Chapter 288: One Stroke Cannot Write Two Characters for Xue

The moonlight was dim, and the lights were shining. What a beautiful word, how could I run into Xue Pan, this bastard? Xue Ke sighed inwardly, quickly cleaned up, and greeted: "Big brother."

"If it weren't for this waiter calling you Uncle Xue, I really wouldn't recognize you." Xue Pan chuckled, his mouth full of alcohol. As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled Jia Lian beside him and introduced him, "This is the second brother Lian from Rongguo Mansion, and also your big brother."

Xue Ke bowed and saluted again, "Second brother Jia."

"Hey, we are all relatives." Jia Lian waved his hand. He drank a lot tonight and was a little unsteady. "I have heard of your reputation. The second son of the Xue family is also famous in the capital for his landscape, flower and bird paintings."

"You are too flattering, too flattering." Xue Ke smiled humbly, and blocked Baoqin behind him, just wanting to find a reason to send the two away. Xue Pan was already excited and said: "It's really like meeting an old friend in a foreign land. I said that on the way back just now, there was a bird chirping to lead the way. It turned out that it was at the end of the inn, and you were waiting for me."

Xue Pan stepped forward enthusiastically and took Xue Ke's hand. The cousins ​​were both well dressed. But their demeanor and appearance were completely different. Xue Pan was much stronger and his face was more fierce. It was not an exaggeration to say that he was a rough man. Xue Ke looked more like a weak scholar or a rich man.

"Brother Ke, come in quickly and drink two more glasses of wine with me." Xue Pan stretched out his hand to hold Xue Ke and dragged him into the house without saying anything. In the interval, he turned to Baoqin and said, "Sister Qin, go back to your room and rest. If you are hungry, just ask the waiter to bring you food."

"Waiter."

Hearing Xue Pan's order, the waiter holding the lantern hurriedly leaned over and replied, "Master, what do you want?"

"Go, deliver one of your specialty dishes to my sister's room. Remember, put it on our courtyard's account. If you dare to let my sister pay, I will beat you to death." Xue Pan's order really scared the waiter. He nodded and hurriedly ran away.

Seeing his appearance, Xue Pan, who was drunk, laughed even more. He waved his other hand, indicating that Baoqin should go back to the room first. He knew that if this cousin followed, everyone would definitely not drink happily.

Then he relied on brute force to drag Jia Lian and Xue Ke into the inner hall. The three of them stood in the light, picked a table at random, put three chairs together, and called the waiter to bring wine quickly.

Baoqin, who was halfway, saw that the situation was not good. She just covered her face with a fan, came over to say hello, and hid in the upstairs wing room. She not only smelled a strong smell of alcohol on Jia and Xue, but also a faint smell of powder.

I think these two people just came back from having fun in Yanliu Lane. How could Baoqin be willing to stay with such people for a long time, so she had to leave her brother alone and lead Chunyan to flee quickly.

"What is this...?" Jia Lian, who was half drunk, glanced at Baoqin's back a few more times. This scared Xue Ke enough, and he didn't have time to speak. Xue Pan was already shouting, "Second brother, don't look at her. That's my sister!"

"Oh no." Jia Lian exhaled. Now, besides being drunk, he only had the mercy of a saint in his mind. He didn't care about whether she was a girl or not. "Why are you so anxious? I just think she looks familiar."

There's no need to look familiar, Xue Ke muttered, and hurriedly picked up the wine glass from the table and poured a glass for the two of them to divert their attention.

"When did brother Ke come to Songjiang?" Xue Pan asked.

"I just arrived today." Xue Ke took a sip of wine. He often went out for social activities now. Although he drank a lot of wine, he became more cautious. When he met these two evil stars, he must have been very nervous.

"What a coincidence, what a coincidence." Xue Pan kept clapping his hands on the table and laughed, "If I had known you were coming today, I should have kept my spirits up and waited for you."

"Stop talking so much, drink first." Jia Lian pushed the excited Xue Pan with his hand, and he was shouting excitedly. When he put down the glass, there was still half of it left.

"Second brother, you don't know." Xue Pan smacked his lips and said sadly, "My cousin and I haven't seen each other for many years. It was rare for us to meet in the capital last year, and he didn't have much chance to come to the mansion to find me."

"Why is that?!" Jia Lian burped and asked in confusion, "Rongguo Mansion is also your relative, so there is no need to be unfamiliar. Xue Erlang."

Seeing that Xue Pan was also looking at him, Xue Ke had to laugh awkwardly and explained, "I came and went in a hurry that day. After failing the imperial examination, I rushed to He went back to his hometown to travel around."

"What a pleasure." Jia Lian praised, and then said, "This is the life we ​​should live."

"Let's drink." Xue Pan took advantage of the wine and approached Xue Ke, holding his shoulder and said, "Brother Ke, let's get close today. When we were young, we grew up together. If your family hadn't moved to Yangzhou, how could our relationship become estranged now?"

Xue Pan is so confused that he probably forgot why our family moved to Yangzhou. In these years, except for Qingming Festival, his family has never returned to the old house in Jinling even for the New Year. But it was not good to lose face in front of others, so Xue Ke forced himself to cheer up and said perfunctorily with the wine glass: "A toast to my elder brother."

"Okay, okay." Xue Pan drank it all in one gulp, and then said, "You came back just in time. I have a way to make money. Tomorrow, when I sober up, I will tell you in detail. Just drink tonight, don't worry."

I...I...I didn't say I was anxious. Xue Ke muttered, and had to perfunctorily say: "My sister has the final say on the family business."

Xue Pan only thought he was joking and waved his hand without paying much attention to the remarks. Baochai, a person with a sharp temperament, never interfered too much in the family business. What's more, it's a Baoqin?

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"Miss, do you want Changqing to go down and keep an eye on the uncle?"

After waiting for Bao Qin to wash up, Chun Yan listened to the faint sounds coming from downstairs and asked the young lady who was sitting in front of the mirror, thinking.

The scholar's robe covering the outside has been taken off, and he is wearing a silk summer single. Baoqin turned his head slightly, looked at Chunyan and said, "Don't worry about him. Cousin and the others may not be able to calm down for a while."

"Let's rest early. You can accompany me to walk around the streets tomorrow." Baoqin seemed to think of something and said to Chunyan again, "Bring me the account book and let me take a look."

"Oh." Chun Yan responded, and after leaving and returning, he asked happily, "Does our family really want to buy a shop in Songjiang?" As he held his chin in his hands, Chun Yan looked inquiring and curious. On the carriage back earlier, she thought she was just fooling the uncle.

"Since when has your young lady been a target without a target?" Bao Qin raised her eyebrows rather manly. After checking the accounts, she secretly said happily, "This trip to Guangzhou is indeed worthwhile."

"That's right, when our young lady takes action, she is naturally extraordinary." Chunyan stood up diligently, stood behind Baoqin and began to rub his back and shoulders.

Baoqin laughed and ordered: "Remember to remind me tomorrow to go to Shanxi Bank to pay one thousand taels of silver."

"What is Miss going to do?" Chunyan blinked, a little curious. No matter how rich you are, there is no such thing as buying a store on the same day you see it.

"It's going to be donated to Sister Lin's academy." Bao Qin chuckled and revealed the answer.

"What?" Chun Yan looked confused. She already knew about this when she was watching the young lady chatting with Mrs. Chen in the backyard of the county government office. She thought the young lady would only donate three or four hundred taels, but how could she donate a thousand taels in one go?

"Don't be afraid, the money we spent is worth it. It was Sister Lin who remembered us and specially left a jackpot for our family." Baoqin comforted her and taught her, "Sister Lin told me privately that there will be a meeting in the academy immediately. A stone tablet to remember the people who donated money and materials. When the time comes, I plan to mention the name of our shop.”

Chun Yan had been following Bao Qin for a long time and knew the benefits of this matter as soon as he heard it. Not only to make his family famous, but also to form a good relationship with the female students in the academy. The little maid thought for a long time and then came up with an idea: "How about when the money is donated, we can hire a few more band members like we did in Guangzhou, exchange the banknotes for silver, and send them over with gongs and drums?" "

Just listening to these words, I knew that the experiences of the Xue brothers and sisters in Guangzhou were probably very interesting. Unexpectedly, Baoqin shook his head after hearing this and said with a smile: "After all, this is the territory under the jurisdiction of the eldest brother. In Guangzhou Prefecture, we are not familiar with the place, so we need some means. In Songjiang Prefecture, we have to keep a low profile. There are eldest brothers on the left and right. With Sister Lin here, we can’t suffer.”

"That's right." Chun Yan just remembered this and muttered, "Without the help of the young lady, how could he have the comfortable life of marrying two wives?"

"You." Baoqin closed the account book and teased, "Even without me. As long as Sister Lin is here, the result will not be much different."

"Anyway, he owes our young lady a huge favor." Chun Yan was slightly dissatisfied and continued to speak sternly.

Baoqin didn't bother to pay attention to this girl in the nest, and Chunyan could only mutter a few words in front of her. When I walked out of the door, I saw some menacing figures. They would just close their eyes and block in front of me. They didn’t even know where the knife was coming from. Speaking of which, it is better than a tortoise.

Pulling the little maid to the bed, the two of them lay down. Chun Yan, who was not yet sleepy, turned sideways, looked at Bao Qin with bright eyes, and asked: "Miss, is there really an academy in this world that only accepts daughters?"

"What, you want to go?" Bao Qin joked, "Miss, I have money on hand. If Chunyan wants to go, just nod and Miss will send you there directly."

"That's not possible." Chun Yan lay down again and rested his chin on the back of his hands, "I just suddenly felt that this Mr. Chen... is really a good man. No wonder the young lady is so fond of him."

When Baoqin heard this, he was angry. He directly raised his hand, slapped Chun Yan on the buttocks, and threatened: "If you keep talking nonsense, see if I don't tear your mouth apart."

How could Chunyan be afraid of her? She just curled up and crawled into Baoqin's arms.

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The next day, the sky was clear and the wind was gentle.

Baoqin, who had changed her clothes again, asked Changqing a few questions about Xue Biao's situation and found out that her eldest brother was still asleep. So he directly took Chun Yan and took a few guards to look for Yunjian Academy.

This academy is already a famous place in Songjiang City. If you stop anyone on the road and ask, you'll be sure to find out. I stopped at a Shanxi bank on the way and waited until I got the banknote exchanged. Bao Qin couldn't wait to walk into the academy. Daiyu, who had been waiting for a long time, only heard the sound of her entering. He quickly put down what he was doing and walked out to greet him with a smile.

"You came very early, why didn't you ask me to go out to pick you up."

"Where did my sister find the concierge? He is really strict." Baoqin smiled bitterly, "If I hadn't shown the soles of my shoes just now, I would have thought I was some kind of slut, and he wouldn't have let me in."

Daiyu laughed, clapped her hands and explained: "Blame me, blame me. If I had known this, I should have left you a door sticker last night."

Bao Qin couldn't help but nodded and said in agreement: "It's really my sister's fault for almost blocking the boy who gave the money away."

"That's a great opportunity that I've missed." Daiyu suppressed her laughter before reaching out to hold Baoqin's hand. Pulling her, she slowly wandered around the pavilion. Occasionally, when passing by a certain school, Lin Shanzhang would restrain his smile and show himself solemnly. Baoqin, who saw this, kept saying, "All the teachers in the world are really the same."

Daiyu raised her hand and patted Baoqin's shoulder, threatening, "If you are naughty again, I will drag you here to study."

"Wrong, wrong. Please show mercy, Lin Shanzhang." Baoqin quickly put her hands together and followed Daiyu's footsteps to a stone tablet without any words engraved on it.

Daiyu pointed at the stone tablet and said, "Have you thought about it? Do you really want to leave a shop name? Not your own name?"

"Yes." Baoqin nodded with a smile, "There are so many famous people in history. If there is one more Xue Baoqin, others may not explore the ins and outs. But if there is one more Lanting Commercial Bank, I am afraid that future generations will more or less think of us when they mention Wang Shusheng's Lanting Preface. This is called taking advantage of the opportunity."

As the business grew bigger and bigger, the name that was hastily made before was no longer enough. Baoqin thought again and again, and decided to change the name of the shop to Lanting Commercial Bank.

"Okay, it's up to you." Daiyu said generously. When she took over this academy from her husband that day, the first person she thought of was Baoqin, the female Fan Li.

"Go back to the room quickly and help me figure out how to find a safe way for these children."

"Okay." Baoqin took another look at the stone tablet, and thought that the name of her own shop should appear first in the first line, and she actually found it very interesting.

The two chatted for a long time in the reception room of the academy, and then they met Yinglian and Qijun. The four of them had lunch together, and in the afternoon they watched Yinglian and Qingwen's needlework class.

After the work was done, before dinner, Baoqin led a group of people back to the inn, only to find out that Baochai had been waiting for them for a day.

"If you come back, go to her room and see her. I see that she may have something to ask you."

Xue Ke, who just woke up in the afternoon, conveyed Baochai's meaning to his sister.

After all, it is impossible to write two Xue characters in one stroke, Baoqin nodded, and only led Chunyan to the courtyard of the single-family house. As soon as they arrived at the door, they saw Ying'er who was looking forward to it. When the latter saw the figures of the Xue family's master and servant, she hurriedly greeted the house: "Madam, it's Miss Tang who is here."

"Qin'er." A voice was called from the house, and Baochai, dressed as a lady, came out of the house anxiously.

"Cousin." Baoqin responded with a smile, and she hadn't even stood still yet. Baochai had already looked at her dress carefully, and couldn't help saying, "You are more and more in love with this dress now."

"I was away from home." Baoqin explained with a smile. Following Baochai into the inner room, the two sisters met again after a long time. When they sat together, Baochai raised her hand again to signal her to sit closer.

"You are free now. I just heard that you were in Guangzhou a while ago, and in a blink of an eye, you are in Songjiang." Baochai took Baoqin's hand and said with envy.

"But I dare not go home, afraid that my parents will complain about it." Baoqin smiled bitterly. People are most afraid of others saying that they are proud of themselves. The benefits of freedom are all rotten in their stomachs. When others ask about it, it's all this hardship and that tiredness.

"You deserve it. When you get home, you don't know what your aunt will say about you." Baochai nodded at Baochai, took the teapot brought by Ying'er, and poured tea for her sister with a smile.

"It should be, it should be." Baoqin smiled lightly, holding the tea and sipping it slightly. As soon as she took a sip, she felt something was wrong. The taste of this tea doesn't seem to be from the hands of the Jia family.

Sister Bao has loved drinking local tea in Jinling since she was a child, and the Jia family loves to drink tribute tea with a more authentic taste. But the taste of this tea. Although it is similar, it is slightly dry. Although it is much better than the ones on the market, it tastes very different from what she had drunk in the Jia family before.

She blinked without expression, and had already found out some details of the Jia family from here. I'm afraid that life in the mansion is already very tight. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so concerned about a daughter-in-law who went on a long journey on tea. This kind of unimportant thing can best show the situation of a family.

"Is sister okay now?" Baoqin couldn't help asking.

Back then, she and Daiyu persuaded her several times, but still couldn't stop Baochai from marrying into the Jia family. Now that the other party has finally got what he wanted, all a younger sister can do is to show some concern at this moment.

Baochai smiled when she heard this, drank a sip of tea as if no one was around, and said with a relaxed look: "It's all good. Your brother-in-law likes reading more than before. When he is free, he will accompany me to listen to operas."

No matter what Baoyu has in mind, the couple's married life is getting by. Baochai will not lose Baoyu's face at this moment.

"It's okay as long as my brother-in-law treats you well." Baoqin did not comment, but just rubbed the edge of the teacup slowly with her fingertips.

The two talked about some childhood fun things, and Baochai occasionally mentioned a few words about Baoqin's marriage, but she just laughed it off. Halfway through the conversation, Baochai finally got to the point.

"Qin'er, sister wants to ask you about something."

"What is it? Sister, just ask."

"A few days ago, brother-in-law Chen introduced a business to your eldest brother."

Brother-in-law Chen? Oh, it's my eldest brother. Baoqin smiled and nodded, listening to Baochai continue to tell the story.

"This matter was discussed by Jia Erge and him, and I didn't hear it clearly. I only know that they were going to do some spice business. This brother-in-law, one moment he asked our family to buy a shop in Songjiang Prefecture to recruit people, and the next moment he strictly ordered us not to move the shop to Songjiang within five years."

The more Baoqin listened, the more she felt something was wrong. The meaning behind Baojie's words always sounded a little wrong.

"Brother Jia came back very drunk that day and said some confusing things..."

Bao Qin couldn't help but interrupted: "If sister is worried, you can just ask Sister Lin directly. Your relationship with her is not bad."

Bao Qin really found it strange that with Dai Yu's temperament, whenever a friend came to ask about something, there was no reason to extrapolate it. Sister Lin is only as good as her mouth. I'm actually very kind at the bottom of my heart. As long as Sister Bao recognizes Sister Lin's friendship, Bao Qin believes that Sister Lin also recognizes Sister Baobao.

Baochai was speechless for a moment, so she had to say: "I was just thinking about asking her, but you just happened to be here. I can't write two characters of Xue in one stroke, shouldn't I ask you first?"

Baoqin also understood a little bit, nodded and asked, "Then what are you worried about?"

"This..." Baochai hesitated, then said, "Does my sister think the business introduced by brother-in-law Chen is reliable?"

Baoqin took a breath after hearing this. Weird, really weird. Ordinarily, it is normal for people who make a living to have such worries. But these two families are both bright people, one represents the Huating County Government, and the other holds the status of the young master of the Rongguo Mansion. Both parties are people of high status.

Although the eldest brother is a bit evil, he will not play any role in this matter. If the news leaks out, it will be your own reputation that is damaged. There are so many ways to harm others in the world, so there is no need to risk your own good reputation.

Bao Qin shook his head secretly, unable to tell for a moment whether Baochai was simply worried or had something to say.

But one thing is, you can't run away. Being able to ask this question can only mean two things. Either the Jia family's life is already very difficult and they can't bear the trouble. Either Sister Bao has other plans and plans in mind.

It can't be Sister Bao's insight, because once you get married, it starts to become smaller and shallower.

Bao Qin couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he had to test: "If sister is worried about eldest brother, there is no need. Most of our family's current business is his help. As long as he nods too much, it must be a matter of making money. ”

"With your words, I feel relieved." Baochai couldn't help but clasp her hands, as if she had put down her worries for a long time.

Baoqin suppressed her thoughts and chatted silently with her for a while before standing up to leave.

On the way back, the more she thought about it, the more something was wrong. When he was going upstairs, he happened to catch up with Xue Biao changing his clothes and going out. Baoqin was stunned for a moment and asked, "Where are you going, brother?"

Xue Biao said angrily: "Where can I go? Let's drink with my cousin. Every day, when it comes to dinner, I have to make noises to get people to drink. If I had known this, it would be better to go to the abbot's house and have a drink together. Eating and drinking tea.”

Bao Qin's eyebrows moved, and she leaned close to Xue Biao's ear on the corridor and whispered: "Brother, please help me with something tonight."

Seeing Xue Biao blinking, Bao Qin continued: "Go and help me find out and ask, who is in charge of the Jia family now? Who has the final say on my cousin's business in Songjiang?"

"Okay." After hearing his sister's instructions, Xue Pan couldn't help but smile, "What a coincidence, that Xue Pan told me yesterday that he wanted to talk to me about this matter."

Bao Qin nodded and hurriedly warned, "Drink less, I'll wait for you to come back."

"Okay, sister, please wait for me in the house." Xue Biao waved his hand and went downstairs directly carrying his robe. As he was about to leave the door, his muttering was still faintly heard.

"It's really not good to drink like this every day. I'll move to Zhixing tomorrow."

Come as promised, come as promised. Coding is such a joy.