Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Although it is not yet the prime time in the afternoon and evening, as a more famous teahouse in the suburbs of the dock, there are already many people sitting in the "Xiantong Teahouse" at Dongjiang Wharf outside the East City Gate of Longchuan City Wall, and the business is still very good.

Although Xiantong Teahouse was built and opened less than ten years ago, it was newly built after the Emperor of the Divine Emperor entered Guangdong, the teahouse is still a two-story building in traditional style. After all, having an emperor that connects Chinese and Western countries does not mean that there are jinglings in your pocket overnight to build a foreign building. However, old-fashioned buildings are still very pleasing. There is no need to surprise you like foreign buildings like foreign buildings, but it makes you feel an inconspicuous sense of familiarity and warmth.

The columns and wooden windows inside were deliberately painted red, with a festive meaning. The long counter was not even painted, just the color of the wood body was shown. A few years later, the wood shell was ground into a jade-like roundness by the guests standing and drinking, which made people more and more pleasing to the eye.

For a while, glass was installed in the windows in the county town, and Xiantong Teahouse also followed the trend and installed glass on the red wooden paper windows. However, a few days later, the boss still removed the glass, and it was still wooden windows and cotton paper. He could lift the light windows to feel the slightly salty and fishy Dongjiang water smell of the dock, and watch the pedestrians coming and going on the street without any obscurity. According to the boss, "What I want to do is an old teahouse, not a new Western teahouse. If a new teahouse can compare with a coffee shop on Sany Street, it is better to keep your duty at ease. It is an old window suitable for me, the old teahouse."

It is precisely because of the boss's "duty" approach that this old-fashioned teahouse, which is not very invested or luxurious, has a good business. People from all walks of life, rich and poor like to gather here. It has become a living habit of many people in the dock area when they are doing business, working, and entertainment.

This is not the morning, and the rich people in the county are often talking about business and inspecting their own industries; the enviable Western factory workers are not free, they go to and from get off work on time; other honest people should line up at the docks for the boss to choose to do their own coolies, or squat on the fishing boat to pray that the net is heavy today; but many people can still trade in Xiantong in the morning. Now there are old-fashioned people in the handicap of bird cages, silk jackets and robes, small merchants waiting for water transportation or picking up goods, sailors standing by the counter to buy the cheapest water and wine, and coolies who didn't find work in the morning called a glass of water and eat with the food they brought from their homes. The bosses are also afraid of such guests; of course, there are also prodigal sons who are blood-red and still don't want to go home with a doghouse with barren all over the wall, wandering in the teahouse, gritting their teeth and fantasizing about the scene of turning their own money.

At this time, a young man who looked smiling stepped into the teahouse. He was carrying a briefcase in one hand and a long paper tube under his armpit. He first looked at the people of all kinds inside, then sat swaggeringly at the table at the center, swung the Western-style briefcase in his hand on the table, pressed the paper tube upwards, and shouted: "Xiao Wang, give me a cup of flower tea, other things are the same!"

The guy who was standing outside the counter and wiping the counter with a white towel turned his head when he heard the sound, narrowed his eyes as if on his face, and smiled and said, "Boss Qi, you came here very early today!" Then he put the white towel around his neck and turned into the counter to work hard.

The teahouse owner, wearing a melon-shaped hat, a long gown and a braided jacket, and a braided braids, also lifted his glasses from the account book, looked at the front, and smiled and said, "Xiao Qi, come so early today?"

Of course, Qi Yunlu came. Today he was wearing an American-style suit with a long tie and looked formal, but now he was pulling out his tie from his neck, as if holding a dead snake and stuffing it into his briefcase casually. He turned his head and smiled, "Just finishing business, come here to recruit workers."

At this time, Xiao Wang, the number one shop with quick hands, had already prepared it for Qi Yunlu, and held a wooden plate in his hand like a wind. He put a cup of flower tea, a small porcelain pot of white wine, a wine glass and a stack of boiled peanuts in front of Qi Yunlu, which was what he used to order.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Wang. One is to reward you." Qi Yunlu slapped three small copper coins in her hand on the table. These were all copper coins pressed by coin making machines. They were exquisitely made, with a circle of engraved patterns, and the words "one corner" were engraved in the center.

"Ha, thank you Boss Qi." Xiao Wang quickly hugged the Triangle Silver into the tray with his hand. There was also a small movement in this lightning-like movement. A copper coin had been sandwiched between his fingers and then put it in his pocket. This is why he was enthusiastic about Qi Yunlu: This boss from other places was not only funny and kind to others, but the key was that he would never forget the tip, no matter if he only drank a cup of five cents of tea.

Qi Yunlu let out the bowl of tea, held the paper tube, turned her head and asked the boss at the counter, "Old Zhou, I'll post a recruitment advertisement on the exterior wall of your teahouse, right?"

How could the boss Zhou, the teahouse who has always been hospitalized with guests with gentleness, refuse? He smiled and said, "Okay, please post it casually. I'll ask my guy to watch it for you, so don't let anyone tear your advertisements casually and go to the grass."

After saying that, he turned his head and said to the guy, "Go, get some paste and help Boss Qi stick it outside."

Soon Xiao Wang ran out with a bowl of paste, picked up Qi Yunlu's advertisement and left, but the tea lovers around him surrounded him.

"Boss Qi, what are you advertising?" The man in his forties sitting next to him raised his bird cage, sat over, and asked Qi Yunlu curiously.

Not to mention recruitment advertisements, if you post anything outside the teahouse, these guys will come around curiously. The guests in the teahouse are bored.

Qi Yunlu didn't care, she took the advertisement with a smile and showed it to everyone, but she saw that it was written in black and white with brush:

"Longchuan Hong Kong Global International Construction Company Recruitment Notice: From now on, the company will recruit several experienced construction workers, with a starting salary of 80 cents per day; provide one meal and take care of the accommodation; those with Western construction experience will be given priority, and those with special excellent salary can be negotiated. Note: The boss of our company is a Christian, and will never go back on his word, and will never owe wages, and is based on integrity. Interview contact address: ****** 4th floor"

Although it is just ordinary, a recruitment inspiration can be seen everywhere, but several people watching are enjoying it, and some are still smacking their tongues.

A man squeezed in, glanced at him, walked to Qi Yunlu, and bowed and said, "Sir, are you recruiting workers? What kind of workers?"

While pouring wine, Qi Yunlu looked at the other person and said, "Don't I write clearly?"

"I'm illiterate." The man said honestly.

Everyone laughed, and immediately the person who had good things read it to him in a hurry. The man was stunned for a moment and said, "I have built a house, sir, hire me?"

"What are you doing now?" Qi Yunlu turned her head and asked the man.

"Carry the bag at the pier. But I have built a house at home, so I have the strength!" As he said that, the man swept up the sleeves of his clothes like a mop, and bent his arms to reveal his muscles.

Qi Yunlu said, "Okay, go to my company and my project manager will interview you. He will take the specific examination of your construction skills."

The man didn't leave yet, and he bent down and continued, "Sir, this daily salary is 80 cents, and regardless of food and accommodation, isn't it too low? I just saw that you tip Xiao Wang for one cent at a time, give him more, one cent a day?"

Qi Yunlu looked at the dock coolie in surprise, then suddenly turned her head and shouted at the teahouse owner: "Boss Zhou, there is a big man here to interview your waiter position, you can interview him."

Everyone immediately burst into laughter, and everyone teased the man in unison: "How many years have Xiao Wang done? You can't just want to make a tip?"

The man left embarrassedly with a blushing face. Xiao Wang took the advertisement and went out to post it, and he looked so sad that his stomach hurt.

The guy in the long robe and jacket sitting next to Qi Yunlu teased his bird and laughed: "Xiao Qi, I saw you in the newspaper. What member of the parliament are you going to be? You have already entered the Emperor's newspaper, and you also said in the Emperor's newspaper that you would build a Western building for Longchuan, making Longchuan like the Hong Kong Governor's family. It's amazing."

"Hey, Lao Li, your family is quite rich, and you can definitely be a voter if you know the words and write. If you participate in the election, remember to vote for me." Qi Yunlu smiled.

"Tsk! What voter? Go and play! The government wants to register things, unless we are beheaded and jailed, we will never get involved." Old Li shouted proudly, proud of his style of dealing with the world.

"Boss Qi also wants to be a congressman?" Someone interrupted, "Our area is full of good people. If you make money, please build a building. But no one will go to register and vote. Who cares about that thing? You are full!"

Everyone burst into laughter again, and Qi Yunlu smiled brightly, not caring about her heart.

"Xiao Qi, why are you recruiting workers? Have you found a new project? Who wants to build a building? Congratulations on getting rich." Someone was very familiar with Qi Yunlu and asked with a smile.

Qi Yunlu took a sip of wine, put down her glass, sighed and said, "Build a dormitory building for Zhang Qijie. Hasn't his building been burned? She wants to build a Western tube building, and she has just signed a contract with the textile factory."

Although Qi Yunlu said deliberately, the smugness inside could not be concealed. He deliberately frowned and looked bitter and revengeful, and continued: "My elite soldiers and generals are building buildings for the boss Lin of the Opium Pavilion. Although some workers in the textile factory help me do basic work, I lack backbone. Besides, there are too few workers who are really proficient in Western construction. In fact, I have a headache, so I have to post a notice..."

"Zhang Qijie? Longchuan Textile Factory? The one who had a big incident yesterday? Yes, he also wanted to elect a member of parliament? He is with you Xiao Qi!" Everyone's eyes lit up at the same time, and they turned their heads to look at Qi Yunlu in an instant. He instantly became the absolute center of the tavern. Who doesn't like to listen to gossip?

The old Li, who was sitting next to Qi Yunlu, stopped teasing the birds, but stretched his head and asked, "Hey, yes, Xiao Qi, aren't you running with Zhang Qijie? What's wrong with him? I heard about opium smuggling? Hey, there is also the Wang Yu family who made glass and is suspected of murder. Do you know?"

"Yes, Boss Qi, hurry up and talk." Two more people sat next to Qi Yunlu's table and shouted: "My man, bring my snacks and tea to Xiao Qi." Seeing that he was going to play the table with Qi Yunlu.

Others also came over, and seventeen or eighteen people surrounded Qi Yunlu and erected their ears. Even the teahouse owner Lao Zhou squeezed in, and repeatedly told Qi Yunlu to give him a pot of good tea, "Boss Qi, this is what I gave. Tell me what's going on? Isn't Boss Zhang the largest Western manufacturer in our county?"

Qi Yunlu took a sip of wine proudly, put down the wine glass slowly, nodded and said, "Zhang Qijie is my good friend, and Wang Yu's family is my good buddy. I am so familiar with them that I can't be more familiar with them. This is the case."

Qi Yunlu had always liked such gossip and gossip. She was very eloquent and told something like a vulgar novel: the inside story is absolutely not clear, and those big names who couldn't mention it were shut up, but every detail was vivid, such as Zhang Qijie's dormitory building was thrown into a torch, and Wang Yu's corpse in the carriage, which was said to be like he had seen it with his own eyes.

So although he said it the same as he didn't say it, and everyone didn't know the inside story, it sounded really interesting. The teahouse of more than 20 people was silent, all of which were Qi Yunlu's ups and downs, and his shocked voice was circling around the beams.
Chapter completed!