Chapter 24 Caobang livelihood

At this moment, a group of guests arrived, the leader was Changgen, followed by Yu Wucheng, followed by You Wu and his gangster brothers, and at the end were Yang Fengmao and Zhu Boss, a packed crowd. The house, plus Miaozhen leading the aunt and eldest sister to greet her, was in a mess. "Uncle!" You Wu avoids Gu Yingchun and Liu Bucai, pulls him, and whispers, "I have some important things I want to tell you. Where is there a quiet place?" I had to find the owner, so Hu Xueyan asked Miaozhen again, and she replied without hesitation: "Miaozhu's room is empty."

"Not bad!" Hu Xueyan remembered, "What happened to Miaozhu?" Hearing this question, Miaozhen looked very strange, glanced at him, and said in a voice that seemed to be both complaining and teasing: "I want to ask Mr. Hu what's going on?" After such a discussion, there was no end to the conversation, although he was concerned about the matter, but because he had no time to ask in depth at this time, Hu Xueyan could only say: "Let's talk about it later!" Turned around and left. Bring You Wu to Miaozhu's original residence, and feel strange when entering the room.The big copper bed that Gu Yingchun slept on, all the quilts and pillows have been put away, leaving only a rattan shed, the rouge and pollen on the dressing table have been swept away, and the glass mirror is covered with a cloth cover, which is particularly charming. Go to Loukong, where is the desolate smell at the end of the world.

"Alas!" Hu Xueyan sighed softly unconsciously. You Wu was busy discussing "big things" all day long, and he didn't understand what he meant, so he asked in astonishment: "Uncle, why are you sighing?" Hu Xueyan deeply felt that in this short day, Miaozhu had gone through a lot of vicissitudes from committing suicide with a single thought to resolutely getting out of the dust. ?So I asked without answering, just said: "How did you talk with Chang Gen today?" "That's a trivial matter. Changgen is naturally a powerful character, but in front of your own people, don't make fun of speaking 'French'—"

"What?" Hu Xueyan interrupted him and asked, "What did you say 'talk'?" "Oh," You Wu said with a smile, "this is a popular saying in the barbarians recently. When speaking foreign languages, some people understand English, and French. I just listen to his tongue rolling and don't know what he said, so I say people. Talk to yourself, never talk to each other, just say he speaks 'French'." "That's all right. Changgen doesn't speak 'French'. What does he say?" "To be honest, the human heart is made of flesh. The little grandpa treats him like this, he can't be half-baked. He also said: You can't eat poorly, you can't live poorly, and you can't live poorly if you don't have eyes! This sentence is also very true. Everyone I've all fallen in love with my uncle!" You Wu said in a very solemn tone, "Uncle, the Cao Gang in Jiangnan and Jiangbei will depend on you from now on!"

"Serious words, serious words!" Hu Xueyan was greatly surprised, "How did you make such a statement?" "We have discussed it!" You Wu said slowly, "All of us push uncle to be a military adviser, please come and give orders. Uncle, don't interrupt, listen to me." It is about a self-protection strategy of their Jiangnan and Jiangbei Cao Gang.Since the Hongyang chaos, the rivers were blocked, and after the rice was transported by sea, the Cao Gang’s livelihood was difficult, but there were wars all over the place, and various places organized regiments to protect themselves. .This level of difficulty, the brains of the Cao Gang, are all considerate, so the gangsters everywhere are making troubles, they are all kind to persuade, and share the difficulties, but open their mouths to the sky, every family has young and old, and they have to feed their stomachs .This is not what earnest persuasion can help.

Therefore, You Wu, Yu Wucheng, Qiaojiao Changgen, and another group of people in charge of the Cao Gang have the same heart and mind, and they all feel that the only way is to find a way out by themselves. "Uncle! Everyone admires you as the best mind in the world. Not only do you need to find this way of life for us, but you also need to lead us to walk." "Ah!" Hu Xueyan took a deep breath, feeling the heavy weight on his shoulders, but no matter what, he couldn't say no, only three words: find a way! Of course, You Wu and his colleagues would never just set such a goal and put a heavy burden on Hu Xueyan's shoulders regardless of indiscriminately. They also talked about many possible and feasible paths.However, most of these ideas were inspired by Hu Xueyan.

"Uncle, we have also talked about it. First, there are boats and people in the Cao Gang. They don't transport grain, but they can transport other things, even passengers. Now that there are many refugees, sometimes it is not easy to find a berth by boat. Tell me, is this business a good one?" "Of course it is easy to do. The difficulty is that I am afraid that the government will not allow it. Here, I will find a way." "That's right!" You Wu was very pleased, "We're going to ask my uncle to come forward, and these joints need to be broken through with great strength."

"I dare not say whether we can get through." Hu Xueyan asked again, "What kind of business do you guys still talk about?" "Silk and tea are sold in Yangzhuang, and it seems that they can be restored now. We want to raise a capital, and ask my uncle to do it for us." "Of course it can. But first I want to ask, are these two businesses making money, are they private or public?" You Wu was taken aback by this question, "Yeah!" He scratched his scalp and said, "I didn't think of this, and now I'm asking my uncle to come and find a way for Brother Caobang. If the money is shared with the public, of course there is nothing to say .Otherwise, it will have to be left behind."

"That's what I mean too. Fifth brother," Hu Xueyan hesitated for a while, and finally asked, "I would like to ask, do you mean for the public, or—" "My situation, you know, it doesn't matter public or private. If you have money, the old man's fee will be mentioned first, and everyone else will use it. Those with long hands will use more, and those with slow feet will use less." "This is not the way, you have to make a charter. Don't say that you are the leader of the gang, it is my own business. You have to serve the guys with a bowl of water, so that everyone will be convinced."

"Yes! Uncle is right." You Wu nodded deeply. "You might as well ask Lao Gu to be your counselor on this matter. There is no need to discuss it now. Silk and tea business are of course to be done, but there should be other things to do. Everyone has food to do. Wait until I have time Let me use your brains for you.” "Yes. Let me make it clear to you first. Later, at the meeting, they still have something to say." This night's feast was a special invitation from the people of the Cao Gang. Although it was not a Hongmen banquet, the meal was really unpalatable. The more compliments everyone gave, the heavier the responsibility Hu Xueyan felt.Therefore, while being humble, one side is thinking: when doing things in the rivers and lakes, sometimes you have to "charge", and if you don't know how to do it, you have to take care of it and agree; .However, sometimes you can neither charge nor rush. One must be honest and the other must be steady.Like the situation at this time, if you fill it right and pass through it, you may not see good results;

Therefore, he waited for everyone's words to come to an end, and said calmly: "Just now Brother You told me that I can't say no to excuse you for your love. Thinking about it now, there are two things that I must say to you first. clear." There are two difficulties that must be stated in advance: first, his personal business and soliciting a lot of nosy things on him, and it is time to take care of them, so he cannot serve Cao Gang for a while; , he sighed and said: "It's easy to do things, but it's hard to be a man." In the future, it will not be satisfactory. I hope everyone will understand. As for the first point, I agreed at the same time. When it comes to the second point, even though his wording is tactful, many people still feel uneasy, especially Yu Wucheng, who struggled to make a statement. Everyone has absolutely no prejudice. I hope he will not be overwhelmed .Hu Xueyan was deeply wary of the well-known proverb "there are many tendons in the linen, and the bachelor has many hearts", so he wanted to say a few more words in this regard, but seeing this situation, he had no choice but to keep silent. After this meal of wine, the battle has turned around. After getting rid of the long roots on the stilted feet, the rest went back to Zhu's house to rest. You Wu decided to leave early the next morning and go to Hu Xueyan's to say goodbye because his colleague had finished his work, and there were still many things waiting for him in Songjiang and Shanghai.He didn't want the conversation to be endless, Hu Xueyan urged him again and again, but he was always reluctant to leave. Although he talked a lot, in fact, it's okay to talk again when there is a chance, but it's just reunion after a long time, and it's just a reluctance to say goodbye. Talking like this until dawn, You Wu simply boarded the boat and slept in Songjiang.Since he had his friends with him, Hu Xueyan had to see him off in terms of etiquette.He Gan said goodbye, he was exhausted, and was about to go back to Zhu's house to sleep with his head covered, when Gu Yingchun, who was with him with sharp eyes, gave him a hand, and hurriedly said: "Look!"