Nightwatcher

Returning to the capital, returning the horse to the horse shop, and getting back the deposit, Xu Qi'an walked out of the shop door and said:

"Let's go back first, I still have something to do."

Xu Nian nodded, without asking any further questions, and left alone along the long street towards home.

Xu Qi'an bought an osmanthus cake on the street, and ate it while walking. After a while, he arrived at a jewelry store:

Treasure Pavilion!

The owner of Baoqixuan was a scholar. In fact, it was very common for scholars to do business, especially for those wealthy and nobles. It was impossible to support the erosive living expenses of a big family just by collecting land rent.

There are aristocrats behind the large shops, brothels and other profitable industries in the capital.

"Dafeng's business is clearly unprecedentedly developed, but heavy taxes are placed on the peasants. I have reason to suspect that this is something the aristocrats are doing."

"How much money can be grown by farming? If you want to get rich, you must get wool from businessmen."

"If you want to make the people's lives better and make the Dafeng treasury richer, you must reform, but the princes above the court, how can it be my turn to speak. Well, set a small goal, First train Erlang to become the chief assistant of Dafeng."

Thinking of the future appearance of the arrogant little brother who will be an extremely human minister in the future, the corners of Xu Qi'an's mouth twitched involuntarily.

Xu Qi'an stepped into the shop, his gaze swept across the counter, and pieces of jewelry placed on red silk came into his eyes.

Chai, tin, hairpin, hairpin, Bu Yao, Hua Sheng are dazzled.

Among them, gold is the most expensive, and jade depends on the type. The expensive one is better than gold, and the cheap one is about the same as silver.

Xu Qi'an touched the three coins in his pocket, thinking to himself, this amount of money can't buy any precious jewelry at all.

He was lamenting the lack of money, and when he stepped on a hard lump, he picked it up naturally, and put it in his pocket without changing his expression.

Maybe it was too natural, so no one paid attention to him.

"A penny of silver is useless, a penny of gold is almost the same."

He has the feeling that he went to a luxury store in his previous life. He couldn’t afford it anyway. The only difference is that the store is very reserved now, not as annoying as the waiter in the previous life. He can’t wait to cling to you and let you consume immediately.

"Shopkeeper, do you have discounts here?" Xu Qi'an knocked on the counter.

The store owner was an old man with a goatee, dressed as a scholar, so he was not surprised to hear that.

The storekeeper pointed to the lottery hanging on the wall and said with a smile: "If you can solve the crossword puzzle objectively, you can get half of the items in the store."

This rule is the characteristic of Baoqixuan.

Guessing crossword puzzles with a half discount is fun. Xu Qi'an walked up to the wooden sign and glanced at the crossword puzzles on it: Yunpoyue came to Huayingying!

With his rich knowledge reserves and logical reasoning ability, he quickly solved the anagram.

"Some jewelry costs a few dollars in light weight, plus labor costs"

Xu Qi'an calculated it and found that even with a half discount, he still couldn't afford too good jewelry.

But he soon had a way.

Women who can come to Baoqixuan to buy jewelry are from wealthy families and have studied for a few years, at least they are not illiterate women.

Such women all have a problem: the half bucket of water clinks.

I feel that I am a cultural person and like arty, so I am particularly obsessed with Baoqixuan's little tricks.

Jewelry of the same price, they like to come to Baoqixuan to buy it, not for anything else, but to solve crossword puzzles.

If the crossword puzzle is solved, the store will engrave the correct puzzle on the bottom of the wooden sign, and then present it to the customer along with the jewelry.

It's fine if you don't solve it, once you solve one or two crossword puzzles for them, you can brag with your close friends.

This was Xu Qi'an's analysis of the store routine after listening to the discussion of the two young women beside him.

It is indeed a shop opened by a scholar, who knows how to attract high-end customer groups.

"Sister Yu, I can't solve any of the crossword puzzles here, it's so difficult."

"What my sister said is that the store owner is a well-known scholar, so the questions are naturally difficult, and even ordinary scholars may not be able to solve them."

"Sister Yu, my husband said the same thing. If I can solve the crossword puzzle and take away the wooden sign, I will impress him."

"A fool's dream."

"Oops, you hate"

The two young ladies from a good family frowned at the wooden stick for a long time, murmuring their thoughts.

They all dressed exquisitely, presumably from excellent families, and had received a certain amount of education, otherwise they would not try to solve crossword puzzles.

"Two ladies."

Suddenly, a man's voice sounded from the side.

The two beautiful young ladies turned their heads vigilantly, seeing Xu Qi'an with a handsome face and a tall figure, their vigilance decreased slightly, but they did not speak.

The atmosphere of the Dafeng Dynasty is relatively free, but it is still very rude to chat with strange men on the street.

Xu Qi'an didn't care, and said straight to the point: "I can solve the crossword puzzle for the two ladies, but the two ladies will get half of the money saved, and I will get half of the money saved, and you will get two and a half coins for you. , you score me two dollars."

Hearing Xu Qi'an's suggestion, the shopkeeper raised his head in surprise, looked at him seriously for a moment, sneered, and ignored him.

Although this person is wearing a scholar's robe, but if you observe carefully, look at his build and skin color, you can tell that he is the kind of guy who slaps a swollen face and hits a fat man.

Which scholar have you seen is as strong as a cow and has wheat-colored skin?

That Confucian shirt didn't fit at all.

Regarding Xu Qi'an's proposal, the younger woman, with sparkling eyes, was quite moved.

The older one, more dignified and reserved, more cautious and distant, said indifferently: "My lord, if you really solve the crossword puzzle, I won't let you go."

The sense of distance is extremely strong.

"Choose one of the two ladies." Xu Qi'an said with a smile.

The older woman was a little hesitant, while the younger one was eager to give it a try. Seeing that the sister beside her had no objection, she pointed to one of the wooden sticks and said, "Yunpoyue comes to play with flowers."

The voice is soft.

Xu Qi'an immediately said: "Those who are capable work harder."

The two young ladies subconsciously turned their heads to look at the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper's dumbfounded expression said everything.

At that moment, the young lady bought a gold hairpin and held it in her hand happily. Look at Xu Qi'an's eyes, they become sparkling.

After she put away the wooden sign, she rolled her eyes and said in a familiar tone, "Young master, can you continue to solve crossword puzzles for the slave family?"

"Lian'er" was called "Sister Yu" and the woman tugged at her sleeve.

"Sister Yu, the two of us came together. I have one, but you don't. That's not good." After speaking, Lian Er's good family looked at Xu Qi'an expectantly.

Wishing for nothing, Xu Qi'an showed a warm smile: "No problem, my lady will choose another one."

"The peacock flies southeast." She pointed to a wooden stick.

"Sun!" Xu Qi'an said.

"" The shopkeeper was dumbfounded.

"Thank you son"

The two ladies picked out their favorite jewelry and left the shop satisfied.

Xu Qi'an's hearing was astounding, and he heard the woman named Lian Er say: "This son is really talented, and he is tall and handsome, much stronger than my lord."

"Don't talk nonsense." The older woman reprimanded.

She seemed to be afraid of being heard by Xu Qi'an, so she stepped forward to pester Lian Er, pulling Lian Er away quickly.