Chapter 8 Rongbaozhai 2

  The exterior of Rongbaozhai is one of the best on Liulichang Street, and its reputation is unmatched. Mu Yaping stood in front of the door, looking up at the purple sign with gold lettering, and felt a sense of historical weight, his thoughts becoming somewhat confused. Tong Baosheng stood with him for a moment and said: "Young Master Mu, what are you thinking about?" Mu Yaping had to lie and say: "Returning to Rongbaozhai again, I feel like it's been ages, with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, my mood is hard to calm."

  Tong Baosheng said: "Mu Shao Ye, you haven't been at Rong Bao Zhai for a while, and business has been good. Profits have increased by 20% in the past few months. Especially our jewelry business is booming. Recently I noticed that many small stalls have new unearthed antiques, I estimate that there are a large number of tomb raiders." Mu Yaping casually asked: "If we purchase these antiques, won't anything happen?"

  Tong Baosheng smiled and said, "Mu Shao Ye, how could you forget the rules of this line? As long as it's not publicly stolen jewelry or antiques, or officially sought-after stolen artifacts, we can all purchase them without pursuing legal responsibility." Mu Yaping patted his head and said, "Tong Master, to be honest with you, after recovering from a serious illness, my memory isn't very good. You should remind me often."

  Tong Baosheng said, "I know about this matter, the master has already taken care of it. Young master, don't worry, during the recovery period you must take good care of yourself slowly. Rest assured that I will remind you from time to time, if there's anything just let me know." As they spoke, the two walked into the house, and the spacious high hall came into view, several shop assistants stood up to greet them, apparently they were very familiar with Mu Yapeng. However, he didn't recognize any of them, so he could only pretend to respond.

  After sending away his companions, Mu Ya began to survey the shop. The left wall was covered with landscape paintings and calligraphy, while the kitchen was filled with painting scrolls, most of which were obviously fake. A desk by the window held the Four Treasures of the Study, exuding a strong cultural atmosphere. To the right seemed to be another world, with a dazzling array of antique categories emitting a dim glow. At this time, there were no customers in the shop, and ordinary people would not dare to enter a large-scale antique store like Rongbaozhai.

  Then Tongbaosheng accompanied Mu Yaping to the back painting room for a visit. Behind Rongbaozhai, there are more than ten painting rooms, mainly imitating ancient paintings and calligraphy. The fake products of Rongbaozhai have reached an unprecedented level in Beijing, almost to the point of being mistaken for real ones. Walking into one of the painting rooms, I saw an old man with glasses and white hair, who was fully focused on his work.

  The old man saw Mu Ya Ping walk in, obviously recognizing the visitor. He didn't move from his seat, just politely greeted him and casually asked about Mu Ya Ping's condition before continuing to work as if nothing had happened.

  Mu Ya Ping guessed that the old man must be Rong Bao Zhai's master of imitation, otherwise Tong Bao Sheng would not have brought him to this painting room. Seeing the old man's calm and focused expression, Mu Ya Ping couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence. The old gentleman's elegant and aloof demeanor had a strong artistic appeal. Mu Ya Ping took a closer look and found that he was imitating "A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains on Qingming Festival", which was also an imitation work.

  Mu Ya Ping saw in the old man's hands, depicting a vivid picture, couldn't bear to disturb him again, and pulled Tong Bao Sheng out of the painting room. Then they also visited the antique repair room, which was actually a workshop, where there were more than a dozen apprentices busy at work. Under Tong Bao Sheng's accompaniment, Mu Ya Ping "familiar with the road" inspected Rongbao Zhai all over again.

  Mu Ya Ping walked into his own room, of course, with Tong Bao Sheng leading the way. Otherwise, how would he know where his room door was? Of course, this was not something that could be asked about. Mu Ya Ping looked around his room with great interest and found that the walls were covered in calligraphy posters. It wasn't hard to tell that the previous Mu Ya Ping had a special fondness for them. Suddenly, Mu Ya Ping made a new discovery - almost all of the posters were written by the same person. He walked closer to take a look and saw that on the right lower corner of each poster was written: "To Ya Ping, with memories from certain year, month, day."

  Mu Ya Ping thought to himself: So this is his own masterpiece. This was the first time he had admired his own work, the black imitation Song font was just right, the pen strokes were soft and flowing, revealing the character of the writer. It seemed that Liu Xiangyun hadn't been wrong, "he" used to have good handwriting skills. "Young Master Mu, are you itching to write? I'll get you an inkstone and brush, how about writing a couplet?"

  Mu Ya Ping let out a sigh and said: "Master Tong, to be honest, after my serious illness, my hand has not fully recovered until now. I'm afraid that in the future, I won't be able to hold a brush again." Tong Bao Sheng said: "Can't it be cured? What a waste of your good handwriting, it's really a pity!" Mu Ya Ping smiled and said: "There's nothing to regret, being able to save my life is already heaven's blessing, what more can I ask for?"

  After a moment of silence, Mu Ya Ping said: "Master Tong, I want to hand over Rong Bao Zhai completely to you to manage. I hope you won't decline." This was an idea that Mu Ya Ping had been considering on the road. Tong Bao Sheng hastily said: "Young Master Mu, absolutely not! If the old master finds out, he'll drive me away. Please reconsider, Young Master!" Mu Ya Ping said: "This line of work, antiques and paintings, I'm just an amateur. Without decades of experience, it's impossible to play this game. So I plan to do some other business."

  Tong Baosheng was shocked and asked, "What do you plan to do? Is this the old master's idea?" Mu Yaping replied, "I haven't thought about what to do yet, and it's not the old master's intention. How about this: on the surface, I'm still the manager of Rong Baoshan, but in reality, you'll be in charge of daily business, and for ordinary business, you can make decisions on your own."

  Tong Baosheng's eyes lit up and he said, "Young Master Mu, I'm deeply grateful, but I'm worried about the old master..." Mu Yaping took over and said, "Let's not tell the old master about this matter for now. As for business matters, I have complete authority. If you agree, I've decided to give you one-tenth of the total profit of Rongbaozhai as a reward. How does that sound?" Mu Yaping's tone seemed more like an order than a negotiation.

  Mu Ya Ping said: "Since the old master has handed over Rong Bao Zhai to me, I have the right to increase the salary of employees. Don't worry, I will explain it to the old master slowly later. During this period, I may go around and see if there is any business that suits me. If conditions permit, I will invest wholeheartedly. I hope you can keep it confidential for me and support me with all your might."

  Seeing Tong Baosheng still hesitating, Mu Yaping seemed to realize something and said: "Master Tong, words are useless, only written contracts can be effective. I'll have you write it down." Mu Yaping dictated while Tong Baosheng wrote. Before long, a contract was written out, and after Mu Yaping glanced over it briefly, he pressed his seal onto it. Tong Baosheng took the contract and carefully tucked it into his bosom, saying: "Young Master Mu, in the future I will definitely take good care of Rongbaozhai's business and won't disappoint you."

  Mu Ya Ping said: "Just now I took a walk and suddenly had a new idea. Our colleagues at Rongbaozhai are all top-notch experts in the industry. I've decided to give them a 20% raise, especially those old gentlemen - no need to treat them specially, they're all treasures of Rongbaozhai!" Tong Baosheng was moved and said: "Young Master Mu, I'll remember your words."

  As noon approached, Mu Ya Ping ordered Tong Bao Sheng to go to the restaurant and order food, letting everyone have a good meal. He also said that from today on, Rongbaozhai would provide lunch every day, and it was necessary to guarantee one meat dish per day. And let Tong Bao Sheng immediately take care of the kitchen and set up the cafeteria. As for how Tong Bao Sheng felt, it's not mentioned for now. Mu Ya Ping finished speaking and walked out of the store with a raised leg.

  He was going to the restaurant to have a meal, and then stroll along Liulichang Street. As soon as he went out, he saw the rickshaw driver still squatting at the door and asked: "Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to leave?" The rickshaw driver said with a smile: "Young master is so generous, I am grateful, I promised to serve you for a day, I cannot go back on my word."

  Mu Ya Ping heard this and suddenly had a good impression of the carman. He knew that he was an honest man. He began to examine the carman carefully, only to see that his face was dark, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His body was thin but looked very sturdy. It seemed that he had been blown by the wind and rain for many years, and his actual age could not be judged.

  Mu Ya Ping asked with a smile: "Old man, what's your name? How old are you this year? How many people in your family?" The carter replied hastily: "I'm Ma Laohei, I don't dare to call myself an old man, I'm thirty-four years old. There's my wife, a son and a daughter at home." Mu Ya Ping felt a little sour in his heart, being so old-fashioned at the age of thirty-four, it can be seen that the carter's life is really difficult.

  Mu Ya Ping said, "From today on, I'll hire you. When I'm not going out, you can rest, how's that?" Ma Laohei was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, Young Master, for your kindness. I will definitely serve you comfortably." After finishing their meal, they started strolling around the streets. Mu Ya Ping lingered in the area of Huo Shen Temple and Tu Di Temple for a long time, until sunset, before reluctantly leaving.

  Turning into the alley of Mu's residence, he saw Wan Qiu waiting at the gate, looking around eagerly. As soon as she saw Mu Yapeng, Wan Qiu hurriedly came up to him and said: "Elder brother, you're finally back! There was nothing wrong, why didn't you come back earlier? I was worried sick." Mu Yapeng replied: "It's been a long time since I went to Rong Baozai, so naturally I had to check on the business situation. That's why I came back late." The loving concern from his wife brought a warm feeling that lingered in his heart once again, and he couldn't shake it off.

  At dinner, Mu Tianyi said: "How's the situation with Rongbao Zhai?" Mu Yaping had not looked at any accounts and could only casually say: "Business has been good these past few months, profits have increased by 20%." Seeing that his father didn't seem surprised, he guessed that his father must already know about the win-loss situation of Rongbao Zhai during this time.

  As expected, Father said: "Yaping, during your illness, I intervened in Rongbaozhai's business and basically understood the situation. Now that you're better, I won't ask about it anymore. Just remember not to overwork and take care of yourself. Tong Baosheng is very capable, let him handle many things, he's trustworthy." Mu Yaping secretly rejoiced, exactly as he had wished.

  Mu Ya Ping then told everyone in detail about the establishment of a free canteen at Rong Bao Zhai, which provided free lunch. Mu Tian Yi thought for a moment and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, and affirmed the new measure announced by his son on his first day in office.