Time is money!
For Zhang Fei, time really is money.
On the way back, Zhang Fei bought a set of four treasures of the study. After returning to Xu's house, he locked himself in the room and never came out again.
The next morning.
"Sister Qian'er, I just heard from Uncle Rong that the light in Zhang San's room was on all night last night, and even Li Si didn't leave the house. I don't know what the two of them were doing in the room."
When passing by Zhang Fei's room, Qingmei suddenly whispered to Xu Zhiqian.
Xu Zhiqian frowned slightly and snorted, "He is stubborn and unwilling to trust others. He does things in a sneaky and secretive way and blames others for being suspicious. This time, let's ignore him and let him fend for himself."
After saying that, he turned around and walked back.
Qingmei was stunned and said, "Sister Qian'er, you haven't had breakfast yet."
"No more."
... ..
Towards evening, Zhang Fei finally came out.
"Third brother, I just told Qingmei that we won't eat at home tonight." Li Si ran over, panting, and said, "But Qingmei seemed to be in a bad mood and ignored me."
Zhang Fei hesitated for a moment, then straightened his clothes, "Can you help me check if there is anything that needs to be straightened?"
Li Si looked at him and shook his head.
"Okay then." Zhang Fei said, "Let's go quickly. It's almost time. Don't be late."
The two men left Xu's house and hurried, and finally arrived at Ma's Tavern in Caiqiao on time.
"Brother Zhang San, you are here."
Ma Xiaoyi, who had been standing at the door, immediately went over.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Xiao Ma, thank you so much this time."
Ma Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment, "Thank me for what?"
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "I think if you hadn't strongly requested it, your father wouldn't have come to see me, right?"
Ma Xiaoyi was surprised and asked, "How did Third Brother know?"
As expected, I said that at this cusp, Ma Tianhao would not be willing to see me. This is good, at least he has no excessive intentions, he is just here to deal with it. Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Because in terms of judging people, your father is far inferior to you."
Ma Xiaoyi's face immediately lit up with smiles, and he said excitedly: "Third brother, you are really a god! To be honest with you, Third brother, although I am not very old, I am a hero in the world, and I have friends everywhere."
"I can tell."
Zhang Fei smiled and nodded. This kid was indeed warm-hearted and good at defending the weak. He said, "Don't worry, I will never embarrass you. After tonight, your Ma family will be even more prosperous."
Ma Xiaoyi asked excitedly: "Really?"
Zhang Fei nodded confidently and asked, "Has your father arrived?"
"Oh, my father has been here for a long time, Third Brother, please come in."
He then led Zhang Fei into the house.
The pub was not big, and judging from the decoration, it did not look high-end either. Instead, it looked a bit shabby, with a sense of gangsterism. If you didn't have calluses on your hands, if you swept across the guardrail, you would probably find your hands full of thorns.
At this time, there was only one person sitting inside, about forty years old, with a square face, a tattoo on his left cheek, and two thick mustaches.
This person was Ma Tianhao, the middle-aged man I met by the river that day.
I have to say, this man's aura is quite suitable for this tavern.
On the contrary, Zhang Fei was dressed rather formally.
Zhang Fei bowed and said, "Junior Zhang Fei greets Mr. Ma."
Ma Tianhao looked at Zhang Fei and did not ask him to sit down. He just asked, "Do you know why I chose to meet you at this time and place?"
Zhang Fei shook his head.
Ma Tianhao said frankly: "Because I don't want to get into unnecessary trouble."
Ma Xiaoyi said anxiously: "Daddy...!"
Ma Tianhao glared at him and said, "Go outside and buy some wine."
Ma Xiaoyi blinked and wondered, "Dad, have you forgotten that this is a tavern?"
Ma Tianhao said: "Dad wants to drink Pan Lou's wine today."
"Pan Lou?"
Ma Xiaoyi opened his eyes and said, "That's very far!"
Ma Tianhao frowned and said, "Are you going or not? If not, then Dad will go alone."
"Go, go, go! I'll go right away."
Ma Xiaoyi nodded gloomily, and then said to Zhang Fei: "Brother Zhang San, please sit down first. I'll go buy you some wine, and we'll get my dad drunk together later."
After saying that, he rushed out of the door, leaving Zhang Fei with a confused look on his face.
Ma Tianhao said with disdain: "With your drinking capacity, even after ten years, you still won't be able to drink more than your father."
This is definitely a biological father and son, they look so alike. Zhang Fei suddenly coughed and asked Ma Tianhao, "If that's the case, why did you come to see me?"
"I didn't plan to see you." As he said that, he suddenly heard a burst of hurried horse hooves outside the door. Ma Tianhao couldn't help but shout outside: "Can you ride slower?"
"Why!"
Then there was a burst of rapid and dense horse hoof sounds.
"This brat!" Ma Tianhao cursed. After a moment, he glanced at Zhang Fei again and said absentmindedly, "It was Xiaoyi who praised you so much that he told me to come and see you."
In fact, at the beginning, at Ma Xiaoyi's request, he agreed to meet Zhang Fei, the rising star. After all, the Ma family often dealt with tea and snack people, so it would not hurt to get to know each other.
But what happened afterwards made him change his mind. However, Ma Xiaoyi thought that by doing so he would lose his credibility and didn't believe it. He insisted that he come to meet Zhang Fei.
In the end, Ma Tianhao came up with a compromise solution.
Zhang Fei cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, sir."
Ma Tianhao was stunned for a moment, "Why are you congratulating me?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Because your son has surpassed his father in judging people. For your father, isn't this something to celebrate?"
Ma Tianhao said expressionlessly: "You are praising yourself!"
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Do I need to be praised?"
Ma Tianhao laughed: "That's true, but there are not many ordinary people who can arouse the hatred of the civil and military officials in the court. You are the first one."
Then he changed the subject and said, "So I also think that there is no need to meet you. It will only bring me trouble."
Zhang Fei said, "You really underestimate me. Although I may not be able to sue you at the moment, do you really need someone to help you with the lawsuit?"
Ma Tianhao nodded and said, "You are right. I don't really need it, so I have never thought about seeing you."
Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "If you think so, you are totally wrong."
Ma Tianhao said, "What do you mean?"
Zhang Fei said: "For ordinary people, there is only a very small possibility that they will be involved in a lawsuit. Many people have never seen the gate of the government office. But for officials, it is different. For the pawnshop business, disputes are inevitable, but if it comes to the point of litigation, it is a failure."
Ma Tianhao then looked Zhang Fei in the eye, and suddenly stretched out his hand to lead him to the chair opposite, saying, "Please sit down."
"Thank you!"
Zhang Fei sat down and continued, "With your strength and status, you shouldn't get involved in lawsuits, because you are fully capable of killing them in the bud. Therefore, you need someone who is well versed in the law to help you avoid all this."
Ma Tianhao nodded and said, "What you said makes sense, but given your current situation, why should I ask you to help me?"
Zhang Fei said: "Because apart from me, no one can help you avoid these lawsuits."
Ma Tianhao chuckled and said, "You are too arrogant."
Zhang Fei said: "Although you are the head of the pawnshop, in my opinion, your methods of lending money are really crude and unskillful. If you are not careful, you may kill someone.
I remember that day when the official said by the river, "Do borrowers ever think about whether they can pay back the money?" This is true, but human life is at stake. As long as the person dies, even if the official has a thousand reasons, he may still be involved in a lawsuit. The official should be thankful that he did not meet me in court, otherwise, he would have to fight a lawsuit."
Ma Tianhao frowned slightly. He was very proud of himself for starting from scratch, but now he was devalued by an outsider like Zhang Fei. How could he feel good? He asked calmly, "Then I would like to ask you what is a smart way to lend money."
Zhang Fei said: "First, minimize the risk. This is the most important thing. If you ensure this, you can ensure that you will make a profit without losing money.
Second, make people grateful rather than hate you, so that your success will last long.
Third, it is to avoid killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Most money lenders do this now, including the wealthy. But this is actually a very low-level method. Only when people are alive can they create profits. The truly smart method is to let them pay off the interest with their lifelong labor without realizing it, until the moment they are buried in the coffin. "
Ma Tianhao shook his head and said, "What you said is brilliant, but it is impossible to do it."
"Who said that?" Zhang Fei asked with a smile.
Ma Tianhao said, “I’d like to hear your opinion.”
Zhang Fei asked with a smile: "I wonder what you think of the housing prices in Bianjing?"