It was late at night, the little teapot was still tossing and turning, it was difficult to sleep, and when I got up to add charcoal to the brazier a few times, it still felt cold to the bone.

Tang Wulin's sudden arrival made the little teapot annoyed, and according to his original intention, he didn't want to go to England again, because he lied to people, and his heart was not so calm.

But the current situation, but he can't go, although Tang Wulin has a friendly attitude and seems to be very honest, but the little teapot will never dare to refuse Tang Wulin, if he annoys Tang Wulin, maybe the direct threat will come, no matter how downtrodden the nearly 30,000 children and dependents of the Eight Banners in Chengdu City, they still live in the city within the West Gate, and for more than two hundred years, they have enjoyed the support of the Sichuan people with peace of mind, and enjoy the privileges of a high number of people, even if they kill people in the street, the yamen of Chengdu and even the governor of Sichuan can't control it, The only one who could manage them was the Chengdu general who sat in Sichuan on behalf of the Manchu emperor.

Therefore, if someone like Tang Wulin initiated a ruthless attack, the consequences would not be something that the current teapot could bear, so he would not dare to refuse Tang Wulin's request no matter what.

After months of experience, Teapot has gained a more intuitive understanding of this world, and often falls into torturous reflections, and finally he is faced with only one choice: to get out of his current life as soon as possible, and then to consider the next development. After all, in such an era when there is no equality at all, it is not easy for him to survive as an ant.

In a daze, the little teapot was woken up by a knock on the door, he hurriedly put on his cotton clothes, hurriedly got up, passed through the back hall and opened the door, and saw that it was the smiling hemp pole and Wu San and Luo Fat, so he called them in, and told the hemp pole to go to the back hall to boil water to make tea, and then went to wash alone.

After the small teapot was packed up and returned to the main hall, a few hemp poles had already made hot tea and sat around chatting.

Seeing that the little teapot was still with long hair and scattered hair, Rodfa casually took out a delicate horn comb from his arms, let the little teapot sit down, and began to comb his hair:

"Little brother, I haven't seen your neat hair for so many years, it seems that you have to ask a mother-in-law to come back, your hair is like a chicken nest, and you don't have any face when you go out."

Ma Pole and Wu Sanyi laughed when they heard this, Ma Pole touched his neat long braids, and shook them quite ostentatiously: "It doesn't matter if the little brother doesn't want to please his mother-in-law, when the teahouse opens for the New Year, he quit the teahouse and moved back to live. ”

The little teapot said with a smile: "I really want to do this, maybe I will quit this job and move in after the New Year, but I can't treat a group of younger brothers and sisters as servants and maids, in addition to letting them do some housework, I want to teach them to read and write, I can't be blind for the rest of my life, right?" The second and third, the two of you too, pay close attention to learning literacy and arithmetic, if you can't even read the account book in the future, you will be embarrassed. ”

"Right! I agree with my brother's statement, I can squeeze out half a day every day to be Mr. for the second and third brothers! Rod raised his eyebrows and danced loudly, echoing loudly, thinking that if he really became the gentleman of Ma Zhu and Wu San, he must feel very happy.

Since he followed the little teapot to a foreign trip, he was quite touched after coming back, and he had already made up his mind to learn to read and write as soon as possible. Wu San, who practiced martial arts every day, regarded reading and writing as more difficult than ascending to the sky, but under the threat of the small teapot, Wu San had no choice but to make a bitter face and agree to come down.

The brothers talked and laughed, but when it was lunch time, Wu San naturally went to the back hall to wash rice and cook rice, and the hemp pole went out to buy meat and vegetables, and the literate eldest brother and the old man Luo Fa continued to sit and drink tea, and discussed the education of the brothers and a dozen girls and boys.

After lunch, the little teapot changed into the decent clothes, left the third and fourth children to watch the door, pulled up the hemp pole and hurried out, along the way told in detail about the incident that Tang Wulin came to the door yesterday evening, which immediately aroused the vigilance and worry of the hemp pole.

Ma Pole was very reluctant to take risks for Tang Wulin, who had never known him, and the little teapot had no choice, so he had to prevaricate under the pretext of Jianghu credit, and when the two walked to the intersection of Longxing Street, Ma Pole suddenly stopped, pulled the sleeve of the small teapot and asked: "Little brother, what do you say when you see a foreigner later?" ”

The little teapot replied helplessly: "What else can I say?" I thought about it all night last night, and I didn't figure it out, and finally felt that since we decided to do business well, we will inevitably have to deal with foreigners in the future, and only by abiding by the rules and saying credit can we last long. But in the future, it will not work to always talk nonsense, I have made up my mind, first go to the tea shop in front of me to buy two boxes of good black tea, and when we meet, I will honestly accompany us, to tell the truth, I believe that foreigners will not embarrass us. ”

"Huh!? Do you really want to give a gift? "The hemp pole is very reluctant.

"Send! Be sure to send it! And just send Keemun black tea, foreigners like that thing, especially the British, go! ”

After a while, Ma Pole held the high-grade black tea wrapped in a gift box, lowered his head, followed the small teapot step by step, and walked into the gate of the foreign company, looking at the things bought back by three silver dollars in his hand, he gritted his teeth in distress, but the small teapot behaved calmly, with a smile on his face, and when he entered the door, he did not forget to nod to the two Manchu men guarding the door.

When the New Year came, the clock business of the foreign company was surprisingly good, and the rich gentry and wealthy men with luxurious clothes and shiny braids, with their female dependents, were divided into piles and crowded in front of each counter, carefully selecting all kinds of clocks and jewelry, exclamations, coquettishness, one after another, but there was no one in the semi-open living room, as if everyone had no time to sit, and they were all scrambling for time to spend money.

Different from the last time, in addition to the two young Chinese guys, there were two white women dressed in gorgeous furs, covered in jewelry, one old and one young, and Luo Baiting, the owner of a foreign company wearing a decent suit.

Seeing that he was busy like this, the little teapot didn't go up to say hello, but led the anxious hemp pole and walked straight to the living room, sat on the couch generously, and waited patiently.

More than an hour passed, the guests were finally few, Luo Baiting, who had already seen the small teapot, walked over with a smile on his face, greeted him cordially, and sat down happily under the heartfelt compliment of the small teapot, and the small teapot immediately stood up respectfully and gave a gift.

Luo Baiting stood up politely, took the gift and thanked him happily, and called out to the white woman in her thirties at the counter, talked slightly, and enthusiastically turned to the small teapot to introduce:

"Dear Xiao, this is my wife, she likes your gift very much, this kind of black tea even our Empress of the British Empire likes it, you really have a heart!"

"Mud howl! I love it, thank you! Mrs. Roberting thanked the little teapot, and her awkward Chinese Mandarin was far worse than her husband's.

The little teapot bowed slightly gentlemanly: "It is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am, in my opinion, you are more beautiful and moving than the Queen of England." ”

Mrs. Luo exaggeratedly covered her mouth and exclaimed, Luo Baiting laughed, only the hemp pole was not lightly frightened, thinking to herself, little brother, your turtle son is too bold, right? How can you praise other people's wives for being beautiful? And she boasted that she was more beautiful than the queen of other countries, isn't this a big violation of etiquette?

But the strange thing is that the foreigner is not only not angry, but happy, which makes the hemp pole feel even more incredible.

Mrs. Luo said a few words of greeting, took the gift, walked to the white girl in the counter, Luo Baiting motioned for everyone to sit down, and then opened her mouth to ask about the meaning of the small teapot.

The little teapot showed a look of shame on his face, and slowly revealed his identity as a poor boy with Ma Pole, as well as the nonsense and distortion when he sold the jade pendant last time, and finally apologized very sincerely.

Luo Baiting's face changed several times, from happy to surprised, from surprised to frowning, from frowning to contemplative, and finally to a calm smile: "Xiao, I'm glad you can tell me this, you are an honest person, at least more honest than most people I have met in China. You don't need to feel uneasy about the matter of Yu Pei, because I feel that I have bought back a very satisfactory thing, it is worth the money, there is no deception, I accept the other apologies, not only accept, but I also hope to be friends with you, if I have the opportunity in the future, I am still willing to cooperate with you, because, your honesty and courage have touched me, dear friend! ”

"Thank you! Thank you for your generosity, and I would like to ask for your kind attention and guidance in the future. ”

The little teapot stood up and thanked him from the bottom of his heart, feeling that the foreign devil with a beard under his hooked nose in front of him was not as bad as he thought.

Luo Baiting motioned for the small teapot to sit down and drink tea: "Xiao, please forgive me for taking the liberty of coming here, I feel that you came here today to make more than just an apology, right?" ”

The little teapot hurriedly put down the teacup, told the story that his brothers were going to set up a rickshaw shop, and humbly asked Luo Baiting's opinion.

Luo Baiting was very interested, and after asking in detail, he put forward his own suggestion: "Xiao, are you interested in buying a rickshaw made in the UK?" Our British products are better than those of the company, both in terms of quality and design, so why do you only consider buying the products of the company? ”

The teapot explained: "Does the UK produce rickshaws? The price must be expensive, right? Sir, the British product is indeed good, but it is too expensive for us to afford it......"

"No, no, no! Xiao, your perception is wrong, completely wrong! ”

Luo Baiting became excited, spread his hands and tried his best to defend: "Maybe you don't know, rickshaws have been popular in Shanghai and Tianjin for many years, and China's popular rickshaws are not made in Yueben, but in Yueben to manufacture rims and spokes, buy back ordinary bearings from Britain or Germany, and take them to their Shanghai factory for assembly I think that we can buy rims, tires, spokes, bearings and other spare parts from the United Kingdom, and take them to Chengdu to produce them ourselves, so that the price will be very cheap. Are you right? ”

The little teapot was startled, and immediately realized what Luo Baiting meant, thought about it calmly, and asked suspiciously:

"Sir, my purchasing power is limited, it's just a business of a few cars, I don't dare to think too far, and it's not worth the trouble Sir, but when Mr. said this, did he have other ideas?"

Luo Baiting nodded and said with a smile:

"Xiao, you are the smartest young man I have ever met, and you have a great talent for business, which surprises me deeply. Xiao, I also want to be honest with you, I have twelve British-made bicycles that have arrived in Shanghai, and they will appear in this business house in about half a month to twenty days, but I didn't think of rickshaws before, it was you who reminded me, my friend, I suddenly found that in Chengdu, a metropolis of more than 400,000 people, rickshaws may have a larger market than expensive bicycles that only the aristocracy can consume. ”

The little teapot shook his head in embarrassment: "Sir, with your strength, it is very simple to set up a factory, buy spare parts and iron screws from the United Kingdom, and then buy two welding machines and a few manpower cutting machines, you can produce suitable rickshaws according to your own wishes."

"But we can't do it, due to lack of funds, we can only buy a few cars back for the time being, and then through our own efforts, slowly accumulate and slowly increase capital. Our ancestors had a maxim that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, not a dream that cannot be realized. ”

Luo Baiting was deeply surprised, he didn't expect that the young man in front of him still knew such advanced machinery and equipment as electric welding machines and cutting machines, and he was generous and clear, and his words were neither humble nor arrogant, faintly revealing the wisdom of ancient China, and he couldn't help but glance at the small teapot, think about it slightly, and asked kindly:

"Xiao, I have a question I want to hear from you, according to your estimates, how many rickshaws can be sold in the whole of Chengdu?"

The little teapot has thought about this problem for a long time, and without thinking about it, he came casually:

"At the beginning, there wasn't much demand, after all, rickshaws are a new thing in Chengdu, and no one knows what will happen, but as long as it is done, people will accept it without any problem, just look at the situation in Shanghai. According to a report by the Chengdu Daily last month, the number of people living outside the city has reached 450,000, not counting the number of residents in the surrounding counties and towns, which means that there is a large market for rickshaws and even bicycles.

"I made a rough calculation, Chengdu has more than 20 carriages and horses specializing in passenger transport, a total of more than 1,500 sedan chairs and passenger carriages, this number does not include the number owned by the government and the rich themselves, so I estimate that Chengdu, with a population of hundreds of thousands, needs at least 1,000 rickshaws. The rickshaw only needs to be pulled by one person, faster and more stable, and it is believed that it will soon replace the backward sedan chairs and carriages, and if you add more than a dozen surrounding counties, the number will at least double, and it will increase year by year. ”

Luo Baiting's eyes lit up and he was full of appreciation:

"Well said! Xiao, you are not only far-sighted, but also a strict person, do you think this is good, three days later, you come to me, we will continue to exchange ideas about this promising business opportunity. ”

"This? Sir, I ...... I don't really understand what you mean. ”

The little teapot vaguely thought of something, but was not sure.

Luo Baiting smiled slightly and said:

"Admittedly, this is a good business opportunity, but every step of the way needs to be analyzed before it can be decided. Chengdu has developed rapidly in the past two years, the thermal power plant of the political axe China Merchants Bureau has been put into construction, and will soon be operational, the largest commercial exhibition area in southwest China, built in the Qingyang Palace in the west of the city, will become a centralized display and sales area for goods all over the world after completion, you Chinese run their own various machine factories, light bulb factories, hardware factories have appeared one after another, in the eastern suburbs of Longtan Town, private cement plants, has been put into operation, these enterprises almost all show amazing vitality and profit expectations, so I also want to do something. ”

The little teapot was dumbfounded, he didn't expect that the private enterprises in Chengdu in this era would be so dynamic, which was very different from the impression of feudal, ignorant and backward situation.

Luo Baiting was very satisfied with the reaction of the little teapot: "So I said, Xiao, the opportunity is here, right in front of us, so I want to set up a bicycle factory in Chengdu, not only to produce bicycles, but also to produce rickshaws, of course, in the early stage, we should still focus on assembly."

"Xiao, you are a rare talent, you are quick to accept new things, I think, you can help me very well, our next cooperation, will be very pleasant, I am confident that you can do a good job, maybe it can be promoted to other aspects. Xiao, I'm afraid you don't know, I have a number of British and American products in the southwest agency and distribution rights, including the British kerosene that has now successfully occupied the Chengdu market. ”

Little Teapot admires Luo Baiting's shrewdness and ability very much, but he doesn't want to be a foreigner's dog's leg, although he is now so poor that Luo Baiting pulls out leg hair that is thicker than his thighs, but Little Teapot still wishfully chooses an equal cooperation position, although he has no capital, and he doesn't have the courage to say it.

Having said that, the little teapot got up to say goodbye, and before leaving, he asked Luo Baiting in a low voice if he was still interested in Chinese antiques. Luo Baiting was stunned for a moment, then smiled knowingly, and told the little teapot in a low voice: As long as it is really valuable, he is willing to spend it.

The small teapot left the foreign bank under the polite farewell of the Luo Baiting couple, and the small teapot also pulled out a few carefully prepared English sentences before leaving, which attracted a comfortable laugh from the Luo Baiting couple.

What seems to be an ordinary thing in the small teapot makes the shops and passers-by on both sides of the street wonder for a while, and they have asked whose young master this is, and he has received such courtesy from foreigners?

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