Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-Two

The drought continued, and the business of Saixiantang was not doing well. The first is that taxes have doubled.The Nanjing National Government's "Amendments to the No-Smoking Regulations" is based on the prohibition, and the "Shaanxi No-Smoking Measures" promulgated in the same year is to take advantage of the opportunity to make money. Anyone who operates a smoking hall is required to pay operating expenses, license fees, smoking cessation fees, smoking gun donations, and cigarette lamps. Donations are doubled. The second is that the source of customers has decreased.Ordinarily, eating cigarettes has nothing to do with the weather. The addicted to cigarettes has a very stubborn temper. It doesn't care about drought or flood, and it will come when it comes, and you have to serve it when it comes.But these are rich people, and rich people treat smoking addiction like a master.People without money are different, he has to save his life first.If you don't smoke, you will feel uncomfortable, even uncomfortable, but you won't be dead, right?Compared with smoking addiction, hunger is fatal.If he had money in hand, he would definitely buy food, so how could he care about smoking?It is common sense that there are fewer smokers when there is a drought.

The cost rises and the source of customers decreases. In order to make a profit, the tobacco hall has to raise the price of cigarettes.This price increase will make more people unable to afford cigarettes, and the source of customers will be even fewer.It's a vicious cycle. To attract customers, it is best not to raise prices.In order not to raise the price, Zhou Baogen and his father could only make a fuss about the smoke cream.To make a fuss is to cheat, and to mix soot into the smoke cream.However, it is easy to recognize the adulterated tobacco ointment, because the natural color of the tobacco ointment is black, and the soot is white. No matter how these two things are mixed together, they cannot be mixed evenly, and there are always pits.They gave this kind of smoke paste a nice name called Fengchuoxue, and fooled the smokers into saying that it was fired by special techniques.

The name sounds good but the strength is not very good. People who smoke think that the taste is bland, so they will not come next time.The Zhou family's father and son's cleverness not only failed to keep the tenants, but also earned them a bad name of bullying, and it seemed that Saixiantang could not survive. One day, Zhou Baogen and his son were worrying in the smokehouse when a smoker suddenly came in.The father and son hurried up to greet him, the guest at this juncture was the God of Wealth, who was closer than his parents.In the past, when the business was good, it was the buddies who greeted the customers. Now that the business is slow, the father and son have to win over the customers.As soon as the guest was seated, they realized that he was blind, but the strange thing was that it didn't bother him at all to climb the steps, cross the threshold, or find a seat. If he hadn't rolled his eyes, you wouldn't have noticed that he was blind.

It doesn't matter if he is blind or not, as long as he has money.The man waited for him to lie down on the cigarette couch, first gave him a lump of wind and snow, and after he took a sip, he sat up and yelled, "What kind of cigarettes are you giving me? I can't see it when you bully me?"Bring your cigarettes!The buddy said carefully, the price of good cigarettes is high. Are you afraid that I have no money?The blind man stared, revealing the white shadows in his eyes, which was frightening.The clerk glanced at Zhou Baogen, and Zhou Baogen nodded, motioning him to serve him with a cigarette.He didn't think this person was very good-looking, and he was quite elegant in his clothes. He had a long robe and mandarin jacket, leather shoes and a top hat. He might be a rich man.Besides, as long as you eat cigarettes, you have to pay. Are so many of us afraid of a blind man eating Bawang cigarettes?

Zhou Baogen didn't expect that he would actually run into someone who eats Bawang cigarettes.The blind man stretched himself comfortably and asked how much it was, and Zhou Baogen asked the clerk to report the price for the cigarettes. This was a happy amount for him, and he hadn't had such a good income for many days.But the man said, I have no money. Hey!A blind man even came to him to eat Bawang cigarettes, what kind of world is this!The masters of the Tobacco Bureau come to eat, the military masters of the garrison come to eat, the managers of the chamber of commerce come to eat, and the underworld people come to eat, that's all, and now even a blind man is bullying me.

You eat your mother's cunt without money!Zhou Baogen scolded. Keep your mouth clean!The blind man shouted, just because I don't have money doesn't mean I don't pay. Then stop talking nonsense and pay for it, Zhou Baogen said. The blind man smiled and said, I eat with my mouth, and my mouth is money. Can you spit out money with your mouth open?Zhou Baogen said, then you vomit to me now! The blind man said, what I vomited was something worth more than money, it was a secret! This man looked like a liar.Zhou Baogen scolded, I think you vomit shit, your mouth is twitching!As he spoke, he raised his hand to slap her.

Zhou Shuancheng held his son back.He was afraid that his son would get into trouble, and the blind man would play tricks. Maybe there was something behind him, and anything could happen in this year.The guy who died in the store last time was a lesson, if it wasn't for Zhou Lide, he would be in big trouble.Zhou Shuancheng asked, this smoker, you said that you eat with your mouth, but I didn't understand. What do you do? Can't even understand this?The blind man curled his lips and said, fortune telling! A fortune-teller can't eat for nothing, Zhou Shuancheng said, you mean you pay for cigarettes with the fortune-telling money, but you have to ask us if we want your fortune-telling.

Let me tell you, the blind man said, if I hadn’t passed by you today and was forced by smoke, I wouldn’t have come if you invited me.You go and ask, who among the rich people in Xifu doesn't want to ask me, Gou Tiezui, to tell a fortune teller?Even if you have money, you may not be able to please! Are you Gou Tiezui?Zhou Shuancheng had heard of this man, and he was very famous. It is said that Feng Yuxiang even asked him to do fortune-telling.Feng Yuxiang was going to compete with Chiang Kai-shek, and let Gou Tiezui count the winner, and Gou Tiezui said that Commander-in-Chief Feng won.Feng Yuxiang asked why, and Gou Tiezui said, the left side of the character "Feng" is water, and the character "Jiang" is grass on the top. Without water plants, you can't live; , Once the horse lies down in the trough, it will be trapped to death.Feng Yuxiang was very happy and gave him a waist card with four large characters written on it: Northwest Divine Fortune Teller, saying that if you use this to walk in the Northwest, no one will dare to stop you.

Zhou Shuancheng asked, where is your badge?The man groped around his waist for a while, and took out a piece of wood that was one shovel long and four fingers wide, with four words engraved on it: Northwest Divine Fortune Teller.Zhou Shuancheng was a little disappointed when he saw this. The wooden plaque didn’t seem to be on the table at all. The things that Commander Feng bestowed were either gold or silver. At worst, they should be copper. They couldn’t be made of wood!The play was staged, the emperor gave gold badges, and the prince gave silver badges. Commander-in-Chief Feng is President Sun's right-hand man, at least he is worthy of a prince. He is not afraid of losing his status when he gives people wooden badges?Zhou Shuancheng suspected that this person was impersonating Gou Tiezui. Anyway, Gou Tiezui's story was spread everywhere, and anyone could imitate it.But he didn't say it directly, but asked tactfully, do you have any money with such a great reputation?What this means is that Gou Tiezui will not be reduced to this level, and it is not Gou Tiezui who has reached this level.

The blind man asked back, do I still have money with me? Zhou Shuancheng thought the same thing, if he was really stubborn, he would be able to get money with his mouth.But the problem is that Zhou Shuancheng has never met Gou Tiezui, so he can't tell whether this person is Gou Tiezui. The blind man also guessed what Zhou Shuancheng was thinking.He said, how about this, I'll do a fortune teller for you, and you'll know if I'm Gou Tiezui or not. Zhou Shuancheng asked, what is the calculation? The man said, Gou Tiezui fortune-telling is to measure characters.You only need to say a word, and I can reveal your secret.

After hearing this, Zhou Shuancheng felt that this was really like Gou Tiezui, who was testing Feng Yuxiang's characters.Just as he was about to speak, the blind man spoke again. Don't ask me to guess your name, your name, your age, and these trivial matters. I'll be sure about these things, but you won't believe me. I have inquired about it. Zhou Baogen became impatient. This guy was blushing on the left and folded on the right. He was bluffing. At first glance, he was not a serious hexagram master. He roared: Get out! Okay, said the blind man, let's measure the word "roll (roll)".On the right side of the word "roll (roll)" is a person whose clothes have been stripped off, his hands are fumbling with his chest, and his mouth is still sucking. After doing this, the water on the left is sprayed out.This word refers to the things on the kang, the things you do, young master, right? Zhou Baogen was taken aback, ah!He almost cried out.In order to prevent the blind man from continuing, he nodded quickly, yes.A few days ago, when the village was praying for rain, his father sent him to hide in the smokehouse, and he took the opportunity to visit the kiln.No one knows about this, how can the blind man come out? Seeing his son's expression, Zhou Shuancheng knew that the blind man had hit the mark.Although he still doesn't know what happened on the kang, it must be a secret in his son's heart.Zhou Shuancheng also decided to give it a try, and he said the word "smoke" by the way.Zhou Shuancheng runs a tobacco shop, and this blind man eats cigarettes, and "smoke" is the word on his lips. The blind man said that the word "smoke (smoke)" is very particular, and when taken apart, there are three characters: "fire", "west", and "earth", "fire" and "earth" are stoves, "west" is the direction, and when combined it is Refers to the west side of the pot and stove, and the "west" is above the "soil", which means the top of the west wall of the pot and stove... Ah, ah, Zhou Shuancheng hurriedly interrupted the blind man, saying that he has learned his lesson. Zhou Baogen looked at his father suspiciously.Zhou Shuan thought to himself, trouble, Lu Bao.He hid a pot of silver coins in the wall of the west wall of the stove, which was carried behind his son's back.He knew that his son was unreliable, and the old couple had to have some private money to support them.Only he and his wife know about this, the blind man is amazing! At this time, Zhou Baogen and his son believed that this man was Gou Tiezui.Zhou Baogen hurriedly apologized to the blind man, and Zhou Shuancheng offered tea to the blind man.Gou Tiezui said that the two hexagrams just now were for the purpose of verifying his integrity, and it was free.The next calculation is the top cigarette money, let's talk, it's still a word test. Zhou Shuancheng just brought tea at this time, so he said the word "tea", and asked Gou Tiezui to figure out whether his smokehouse could still be opened. Gou Tiezui said that the word "tea" is divided into "grass", "human" and "wood", and "human" and "wood" are combined into "Xiu". From the looks of it, this smokehouse cannot be opened.Furthermore, the term "caoxiu" means "dried grass". If there is a drought, you should not open a tobacco shop. As soon as Zhou Shuancheng heard the truth, judging from the current situation, the smokehouse was indeed unsustainable, and he had sworn in front of the Dragon Lord that he would close the smokehouse. Zhou Shuancheng said another word "drought", and asked Gou Tiezui when the severe drought would stop. Gou Tiezui said, your hexagram is a good question.Now people are worried about this matter, only your brother is lucky to meet me.If you want to ask when the drought will stop, you have to ask when the drought will be overthrown.The word "drought" is reversed, that is, "soil" on the top and "sun" on the bottom, and the moon rises when the "sun" falls on the "soil", and the combination of "soil" and "month" is November.Judging from the hexagrams, the severe drought will last for eleven months. It has been six months now, and it will end in five months. Both hexagrams were formed by Zhou Shuan, and Zhou Baogen was in a hurry, so he didn't even count one of them.But just as he was about to speak, the blind man said, don't ask again, these two hexagrams are big hexagrams, and the hexagram money is more than enough to cover cigarette money.After finishing speaking, he rolled his eyes, raised his legs and left the smokehouse.Zhou Baogen was so angry that he gouged out his father's eyes, this old guy is too greedy, he takes care of everything by himself. Zhou Shuancheng closed the opium den, which was beyond the expectations of many people. Even Zhou Kewen looked at his brother with admiration, thinking that he kept what he said, and he was no longer ungrateful for profit.In fact, none of them have seen through Zhou Shuancheng. Zhou Shuancheng's Guanyan Hall is nominally to fulfill the promise to the Dragon Lord, but in fact it is to concentrate financial resources to start a new business.This business is much better than opening a tobacco shop, and it has a good reputation for big profits. What kind of business is this? land business. At this time, the land price is cheap.The severe drought continued, no crops could grow in the fields, and families with no surplus food were about to be wiped out. Many people had to sell their land to buy food.Seeing this was an opportunity, Zhou Shuancheng decided to take the opportunity to eat the land.He felt that all his life he was worse than his brother in terms of land, and he had been secretly trying to surpass his brother and become the number one landlord in Zhoujiazhai.The reason why his brother is arrogant in Zhoujiazhai is because he has a lot of land.Farmers, where there is land, there is life, where there is land, there is money, and where there is land, there is courage!Now the opportunity has come, and this opportunity belongs only to him. Why do you say that?Because only Zhou Shuancheng knows when the weather will be dry, and when is the right time to make a move.It won't work if it's too early, the land price hasn't dropped to the right level yet, and it won't work if it's too late, as long as it rains, the land price will rise immediately.Zhou Shuancheng chose the first month of the eighteenth year, which was not far from the rainy day that Gou Tiezui had determined, and at the same time had relatively plenty of time to complete a series of transactions.In the next month or so, Zhou Shuancheng bought the land with great fanfare. As long as the land price is right, he will receive all the land in his own name, regardless of whether it is in the village or outside the village, whether it is water or dry land. At this time Zhou Kewen couldn't sit still anymore, he decided that his brother was courting death.With such a severe drought, food is the most precious thing. Others are saving food, but he is saving land. If the land does not grow crops, it is waste. You buy it to eat soil!If you have money, you can buy food. This is the right thing. Who knows when the drought will last. In the future, even if you have money, you will not be able to buy food.Zhou Kewen felt it necessary to remind his brother, after all, they are brothers.Besides, there are other people in that family besides Zhou Shuancheng. He is not afraid of starving to death, but others.He knew that his brother didn't want to see him, but he still wanted to say it. He felt that it was his brother's responsibility. As for whether he would listen or not, that was up to others. Zhou Shuan did not listen.He said, don't always think that we are a family, we have separated long ago.What Zhou Shuancheng said meant something, and Zhou Kewen could hear it.Zhou Shuancheng continued, just take care of your home and don't worry about it.Don't worry, even if I'm a beggar, I won't come to your door to beg for food! Zhou Shuancheng knew his brother's intentions.He knew this person too well. His brother was obviously concerned about him, but secretly he was afraid that he would surpass him.It is true that at this time everyone is selling land, but not buying land. Because of this, land prices have fallen again and again, falling to only 20 to 30 percent of what they are in normal years.Isn't this a good opportunity to reclaim land?He is short on food. His brother is right. He grows cigarettes in the first place. He usually only leaves a small amount of ration land. The food he grows is enough for the year, and there is no surplus food at all.Now that the drought lasts for so long, the food will run out soon.But he is not afraid, Gou Tiezui has calculated that the drought will end soon, and the price of grain will definitely drop by then, so it will not be too late to buy again.But at that time, the price of land rose, and as soon as it rained, the land became a treasure, and you couldn't afford to buy it even if you wanted to.His brother didn't know this level, and thought he was smart!But he will not tell his brother this secret, not to anyone! Zhou Shuancheng now has money in hand.He made some money by opening a tobacco shop, and sold the remaining tobacco paste for a high price.Now the price of cigarettes is going up because of the ban on smoking and the drought.He also took out the silver coins hidden in the stove. Firstly, he needed money right now, and secondly, he knew that the money could not be hidden, and his son was already suspicious.Instead of letting his son dig it up secretly, it is better to take it out and do business in a fair manner.Zhou Shuancheng invested all his belongings in the land. He knew that this was a godsend opportunity and he should not miss it! From the first month to the second month, Zhou Shuancheng bought more than 300 mu of land, plus the original 200 mu, he suddenly became the number one household in Zhoujiazhai.Zhou Shuancheng was happy, with so much land in his hands, he overwhelmed his brother and let out a bad breath.If he doesn't keep it and sell it after the drought is over, he will make a lot of money.Buying low and selling high is such a cost-effective business, and this business can only be done by him, and no one else can think of it. On February 2nd, the dragon raises its head. This is a small festival in Guanzhong. Zhou Shuancheng wants to play social fire on this day.Everyone thought that Zhou Shuancheng was crazy, and this festival is usually not played, not to mention that this year's drought is raging, and people have no intention of celebrating the festival.His wife scolded him, what kind of onion are you?That's the patriarch's business, I think you are burned by money! Zhou Shuancheng said proudly, I was burned by money, what's the matter!Zhou Shuancheng's playing social fire has two meanings. First, of course it is to show off himself. Everyone is worried to death in the face of severe drought, but Zhou Shuancheng is the only one who is in the mood to have fun.More importantly, secondly, he wanted to try what it was like to be a patriarch.In the past, such public activities were presided over by the patriarch, this time he will bypass his brother to preside over it once.He thought to himself, if being the patriarch is based on having more land, then he will soon be on the throne.However, the replacement of the patriarch still needs to be discussed by the whole clan. Now people are panicking, and no one cares about it.He can't wait any longer, he wants to enjoy the glory of being a master in advance.Of course, this is not only to satisfy his vanity, but also to test his ability. He has to see if he can handle a big event neatly.His elder brother is an expert in this kind of thing, he commands with certainty, just like a general commanding thousands of troops, this is how people's prestige is established. Zhou Shuancheng didn't go to Zhou Kewen, he knew he would disagree.The reasons are ready-made, one is that there is no precedent for playing social fire on February 2, and the other is that he is not qualified to preside over such a thing.He simply didn't look for it and did it himself.If you do it yourself, you have to spend your own money. His wife was so surprised that her eyeballs almost fell out.She said, you have to cook all the rice you can get, and playing social fire is everyone's business, are you willing to spend money? Zhou Shuancheng said, if there is powder, let's put it on the face. Your woman has long hair and short knowledge, so you have to be willing to spend the money that should be spent!In fact, he knew that it would not cost a lot of money, and the outfits for social fire were ready-made, as long as someone played it.Now at this juncture, you only need to promise to give the people who play the social fire a full meal, and they will rush to come. The key is the reason for playing social fire.I haven't played it before, so why play it now?Zhou Shuancheng's reason is very good: on February 2nd, the dragon raises its head, playing for the Dragon Lord, if it wants to rain, it has to entertain the gods.The meaning behind this is very clear. The last time it was the dragon dance to pray for rain, hosted by Zhou Kewen, the Dragon Lord didn’t give him face and didn’t ask for a drop of rain. This time I’m playing the fire to pray for rain. Let’s see what I do.Zhou Shuancheng's move was very powerful. If he begged for rain this time, he would become a saint in Zhou's village, and his brother would have to stand aside.The question is, is he sure about asking for rain?Zhou Shuancheng is full of confidence.Hasn't Gou Tiezui already figured it out?There will be rain in about a month, so he just needs to take the opportunity to speak for God. Zhou Shuancheng's Shehuo played with might and power, and its momentum far surpassed the previous Blood Shehuo.What is different from the past is that this time Zhou Shuancheng plays the Shehuo himself. He rides on a tall horse and plays the role of Zhuge Liang with a feather fan and a scarf.He was waving the goose feather fan, waving the Seven Star Sword, and wheezing for a while, then suddenly he blew his beard and stared, and shouted loudly: March 3rd, it's raining down the mountain!Those who watched all understood that this was a seance from the gods, and Zhuge Liang's god had possessed Zhou Shuancheng.Zhou Shuancheng's pretentious appearance was learned from operas, and he is very familiar with the passages of Zhuge Liang's "Sacrifice of Lanterns". On March 3rd, when the rain fell, everyone repeated this sentence. This is God's prophecy.However, people in Zhoujiazhai don't believe in God much anymore.God has broken their hearts after praying for rain last time.How many good things did they offer to the gods that time, even their lives were sacrificed, and the gods were not tempted. This time, just relying on Zhou Shuancheng's social fires to run around and make troubles, he will be merciful?How can there be such a cheap thing! Zhou Shuancheng knew that the Zhoujiazhai people didn't believe him, and he didn't want them to believe him now.If they really believed it, wouldn't they have seen through the secret?Then can he still continue his business of buying low and selling high?It was precisely because of this that he could not tell them Gou Tiezui's hexagrams.What he wants is their verification, surprise, and admiration when the time comes. When the Shehuo team came to the door of Zhou Kewen's house, Zhou Shuancheng saw his brother and his wife watching the fun at the door.He slowed down his horse's pace, took a sharp breath, hoisted his voice, and suddenly sang Qin opera: Zhou Shuancheng compared himself to Zhuge Kongming and was proud of his resourcefulness.Not only did he play social fire, but even the people in Zhoujiazhai. Isn't his brother self-confident and shrewd?Don't you also look up at him stupidly under the horse now? Seeing Zhou Shuancheng's triumphant look, Zhou Liang suddenly remembered the scene of making a full moon for his grandson the year before last.At that time, Zhou Kewen sang Bao Gong on horseback, and people from all walks of life applauded the old man.She abducted Zhou Kewen and said, look at your brother, he is learning from you.Zhou Kewen curled his lips and said, what kind of momentum am I, and what kind of momentum is he?A person's confidence is not faked.Even if he squeezed out a crotch of shit, he wouldn't be able to imitate it!