As soon as the sky was bright, the acquaintance outside the window was already screaming, and Liu Cheng in the room woke up, feeling sweaty all over his body, and his clothes were sticky to his body, which was indescribably uncomfortable.

"This ghost weather in Taiwan!" Liu Cheng twisted his body uncomfortably, and got up with a mutter, because the weather was too hot last night, so he didn't fall asleep until very late, he thought it would be cooler in the morning, but he didn't expect that the sun hadn't risen yet, but it was already so stuffy, which made him sleepy, so he simply didn't sleep.

Although the weather is hot, Liu Cheng is used to sleeping in small clothes, which is a habit he has developed since childhood, and he can't change it at all, but the weather here in Keelung is too hot, so when he woke up, all the clothes on his body were wet.

Liu Cheng put on his shoes and came to the yard, washed his face with a bucket of water from the well, and then went to a small shed in the corner of the wall, took off the clothes on his body, scooped a few scoops of water and rinsed them, and finally even threw the clothes into the bucket and washed them, and then twisted them casually and put them on his body again, anyway, the weather was hot, and the clothes on his body would be dried after a while.

This yard was rented by Liu Cheng before, although the yard is not big, and there is only one main room, but the price is not cheap, if he didn't happen to make a lot of money at that time, maybe he wouldn't have rented this yard. But counting the days, the rent paid at the beginning is about to expire, and it seems that I will have to find a cheaper yard by then. Thinking of this, Liu Cheng couldn't help but sigh, but his young face was unmatched with heaviness.

On the east side of the room, near the window, there is a small table with two steamed buns in a basket on the table. I bought it when I got home last night, and it cost four a penny. Ate two last night and the remaining two are his breakfast today.

Pick up two stiff steamed buns. Liu Cheng opened the wooden stopper of a glass bottle on the table, picked up the chopsticks and carefully pinned out a chopstick bean sauce from it, and then carefully smeared it on the steamed bun. This is what his wife made for him when he came out, mainly because he was afraid that he would not be used to eating Taiwanese food, Liu Cheng was reluctant to eat at first, but now it has become the only dish he can eat.

After eating the two hard steamed buns in his stomach, Liu Cheng brought the small table and a small chair at the door, and also carried a cloth bag on his body. There are four kinds of paper, ink, pen and inkstone in the bag, he is now helping people write letters on the dock, the business is not bad, he can earn more than 100 wen a day, and he can leave more than two yuan in addition to eating and drinking in January, but next month he will have to find a new place to live, and he will have to add rent, it is estimated that it will be good to save in January.

Liu Cheng is just 31 years old this year and was originally from Tingzhou. The family also has a lot of land, and his father wants to give the family a career, so he has been letting Liu Cheng study, planning to let him take the test to make a name. It's also good to glorify the ancestors.

Speaking of which, Liu Cheng is really a material for reading, he was known as a prodigy when he was very young, and he was among the best in every exam in the county school. Before the age of 20, he became a tribute student and went to Chang'an to participate in the scientific expedition. However, it is a pity that Liu Cheng was admitted from a teenager to a thirty-year-old. But he still failed repeatedly, and in order to take the exam, the family's savings were almost spent.

Faced with this situation, Liu Cheng was also a little disheartened. In addition, with the development of industry and commerce, the relatives and friends around them, especially those who were not as good as their families before, are now gradually getting better, and even better than their families. In addition, he has also got married, has a wife and children, but now he has to endure hardships with him, and even because he has tried repeatedly, there are a lot of rumors about him behind his back.

Liu Cheng is a very family-oriented person, he can be ridiculed by the villagers around him, but he doesn't want his wife and children to suffer a little grievance with him, plus he also lost confidence in the imperial examination, so he gritted his teeth in the end, simply put down his body, and after discussing with his wife, he concentrated the family's money, and then he came to Taiwan with the money, ready to find a way to make a fortune.

Speaking of which, Liu Cheng is a scholar after all, and he also likes to read newspapers, so he is also very clear about the situation in Datang and the surrounding areas, he knows that Taiwan is now occupied by the King of Qi, and there is an encouragement of industry and commerce, and there are very preferential treatment for businessmen, plus there are many ports, industry and commerce are very developed, so there are many opportunities to make a fortune, plus Tingzhou is not very far from Taiwan, so Liu Cheng came to Keelung, Taiwan with most of the family's money.

Liu Cheng is a smart person, otherwise he would not have been known as a prodigy since he was a child. After he came to Keelung, he soon found that as long as he had money in his hands, it was easy to find a way to make money out of money. Even if you are willing to put in the effort, you can make a lot of money by spending money to buy a large piece of land, and then buy some slaves and open a plantation, but the initial investment is larger, and the speed of money is relatively slow.

Liu Cheng didn't have much money in his hands, and he didn't want to make a fortune on the land, plus after a period of understanding, he finally decided to invest his money in the high-risk and high-yield industry of sea trade.

Speaking of Liu Cheng also really has some talent for business, he first went to Fuzhou to contact a batch of silk, and then shipped it to Keelung, then sold it to a Persian maritime merchant, and immediately made dozens of yuan, speaking of which, if he was bold enough to transport the silk to Luzon or Borneo to sell, he would definitely make several times the money.

With the first successful experience, Liu Cheng was very excited, and he made a few more trips between Fuzhou and Keelung, and earned more than 300 yuan before and after. And it was at that time that he rented such a small yard in Keelung and paid the rent for a few months, and even after he planned to make more money, he bought a yard in Keelung and brought his wife and children to live in.

However, there are unforeseen circumstances, and maritime trade is a very risky industry. Liu Cheng ran a few routes between Fuzhou and Keelung, and found that the speed of making money from this short-distance transportation was too slow, and it was also a trouble to find someone to ship, and finally he decided to make a big deal, and he chartered a whole cargo ship, and then imported a boatload of cane sugar from Keelung, intending to transport it to Si Yucheng in South Korea, which is located in the north, and South Korea is full of rich Han people, and the demand for cane sugar is very large, so it can be said that as long as it is transported there, there is no need to worry about no market.

Originally, Liu Cheng's ship was divided into September, and it is said that the sea is generally calm at this time, and there are few big winds and waves, but there are unforeseen storms and clouds, and no one thought that in this relatively safe season, Liu's ship encountered strong winds and waves, and was poured into the cargo hold by the sea, and as a result, all the sucrose in the sack was soaked in seawater.

If it is replaced with other goods, such as porcelain and the like, there is no need to worry about seawater immersion, even if it is replaced with silk, as long as it is drained in time, and then find a place to clean it, even if it will lose money, it will not lose too much. But sucrose is the most afraid of seawater, after all, this is something to eat, soaked in bitter seawater, even a fool will not eat it again, let alone sell it.

A shipload of cane sugar was all destroyed, which made Liu Cheng, who had been smooth sailing, also confused, although he was very careful in business, the payment for these goods was settled, but the freight of his charter ship had not yet been settled, originally he planned to wait for the cane sugar to be sold before settling, but now it is good, not only is the sucrose gone, but also owes a lot of freight.

When Liu Cheng returned to Keelung and paid back the freight owed to others, he would only have less than the usual money left in his body, even if he saved money, I am afraid it would only be enough for him to eat and drink for a month, let alone want to make a comeback. In the end, I had no choice but to get someone on the dock to write a letter.

Originally, a scholar like Liu Cheng, and in a place like Keelung where job opportunities are everywhere, it is not difficult to find a decent job, and even if it is to keep accounts for people, it is much better than writing letters on behalf of others. However, after Liu Cheng has been doing business for a few months, he is no longer willing to fight with others, and with his temper as a scholar, he can't stand the control of others.

As for work in factories, he couldn't save face, and the wages were not high, so he ended up setting up a letter-writing stall on the dock. Keelung has a large number of outsiders who come to do business and work, and most of them can't write, so Liu Cheng's business is not bad, at least higher than that of ordinary workers, and he is very free.

Of course, Liu Cheng didn't want to go home, but when he left home, he just wanted to mix up and let his wife and children follow him to enjoy happiness, but now it's good, the money is not earned, and he has been reduced to writing letters on behalf of others for a living, which makes him have no face to go back, and even if he can't eat or sleep well in Keelung, he doesn't plan to go back.

Liu Cheng took the table and chairs to the place where he went out, which was on the dock of the Keelung Outer Harbor, not far from where he lived, and there were sycamores planted on the side of the road, and his stall was under one of the sycamore trees, with the shade of this tree, although it was still very hot, it was better than basking in the sun.

In these years, there was no telephone, and the contact with his family could only rely on communication, so as soon as Liu Cheng's stall came out, there was immediately a lot of business to the door, Liu Cheng was buried in writing letters all morning, although the content of a letter was not much, but there were too many people looking for him to write letters, and sometimes there would be three or four people queuing together.

By noon, the sun in the sky was becoming more and more poisonous, the ground was illuminated with smoke, and although the wharf was still very busy, most of them were slaves working, and the Han boatmen had already begun to eat.

Liu Cheng also felt a little hungry at this time, after all, he had been eating steamed buns since yesterday, and he hadn't eaten well at all. Today's business is good, Liu Cheng thinks he should eat something good, there is a good soup cake shop behind him, the soup cakes made in it are very strong, only three cents per bowl, and when it is hot, he also gives a bowl of cold mung bean soup for free, which can be described as good and cheap.

Thinking of the cold and sweet mung bean soup, Liu Cheng also felt that his tongue was full of food, and he was ready to pack up his things and eat a bowl, but at this moment, a business that had a huge impact on him came to his door. (To be continued.) )