Time flies, spring goes to winter, and in a blink of an eye, the four years of Jian'an have come to the end of the year. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe sprinkled winter snow flutters all over the sky, turning the whole land into a bewitching snow. Because it was winter, most of the life in heaven and earth had entered their own dormant period, making the already quiet Longzhong even lighter. Don't talk about people, on this cold day, most people can't bear the cold, and hide in their own homes, and the family is surrounded by the fire.

It's a lazy season, and no one wants to do anything other than prepare for the end of the year. It was too cold, and Li Sheng had never foreseen such a cold weather in his impression. If you have to compare, only the winter of the first three years can be comparable to the present.

The stepmother, Wang, died two years ago, shortly after her father's death. At that time, Zhuge Liang put forward the idea of going to the mountain again, but was vetoed by Li Sheng: "Why is it so troublesome? Ah Jun and Bell are both growing up now, this food and environment are very important, you don't want to see your brother look dry. It's already good here. ”

Zhuge Liang was naturally convinced. He can endure the hard life of himself, but he always doesn't want the people around him to be like him. "Since Brother Sheng is talking like this, then he won't move." He promised to come down. In fact, from the bottom of his heart, he was reluctant to move out of here, because so many people lived together and gave him a sense of home. Elders like Uncle Song and Uncle Zhou, although they were just ordinary diners, he felt the care of relatives from them. Moving to the mountains, that would undoubtedly be separated from them, made him reluctant.

In the hall of Longzhong's house, the people of the Zhuge family gathered together: the two married sisters came back, and the elder brother Zhuge Jin, who was far away in Jiangdong, also sent letters, plus Li Sheng, Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun, Song Bo's family, Uncle Zhou's family, Gan Hai, Aunt Mei and others who originally lived here. The Zhuge family, except for Li Sheng's two early masters, Peng Ling and Xu Ding, gathered together.

The three fires in the hall burned vigorously, and everyone sat together. Yan and Ling, the two married sisters, pulled the grown Li Zhong and whispered there. I don't know what these delicate people are saying, but from time to time there is a laugh like a silver bell wafting from there. Song De, Da Niu, Xiao Rui and Ah Jun sat together, and the teenagers who didn't know how to worry always had a lot of things to communicate. And Uncle Song and Uncle Zhou were talking to the housekeeper Gan Hai, the house seemed to be going to be renovated, and the housekeeper Gan Hai was about to hand over some things to them to do. As for Zhuge Liang and Li Sheng, these two righteous brothers who are closer than brothers, sat far away next to a fire at this time, sat facing each other, boiled a pot of turbid wine, and drank each other with a smile. Two prospective adults who always have dreams for the future are planning the next year.

"You're going to Xiangyang tomorrow? Going alone? Zhuge Liang asked in a low voice.

"Yes, Surabaya Ju is also my property, and there are some things that need to be solved personally." Li Sheng chuckled and raised the wine glass in his hand. The wine in the glass is not good, it is very light, but Li Sheng likes this light taste. He took a sip lightly and said to Zhuge Liang with a smile: "In fact, being a boss is like being an official, the people under you are your officials, your talents, and the money in your hands is your soldiers." Although there are some differences between business and politics, there should be more similarities between the two. After Surabaya Ju opened in Jingzhou, I never went there, and I completely let Aunt Mei manage him. But, in any case, he is my thing, and he must serve me. So I thought it was necessary to make some improvements to him to make it easier for me. After this year, we will be twenty years old, and we will be considered adults. The time for filial piety for my father-in-law and mother-in-law is approaching, and I must make plans for my future no matter what. ”

"yes. Before you know it, three years will pass. I remember you said that you would be out of office when the three years are up, right? Zhuge Liang looked at Li Sheng with some sudden realization.

"Yes. The road to becoming a monarch is not so easy to follow, and now there is not much time, or Cao Cao, or Yuan Shu to unify the north is not so far away. Once the North is united, their goals will inevitably be towards the South, and I will have to prepare for this as soon as possible. In a few years, I have to become a Taishou as soon as possible. These things are a person's ambition and a person's secret, but Li Sheng thinks that these things should not be hidden from his brother, so he said them very calmly. If you want to become a sovereign, you must definitely have your own territory, and if you want to dominate the world, it is impossible to have a small county, at least you must become the Taishou of a county.

"Need help?" Zhuge Liang looked at Li Sheng with bright eyes, and asked lightly: "If you need it, I will help you!" ”

"No, I don't." Li Sheng shook his head gently: "I need your help, but not now." Ah Liang, you are the most outstanding person. Great talent is used where it matters. I don't want you to be transferred away by someone from above as soon as you come out. ”

"Hehe, am I as strong as you say?" Zhuge Liang smiled and said humbly, and then he said to Li Sheng with a straight face: "Leave the affairs of the family to me in the future." In any case, as long as you say a word in the future, I will go to your side immediately. If I don't even help my own brother, who will I help? Zhuge Liang's face turned red, and he looked a little excited.

"Thank you." Li Sheng drank all the wine in his hand in one gulp, and his face became slightly hot. He thanked his brother very sincerely.

"You're welcome?" Zhuge Liang spoke softly, but smiled heartily. In front of his brother, he feels very relaxed and open, and can always express the refreshment that he can't show in front of ordinary people. After laughing, Zhuge Liang asked Li Sheng again: "I don't think Brother Sheng'er's matter should be delayed this year." He said and looked at Li Sheng, and then at Li Zhong, who was talking to his sister and looked at him from time to time with complicated eyes, and said with deep meaning: "Zhong'er, it's already sixteen, and it's going to be seventeen during the New Year, so I don't have much time to wait." I think you should understand this. "Understood." The tenderness on Li Sheng's face flashed slightly, but he quickly regained his calm. He smiled and said to Zhuge Liang: "I originally planned for this matter, and as soon as the sacrifice day of my father-in-law and mother-in-law passed next year, I planned to bring this matter up." Well, I'm going to make a big one in Xiangyang, and I'm going to have a three-happiness coming. ”

"Three joys?" Zhuge Liang's eyes widened, "I know that you are one joy when you get married, so there are two more joys from the harmony?" ”

"Is my Liu Biao a joy? And is it a joy for you to get married? Li Sheng asked with a smile.

"How is this possible?" Zhuge Liang showed a strange look on his face: "You are naturally a joy when you come out of Liu Biao." But, am I married? Boss, I don't have any goals yet! Zhuge Liang was exaggerating. In front of Li Sheng, he didn't have the demeanor of a so-called scribe at all.

"Hehe, just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you didn't have it at that time. Don't you have a choice in your heart? Li Sheng looked at Zhuge Liang directly.

"This ......." Zhuge Liang stood up. An imaginary tall figure flickered in his mind.

As for the outlook for the coming year, this is the end of the exchange between the two brothers. Next, a lively luncheon passed with the laughter of the whole family. In the afternoon, the two married sisters got up and returned to Xiangyang. When he was leaving, he always told Li Sheng and Zhuge Liang to go to their side to play when they were free.

"That's for sure." Li Sheng agreed with a smile. Suddenly, he looked at a faint resentment on Li Zhong's soft face, and couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart, so he said, "Tomorrow." Tomorrow, I will take Zhong'er to Sister Yan's place. ”

"Really?" A soft cry sounded to Li Sheng's left. When Li Sheng tilted his head to look, he saw Li Zhong covering his mouth with a shy. She looked very happy, her face flushed, but her eyes were full of smiles. She wasn't excited to be able to go to Xiangyang, in fact, her gentle girlish heart was just thinking about how to be with the person she wanted. People who are in love have the most difficult mind to figure out and the most pure.

"Good! You're very welcome. Zhuge Yan agreed with a smile, and she glanced at Li Sheng and Li Zhong happily, and nodded meaningfully.

After sending off the two sisters, the family returned to the house. Scattered to do their own things: Zhuge Liang went to study the letter sent by his eldest brother, and Deng'er ran back to his house with a ruddy face and didn't know what to do. Jun and Da Niu, Xiao Rui, and Song De played in the snow in the front yard. And Li Sheng himself returned to his house and thought about the next step of Surabaya House alone.

A night without a word passed. In the early morning of the second day, Li Sheng hurriedly took Li Zhong and stepped on the carriage to Xiangyang City after breakfast.

There are a total of three Surabaya residences in Xiangyang City, which are located on the side of the city road in the Dadi District, on the east gate of the East Market, and next to the East and West Road of the West Market. The business of these three Surabaya residences is very prosperous, and the hall is full all day long, and the guests are like clouds. In the past, Li Sheng only knew that Aunt Mei was very good at collecting intelligence, but he never thought that she would be so tough in business.

In two years, the original one Surabaya residence on the embankment was opened to the current three, and the expansion was fast enough to surprise the owners of the taverns and restaurants in Xiangyang City. In the face of the deteriorating business, they didn't think about using other means to restrict the development of Surabayaju, but they had to give up such an idea after hearing about the connection between the Zhuge family, who controlled Surabayayu, and the upper echelons of Xiangyang. After all, it is definitely not a good idea to get into trouble with someone who is related to the Xiangyang family by marriage.

The carriage stopped in front of the embankment Surabaya. Li Sheng took Zhong'er's little hand and Shi Shiran jumped out of the car. A cool breeze blew a lot, and the fine snow crystals flew away one after another, making the little face of the bell pale in an instant. Today's weather is colder than yesterday's. Originally, I didn't feel anything in the car, but when I got into the car, I quickly felt the chill like a knife.

"It's too cold." Bell sighed, stomped her feet and trembled, shaking her body vigorously. She believed that such movement would warm her body. However, the cold wind that swept over her head from time to time made the heat she had just gathered dissipate without a trace. She still felt cold, and her head couldn't help but shrink a little.

"They told you to bring your hat, but you just wouldn't listen. I feel cold now. A gentle voice sounded beside Bell'er, and then Bell'er felt a furry thing on her head, covering her little head and ears. She understands that it is her brother Sheng who is putting a hat on herself.

"It's so warm." Although she still felt a little cold, her heart warmed up because of it. She did feel warmth, which was caused by the concern of her brother Sheng. She looked up at Li Sheng, but saw that Li Sheng's head had long since lost his hat, and thin snowflakes were falling on his neatly groomed hair little by little, shining like silver water. Obviously, he gave up the hat on his head.

"Brother Sheng, aren't you cold?" The beautiful girl asked with concern.

"Hehe, I've practiced martial arts. This little bit of cold is nothing to me. Li Sheng smiled and shook his head gently: "Although it is now on the ground, it still takes a while to walk in from the gate of Surabaya Residence." I don't want my bell to freeze on this journey. As he spoke, his eyes filled with concern: "It's too cold today, I really shouldn't have taken you out." ”

"Don't be afraid, just follow Brother Sheng's side." Zhong'er said very well-behaved. She gently grabbed Li Sheng's arm and leaned her body towards him, all looking like a bird.

"Alright, let's go inside." Li Sheng patted Zhong'er's shoulder lovingly, let her lean like this, and strode towards the depths of the Surabaya Residence. At the moment, there are no guests in the hall of Surabaya House, so naturally there are no people to comment on the relationship between the two.

The Surabaya residence in the embankment area is very large. It is said that it was originally a merchant's courtyard, and then it was beheaded because he offended Lord Liu Biao, and this courtyard naturally fell into the hands of Liu Biao, and was rewarded by Liu Biao to Kuaiyue. When Kuai Qi and Zhuge Yan got engaged, Kuai Yue, in order to celebrate his nephew's great joy, also handed over the half-sold and half-given other courtyard to Zhuge Yan, and Zhuge Yan handed it over to Li Sheng. Li Sheng converted this courtyard house into the headquarters of Surabaya House.

After modifications, it has been entered by a door into the courtyard with four entrances:

The first entrance is naturally the hall of the Surabaya residence, the four-story building from the bottom to the top may not be the highest in the whole Xiangyang City, but the tower-like structure of one main and four deviations sets off the momentum of the whole building;

The second entry is the general guest room, a total of 50 rooms, divided into three columns, bearing the cross layout. Because it is an ordinary house, there is naturally no independent courtyard, but the unified central courtyard and the flowers and trees planted in the two partial courtyards, the small mountains and flowing water, and the bridge courtyard Wan fascinated this person's heart.

"Living in an ordinary room in Surabaya can be enjoyed better than the small courtyard of an ordinary restaurant." It has become a fact that everyone recognizes.

And from the second avenue to the inside is the third courtyard. It is also a unique architectural complex. Completely different from the small courtyard of the general inn, the courtyard here is completely unfenced, because the trees here are the walls, and the water is the boundary. Relying on the natural decoration, the people who live here feel the refreshment of freedom, dignity and tranquility.

The fourth entrance of Surabaya Ju, which is obviously divided into two courtyards, left and right. The left courtyard is where the dormitory of the Surabaya residents is located, and the right courtyard is the office of the Surabaya residents, which can be regarded as the heart of the headquarters.

Li Sheng wanted to go to the courtyard of the fourth entrance to communicate with the managers of Surabaya House. It was a dreary occasion, and it was not suitable for the bell to go in. Li Sheng was afraid that she would be bored, so he ordered a low-level steward in the center of Surabaya to come over: "Well, she is your future boss lady." Take her for a walk around the landscape here. Don't make her feel bored. Well done, I'll let Aunt Mei reward you later. ”

Although Li Sheng rarely comes to Surabaya Ju and rarely pays attention to the development of Surabaya Ju, there is no one in Surabaya Ju who he does not know, because Surabaya Ju is personally selected by him from the head of the gang to the manager, and more than sixty percent of them come from the group of people who came from Xuzhou with him. Not only did they know Li Sheng, but they were also very familiar with Deng'er.

Bell pouted and was taken away with a little displeasure. She was extremely reluctant to part with Li Sheng, but now that Li Sheng wanted to do business, she naturally did not allow anyone to disturb her. It left her with no choice.

Seeing Ze Dang'er's departure, Li Sheng retracted his mind and followed the one who led the way in front of him to move towards the right courtyard of the four entrances.

Although the left and right courtyards are in the same four entrances, the right courtyard is much smaller than the left courtyard. Through the arch leading to the right courtyard, a small two-story building with nine rooms on the upper and lower floors appeared in front of Li Sheng's eyes. This is the core of the headquarters of Surabaya Ju, and today, he will hold the first meeting with the senior management of Surabaya Ju to discuss the future development of Surabaya Ju. He believed: "Surabaya must serve my great cause. ”

Walking up the stairs and striding into the room on the right, Li Sheng saw the people who were already waiting there.

These are all people from Surabaya House. Because the notice of today's meeting had been sent a few days ago, they all came early. As the people of Surabaya Ju, they can be regarded as Li Sheng's subordinates. The subordinates must have the consciousness of the subordinates, but they dare not let their masters wait for them.

Since it is not yet the time for the New Year's holiday, although there are fewer customers than usual due to the weather, there are not so many that they have to close their business. Everything is pretty much working as usual. The main persons in charge of various departments have come to each store, and most of their original positions are in charge of their deputies, maintaining the work of Surabaya Ju today.

Walking into the house, everyone got up and saluted Li Sheng. Li Sheng smiled at them, and then walked up to the chairman of the position. Although as a person from modern times, he is very unaccustomed to the appearance of these guys in the house who are always humble to him, but Li Sheng has no intention of changing these things for the time being. For one, he didn't have much time to spend with them again; Second, he also vaguely enjoyed the feeling of superiority brought by the humility of these people. In his opinion, dictatorship is not useless, at least he can use some dictatorial rights to let people do things that are difficult for ordinary people to understand.

First of all, it is natural for the supervisors at all levels of the headquarters and the two branches to introduce their own situation in the past year. Although there are many people who report, and the numbers are always so boring, Li Sheng listens with a smile on his face. In fact, he didn't need to do this, because he already had the report handed to him by his most trusted aunt.

As early as the time of Longzhong, he had already made these things clear. Even if these current directors don't say it, he knows it. But he still listened quietly, secretly comparing it with the memories in his own mind, and he wanted to see if these people here had deceived him. Although they are all suffering with him, they haven't seen each other for a long time, and they don't know if there is any change in each other. Li Sheng had to trust them at the same time, but also use some covert means to test them. After all, "you can't have the heart to harm others, and you can't have the heart to prevent people".

After listening to the supervisors talk about last year's events, Li Sheng nodded slightly, expressing satisfaction with their results. Immediately motioned to Aunt Mei and asked her to explain her plans for next year. This is a very ordinary plan, which is nothing more than to further strengthen the influence of Surabaya in various districts in Xiangyang City.

This plan was also given to Li Sheng, but Li Sheng nodded noncommittally, which made Aunt Mei always feel a little apprehensive. Although she is now the actual boss of Surabaya House, she somehow always feels some awe in her heart every time she sees Li Sheng who is gradually growing. She always felt that the nephew whom the young lady had recognized was a mysterious man, a man who could achieve great things, and that there were always many, many strange ideas in his mind that could be used to deal with problems. For example, open the same three stores in Xiangyang City; Arrange some artists in the store to perform some light-hearted program tunes. These are all places that are difficult for ordinary people to think of, but in Li Sheng's place, he took it for granted, and it was so natural to say it.

"Young Master Sheng's heart is definitely not in the Surabaya House in front of him, he seems to just use the Surabaya House as a toy, a toy to experiment with his various novelty ideas." Looking at Li Sheng's calm and calm face, Aunt Mei suddenly had such a realization in her heart.

"Alright, you're done. Now it's time to talk about me. As soon as Aunt Mei's words fell, Li Sheng's crisp male voice sounded in the conference room. He smiled faintly, picked up the Surabaya housing plan written by Aunt Mei, shook his head gently but very firmly, and said, "I'm not satisfied with such development." ”

The plan that Li Sheng called unsatisfactory was completed by Aunt Mei in three days. It's the first time Aunt Mei has done this to write an organized article about what she thinks in her heart. It was done at Li Sheng's request, and it was the crystallization of Aunt Mei's hard work. She cares a lot about the plan. When she heard Li Sheng veto her efforts with just such a light sentence, her heart ached violently, and an emotion called anger nourished in her heart. She slapped the table in front of her in annoyance and asked loudly, "Why?" ”

She is the kind of woman who is very heroic, as early as when Mrs. Li was still on the ground, she independently mastered the intelligence work inside and outside the Li family. She has been in contact with many people and has a wide range of horizons. Under Li Sheng's subtle education, the idea that both men and women can be equally capable has taken root in her heart. At this moment, he became angry, and he had already forgotten all about the upper and lower ethics that he usually insisted on. A pair of sharp phoenix eyes suddenly shot out two rays of hatred, staring at Li Sheng tightly.

"No why? It's just that your eyes are too narrow, and you only focus on the one-third of an acre of land in front of Surabaya, and forget that the world is so wide. Li Sheng was not intimidated by Aunt Mei's anger, and he calmly expressed his disappointment with them.

"How?" Aunt Mei stared at Li Sheng viciously, if you don't make it clear, I won't let go of your posture.

"Aunt Mei, I think you should remember what was the fundamental purpose of my proposal to build a Surabaya residence in Xiangyang City." Li Sheng said calmly. His piercing eyes stared at Aunt Mei's still rich face, and he didn't shy away from meeting the light of hatred she projected.

"The fundamental purpose?" Aunt Mei was stunned for a moment, and her anger weakened a lot. Her heart is like a mirror, and she has put out the things of two years ago like a mirror:

"The reconstruction of Surabaya House is mainly for two points, one is to work hard to earn money to provide financial resources for my future development; The second is to continue to expand, using the Surabaya Ju branch that has been built as a pioneer point and intelligence station for us to control Jingzhou. The Surabaya Residence must serve my expansion in Jingzhou and the consolidation of my territory in the future, and there is no need for any plan that violates these two points. In the falling pear blossom rain, Li Sheng solemnly explained to Aunt Mei. It was definitely an expression that didn't match the beauty at that time, so Aunt Mei always remembered it very clearly.

Recalling this, the intelligent Aunt Mei understood why Li Sheng rejected her plan so briskly: "Young Master Sheng will go to other places to develop next year, he is leaving Jingzhou, and we, as his followers, must naturally follow in his footsteps." This is something that we need to be prepared for in our planning, and we don't. In Young Master Sheng's opinion, the matter of Xiangyang Surabaya has been completed very well, and what is done now should not be to further improve this goodness, but to focus on the entire Jingzhou, and constantly establish its own strongholds in the counties and counties of Jingzhou. These strongholds must be used to obtain the most important information for the young master. ”

She quickly figured out the reason, and finally thought of the biggest mistake in her plan: "It turns out that the young master thinks that the shelf of my plan is not big enough." ”

She understood this, so she quickly and boldly apologized to Li Sheng: "I'm sorry, young master, I ......"

She wanted to say something to admit her mistake, but was stopped by Li Sheng. "You just need to understand for yourself, and don't talk about the superficial things. Rather than talking about useless things, you should listen to the development plan that I have figured out myself. Li Sheng looked at her with a smile.

"The plan that the young master has made?" There was some doubt in Aunt Mei's eyes.

"That's right! My plan. Li Sheng's temperament changed, and he started his speech very calmly.