Chapter 49 Seed
Chapter 49 Seed
As soon as he entered the main room, Kang Youfu knelt down in front of Zhu Shenzhui without saying a word and kowtowed repeatedly.
"What are you doing? Get up, get up quickly. I can't accept such a gift." Zhu Shenzhui hurriedly helped him up.
"Sixth Master, I cannot repay your kindness. Thanks to your help, my Kang family was able to escape the disaster. If it were not for your kindness, my Kang family might have been destroyed. Sixth Master, please let me thank you very much. From now on, I will serve you like a cow or a horse, even if it means death!"
"There's no need to say that... There's no need to do that..." Zhu Shenzhui pulled Kang Youfu up from the ground. Seeing that Kang Youfu's forehead was bruised and red from the knock, he couldn't help but scold him and pulled him to sit down.
"Is there anything in this world that is greater than a life-saving favor? Sixth Master..."
Before Kang Youfu could finish, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said, "There's no need to mention this. Since we met, it's fate. And you should know this clearly. Since you came to me, you probably know my identity, right? So there's no need to publicize this matter. It won't be good for you or me if it gets out."
"I understand, I understand..." Kang Youfu nodded repeatedly. Just as Zhu Shenzui said, he was able to find this place today naturally to find out Zhu Shenzui's identity and background. Otherwise, because of this incident, Kang Youfu would not have known that Zhu Shenzui was a member of the royal family.
To ordinary people, the royal family is high and mighty. You have to know that the world belongs to their Zhu family.
Although many members of the royal family have had unhappy lives in recent years, the status of the royal family is not comparable to that of ordinary people. Moreover, if it were not for Zhu Shenzhu's help in the lawsuit of their Kang family, it would be scary to think about what the final outcome would be.
I made a cup of hot tea for Kang Youfu to warm up first. It must have been a tiring journey, and it was snowing outside today.
While Kang Youfu was drinking tea, Zhu Shenzui asked them about the current situation of the Kang family in a friendly manner. Kang Youfu told Zhu Shenzui that after the lawsuit was settled, his father and second brother were released, and the Kang family tofu workshop was reopened in the past two days.
However, his father and brother suffered a lot in prison. Kang Youlu was young and strong, so the problem was not serious. He only had some external injuries and would recover after a few days of rest.
But my father Kang Tai's condition was not very good. He was bedridden after he came back. We asked a doctor to see him, who said that he had suffered in prison and was frightened. He was also old and his body was damaged.
These days, he has been taking medicine and is feeling a little better, but he is still unable to work. The Kang Family Tofu Workshop is being maintained by him and his second brother for the time being, but because the previous lawsuit has damaged the reputation of Kang Family Tofu, the business in the shop is not very good now, not even half of what it used to be.
"It's not easy when something like this happens at home, but it's good that the person can come back. The rest can be dealt with slowly, and it will eventually come back. If you need any help, please feel free to do so. I will definitely lend a hand if I can."
"Thank you, Sixth Master. I really don't know how to thank you for your words. You are right, it's good that the person is back, and business will eventually recover. My Kang family has been in Pingyang Prefecture for so many years. Although such an incident has happened, I think everything will be fine in the future." Kang Youfu nodded with emotion.
After sitting and chatting for a while, Zhu Shenzhui asked about the aftermath of the lawsuit and asked with concern whether Liu Qi had caused trouble for their Kang family later, and if so, he could tell him.
"Thank you for your concern, Sixth Master. Liu Qi didn't come to cause trouble after the lawsuit, but I heard that he spread bad things about our Kang family behind our backs." Kang Youfu said to Zhu Shenzhui with anger, "I guessed right last time. This is most likely Liu Qi targeting our Kang family behind the scenes. His purpose is to use this incident to destroy our Kang family and then seize our workshop and yard."
"What about the Liu family? Is it Mr. Liu Shancheng's family?"
"The Liu family is fine. After the lawsuit was settled, the Liu family's steward came to our Kang family yesterday and said a few nice words, asking our family to send tofu as before these few days. However, the Liu family's steward also revealed another meaning in his words, saying that the reason why my father and second brother were able to come back was because Master Liu helped our family to put in a call at the county government." At this point, Kang Youfu sneered, "The Liu family really has a good plan. When I came to their house, they didn't even let me in. Now that the lawsuit is settled, the credit has become the Liu family's? I'm not stupid, how could I believe his lies? But in front of the Liu family's steward, I still thanked him profusely and said that the tofu I sent next time would be free, as a way of thanking Master Liu for his kindness."
As he said this, Kang Youfu sneered. It was obvious that he was disgusted by the shamelessness of the Liu family. In addition to the relationship between Liu Qi and the Liu family, Kang Youfu hated the entire Liu family.
"Well, it's fine for you. After all, the Liu family is a big family with a lot of wealth. It's not something that ordinary people like you can touch. As the saying goes, suffering a loss is a blessing. If they want this good reputation, let them do it. Just know it in your heart." Zhu Shenzhu nodded and said something fair, which was also a consolation. "Justice is in the heart of the people. If you do too many bad things, there will always be retribution. Back then, Goujian was sleeping on firewood and tasting gall. Even if you are angry, you have to hold it in. As for the Liu family, hehe, if you walk too much at night, you will always run into ghosts. What do you think?"
Kang Youfu nodded silently. Although he didn't say anything else, Zhu Shenzui saw something unusual in his fleeting eyes.
Once a seed of hatred is planted, it has the potential to blossom and bear fruit in the future.
Kang Youfu is not like his father Kang Tai, nor his brother Kang Youlu. He is very slick and smart when doing business. Moreover, the Kang family suffered such a big loss this time. Kang Youfu knows very well what would have happened to the Kang family if Zhu Shenzhu had not come to the rescue.
All of this was caused by the Liu family. Although the real enemy was Liu Qi, if Liu Shancheng, the hypocrite, had not helped Liu Qi, how could Liu Qi, a small village head, have such thoughts? Moreover, what Liu Shancheng did made Kang Youfu very angry. After all, their family and the Liu family have been friends for generations. Even if you, Liu Shancheng, don't help, you can't add insult to injury.
From this point of view, Kang Youfu hated Liu Shancheng more than Liu Qi, and he knew that as long as the Liu family stood firm, he would have no way to deal with Liu Qi. If he wanted revenge, he had to destroy the Liu family. But how to destroy the Liu family? Kang Youfu was lost in thought for a while.
He didn't stay at Zhu Shenzhui's place for long, as the tofu workshop was still doing business, so Kang Youfu had to hurry back after coming out.
When leaving, Zhu Shenzhui secretly put some money under Kang Youfu's tofu basket while Kang Youfu was not paying attention, as payment for his tofu.
It was not until Kang Youfu returned to the shop with his load to clean up that he discovered this. When he saw this, he was stunned. He picked up the string of money, his heart was moved, and he couldn't help but shed tears.
In the blink of an eye, some days passed and it was almost the twelfth lunar month.
On this day, in Zhu Qiuqi's courtyard, Zhu Shenzhui, Zhu Minfeng, Zhu Minyu and Zhu Qiuqi were sitting around a steaming copper pot on the table, eating hot pot.
Shabu-shabu was introduced by the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty, and continued in the Ming Dynasty. It is rare in the south, but common in the north, especially in Shanxi, which is close to the border. In the past two years, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia has eased a lot, and border trade has been opened. Many cattle and sheep from Mongolia have been imported through border trade.
Compared to other places, sheep in Shanxi are much cheaper, but as meat, ordinary people can't eat it often. If Zhu Qiuqi hadn't gotten some mutton this time, and Zhu Shenzhui hadn't given them some silver, they wouldn't have been willing to eat so lavishly.
These days, because of Zhu Shenzui, the three families lived much better than before, especially Zhu Minyu, who had the most children in the family. At least the family did not have to worry about not having enough food for the time being. Although they could not have the luxury of eating delicious food, two meals a day was no problem.
The improvement in the family situation made the three people who were already close to Zhu Shenzhu even closer. In addition to the two hundred and fifty yuan that Zhu Shenzhu had promised before, the three people were still looking forward to getting the job done and making some more money.
Today's gathering was convened by Zhu Qiuqi. On the one hand, it was a rare opportunity to have a hotpot meal to satisfy his hunger, and on the other hand, he also wanted to ask Zhu Shenzhu about the subsequent arrangements.
If things continued like this, it would be almost the New Year, and there had been no progress regarding the Liu family's affairs, so they couldn't help but feel anxious.
After meeting and exchanging a few pleasantries, everyone sat down and started eating hot pot. Although there was not much mutton, there were other side dishes, especially fish fillets, radishes, tofu and other things. Everyone was smiling and eating with their chopsticks while dipping them in the pot.
After a while of eating, when his stomach was about 70% full, Zhu Qiuqi stopped what he was doing, touched his slightly bulging belly, picked up the wine jug beside him and filled it with wine for Zhu Shenzhui, saying that it was a rare opportunity to have such a hot pot meal today, thanks to his uncle's care.
(End of this chapter)