"Ninety times, three hundred taels?" Xie Lingyun heard Zhou Chong's offer, and thought about it in her heart for a moment, and her expression must have immediately counteroffered, "No, it's too expensive, at most two hundred and fifty taels!" ”

"Three hundred taels, not a single point less!" Zhou Zhong didn't pay attention to Xie Lingyun's counteroffer at all, and still insisted.

"You ......" Xie Lingyun's tone froze, and a trace of fluctuation flashed in her calm eyes, but she still said calmly after the last, "Two hundred and eighty taels, this is already my bottom line, even if I go to the capital, no one will pay such a high price for a book!" ”

"Three hundred taels, this is also my bottom line, if Miss Xie doesn't agree, I'll let the manuscript rot in my hands!" Zhou Chong's attitude was extremely resolute, the last time he was in Fengyou Teahouse, he suffered a little loss under Xie Lingyun's hands, although he didn't hate the other party because of this matter, but it was also appropriate to ask for a little spiritual compensation in a timely manner.

Seeing Zhou Zhong so resolute, Xie Lingyun's calm face flashed a trace of fluctuation again, the Xie family originally started with smuggling, but Xie Lingyun thought that smuggling was not the right way after all, I don't know when the Dao Imperial Court will strengthen the sea ban, so since she took over the family's business, she began to develop some new businesses, such as the printing workshop is a business that she is optimistic about, and more coincidentally, Zhou Chong's Journey to the West gave her a chance to open up the printing situation, so she didn't want to give up anyway!

I saw Xie Lingyun thinking about it for a long time, pursed her lips lightly, raised her head to look at Zhou Chong, and said in a calm voice: "Okay, three hundred taels is three hundred taels, but I have two conditions!" ”

"Oh, on what terms?" Zhou Zhong was happy, and the three hundred taels finally arrived, which also means that he has taken the first step to success.

"It's very simple, first, I hope that Zhou Gongzi will give me the first fifty chapters of Journey to the West this month, and the remaining fifty chapters can be handed over to me at the end of February of the next year, and second, if Zhou Gongzi has any new works in the future, under the same conditions, you must give priority to us for printing and publishing!" Xie Lingyun is a genius in business, and when he saw that he couldn't take advantage of the price, he immediately changed his direction, and attached two additional conditions to this price to win greater benefits for himself.

"Deal!" Zhou Zhong agreed without hesitation. He has already written the first thirty times, and the remaining twenty will definitely be written at the end of the month. As for the second article, anyway, he also plans to stop writing Journey to the West after he finishes it, so Xie Lingyun's calculation is destined to fail.

After the matter was agreed, Xie Lingyun immediately drafted a contract, and then she and Zhou Zhong drew a pledge on it, according to the above regulations, Xie Lingyun had to give fifty taels to Zhou Chong, which was the deposit for the manuscript.

I saw Xie Lingyun command, and the bald man behind her took out a deposit of fifty taels of silver from the burden on his body, Zhou Zhong took it and checked it in his hand, although the silver was very heavy, but it made him feel at ease, no matter what era it was, enough money can always bring people a sense of security.

"Thank you Miss Lingyun for your generosity, it's getting late, I don't know if Miss Lingyun has anything else to do?" Zhou Zhong handed over the silver to Steward Xu behind him, and then immediately prepared to drive people away, it was almost dark, he didn't want to leave this Miss Xie for dinner, and it was inconvenient for a lonely man and a widow.

But what Zhou Chong didn't expect was that Xie Lingyun didn't immediately get up and say goodbye after hearing this, but took a small gift box from the little girl behind her, took a few steps forward and said: "Zhou Gongzi, I and Sister Bang'er are sisters in the Poetry Society, a few months ago I promised to give her a box of rouge from the capital, but then Uncle Zhou's unfortunate death, Bang'er's sister Shouxiao was at home, and she couldn't participate in these poetry club gatherings, so she couldn't give it to her, this time I just came to Zhou's Mansion, but it was getting late, I won't go in to see Sister Bang'er, Please also ask Zhou Gongzi to transfer it on my behalf! ”

Zhou Chong didn't expect Xie Lingyun to know Bang'er, but it's not surprising to think about it, Bang'er used to have frequent contacts with some rich daughters in Songjiang Mansion, and also formed a poetry club, the name Zhou Chong doesn't remember, anyway, it is something that a group of daughters are idle and have nothing to do, Xie Lingyun is the hottest rich lady in Songjiang Mansion, there is no reason not to get involved.

A box of rouge is just a box, presumably not worth much, so Zhou Zhong didn't shirk it, reached out to take it after thanking him, and personally sent Xie Lingyun out of the door. It's just that the wind is starting to blow up at this time, and there are dark clouds floating in the sky, and it looks like the sky is going to change at any moment.

Watching Xie Lingyun's carriage slowly leave, Zhou Zhong turned around and was just about to go in to warm up, but he didn't expect that as soon as the corner door opened, Steward Xu and Wu Shan each pushed a small cart out, looking like they were pulling something?

"Steward Xu, what are you and Lao Wu going to do?" Zhou Zhong asked a little strangely, it's about to be dinner time, according to Steward Xu's character, shouldn't he go out at this critical moment?

"Young master, Wu Shan is a person who understands the weather, he said that today's wind is together, and it is likely to snow heavily in the next few days, so he is going to buy some briquettes for fuel, I think that there is not much fuel at home, so I am going to go with him to pull some back." Steward Xu said without blushing, the fuel in the house has long been running out, and the reason why he chose to go with Wu Shan at this time is mainly because Wu Shan is strong and can help him move things.

"I didn't expect you to understand astronomy, Lao Wu." Zhou Zhong glanced at Wu Shan with some surprise, "That's it, it just so happens that I don't have anything to do, let's go together!" ”

The briquettes of the Ming Dynasty are also called briquettes, but it is not the kind of honeycomb coal of later generations, but a kind of solid ball made of crushed coal and loess and water, the size is about the same as a table tennis ball, it is very laborious to do, and the combustion is not as thorough as honeycomb coal, before Zhou Zhong also thought about making money with honeycomb coal, but honeycomb coal is originally a small profit and quick turnover business, and it requires a lot of start-up capital, which is what Zhou Zhong lacks.

"Zhou Gongzi, don't go, the coal shop is dirty and messy, it's really not suitable for a scholar like you!" At this time, Wu Shan also smiled and said, he has a straightforward personality, but it does not mean that he is stupid, during this time, Steward Xu often asked him to help with some hard work, but he didn't mind, but he felt very happy, because it meant that Steward Xu didn't treat him as an outsider.

"Isn't it just to move some briquettes, what's suitable or inappropriate, even if it's a saint, doesn't his old man have to eat, drink, and Lazar?" Zhou Zhong said and walked over to take the car in Steward Xu's hand, after all, Steward Xu is not young, and his body is too fat, these days because of the work at home, he has lost a few laps of weight, and Zhou Chong is also worried about exhausting him.

Seeing Zhou Chong take over his car, Steward Xu wanted to snatch it back, but was rejected by Zhou Chong, and he could only follow silently after him, but when Zhou Chong was not paying attention, he secretly wiped his eyes.

The coal shop has almost disappeared in later generations, and the domestic fuel has become a clean energy source such as gas or electricity, but in the Ming Dynasty, the coal shop was very prosperous, and there was a large coal shop not far from the Zhou Mansion.

The structure of the coal shop is almost the same, the front is a large room, there is a counter on one side, there are baskets and scales next to the counter, and there are several guys and shopkeepers who are busy, and there are lumps of coal and briquettes stacked on the other side of the room, among which the lumps of coal are easier to burn, and the burns are also thorough, but the price is more expensive, and the briquettes are glued with loess, and the price is relatively low.

The guys in the coal shop and the guys in the hotel are two extremes, no matter what the guys in the hotel look like, at least they have to look clean, but the guys in the coal shop are just the opposite, all of them are black-headed and black-faced with soot, and the torn jackets they wear are also black and shiny, and they can't see their original appearance at all.

Wu Shan and Steward Xu didn't seem to be here for the first time, after entering the door, they first said hello to a few guys, and then walked to the counter, and finalized the price with the only cleaner shopkeeper, and a few guys immediately started to weigh the briquettes that the two of them wanted and put them into the car.

Wu Shan pushed the car in front by himself, Zhou Zhong pushed the car to follow behind, and Steward Xu helped Zhou Zhong support the car. It was already dark, the wind was getting stronger, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the road, but just as they had just turned the corner and were about to reach their home, they suddenly noticed three people walking on the other side of the street, one large and one small.

Originally, Zhou Chong didn't care, but as the three people opposite got closer and closer to them, Zhou Chong was surprised to find that in the cold and windy evening, the three people who came were a man and a woman plus a child, it seemed that they should be a family, but whether it was a woman or a child, they were only wearing a few tattered single clothes, shivering while walking in the cold wind.

The family was all dirty, with black stains on their faces and hands, and they didn't look cleaner than the guys in the coal shop, with a bundle of straw mats and two bags behind the man, and a broken quilt of illegible color behind the woman. Judging from the child's pigtails and height, she should be a five or six-year-old girl, and her face is cleaner than her parents, but she is frozen black and blue, and her big eyes and thin cheeks and figure look particularly pitiful.

When the three of them saw Zhou Chong and the three of them coming towards them, their eyes showed a look of begging and fear, as if they wanted to get Zhou Chong's help, but they didn't dare to take the initiative to step forward, so they could only look at each other with such complicated eyes.

Looking at the family shivering in the cold wind in front of him, Wu Shan suddenly sighed, put down the car, reached out and took out a few pennies from his arms, and walked over to put it in the little girl's hand. During this period, Steward Xu wanted to stop it, but looking at the poor child, he just shook his head and said to himself: "Alas, there are so many poor people, how much can we little people save?" ”

Wu Shan's charity was exchanged for continuous thanks from men and women, and the little girl also said in a hoarse and trembling voice: "Xie Lu, Uncle Xie!" ”

It seemed that Steward Xu and Wu Shan both knew the origin of the three members of the Dao family, but Zhou Zhong couldn't help but ask with some curiosity: "Steward Xu, who are they, they don't look like beggars?" ”