Zhongzhou City, in the courtyard of the Dasheng and Goldman families, has a grand atmosphere.

In the middle hall, more than ten shopkeepers of Dashenggao have gathered with their families.

The incense case was placed against the wall at the east head, a big iron pot was placed, the white soup was boiling, a fat sheep was boiled, there was no wine ginger and other fishy things in the soup, but salt foam and wild onions were sprinkled, and the thick smell of sheep and the aroma were warmly entangled.

This is the annual sheep's head banquet of Dashenggao.

Dashenggao's custom is because when Dashenggao was founded, there was a year of embarrassment, a group of brothers couldn't even afford to eat meat for a long time, and it was snowing, so the ancestors of the Sheng family came up with a way, used up the surplus money in their hands, bought a sheep, pretended to be a wild sheep, and designed to deliberately run into the banquet when the brothers were entertained... Under the pretext that God is helping them, seeing that they can't eat meat, they all send a sheep to the door when it snows. At that time, the morale of those brothers who were demoralized was suddenly shocked, and Dashenggao survived like this.

Therefore, Da Shenggao's later grand feast was carried out immediately after the news of the first snow fall in Sanyin Province.

However, this year, the sheep's head banquet was held much earlier than in previous years, and it was held before the first snow fell in San'in Province.

Sheng Manying, the big proprietor of Dashenggao, didn't explain anything, but every Dashenggao shopkeeper who came to know why.

As in previous years, Sheng Manying took the whole family to see the dozen or so shopkeepers who had been working hard for Da Shenggao for a year, and after a lively time, he cut off the sheep's head with a knife, cut out a piece of hot mutton and chewed it, and began the feast.

For a while, the cheers and commotion shook the hall, and more than a dozen shopkeepers cut meat one after another, and stacks of hot-cut big pots of vegetables were also placed on the table like flowing water.

Everything seemed to be no different from previous years, but after a few glasses of wine, the banquet naturally fell silent.

All the shopkeepers, including those children who had just begun to learn to write, had their eyes on Sheng Manying.

Sheng Manying took the wine glass, then poured his wine glass fuller, stood up and drank it all, and then bowed deeply to all the shopkeepers and family members present: "I'm sorry everyone... It's a drag on everyone. ”

All the shopkeepers were slightly astringent in their noses and knew Sheng Manying's decision.

"In the coming year, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to find another job. I'm sorry guys... After the banquet, I prepared some silver taels for you, and I hope you will not dislike it. ”

Sheng Manying's voice trembled slightly, but there was a sincere smile on his face.

Silent for a long time.

A sigh rang out.

Mu Zongli, the tall shopkeeper of Dasheng, who seemed to be much older than last year, stood up with a wine glass.

"Big boss, I salute you for this cup. ”

He drank the wine from his glass, "I'm old. He exhaled a breath of wine and said slowly: "After working for a business like Dashenggao and Dadexiang, I don't want to work in another business, so let's rest." Thank you for the hospitality of the big boss, but thanks to the big boss's kindness over the years, life must have been no problem... If the big boss is still a friend of me, and this kind of urgent need for money, don't mention this kind of silver to me again, which is regarded as a dismissal of the elderly. ”

"Big boss, we also respect you..."During the banquet, a few points of tragedy and reluctance.

......

In the fertile fields of southern Yunqin, there is a village.

There was a creek in front of the village, and beside the creek there was a large area of farmland that had just been turned over by burning weeds.

In the two low houses closest to the farmland, an old woman who was sick in bed and was dying forcefully moved her head away and gave up her embroidered cloth pillow.

Her son and daughter-in-law, who were lying in front of her bed, knew that she was about to go, and couldn't help crying loudly.

Her son was wearing a clean moon-white cotton robe, and he looked like he was supposed to be a private school teacher in the countryside.

He knew that his mother had been frugal all her life, and the straw core cloth pillow she was wearing had her life's savings... This savings is not much, but it will not increase his burden, enough to cover the funeral expenses after her death.

The sallow old woman's face turned red inexplicably.

The old man who has been bedridden for a long time has really reached the final moment of return, and her eyes, which were already a little dilated and blurred, have become refreshed.

"Go to shopkeeper Liu..."

She moved her head and gave up the pillow, but with the last of her strength, she leaned against her pillow with her face and made such a sound.

The son and daughter-in-law who were lying in front of her froze.

This is the real coffin book that Yun Qin said, mother, she......

The son was stunned, stunned, but the old woman who was about to die was annoyed, her hand that she had been unable to lift for a long time was raised, as if she wanted to beat her most beloved son in her life, her voice was like a gossamer, but it was extremely shocking, "My life... I worked hard, I don't know how much I suffered... Let you read... Did your book go to the dog's belly? Dadexiang is for us to close the shop... How can we not pay back the money we owe on credit ... The coffin is a little thinner, and I can rest assured when I lie down..."

The old woman's hand froze in the air and fell, never to be lifted again.

The son who knelt down in front of her bed could no longer hear her reprimand, and he could no longer hear what she told him to be a human being. He could only nod with tears in his eyes, so that the old mother who had left this world could go with peace of mind.

......

In the northern part of Yunqin, which is far away from the southern provinces, there is also an ordinary village.

Apple trees are planted everywhere in this village, and the harvested apples will be sold to many large cities in Yunqin.

In this village, there is the only blacksmith named Ding Tiezhu.

His name is Iron Pillar, and when he grew up, he really dealt with iron and iron lumps all day long, and became a blacksmith.

In the eyes of the rest of the village, he was an extremely stout man, who looked fierce and vicious, and had a very loud voice, but in fact he was a man with a good temper and a gentle attitude towards his wife and the old people in the family, but sometimes he was more stubborn.

This kind of stubbornness is reflected in the fact that he likes to eat pork belly with fat, if he can't buy pork belly, he would rather not eat it, and if he is forced to taste the leg meat, he may be angry.

This stubbornness is reflected in the fact that what he has identified is difficult to change.

On this day, he cut down a lot of pine wood and prepared to burn some charcoal for the winter.

So although it was already cold, he was still ready to take a shower with stinky sweat.

However, when he saw a piece of soap paste handed to him by his wife, his dark and thick brows wrinkled deeply, and he said in a rude voice unhappily: "Why isn't it Da Dexiang?"

The wife was in a hurry to add firewood to boil hot water, for fear that her husband would catch a cold, so she casually responded, "This is Tang Qingshan's, and it's about the same." ”

Ding Tiezhu sank his face and did not speak.

While adding firewood, some of the wives whose eyes were smoked by the smoke did not pay attention.

"Smack!"

Ding Tiezhu slapped the soap paste on the stove hard, made a loud noise, and said angrily: "Don't wash it!"

Only then did his wife see his iron blue face, pulled him who walked out, looked at his soaked cotton clothes, and felt distressed and aggrieved, tears began to roll in her eyes, "It's okay, you lose your temper at me again, if you have any anger, you will wash it first." ”

The wife's temperament is gentle, and the man is the easiest to soften, but Ding Tiezhu still straightens his neck, and said angrily: "Still say that it is almost the same! Can Tang Qingshan's and Da Dexiang's be the same! Mother-in-law is just long hair and short knowledge! Is this the same thing and different relationship! What did Da Dexiang do! What did a business like Tang Qingshan do? Da Dexiang let the big and small in the southern provinces have hot porridge to drink, so I must buy Da Dexiang's soap cream! I recognize this principle! This is not a question of things being similar, do you understand this principle? ”

"I understand. The woman was distressed, didn't argue, just pushed him to the stove, "I remember that next time I will help you buy Da Dexiang's... It's just that today is also because Sister-in-law Chu happens to have nothing. And Sister-in-law Chu also said that Da Dexiang's shop in the city is closed, and it will be difficult to buy Da Dexiang's soap paste in the future..."

Ding Tiezhu was stunned: "Da Dexiang's shop is closed? How can it be closed? It will be difficult to buy in the future... Da Dexiang's shop won't open when it's closed?"

The woman wiped her tears, first wiped his clammy body with a dry towel, and said softly: "Said that it was because there were too many credits and too many deficits, and there was really no way to turn around, so the shop was closed... It's not that the city is closed, it's said that the outside is closed. ”

"So much shortfall... Can't fill it in?" Ding Tiezhu asked blankly: "Isn't it only the rice and noodle business that is on credit... Da Dexiang's business is so big, everyone uses his soap cream, this soap paste can also keep making a lot of silver taels, if you can't hold it, you should at most close only the rice and noodle shop, how can you even close the soap paste grocery store?"

The most powerful blacksmith in the village couldn't think of a reason.

His woman, like him, had never read a book and could not answer his questions.

He finished the shower in a bit of a frustration, and didn't even rub the old mud and dirt on his body, but went to the cold in a chaotic way, so he put on his clothes and went to the village chief's most knowledgeable old village chief's house.

"Doing business is not as simple as striking iron, a hammer is a hammer. ”

The old man with his back on his back sighed and slowly explained to Ding Tiezhu, "It doesn't matter if you can't pay the salary, you have to spend silver to buy some raw materials... Even if you can take credit first, you may not be able to pay it back when the time comes, and people won't always give you credit. And when doing business, others think that you will definitely not succeed, for fear that you will not be able to repay the debts you owe before, but will urge you to settle the bill, which will make it even worse. Moreover, Dadexiang has such a big business, many places are one ring after another, one of the links has a problem, and there is not enough silver to fill it, and the whole chain is broken. With so many mouths to eat, it's not easy for Da Dexiang to last so long... Previously, these soap and paste shops were also helping to support together, but now just these soap and paste shops like these helpers can't hold up. ”

The old village chief spoke in detail, and even explained that even if the soap paste in one place is made, if there is a problem in the transportation link, it will only continue to lose... Business can't go on. Ding Tiezhu listened a lot and listened very carefully, although he still didn't seem to understand, but he was at least sure that what his woman said was true, and Da Dexiang was really going to go out of business and shut down. The shopkeeper of Da Dexiang, who was once talked about by many people in the streets and alleys, also seems to be exhausted and has no power to return to the sky.

Why is Dadexiang so big and such a good business closed?

Why can Dadexiang keep giving rice and noodles to the victims of those provinces, and why can't other businesses also keep giving credit to Dadexiang?

Ding Tiezhu, a blacksmith, doesn't understand business, so he can't figure out a lot of problems, he just feels uncomfortable all over, and he doesn't even have a taste for his favorite pork belly.

At dinner, he held a bowl of rice, looked at the bowl of sparkling pork belly in front of him, and suddenly thought of what those people in the southern provinces were eating, and what those employees of Dadexiang would eat in the future... Suddenly, he raised his head and said to the woman, "Shall we go on a long journey?"

His woman looked up and asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"I know that Da Dexiang is cultivating wasteland in the Bishui Province and the Tianluo Province. Ding Tiezhu looked at his woman and said, "Even if Da Dexiang doesn't succeed, the field will always be returned, as long as someone plants, there will always be a harvest... Our family didn't have much money, but I had the strength, and I went there to help them farm together. ”

The woman burst into tears.

She knew how she could compare to her current life when she had traveled so far away.

But she knew that her man was stubborn, and she was a little proud of her man, so she sobbed and began to help her man and herself pack their bags.