Chapter 57: The Art of Almsgiving
"Of course it's me, who else could it be?" Zhou Yu generously admitted: "How can Wang Yi have this power, he is a person who receives monthly money, and the boss has the final say whether he is free or not." ”
"Why is the show in the garden free today?" He Shuiling was very puzzled by this.
"There is no free lunch in this world, and there is no free drama, often the free is the most expensive!" Zhou Yu told this way of doing business.
"What does that mean?" He Shuiling still couldn't understand, she was a student of art, and doing business was not her forte.
"Let people listen to books and watch plays for free, it seems that we are losing money, but in fact, we are spending money to buy things, and the value of such things is far higher than the money collected by a storyteller." Zhou Yu finally said the reason why it was really free.
"Shall we spend money on things? What to buy? ”
"Just wait and see, I guess it won't be long before a letter arrives......"
"Who sent you the letter again? Isn't that the top Su girl? Feng Yue's voice sounded coldly.
"Look at what you said, how can anyone send me a letter, I'm talking to Shui Ling about business, Tianxiangju and Yixuanzhuang will definitely be finished this time!" Zhou Yu hurriedly took Feng Yue's hand and said.
At this moment, Shui Er hurriedly ran in from outside, holding an envelope in his hand and said, "Uncle, there is your letter, it is sent from the capital!" ”
Zhou Yu: "......"
Two burning gazes stabbed at Zhou Yu's back, but they made him break out in a cold sweat.
"Unexpectedly, you still have acquaintances in the capital?" Feng Yue seemed to be smiling, and she didn't have a good airway.
"How can there be any acquaintances, just ordinary friends......" Zhou Yu wanted to take the letter with a little weakness, but was snatched away by Feng Yue.
"What, why are you in such a hurry? Is there anything we can't see? Feng Yue took the envelope, opened it and took out the letter inside.
"If there's anything you can't see, you can just look at it!" Zhou Yu pretended to be fine, but he was very scared, worried that Su Wen would say something "excessive".
The words on the letter were very short, only six words:
I'm fine, you take care.
There are no ambiguous words, no lingering confessions, and no aggrieved cries.
Not even a payment.
No matter how you look at these six words, they can't be regarded as adultery, they can only be said to be exchanges between ordinary friends.
"Sister, are we wrong?" He Shuiling looked at the letter and felt that there was nothing wrong.
Feng Yue couldn't see anything wrong, so she handed the letter to Zhou Yu.
The moment Zhou Yu saw the letter, he was stunned for a moment, and then smiled, the layer of window paper between him and Su Wen failed to pierce after all, even if Su Wen had clearly said that she liked him, but that was what Su Wen said when she was dying, she probably thought that she was going to die soon, so she said it as her last words. How the relationship between the two will eventually develop, no one can say.
But it was this unpretentious smile that was captured by Feng Yue. So she put her arms around Zhou Yu's neck, put her face on it, and asked softly, "Xianggong, what are you laughing at?" ”
If Feng Yue's hand around Zhou Yu's neck didn't work hard, Zhou Yu would definitely think that she was asking out of curiosity and patiently answered her. But now, Zhou Yu could only struggle desperately and said, "No...... Didn't laugh at anything...... Tap ...... Out of breath! ”
At this moment, Li Erniu rushed in: "Master! Tianxiangju ......" Before he finished speaking, he saw Zhou Yu and Feng Yue looking "intimate", and hurriedly covered his eyes and turned around, and said embarrassedly: "Master, master, you continue, I'll come back later!" ”
Feng Yue also knew that he couldn't let his man lose face in front of outsiders, so he hurriedly let go of Zhou Yu and stood aside in a proper manner.
"Ahem! It's okay, what's the situation, you say it's okay. Zhou Yu cleared his throat and said to Li Erniu.
"Oooh...... Master, there is news from outside that the shopkeepers of Tianxiangju and Yixuanzhuang have been taken away by the officials of Yongping County! Li Erniu said. In the past few days, Juxian Mansion has been closed, and Li Erniu has also been left in the mansion by Zhou Yu to listen to it, and this morning, he was sent out by Zhou Yu to inquire about the news of the two restaurants, and he is only coming back now.
"What?" Feng Yue and He Shuiling exclaimed at the same time, these two restaurants are now regarded as the great enemies of Juxian Building, and their shopkeeper has been arrested! How can this not be surprising?
"Has the claim notice for Juxian Lou been posted? How was the response? Zhou Yu was not surprised that Fu Qian and Lu Yan were arrested, because this was what would inevitably happen in his design.
"Now there are rumors in the city that the shopkeepers of Tianxiangju and Yixuanzhuang hired people to assassinate you, and they beat the guests in broad daylight, even if they jump into Luoshui this time, they can't wash it off!" Li Erniu said with a smile. Juxianlou, Tianxiangju, and Yixuanzhuang have been grudges for a long time, and now that the other party is unlucky, Li Erniu is naturally very happy.
"Let's go, let's go to Yongping County in person and see what the two grandsons have to say!"
"Wait!" Feng Yue stopped Zhou Yu, who was about to go out. asked, "Why are you going to Yongping County?" ”
"Of course, I went to ask for medical expenses, could it be that the money for the treatment of those wounded really needs to be paid by our family? Look, the brain is short-circuited at a critical time, isn't it! Zhou Yu said with a smile.
"You're just short-circuiting! You're just short-circuiting! Feng Yue slapped Zhou Yu's arm angrily, but even He Shuiling could see that she was not really angry, after all, she didn't know what a short circuit was! It doesn't sound like a good word......
Sure enough, after Feng Yue finished beating Zhou Yu, her tone immediately softened, helped him tidy up his shirt, and advised: "Pay attention to safety, come back early!" ”
It seems that the last attack on Zhou Yu still left some shadows in her heart.
"Got it! You and Shui Ling are waiting for me at home! After Zhou Yu finished speaking, he hugged the two ladies again, and Li Erniu turned his back very sensibly.
"Hmm......" Feng Yue agreed, and then looked at Zhou Yu's back with He Shuiling reluctantly.
"Master, do those people's medical expenses really have to be paid by Fu Qian and Lu Yan?" On the way, Li Erniu asked.
"Or else? We are opening a restaurant, and we are not engaged in charity, how can we have so much money to help sentient beings? Zhou Yu responded.
"Then how do you let us give porridge and rice to the beggars on a regular basis, or do you have a share of the beggars?" Li Erniu felt very strange about Zhou Yu's two completely different attitudes.
"I don't have this idea, I can't stand your teacher's kindness, to be honest, we are all children of poor families, the two of them are soft-hearted, they have begged me many times, and I can't do it if I don't agree!" Zhou Yu looked innocent, just a bit like pretending.
"Then why don't we help those victims in Xigou Village, they don't have anything to eat!" Li Erniu is like this, he likes to dig into problems and loves to study, which is also an important reason why his cooking skills can be improved to better than his senior brothers.
"It's a bit complicated, and it's not appropriate to tell you right now." Zhou Yu said lightly.
Once there is a question and does not know the answer, Li Erniu's heart is like a cat scratching, not to mention how uncomfortable it is. So he chose to grind hard and stalk Zhou Yu, and finally Zhou Yu reluctantly decided to tell him the truth.
"Let's give porridge to the beggar gang because the beggar gang has a lot of people and a wide range of news, plus we are doing business on the territory of Luozhou, if there is a conflict with the beggar gang, can we have good fruit to eat? Don't look at them as a bunch of beggars, difficult to deal with! Two months ago, when the rice shop on Hongde Street opened, Elder Jiang of the Beggars Gang went with a dozen disciples to beg for a bowl of porridge to drink, but was driven out. You know what? Seventy or eighty beggars came and lay in front of the rice shop and rolled around, but they didn't leave, and they couldn't do business. The shopkeeper Liu of the rice shop invited people from the government to drive the beggars away, and they began to harass the people who bought rice in the rice shop in turn, and pestered people to ask for money and rice as soon as they got out of the store, and then no one dared to enter the rice shop at all, and the rice shop was closed in less than half a month! Poor shopkeeper Liu lost most of his family! Zhou Yu recounted the snakeskin operation of the beggars.
"Huh? And such a thing? Li Erniu, who is still young, obviously has some insufficient understanding of the sinister nature of society.
"Look at our family's Juxian Mansion again, hold a soup kitchen once a month, and then send some meat to Elder Jiang and Elder Li, and have a good relationship with the beggar gang, and the business has been done for several months, but nothing has happened." Zhou Yu spread his hands and said: "Not only that, as soon as there is any trouble, the beggars will immediately send someone to send me a message." Also, the man who got drunk in the lobby last month and broke a lot of dishes, when he came home, his coils were almost searched by the beggars, but they all sent them to us as compensation for the broken items. If I hadn't been dissuaded, the door of that man's house would have been removed! ”
Li Erniu was stunned when he heard this, obviously impressed by the huge energy and amazing methods of the beggar gang.
"Then why can't we give porridge to the victims of Xigou Village?" After being silent for a while, Li Erniu continued to ask.
"You still don't admit that you're stupid, is it our business to give porridge for disaster relief? That's the work of the government, if we overstep our responsibilities, we will be suspected of buying the hearts of the people, and we may be said to be trying to rebel! Zhou Yu gradually lowered his voice, but his tone was extremely serious.
Although Li Erniu is a little slower to react sometimes, his brain is not dull, Zhou Yu understood it as soon as he said this, but he never thought that this great good deed of soup porridge and rice would be so exquisite! Sure enough, Master is Master, and he is still far behind!
Thinking of this, Li Erniu's admiration for Zhou Yu was even greater.
After chatting all the way, the gate of Yongping County Ya has appeared in front of them.
"Master Fan, don't come unharmed!" Zhou Yu bowed.
"Shopkeeper Zhou, when you came to the Yaxia today, do you have any advice?" Fan Qingyun put down the pen in his hand, raised his head and asked.
"How dare I advise Master Fan, but I heard that the shopkeeper Fu of Tianxiangju and the shopkeeper Lu of Yixuanzhuang were both arrested for instigating the guys to beat the guests, and those guests happened to be Zhou's friends, so Zhou specially came to ask for the cost of the soup for them." Zhou Yu said with a smile.
"But these two people don't admit that they instigated their subordinates to beat people, the specific facts need to be investigated again, Shopkeeper Zhou, please go back first, and the county will send someone to inform Shopkeeper Zhou." Fan Qingyun also said with a smile.
"In that case, then I can't leave, they don't even admit to instigating beatings, let alone that they once hired someone to kill me." Zhou Yu's smile suddenly became secretive.
"These two hired you to kill you? Shopkeeper Zhou, this can't be said casually! Do you know what the punishment for such a crime will be in my great law? Fan Qingyun's face changed, and he stood up and said.
"Of course I know, but who would be stupid enough to admit this felony of killing the head?" Zhou Yu still smiled meaningfully.
"Since Shopkeeper Zhou said that they hired someone to commit murder, I don't know if there is any evidence?" Fan Qingyun asked cautiously, after all, this is not a trivial matter, and it can't go wrong.
"I don't have any evidence of what these two people are doing...... Zhou Yu shook his head and said.
"Then there is no way......"
"But I can make them admit it!" Without waiting for Fan Qingyun to finish speaking, Zhou Yu threw out a sentence again.
"Oh? What do you mean by that? Fan Qingyun became interested.
Zhou Yu leaned into Fan Qingyun's ear and told him about his plan.
"Are you sure this will really work?" Fan Qingyun was skeptical of his plan.
"Of course, I'm a man who never talks empty words!" Zhou Yu patted his chest and reassured, and then asked Li Erniu to hand over a bag containing one hundred taels of silver.
Fan Qingyun looked at the silver bag, took several deep breaths, as if he had made up his mind, looked up and said to Zhou Yu: "I can help you, and I don't want your money, but I hope you can help me do one thing, I don't know if Shopkeeper Zhou can agree?" ”
"Master Fan, please speak."
"Help me get rid of Hudin!" Fan Qingyun's words implied three points of hatred.