Xue Qing has been an apprentice in the Xia family since he was sixteen years old, and later turned to a guy who was running a hall, and when he met the second owner, he became the second shopkeeper at the age of thirty-two. If you say that there are two shopkeepers in other places, it is enough, but Xue Qing is the second shopkeeper in Tong'an City, and every time the Xia family has a banquet at the end of the year, he is naturally bigger than the shopkeeper in other places.

Tong'an City is a big city, the transportation is convenient, the four directions are gentle, the literati and scholars, merchants and people are naturally more than twice as many as other places, Rao is a big tea merchant like the Xia family is not big in Tong'an City, a shop that sells tea, a teahouse, has made many people envious.

Three years ago, the shopkeeper Xue was just thirty-five, although the business in the teahouse was much colder than before because of the suppression of the Zhao family in Tong'an, but it was barely passable, and there was a son added to the family, which was the time for life to be proud.

One morning, the big shopkeeper suddenly called him over, saying that he asked him to take away the accounts in the teahouse, and then did not record it in the tea shop, this move made the shopkeeper Xue very headache, suspecting that the big shopkeeper thought that the business in the teahouse was too poor, so he had to take it alone, so he had to take it. But the rule of the Xia family has always been that the big shopkeeper is in charge of the tea shop, and the second shopkeeper is on an errand in the teahouse, and the income and expenditure in the teahouse are also recorded in the account room in the tea shop, so the second shopkeeper can't read the account book, and everything must listen to the arrangement of the big shopkeeper.

When Xue Qing received the account book, he went outside and asked a familiar account clerk to take care of the accounts, but the account clerk found Xue Qing the next night and said that the account could not be managed. Xue Qing asked him why he couldn't manage it, and the bookkeeper read that it was an acquaintance and said, "In the account book, the income and expenditure of the teahouse are considered profitable, but there are a few accounts every month that are vague, only recorded out, but what the expenditure has been done, if I am next, the money that goes out is not clear, and when the owner finds out, no one can get rid of it, I still have a wife and children to live, and I don't want to go through this troubled water." ”

But Xue Qing couldn't invite any other such trustworthy Mr. Ledger, and after grinding the Mr. Ledger for a long time, Mr. Ledger relented and taught Xue Qing to keep the account, and he did not accept this errand, and told him to let the owner know where the money went.

Before Xue Qing could ask, the big shopkeeper came to Xue Qing to pick up the silver, and when the usual accounts did not pass through Xue Qing's hands, the key to the silver in the treasury had always been in the hands of the big shopkeeper, and he had to apply in advance for what he wanted to purchase. When Xue Qing took care of the accounts by himself, the key was naturally given to Xue Qing, and the big shopkeeper would come to withdraw the silver twice a month, but Xue Qing couldn't ask, and when he asked the big shopkeeper, he said that it was the owner's idea, and everyone was on the same boat.

When Xue Qing went to consult the owner at the end of the year, the owner of course laughed at it, and Xue Qing didn't ask again, and let the big shopkeeper take out the silver. But the teahouse is barely profitable, how can it withstand always supporting the money like this, Xue Qing has also found a big shopkeeper a few times, and if the teahouse continues like this, it will not even be able to give the salary of the guys, but he only got reprimanded, and let himself find a way to attract guests to earn more, so that the position of the shopkeeper was not in vain.

Xue Qing is also in a dilemma, by the second year, the tea shop has less tea than usual, and the condition of the new tea vessel is also a few grades worse than before, but as the second shopkeeper, there is no way, this has always been bought by the big shopkeeper, but here is only for use, so the business is not as good as day by day, but the big shopkeeper still came to mention the silver, and later changed his nephew.

Xue Qing also wanted to discuss with the owner not to withdraw money from the teahouse for the time being, and it would be difficult to maintain the operation of the teahouse if he mentioned it again, but the owner didn't listen to him at all, and scolded him, saying that he was a useless shopkeeper, and said that a place like a teahouse that didn't make money should have been closed a long time ago, so scared that Xue Qing didn't dare to mention it anymore.

At the end of the year, at the banquet of the Xia family, Xue Qing finally saw the second owner who had not been seen for a long time, and while others were pushing each other to change cups, he quietly pulled the second owner to the side to talk, begging the second owner to save Tong'ancheng's business.

The second owner was also embarrassed and said that he couldn't manage this matter, and after the banquet, he came to the door again to find Xue Qing again, "If you can trust me, hold on for a while, as short as a few months, as long as a year, if you have difficulties, first dismiss some guys, reduce the scale, and keep the store no matter what." ”

Xue Qing was a little strange why the second owner didn't say it last time, but this time he came to see him alone, maybe the owner also had the difficulties of the owner, so he reluctantly agreed, and went back to ask some guys to leave, and there was a lot of commotion, but the big shopkeeper didn't take a look.

In May, when there was a new tea in the teahouse, many old customers also liked to try it at this time, so they booked out many places first, because they had just quit some guys, and the teahouse was not enough, and Xue Qing also planned to run the hall to deal with the past, but the tea sent was only half of that of previous years, which made Xue Qing anxious.

I went to the tea shop to find the big shopkeeper, but the guy there said, "The big shopkeeper didn't come back at the end of last year, and I went out with the big boss." "Xue Qing noticed that the big shopkeeper hasn't come to mention silver for almost a year since the new tea last year, and it's always the nephew of the big shopkeeper who comes to pick up the silver." Then who is in charge of this tea shop, you can't ignore it. ”

That guy also knew Xue Qing, the big shopkeeper was not there, and it was said that even the tea shop should be the second shopkeeper, but the nephew of the big shopkeeper was on an errand here, so no one dared to go to the second shopkeeper to get an idea. And now that the second shopkeeper is here, the guy took advantage of the fact that no one was around to pull Xue Qing aside to speak.

"Not to mention the business in the tea shop, the owner has always asked the big shopkeeper to go to other places to buy jade, and when he comes back, he sells it in the tea shop, but he often buys defective products, and he is tired of the tea business. The owner is still a more and more frustrated and courageous, pulling jade back from the outside in batches, and has been accumulating in the warehouse, and I don't know which god came up with the idea, buying jade and sending tea, the tea business has long been unable to make ends meet. ”

"Why is there only half of the tea ration in the teahouse this year, how can this teahouse be opened."

The guy looked bitter, "It's even more talkative, I heard a brother of mine say that when he went to Baidicheng to buy tea this year, he was just halfway there, but the silver was intercepted by the owner to buy jade, and when he arrived in Baidicheng, he only transported half of the tea leaves, so angry that the seller on the opposite side stomped his feet, but what way do we have, they are all working for the owner, and we are almost finished here, but anyone who has a little way will not be consumed here." ”

Xue Qing came back and felt in his heart, this Tong'an City's business was when he saw its glory, but now it has only been more than 20 years, and it has become like this, and after that, the business of the teahouse is not as good as before, and it has been reduced by more than half compared to last year's business, but the second owner who gave Xue Qing hope has not appeared.

When he came back at the end of the year, Xue Qing came to the old lady with his last hope, thanks to the Xia family's care for so many years, he couldn't just leave like this, so he came to see the old lady in the snow.

After the shopkeeper Xue finished recounting the experience of the past few years, he felt a lot more refreshed physically and mentally, compared to the depression when he came, now the whole person seems to be alive, and the snow outside the house is bigger, at a glance, the white expanse, the brazier in the house does not know when it has been replaced with a new one, the cloak and boots hanging by the brazier have been completely dry, leaving only some traces of water stains.

Regardless of the old lady who was contemplating, Shopkeeper Xue put on his cloak again and walked out of the door, and when he was walking back with his neck bent, he was stopped by Zhang's mother and said that the old lady left him to eat, which made Shopkeeper Xue strange, maybe there was something to order, so he poured back again, but nothing happened at dinner, and then he was sent home by a carriage, and when he got home, he was still thinking about Old Lady Xia's words of 'I will not let you down'.