Chapter 21: Coal Yard Presents a Gift

  The sky had already brightened, and Zhou Shiming got out of bed. He had just finished washing up when someone came to report: "Two corpses have been found in the garden." Zhou Shiming was greatly shocked and hastily led people to go and take a look. All they saw was that in the main hall, one corpse was lying on its back with its eyes wide open and its mouth agape, its face looking strange, clearly having died of fright. When Zhou Shiming arrived at the ancestral temple, he saw the other corpse, whose head had been destroyed and turned into a meat paste... The sight was too ghastly to behold.

  "Quickly investigate the identity of the deceased and first take a look at what characteristics are on the body." Zhou Shiming ordered his men.

  Several people quickly examined the body according to Zhou Zhuang's instructions...

  Before long, a servant came in and reported: "Master, there is a small mark the size of a pea on each of the deceased's arms, like a birthmark."

  Zhou Shiming finally understood that they were Leng Jiangbo's people, because they were fellow disciples and brothers, and no one knew Leng Jiangbo better than him.

  "Get each of them a coffin and bury them quietly." Zhou Shiming ordered. He called the housekeeper over and said, "It seems that this junior brother has set his sights on us. Last time, we thwarted their nefarious plans several times. It seems that this person's wicked heart is hard to change! From now on, send a few more brothers to keep an eye on them, beware of desperate measures!" The housekeeper nodded in understanding.

  Another death in the garden caused a great stir among the Zhou family, with many rumors circulating and adding to the mystery of the garden and the ancestral hall. No one dared to approach easily again...

  On this day, the second lady accompanied by General Manager Liang Xingchu, Jiang Keyue, and maid Xiaohong, went to check on the business of each store in the Zhou family. The second lady was born into a merchant family, had been exposed to it since she was young, and was very skilled at doing business, earning the appreciation of Master Zhou. After entering the Zhou family, she had always helped Zhou Shiming manage the external business. During this time, Zhou Shiming was busy with family matters and had no energy to care about the various businesses, so the task of checking on the stores naturally fell to the second lady.

  The Zhou family's business is vast, with shops not only all over the city of Mingwu County but also in many other places. It would take a long time to visit them all, so each inspection tour has its focus. Today they look at these few houses, tomorrow those few houses, and after a long time, they will have inspected them all.

  They visited two silk shops and a pawnshop, and then came to the mining site. This mining site is mainly engaged in the coal industry, located on the mountain waist. Ten years ago, the owner Zhou Shiming sent someone to explore the surrounding mountains, and found coal on this mountain, bought it at a high price, developed it, and transported a large amount of coal to all parts of the country every day, doing a very good business. The manager of the mining site is surnamed Hou, named Hou Ba, who is in charge of the daily mining and operation.

  Hou Zhanggui saw the two madams come to inspect and hurriedly came out to greet them. He warmly welcomed the two madams, the housekeeper and others into the house.

  "We won't go in just yet, you come with us to take a look at the construction site." The second lady stopped in her tracks and said to Hou Zhanggui.

  "Alright, alright. But there's a lot of coal ash on the construction site, I'm afraid it will dirty your clothes, madam and miss." said Hou Zhanggui with concern.

  "What's there to be afraid of? I have to go and take a look myself, no matter how dirty it is. How can we put our minds at ease with such a large coal yard?" said the second lady.

  Hou Zhanggui led the two madams, Liang Guanjia and Jiang Keyue to the mining site. They saw that from the foot of the mountain to the middle of the slope, many holes of varying sizes had been dug into the mountain. From time to time, small carts and people carrying coal sacks on their shoulders emerged from the holes. Not far from the entrance of the hole, a large number of small black coal hills were piled up in a relatively flat area. Next to many of the small coal hills, long queues of people who came to buy coal had formed...

  "It seems like business has been good during this time!" The second mistress had a satisfied smile on her face.

  Thanks to Old Lady Tuo's blessing, business has been booming lately. The only thing is that the workers are demanding a pay raise! Manager Hou chimed in.

  "Can we meet their demands? It's not easy for them to leave their homes and work as laborers. We, the Zhou family, don't care about this small amount of money either. You go back and make a list, report the increased salary amount to me, and I'll mention it to Master." said the second lady.

  "That's great sentiment! Here, I'd like to thank Second Grandma on behalf of all the miners!" Manager Hou hastily bowed.

  "But from now on, you must also be diligent and come here often to take a look. Don't let anything dangerous happen!" The second lady reminded.

  "Little understand, little understand..."

  "Alright, let's go take a look at the accounts then." The second mistress said as she walked down the mountain.

  They came to Hou's house, and Hou quickly served tea for the three of them. After the second lady sat down, she instructed: "Bring me this month's accounts to take a look."

  "Alright." The shopkeeper replied, and hurried to the back to fetch the account books. Before long, he brought out a bundle of account books. The second lady took out one book and flipped through it, put it down, then picked up another one, flipped through it again, and put it down... She went through several books in succession, her face showing displeasure.

  "How come they're all account books from a few months ago? Where's this month's?"

  "This month's is below, below..." Hou Zhanggui said as he took out an account book from below and handed it to the second lady.

  The second lady took over the account book and carefully flipped through it. After a while, she stopped, looked up, and said to Hou Zhanggui: "Business is not bad, but it's not reflected in the accounts. Your accounting is very incomplete..."

  "This month's accounts have not been fully recorded yet, I must instruct them to hurry up and record it, hurry up..." Mr. Hou said while wiping the sweat from his face.

  "This account cannot be even a little bit sloppy, it's better to be careful in the future."

  "Yes, yes, yes." replied Hou Zhanggui.

  "Alright, let's stop here for today." The second lady said as she stood up to leave. Mr. Hou hurriedly stepped forward, "Second Lady, wait!"

  "What else is it?" asked the second lady.

  "It's like this, there is a guest who wants to see you!" As he spoke, he lightly clapped his hands twice towards the outside of the door.

  A man in his thirties, of medium build and slightly below average height, with a square face, clear features, and a short mustache under his nose, wearing a gray felt hat, walked into the room. The second lady looked at him but didn't recognize him.

  After the visitor entered the house, he took off his hat and bowed slightly to the second lady, saying: "I am Song Zhihao, the owner of Yuntian Tea House on Erxian Hutong Street. I have long heard of your esteemed name, a heroine among women, and had been thinking of visiting your mansion, but didn't expect to meet you today, I am honored!"

  The two ladies and the two monks were all bewildered, unable to understand what was going on. They only heard Manager Song say: "My humble Tian Tea House has just opened for business not long ago, and I should learn from you, madam. I am also new here, unfamiliar with the local customs, so please take care of me in the future!"

  The second lady seemed to understand something and responded with courtesy: "Mr. Song, no need to be polite, we also have a family-owned tea shop, but business is not very good, please give us more guidance."

  Song Zhihao casually took out something, a beautifully packaged long box, and respectfully presented it to the second lady, "First meeting, a little heart. Please don't refuse, madam!" The second lady originally wanted to decline, but seeing Song's sincerity, she felt that refusing would be impolite, so she accepted it and handed it over to her maid, Xiaohong.

  "Mr. Song is too polite, receiving gifts from the gentleman on their first meeting, it's really embarrassing. The sky is not early, we should return to the mansion." The second lady said as she stood up and left the mining site with everyone else.

  Back at the Zhou residence, the second lady opened the box and found two small boxes inside. One contained a pair of exquisite bangles; the other held a pipe gun and two packets of snuff. The second lady couldn't help but wonder if Song Zhanggui was involved in the snuff trade, thinking to herself that she had underestimated him since she didn't know anything about it. She put it aside and stopped asking questions.

  Jiang Keyue just entered the room, and the second lady ordered: "You came at the right time, you read a lot of books. This time, the business situation of each store, after you go back, write it down simply, I'll take some time to report to Master." Jiang Keyue replied: "Auntie, if you don't mind, I'll do my best." The two chatted for a while, and then Jiang Keyue left the second lady's room...