On the second day, An Ying went to Batou Street. Although the Hongsheng Kee Tea Shop is not as luxurious as Zheng Yishun Tea Shop, it is not like Gaosheng Street, there are so many tea shops, this tea shop is surrounded by cloth shops, gold and silver shops, north and south goods stores, etc., and many people who come here to eat tea are women. An Ying walked straight to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, let me ask about something." I am from the An family, my father was thrown into prison a few days ago, and I heard that the same thing happened to your father. I'd like to inquire, you see......"

When the shopkeeper heard this, he looked An Ying up and down, nodded and said, "I heard about it, but I didn't expect the eldest girls of the An family to come over." If you don't come with me to my wife, if you don't come to us about this, we will have to go to you." ”

The lady in charge of Hongsheng Ji is settling accounts in the back room, with a goose egg face, wearing a stone blue blouse and a brown-green skirt, with her head crossed, a string of rice beads, and a green jade bracelet on her hand.

An Ying was ushered to the table, where a cup of fruit tea and a plate of snacks were already placed. "Lady of the An family, I didn't expect you to come over first, I planned to look for you in the next two days. The girl's family is not easy, taste this fruit tea, the taste is sweet. ”

The owner of the Hongsheng Ji tea shop is called Shen Lizhi, "Thank you Mrs. Shen" An Ying thanked him, and then tasted a mouthful of tea soup, which was really sweet, with pickled plum blossoms and preserved fruits in it, and the pastry was a white rice cake with some sugar, which was soft and delicious to eat, and the sweetness was just right.

"We all know about your father, and we thought it was just a trivial matter, and it would be enough to pay some money in a few days. I didn't expect your father to come out yet, and my lord also went in, and yesterday I sent someone to the yamen to walk around," Mrs. Shen took a sip of soup, "Everyone said that this time it was caught from Fujian first, listening to the meaning of Dali Temple, it was that the top was not satisfied with this batch of molds, so they sent someone to investigate." But according to my brother-in-law, I don't care about tea cakes on weekdays, and I wrote a poem about the astringency of tea cakes, but several mothers love sencha to eat, especially the Lin family's mother, my brother-in-law said that something happened some time ago. Mrs. Shen paused and looked up at An Ying.

Listening and listening, An Ying said in his heart: Sure enough, it's right. Seeing Mrs. Shen's pause at this moment, An Ying replied knowingly: "Isn't this Lin Niangniang sick?" ”

Mrs. Shen nodded, shook her head, and said, "You really know." However, to be exact, he was poisoned and remained unconscious. ”

"I also heard that this Lin Niangniang likes that little phoenix group very much, probably because of the meaning." An Ying thought for a while and said, "Actually, I checked all the tea shops that were seized in Zhejiang, and I found it a little strange. It is said that the mold is wrong, and the short catty is less than two, but in fact, most of the tea shops have made new molds, and the ones who have been seized are not the ones who make the most tea cakes, nor the ones who use the most new molds. ”

Hearing this, Mrs. Shen's expression changed, and Mrs. Shen, who was originally leaning on the ground, sat up straight.

An Ying smiled slightly, and said, "You see that I have copied the goods lists of several tea shops that have been seized recently," An Ying took out a piece of paper from her purse, and Mrs. Shen looked at it, this paper was drawn with horizontal and vertical grids, the left side is the name of the store, the right side is the name of the various tea cakes, and the number below corresponds. Mrs. Shen is used to making account books, so she nodded after a little look and said, this method is good, you can see it.

An Ying pulled out a silver hairpin on his head and changed his fingers and said: "Look, if you want to talk about the largest tea shop in Huzhou, of course, Zheng Yishun, I also went to the warehouse in the capital of Master Zheng yesterday. I looked at the storeroom in their backyard, and most of them were made of copper coins. Look again, my father, your eldest man, in the tea cakes made this year, the style of this little phoenix group accounts for most of it, it seems that the problem is in this mold? ”

Mrs. Shen said with a straight face: "I didn't expect you to think of this step." The big guys are trusting the relationship, giving silver, thinking about the joints of the matter, I understand that this relationship can't go, this is not a matter of much silver, it is a matter of losing the head. ”

An Ying paused and said, "I think there is still room for maneuver, and there should be some reason why this matter can't be investigated in a big way." Otherwise, my father wouldn't have been holding back without trial. ”

Mrs. Shen glanced at An Ying deeply, and said for a long time: "You figured out this truth yourself?" An Ying nodded and said, "I've been thinking about it myself for a long time, but I haven't really understood it. I only came to my senses last night, so I'm here today to discuss. ”

Mrs. Shen nodded and said, "I didn't expect you to think of this step." I was also in a hurry before, and asked people everywhere, but my eldest sister replied to me and thought about it thoroughly. I was thinking about how to explain things to you, but now it seems that I don't need to. Mrs. Shen took a sip of tea, looked at An Ying and said, "My eldest brother-in-law is a member of the household department, and there will be a banquet at my eldest sister's house in a few days, and my eldest sister arranged for me to go there, saying that there is some news." Then you will come with me. ”

An Ying didn't expect Mrs. Shen to help with this step, so she didn't react for a while. But Mrs. Shen smiled and said, "Don't think too much, I used to know your mother well, and I used to come and go a few years ago. Later, your mother went, and no one sent me a message, and I found out later. Mrs. Shen plucked the pearl rice hairpin and handed it to An Ying, saying, "Your mother is very good at fiddling with these jewelry. Is this bead a little smaller? ”

An Ying nodded, the beads of this bead hairpin are not big, small, but they are better than ingenious workmanship, but unfortunately the luster is a little poor. Mrs. Shen took a sip of tea soup and said slowly, "This is the first jewelry your mother made for me. At that time, I had just been married, and who knew that it would be the case, and I couldn't keep what I had. That day I went to my eldest sister's house, where your mother was drinking tea with my eldest sister, and it happened that my eldest brother-in-law sent some precious stones and beads to my eldest sister. The eldest sister insisted that I pick a good one, but I didn't want to, so stiff there. Your mother came out and said that although the beads were small, they would look good if they could be made into a row of hairpins. She volunteered to help me make it, and I have been wearing it ever since, and your mother has often come to me. ”

An Ying handed back the hairpin and said: "It turns out that there are so many things about my mother that I don't know, there used to be a bead shop at home, but then my mother went, and no one took care of it, so my father closed it." ”

Mrs. Shen nodded and said, "I know that. At that time, I also went to your shop to see it, and it was a thought to think about whether I could take it down. Later, your father said that there was no supply, and your mother said that she had gone back to Mindi. ”

An Ying nodded, "That's true." Originally, the two grandmothers were both sick, and they wanted to go back to Mindi and return to their roots. My father also understood that it was not easy for them, and when we were all older, my father agreed. ”

"Originally, when I heard the news, I was very unhappy, how old were you at that time, and you were still sick later, and your father sent someone to find me, and I helped find a doctor, and then you gradually got better, and you also supported the shop. I thought about inviting your father to bring you over for dinner this year and recognize people, but I didn't expect that we would know each other under such circumstances. Mrs. Shen said, taking a sip of tea.

An Ying was stunned, it turned out that she and Mrs. Shen still had such a relationship, thinking that such a thing, my father never mentioned it, it was really strange. When Mrs. Shen said this, An Ying immediately returned: "My father never talked to me, I think there have been a lot of things in the family in the past few years, and I haven't had time yet." I will definitely bring my younger siblings to visit in the future. ”

Mrs. Shen smiled, a little maid outside the door raised the door curtain, and when she saw An Ying sitting very hesitantly, Mrs. Shen motioned to her, and the little maid hurriedly said, "Madam, the second master and the old lady are here." In the front hall, the shopkeeper said to let you go over. ”

Mrs. Shen smiled, put down the tea bowl, and said, "Miss Anjia, I still have some things to do, so I won't keep you." When it comes to the banquet, you still have to prepare in your heart. Fireworks, you take Miss Ann out the back door. ”

The fireworks took An Ying out of the east corner door of the back room, and on the way, I vaguely heard crying from the front. An Ying looked at the fireworks' anxious face and asked, "Did something happen to Mrs. Shen?" In front of it is the flower hall of the tea house, so it can affect business. ”

The fireworks are a half-sized girl, and she looks about the same size as An Ying, and when she saw Miss An asking, she crackled and said, "But isn't it, the old lady and the second master are here to splash and roll again." A few days ago, they asked for money, but today they said that it was the lady's fault that the lord was shut down in the yamen, and they wanted to divide the family property, but they didn't even want to be cheeky. If they make such a fuss, we can't do the business of this teahouse, you say that you are not angry. ”

An Ying nodded, and wanted to say a few words, but the fireworks ran back when they reached the door.