unlucky ghost

Tan Zishi put down his pen and followed the little pigeon all the way to the upper hall, where several servants were kneeling at Master Tan's feet, all shrinking their necks and not daring to breathe.

When Master Tan saw Tan Zishi, he immediately became furious, and threw a bowl of hot tea over his shoulder.

Master Tan's old face was livid with anger, the blue scarf on his forehead was raised, and he said angrily: "You bastard, why don't you kneel down to me!"

Tanzi had never seen his father so enraged, he didn't dare to say anything stupid, and fell to his knees next to several servants with a plop.

"You dare to provoke anyone in the Feng family, and I'm going to touch your father's nose and face before my hair is even tied." Master Tan slapped the sandalwood table with his palm, shaking the whole room, " You're a prodigal, you just show off your cleverness all day long, and you'll ruin my business!"

Tan Zishi was scolded for no reason, and his heart was filled with anger, and he retorted: "I have read the book for you, and I will settle the bill for you. When will you be satisfied? Say I'm sorry." It's a goddamn thing, and you may not be any better!"

Master Tan raised his foot and kicked over the table, pointed at Tan Zishi's nose and cursed, "You're against me!"

Tanzi said honestly: "Even if you want to beat and scold, at least give me a clear explanation. When did I offend Feng's family? If I want to beat like this, am I not wronged?"

Master Tan suppressed his anger, and said to the servants who were kneeling on the ground: "Say it, tell me honestly, or you will get out of the house with the monthly money deducted."

The servants hurriedly said to Tan Zishi, "Master, do you still remember that there was a gift-giver last month? It's called Zhang Santiao, the one who came to deliver the greeting card."

Tanzi thought about it for a while, and immediately understood, it turned out to be this old account. "Remember, what's wrong?"

"Master, these three pieces belong to Master Feng's subordinates. They came here specially to deliver greeting cards that day, but they were kicked into the snow by the young master. Master, why don't you tell him not to come again..." That The slave said that he didn't dare to say any more.

When Tan Zishi heard that he was from the Feng family and not the Liu family who came to propose marriage, he realized that he had made a big mistake, and said stiffly: "His Feng family is just a small tea farm, and his family business is not as good as mine. Home, even if you reject his invitation, so what?"

Master Tan was so angry that his hands shook, and he scolded: "You bastard! You don't know how to repent, I... I raised you for nothing!" Master Tan clutched his chest, his face was blue and black, and he was dizzy and couldn't stand upright.

Qin Qing hurriedly stepped forward to support Master Tan, and persuaded: "Master, this is the end of the matter, don't be so angry, it will not be good if you hurt your body."

Tanzi lowered his head and was at a loss for words. If he added a few words of nonsense now, he would probably drive the old man to death.

"Father, anger hurts your liver. If you can't get angry, you can beat or scold, just don't hold it in your heart." Tan Zishi finally said something with a conscience.

Master Tan took a few steps back slowly, sat on the chair and stroked his chest.

"Nizi oh Nizi..."

Tanzi knelt down at his father's feet obediently, not daring to do anything wrong.

There was a rumbling sound of a carriage at the gate, and a figure jumped off the shaft and hurried up the hall stepping on the snow.

Master Tan hurriedly got up and went up to meet him.

The person who came was Fei Zuzi.

Feng Zuzi stepped forward to support Master Tan, and without hesitation to dust off the snow on his body, he hurriedly said: "Master, the second son of the Feng family stopped the door, saying that our Tan family is bullying others, since we look down on them, tell us not to do it again." Go to the house and disturb me."

Master Tan coughed twice, and hurriedly asked: "Then what did Master Feng say?"

Fei Zuzi showed embarrassment on his face, and said: "Master Feng avoids seeing him, the second young master is watching outside, so he probably doesn't want to see him either."

Master Tan hurriedly walked back and forth in the room, and asked again: "How much did they lose this time?"

Fei Zuzi thought for a while, and said in a low voice: "I heard from the boy at the door that at least twenty boats of tea failed to get out of the ferry, and each boat was nearly a thousand taels. There is also the Jiangnan side. People from all over the country have started to ask for debts from the mansion..."

Master Tan waved his hand, signaling him to back down, and said to Tanzi angrily, "The Feng family and our ancestors are family friends. In terms of closeness, the Feng family is closer to the Liu family than we are. The eldest master of the Liu family is a brother of the same mother. The grand master of the Liu family passed away, and the Feng family left the Liu family. Master Feng started from scratch, and he acts ruthlessly and decisively. You think they are easy to mess with!"

Tan Zishi didn't know what was going on, and said with a tongue-tied voice, "I..."

"It's good for you. You kicked the family's property apart. Your father and I will pay back the debt with my life."

Tanzi was speechless for a while.

Master Tan was pacing back and forth in the hall, his mouth was thirsty and he was fidgeting anxiously, he looked up at the snowy sky outside, raised his hand and called Qin Qing, "Where is Wen Zhong? Go and call him over!"

Qin Qing glanced at Tan Zishi who was kneeling on the ground, and hurriedly ran out.

Master Tan walked back and forth for a while.

The heavy snow outside has become like a goose feather, covering the entire sky in a profuse manner.

After half a stick of incense, Wen Zhong twisted his fat waist, turned into the door from under the eaves, stood at the door with his hands down and asked, "Why did the master call me?"

Master Tan said: "How many taels of silver do you have in your house?"

Wen Zhong hesitated for a moment, then said: "Last month's severe cold, the pharmacy just stocked up on medicinal materials, and I still owe the two masters in Jiangxi and Shaanxi a thousand taels of silver..."

Master Tan became more and more anxious, and said: "What are you talking about, what are you talking about, how much silver can you use in the accountant?"

Wen Zhong saw that the master's face had changed, and he hurriedly said: "Go back to the master, all of them are used to stock up on winter goods, I'm afraid I won't be able to get any silver taels...but... there are still a few thousand taels of silver in preparation for the ninth birthday of the young master of."

"A few thousand taels, oh..." Master Tan said, "What's the use of a few thousand taels..."

Wen Zhong didn't know about it, but when he turned his head and saw a room full of people kneeling, he guessed that the matter might be serious, so he didn't dare to speak out for a while.

"You often go to the south of the Yangtze River. Naturally, you have a wide network of contacts. Can you make friends with some famous scholars from aristocratic families, or do you know tea merchants?"

Wen Zhong was sweating in his palms. If he could make friends with those people, how could he die in such a small mansion all his life? He shook his head and said: "There are many businessmen and officials in the south of the Yangtze River, even those with a little wealth , I don’t know how big the backer is, the youngest is just a servant, although I know a lot, but they are casual acquaintances, if I really want to use the relationship, I really can’t count on it.”

Master Tan stared anxiously.

Wen Zhong said: "If the master is waiting to use the silver taels, it is better to go to the Liu family. After all, our two families are family friends, and our ancestors have favored them, so there is absolutely no reason not to borrow them."

Master Tan waved his hand and sighed: "If you want to borrow it, the Liu family will definitely agree, but they may not be willing to lend the silver taels to the Feng family, and even if they do, the Feng family may not be willing to use it."

"This..." Wen Zhong was in a difficult situation for a while, and he didn't dare to ask anything at the moment.

With a wave of Master Tan's hand, Wen Zhong hurriedly retreated.

Tan Zishi knelt until midnight that night. Although he didn't suffer any physical pain, he was locked in the study by his father, locked tightly by the big bronze lock, and he was not allowed to step out of the threshold until the day of marriage.

Tan Zishi lay on the couch for a whole day.

On the second day, he jumped up again and used the door panel to use the little pigeon to pry open the door.

The little pigeon didn't dare, Tanzi slammed on the door angrily.

If you smashed it, you would feel pain in your hands, so you kicked the door with your feet. It was like a wild animal trapped in an iron cage. The little pigeon was so scared that it ran to the courtyard to find the master.

Master Tan was sitting in the living room drinking tea, and several merchants in heavy brocade robes were leaving the gate of the mansion, rumbling away in a shiny carriage.

Master Tan was picking up a cup of hot tea, he put it to his lips and pursed it, without raising his eyelids, he said, "Why don't you watch the young master come here?"

"Old... master, young... young master, he's gone crazy." The little pigeon is usually the most slippery mouthed, but when it comes to Master Tan, it stutters like drinking swill.

Master Tan put down the teacup, snorted coldly, and said: "He still has face, just tell him to go crazy, let him spoil all the things, let him tear up all the books, as long as he doesn't freeze to death and starve to death Done, don't bother me any more."

"Yes! Master." The little pigeon ran out of the hall in a hurry, wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered: "Oh, what kind of father and son are these, this slave is really hard to be .”

Tanxi has been afraid of snow since she was a child.

The cold snowflakes were all over the ground, and it was almost freezing to death.

When I was young, I didn’t have enough to eat and didn’t wear warm clothes. When it snowed, my hands and feet would be swollen and festered, and even my face would be bruised and purple. It was useless to shrink into the corner of the wall.

Tanxi doesn't know the elegance of Xue, but only knows that Xue can kill people.

After a heavy snowfall in Baijiao, I don't know how many street people can be frozen to death.

Tanxi hid in the wine cellar, watching the snow fall one after another, as if it were endless.

When the snow melted in spring and the sky was fine, Tanxi came out to walk around.

It's just that when I came out to see it again, the world changed outside, and Tanxi felt like a big dream.

Tanzishi was still locked by his father, and every day, the little pigeon served outside with tea and water, and Qin Qing and others accompanied him to talk.

Tanzi was really honest, he just kept quiet in the study, knocking on the abacus and throwing things, but he didn't make any big troubles.

It was so calm and peaceful to the beginning of spring.

In the west courtyard of Tanfu, a few jasmine plants sprouted buds, and the tent was busy with a pot of porridge.

This time, Master Ritan was counting old accounts together with Wen Zhong in the counting room, and he was looking through several account books that Tanzi had actually calculated a few years ago.

Master Tan casually flipped through a few pages, full of flaws, it was really outrageous, so he pressed his eyebrows and threw it on the ground, Lingyu Qinggu sat up straight in fright, and buried his head in crackling to settle his own account.

"Master, master is not good, it's not good." A gatekeeper ran in in a panic, panting heavily: "Master, look." He said and handed him a crumpled piece of paper.

Master Tan hurriedly unfolded it to look at it, but it turned out to be a certificate, which clearly stated in black and white that their Tan family was an unethical businessman, privately selling fake medicines, shoddying them as good ones, and refusing to admit to the death of a doctor.

The case was submitted to the yamen, and the magistrate of the yamen accepted the case in person.

After reading the certificate, Master Tan asked, "Who sent this certificate?"