Shuang'er's house really didn't have anything good to entertain guests. However, Ang Lee wasn't here to eat, so he didn't need anyone to entertain him.
"No need, no need. I'm not here to eat. It's getting late. I should go back soon. By the way, where are you working now? What do you mainly do? "
Ang Lee asked.
The blockhead replied, "I'm planting trees in a noble's house. They're all trees that are more than ten people tall. They were transported from Jiangnan. They're not acclimatized to the environment, so they might not be able to survive. These nobles are really rich. Just for a tree, they actually transported it from so far away. What a good tree! The trunk and branches are almost cut off. Only the main trunk is left. "
He said with a look of pity.
These nobles were indeed like this. They really liked to tidy up the flowers and plants in their houses, especially tall and high-quality trees. They were good things that many people pursued. What kind of tree was the best to show off one's status? Naturally, it was a thick and rare tree.
The older the tree, the more imposing it was. Only rare and uncommon trees could show off nobility. If there were trees all over the street, it wouldn't be enough to show off the nobility's character. Therefore, many nobles hoped to go to farther places to buy noble trees in foreign lands. This way, they could show off their noble status.
Especially the trees in Jiangnan and Central Sichuan. Many of them were very beautiful and were liked by the nobles. However, the trees in foreign lands weren't suitable for the environment near the capital. Coupled with the loss of long-distance transportation, it was impossible to guarantee the absolute survival rate of the trees. There was a high probability that the trees would wither. Once they withered, the money spent would be wasted.
Of course, there were also people who sold trees. If the trees couldn't survive, they wouldn't collect money. However, the cost in this case was definitely higher. It would cost about a few times at a time. The cost was quite high. It wasn't something that ordinary people could afford.
"They're all big trees transported from Jiangnan. What kind of trees are there?"
Ang Lee asked curiously.
The man touched his head and smiled awkwardly. He said, "There are many kinds. They're tall and big. I don't know what kind of trees they are. Anyway, I'm only responsible for planting trees. Who cares what kind of trees they are? "
"That's true. The person who planted the trees didn't know what kind of trees he planted. This is quite interesting."
Ang Lee said with a smile.
People like him could only plant trees for the rest of their lives because he didn't even know what kind of trees he was planting every day. As such, there was no possibility of progress in his career. If he didn't know what he was doing, how could there be progress?
There was a good story. There were three workers building a wall at a construction site. Someone asked them what they were doing. The first one replied, "Are you blind?" Can't you see I'm building a wall? The second one said, I am building a building, and the last one said, I am building a beautiful city.
In the end, the person who said he was building a wall was still building a wall ten years later. The person who said he was building a skyscraper had become a small boss. The worker who said he was building a beautiful city had become a big boss and was very rich. This was the biggest difference between people.
The man in front of him obviously belonged to the first kind of person. He worked brainlessly every day. As for what he was doing, he didn't care at all. He planted trees all day long, but he didn't even know what kind of trees he planted.
If he had just started working, it would be fine. However, this man was obviously a person who had worked for many years. He was not a novice at work, but he didn't even know the most basic tree species. How could he make progress?
However, there were too many people like this man in the whole society. There were too many to count. There were such people everywhere, or it could be said that most people were like this. There were only a few people who could have a better understanding of their own work, and there were also a few people who could be promoted. Therefore, only a few people could get the opportunity to be promoted and achieve greater achievements.
"Just planting trees? In a noble's house, it's more than just planting trees! It's too monotonous. "
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
In Ang Lee's impression, a noble's house should at least have pavilions, trees, rockery, and bamboo forests. None of these could be missing. Otherwise, how could it be worthy of being called a noble's residence?
The man nodded and said, "The main thing is to plant trees. This is the most work. The most difficult thing to plant are the big trees. There are also some small trees, which are much easier. We just need to dig a hole and bury them. There are also some beautiful stones, but this is done by stonemasons. We only need to dig a hole."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Oh, so that's it? How many years have you been working? "
"Well, about seven or eight years!"
The man replied.
"After seven or eight years, you should have some savings! Why is your family still so poor? The Tang dynasty is not like the past. There are rich people everywhere. "
Ang Lee said.
The man blushed a little and looked very embarrassed.
"It's all my fault. I've implicated my wife and daughter. They can't live a good life."
The man gasped as he spoke.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "You look strong, much stronger than ordinary men. How can you be useless? If you were thin and sick, it wouldn't be strange. But you are not thin and weak at all. Instead, you are very strong. You have such a good body, but you have been working for seven or eight years without any achievements. How can this be?"
"Sir, I don't know either! My body is not bad, and I work hard. But I don't know why I always get into trouble every few days. I've been working for more than half a year. As long as I get into trouble once, my salary is not enough to pay for it. If the foreman didn't plead for me, I wouldn't be able to pay for it even if I sold my wife and daughter! "
The man said very helplessly.
"Then what kind of big trouble did you get into? Even if you sold your wife and daughter, you wouldn't be able to pay for it."
Ang Lee had already seen through everything, so he asked with a smile.
"In fact, it's not a big trouble. It's just that I broke something valuable. My salary for several years is not enough to pay for it."
The man said.
"Oh, then give me a few examples. Let me hear it."
Ang Lee asked curiously since he had nothing to do.
The man said, "Eight years ago, for the first time, I was working in a Duke's mansion. I was walking with a tree in my arms. Suddenly, I stepped on something. With a bang, a servant of the Duke's mansion came immediately and asked me to pay for it. He said that it was a flower hairpin bestowed by the Imperial Concubine to the Duchess. Its value was immeasurable. I stepped on it and broke it. I had to pay for it, a lot of money."
As he spoke, his face was full of pain, as if he was really unlucky.
Ang Lee frowned and thought for a moment. He asked, "The flower hairpin bestowed by the Emperor to the Duchess fell on the ground and was stepped on by you. How can there be such a coincidence?"
Obviously, Ang Lee was very suspicious. He was almost certain that the man had been blackmailed.
The man hurriedly said, "Noble Sir is right. I also have the same theory. Just now, I was walking fine. How could there be a wooden hairpin on the ground? But the servant said that their Duchess had just passed by here and it probably fell off her head accidentally. Because the wooden hairpin was too light, it didn't make a sound when it fell on the grass. Therefore, it wasn't discovered in time. Later, the Duchess discovered that the hairpin was missing. She ordered the servants to spread out and look for it. She just happened to see me stepping on the hairpin and said it was my fault. But I also didn't know that there was such a precious hairpin on the ground!"
As he spoke, the man's face was full of regret. He felt that his luck was too bad. How could it be so coincidental that he stepped on the hairpin and broke it?
Ang Lee naturally understood everything. He asked with a smile, "And then? How did it end up? "
The man continued, "At that time, the servant wanted me to compensate 20 gold pieces. I'm just an ordinary person. How could I have so much money? Fortunately, our foreman ran over and said that I didn't do it on purpose. This fault couldn't be blamed on me. Moreover, a poor person couldn't afford to compensate. He asked the servant to put in a few good words in front of the Duchess. In any case, the Duchess has a lot of jewelry. The Duchess is also kind and kind. She promised to give the servant a gold piece to settle the matter.
The servant agreed. "Ang Lee suddenly understood everything. He smiled and said," You don't have to tell me what happened after that. The foreman helped you pay a gold piece. This money must be deducted from your salary! "
The man nodded and said, "Yes, this disaster was caused by me. Of course, I have to bear the responsibility. How could I let the foreman bear the debt for me? This hairpin is half a year's salary. However, the foreman only deducted half of it every month and asked me to pay it back in one year. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to eat every month. This foreman is a good person. So, for so many years, I've been working with him. I've always done my best and never slacked off. "
When Ang Lee heard this, he could only laugh in his heart. This fool probably didn't know that he was being played. If it was only this accident, Ang Lee was willing to believe that the foreman was a good person. However, this man had worked for the foreman for seven or eight years. This kind of thing happened again and again. This was very abnormal. In addition, this incident itself had many flaws. It was just that if you were willing to believe the foreman, these flaws would be ignored.
"When was the second time? Was it seven years ago?"
Ang Lee held back his laughter and asked.
The man's eyes were full of surprise. He said in surprise, "It was seven years ago. Noble Sir's guess is really accurate. It's strange to say that I spent a year to pay off the money for the last disaster. Immediately after, I got into trouble again. This time, it was in a marquis' mansion. When I was dragging a small tree, I crushed a flowerpot passing by. The flowers in the flowerpot were also damaged. When I passed by this place in the morning, there was no flowerpot. How could there suddenly be a flowerpot in the afternoon? It's my fault for being careless. If I paid more attention, I wouldn't have made such a mistake. It's all my fault for being too careless."
After saying this, his face was full of regret.
Ang Lee said, "This time, it must be another expensive flowerpot and flowers. It must have been caught by the servants again. The foreman must have paid for it again!"
The man looked at Ang Lee with great admiration and nodded, "You're right. Noble Sir, you're absolutely right. This time, the flowerpot belongs to the Commandery Princess. The flowers in the flowerpot are the Commandery Princess' favorite flowers. It's said that a princess in the palace gave it to the Commandery Princess. The Princess treats it as a treasure because there are some problems with the flowers' growth recently. She said that she put it in the courtyard to let the wind blow. Unexpectedly, I broke it. This is the lifeblood of the Commandery Princess. If the Princess knew about it, the servants said that he would lose his life. In order to save his life, he could only buy the same flowerpot at a high price from the East Market. But this is the most expensive flower in the Western Region. It costs dozens of strings of coins to buy a flowerpot. Since I broke it, I should pay for it. Of course, I didn't want to, but the servants said that the Commandery Princess was rude and unreasonable. If he told the Commandery Princess about this, the Commandery Princess would definitely not let me off. In the end, the foreman asked us to each take a step back and pay for half of the damages.
Li An's expression was one of helplessness. To fall into the same trap twice, this was something that no one else could do. Perhaps only someone like Blockhead would fall into the same trap twice.
"Well, let's talk about what happened six years ago."
Ang Lee asked patiently. The man was surprised.
Six years ago, I was in the house of a big businessman. That big businessman was very rich. The back garden of his house was very large. There were about 100 servants in the garden. There were all kinds of precious trees in the garden. We planted a tall tree that was transported from Yangzhou. When I finished my work, I was in a hurry to go to the toilet. But I walked too fast. When I passed a circular arch, I bumped into a maid who was holding a tray. As a result, the teapot on the tray was broken. It was also a very expensive teapot. If it weren't for the foreman's intercession and the Merchant's generosity, I wouldn't be able to pay for it in my life. "
After that, he was so anxious that he was about to cry.
Seeing that the man was about to cry, Ang Lee could only hold back his laughter. He continued to ask about the next few encounters. The result was predictable. Every time, he accidentally broke the owner's precious items and then needed to pay a high price for compensation. After that, the good-natured foreman came forward to settle the matter and let the man pay a lot less. After that, the man was grateful for the foreman's kindness. Not only did he pay back the money that the foreman paid him, but he also worked harder and was more loyal to the foreman. Even if someone tried to poach him with a high salary, the man did not betray his foreman.
"Tell me, why does this rich and powerful family use such expensive things? If one of them is broken, we can't afford it. Even if we sell our house, we can't afford it!"
The man said.
Ang Lee couldn't help but say, "Your foreman is really influential. No matter who it is, he can give face to anyone and can settle any big matter. I really don't know what kind of person he is. I really want to meet him."
"That's not difficult. If you want to meet him, I'll take you there tomorrow."
The man said.
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