The clerk's eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice: "That's the deputy steward and guard of Wood Auction House, it's a person who is not easy to mess with, little sister must not offend them." ”

Xiao Tianjian felt very complicated, and his little granddaughter actually learned this trick. However, he quickly took over the role: "I think you seem to be a little afraid of them, just an auction house, what's the big deal?" ”

"Don't say that." A trace of panic flashed on the clerk's face, "Lord Wood has a good relationship with the nobles in the capital, and I heard that the things he bought there were also sold into the palace." There are so many people in the auction house that even the merchants on the dock dare not provoke it, and we little people dare not offend. He shrank his head, turned around and was about to leave, when Minna grabbed the corner of his clothes: "We also want to send things to auction, where is their store?" ”

The clerk was a little relieved when he heard this, and after giving the address, he left quickly. Minna and Xiao Tianjian glanced at each other, hurriedly finished the rest of the food, and walked in the direction of Wood's Auction House.

When the grandfather and grandson asked for directions on the way, they also inquired a little about this auction house, but the person who asked them either fled in fear, or looked at them with vigilant eyes for a long time, before dropping the sentence "I came to buy cod liver oil, I don't know anything" and then turned around and left. The grandparents were a little frustrated, but it was also clear from this that this Wood auction house was not a good place.

When they came to the street where the auction house was located, they were looking around, looking for a target, but they were attracted by a commotion. I saw a group of big men surrounding a gray-haired man, the latter with his back to Xiao Tianjian's ancestors and grandchildren, and was bowing his head to another bald and fat middle-aged man with two crooked mustaches and begging: "Please forgive me two more days, I have a payment for the goods and it is almost here, I will go to Matt in the afternoon to get the money back, and the day after tomorrow, no, I will be able to pay it back tomorrow." ”

Minna noticed that the tall building next to the shop they were standing in had a sign that read "Wood Auction House" hanging at the door. And the big man with the gray hair around him was wearing the same costume as the one he had just seen in the tavern, could they be in a group? And who is that gray-haired man?

The bald man glanced contemptuously at the person in front of him: "It's not me saying you, Lao You, you have said this three times, this interest is pushed day by day, and I will continue to forgive it, and other debtors still think that there is nothing if they don't pay back." ”

That "Lao You" bent his waist even lower: "This time it's true, just one day!" There will never be any further delay. ”

The bald man said nonchalantly: "You say this every time, but it is common for the payment to be in arrears for a few days, can you guarantee that you will have money tomorrow?" Seeing that the other party was a little hesitant, he coughed lightly twice and changed his smile: "Lao You, we have been old friends for more than ten years, and I don't want to see you embarrassed." In this way, your shop is also worth hundreds of gold coins, and you can use it to offset this month's interest, so that everyone can do it easily. ”

"Lao You" looked up and exclaimed: "No! I—I can't ......."

"Yutan?" Xiao Tianjian suddenly spoke, and Minna glanced at him in surprise, thinking that his grandfather knew this person.

The other party turned his head when he heard the voice, and he was also surprised: "Xiao?!" Y-Why are you here? ”

"Just passing by." Xiao Tianjian frowned and walked over, and Minna hurriedly followed. "Do you owe money to this person? Why don't you come to me if you have a problem? It's not that you don't know the people in my firm, just ask them to borrow them. ”

Yu Tan lowered his head with a face full of shame: "I was confused and owed a debt for a while, where do I have the face to look for you?" I can't borrow money from you every time, can I? ”

The bald man looked at Xiao Tianjian proudly, and seemed to be a little unhappy: "Who is Your Excellency?" ”

"How much does he owe you?" Xiao Tianjian didn't answer his question, just asked directly.

The other party's face was not very good-looking, and he said lightly: "Seven thousand five hundred gold coins, pay five hundred interest every month." Do you want to pay for him? ”

Xiao Tianjian frowned again and turned to You Tan: "How can there be so many?" What are you doing with all this money? ”

"Nothing, Mr. Wood hired the ships of my fleet to deliver a batch of goods, and the goods were destroyed in a rough and windy manner, and according to the contract, I must compensate them twice as much." Yu Tan lowered his head and whispered, and then added: "I didn't expect this to happen, it's obviously just a small wind and waves, and the goods of the other ships are fine, but ......"

"Has the cargo been inspected before it is loaded onto the ship?" Xiao Tianjian felt that something was wrong.

The bald man's face changed: "What do you mean by this?" At the beginning, it was Youtan's men who personally inspected the goods before loading the ship! Those are the fine silk, precious spices and crystal vessels of Shaonan, extremely precious, specially designed for the National Day in November to pay tribute to the palace, as a result, all the crystal vessels are broken, and other goods are also soaked in the sea, we have to find another person to buy, to him only pay 7,500 gold coins, it is already for the sake of the old friendship! ”

Xiao Tianjian just stared at You Tan, who nodded, indicating that the other party's words were true, but added: "The person who inspected the goods...... It was the widow of a member of my fleet, and I went back to my hometown two months ago to take care of my sick mother. ”

Saying this, Xiao Tianjian and the bald man both narrowed their eyes, the former smiled, and said to the latter: "Isn't it seven thousand five hundred gold coins?" Mere trifle. He took out a specially printed piece of stationery, hurriedly wrote a few words on it, signed and stamped it, and handed it to the bald head: "You take this to the headquarters of the Xiao family firm in Ito City, and they will pay you." "If you pull Yutan, you're going to leave.

The bald man hurriedly stopped them: "You...... It turned out to be Count Xiao...... It's ...... to have such a generous friend as you."

Xiao Tianjian ignored him and continued to pull You Tan away, and Minna followed closely.

After walking out of the two streets, You Tan reacted from his sluggishness, and hurriedly pulled Xiao Tianjian into another road, and came to a building: "Thank you, thank you so much, I don't know what to say, I will return the money to you as soon as possible......" He was a little excited.

Xiao Tianjian smiled: "What's this?" We are friends. You can just pay back that money when it's convenient for you, can't I trust you? He patted the other party on the shoulder: "I have something to go out, this is my little granddaughter Minna, it is inconvenient for me to take her there, you help me take care of it, I will be back soon." After that, the person was already outside the door.

Minna was stunned and hurriedly chased out, where can I still see a figure? Gritting his teeth, he turned back: "Damn grandpa, left me and ran away again......"

Yu Tan wiped away the tears of excitement in his eyes, smiled and said to Minna, "Your name is Minna, right?" Xiao has something important to do, you just wait for him for a while. I also have a little daughter, about the same age as you, but unfortunately she is at home in Kamaica now, otherwise I would have been able to play with you. ”

Minna was a little curious: "Are you from Camecan?" She looked at the other man's somewhat bronzed complexion, and his gray hair, which was exactly the same as the Kameca mentioned in the textbook: "What is it like there?" How far is it from here? ”

"Cameca is just east of the sea, it's only a three-day boat ride away, it's very close, it's a big island, and there are a lot of small islands around, and it's beautiful, and you have to go and have fun when you have the chance." Yutan smiled and ordered the servant to bring refreshments, and sat down to talk to Minna.

Minna remembered Coral Island, so she pestered Yutan about Kamecca until it was dark, and then waited for her grandfather to return.

Xiao Tianjian didn't come back alone, he also brought the fat man. Minna opened her eyes wide to look at the scars on the fat man's body and face, and turned her head to ask her grandfather, "Grandpa, did you rescue him?" ”

Xiao Tianjian nodded and asked the fat man: "You said that you buried that foreigner at sea, so do you remember where he came from?" ”

The fat man seemed to be very afraid of him: "I only found him on the seashore, but I don't know where he came from, and the boat he was on is still in my house." ”

Xiao Tianjian then carried him out of the door again, and Minna followed, but he was soon forcibly driven back on the grounds that the child could not go out after dark, and stayed in the guest room angrily, and when grandpa came back in the middle of the night, she shook her head, snorted coldly, ignored him, and went to sleep by herself.

It's just that after getting up the next day, she found that her grandfather didn't say a word about what she found last night, as if nothing had happened, she was itching for a long time, and finally lowered her head first: "Grandpa, what did you find in that fat man's house?" ”

Xiao Tianjian smiled and scratched her nose: "Little girl, aren't you angry?" Before his granddaughter got really angry, he gave the answer: "I didn't find anything, the fat man scavenged all the people's things, and the people were buried at sea, but he was greedy for a moment and left the boat, which had the sign of a certain ship company in Port Matt." Your Uncle Yutan is going to Matt today, so let's take a hitchhike. ”

From Manado to the port of Matt, it only takes half a day to walk by boat. During this journey, except for the farmland and mountains on the shore, and the sea on the other side, there were no interesting views, and the sea was a little dirty. Minna isn't bored, though, as she gets to admire Yutan's collection of interesting toys.

This old businessman, who was nearly half a hundred years old, was a loving father, because he only had a daughter at the age of forty, so he doted on her, and usually carried many gifts for his daughter when he was out doing business, such as small baskets made of reeds, dolls carved from wood, crystal small animal statues of Ennie, strings of coral beads from Doro, and alchemical toys from the Magic City, etc.

Minna carefully fiddled with some of the sturdy things, and listened to Yutan tell interesting stories about her daughter, and before she knew it, most of the day passed.

Port Matte, located south of the mouth of the Bebe River, is like a giant pincer facing northeast. There were thousands of ships docked in the pincer bend, no less than those in the port of Doro, but they looked a little disorganized, but they were all the more vibrant.

Minna said goodbye to Yutan with her grandfather for a while, and went to the city. Although she had never been to her grandfather's house, Xiao Tianjian had been to Matt and was no stranger to this place, and Viscount Zhufa's family was also quite famous here, and the grandfather and grandson only asked for the way twice, and then found their destination not far from the port.

Minna looked at the tall iron railing painted with gold carvings in front of her, as well as the vast beautiful garden inside, and the magnificent and solemn mansion in the distance, and sighed: "It turns out that my grandfather's family is so rich, and the house he lives in is so beautiful......

Xiao Tianjian said with a smile: "The spices of the Zhu Fa family firm are very famous, and our Xiao family's firm has barely overshadowed them in the past ten years, and your grandfather is also a rich man in Matt." ”

Minna tilted her head, smiled and took her grandfather's hand and walked to the gate, and before long, she found her mother Dora standing in front of the gate, and she happily wanted to call each other loudly, but her grandfather covered her mouth and dragged her behind a tree on the side of the road. She looked at her grandfather in confusion, only to see him motioning for her to take a closer look. Minna turned her head to look at her mother, stunned.

In front of the gate of Zhufa's house, in addition to Dora, there is another one, who is none other than Goodwin Chulov. He held a large bouquet of red roses in his hand, and took out a small object from his bosom, which glittered in the sun. Almost everyone could tell that it was a ring with huge diamonds on it. Goodwin knelt down on one leg in front of Dora and offered flowers and rings with a reverent and affectionate expression. Dora's face was flushed, she looked left and right, and she didn't know what she said, so she picked up Goodwin and walked into the door together, and Goodwin's face showed ecstasy.

Minna panicked, she wasn't the little girl who didn't understand anything before, she could see Luba's couple's meaty performance almost every day in the past two years, where did she not know what that scene just now represented? She was so anxious that she almost cried: "Why didn't Mom refuse?" Did she say yes to someone else's proposal? So what about me and my dad?! ”

Xiao Tianjian was speechless, he had never liked this daughter-in-law very much, if the scene just now was true, then the son would be too pitiful. After thinking about it, he said sharply: "Let's go and ask to find out!" With that, he pulled Minna forward.

Minna broke away, bit her lip, raised her sleeve to wipe a handful of tears, turned around and ran. Xiao Tianjian hurriedly chased after him.

In the foyer of the Viscount Zhu Fa's house, Goodwin looked at Dora with a pale face: "Why? Why would you say no? You obviously didn't reject me just now! ”

Dora said lightly: "If I refuse you outside the door, you will become the laughing stock of the whole city tomorrow." You are so careless, how can you do such a thing in a public place? Goodwin, you're my friend, and I don't want you to put yourself in an embarrassing position. ”

"But why did you reject me?!" Goodwin didn't understand, he thought he was very sure, "Anlong can't make you happy at all!" It's been three years, and in these three years, he has never been here, and even if Viscount Jufa fell ill last year, he only sent a letter to greet him. He also made you sad again and again, and had to run back to his parents' house, why do you still hold on to this person who doesn't know how to cherish you? ”

Dora turned her face away: "I believe he has his own thoughts, and I believe that he will explain to me one day, I'm sorry, Goodwin, I love Anlong, I can't accept you." ”

Goodwin staggered back a few steps, the roses in his hands scattered to the ground.

(Recently, I've been wondering if it's necessary to change the previous currency value setting?) One silver coin = ten copper plates, which doesn't seem to be suitable, but a hundred would be better...... ）