Chen Siwu?

Xie Xian squinted, carefully recalling.

He didn’t seem to remember hearing this name.

Even his appearance was completely unfamiliar.

So he asked tentatively, “Have we met before?”

Chen Siwu chuckled, “You haven’t seen me, but I’ve seen you! I’ve seen both of you!”

“I was originally a refugee who came here to escape disaster. Don’t you often appear together with Master Fang! I’ve seen you on the street!”

“Master Fang was very kind to this humble person! Dare I ask… did Master Fang come too?”

Xie Xian and Zhou Tie suddenly understood.

So he was a refugee, which explained everything.

Xie Xian smiled and shook his head, “No, Master Fang is in the capital. Perhaps there will be another chance to come in the future.”

Hearing this, Chen Siwu’s face showed disappointment.

“Ah, shopkeeper, your business is quite good. You were a refugee before, and now you’ve opened your own little shop!” Xie Xian praised.

Hearing this, Chen Siwu immediately brightened up again.

His face full of pride as he looked at his simple tea stall.

Inside, two malnourished helpers were busy serving tea to customers.

“Speaking of which, this is all thanks to Master Fang’s blessing! He gave this humble person fifty taels of silver back then, which provided the capital to open this tea stall.”

Xie Xian asked, “How’s life now? Are you making money?”

Chen Siwu beamed again, “Making money! This humble person can now be considered a fish that’s turned over!”

Back then, he had initially been quite happy working for the Sun Family.

But as time went on, he naturally had higher expectations for life.

However, before his treatment improved, his reputation as a “Premium Laborer” began to lose its effectiveness.

Getting older, no matter how hard he worked, he couldn’t compete with men in their twenties.

The Sun Family’s steward had sharp eyes and immediately helped him reduce his wages.

Later, he became dispirited and chose to slack off at the construction site.

But after all, it was a construction site with supervisors, so it was hard work with no opportunity to slack off.

Fortunately, he still had the fifty taels of silver that Fang Zheng had rewarded him initially.

He gritted his teeth and decided it was time to quit.

He didn’t get overtime pay and had to compensate the Sun Family fifty coins for work uniform damage before going out to start his own business!

Fortunately, chatting with fellow workers daily, he understood their needs very well.

These laborers just wanted some thirst-quenching, refreshing tea during the day.

But with dust flying everywhere, where could they find tea stalls?

Thus, Chen Siwu took the initiative to start his own tea stall business with confidence.

He rented a piece of empty land for two taels of silver per month, bought a bunch of low-grade tea without spending much, and brewed huge vats of it.

Workers could drink as much as they wanted for just two coins, with free refills included!

Although the profit margins were small, this was already starting to turn a profit. Later, he naturally added some higher-quality teas.

Hearing that he was making money, Xie Xian looked pleased and encouraged him, “Good! Your tea stall may be small, but the prices are fair and affordable. Business will definitely get better and better!”

Chen Siwu grinned broadly, “Ah, borrowing your auspicious words!” But then he began lamenting, “Sigh, but it’s such a pity Master Fang didn’t come.”

“You don’t know, ever since Master Fang left, we laborers have been suffering.”

Zhou Tie slammed the table, “What? Our Master Fang instructed that refugees shouldn’t be mistreated. How dare anyone bully people after he left?”

Chen Siwu immediately complained, “Exactly!”

“The first two months after Master Fang left were fine, but after that, those dog landlords started reducing our wages.”

Xie Xian frowned, “If they reduced wages, couldn’t you just work for other families? Don’t tell me they all colluded?”

“No! It’s because we workers are asking for too little! You might not know this, but the school outside the city offers free education for children under twelve. When word got out, many people from other places came here just for that!”

“Consider this: a large number of people moved into the city because they wanted their children to attend school for free and receive meals. Their own expectations were quite modest as well.”

“Later, those hiring landlords only needed to provide two meals a day and people would work for them, so nobody could get wages anymore.”

After hearing Chen Siwu’s complaints, Zhou Tie looked up at Xie Xian.

“We didn’t handle things properly… what should we do about this?”

Xie Xian looked at the workers still occasionally bustling about on the street and said, “It was inevitable given the hasty circumstances then. Since we’re here, we should think of a way to solve this. Shopkeeper, I see you have two helpers. How much do you pay them monthly?”

“What wages? Two meals a day, take it or leave it!”

“……..”

Xie Xian looked speechlessly at the honest-seeming Chen Siwu.

You bastard opened a broken tea stall and you’re no different from those dog landlords you mentioned…

Seeing them silent, Chen Siwu proactively said, “I just heard you two talking about salt dealers… are you looking to buy illegal salt?”

Zhou Tie and Xie Xian immediately exchanged delighted glances.

There was actually an unexpected gain!

Xie Xian quickly asked in a low voice, “That’s right! Do you know where illegal salt is sold?”

“I don’t know.”

“…….”

Chen Siwu looked up, recalling, then said hesitantly, “There really isn’t any now. You can’t buy it anywhere!”

“There used to be some available. When I was working for the Sun Family, I saw them buy illegal salt!”

“Back then we had many workers, and working without salt made us weak.”

“The Sun Family was unwilling to provide salt, but later seeing that everyone was working half-heartedly, they had to buy more salt. I personally saw the steward sneaking around with that salt dealer, so I knew it had to be illegal salt!”

“When I went to the Sun Family to collect my wages, I saw the steward with that person around the corner. There was a whole cart of salt, and the steward even tasted some, saying the goods were good.”

Zhou Tie scratched his head, “How did you know it was illegal salt?”

“I saw that salt seller go into Fenghua Tower! Saw him several times on the street! Could someone selling official salt be that rich and that blatant?”

“Everyone knows that entering Shopkeeper Xie’s Fenghua Tower requires a fortune; you would need thousands of taels just to consider stepping inside.”

Xie Xian waved his hands repeatedly, smiling, “Not that extreme, not that extreme, it’s not that expensive.”

“So you recognize that person?”

It seemed the situation was suddenly taking a turn for the better. Xie Xian was in great spirits!

“I’d recognize him if I saw him!” Chen Siwu patted his chest in guarantee.

“Good! Could I trouble Shopkeeper Chen to help me with a favor? Please stay at Fenghua Tower for a few days to identify this person. You don’t need to run your tea stall, and I will compensate you for any losses.”

Chen Siwu grinned widely, “No need, no need! For such a small matter, I know you’re helping Master Fang with business. Just letting me enter Fenghua Tower is worth more than anything!”

Xie Xian and Zhou Tie immediately burst into laughter.

“Shopkeeper Chen, you’re too kind! The money that should be given will still be given. In the future, I’ll write to Master Fang to introduce someone as talented as you!”

Introduce him to Master Fang!?

Chen Siwu’s face lit up with excitement. He turned around and called out, “Iron Egg! Bring out the good tea for our guests!”

“Please, have as much tea as you’d like! It’s on the house today. If you could say a few kind words about me to Shopkeeper Xie, I’d be most grateful!”

Xie Xian couldn’t help but laugh. He hadn’t expected this little old man to be so ambitious at his age.

“Don’t worry, it’s a small matter! You don’t need to be so courteous either. I think your stomach-cleansing detox tea is quite good. I’ve never heard of this tea in the capital. What kind of tea leaves are these?”

Chen Siwu rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed and very hesitant.

Finally, seeing Xie Xian and Zhou Tie’s curious gazes fixed on him, he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “Nothing special… just… added a little… laxative…”

“………”

“Holy shit!”

Xie Xian’s face suddenly darkened as he slowly set down the teacup that had reached his lips.

Zhou Tie’s face had already turned green…..