The whole family travels through the book, the plot is broken but the characters are not

In the center of Los Angeles, on Zhuque Street, less than two miles away from the imperial palace, there are two three-story shops next to each other.

One shop was originally a teahouse, and the other was a restaurant.

These two shops have the same owner, whose surname is Ji.

Ji Dongjia is a well-known wealthy businessman in Minzhou Prefecture. He came to Luocheng to develop ten years ago.

These two shops are the properties that Mr. Ji’s family has invested in Luocheng.

Because it is very close to the palace, business is very good.

Ji Dongjia's elderly parents and the families of his eldest and second sons all stayed in Minzhou Prefecture.

After all, Minzhou Prefecture is their base camp, and they have to protect the industry that started their business.

The youngest son of the Ji family is a good student. As a merchant family, every family would try their best to cultivate a scholar. The academy in Luocheng is far from comparable to that in Minzhou Prefecture.

So, Mr. and Mrs. Ji brought their youngest son and his family to Luocheng.

The youngest son was studying at Fengyuan Academy and passed the imperial examination two years ago.

Because the imperial court held a special examination this year, Ji Dongjia's youngest son returned to his ancestral home in Minzhou Prefecture to take part in the provincial examination.

Ji Dongjia's wife and second son and his family all went back as well.

In late October, Ji Dongjia received the news that his youngest son had passed the imperial examination and would be returning to Beijing soon.

Ji Dongjia was very happy, as his long-cherished wish finally came true.

After the excitement, Mr. Ji discovered that the business of the teahouse had declined a lot. After asking, he found out that many people had gone to the newly opened Mingxianglou in the south of the city.

It is said that Mingxianglou not only has fresh stage plays, but the stories told by storytellers are also more exciting than those on the market.

Moreover, the new cocoa tea released by Mingxianglou is not only rich and mellow in taste, but also very refreshing. Scholars love it the most. When they are tired of studying, they can have a cup of it and continue studying for another two hours.

Mr. Ji was very curious, so he went to Mingxiang Tower. When he entered, he was shocked. There were too many people.

Many people even shared tables, and a table originally meant for four people was squeezed in with eight people.

Looking at the decoration of Mingxianglou, Mr. Ji secretly praised the talent.

So Ji Dongjia drank cocoa tea, ate cakes he had never tasted before, and watched a stage performance of "The Legend of Peach Blossom Fan".

The next day, Ji Dongjia came again. This time, he listened to a book - "The Oil Seller and the Own Flower Girl".

After that, Ji Dongjia came for several days in a row and finally finished watching the stage play of "The Legend of Peach Blossom Fan" and listening to "The Oil Seller and the Oiran".

Ji Dongjia felt that he had really enjoyed these days.

Ordinary tea is fine. The tea in his teahouse is no worse than that in Mingxianglou.

But that cocoa tea and those cakes are really good.

And that stage play and fresh storybook, if they were placed in his teahouse...

So, Mr. Ji found Lu Youtian, the owner of Mingxianglou.

The two hit it off immediately and got along great.

What, you’re not from Los Angeles?

It’s better to be like you, my brother, and settle down in Los Angeles.

My ancestral home is in Minzhou Prefecture. My youngest son had to run back to Minzhou Prefecture to take part in the provincial examination. It was too much trouble.

Fortunately, he will be back soon and will take part in the imperial examination in the capital next year.

When Ji Dongjia said these words, he was particularly proud. How easy was it for a businessman like them to produce a scholar? This was enough for him to brag about for the rest of his life.

Hey, Brother Ji, is there anyone in your family taking part in the provincial examination this year?

What? You have one at home, too?

Yes, my good-for-nothing son-in-law was the top scholar at the age of fifteen. He is now twenty-five years old and has just won the title of Jieyuan in Shuntian Prefecture.

Lu Youtian spoke politely, but his tone was full of pride, and he was extremely proud in his heart. If it weren't for his bad luck in the exam, his son-in-law would have become a juren at the age of seventeen.

Ji Dongjia was stunned for a long time. He was 25 years old, a top scorer in the provincial examination, and from Shuntian Prefecture.

His youngest son is thirty-four years old and is the last in the imperial examination.

Seeing that Ji Dongjia looked a little disappointed, Lu Youtian felt sorry for him and quickly tried to persuade him.

My son-in-law is different from others. His father also passed the imperial examination at a young age. He was the first scholar in our Fengxi Town.

When my son-in-law was very young, he was held in his father's arms and read to him.

Unlike us businessmen, our brains are not focused on books, but on material things.

After being persuaded by Lu Youtian, Ji Dongjia felt better. Yes, it was such a great honor for a businessman to have a juren.

So we changed the topic and continued the conversation, talking about everything under the sun, from morning to noon.

After having dinner at the Lu family, Mr. Ji explained the purpose of his visit.

He wanted to sell Mingxianglou's cocoa tea and pastries in his teahouse, with the profit split 30% to him and 70% to the Lu family.

Lu Youtian calculated the cost of the pastries. Mingxianglou charges a commission of 10% of the selling price for Lu Yanyan's pastries.

The price of pastries in Luocheng is definitely higher than that in Mingxianglou, and the profit is 30% to 70%, so Lu Yanyan does not suffer any loss.

But he still asked someone to ask Lu Yanyan's opinion, and Lu Yanyan replied that there was no problem.

Lu Youtian also gave Ji Dongjia a reply, saying that there was no problem with the 30% and 70% profit split, and they could sign a contract later.

Mingxianglou's business is so good that the seats outside are full of people. But as the weather is getting colder, no one can sit outside anymore.

He was still worrying about where to open a branch, when now, someone handed him a pillow because he was sleepy.

Mr. Ji also proposed that if he wanted the copyright of Mingxianglou storybook, he could pay the royalties.

Of course, he also wanted the stage play to be performed in his teahouse, but his teahouse did not have the conditions and there was no stage, so Mr. Ji could only think of the storybook.

Lu Youtian waved his hand and said, "Aren't we a cooperative relationship? I'll give you the copyright of the storybook for free. Just find a storyteller yourself."

Mr. Ji is so happy. I will come to deliver the deed tomorrow. We two brothers still have a lot to talk about today.

The two were chatting enthusiastically when Lu Yi came in and said that the Ji family's housekeeper had something urgent to discuss with Ji Dongjia.

When Ji Dongjia looked at the clepsydra, he realized that he had stayed in the Lu family for too long. So he bowed and apologized to Lu Youtian repeatedly. Lu Youtian smiled and saw him out.

As soon as the two of them walked into Lu's house, they saw Butler Ji with disheveled hair and tears in his eyes.

Before Mr. Ji could ask what was going on, Steward Ji fell to his knees and shouted that the Ji family was gone.

It turned out that because of the change of commanders on the battlefield, the Dayu army was defeated when facing the Dongling army at the end of September. The Dongling army ran into the city and burned, killed and looted along the way.

Although the enemy was driven out later, many civilians died in Minzhou Prefecture.

As a wealthy merchant family in Minzhou Prefecture, the Ji family was the enemy's primary target.

Ji Dongjia's wife, eldest son, second son and youngest son, the whole family is gone.

Only Ji Dongjia's elderly parents and his two little grandsons were hiding in the cellar.

It was because of Ji Dongjia's three sons and several grandsons that they shielded themselves and these people escaped the disaster.

As soon as Mr. Ji heard what Butler Ji said, his body went limp and he fainted.

Lu Youtian quickly dragged the man into the room and asked someone to find Doctor Chang.

Doctor Chang was the doctor that Lu Youtian brought with him to accompany Han Qingyun to the provincial examination that day. He had very good medical skills.

After Doctor Chang gave him a few injections, Ji Dongjia woke up. The first thing he did when he woke up was to ask what Ji Guanjia had just said.

Ji Dongjia took out the letter written by the old man and cried. Before he finished reading the letter, he fainted again.

After that, Doctor Chang gave Ji Dongjia acupuncture. He woke up and then fainted again soon.

After repeating this several times, Ji Dongjia finally stopped feeling dizzy.

He hugged Lu Youtian and cried uncontrollably, cursing the court for why they wanted to change the commander.

Everyone knows that General Gao is the patron saint of Minzhou Prefecture. With him around, there is no way the Dongling Kingdom can set foot in Minzhou Prefecture.

When Lu Youtian heard Ji Dongjia say that the court was confused, he quickly kicked everyone out of the room.

He comforted Ji Dongjia and told him to take good care of his health for the sake of his elderly parents and two grandchildren at home.

Ji Dongjia cried and cursed for a long time.

Lu Youtian felt very sad. If they had not escaped from Wuping County at that time, would their entire family have been wiped out?

It was not until the evening that Mr. Ji, whose voice was hoarse from crying, returned to the Ji Mansion with the help of the servant and the housekeeper.

For the next few days, Lu Youtian didn't hear any news.

He originally wanted to visit Mr. Ji, but was afraid that people would misunderstand that it was about the teahouse cooperation, so he only asked Lu Bing to send a top-quality century-old ginseng to Ji's house.

Lu Bing came back and said that the Ji family was in a state of despair, and that the Ji family boss was so sick that he couldn't even get up...