Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 88 Don’t take advantage of the bastard
Little Ears blushed. "Brother Cao, don't worry, Han Lu is quite sensible. She's the one who told me not to bother you about this."

"And don't worry, I'm just playing around with her. Lian Cuihua is a well-known man in Tianqiao, do you think I'd let a madam control me?"

Cao Weida glared at him, annoyed. "I think you've been completely manipulated! You've been bewitched by a few sweet words?"

"You think she's not letting you tell me because she genuinely cares about you? She's just playing mind games with you!"

"You're my brother. If you stand up for her and suffer a loss, do you think I'd really just ignore you?"

Little Ears lowered his head in shame. He was a loyal, brotherly, and righteous man!
Therefore, he also gathered a group of brothers to follow him.

He usually prefers to be reasonable and straightforward. Although he is not stupid, he is really not good at these roundabout ways.

At this moment, Cao Weida reminded him, and out of instinctive trust in Cao Weida, he immediately believed him without hesitation.

So, after feeling ashamed, he immediately said angrily, "Brother Cao, that bitch dared to scheme against you! You wait, I'm taking the brothers to settle the score with her right now!"

"You come back here!" Cao Weida was both annoyed and amused.

Xiao Erduo is a江湖 (jianghu) person, always busy with jianghu affairs or dealing with matters between brothers, so he doesn't have much energy or opportunity to think about marriage.

In addition, he is generous, righteous, and values ​​'reason' very much. This shows that he is a rather stubborn and straightforward person. He doesn't place as much importance on brotherhood and chivalry when it comes to marriage. To be precise, he is somewhat oblivious to marriage issues.

In fact, this phenomenon is not unique to Xiao Erduo. Many people in this era are delaying marriage and having children for various reasons.

Because he has little contact with women, he is inevitably somewhat easily swayed.

Han Lu is a seasoned womanizer, extremely skilled at serving others, and adept at sweet talk. How could a tender bud like Xiao Erduo possibly compete with her?
"It seems we still need to get Xiao Erduo married as soon as possible. I'll have to trouble Third Sister-in-law with this. Oh, and there's also Master Duo. I've been urging him to find a wife for a long time, but there's still no sign of one. This won't do," Cao Weida thought to himself.

He couldn't control what others did, but Xiao Erduo was his brother, and Duo Ye was his elder brother in his heart. He absolutely couldn't stand by and watch them remain single forever.

"Although Han Lu used some tricks, she was still sensible enough not to have excessive ambitions, and it can't be said that she schemed against me."

"A woman running a business is surrounded by wolves and tigers who could devour her at any moment. It's impossible for her not to use some cunning."

"I'm telling you all this so you can always be careful and not be taken advantage of. Even without Han Lu, don't you think there's no one else who would try to use their brains against you?"

"As long as Han Lu is sensible and obedient, everything will remain the same. You can enjoy your time with her and do whatever you want."

Little Ear tentatively asked, "So we're just going to skip her like this?"

"What do you mean by 'go around'? I'm not some bandit or tyrant." Cao Weida laughed and scolded. "Don't think I can't see that you're still a little reluctant. What, are you so infatuated with being served like this?"

"You know, women in brothels are really good at serving you. You'd better watch out, or they'll drain you dry."

Little Ears chuckled sheepishly. He was indeed a little reluctant to part with Han Lu, after all, her skill in serving people was truly unforgettable.

"Brother Cao, her skills are truly amazing. How about I arrange it for you so you can enjoy it too?"

"Come on, you're right. We're brothers, that's enough. I have no intention of becoming brothers-in-law!"

Brother-in-law?

Little Ears was stunned for a while before realizing what it meant, and immediately burst out laughing.

slap~
He immediately got a kick in the butt, and heard Cao Weida's laughing and cursing in his ear: "What are you laughing at? Get back to work!"

"Alright, I'm going right now." Little Ears grinned, showing his big teeth, and ran off happily.

The shop owner was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a long gown and mandarin jacket that were very culturally significant for that era.

Her hair was combed very smoothly, and her skin did not have the weathered look of people from the lower classes; she was clearly pampered by wealth.

However, the shop owner looked terrible and listless, clearly indicating that he had not been having a good time lately.

When he learned that someone wanted to buy his shop, he was initially incredulous. Then, after much deliberation, he couldn't bear to cheat him and reminded him, "Mr. Cao, to be honest, your desire to buy my shop is a lifesaver, but I can't cheat you."

"This shop has caught the eye of the local tyrant, Master Fu. He's already declared that anyone who dares to take it over will face his wrath."

Tsk, adorably silly.

Cao Wei sighed inwardly, thinking that in such a chaotic world, in an era where people preyed on each other, such people were too easily taken advantage of.

However, it must be said that such people are hard to dislike, regardless of the era.

At least he didn't dislike it; on the contrary, he admired it somewhat.

"Thank you for reminding me. I already know all that. You just focus on selling your shop; the rest is none of your concern."

Upon hearing this, the shop owner thought, "Well, this guy must have some powerful connections." So what was he saying? He decided to just sell it.

With gritted teeth and a stomp of his foot, he said, "Then thank you very much, Mr. Cao. Here's the deal: you give me 55,000 silver dollars, and this shop is yours."

"Oh, is this a clearance sale?" Cao Weida exclaimed in surprise. The location of this shop was undoubtedly excellent, otherwise it wouldn't have been targeted by that scoundrel Fu Decheng.

It's quite large, covering a full two acres!

During the period of occupation, prices in Beiping soared, and housing prices also rose significantly compared to pre-war levels.

This place wasn't the most prosperous area in Beiping, but the price per mu (unit of land area) still exceeded 80,000 silver dollars. Two mu would be 160,000 silver dollars.

After two transactions and some expenses, he had about 110,000 silver dollars left.

Including the money he made from killing people for free during this period, the total amount is only around 130,000 yuan.

In his opinion, even if the price dropped a bit due to Fudecheng's suppression, a reduction of 20,000 silver dollars was already quite good.

He was prepared to either borrow some money from others or settle part of the transaction with gold.

I never expected the shop owner to be so generous, offering a rock-bottom price right off the bat!
Is this a case of having too much money to handle?

The shopkeeper clearly noticed Cao Wei Da's surprise and sighed helplessly:

"To be honest, I bought this shop for 120,000 silver dollars, but I still felt like I got a great deal and was secretly happy for a long time."

"But after the shop opened, the troubles never stopped. I was hoping to make some money, but in the end, I not only didn't make any money, but I also lost a lot of money."

"Master Fu, the tyrant of the West, talked to me and said he wanted to buy my shop for 50,000 silver dollars. Isn't that just trying to rip me off?!"

The shop owner, his face full of indignation, clearly had been holding back a lot of anger for some time, and continued indignantly:

"I've come to realize that we can't beat him, we can't afford to offend him, so can't we at least avoid him?"

"Once the shop is sold, I'll leave Beiping immediately!"

"Didn't he want 50,000 silver dollars to buy my shop? I'll fight tooth and nail for it! I'll sell it for 55,000 and make him furious!"

"."

Well, this guy has a terrible temper.

Cao Weida didn't feel bad about letting Minister Bai off the hook, nor did he feel embarrassed about it.

To put it bluntly, even if it were only 55,000 silver dollars, it would be enough for someone to live comfortably for several lifetimes. It's not his place to feign compassion.

As for Fu Decheng... hehe, please come!
"Alright, bring the contract, let's make the deal!"

Fu Decheng, Fu Decheng, I should thank you! Otherwise, where would I have gotten such a great deal?

Cao Wei was overjoyed at having gained such a great advantage, but some people were not so happy.

"Damn it, who the hell is it now! Daring to ruin my good time!!" Fu Decheng was furious when he received the news on the third day. He felt that he had been having a series of bad luck lately.

First, Kui Biao was beaten, then the attempt to seize Xia Guang Yuan failed, and now the shop he had his eye on for a long time has been snatched away by someone else!
Does this mean that since he's been inactive for so long, any Tom, Dick, or Harry will dare to come and bite him?!
He's never been a good person; he's always been the one taking advantage of others. When has he ever suffered such a huge loss?!
"Ah Biao!"

"Master Fu, what are your orders?" Kui Biao bowed slightly respectfully.

"Go and tell Company Commander Wu to take good care of this new master!"

"Yes, Master Fu, I'll go right away."

Unaware that trouble was about to befall him, Cao Weida was comfortably lounging in a recliner, basking in the sun with his eyes half-closed. Du Shiniang was tenderly feeding him lotus seed soup, her smile never fading, her eyes filled with deep affection.

Du Shiniang is extremely satisfied with her current life.

Although the master had more than one woman, she didn't mind at all.

Even if the master could feed her, she couldn't handle it all by herself.

The fact that she now lives a life where everything is done for her is something she never dared to dream of before.

She no longer had to open her eyes every day wondering what her future would hold, nor did she have to endure the arduous training of basic opera skills under the troupe leader's pressure.

All she needs to do is serve the master wholeheartedly, avoid making him angry, and learn more about how to please men, and she can live a comfortable life.

She never dared to do such a good life before; how could it have fallen into her lap?

That's right, sometimes the master's poses are too embarrassing, and they also require a lot of flexibility in the waist.

Hmm. I need to focus on training my back from now on, and make sure I keep the master comfortable. Then, after I give him a son or daughter, I'll have my place.
Just then, she heard a knock at the door and gave the hired nanny a wink.

The old woman quickly took two steps to open the door. Cao Weida looked over, then smiled and stood up, saying, "Oh, Manager Zhao, esteemed bosses, it's you all! Please come in. Tenth Sister, serve some tea."

(End of this chapter)