Chapter 11 eleven

Li Guiying guessed that her own shop was also busy, but she didn't guess that the clerks in her shop couldn't enjoy the "relaxed happiness" of eating slowly at this time. From half past four in the afternoon, her shop was full of creditors of all kinds.At half past five, the owner of the store, Li Huikang, flew back to the store like a big black bird, opening the front of his overcoat, and a lively scene began. Immediately, there were two men and a woman who rushed forward and surrounded Li Huikang. That woman is the proprietress of Baofanzuo——although she is the proprietress of Baofanzuo, she is not fat; she unceremoniously grabbed Li Huikang's coat sleeve, and talked a lot about each other. The man couldn't get a word in.

Li Huikang responded with "um... hey", but his eyes were looking at a corner on the right back of the shop.When Li Huikang left the store, there was a man wearing a fake otter hat sitting in the corner—he was also the one who told the news that Tang Zijia had returned, and he was the most cunning bill collector; but Now the corner is empty.Li Huikang could see it clearly, so he let out a long breath, and at the same time, a few words of the hurried and fast speech of the lady who provided meals for the boss were accepted by his ears. "Cough—heh! You are a small business! No!—" Li Huikang seemed to agree, turned around in a hurry, and brushed off the hand of the boss who was holding his coat sleeve. .However, it seemed that he had suddenly realized that such a "dumb answer" would not satisfy the proprietress of Baopan, so he turned around again and said solemnly: "Hey! Yours is a decimal after all, so you're not busy. not busy!"

"Then, let me take it. Our capital is small!" As an exception, the proprietress Baofan only said two sentences this time, but these two sentences are much more powerful than a long article. "Well, well—" Li Huikang responded casually, and reached into his coat pocket to feel; he really felt a lot, but it was not a banknote, but a bill,—a lot!The representative's money was enough to pay for a whole year's work, but it was a pity that it was in the hands of others and refused to return it to him.At this time, one of the two men, a black-faced and bearded man, couldn't stand it any longer, and said loudly:

"Hey! Boss Li! I've been waiting for you for almost an hour. How are you doing?" "Hehe, I'm sorry! Mr. Zhang, yours, yours, it's ready here!" Li Huikang replied in a panic, and greeted the cashier with a "Hello".But there was no one at the counter.Mr. Lu, who was in charge of the account, was talking with two people in the back corner of the store. Needless to say, these two people also came to collect debts, but Li Huikang felt unfamiliar. The proprietress who provided the meals was approaching again, and Li Huikang seemed afraid that she would hold her back by her sleeves again, so she ran to the checkout counter, opened a drawer of the checkout box, and dumped all the odd cash in the drawer with a bang. He fell on the accounting table, and while counting, he tilted his head and shouted to Mr. Lu, who was in charge of the account: "Hey, brother Yushan! Twenty yuan has been paid in the account box,—the food account!" He checked it out. Three five-yuan bills and five one-yuan banknotes were about to be handed over to the woman who was approaching, but she had already heard that there were only twenty bills, so she shook her hands and said:

"Why is there only twenty yuan! Mr. Lu was willing to pay twenty-five just now! After waiting for you for a long time, five yuan is missing! Hehe! How strange! Twenty yuan? Half of it hasn't arrived yet!" Only now did Li Huikang seem to remember that when he just came back, the proprietress who took the meal package grabbed his sleeve and said in a long story, there seemed to be several "twenty-five" long "twenty-five" "Short; he smiled wryly, and without saying a word, he checked five more change notes, added them to twenty yuan, and put them on the corner of the cash desk.

The proprietress who made the rice package refused to take it; she turned her head, and it seemed that another big "speech" was coming.Li Huikang hurriedly waved his hand to stop her and said: "Okay! Okay! I'll pay you some more tomorrow, isn't it the same? ——The food has been getting worse and worse recently, so it should be deducted from you." Li Huikang suddenly said that "the food is too bad", as if he wanted to say that the reason why he owed more than 100 yuan for the rice package was not because of financial constraints.According to Li Huikang's "Commercial Customs Law", this arrears should be ignored "correspondingly".This is still the amount owed before the Mid-Autumn Festival, which can be said to be "bad debt".As for after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Huikang can confidently say that he does not owe a single day—he deals in cash every day, no, he simply pays in advance!Because during the big negotiation period of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the boss of Baofan made a verbal statement: If you don’t bring the food money for the next day when you come to collect the dishes every night, then if you can’t get a meal the next day, you have to ask Li Huikang "don't blame".However, after this kind of "pay first, eat later" practice, the daily meals are getting worse and worse. Not only do the guys have to "gossip" every meal, but even Li Huikang thinks it is too unseemly; "Bad debt", he deducted bits and pieces from his daily meals.

Things are like this, seemingly uncomplicated but really complicated, so when Li Huikang said "the food is too bad", he honestly thought this way in his heart: "Oh! This account, you have deducted enough bits and pieces Now, why do you still want to discuss it as a matter!" However, it is another kind of plan on the mind of the proprietress to pack rice.After hearing Li Huikang's words, she immediately had blue veins all over her forehead, and argued fiercely: "Mr. Li! Let's make it clear! Why is it 'should be deducted as well'? Mr. Li..." "Hey—hey!" Suddenly the black-faced bearded "Guest Zhang" stepped forward and stood between the proprietress Baofanzuo and Li Huikang, "Boss Li! Please hurry up!" The proprietress Baofanzuo continued Li Huikang didn't get anything from what he said.

At the same time, the other man also frowned and coughed loudly a few times in a demonstration. However, the proprietress of the rice cooker had already copied the black face and beard, and stood in front of Li Huikang again, with her hands on her waist, and she was already in the posture of giving another big "speech". Li Huikang was so frightened that his head swelled, and he picked up another five-yuan bill, together with the twenty-five yuan, and quickly stuffed it into the hand of the lady who made the meal, and said loudly: "Is this good? Is this good? Really!"

On the one hand, he put all the remaining money on the account table back into the drawer, but he replied to the black-faced bearded man: "I'm sorry! ——Hey, Guest Zhang, I'm sorry!... Oh! Brother Shuqing, I still want to invite you Wait!" The last sentence was said to the man coughing and protesting across the counter. The proprietress counted the banknotes and finally left, still looking unwilling. "It's thirty yuan!" Li Huikang solemnly added a sentence, and he was relieved. "Not bad!"—the answering voice was already outside the counter without looking back.At this moment, beside the square-shaped counter, there are four employees and three apprentices' "posts" lined up evenly, all leaning their upper bodies on the counter, looking at the deserted street.Li Huikang also stared blankly at the backs of the seven "posts" for a few seconds, and then shouted in a panic as if he suddenly came to his senses: "Oh, Ah Si! Pour some tea! Where are the cigarettes?"

"It doesn't matter! We've all gone through it! But—Boss Li, please hurry up!" The black-faced and bearded customer Zhang said with a dry smile, and turned to look at the darkening sky outside the shop. With a low sigh, Li Huikang opened another drawer on the accounting box, took out a key, and opened a drawer of the accounting desk, from which he took out an old-fashioned cowhide "book guard" handed down from his ancestors. , took out two sheets of paper in one grid, looked at them, and put in another sheet, then turned around and said with a smile to the black-faced bearded man:

"Guest Zhang! It's all about being tolerant! In fact, our store's account can't be accepted." The guest took the paper and looked at it, then said to himself: "Oh! Yufeng's ticket." "Yes! It happens to be due tomorrow. Three hundred and fifty dollars!" "Isn't this just over 40%? It's hard for brothers to explain when they go back!" "Ah! I have to ask you to take care of me today. Mr. Zhang! There are quite a few people in the city who have deals with your place. Ah, your Excellency will naturally understand that which one can pay the full amount." "However, it's not even 60%, brothers can't pay their bills when they go back!" "Haha, then the difference is not too much! Well, Mr. Zhang, to be honest, if the wool sweaters and camel hair scarves from your factory are not 'welcome' in the market, then I can't even raise the three hundred and fifty yuan." Come out! My store and your factory are still new this year, but, Mr. Zhang, you go and ask, brother's 'credit' has never been bad! Money is really tight this year! Huh! Look, how many accounts!" As he spoke, Li Huikang took out a stack of papers from his coat pocket, and wanted to "take a look" at the black-faced bearded man. "Hey——" the black-faced bearded man didn't want to take care of Li Huikang's "accounts", but his expression seemed to be accommodating. "Ah! Hui Weng!—" Suddenly, Mr. Lu, the account manager who accompanied the guests, called over.The two guests must have been waiting impatiently, and Mr. Lu's "handling" must have not satisfied them. Li Huikang immediately patted the guest on Zhang's shoulder very refreshedly and said: "Brother Zhang, you still have a few days of delay. In a few days, brother will definitely make up 60% according to the order. Brother Zhang can't do it today. In a day or two, brother Zhang will have to show his face." "You're welcome! Then, shall I come back the day after tomorrow?" said the black-faced and bearded man as he walked. "Don't dare to trouble me! It's better for brothers to visit Brother Zhang's hotel for lunch." Li Huikang also said "politely", and when he arrived at the door of the store, he quickly turned around and ran to the front of the reception desk. There are two chairs facing outwards and a coffee table, and the so-called "Brother Shuqing" sits. In one, a teacup is held in hand.Li Huikang sat in the empty chair and said earnestly: "Brother Shuqing, we've been doing business for a long time, and we both know the details. I won't talk nonsense. The honor is more than six hundred,—this one," he took out a folder from the inside pocket of his coat. , "Please take it for a while. ——Hey, cash can't be raised." What Li Huikang found out turned out to be the one thousand yuan deposit at Lida Pawnshop.Li Huikang couldn't pay the cash, so he said that he should take something as a guarantee first, and then prepare the money for redemption after the new year: ——This was originally the result of "Brother Shuqing"'s negotiation yesterday, and it was because "Brother Shuqing" was vague He acquiesced; but he didn't expect that the so-called "guarantee" was actually a discount on the passbook of Lida Pawnshop.He didn't even look at the number of deposits on the booklet, so he immediately pushed the booklet back into Li Huikang's hands, and said with a dry smile: "Brother Huikang! You are just kidding me!" "Oh——that, that!...Brother Shuqing! The number on the booklet is one thousand!" dry laugh. "But Tang Zijia agreed to pay it back,—well, 40%! Besides, there are rumors of a creditor group. Let's fight,——60% is stable, stable!" "This is your wishful thinking! Tang's second child has collapsed! No one in the city knows!" That "Brother Shuqing" said in a high-spirited manner, and now he doesn't even have a dry laugh. Li Huikang had nothing to answer for the time being.It was an "old deal" and "both of them knew the details", but it was actually more difficult to deal with than the "new deal", but this was out of Li Huikang's surprise.Originally, since it was an "old transaction", the previous ones would inevitably be in arrears, and the scope of "credit" was getting smaller and smaller, so Li Huikang's policy this year was to take the road of "new work", such as the "new deal" that he went to just now. Guest Zhang", and the two perfunctory ones accompanied by Mr. Lu over there. "Brother Huikang, the way you said yesterday, I also reluctantly accommodated it for the sake of many years of old customers; how did you know that you took out Lida's passbook today to prevaricate, is it because you, Li Huikang, are too sorry for me, Dai Shuqing?" Li Huikang still had nothing to answer, but was sweating profusely; he said in good conscience that he could not believe that "Tang's second child has collapsed", but he had to admit in good conscience that his passbook could not guarantee six hundred yuan. dollar debt. "Even if you pay 60% to 70% first, and wait for the rest after the New Year, that's still like a sentence." Dai Shuqing said angrily again; these words seemed to relax, but in fact they were a step closer. Sixty to seventy percent?This is a bargain, and of course there is a bargain.Count it as forty percent?Forty percent of the more than six hundred yuan is only more than two hundred. There is also a sight banker's note hidden in the ancestral cowhide "protection book" in the account table, which is more than enough to pay Dai Shuqing; However, Li Huikang wanted to keep it for the two "guests" who were "newly made", and he couldn't give it away indiscriminately. "Brother Huikang! What's going on? Please take care of me!" Dai Shuqing chased him for the third time, and added a sneer.Even the two "guests" over there could hear it, and they all looked this way in surprise.Li Huikang sighed and had to call out his last "magic weapon". This is the "guarantee" he obtained from Tang Zijia's second boss - two house deeds - by means of a rascal. He bent his hands with difficulty to dig out a wallet from the pocket of his leather robe, and his hands were shaking a little; his high cheekbones were tinged with ocher, but his lips turned pale. Dai Shuqing deliberately didn't turn his face away. "Mm, um, brother Shuqing, if you want to be picky again - I, even the shop and the people, do whatever you want!" Li Huikang said out of breath.Dai Shuqing turned his face unwillingly, and it happened that Li Huikang handed him the two house deeds.He picked it up and glanced at it casually, but before he could speak, Mr. Lu, the account manager who was accompanying the guests over there, had already walked up to him and whispered something into Li Huikang's ear. Li Huikang immediately stood up, and said again as if clenching his teeth, "It's up to you—Brother Shuqing!" He walked over there with Mr. Lu. Dai Shuqing spread out the two pieces of paper and looked at them carefully.At this time the lights also came on.Mr. Lu walked up to Dai Shuqing and seemed to be planning to speak. Dai Shuqing raised his head, smiled at Mr. Lu, slowly folded the two deeds, and said: "I can't be the master either. ——Well, the guarantee of two market houses in the city,... Hey! Mr. Lu, I'll take these two deeds back and ask the owner! As long as the owner agrees, what should I do?— —Ah, Mr. Lu, right?" "Hey! Your uncle understands, understands; all battles, all battles!" Mr. Lu replied as if struggling, and smiled as if struggling. Dai Shuqing actually left.Mr. Lu sent it straight to the street.When he came back into the store, Mr. Lu saw the old steward sitting on a soap box next to a glass box displaying cheap cosmetics for women outside the counter, tapping the corner of the box with a pipe, While reporting the "news" in the city to two or three guys at the counter: "What a market! Once the bank is down, there are two families!... I came back just now and walked past the door of Shengfa Grocery Store, hey! The cashiers are all crowded to the door! Wow, wow, it's more lively than a show! No matter how big the shop is, it will be overwhelmed!..." Mr. Lu stopped immediately, and was about to ask the old secretary which two banks it was, when he suddenly heard Li Huikang calling him anxiously from the cashier inside.At the same time, one of the two guests, wearing glasses, was gesticulating and yelling,—— But I couldn't hear what he said. "...There is no such way! Hey, Boss Li, there is no such way! Here, the promissory note for seven hundred yuan must be paid in cash!" When Mr. Lu approached, he heard the guest wearing glasses say this. The other guest, with a square face in purple color, saw Mr. Lu approaching, so he grabbed Mr. Lu's arm. "Hey, Lu Yuweng, just now your Excellency begged repeatedly, saying that the treasure store can't afford to collect the account, so we can only pay a round number - one thousand yuan first, and the rest will be delayed for the New Year: We reluctantly agreed. Unexpectedly, Boss Li has two bills. , only 300 yuan is at sight, and the other is a promissory note at the end of February next year——this, this, how can we accommodate it?" "Hey, please listen to me: my promissory note was also paid to me by others..." Li Huikang couldn't find any color on his face, his fingers trembled even more, and he mechanically pressed the two bank notes on the accounting table: one belonged to Yufeng, and the other belonged to Taichang.These two cards only came into his hands this morning, and it took a lot of talking, even begging, to get into his hands. "Really, really Li Huiweng can't figure it out!" Mr. Lu also said anxiously, moving his eyes from the purple-colored square-faced guest to the face wearing glasses. "The shop is very flattering to you two. The person surnamed Dai just now has an account in this street—this street, so I had no choice but not to embellish it. The market is really too bad, and the account released is less than half of it. I can't afford it either." "Hey, please take a look—" Li Huikang took out the stack of bills again. The "guest" with a square purple face actually opened the bill and took a few glances at it.He knew the bill was not fake.In the past two years, no one would have believed that a shop could not pass the New Year's Eve since it still had so much business; but now almost every family is like this.This is also very clear to the "guest" with a square purple face.He has sympathy for Li Huikang, but he can't stop pressing.He frowned, and said as if complaining: "Could it be that you, Boss Li, deliberately defaulted? However, the hammer eats the nail, and the nail eats the wood. If the bills released by our factory cannot receive some cash, what will we use to pay the wages and buy raw materials? Now the business has been done. Very accommodating. Two years ago, Boss Li, think about it, the total bill was only 1,800 yuan, but it was 800 yuan for the Chinese New Year. Is there any manufacturer that is so talkative?" "A promissory note of three hundred dollars out of a thousand dollars can be accommodated; ah! Seven hundred dollars!" The "guest" with glasses expressed the most generous concessions. "Hui Weng, is there any other way?" Mr. Lu whispered while tugging at Li Huikang's coat sleeve.Li Huikang rubbed his hands with a bitter face, but did not answer.What else could he do? "Nails eat wood", he hasn't been pressing on the people below him every day recently, but the "wood" under him of the "nails" is either as hard as iron, or dry wood dregs that can't be squeezed out. The night meal made with rice was delivered; the rice basket was placed on the ground, and a hot pot was emitting steam.A clerk walked over and took a look at it, then covered it again as usual, and turned around to make a face at his colleagues. Li Huikang also took a look at the fan, and thought of a way.He patted the shoulder of the guest wearing glasses, cheered up and said with a smile: "Please go to the restaurant, both of you, to talk about it—today is the first meeting, the first meeting; the matter of money, we can discuss it later." "You're welcome! We have other things to do." "Ah-ah, it's a small thing, you two have to appreciate it!" Mr. Lu hurriedly helped, and quickly packed up the banknotes and odds and ends on the accounting table. Li Huikang couldn't help saying, grabbed one of them with one hand, smiled as if struggling, and joined hands with Mr. Lu to walk out of the shop, "the two" were still polite.However, at this moment, suddenly the dark-faced and bearded customer Zhang ran over in a hurry, and bumped into the four who were about to go out at the door of the store. "Boss Li—" the black-faced bearded man's voice was quick and serious. "Oh! It's just in time, let's go to the restaurant together to talk about it!" Li Huikang grabbed the guest Zhang again. However, Mr. Lu has already seen that the complexion on the black bearded face is not right.He hurriedly took a step forward, calling "Mr. Zhang", and was about to pull this Mr. Zhang aside to ask what was the matter. The black-faced bearded man had already found out the 350-yuan Yufeng demand card. When the ticket came, he raised it to Li Huikang and said with a dry smile: "I'm sorry! Boss Li, please change to another bank note!" Li Huikang was startled, and unknowingly relaxed the hand that was holding Guest Zhang, and asked stutteringly: "What? What! Difficult, is it a short ticket? This is also someone, someone, pay for it..." "I heard that there is something wrong with Yufeng Bank!" The black-faced and bearded man replied loudly. "Ah! Ah!" Li Huikang screamed, his palms were covered with cold sweat, his tall figure shook, and he backed away until the glass cabinet displaying cheap cosmetics for women pressed against his back . The purple-colored square face and the one wearing glasses also opened their mouths in surprise, and at the same time, they were trying to think whether they had accepted the ticket from Yufengzhuang. "Ahem! It turns out that the family is Yufeng!" Mr. Lu sighed and stumbled. "Ahem! Mr. Zhang, do you still hear bad news from other houses?" Mr. Lu's voice trembled a little, and there was only one thought in his mind: "I hope it's not Taichang!" "I heard that Taichang has also collapsed!" The black-faced bearded man smiled wryly and glanced at the purple-colored square-faced two of them. Mr. Lu just let out a long sigh and had nothing to say. "There is no such thing! There will be no such thing! Hey hey hey!" Suddenly Li Huikang yelled frantically, turned his head hastily, and looked around, as if trying to find out what he remembered. I can't remember anything real. The guest with the glasses glanced at his purple-colored square-faced companion; the square-faced glance back at him, and then shot a sharp glance at Li Huikang, the corners of his mouth pulled down, as if to say: "Hey , Hmph! It turns out that your two tickets are not worth a single fart!" The clerks at the counter gathered together at this moment, whispering in their ears, and shot Li Huikang's astonished eyes; It is their rice bowl. The fan still squatted quietly on the ground, and the hot pot was still spewing hot steam and groaning; but no one wanted to eat. "No! It can't be like that! How could it be these two? No! Will not! -" Li Huikang yelled to himself, and suddenly he laughed wickedly, his shoulders shaking very violently. "Oh! There are so many rumors in the city! But, Boss Li, please take this one back!" The black-faced bearded man said coldly, and then glanced at the glasses-wearing guest and the two of them, who were whispering and discussing something.The bearded man stepped forward and handed the ticket to Li Huikang. Li Huikang jumped all over as if he had touched a poisonous snake, and he just pushed the ticket back without knowing why. "Hmph! Ah!" the black-faced bearded man exclaimed in surprise.Mr. Lu was also surprised when he saw it. He hurried over to pick up the banknote, forced a smile, and was planning how to deal with the upcoming tough negotiation with the bearded man. At this moment, the two with the glasses and the square-faced purple-tanged face seemed to have reached an agreement, and they walked up to Li Huikang together. But at this moment, a burst of laughter came from the street, and two people—one walked slowly, the other hurriedly, also surrounded Li Huikang.The one who walked hurriedly was Dai Shuqing. He squeezed between the man wearing glasses and the purple square face, and presented the two house deeds in front of Li Huikang as soon as he stretched out his hand, and said out of breath: "Brother Huikang! These two deeds are the property of Tang's second son, Tang Zijia. I'm afraid there will be disputes in the future, so I dare not accept them!" "Hey? Cough!" Mr. Lu just sighed.Li Huikang didn't even sigh, his big eyes were wide open in disbelief.He subconsciously accepted the two deeds, put them hastily into the inner breast pocket of his coat, and suddenly laughed crazily.At this time, there was also laughter from outside their group of people. A man wearing a fake otter fur hat squeezed in next to the shoulder of the black-faced and bearded man. Li Huikang smiled and said: "Li Huiweng! It's really amazing! You also dug out what Tang Lao Er was saying! However, Tang Lao Er's house deed is worthless in the market this year! Haha! How much is Tang Lao Er himself worth! I just heard that A large number of silk factory workers quarreled at his house and demanded him! Haha!" "Hey, hey! Say it, say it," Li Huikang suddenly jumped up and grabbed the man's arm, yelling sharply. "Tell me! Have Yufeng and Taichang collapsed? Tell me!" "Why don't they collapse? Tomorrow, at least a dozen or so shops will be knocked down in the city! Haha! It's such a fun year!" Li Huikang understood every word, and there was a bang in his ears; if he hadn't supported the wooden frame of the glass cabinet with both hands, he would have squatted on the ground. The black-faced bearded and the glasses-wearing two of them also said "ah" in unison; they felt that Li Huikang must be indispensable in the "Daitan" shop. They rushed forward at the same time and called out "Boss Li" at the same time. Mr. Lu's face turned pale with anxiety.He felt that the most powerful bill collector wearing a fake otter hat was clearly the "death knell"! Li Huikang only opened his eyes and mouth wide open as if lost his soul.The four of them with the black face and beard yelled to stop him, but he didn't make a sound, not even showing any expression.A few passers-by also gathered around to watch.Mr. Lu was so anxious that he just wanted to get these debt collectors into the store, but Li Huikang stood still like a log, and the debt collectors refused to leave.Only the man in the fake otter fur hat stood at the outermost corner of the crowd, laughing drunkenly. The beginning and end only lasted two or three minutes.In such a short period of time, the clamor of the four creditors with black faces and beards was indeed a "gaffe" that he didn't think of as Li Huikang's dumbfounded.At that time, the man wearing a fake otter fur hat who was full of alcohol was really not "drunk". He seemed to be answering a spectator, and suddenly said loudly: "Bringing him down is bringing him down! What's the use of forcing him at this time. There's a way to get him out of the way!" This sentence immediately reminded the four of them with the black face and beard.They immediately fell silent one by one, and all turned to look at the man wearing the fake otter fur hat, as if they were going to discuss with him the "solution to collapse". Dai Shuqing had the fastest hands and feet, and as soon as he turned around, he grabbed Mr. Lu and made a gesture, apparently to "hang out the account to see".The other four also immediately gathered together, without any explanation, hugged Mr. Lu and walked into the shop.The man in the fake otter fur hat was laughing again like he was drunk. Li Huikang didn't seem to notice all these changes, he just felt that there were no more menacing faces in front of his eyes, he shook his tall frame in a daze, and walked out of the store.