Chapter 20 sudden change

With this power of attorney, Hu Xueyan has to use his brains. He kept communicating with Gu Yingchun by letter. The business in Shanghai was handled by Gu Yingchun, and everything about You Wu was also handled by Gu Yingchun.So Pang Er's interview was successful. The first thing he did was to write a letter to tell Gu Yingchun, and then take care of the affairs handled by Hangzhou. He planned to leave for Shanghai in early December and sell the silk before half a month. Good for public and private accounts.Then start the new year, and then launch a new plan and do a lot of work. In a few days, Gu Yingchun's reply came. To Hu Xueyan's great surprise, the foreigners changed their minds, saying that they had no intention of buying silk before the New Year's Eve.On the surface, it means that they have a lot of stock in the domestic letter, and they can suspend it.In fact, according to Gu Yingchun's understanding, foreigners have also learned the threshold and know the rules of Chinese shopping malls. Three-quarter checkout, the end of the year, requires a large position, and deliberately wants to "kill the New Year pig".If Hu Xueyan's price had not been set too high, the foreigners would not have killed them all for future business.

"Things are troublesome!" Hu Xueyan said to Liu Bucai, "My own position is second, and there are many small households who cannot pass the customs and will definitely turn around and beg foreign businessmen. Although their small amount will not affect the entire market, But the face of the Chinese is lost!" "Then there is only one way." Liu Bucai had already admired Hu Xueyan, thinking that there is no trouble in the world that would trouble him, so his tone was very relaxed, "You can transfer a position to help small households, or buy their goods. Or make a deposit to tell them not to fall into the trap of foreigners, isn't it over?"

Hu Xueyan's initial plan was like this, the difficulty lies in the lack of positions, so after hearing what he said, he could only smile wryly. At this moment, Liu Bucai also saw the meaning, "Old Hu," he said, "I think Pang Er also has a temper that is soft rather than hard. Hearing that foreigners are so hateful, he must be disobedient. Why don't you discuss it with him? See? He is very powerful, if he is willing to follow this method, won’t he pass the test?” The words are good, but I have a lot of public and private accounts, and I must have an account, so how can I say it?This requires careful overall planning.

That night, Hu Xueyan and Liu Qingsheng spent the night calculating the accounts, the payables everywhere, the extensions that could be extended, and those that could be delayed. In any case, it would take 300,000 taels of silver to pass the customs.The amount receivable and transferable is less than 150,000 yuan, and half of the position is still short, let alone raising cash for the New Year's Eve for small silk merchants. This is the time to surrender to foreign businessmen.Hu Xueyan was really unwilling to think about it, how much time was spent on it, just to get the advantage of "one grasp", now with Pang Er's support, the advantage has appeared, but "one grasp" can't be grasped, and he still loses In the hands of foreign businessmen, where did this start?

On the one hand, unwilling to give in, on the other hand, he was in a hurry and the time was not waiting for him. Hu Xueyan hesitated all night, unable to think of a good strategy, and was so anxious that his temples saw gray hair.However, Liu Qingsheng issued a warning that if he did not pay what was due, he would lose face!He understands the meaning of this warning very well. If word spreads that Mr. Hu's turnover is not working well, Fukang's depositors will withdraw their deposits one after another. So he thought of Liu Bucai's words again, and felt that Pang Er is a person who can share weal and woe. Instead of cheap foreign businessmen, it is better to cheap his own people!Talking to Pang Er is of course a matter of losing face. However, this is the same principle. Rather than losing face to foreigners, it is better to lose face to your own people.

"Third Master! You accompany me to Huzhou." He said to Liu Bucai in this way, "This trip depends on my luck. If Pang Er's housework has been settled smoothly, it will be easy for me to talk Otherwise, he himself made the 'helmet hang upside down', how can I still speak?" "Okay." Liu Bucai said, "I think we can go directly to Nanxun, instead of going to Huzhou first, and then going back will waste time." Hu Xueyan nodded, not saying yes or no, thinking about the two sides of Hangzhou and Shanghai, thinking about it carefully, even three to five days is not easy to spare. Although the shopping malls at the end of the year are not changing rapidly, accidents often occur , If there is any change, if I am caught off guard, wouldn't I miss a major event?Seeing his hesitation, Liu Bucai knew that he had to stay in Hangzhou, so he tentatively said, "Xueyan, do you think I should go for you?"

This is a way.With Liu Bucai's talent, he is capable of doing such a thing.But he still has one thing to worry about, "Third Master!" He said, "You can't look anxious when you go—" "What's the point?" Liu Bucai rushed to say, "I can't even understand this." "No! I still have something to say." Hu Xueyan said, "Since it's not a matter of urgency, then you can take it easy. You understand the temper of the young master best," he said imitating Pang Er's attitude, " 'Well, well, I'm in everything. Let's gamble.' How were you then?"

Liu Bucai had a good idea, this gamble might delay Hu Xueyan's work, so don't gamble! "I told him like this: I still have a lot of things to do in Hangzhou, and I have to go back to take care of it. On the 30th of the year, I will come to Nanxun to play a few games with you." "Yes! That's what I said." Hu Xueyan added solemnly, "Third Master, you can't dismantle my filth!" "If you don't believe me, don't ask me to go." Speaking of this, Hu Xueyan couldn't say anything more. At that time, he wrote a letter, hired a boat, worked overtime, and rushed to Nanxun to meet Pang Er in Xingye. He agreed that no matter whether the matter was successful or not, he would definitely come back in three days.

These three days are like years, but Hu Xueyan will never sit alone in the city of sorrow and resign himself to fate. He has to make contingency plans, so he still sits in Fukang every morning, and keeps sending people to contact and test, hoping to find a way to solve the problem. The way to raise this huge sum of money. There was no result on the first day and the second day, but on the third day, he became a little impatient. When he was contemplating, Ji Heling came to Fukang Bank to visit him. When they met, he said in surprise: "Xueyan , I haven't seen you for a few days, why are you so thin?"

Brothers with different surnames, there is no need to hide it, Hu Xueyan replied honestly: "There is still a shortfall of 300,000 silver, why don't you be so anxious?" Hearing this, Ji Heling was taken aback, "Why didn't you tell me? When I asked you the other day, didn't you say that it could be 'settled'?" He asked in a reproachful tone. "I told you, I made you anxious, why bother?" Hu Xueyan said in a relieved tone, "As long as you can maintain the delayed account from the Shipping Bureau, nothing else matters." Why do you say it doesn't matter?It was obvious that he was trying to be reassuring.Ji Heling thought for a while and asked, "You have to find a way!"

"Yes." He said about sending Liu Bucai to Nanxun to beg for help. "I wrote to Pang Er that I would sell him as many bales of silk as the market price, and it would be as cheap as a foreigner. For the sake of face, he should be able to help me with this." "It is not easy to mobilize 300,000 positions at the end of the year." "Actually, half of them can pass." "150,000 is not a small number." Ji Heling waved and said, "Come here, I'll talk to you." When they went to a secluded place to talk secretly, Ji Heling told him the news, which was mentioned by Qiu Fengyan, saying that a foreign businessman had gone the way of Gong Zhenlin and Gong Zhitang's father and son in the "Paoju Bureau", and the Gong family and his son had gone the way of the third concubine of Huang Futai. Luzi decided to buy 15,000 foreign guns from a foreign merchant, each at 32 taels of silver, and 60% of the price would be paid first, and he would make an agreement to pay in these two days. Hearing this news, Hu Xueyan was very surprised. It was his idea to buy foreign guns. If he was satisfied with the trial and bought a large number, of course he was the one who handled it. Why did he change hands halfway and become the middle of Gong's father and son? Of course, this is needless to say, there must be tricks in it, Hu Xueyan asked: "Do you know the name of that foreign businessman?" "I don't know. I heard it was a Prussian." "Then it's not Hudson." Hu Xueyan said, "In this business, each gun has at least 12 taels of empty head, and 15,000 guns cost 180,000, not counting kickbacks. , the conscience is a little too dark." "Let's not talk about it. I tell you this news to remind you to think about whether this money can be passed in your hands. If you can do it, won't you be able to overcome the current difficulties?" This is a very fresh opinion.Hu Xueyan was interested in any ideas that he had never thought of, so he pointed his fingers and said: "Fifteen thousand times thirty-two, the total price is 480,000 silver, and the first payment of six is ​​288,000. Almost half of it." "Do you know the Gong family and his son? I have a friend who knows Xiao Gong very well, so I can introduce you." "Excellent! Let me think about it. This way must be useful." After a little thought, Hu Xueyan saw the inadequacy of this transaction. The 15,000 foreign guns are a group of extremely eye-catching arms. The nearest is the Small Knife Club in Shanghai, and the far is the "Knife Club" in Jinling. "Long Hair" will definitely be jealous. If the shipment starts in Shanghai, no matter whether it is land or water, there will inevitably be mistakes in the middle. "How can I find out the contract?" Hu Xueyan said to himself, "I think this matter is a bit unreliable!" "How unreliable, it is absolutely true." "I'm not saying that there is no such thing, but I'm afraid that if something goes wrong with this business, the Gong family and his son will get into great trouble." Then, Hu Xueyan discussed his concerns with Ji Heling in detail. "I understand!" Ji Heling said, "The crux lies in the place of delivery. If the delivery is in Shanghai, Huang Futai will have to send heavy troops to escort it. This is a very troublesome matter." "Yes!" Hu Xueyan called Liu Qingsheng to ask at that time, "Have you sent the gift of Liu Erye from Futai Yamen?" "It's still early!" "I have to send it in advance." Hu Xueyan said, "I remember that it is 100 taels per festival and 200 taels during the Chinese New Year. Please send another 400 taels in an envelope, and send it along with the regulations, saying that I must ask him to do me a favor!" The one who asked Liu Er for help was to try to copy the original basis of the contract.Liu Er saw that in view of the two red envelopes, totaling six hundred taels of silver bills, he had to help with this favor, and because the Gong family and his son had crossed his barrier, and because of the convenience of frequent visits by the family members of the same town, they directly got three My aunt's line, I was already angry in my heart, guessing Hu Xueyan's intentions at this time, I probably wanted to use my brain to cancel the deal, I liked it, and I was very flattered, so I bought Huang Zonghan's child molester with fifty taels of silver that day The servant who signed the contract stole the draft of the contract. Liu Er closed the door, recorded a copy himself, and sent it to Hu Xueyan without anyone noticing it. The contract states that the goods will be delivered by ship at the Zhejiang border.Hu Xueyan couldn't figure out what supernatural powers this Prussian named Rudolf possessed.Can it safely pass through the waterway from Shanghai to Jiashan?What will happen if the delivery is not delivered as promised? Looking closely at the contract, there is indeed a huge loophole. The seller naturally has a guarantor on the seller's side, who is underwritten by two banks in Shanghai. The regulations are the same: "After the seller has transported the guns from overseas to Shanghai, he should ask the Futai Yamen in Zhejiang to appoint a committee member, that is, to conduct a joint inspection with the customs. The style and quantity must be consistent before they can be picked up for delivery." It seems that the business is serious. It is entirely for the sake of safeguarding the interests of the buyer, in fact, it just happens to shirk responsibility for the seller. "Good knife and pen!" Ji Heling, who was looking at the contract together, couldn't help being indignant because of his accumulated scholarly habits, "That's how it is in public affairs! You pretend to be smart, but you are fooled by others." "I'm afraid it's not pretending to be smart, but pretending to be smart." Hu Xueyan said, "According to this contract, the seller has fulfilled its responsibility as long as it transports the foreign guns to Shanghai and undergoes a joint inspection by the Zhejiang committee at the customs, and the quantity and style match. If you are robbed in the middle, it is like the rules on the ticket: "Natural disasters and man-made disasters have nothing to do with the code." The guarantor does not insure the military. If there is a real trouble, the foreigners only need to say: If you are killed in China Robbed. You can’t maintain the peace of the place yourself, so what does it matter to outsiders? This statement cannot be refuted, and you can only hold your nose and accept him!” Ji Heling was also a man of great talent and insight. After hearing Hu Xueyan's words, he nodded again and again, with a deep and mysterious smile on his lips, and his eyes kept blinking, as if he had some profound insight. "Brother!" Hu Xueyan asked, "Do you have another opinion?" "I'm taking your words and thinking about it further. Maybe it's a 'little man's heart', but people may not be gentlemen, so my guess is not necessarily wrong." After talking for a long time, what exactly do you mean?Hu Xueyan was a little impatient, and urged: "Brother! Tell me quickly, there may be some way out of this matter, and now time is running out, we have to use our brains and hands quickly." So Ji Heling only asked one question outliningly, and Hu Xueyan understood it. The question he asked was: "Could this be a hoax?" According to the contract, it is not impossible to cheat: the foreign guns were transported to Shanghai Customs, and the commissioner sent by Zhejiang Province verified the quantity and style, and they all matched. irresponsible.As for whether the foreign guns were really stolen, there is no question, so it can be a scam. If there was collusion in advance, the Zhejiang committee members falsely responded to the stories, the number was not enough, and the style did not match, and they reported it as "consistent"; "I think," Hu Xueyan is a businessman after all, hesitantly asked, "Well, I don't think they are so bold, right?" "Ha!" Ji Heling sneered, "You don't know the filth of the officialdom! The facts are all there. There are loopholes in this contract. Who is worse than me? We can see it at a glance. After passing through so many people, they say that they never See, who can believe it?" "Yes." Hu Xueyan nodded, and asked a very important question, "Now that we have seen it, what should we do?" Ji Heling smiled, "With your intelligence, why do you need to ask me?" He said, "Make up your mind, and I'll see if I can help you!" Hu Xueyan felt that Ji Heling was a gentleman, and in such a brotherhood of different surnames, when time was of the essence, it was rare for him to refuse to come up with "bad ideas" when he had the opportunity. "Of course there are many ways." Hu Xueyan thought for a while and said, "Bachelors are constantly making money. As long as they are not cheating, the business is still allowed to them. However, I don't think Huang Futai is happy to do this, and I have helped him a lot. Buying foreign guns is the way I started, and now I ask others to do this business, thinking about it, I feel unwilling." Ji Heling heard what he said, one foot in and one foot out, and he knew what he meant. Anyway, as long as it could help him in the difficulties in front of him, he didn't want to be troublesome. Necessary to open a negotiation. "Who should I invite to negotiate?" Hu Xueyan asked, "A friend of yours?" "No! It's not convenient for you and me to come forward about this matter, tell Qiu Fengyan to go!" "Wonderful! Wonderful!" Hu Xueyan applauded, "Let's talk to him right away." So borrowing Ji Heling's place, Ruiyun set up a furnace to set up wine, and asked someone to invite Qiu Fengyan.It was late at night and the weather was cold, Qiu Fengyan was drunk at dusk, and had already gone to bed, but when he heard that Ji and Hu invited him to sit around the fire for the night, he immediately put on his clothes and got up, braving the biting northwest wind, excited rushed to Ji's house. As soon as he entered the door, he changed the poem "Han Yeke comes for tea as wine" and recited loudly: "Han Yeke comes for wine as tea!" Not only Ji Heling and Hu Xueyan smiled at each other, but even Ruiyun in the next room laughed. The little girl lifted the door curtain, she held a wine bottle in one hand, and the wine jug in the other, and said with a smile: "Master Qiu, There are plenty of wines, including Chinese wines and foreign wines, just drink them!" "Thank you Madam Ru!" Qiu Fengyan bowed his head, took a bottle of brandy, uncorked it, and took a sip mouth to mouth. This made Rui Yun laugh again, "Master Qiu, it's easy to drink," she said, "There's no need to prepare dishes!" "You can say that in other places, but I won't say that in the house." "why?" "It's my loss if I say it. I'm not afraid of being laughed at. I want to eat the conch and red chicken from the house these days, and I can't stop drooling." "That's really Master Qiu's blessing, and I happen to have these two things today." Ruiyun said with a smile, "However, I'm sorry to take them out to entertain guests, because they are too bad to eat!" "What are you afraid of, what are you afraid of! When I came to the mansion, I felt as if I had returned to the house, and I didn't say that I thought the food in my house was crippled." So Ruiyun used the ready-made dishes to make a hot pot and four dishes for the three of them to have a midnight snack.While persuading him to drink, Ji Heling talked about the problems of the gun purchase contract for Qiu Feng.Although he didn't mention Hu Xueyan, he felt a little drunk, and Qiu Fengyan, who had always been on good terms with Hu Xueyan, was very upset for him. "It is tolerable, which is unbearable! This matter must be properly handled." "Don't be impatient!" Ji Heling took his hand and said, "I invite you here today to discuss with you a way to fight the injustice. The problem has been caught, but 'there is no diamond, no broken porcelain', the Gong family father and son also He is not easy to get along with, so we have to talk about this matter calmly." "Okay, okay!" Qiu Fengyan took a sip of wine, chewed a piece of red chicken in his mouth, and said vaguely, "You two are here, and I don't have an idea. You discuss it, and I will listen while drinking." Ji Hu and Ji Hu looked at each other, and they both felt that honest people are not easy to deal with. They had previously agreed that they would work together as a partner, and ask Qiu Fengyan to come forward. Go around in circles, otherwise it will appear that you are not enough friends, so I feel embarrassed instead. Of course, Ji Heling still had to speak. He thought for a while and looked at Hu Xueyan and said, "There is a way to do it, which is more powerful, but you can't get immediate results." "Leave it alone! Tell yours first." "I think, Lao Qiu has done an errand to transport foreign guns once, so he can be said to be an expert. You might as well send him a post, saying that you have a British businessman, and you are willing to sell guns to Zhejiang. The conditions are exactly the same as theirs, that is, The price is cheap, only twenty-five taels of silver each. See what they say?" "This is a great plan!" Qiu Fengyan, who couldn't say anything, couldn't help but say, "With this post, Huang Futai can't cover it up, otherwise the officials will refer to the book, and the imperial court will send officials to investigate closely, and I will come forward , see how he prevaricates?" "It's not so far. As soon as this post is posted, the Gong family and his son will definitely come to talk to you, and then we will have something to talk about." Ji Heling looked at Hu Xueyan and said, "It will be beneficial in the next year." Qiu Fengyan didn't understand what the intention was, and said: "After the year is the year, anyway, the New Year will be in a few days." Hearing this, Ji Heling slowly raised his eyes to look at Hu Xueyan, with a questioning and urging look, which meant to let him confess to Qiu Fengyan. Hu Xueyan understood, but he didn't want to tell the truth, because it was useless to Qiu Fengyan. This person is good at everything, but he should not have too many clues when he gets down to business. He might find it troublesome if he told him, so he replied: "To make a long story short, I can't remember." Live so much!" Isn't it just looking for a nail? Therefore, Hu Xueyan just said: "No matter when it is effective, this matter is beneficial to Lao Qiu. I think it will be discussed first before making sense." "That's good." Ji Heling turned around and asked, "Old Qiu, what do you think?" "Don't ask me except the wine glass!" Qiu Fengyan, who was drunk and confused, answered such a poetic sentence, and grabbed the wine bottle with one hand. "You can't drink!" Ji Heling grabbed his hand, "If you want to do business, you can't get drunk. When you're done, I'll let you take a bottle home." Qiu Fengyan reluctantly let go, Ruiyun saw the opportunity in the compartment, and immediately came in to clean up the leftovers and wine, and brought a pot of porridge made from "roasted duck shells", four kinds of porridge and side dishes.Qiu Fengyan ate three bowls of ivory "winter pickled vegetables" in a row, "It's so comfortable!" He rubbed his stomach and said, "Drunken and full, it's time to get down to business. Are you planning to post?" "That's right!" Ji Heling asked, "Can you still write?" "Why not, 'Taibai Doujiu Poems', let alone a straight-forward post?" "That's good! You drink tea first, smoke two bags of cigarettes and rest. I'll discuss it with Xueyan." So the two moved to sit by the window and discussed quietly.Because some things are inconvenient to say in front of Qiu Feng, his personal interests must be considered first. "As soon as this post was posted, Huang Futai naturally hated Qiu Fengyan so much that he might suffer in the future. As friends, we have to think for him." "Of course you have to worry about it. But, brother, I have a different opinion from yours. Huang Futai has always been a toast and never eats fine wine. Maybe this makes Lao Qiu look different." Ji Heling thought for a while and said, "I don't care about this level for the time being, it's just that this post should be made as real as possible." "I had to have this plan in the first place. Really, if this business can be won, I can definitely buy it for twenty-five taels of silver, and I will definitely make money." When this point is clarified, it will not be difficult to write a post. Moving the inkstone to the lamp, the two of them deliberate and say one by one, and Qiu Fengyan writes one by one.After finishing writing, I will rethink it from the beginning and make a final draft. It is agreed that Qiu Fengyan will find someone to rewrite three copies, one will be sent to Futai, and the other will be sent to Fantai.This has to be done tomorrow morning. "Okay! It's all mine. Now let's ask the next step. The post has been sent up. Huang Futai is looking for me. What should I say?" "Huang Futai won't look for you!" Ji Heling replied confidently, "If you want to look for it, it must be the Gong family and his son who are looking for you." "Then there must be something to say!" "It's not busy! He came to you, you came to me." "When I come to you, your 'Chinese New Year host' will be settled." Hu Xueyan felt that this was inappropriate, so he said with a smile, "I was just joking, no matter what, you don't have to worry about this year's New Year, everything With me!" "Thank you, thank you!" Qiu Fengyan smiled all over his face, "To be honest, I don't have to worry about making friends with you two." Having said that, Qiu Fengyan stood up and said goodbye, Hu Xueyan didn't stay any longer, and left Ji's house together, agreeing to meet at Ji's house at dinner time the next day no matter what the news was. Qiu Fengyan felt that he knew the situation, and he worked very hard. After returning home, he didn't sleep anymore. Fortunately, foreign wine was easy to disperse. After washing his face and drinking two cups of strong tea, his mind was cleared up, so he lit the lamp and decided to write this pass. It is said that the post has been copied, and it will be handed over to the "upper court" early in the morning. This torment made his fat wife so noisy that he couldn't sleep peacefully, "Damn it!" She said coquettishly in the tent, "In the middle of the night, and it's such a cold weather, if you don't die, come to bed, what the hell are you doing!" "Sleep with you, I have work to do." This is really news, Qiu Fengyan is busy all day long with nothing to do, and he has never started writing for official business, and it is so late at night, it is not absurd to say that he has official business! "You liar! What business is it? You must be doing some 'tricks' again, so be happy!" The fat lady said again, "It's almost Chinese New Year, and I don't use my brain. Let's see how you spend your 30th year?" "It's just to get through the New Year's Eve, and I have to fight my life. Don't talk to me, I finished it early, and I have to go to the court." I heard that the upper court is definitely not doing some "tricks". The fat lady is a little unbelievable on the one hand, and on the other hand she can't bear to let her "wife" "fight her old life" alone, so she got up from the bed and walked over to take a look. The cover of the white booklet reads The word "Shuotie" made me believe that he was really busy with business. "Go to sleep!" Qiu Fengyan rubbed his hands and said, "Why bother staying here to suffer the cold." "You are working here, how can I sleep alone?" Hearing this, Qiu Fengyan's bones were extremely light, and he reached out to her face, and gently twisted her powder-like skin, then picked up the pen and buried himself in the book. His small script was fast and good, and it was only about five o'clock when he finished copying. The fat lady advised him to sleep for a while, but Qiu Fengyan refused. After drinking a glass of morning wine to keep out the cold, he took advantage of the wine and walked to the Governor's Yamen. Find Liu Er and explain why he came here. Because of Qiu Fengyan's kindness, he is very popular. Liu Er is used to joking with him, calling "Master Qiu" as: "Master Uncle!" He said with a smile: "It's already winter, and the 'autumn wind' has long passed , your two posts are useless!" "Could it be that the purpose of posting on the post is to make autumn wind?" Qiu Fengyan replied, "I haven't troubled you this year, and I will help me with this matter anyway." "How to help?" "Send it to Futai immediately, not only deliver it, but ask the old man to read it right away." "Is it so important?" Liu Er was suspicious, "What's the matter, please tell me first." Qiu Fengyan had heard the conversation between Ji Heling and Hu Xueyan, and knew that Liu Er was also quite dissatisfied with the Gong family father and son, so he thought that there was no need to hide this matter from him, so he beckoned him to a secluded place, and whispered, "I have an account that requires Selling foreign guns, this matter is successful, of course you will have a share of the kickback." "Sell foreign guns!" Liu Er thought about it carefully, guessed from the relationship between Qiu Fengyan and Hu Xueyan, and knew what was going on, so he replied without hesitation, "I know it. If there is any information, where should I send it?" This sentence stopped Qiu Fengyan from asking, he had to think about it first, what kind of "information" was it?If it was Huang Futai's appointment, Ji Heling had already said that such a situation would not happen.It seems that this inference is still inaccurate, so we have to prepare. "You mean Futai will look for me?" Qiu Fengyan thought for a while and replied, "It's not easy for you to find me, so how about it, I'll come again in the afternoon." "Alright! If there is information and I'm not here, I must leave a letter. Otherwise, there is no news. Please reply." After such an agreement, Qiu Fengyan started to go home to catch up on sleep, and slept until two o'clock in the afternoon, when the fat lady handed him a letter from Hu Xueyan, asking him to meet at Fukang Bank at three o'clock in the afternoon. It turned out that it was agreed that we will still meet at Ji's house in the evening, and now we have an appointment in advance, there must be a reason.Qiu Fengyan didn't dare to neglect, washed up hastily, and went out to attend the appointment. As soon as he arrived at Fukang Bank, he was the first to meet Chen Shilong. They were familiar with each other. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he went to see Hu Xueyan, and saw him glowing with joy. He couldn't help being surprised: "Hey! You look like a bridegroom today!" Hu Xueyan smiled, ignored his words, and only asked: "The thing was handed over?" "I went back last night—" He didn't mean "ugly meritorious service", he only wanted to explain his sincerity in doing things for his good friend, so he told the whole process. "Excellent! Slow things down. You'll have to work hard later to see what information you have. After asking, we'll drink at Ji's house in the evening." "Okay, okay, I'll go right away." Qiu Fengyan asked again, "But there is one thing I don't understand. You asked me to meet at this moment, and you asked me this question?" "Yes! What I mean is, I'm afraid you said that the post has not been sent out yet, so let's put it on the table and wait until I get to Shanghai and find out the details of the Prussian. Since it has been sent out, it is also very good." Qiu Fengyan was even more confused when he said this, "Why, suddenly thought of going to Shanghai?" He asked, "When are you leaving?" "The date hasn't been set yet, it will always be in these two days. Oh," Hu Xueyan remembered something, took out a red envelope from his pocket, stuffed it into Qiu Fengyan's hand, and said with a smile, "Hurry up and go back to your fat lady to give an account. So that she can plan to buy new year's goods early!" Qiu Fengyan opened the envelope and saw that it was a bank note of 400 taels of silver. He felt guilty and guilty, and his eyes were a little red. Hu Xueyan refused to let him say anything, pushed him and said, "Please, please, I won't keep you anymore, see you at Ji's house."