Butler Chen Shaozheng (novel)

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the wine industry in the town of Yanggezhuang in Jingdong was developed, and seven or eight winemaking workshops spread wine mist day and night, and the strong aroma almost drunk the entire town.

Suddenly, the rumor spread that in the center of the city, the longsheng shop with a century-old signboard was about to close its doors.

What's going on? There was a lot of buzz in the town.

It turned out that since the death of his old owner five years ago, his son Li Tingyu was not good at business, bent on dancing guns and sticks, and inadvertently became a boxer in the Boxers of Shaling, and there was no time for housework. The Li family's business deteriorated, more than thirty guys walked away for the most part, and the business expenses gradually became insufficient. During this period, Li Tingyu hired two housekeepers to be in charge, neither of them was a climate. After a few years, there is some embarrassment of sitting on the mountain and eating the sky. This made Li Tingyu feel uncomfortable in his heart.

One day, Hao Biao, the master brother of Tankou, learned of the situation of the Li family and was afraid of delaying the military training, so he said to Li Tingyu: "Why don't you invite a satisfactory butler to come, there is a response up and down, and it will save you from being distracted by your fists?" Li Tingyu said, "Fools don't want to, it's easy to find a handy one." Master brother said, "Well, I really want to find it, I can recommend one." I have a distant relative in Pingyan, Tongzhou, named Chen Shaozheng, who used to work as a steward in the old Second Unitary Hall bookstore in Beijing, and now he is idle at home serving his old mother. You think, that's a person who has seen the world, taking care of your small wine shop, isn't it a piece of cake? Li Tingyu said, "There are such high-ranking people, you didn't say it earlier." I'll just go and ask for it. The master shook his head, "However, anyone with great ability has a bit of a strange temper, depending on whether you have the strength to invite him to come." Li Tingyu said solemnly, "Please, Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang to return the three Gu Maolu, I can't do it with five Gu and ten Gu!" ”

Therefore, Li Tingyu and his righteous son Ah Niu drove a carriage, ran back and forth to Tongzhou five times, and the sixth trip, spent fifty taels of silver to buy a maid from Zhao Gezhuang, specifically to serve the old lady of the Chen family, and only then invited Chen Shaozheng, a living bodhisattva, to Yang Gezhuang.

On this day, Li Tingyu's family and companions lined up on both sides of the gate, waiting for the arrival of the new butler.

There is a plaque of "Longsheng Old Shop" on the upper side of the gate, and a stone lion lies on each side of the door.

The carriage stopped, And Niu moved a bench, and from the car shed came an old man in his fifties, slender and tall, wearing a melon-skin hat, a long braid hanging down to the back span, a figure-eight beard, a robe and a horse coat, polite and polite, looking like a teacher, and a little more capable than mr. teaching.

Li Tingyu introduced himself to the crowd: "This is the Chen butler I invited from a hundred miles away, and in the future, the family's major affairs and small feelings will all depend on the Chen butler, and everyone must listen to the instructions." ”

The butler hugged the crowd and said, "Chen Shaozheng, the contemptible person, thanks to the love of the owner, will work with everyone in the future, and please pay more attention." ”

The crowd responded in unison.

That night, Li Tingyu set up a simple reception banquet for Chen Shaozheng. Li Tingyu pointed at Ah Niu and said, "There is no child under the knee, this righteous son is the same as his own son, when I am not at home, I can find him in the family affairs." ”

Chen Shaozheng stared at Ah Niu and nodded. After the third tour of the wine, he asked, "Owner, what scale do you want to make the wine industry?" Li Tingyu said, "If you can return to the scale of your father's heyday, you will be satisfied." Chen Shaozheng nodded, "To re-establish the business, I need a sum of silver." Li Tingyu said, "There are only four hundred taels that can be used in business, and tomorrow I will hand it over to the cabinet." ”

The next day, Li Tingyu rode to Shaling. Chen Shao was walking around the Li family compound inside and out, and then called the leading guy Fu Dazhuang to the front and ordered: "Invite all the guys who worked in the old owner's family when he was alive, and none of them can be left behind." Fu Dazhuang squeaked: "At that time, the old owner opened five or two pieces of silver every month, but now two or two are insufficient, I am afraid that no one wants to come." Chen Shaozheng said, "According to the original giving, go please." Fu Dazhuang went happily.

In the next few days, Chen Shaozheng turned the streets and alleys of Yang Gezhuang Town, southeast, and northwest, focusing on several large-scale brewing workshops. A few days later, the guys who had left came back one after another, and Chen Shaozheng gathered everyone together and said, "It seems that the wine market in Yang Gezhuang is supported by the people of the Li family, but it is good that everyone is living by strength, and the same clan has not dismantled each other's elbows, which makes me feel at ease." From now on, each of us will pick up the old owner's family business and carry it forward. The things on the pot stove are arranged by Fu Dazhuang, and matters such as shipping and purchasing materials are responsible for Ah Niu. Let's get to work. ”

Chen Shaozheng went into the shochu room with the guys. He came to the edge of the Fa Xiao Pond, reached out and grabbed the chaff under his nose and sniffed it, and then arched his waist at the side of the pot and pulled the bellows a few times, then stretched out his finger to test the water temperature in the cooling pool, and then came to the wine hole, scooped some wine in the water scoop and put it in his mouth to taste. While doing these actions, he pretended to look at the room scene casually, and saw that Fu Dazhuang had arranged the guys in an orderly manner, and everyone was busy with their own boards and eyes, so he walked outside.

Since then, he has come to visit this shochu room at least twice a day.

Fu Dazhuang divided the guys into two groups, one during the day and one at night, stopping people and not stopping the pot. Ten days later, the amount of wine produced was initially close to the level of the old owner, and more than two hundred large wine baskets were stored in the wine shed.

While increasing the amount of wine, Chen Shaozheng merged the gang house. Originally, there were two gang rooms in the Li family courtyard, one for the guys to cook, the other for the family, and there were three guys in the two gang rooms, and Chen Shao was merging them into one. After the merger, Chen Shaozheng also drew up a recipe for the gang room, one reincarnation every ten days, and no re-samples were allowed.

There is more wine in stock, and how to sell it and turn it into silver as soon as possible has become a top priority.

On this day, Chen Shaozheng saw Ah Niu passing by and stopped him and said, "Go, wake up the guys who are sleeping on the night shift, and tear down the courtyard wall on the east side of the gate." ”

Ah Niu was surprised: "Huh? What is it for? ”

"Tell you to go and you go, what a lot of crap!"

"Such a big thing, how can we discuss it with the owner?"

Chen Shaozheng narrowed his eyes, "Or this butler, you should?" ”

Ah Niu hesitated, but still went to call someone.

Chen Shaozheng asked people to tear down the wall on the adjacent street of the Li family compound, and built a row of door-facing rooms on the spot, which were filled with tables and chairs and benches, and the door brow was inscribed "Li Family Liquor Store", which not only served meals, but also prepared peanuts, dried radish, melon seeds, persimmon cakes, various kinds of snacks and other snacks. There is a sign on the left and right outside the door, the left card reads: Free wine tasting in this store; the right card reads: The seller provides free meals.

Stone breaks the sky. A stone stirs up a thousand layers of waves.

On the day of the opening of the firecrackers, the front of the hotel was bustling with traffic and bustling.

Soon, the Li family's old shop appeared unusual. First, the hotel is full, the south to the north, three old and four young, heard that here is free to drink, are willing to come in and drink two sips. Of course, there are also about a dozen alcoholics who have become regular customers here. The news of free drinking quickly spread, and no one in all directions knew about it, and more and more people came here to buy wine. Second, the working guys ate the same meal as the owner, the standard of living improved, the status also came up, the salary was paid at the end of the month, and everyone received five or two pieces of silver, which made everyone full of great respect for the new housekeeper. More than two hundred wine baskets were quickly sold. The liquor dealers in Yanjiao, Pinggu, Sanhe, Miyun and Shunyi all came in horse-drawn carriages, put down empty baskets, loaded heavy baskets, and exchanged them one-on-one. After loading the car, in the hotel's hospitality room, there is a large pot of dried millet bean rice, two pots of boiled vegetables, many small dishes, how much to eat themselves. The vendors also have wine nearby, but for this meal, they are willing to come after running dozens of miles.

On this day, the guy Ah Niu came to Chen Shaozheng with a breath and said, "I have never seen such a greedy mouth, soaking in the hotel all day, just like drinking without a master, so go down, and don't let us die." ”

Chen Shaozheng smiled slightly: "I'm worried about it!" Drink white wine, the dish that drinks need silver copper money, you can rest assured, you can't lose. Go, pour me foot wash. ”

Speaking of Ah Niu, Chen Shaozheng really liked him a little. Chen Shaozheng knew that he was the owner's eyeliner, but this young man had a flexible brain, was diligent, and his mouth was sweet, listening to Li Tingyu, the young man almost starved to death when he was three years old begging for food at the foot of Pang Mountain, and was picked up as a righteous son. The young man is responsible for buying and shipping goods on the cabinet, and when he has time, he will go to the room and the hotel to help, and he is also responsible for serving the life of the Li family, because he lives next door with Chen Shaozheng, and by the way, Chen Shaozheng is also taken care of as the owner: tea and pour water, laundry and rice, bed folding, urinal, face washing water... Of course, Chen Shaozheng did not lose him, and secretly gave him two more copper coins when receiving the silver.

Pouring foot washing water back, Ah Niu stuffed the foot basin under the bed, occasionally looked up, saw a beautiful figure washing clothes next to the well, his eyes emitted light, and whispered softly: "Look at the wind swinging lotus leaves in the distance, and look at the thin willow hanging down at the waist." ”

Chen Shaozheng heard the words, turned his head to look out, and couldn't help but nod his head: "It's a bit interesting, your boy has ever read a book?" ”

Ah Niu said: "I have been a companion for the young lady for a few years." ”

"Okay, let's talk about what the horizontal batch is."

Ah Niu thought for a moment and said, "XiuShi Tianxiang." ”

Chen Shaozheng clapped his hands and said, "Wonderful, wonderful." Suddenly, he said solemnly, "I said Niuzi, are you complaining, that is your righteous sister." Ah Niu blushed and said, "What do you old man say blindly, I just casually say it, I dare not." Then a puff of smoke ran out.

Chen Shaozheng laughed. He knew that it was Li Tingyu's daughter who was studying at Beijing Normal University in Beijing, and this daughter was Li Tingyu's pearl in the palm of her hand.

Stunned for a while, Chen Shaozheng seemed to remember something, and slowly paced to the side of the old well under the ginkgo tree, looking at the wellhead and thinking deeply for a long time.

Two days later, Chen Shaozheng removed the plaque of "Longsheng Old Shop" on the gate and replaced it with a new plaque with the words "Shuijingfang" written on it. At the same time, a small plaque was hung in the center of the main wall of the hotel, and the book cloud was written:

According to the "Chronicle of The Wind and Things of Yang Gezhuang" written by Zhao Qinnian, a xian of Dongyan Township, Qianlong was twenty-three years old, and he was in Pengyin. The Li family dug a well, and after the deep two zhangs encountered bluestone, it was solid, the craftsmen wanted to stop, and the Li family insisted on digging. It was then agreed that each barrel of rubble would be paid the same amount of silver and continue digging. Three more feet, still not seeing the water, the craftsman at the bottom of the well overheard the sound of chickens and dogs, children crying, frightened out of a cold sweat, hurriedly packed up tools, and fled. One day, the Yunyou monk Master Yifan came to the Longsheng, armed man fell into the well, saw a bag of protrusions at the three inches of the well wall, chiseled a few times, the stone bag fell off, and a clear spring gushed out. Since then, the well water has not dried up, is always full, and the taste is sweet and the wine is good.

The drinking crowd gathered under the wall, read word by word for half a day, and then remained silent for half a day, and suddenly they sat down, and then they began to talk.

"The Longsheng, which has been passed down for a hundred years, has been changed like this?"

"The stonemason who dug the well, his heart is dark."

"In this way, changing the name of Shuijingfang has more provenance than the Longsheng."

Chen Shaozheng, who was sitting in the kitchen next door, heard the discussion of the crowd and was secretly proud of his divine stroke, but unexpectedly, his move had caused dissatisfaction from the owner.

Ah Niu saw that the plaque had been changed, knew that the matter was important, and rode a fast horse to Shaling to report the situation to his righteous father. Li Tingyu was furious after hearing this, if it is said that the demolition wall to rebuild the façade room, in order to sell more wine to attract popularity, can also be accepted, but the Longsheng plaque is the inheritance of the Li family, is the banner of Yang Gezhuang wine industry, how can it be said that it is changed!

Because he has often fought with foreigners recently, Li Tingyu is stepping up the training of regimental soldiers and has not returned home for a long time. This time, he took a leave of absence with Hao Biao, came to the house with Ah Niu, and saw the three words "Shuijingfang" on the gate.

"Chen Butler, this hundred-year-old plaque can't be changed!" When Li Tingyu saw Chen Shaozheng, he said with a somber face.

Seeing that the owner was not happy, Chen Shaozheng quickly said: "The owner please stop being angry, come and come, and see something with me." He said and took Li Tingyu to the hotel, pointing to the small plaque on the wall and letting Li Tingyu see it. Li Tingyu looked at it several times from beginning to end, sometimes nodding his head and sometimes shaking his head. Chen Shaozheng said, "That old plaque is still there, I just want to find something new from this hundred-year inheritance." ”

Li Tingyu shook his head, "Is this going to change course?" ”

"It's not about changing course, it's about carrying it forward."

Li Tingyu still couldn't figure it out, but when he went to Tongzhou to ask Chen Shaozheng to be the butler, the two had a verbal agreement first, and they were not allowed to interfere with the operation and management of the butler. Therefore he could not interfere too deeply.

Chen Shaozheng continued, "If I don't have any effect in doing this, or if I don't do the housekeeper one day, the old plaque can be hung up again." ”

From these words, Li Tingyu heard a hint of threat. He didn't squeak and silently went back to the back row of the study. The Shaling Boxer Tankou received instructions from the Tianjin Kanzi General Altar to set up a branch office in Yang Gezhuang, and Hao Biao asked Li Tingyu to go home to deal with household chores and make preliminary preparations by the way, so he wanted to come up with the preparatory plan as soon as possible.

Chen Shaozheng saw that Ah Niu was still standing next to him in a daze, and turned his head and glared at him fiercely. Ah Niu shivered in fright and rushed to the dormitory to help the cook.

Chen Shaozheng went around according to the custom, and then slowly stepped into the kitchen, seeing Zhang and Sun two cooks, one with a small basin in the noodles, the other on the board with a knife back to crush peanuts and rice, he looked at the recipe on the wall, and couldn't help asking: "Hey, what is this for?" There doesn't seem to be this dish on the recipe today. ”

Chef Zhang quickly explained: "Miss is not on vacation, I want to eat peanut salt stuffed rice cakes by name... ..."

"Shut up!" Chen Shaozheng scolded loudly, "Did I let you make rice cakes?" ”

After a moment of silence, Chef Zhang said, "Miss's favorite food is made every year when she comes back from vacation." ”

"Now I have the final say, who will give you the silver?"

"But..."

"Nothing. If you want to continue to work here, how to do it yourself. ”

Chen Shaozheng's voice was fierce, there was no doubt, no one had ever seen him make such a big fire. He turned his hands behind his back and walked angrily to his bedroom.

The two cooks looked at each other, and finally quietly cleaned up the rice cake fabric and busied themselves with making lunch.

Ah Niu took the opportunity to sneak into the backyard to explain the situation, and Miss Li Jia heard it and said, "Where is a bad old man, he is too wide to manage." ”

Ah Niu quickly explained, "Bear with me, the righteous father has entrusted all the affairs of the family to him." This man is hard-working, and the righteous father sometimes has to let him go. ”

Miss Li Jia stomped her feet and said, "It's too much, I'm not used to him." ”

Miss Li Rushed to Chen Shaozheng's house in anger, the door was open, Chen Shaozheng was still drinking tea in the house, Miss Li Jia rushed through the door and drank: "You are that what... chamberlain? ”

Chen Shaozheng sat still and did not move: "My name is Chen Shaozheng, and I am six years older than your father." ”

"Why aren't you allowed to make rice cakes in the kitchen?"

"Rice cake, I'm sorry, it's not on the rice recipe I ordered."

"Today, why do you have to do it hard?"

Chen Shaozheng put down his teacup and stood up: "Child, please don't disturb my arrangement." After saying that, he walked toward the back door of the hotel.

Miss Li Jia was embarrassed, and she cried bitterly, and the crying quickly alarmed Li Tingyu in the study, and after asking about the situation, her heart became more and more displeased. I didn't expect that the housekeeper I had painstakingly invited was a donkey temper, and the donkey was unacceptable. But he was not good at directly conflicting with the housekeeper, looking at his beloved daughter's miserable appearance, he hurriedly let the next person go to the auspicious restaurant on the street to order rice cakes for his daughter, and then ripped open his throat and yelled at the front yard: "Isn't it just to make a few rice cakes, why is it so true." It's incomprehensible, incomprehensible! “

Chen Shaozheng was sitting in the hospitality room chatting with the guests who bought wine, and vaguely heard the voice of the owner, he smiled slightly, and did not comment.

After dinner that day, Chen Shaozheng came from the counter with the account book, took an abacus, and sorted out the accounts he had handled from beginning to end. The performance is quite impressive, in addition to the original owner injected four hundred two, and then excluding the cost and personnel costs, there has been a surplus of four thousand two in more than half a year. At a commission of six percent, he can have two hundred and forty-two.

The account was finished, and it was late at night. Chen Shaozheng stretched out a lazy waist, felt a little tired, and wanted to go to bed to rest, but found that the corner of the quilt hung down from the side of the bed, lifted the quilt to see, and a fold was raised in the middle of the mattress, so lying down would make the waist uncomfortable. Ah Niu was too careless in doing things, and Chen Shaozheng's anger came up again.

"Cow, you roll me over!"

Ah Niu was already asleep, and there was no squeak.

Chen Shaozheng pushed open the door and slapped Ah Niu's window.

Ah Niu opened the door sleepily and said, "It's so late, what's the matter?" ”

Chen Shaozheng retreated into the room, pointed to the futon and said, "Is this your job?" ”

Ah Niu looked at the futon on the bed: "What's wrong?" ”

"This pleated meteor, how do you make me sleep!"

Ah Niu yawned, "In the middle of the night, what should I do?" There are pleats, and you can't get it with your hand. ”

Chen Shaozheng stretched his face and said, "If you want to come, you will soon level me, I will sleep." “

Ren Is Ah Niu also fired this time: "The matter of raising a hand does not bring such a toss." You love to sleep, I'm sleepy. After saying that, he turned around and went back to the house, snapping the door shut.

The next morning, Ah Niu called Chen Shaozheng with face wash as usual, and then folded the quilt for him, and was about to go out, Chen Shaozheng stopped him: "Your boy has a long skill, right, today you don't have to go to work, go to fend for yourself." ”

Ah Niu yiyi: "What do you mean?" ”

"You've been fired."

Ah Niu pointed to the tip of his nose and said, "Fire me? Ho Ho sneered twice and walked toward the backyard.

Ah Niu went directly to the study to see His father, and when he saw that Miss Li Jia was also there, he recounted the events from last night to today. Li Tingyu said, "Is this old thing crazy, I repeatedly gave in, but he got more and more on his nose and face." ”

Miss Li Said: "Evil slaves bully the master, such a person staying at home is a scourge sooner or later, it is better to send it off." ”

Li Tingyu said, "I have worked hard to invite him to come, and I am embarrassed to resign him directly." Lan Er, do this, I hide out, you go to teach him a lesson, see his attitude and then make a decision. ”

Miss Li Jia hated Chen Shaozheng so much because of the rice cake, and when she heard her father say this, she no longer had any worries, and took Ah Niu to ask Chen Shaozheng xingshi about the crime.

At this time, Chen Shaozheng had just come out of the back door of the hotel, and Miss Li Jia greeted him with her hands on her shoulders: "What kind of housekeeper..."

"My name is Chen Shaozheng."

"Chen Shao is exactly right, do you know your identity?"

Chen Shaozheng knew that the visitor was not good, and looked at her fixedly.

Miss Li Jia pointed to Ah Niu on the side: "Do you know who he is?" ”

Chen Shaozheng was still silent.

"He is the master of the Longsheng! Now that the master has been fired by a servant, what a wonder of the world! ”

Chen Shaozheng said coldly, "What do you want?" ”

Miss Li Jia snapped, "Take what you deserve, and I'll let you get out!" ”

"Is that what you mean, or is that what your dad meant?"

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes! To fire me and let your father come to me. ”

"My dad didn't have time. Let's go, longsheng temple is small, can't tolerate you big god. ”

Miss Li Finished speaking, and walked to the backyard with a high spirit.

"Don't regret it!"

Chen Shaozheng threw a fierce word, then took the silver he deserved from the cabinet, rented a carriage, and went back to his hometown in Tongzhou.

Li Tingyu returned from outside, heard that his daughter drove the housekeeper away, and felt a little reluctant in his heart, fortunately, he did not directly clash with the housekeeper, and there was still room for maneuver. I didn't take it seriously.

After a few days, the breweries and hotel guys heard that the housekeeper was no longer working, afraid that the business was getting worse and worse like the previous two times, as if there was no main bone, there was no heart to work, and the amount of alcohol was gradually reduced. Ah Niu saw this situation in his eyes and quickly informed his righteous father.

Li Tingyu had some regrets. At a time when he was overwhelmed, it coincided with the arrival of the master brother Hao Biao in Yang Gezhuang to implement the establishment of the branch office. When the master brother heard that the housekeeper was gone, he was taken aback, asked about the ins and outs of the matter, and then understood the business situation on the number, and finally sighed and said to Li Tingyu: "Brother Master, it is not okay to be generous, isn't it some parents who are short, what you need now is to revitalize the family business!" There is this person for you to stare at, you calculate how much income you have in a year, how much heart you have saved... ..."

A word awakens the dreamer. Li Tingyu didn't wait for Master Brother to finish speaking, and he waved his hand and said, "Master Brother, don't you say it." Ah Niu, set the car, let's go to Tongzhou to pick up people. ”

Li Tingyu's carriage arrived in Pingyan, Tongzhou, and met Chen Shaozheng's old wife. The old man pointed to the north of the village: "Shao Zheng, he is in the sorghum field." Father and son did not stop and came straight to the crops. In the distance, I saw a hoe standing by a crooked neck tree, and under the tree, Chen Shao was sleeping soundly with a piece of dirt under his head.

Li Tingyu jumped out of the carriage, came to Chen Shaozheng, coughed, and said, "I said Chen Butler, there is a pleat on the mattress, you can't sleep, how can you sleep so fragrantly on a pillow?" ”

Chen Shaozheng heard the words and got up, smiled and said, "You don't know anything about the owner, I forgot to eat and sleep on the number, thinking about how to make more money for the owner day and night, so I don't sleep well." Here, nothing is light, so I can sit back and relax. ”

Li Tingyu grabbed Chen Shaozheng's hands: "Butler, follow me back!" This time, you will be the master of the house, and everything will listen to you. ”

Published on May 19, 2021 in Liangcheng Wenyuan