The clerk's eyes lit up and he lowered his voice: "Those are the deputy stewards and guards of Wood Auction House. They are not easy to mess with. Little sister, please don't offend them."
Xiao Tianjian felt very complicated, and his granddaughter actually learned this trick. But he quickly took over the role: "I think you seem a little afraid of them. It's just an auction house, what's so big about it?"
"Don't say that." A trace of panic flashed across the clerk's face, "Mr. Wood has a good relationship with the nobles in the capital. I heard that the things he bought there were even sold to the palace. The auction house is crowded with people. Even the merchants on the dock don't dare to offend, let alone us little people." He shrank his head, turned around and was about to leave, but Minna grabbed him by the corner of his clothes: "We also want to send things to auction. Where is their store?”
The clerk felt a little relieved after hearing this. After giving the address, he left quickly. Ming Na and Xiao Tianjian looked at each other, hurriedly finished the remaining food, and walked towards Wood Auction House.
When the grandfather and grandson asked for directions on the road, they also briefly inquired about the auction house. As a result, the person they asked either ran away in fear, or looked at them with wary eyes for a long time before saying, "I'm here to buy cod liver oil." I don’t know anything” and then walked away. The grandfather and grandson were a little frustrated, but it can also be understood from this that Wood Auction House is not a good place.
When they came to the street where the auction house was located, they were looking around, looking for the target, but they were attracted by a commotion. I saw a group of big men surrounding a gray-haired man. The latter had his back to Xiao Tianjian and his grandson. He was bowing his head to another short, fat, bald, middle-aged man with a curly moustache and begging: "Please give me two more days." Damn it, I have a payment coming soon, I will go to Matt to get the money back in the afternoon, and the day after tomorrow, no, I can pay it back tomorrow."
Ming Na noticed that the "Wood Auction House" sign was hanging on the door of the tall building next to the store where they were standing. And the big men surrounding the gray-haired man were wearing the same clothes as the ones I saw in the tavern just now. Could they be the same group? Who is that gray-haired man
The bald man glanced contemptuously at the person in front of him: "I'm not talking about you, Lao You. You have said this three times. The interest is being pushed forward day by day. If I continue to extend my grace, other debtors will have to pay back their debts." I thought it would be okay if I didn’t pay back the money.”
The "Old You" bent even lower: "This time it's true, it only takes one day! There will be no further delay."
The bald man said casually: "You say that every time, but it is common for the payment to be in arrears for several days. Can you guarantee that you will have money tomorrow?" Seeing that the other party was hesitant, he coughed twice and changed his smile: "Old man You, we have been old friends for more than ten years, and I don’t want to see you in trouble. Well, your shop is worth hundreds of gold coins. You can use it to offset this month’s interest, so that everyone can It’s easy to handle.”
"Lao You" raised his head and exclaimed: "No! I, I can't..."
"Yutan?" Xiao Tianjian suddenly spoke. Mingna looked at him in surprise, thinking that her grandfather knew this person.
The other party turned around when he heard the sound, and was also shocked: "Xiao?! Why are you here?"
"Just passing by." Xiao Tianjian frowned and walked over, and Ming Na hurriedly followed. "Do you owe this person money? Why don't you come to me if you have trouble? It's not like you don't know the people in my business, just borrow from them."
Yutan lowered his head in shame: "I accidentally incurred a debt, so how can I have the nerve to come to you? I can't borrow money from you every time, right?"
The bald man looked at Xiao Tianjian arrogantly and seemed a little unhappy: "Who is your Excellency?"
"How much does he owe you?" Xiao Tianjian did not answer his question, but asked directly.
The other party's face was not very good, and he said calmly: "Seven thousand five hundred gold coins, with an interest of 500 per month. Do you want to pay for him?"
Xiao Tianjian frowned again and turned to Yutan: "Why is there so much? What did you do with the money?"
"Nothing was done. Mr. Wood hired a ship from my fleet to transport a batch of goods. There was a storm on the road and the goods were destroyed. According to the contract, I must compensate them double for their losses." Yutan lowered his head and whispered. He added: "I didn't expect this to happen. It was obviously just a small storm, and the cargo of other ships was fine, but..."
"Has the goods been inspected before shipment?" Xiao Tianjian felt something was wrong.
The bald man's face changed: "What do you mean by this? It was Yutan's people who personally inspected the goods before loading them on the ship! They were all Shaonan's finest silks, precious spices and crystal vessels, which were extremely precious. It was specially used to pay tribute to the palace during the National Day in November. As a result, all the crystal vessels were broken and other goods were soaked by the sea water. We have to find another person to purchase the goods and ask him to pay only 7,500 gold coins. This is already For the sake of old friendship!”
Xiao Tianjian just stared at Yu Tan, who nodded, indicating that what the other party said was true, but added: "The person who inspected the goods... is the posthumous son of a member of my fleet. He returned to his hometown to take care of his sick mother two months ago. ”
These words made Xiao Tianjian and the bald man narrow their eyes. The former smiled and said to the latter: "Isn't it just seven thousand five hundred gold coins? It's trivial." He took out a piece of specially printed letter paper and hurriedly wrote on it After a few words, he signed and stamped it and handed it to the bald man: "Take this and go to the headquarters of the Xiao Family Trading Company in Idong City. They will pay you." After saying that, he took Yutan and left.
The bald man quickly stopped them: "You...it turns out to be Earl Xiao...Yutan has such a generous friend like you, it's really..."
Xiao Tianjian ignored him and continued to pull You Tan away, with Ming Na following closely.
After walking two streets, Yu Tan finally realized from his stupor and hurriedly pulled Xiao Tianjian to turn into another street and came to a building: "Thank you, thank you so much. I don't know how to say it. I will try my best as soon as possible." I'll give you the money back..." He was a little excited.
Xiao Tianjian smiled: "What's the point? We are friends. You can just pay back the money when it's convenient for you. I still can't trust you?" He patted the other party's shoulder: "I have something to go out for. This is my little one." My granddaughter Ming Na, it's not convenient for me to take her there, please take care of her for me, I'll be back soon." After saying that, he stepped away and she was already outside the door.
Ming Na was stunned and quickly chased out. Where could she see anyone? Gritting his teeth, he turned back: "Damn grandpa, you abandoned me and ran away again..."
Yu Tan wiped away the tears of excitement in his eyes and said to Ming Na with a smile: "Your name is Ming Na, right? Xiao has to do something important, so just wait for him for a while. I also have a little daughter, who is about the same age as you. It's a pity that Now she is at Kamega’s house, otherwise she could play with you.”
Minna was a little curious: "Are you a Camaika?" She looked at the other person's tanned skin and curly gray hair, which looked exactly like the Camaika people mentioned in the textbook: "What does it look like there? Of? How far is it from here?"
"Kamaika is on the eastern sea. It's only a three-day boat ride from here. It's very close. It's a big island there, and there are many small islands around it. The scenery is charming. You must go there if you have the chance. ." Youtan smiled and ordered the servant to bring tea, then sat down to talk to Minna.
Minna thought of Coral Island, so she pestered Yutan about Kamega. She waited until dark before her grandfather came back.
Xiao Tianjian didn't come back alone, he also brought the fat man with him. Mingna opened her eyes wide and looked at the scars on the fat man's body and face. She turned around and asked her grandfather: "Grandpa, did you rescue him?"
Xiao Tianjian nodded and asked the fat man: "You said you buried that foreigner at sea, do you still remember where he came from?"
The fat man seemed to be very afraid of him: "I just found him on the beach, but I don't know where he came from. The boat he took is still at my house."
Xiao Tianjian then carried him out of the house again, and Ming Na followed him, but he soon forced him back on the grounds that children could not go out after dark, and stayed angrily in the guest room until grandpa came back in the middle of the night. Yes, she shook her head, snorted coldly, ignored him, and went to sleep.
But when she got up the next day, she found that grandpa didn't say a word about what she had discovered last night, as if nothing had happened. She was itching for a long time, and finally lowered her head: "Grandpa, are you at that fat man's house?" , what exactly did you find?"
Xiao Tianjian smiled and scratched her nose: "Little girl, are you not angry anymore?" Before his granddaughter got really angry, he gave the answer: "I didn't find anything. The fat man plundered everything. , the man was buried at sea, but he was greedy and left the boat with the logo of a certain shipyard in Matt Port. Your uncle Yutan is going to Matt today, so let's take a free boat."
From Manado to Port Mat, you only need to take a boat and walk for most of the day, and then you are there. During this journey, except for the farmland and mountains on the shore, and the sea on the other side, there were no interesting scenery, and the sea water was also a bit dirty. But Minna wasn't bored because she could admire Yutan's collection of interesting toys.
This old businessman who is nearly fifty years old is a loving father. Because he had a daughter when he was forty years old, he dotes on her very much. When he is doing business outside, he always brings many gifts for his daughter, such as Small baskets woven from reeds, dolls carved from wood, small crystal animal statues from Italy, coral bead strings from Doro, alchemy toys from the Magic City, etc.
Minna carefully fiddled with some of the more solid things and listened to Yutan telling interesting stories about her daughter. Most of the day passed without her realizing it.
Matt Port is located in the south of the mouth of the Bebe River. The entire port is like a huge pliers facing northeast. There are thousands of ships docked in the bend, no less than those in Doluo Port. It just looks a bit messy, but it is more lively.
Minna followed her grandfather and said goodbye to Yutan for the time being, and walked towards the city. Although she had never been to her grandfather's house, Xiao Tianjian had been to Matt and was no stranger to this place. Viscount Zhu Fa's house was quite famous here. After asking for directions twice, they found the house not far from the port. destination.
Ming Na looked at the tall iron railings with gold carvings in front of her, as well as the vast and beautiful gardens inside, and the majestic and stately mansion in the distance. She sighed: "It turns out that grandpa's family is so rich and the house he lives in is so beautiful..."
Xiao Tianjian smiled and said: "The spices of the Zhu Fa Family Trading Company are very famous. Our Xiao Family Trading Company has only barely surpassed them in the past ten years. Your grandpa is also considered to be one of the richest people in Matt."
Mingna tilted her head, smiled, took her grandfather's hand and walked towards the gate. Not long after, she found her mother Dora standing in front of the gate. She happily wanted to call out to her, but was covered by her grandfather. Mouth, dragged behind a tree on the roadside. She looked at her grandfather in confusion, and saw him motioning for her to look more carefully. Ming Na turned to look at her mother and was stunned.
In front of the door of Zhu Fa's house, besides Dora, there was another one, none other than Goodwin Chulov. He held a large bouquet of red roses in his hand, and took out a small object from his arms, which shone in the sunlight. Almost everyone could tell that it was a ring with a huge diamond on it. Goodwin knelt on one leg in front of Dora and presented flowers and rings with a pious and affectionate look on his face. Dora's face was red, she looked around, and she didn't know what she said, so she picked up Goodwin and walked into the door together. Goodwin's face showed ecstasy.
Ming Na was panicking. She was no longer the little girl who didn't understand anything. In the past two years, she had seen the Luba couple's disgusting performances almost every day. How could she not know what the scene just now represented? She was so anxious that she almost cried: "Why didn't mom refuse? Did she agree to someone else's proposal? What should dad and I do?!"
Xiao Tianjian was speechless. He had never liked this daughter-in-law very much. If the scene just now was true, then his son would be too pitiful. After thinking about it, he said sternly: "Let's go and ask clearly!" After saying that, he pulled Ming Na forward.
But Ming Na broke away, bit her lip, raised her sleeves to wipe her tears, turned around and ran away. Xiao Tianjian quickly chased after him.
In the foyer of Viscount Zhufa's house, Goodwin looked at Dora with a pale face: "Why? Why did you refuse? You clearly didn't refuse me just now!"
Dora said calmly: "If I reject you outside the door, you will become the laughing stock of the whole city tomorrow. You are so imprudent, how can you do such a thing in a public place? Goodwin, you are mine My friend, I don’t want you to put yourself in an embarrassing situation.”
"But why did you reject me?!" Goodwin didn't understand. He thought he had great confidence. "Anlong can't make you happy at all! It's been three years. In these three years, he has never been here, even if Last year, Viscount Zhu Fa was ill, and he only sent letters to express greetings. He also made you sad again and again, and you had to run back to your parents' home. Why do you still cling to this person who doesn't know how to cherish you? "
Dora turned away: "I believe he has his own ideas, and I also believe he will explain to me one day. I'm sorry, Goodwin, I love Anlong, and I can't accept you."
Goodwin staggered back a few steps, and the roses in his hand fell to the ground.
(I was thinking recently, is it necessary to change the previous currency value setting? One silver coin = ten copper plates, which seems inappropriate. One hundred would be better...)