They had a meal in a carriage north of the city, and the carriage stopped.

Zheng Zhongren's apologetic voice sounded in front: "Zhiwei Jushi, the alley in front is narrow, and the carriage can't get in, so I can only ask you to get off here and walk in." ”

"It's okay, it's okay." Zhao Ruxi got out of the carriage and looked around.

The environment here is indeed incomparable with the south and west of the city. The houses are dilapidated and short, and sewage flows sideways; The people who came and went were all dressed in short brown, and occasionally those in long shirts were shabby, which was very different from the glamorous crowds of the other three urban districts.

Because they knew that they were coming here today, Zhao Ruxi, Qingfeng, and Dianjiang were wearing very low-key and simple dresses, but they still didn't fit in with the environment here. A few children playing on the side of the road saw them and gathered around them curiously.

"Go, go, go......" Zheng Zhongren hurriedly drove them away, and when the children were about to leave, he grabbed one of them again and asked, "You have a jade carving craftsman surnamed Ge here, named Ge Wu, which one does he live in?" ”

The kid was six or seven years old, the oldest of the boys.

When he heard Zheng Zhongren's question, he looked at him vigilantly, looked at Zhao Ruxi and the three of them again, and asked, "What are you asking him for?" ”

Zheng Zhongren raised his hand: "This noble man wants to ask him to make some jade." ”

The child looked at Zhao Ruxi carefully, and saw that Zhao Ruxi was smiling and kind, not like he was looking for trouble, he waved his small hand: "Come with me, Ge Wu is my father." ”

So the group followed the child into the alley.

Dian Jiang grew up in Bofu since he was a child, and even if he ran back and forth with Zhao Ruxi during this time, he had never seen this kind of place. She was afraid of soiling her skirt, so she stood there with her skirt and felt like she had nowhere to put her feet.

But Qingfeng followed Zhao Ruxi to Zhuangzi, and Zhuangzi's house was still dilapidated, and there was not only sewage on the road, but also mud everywhere. Therefore, she was able to follow Zhao Ruxi without changing her face, and she also lifted her skirt to Zhao Ruxi from time to time.

Seeing this, Dianjiang also quickly spit on his squeamishness, and took care of Zhao Ruxi like Qingfeng.

The group turned east and west, and finally stopped at the gate of a small courtyard.

"Come in." The child waved his hand, jumped into the door first, and shouted inside, "Dad, someone is looking for you." ”

The grinding sound in the courtyard stopped, and a man in his thirties walked out of a room and saw Zheng Zhongren and his party, especially Zhao Ruxi, who was obviously dressed as a noble lady, and his expression was a little nervous.

"Master Ge Wu, I am a Chinese from this area, surnamed Zheng. This is Miss Zhao from Suiping Bofu. Zheng Zhongren hurriedly introduced himself and introduced Zhao Ruxi.

He only asked Ge Wu about it yesterday in the vicinity, and he didn't meet Ge Wu face-to-face.

Zhao Ruxi has a lot of dealings with workers and masters in modern times. She bowed her head with a smile and went straight to the point to explain her intentions: "I want to ask you to make jade." ”

Ge Wu listened, and the expression on his face still didn't relax: "Who introduced you here?" As he spoke, he looked at Zheng Zhongren carefully.

Zheng Zhongren was a little confused, feeling that Ge Wu's reaction was not normal, as if he suspected that they were bad people.

Zhao Ruxi said: "Master Ge Wu, I was introduced by your second senior brother Wang Jingsong. ”

Xiao Lingyan introduced the craftsmen to her first, first to inquire whether the brothers or brothers of those craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry were skilled and whether they had the opportunity to be invited; After inquiring, he gave Zhao Ruxi not the addresses of these craftsmen to be invited, but the addresses of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry.

Zhao Ruxi gave the address of the craftsmen in the corresponding urban area to the Chinese people in the corresponding urban area, and they went to their homes to inquire about the situation of these people's brothers or brothers, and only then did they get the address of the person to be invited from the craftsmen themselves or their families.

In this way, Xiao Lingyan's role in it was erased.

Therefore, she is not afraid to mention Ge Wu's senior brother in the Ministry of Works.

Zheng Zhongren also hurriedly said: "Yes." I just went to Master Wang's house yesterday. Master Wang has always praised your craftsmanship. Brother Qi of his family still thinks about Brother Yu, and says that he will come to play with his father next time. ”

Sure enough, when Ge Wu heard this, his expression was obviously relaxed, and his eyes immediately turned red.

"My senior brother, he...... Okay? ”

"It's good, I just remember you very much, I hope you can cheer up." Zhao Ruxi said.

Ge Wu is a junior disciple of Wang Jingsong, a jade carving craftsman in the Ministry of Industry. can be recommended to Xiao Lingyan by Wang Jingsong, his craftsmanship is naturally superb. A craftsman like him must have been rushed by the major silver buildings, and he would not stay at home and wait for Zhao Ruxi to invite him.

It's just that this Ge Wu is unlucky, and I don't know if he offended people in his words and deeds, or because he was jealous of his peers because of his superb craftsmanship, the silver building where he was located was suddenly stolen, and the jade he lost was quite valuable. And all the evidence at that time pointed to Ge Wu. The old boss was not polite immediately, and sent him to the yamen.

Wang Jingsong and Ge Wu's master has passed away, several brothers pooled money, and went around to take care of him, although Ge Wu ate three years in prison, he didn't suffer much, at least a pair of hands can still make jade carving.

It's just that the jade carving industry, because the raw materials are expensive, the requirements for the craftsmen in terms of conduct are very strict.

Ge Wu's reputation is bad, and it has been half a year since he came back from prison, and it is difficult to find something to do. finally found a silver building that took a fancy to his craftsmanship, and as soon as people heard about him stealing jade materials, they immediately fired him. He had no choice but to rely on his brothers and sisters to introduce some customers over and take on some odd jobs.

However, yesterday, a Zhengzhong person inquired, because the jade material is valuable, and the people who have good jade materials are not at ease to find them to carve these casual craftsmen, so they will go to the silver building, and would rather spend more money. The people who came to Ge Wu to do the work were all small businessmen, the quality of the jade material was not good, the price was low, and the wages given were naturally not high.

Sometimes, Ge Wu would buy some low-grade jade materials by himself, carve them into jade bracelets and jade pendants, and sell them on the street.

But business is not good.

Ge Wu listened to Zhao Ruxi's words and smiled: "A few people in the room, please." ”

When they had entered the house and sat down, a woman came in with a teapot and poured a cup of tea for each of them.

After pouring the tea, she hesitated with the teapot and did not go out immediately.

Ge Wu's expression was a little absent-minded, and when he felt his wife's strangeness, he raised his head and said to his wife, "You go out." ”

Ge's wife opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything, pursed her lips and turned around to go out.

Zhao Ruxi hurriedly said: "This is my sister-in-law, right?" Sit down and talk together. As she spoke, she glanced at Qingfeng.

Qingfeng hurriedly grabbed Ge's wife: "Mrs. Ge, you can stay." ”

Ge's wife glanced at her husband, and saw that he didn't say anything more, so she sat down on the little vulture next to the door.