have been sold by our Bai family to sell their daughter, daughter, I am in charge, the three thousand taels will be returned to your account, and no one else is allowed to use it." How? Do you have an opinion? As he spoke, he glanced at the Bai family's father and son.

Old Man Bai smiled awkwardly: "Madam said yes." ”

"The mother and mother are right, and the son agrees." Bai Wangru looked at his mother with admiration.

Bai Fangrui hurriedly said: "Mother, I can't ask for it, it's all my father's credit." ”

Mrs. Bai lowered her head, wiped her tears and said: "Rui'er, you have been smart since you were a child, you have grown up and are beautiful, my mother hopes that you can find a good family, you have a high spirit, you have to find it yourself, and your mother will not force you, but this time, my mother is really afraid, we still don't know who the other party is, open your mouth, Jinyi Wei is running errands, if it is a relative of the emperor, Rui'er, what kind of status can you marry in the past?" If it's a Jinyi guard, it's a fire pit. Can my mother not be worried? My mother's heart is uncomfortable. ”

Bai Fangrui was also said to cry: "Mother, Rui'er has caused trouble for the family, and her daughter is not filial." ”

The two couldn't help but hug their heads and cry.

The father and son looked at each other, and after a while, Bai Wangru said glutinously: "Mother, sister, I don't think it's that bad, the other party hasn't made any excessive demands now, and I don't think the other party should be a person from Jinyiwei, sister, do you remember the noble son we met on the way to martial arts that day?" I think it's likely that the wooden boy has taken a fancy to you. ”

Old man Bai said in his heart why he didn't make excessive requests, but he didn't dare to tell you.

Bai Fangrui cried for a while and said, "Father, mother, brother, Rui'er is nothing, it's good, let's take one step at a time." ”

After discussing for a long time, in the end, Mr. Bai set the tone, not to talk to Mr. Wang about Wang Fangrui, only to talk about business, if the other party didn't say it, he should not know and pretend to be confused.

The next day, the beautiful legend of glass and mirrors began to spread in the capital, and soon spread to other places with merchants from all over the world......