PDLP Chapter 134 Exchange
Chapter 134 Exchange
Not even a good cup of tea, that's disrespectful anyway.
Xu Shu knocked on the table three times, then stood up, pushed the door and walked out.
He went straight downstairs, but after taking two steps, a middle-aged man's voice came from behind him: "Sir, please stay."
Xu Shu stopped, but did not turn around, and only asked: "The shopkeeper came just in time."
The middle-aged man laughed twice, and then said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time, young master."
Since his attitude was acceptable, Xu Shu did not deny him face. Instead, he pretended to be embarrassed and looked back at the shopkeeper: "It's just that I suddenly remembered that the things that Wang Po asked me to give you were left at home."
The middle-aged man looked elegant, dressed like a scholar, and his clothes did not show that he was rich. The only notable thing on his body was the jade ring on the thumb of his left hand.
He smiled at Xu Shu, with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "That's fine. We're all family. I'll bring it back later."
Xu Shu didn't care and waved his hand: "Since the shopkeeper has spoken, I'm not in a hurry."
The man bowed and introduced himself: "My name is Fang, Fang Ru."
Xu Shu also returned the greeting: "I am Xu Shu."
Having said this, they naturally returned to the private room. As soon as Xu Shu sat down, Fang Ru asked someone to bring up a pot of good tea and scolded the waiter angrily.
What he meant was that Xu Shu was a distinguished guest, so how could he be entertained with such goodies?
Xu Shu watched coldly, without any intention of expressing his opinion. The tea must have been suggested by Fang Ru, just a show in front of him. Besides, he was not a distinguished guest. To be honest, he should be the host.
After Fang Ru's hard work, Xu Shu pretended to be slow to react and excused the man: "It's common for subordinates to be ignorant. Brother Fang is always worried about the affairs of this gambling house, so there must be things he can't take care of."
As he said this, he carefully looked at Fang Ru's expression. He didn't see him frowning, so he sneered in his heart, thinking that he did have some brains.
Fang Ru naturally understood the hidden meaning of Xu Shu's words. It was obvious that he was hinting at him that he couldn't take care of it, so he might as well let someone else take care of it as soon as possible.
But he just smiled and said: "I am old and cannot compete with the young people."
Xu Shu pretended not to understand: "How can you be considered old? I, a young man, rely entirely on you."
"Mr. Xu, you are joking." Fang Ru took a sip of tea. "This gambling house is named Fang on the surface, but you are the only one who knows who actually holds the title deed."
Xu Shu knew that he would bring up the land deed, so he didn't pretend to be ignorant and directly took out the land deed. The other party said, "Now that we have come to this, I won't hide it. I came here today to ask you for a favor."
Xu Shu handed the land deed to Fang Ru and said, "This is my gift of surrender."
Fang Ru was still cautious. He glanced at the deed and didn't take it. He just drank a sip of tea slowly and asked, "I'm afraid I can't afford such a big gesture."
"It's just a piece of cake, just one thing."
Xu Shu explained Li Ziguang's situation to Fang Ru truthfully. Of course, he said that Li Ziguang was his distant relative who had done favors for his family in the past, so he could not just sit back and watch. So he hoped that Fang Ru could help pay off the money he owed, and he was willing to hand over the land deed.
Fang Ru snorted and asked, "I have heard that your cousin owes our gambling house a full five thousand taels. This is not a small amount of money."
Xu Shucai didn't believe that what the other party said was not a small amount of money. He said that just because he thought he was easy to cheat and wanted to blackmail him more.
Xu Shuke was not easy to fool, so he pretended not to understand and poured Fang Ru a cup of tea very attentively: "Sir, this is a huge sum for us, but for you, it is just a small amount."
Fang Ru snorted: "It's not as good as Mr. Xu's youthful frivolity. I heard that he spent a full 600,000 taels of gold to buy Yichun Tower."
Xu Shu smiled helplessly: "It's bankrupt."
Then he changed the subject: "It is precisely because I spent so much money in Yichunlou that I know that people like you don't care about a few thousand or tens of thousands."
Fang Ru seemed to be amused by this, and laughed several times, and then asked Xu Shu: "You bought Yichun Tower with a large sum of money, what are your plans for the future?"
Xu Shuhai said, "Just do some small business. Don't expect to become rich. Just make a living."
Fang Ru added: "I heard that you have a good relationship with that county magistrate."
Xu Shu waved his hand: "The friendship we had before is now just a nodding acquaintance."
Fang Ru said "oh" thoughtfully, and then asked Xu Shu a lot of questions, and Xu Shu answered half-truthfully.
This meaningless conversation lasted for about two cups of tea, and Fang Ru finally agreed to settle the account with Li Ziguang.
Xu Shu handed him the land deed as he wished. After the two exchanged some polite words, Xu Shu took his leave.
In fact, it was still early, not even noon.
Xu Shu originally planned to go to Muyi Building to see Xiao Mujin, but after walking two steps, he met Wu Yong on the street. Wu Yong was in a hurry and insisted on dragging Xu Shu to see the cow bones.
Xu Shu had no choice but to go.
This was his first time to visit the Wu Mansion. This house with three entrances and three exits was said to be the highest treatment a businessman could enjoy.
When Xu Shu glanced over, he saw that everything he saw was full of the smell of money. It was a very typical nouveau riche style, and it was hard to describe.
Wu Yong seemed to sense that Xu Shuhui would look down upon his style, and he explained awkwardly, "These were all designed by my father. My father has no taste. Brother Xu, this is none of my business."
Xu Shu didn't care much: "Where is the cow bone you mentioned?"
Wu Yong then remembered and hurriedly took Xu Shu to see. He didn't know where he got it from, but there was a pile of bones like a small mountain. The white bones looked very horrifying.
Wu Yong was quite proud: "I searched all over Qingshui Town for this stuff, and only got this much, fifty kilograms."
It's quite a lot. If the skills are mature, two kilograms can make a set of mahjong, and fifty kilograms can make twenty-five sets of mahjong. By then, the mahjong hall will keep one set, keep one set for himself, give one set to Xiao Ran, and one set for Wu Yong, the errand boy. There will be only twenty-one sets left.
Bamboo Mahjong has no technical content. Once it is promoted, some businessmen will definitely see the business opportunities in it and start to imitate it.
Xu Shu said to Wu Yong: "Please take some time to find Xiao Ran and ask him to draw a small logo for mahjong. Um, the logo is..."
Xu Shu glanced at the people around him and said, "Please bring me a pen and paper."
He casually drew a simple modern trademark on a piece of paper and showed it to Wu Yong: "Just let Xiao Ran draw one like this. It doesn't matter if it looks good or not."
“The point is that he drew it himself.”
Wu Yong had been with Xu Shu for a long time, and he could understand many things after a little thought. When he heard that Xiao Ran was going to paint, he understood what Xu Shu meant: "It's just like the emperor writing inscriptions on plaques for us. I understand, I understand."
Seeing that he understood, Xu Shu didn't say much and began to introduce the mahjong cards and design ideas to him.
Bamboo-bone mahjong is made of bones for the front and bamboo for the back, embedded together with mortise and tenon structures. The principle is very simple, and Xu Shu can explain it in one sentence.
As for the cleaning of bones, the craftsmen themselves understood it, and the project took a long time. Xu Shu did not plan to follow up the whole process. After explaining the precautions, he also had a meal at Wu Yong's house.