Republic of China small businessman

"But I heard that he knows a German middleman, maybe it's a machine made in Germany..."

Jiu Ye said: "The most important thing in a winery is not the machines."

Bai Mingzhe was at a loss, and suddenly felt a sudden bump in his heart: "You, you mean?"

Master Jiu pondered for a moment, and said: "I sent Zhang Huwei to you. These days, let him take people to accompany you and your wife in and out, and take care of the winery. You remember, no matter what happens, people are more important than machines. "

Bai Mingzhe agreed and hurried away.

Heihe.

Fang Ji'an had a hard time.

Only one person is employed in his small brewery, which has been in decline since he moved out of one of the busiest streets a few years ago.Even if they moved to a new place and set off [-] firecrackers, they couldn't dispel the bad luck, and the business got worse and worse.Next to his small workshop was a flour mill, and there was a lot of chaff and dust all day long, which made Fang Ji'an keep scolding.

The hired guy was lazy and didn't care much about the shopkeeper's temper. When he was scolded, he would get up and do some work at will-there is really nothing that this small brewery can do.

Someone came to visit this day and brought many expensive gifts.

While letting people in, Fang Ji'an exchanged greetings with the other party: "Shopkeeper Sun, long time no see, how are you doing these days?"

The person who came was shopkeeper Sun from another winery on the Heihe side, and he also extended his hand to Fang Ji'an for a few words. He was accompanied by a middle-aged man in a suit, with a fair face and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. People here are different.

Fang Ji'an let the people in and sent the clerk to buy refreshments.

When the clerk came in to get the money from him, he heard a few people talking and laughing in the room. The middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes had a strange accent, and he was actually Japanese. The clerk couldn't help but take a second look.

Fang Ji'an gave him a dime, urged him to go quickly, and said to the guest: "Mr. Ito, sit down, come, and have a taste of this tea."

The Japanese businessman named Ito smiled, nodded and sat down, took a sip of tea and said, "I only know a little about tea art, but when it comes to wine, I know a lot. I have always admired Mr. Fang's wine making skills and want to visit one time."

This man brought a lot of presents, and when he came up, he boasted a lot. Fang Ji'an was flattered, and his ancestors did have some real skills. I think that was the only good shochu in Heihe back then. Others can't appreciate it.

But he still kept his eyes open, and Che Zhulu said a lot of polite words, but he didn't say a word about wine making.

He still has arrogance in his bones, but after many years of setbacks, this arrogance has given birth to a little unwillingness. When Ito mentioned Heihe Winery, he inevitably felt sour.

Ito came here for the Fang family's secret wine-making recipe, but he didn't know the rules of the Fang family master, and thought that Fang Ji'an had a copy here.

Fang Ji'an heard that the other party said that he wanted to learn how to make wine, and he remained silent again. He just smoked and glanced at the introducer, shopkeeper Sun: "Brother Sun is here as a guarantee?"

"It's just an introduction. Do you all have a special liking for wine? Let's get to know each other and get to know each other." Shopkeeper Sun smoothed things over and said a few polite words.

Fang Ji'an is not stupid, and said with a sneer: "Then why don't you 'get to know each other' with your Sun family first, your family's Changshan wine is also good, good spirits!"

Shopkeeper Sun was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "I have understood, the secret brewing recipe in my family has been handed over to Mr. Ito."

Fang Ji'an froze for a moment, frowning in confusion.

The recipes of each brewery are kept secret, and this is the last foundation of the winery. He couldn't figure out why shopkeeper Sun wanted to take up the roots of his family's foundation and give it to this Japanese businessman.

Shopkeeper Sun sighed and said, "Treasurer Fang, times have changed. Mr. Ito brought a boat with three complete sets of brewing equipment, which are the same as those used by Baijia now."

Fang Ji'an's eyes widened suddenly.

Whether it is long or not, January is not short.

The provincial capital Baijia's convoy had only left for more than a month, and everything in Qinghe County was as usual, but Heihe had changed.

When Fang Jiwu returned home from the ethnology school holiday again, the family was different from the past.

Although I still live in the same courtyard as before, there are a few more pieces of red pine furniture in the flower hall, all of which are newly made, and the younger brothers and sisters in the family are also wearing new clothes. pieces of candy.

Not only has the family changed, but the small winemaking workshop that the family relied on for a living has also changed its address. It is no longer in a remote place, but moved back to a busy street a few years ago, and took over the largest one there. The silk and satin shop was changed into a wine shop, which was a bit rich and powerful, announcing to the surrounding people that the Fang family had become rich again.

Fang Ji'an also changed his appearance, wearing a satin robe, the material rustled when walking, decent and imposing.

He walks around in the new store on weekdays, ordering the three guys under him, and he is still the same when he comes home at night. After drinking a few more glasses of wine, he starts to curse at Fang Yurou's dissatisfaction with the Bai family, from the machine to the bank. endlessly.

But the children in the family are happier than usual, because Fang Ji'an has money in his hand now, and the appetizers are good, and he doesn't care about them when he is drunk, and he can often steal a little bit of it by going over.

"Qianzhuang, Qianzhuang is owned by the Bai family! They are all in the same group... Look down on me, ha, I can also wear a marmot leather jacket now, I have a big pocket! Wait, wait for me later Come on, sooner or later, if you want to see me, you will be polite..." Fang Ji'an was drunk, but he was still full of complaints and dissatisfaction.

Fang Jiwu helped his mother move him to the bedroom to sleep, but Fang Ji'an fell asleep, not knowing about his personnel.

Fang Jiwu glanced at the extra decorations in the room, frowned and said, "Mother, what's going on?"

"Hey, your father is now doing business with shopkeeper Sun. I don't understand what they do. It seems that the other party produces wine and your father is in charge of selling it. The money in the family is more spacious than before." Fang Jiwu's mother faltered. , did not say much.

But within one night, Fang Jiwu understood.

Fang Ji'an was doing business with Japanese merchants. In the past two years, the number of Japanese in the Northland has increased, and the attitude of the provincial government has been vacillating.The governor who currently sits in the three provinces of the North has a bad temper, and neither the Russians nor the Japanese have a good face.Last month, because a Japanese businessman injured a civilian in the street, the governor lost his temper. He caught a Japanese in the street and broke a leg, and threw him into their consulate.

Fang Jiwu waited for his father to sober up, and persuaded him a few times, but he still got a slap in the face, and some sarcasm: "You kid eats and drinks from me, why——you still want to meddle in my affairs?"

Fang Jiwu was silent for a while, covered his face and said, "Father, I want to see it too."

Fang Ji'an looked at him for a moment, only thinking that the slap turned his son's temper, grinned and said: "That's right, let's go, Dad will take you to see our new shop, you are good, don't be like that Wang Jingqiu , reading has made my brain stupid, this person lives for a lifetime, I can see through it, and only with money in hand can he live a good life for a few days."

Fang Jiwu followed to see the new storefront, which was really impressive, but the jars of shochu displayed on the counter were no longer the familiar ones, but had been replaced with new packaging.

"Old wine in new bottles, our family's secret recipe, let shopkeeper Sun take charge of the brewing, and we will eat dry stocks in the future, waiting for dividends." Fang Ji'an took a bit of pride, and shared the things of the past few days with his son. Say it again.

Fang Jiwu has been listening quietly, without making a sound.

Not long after, someone visited the store, and it was the Japanese businessman Ito who came in.

Fang Ji'an took Ito to the small room on the second floor to talk, and Fang Jiwu accompanied him, standing behind his father with his hands down.

Ito is very good at talking, with a respectful attitude, even for a small person like Fang Ji'an, he still makes a gesture of listening.This made Fang Ji'an very satisfied, he flicked the cigarette ash and said: "I have been to the store you mentioned, and there is nothing new, but there are some newly opened bakeries, coffee shops, sausage shops and so on. When I was there, the drinks were delivered by me. It was so cold in winter that people's toes would fall off..."

Ito said: "Yes, I have heard about it, and because of this, I brought a gift to shopkeeper Fang. This is a high-quality marmot fur coat. There are two sets of knee pads and leather boots. Please accept it from shopkeeper Fang."

Although Fang Ji'an was greedy, he confiscated it. He knew in his heart that his "secret recipe" was not worth it.

Ito sat there and drank a few cups of tea. He talked about the new crops of this year, such as sorghum and wheat, from the branches and baskets where the shochu was stored. He knew very well about this year's rain.

Fang Ji'an laughed and said: "Yes, the sun and rain are good this year, and the land is also fertile. It's nothing for us, but I heard that the provincial government was hit by floods. I guess it's not easy to buy food this year? The quantity is large, Mr. Ito, do you want to buy some soybean sorghum or something, and sell it at a high price? Even if it is not the provincial government, it seems that the British want to order a lot of soybeans."

Sitting there, Ito shook his head and said with a smile, "This year's sorghum harvest is good for wine making."

Among the shochu brewed by the Fang family, there is a strong one whose main ingredient is sorghum.

Fang Ji'an sat there knocking cigarette ashes, but did not answer.

Ito said again: "Master Fang, the new machine will be delivered in a few days, and there are still three sets, but how much wine do you think can be brewed with only these six sets of distillation equipment?" He tapped his fingers on the table, hinting, "Investing in a winery can be large or small. For example, if you choose the corresponding machinery and equipment to invest in a small winery, you only need [-] to [-] silver dollars. Of course, there are also [-] silver dollars. Sir, you can think about it a little more."

Fang Ji'an said: "Every line is like a mountain. You are just selling machines, and you still don't know much about wine making. The wine making budget we have to do is not just machines. Have you asked about the price of grain this year? Have you thought about where to sell it? Have you figured all this out?"

Ito said: "Yes, I have never brewed wine, and I have always been fascinated by learning the real brewing technology. The technicians in our factory also hope to experience the brewing process with you."

Fang Ji'an looked up at him, his heart skipping a beat.

Ito still had the smile on his face when he first met him, but he was more strategic: "You don't have to worry about money and equipment, we have our own large-scale winery that is being prepared for construction, and the machines are shipped from Germany. The distillation equipment can fully meet the needs, I think we can cooperate. However, if it is brewed in large quantities according to the recipe given by you and Shopkeeper Sun, how do you think the wine will sell?"

Fang Ji'an's forehead broke out in cold sweat, and he heard that the other party came prepared, and what he threw out was a piece of meat, but there was a hook hanging on the meat, and a long string was held in his hand, waiting for someone to bite down.

Ito said: "I heard that you are close relatives with Ms. Fang Yurou from Heihe Winery, so the one in her winery..."

Fang Ji'an suddenly turned around and scolded: "Jiwu, you go out first! Close the door, I have something to say to Mr. Ito."

Fang Jiwu paused for a while, and was scolded again. When he turned around and closed the door, he could only see his father, who was gradually covered in the shadows, talking with them more and more shallowly.