Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

In the area where Si Wan'er's supporters were, a group of "talented people" applauded loudly and cheered for Si Wan'er.

Yao Jianxin is also among them.

But while he was clapping, he was also looking around, trying to see if Xie Qinghuan would suddenly appear in a corner.

But Xie Qinghuan didn't see him, but met Chen Lang and his wife.

After secretly observing Li Xiuzhi, Yao Jianxin became more and more contemptuous of Chen Lang.

A wife's temperament and appearance determine a man's taste.

No wonder he himself is so vulgar after marrying such a vulgar woman.

How could Xie Qinghuan fall for such a man?

When Yao Jianxin thought about the fact that he would compete with such a man for a woman, he felt like he had eaten a fly.

Yao Jianxin was not interested in continuing to observe, so he withdrew his gaze and chatted with his companions around him.

Soon, the first round of performances ended.

Si Wan'er was the most outstanding, Pang Qiuyan was the most conscientious, Qi Meng was still as elegant as ever, but Ye Xiaoyu made a major mistake and probably had no chance of becoming the top courtesan this year.

Among these four people, Yao Jianxin actually doesn't like Si Wan'er. In Yao Jianxin's opinion, Si Wan'er's dance seems gorgeous but lacks connotation. It is amazing at first glance but mediocre upon closer inspection.

The reason I wrote poems for her was just to please a friend, and it was actually quite perfunctory.

But then again, now that the beginning has been made, Si Wan'er is bound to him, so even if he doesn't like it in his heart, he must support Si Wan'er to the end this evening.

Thinking of this, Yao Jianxin called the yamen clerk who was responsible for delivering flowers.

"Send two hundred flower baskets to Miss Si Wan'er."

Although his family was not poor, he had already spent most of his money on buying a restaurant. Now, these 200 flower baskets were the limit of what Yao Jianxin could afford.

After the clerk registered, someone soon walked up to the stage and read aloud.

"Master Yao Jianxin, send Wan'er a 200-yuan flower basket."

Everyone looked over at him, and Yao Jianxin stood up and bowed to everyone around him.

Only those who send more than 100 flower baskets are eligible to be notified.

If there are less than 100 flower baskets, the clerk in the yamen will tell the person to whom the flowers are sent, but will not make an announcement on stage.

As for how those who received the flowers would thank these people, that was not the government's business.

However, before Yao Jianxin could sit down, the official in charge of the announcement on the stage shouted again, "Mr. Chen Lang of Guhong Tower sends a flower basket worth 1,000 yuan to the Qimeng family!"

When this voice came out, there were bursts of exclamations from the crowd.

A thousand flower baskets cost one thousand taels, which is a huge sum of money!

Everyone in Linshui County knew that Guhonglou made money, but only now did they have an intuitive understanding of the speed at which Guhonglou made money.

Yao Jianxin's expression suddenly changed.

Although he didn't have much contact with Chen Lang, Yao Jianxin felt that Chen Lang's behavior was directed at him.

After realizing this, Yao Jianxin sneered, thinking, "How childish!"

If Chen Lang knew what Yao Jianxin was thinking at the moment, he would only say three words to him: "Overthinking."

Chen Lang did not use his own money to buy these thousand flower baskets, but Ma Jiaqi's money.

Asking Chen Lang to send the flower basket is to borrow Chen Lang's reputation.

Moreover, a thousand flower baskets didn’t really cost a thousand taels, but were half price.

Yamen also learned this routine from Chen Lang. When members of Chen Lang's Guhonglou give rewards, a return ratio will be set. Simply put, it allows those members to have both face and substance.

When Chang Anmin and Wang Yunzhang were formulating relevant policies, they referred to the operation of Guhonglou.

You can get a reward by giving flower baskets to large local merchants.

Of course, this is a "behind-the-scenes operation" and it is impossible to talk about it on the surface.

However, people like Yao Jianxin who come from other places will not receive rebates.

It would be a waste not to make money from them.

Although Yao Jianxin and Ma Jiaqi are distant relatives, this "distant relative" is really quite distant.

When Ma Jiaqi tried to borrow Yao Jianxin's fame but failed and turned to borrow Chen Lang's fame, the fragile relationship between the two parties came to an end.

During the period that followed, Yao Jianxin rarely even went to Tingxue Tower. Even if he went, he would not say hello to Ma Jiaqi when he saw her.

Ma Jiaqi was too lazy to serve this troublesome "distant relative", and the two sides returned to being strangers.

Therefore, Ma Jiaqi would never tell Yao Jianxin about the "secret" between the Ma family and the government office.

The only big merchants Yao Jianxin knew in Linshui were the Ma family. The others were all "talented men" and it was even less likely that they knew the tacit understanding between the government and the big merchants.

A friend came over and said, "This is really a big deal... Zi'an, I noticed you've been looking at Chen Lang. Are you planning to compete with him?"

Yao Jianxin was silent for a long time, then asked, "Do you know who Xie Qinghuan likes?"

The friend was stunned for a moment: "Zi'an is referring to Chen Lang, right?"

Yao Jianxin said: "That's right."

The friend frowned and said, "When you think about it, it's not surprising. After redeeming herself from Hongxiu Zhao, she returned to Guhonglou to resume her old business. Either Chen Lang spent a lot of money, or they slept together."

"Now it seems that it should be both."

"This Chen Lang, letting his mistress show up in public to please other men, he's quite bold."

"If we expose this matter, wouldn't it be a good show?"

Yao Jianxin pointed at Li Xiuzhi and said, "That woman is Chen Lang's wife."

The friend glanced at her and said, "She's dressed alright, and looks passable...but no matter how you look at her, she looks like a country girl."

"Oh, I see. Zi'an is the one who sees the long term."

"This kind of country woman has no ability to resist a man. Even if this matter is exposed, this woman will not make a fuss with Chen Lang. It might even become a good story. It's not worth it."

Yao Jianxin smiled and said, "When doing something, the first thing to consider is what benefits you can get from it."

"Exposing their relationship, whether it causes a fire in the backyard or becomes a good story, will do me no good."

"So, either don't do it, or do it completely!"

Although Yao Jianxin's tone was calm, his eyes were extremely terrifying, and his friends couldn't help but get goose bumps.

At the same time, Pang Qiuyan, who was resting backstage, immediately went to Xie Qinghuan to complain after hearing the announcement of the one thousand flower baskets.

"Sister Qinghuan, Master Chen bullied me!"

Xie Qinghuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said, "I know Mr. Chen very well. The thousand flower baskets are probably the Ma family's idea. They just want to borrow Mr. Chen's reputation."

"I don't care. Master Chen is just bullying me. When I go on stage later, I won't wear a bra, and I won't sing the songs he wrote..."

Xie Qinghuan touched Pang Qiuyan's face and said, "Don't make trouble. I'll bring you a flower basket later, okay?"

Pang Qiuyan snorted, quickly stripped herself naked, and said, "Bring me my battle robe!"