bookcurios Chapter 175 Partners
Chapter 175 Partners
The family that Mr. Feng mentioned was surnamed Zhao, and they were once a wealthy and powerful merchant family in Wangzhou City.
It just so happened that a few years ago, the Qingyang Marquisate colluded with the then prefect, expanded its business to Wangzhou, and monopolized several major businesses, squeezing out several local merchants.
This is even worse than the Bai family.
The Zhao family sold the big house they used to live in, and the 22 people in the family, young and old, lived in a small courtyard with two entrances.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao were both over sixty years old. The eldest son, Zhao Yun, and the second son, Zhao Xiang, were over forty. The eldest daughter married into a merchant family in Yanzhou. Although the youngest daughter married into a local family, it was also a small family. The youngest son was not yet thirty years old. The family building that sold gold and silver jewelry had been managed by him, but it was eventually lost in his hands.
Boss Zhao used to run a security guard agency. However, several of his capable employees were poached by the Marquis's agency. This angered Boss Zhao so much that he fell seriously ill and aged several years in an instant.
Mr. Zhao has two daughters and three sons. The eldest daughter is married, and the youngest daughter is still unmarried at the age of fourteen. Among the three sons, the eldest son is married and has a son and a daughter. The second son is now 18 years old and has just married and has no children. The third son is 16 years old and has not yet married.
Zhao Laoer was primarily involved in pawnbroking. Several times, he had large quantities of goods pawned, only to have them disappear for unknown reasons. Zhao Laoer lost both his wife and his army. Although he later realized someone had tampered with his assets, he had no proof. Furthermore, the pawnbroker was a government official who had promised to redeem the goods within a limited timeframe, and would pay double compensation if they were lost.
Just this one time, the Zhao family suffered heavy losses.
Zhao Laoer had one daughter and two sons. The eldest daughter was married. Of the two sons, the eldest son was married and had a daughter. The second son was fifteen years old and still unmarried.
Zhao Laosan's wife is Feng Xiucai's younger sister. They have a son and a daughter. The older boy is ten years old and the girl is seven years old.
At present, except for the eldest, second and third Zhao brothers and several working sons, the wives in the family are also not idle, but the money they earn is not enough to support the whole family.
Feng Xiucai had rescued his sister many times, but even with a virtuous wife, this wasn't an option. Furthermore, with Wangzhou under lockdown and prices skyrocketing, the entire family was starving. The Zhao family's youngest grandson, barely three years old, was already skin and bones from starvation. If things continued like this, he might not live past his fifth birthday. For this reason, Feng Xiucai repeatedly urged his brother-in-law's family to sell the building.
Qin Bingrui and Luo Yu were stunned when they heard Mr. Feng's introduction to the Zhao family. Mr. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao were only in their early sixties, but they already had four generations living under one roof. They were truly amazing ancient people.
Murong looked at the two girls' eyes and knew that they wanted to enter Pianpian again...
Entering the second courtyard, Qin Bingrui couldn't help but frown. It turns out even the ancients had concerns about housing space. From watching TV dramas, he'd assumed only 21st-century folks were crammed into tiny spaces! This family of 22 people living in eight rooms seemed a bit daunting. How did they arrange their accommodations?
Except for Mr. Zhao, Mrs. Zhao and a few young children, the rest of the Zhao family went out to work.
When Mr. Feng told Mr. Zhao about the three people buying a house, the wrinkles on the old man's stern face deepened.
He knew Mr. Feng's character and knew he was definitely not some outsider who was just looking for a bribe, so he treated the three guests politely.
Fortunately, they have a living room at home, otherwise it would not be appropriate to talk about things in front of someone else's backyard door. The middle yard of the second courtyard is only three meters wide, and there are a lot of things placed there, so there is no place to put your feet.
The one who served tea to the three of them was Boss Zhao's youngest daughter. Her full name was Zhao Qingnan, which sounded a bit masculine. She was much taller than other girls of the same age, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a heroic look between her eyebrows.
She politely served tea to the three of them and never moved away.
Mr. Zhao and the old lady didn't let her go down either.
Luo Yu's brows moved slightly. It was rare in this dynasty for a family to not mind having girls in the house getting in the way.
Even though she and Qin Bingrui were also women, Mr. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao did not look down on them. On the contrary, when they saw the two women, a hint of surprise flashed in their eyes, and more of it was admiration.
After taking their seats, Mr. Feng introduced Luo Yu and the other two to the master and the old lady, and told them how their house purchase was intercepted by the prince of the Marquis of Qingyang. After listening to this, Mr. Zhao slammed the armrest of his chair.
Mrs. Zhao said nothing and glanced at the old man with a gentle look.
Old man Zhao, who was furious just now, stood up as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He looked at the two girls and then at Master Murong. He was about to ask which of the three was in charge when Mr. Feng immediately recommended Qin Bingrui.
"Miss Qin, if you really want to buy a house, may I ask you, what kind of business are you planning to use it for?"
Qin Bingrui smiled brightly: "Could it be that my business is not to your liking, old man? Are you still not planning to sell it?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head and sighed, "Our Zhao family is now completely ruined. Only the only building on East Street is still worth some money. This building is related to the fate of our Zhao family's future rise. Logically speaking, we can't sell it hastily.
And right now, we might not even have enough to eat. The devastating flood a few months ago dealt us such a heavy blow that even if we wanted to sell our building, no one dared to take it. Although the new prefect, Lord Li, has temporarily resolved the city's price problem, I just heard that Prince Mo of the Marquisate has arrived in Wangzhou, and I know Wangzhou City is not going to be peaceful again.
If you buy this building now, it will be a loss, so I don’t know whether I should sell it or not.”
No matter how many ruthless and hateful evil people there are in this world, there are always people of justice.
Qin Bingrui didn't know what their beliefs were, but if it were him, he would not consider the gains and losses of others while he was struggling to survive.
When he thought of this, he looked at Sister Luo Yu. Luo Yu's expression was very calm.
Qin Bingrui felt more confident, as Sister Luo Yu believed that their family was trustworthy.
"Master Zhao, when we do business, we don't care whether we have competitors or not. After all, our business is unmatched."
When Mr. Zhao heard this, his eyes suddenly brightened: "Oh, Miss Qin, please tell me about it."
"We want to open a library where anyone can borrow books for free. No matter whether you are young or old, male or female, as long as you have something to pledge, you can become a member and borrow books for free in the library."
"really?"
The young lady Zhao Qingnan was even more excited than the two old men and almost jumped up. She was so surprised.
"Little girl, don't jump too much!" The old lady reminded her, but did not scold her for being unruly.
Luo Yu took another look at the little girl and found that her eyes were shining, as if she was looking forward to the future.
Luo Yu smiled and said, "Of course it's true. There's already a library in Liangzhou City. If you ask around, you'll find out that the library is owned by my mother's family, the Fang family."
Old Master Zhao stood up again, his face flushed, his voice trembling slightly. "I have indeed heard of this. At the time, I was wondering how this could be profitable. I never thought it would be true."
Feng Xiucai also shook the cup in his hand, and it took him a long time to control his emotions.
"You, are you really the ones who opened the first library in Liangzhou?"
Qin Bingrui nodded: "Miss Bai is the real one."
Master Murong lowered his head and smiled. This Miss Qin was so quick-witted that she even insulted her own people.