My classmate Zhu Houzhao

Chapter 9 Mysterious Boy

Three days passed in a flash. Fang Heng returned to the Fang residence every night for these three days. Fang Heng knew very well that both Fang Hong and Liu Ruyan and her son needed his help and would not do anything to him. Moreover, with Uncle Jiang watching over them, they would not dare to do anything reckless even if they had a hundred times the courage.

Originally, if it were just Fang Heng alone, he could stay anywhere, whether it was at Gou Dan's house or the houses of his other underlings. But now that Lao Wang is with Fang Heng, and Fang Heng is bringing one person along, not to mention whether it would be convenient for others to stay, whether there would even be enough room is a big problem.

Even in Gou Dan's relatively spacious home, Fang Heng usually shares a room with Gou Dan. If Lao Wang were to join them, there would obviously not be enough room for everyone.

Fang Hong and the others turned a blind eye to Old Wang's presence, since Fang Heng wouldn't be staying at the Fang family's house for more than a few days anyway.

On the morning of the third day, just as Fang Heng was about to leave, Fang Hong arrived at Fang Heng's door early.

"What, you've figured it out?"

Fang Heng looked at Fang Hongdao.

"Can you keep your promise?"

Fang Hong looked at Fang Heng, as if to confirm.

"Of course, but I have one more condition."

Fang Heng glanced at Fang Hong and said.

"What are your conditions? Don't push your luck."

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong felt agitated. Ever since Fang Heng's attitude towards him three days ago made him realize that his son had completely slipped out of his control, Fang Hong had been in a state of turmoil.

"My mother's dowry originally contained a lot of money, but the Fang family has spent most of it over the years, so there probably isn't much left. I won't hold that against you. As for those shops in the capital, I'm going to run them in the future, and you're not allowed to interfere or ask me for money again."

Fang Heng had thought about this for a long time. In fact, the profits of those shops in the capital had been average over the past three years, but they had still made quite a bit of money, several hundred taels of silver. This was even with Fang Heng barely interfering. If those shops were managed a little, the profits would at least multiply several times, but only if the Fang family did not get involved or interfere.

Fang Heng had been looking for an opportunity, and now was the perfect one.

"it is good."

Upon hearing this, Fang Hong's eyes darted around, and he decided to appease Fang Heng first, and deal with the future later.

Fang Heng seemed to have anticipated Fang Hong's words and gave a cold laugh.

"I don't trust you to draw up a written agreement."

Fang Heng was well-prepared. As long as Fang Hong signed the agreement, with Uncle Jiang as his backer, not only Fang Hong, but even if his own grandfather were still alive, he wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, it was unclear whether Fang Hengniang's dowry should belong to the Fang family or Fang Heng. The laws of the Ming Dynasty only stipulated that if a woman remarried, her dowry should belong to her husband's family. However, Fang Heng did not want to lose more than he gained because these external things would affect his future. If the Fang family or Liu Shi made a fuss, he would be the first to bear the reputation of being unfilial.

Even if Fang Heng's mother gave him the red deeds to these shops, Fang Heng couldn't just take them out and start operating them. If he did, neither Fang Hong nor Liu would let it go.

What Fang Heng needs to do now is to secure ownership of these shops. Shops in the capital are not too expensive. Generally, if you buy a shop, a shop with seven or eight rooms will cost around 20 or 30 taels of silver, and a more expensive one will cost around 40 taels of silver.

The shops that Shen Zui gave to his daughter as part of her dowry were all high-quality assets. Three years ago, these shops could earn several hundred taels of silver a year. However, in the past three years, no one has paid attention to them, and they have all relied on the independent management of the shop owners. In addition, with the downfall of the Shen family, those who used to have to curry favor with the Shen family rarely went to these shops anymore, so they earned less than half.

In fact, Fang Heng looked down on these shops. All these shops combined didn't earn him as much as he could from his own haphazard ventures. However, since they were left to him by his mother, Fang Heng naturally wouldn't hand them over easily.

In fact, the main reason why Fang Heng was able to earn so much in the past three years was because of Uncle Jiang's help. But it's not quite accurate to say that he helped. Uncle Jiang was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Fang Heng didn't know his specific official position, but he could come into contact with high-ranking officials and nobles. For example, he charged five taels of silver for making sweets this time, and that was not a small amount. And he had only started making sweets recently. Before that, he had also made horse-face skirts for the young ladies of some high-ranking officials and nobles.

The horse-face skirt is much more profitable than these sweets, but the horse-face skirt depends on fate. After all, Uncle Jiang is busy with official duties, and he will only help Fang Heng make connections when he is free. Of course, Uncle Jiang also makes a lot of money from it, which Fang Heng knows and understands. Fang Heng also understands that this money should be earned by Uncle Jiang.

"you!"

Fang Hong was speechless for a moment, unable to utter a word after hearing his son's words.

Over the past three years, Fang Hong had been thinking of getting the deed to those shops from Fang Heng, but he also knew that after the Shen family fell, those shops were not as good as before. Now the Fang family still had some assets, although not much, but it was still no problem to take over a few shops in the capital. So, for the sake of his youngest son's future, what was wrong with giving up those shops?

"Okay, I promise you, we'll draw up a written agreement in a bit."

Fang Hong gritted his teeth and said.

Upon hearing this, Fang Heng immediately smiled with satisfaction.

Old Wang watched the entire confrontation between the father and son, and his opinion of the young man rose to a new level.

He knew about the Fang family. Jiang Wenyi secretly brought him from Nanjing to this place, and along the way, she talked to him most about the young man in front of her, including the Fang family.

Old Wang's decision to follow Fang Heng was a temporary measure. If he were to enter the capital directly, it would be too conspicuous and would likely arouse the suspicion of many people.

A powerful figure wanted to learn military leadership from him, but he wanted to bypass the notice of most people, so he naturally had to find a way.

Jiang Wenyi had previously said that Fang Heng was unwilling to stay in Liangxiang forever and would eventually go to the capital. When that happened, he would go to the capital with this young man without attracting anyone's attention. After all, he had been away from the capital for decades and had long lost his former spirited appearance. Unless the big shots in the capital conducted a thorough investigation, no one would recognize him.

But who would bother investigating the old man who mooches off a teenager?

About an incense stick later, Fang Heng got the signed and sealed document from Fang Hong as he wished, put it away, and then took Lao Wang out of the Fang residence and headed straight for Gou Dan's house.

Upon arriving at Gou Dan's house, Fang Heng went straight to the bucket of fermenting milk. He opened the wooden bucket lid, removed the cloth covering it, and glanced at the milk's condition. After more than two days of fermentation, the milk had separated into two layers. The upper layer was viscous and was called the milk yolk. Fang Heng scooped all of the milk yolk out with a spoon and placed it in an iron basin. This iron basin was made by a blacksmith for Fang Heng, specifically for making sweets.

Of the twenty pounds of milk, only a small half basin of milk could be scooped out for chewing; the vast majority of the rest was yogurt.

Fang Heng ladled out a bowl of yogurt and handed it directly to Gou Dan, who was eyeing it menacingly. Gou Dan took the yogurt, chuckled, and then began to drink it in large gulps.

According to the memory of that person in Fang Heng's mind, the yogurt tastes mediocre without powdered sugar, and it needs a lot of powdered sugar to taste good. However, powdered sugar is extremely expensive, as the saying goes, "an ounce of powdered sugar is worth an ounce of gold." Fang Heng naturally wouldn't waste such expensive powdered sugar on these yogurts.

"Let's call the others over and divide the rest among ourselves."

As Fang Heng spoke, he placed the wooden bucket in front of Gou Dan. Gou Dan immediately picked up the bucket and strode out with great pride, just like a general who had received a mission.

Fang Heng then poured all the milk cheese from the iron basin into the pot, and personally started a fire to boil the milk cheese. He stirred it continuously to prevent it from burning. This was a very time-consuming and laborious process, and the entire boiling process took about two hours, eventually producing a layer of golden-orange ghee.

After the ghee cooled, it became a yellow, oily substance. According to Fang Heng's memory, this stuff is called ghee, also known as butter.

After making the butter, Fang Heng took out the flour he had bought earlier, then put pieces of butter and a large spoonful of icing sugar into the flour and started kneading. Finally, he mixed the butter, icing sugar and flour completely together, then used a rolling pin to roll the kneaded dough into a sheet. He then folded the sheet and continued rolling, folding and rolling, and so on.

Finally, cut the rolled-out dough into many pieces, and knead each piece into the shape of a small bowl. Then, beat the eggs one by one, add the icing sugar, and pour it evenly into the small bowls. Place these small bowls into the oven that Fang Henglei had prepared earlier and start baking.

Soon, an extremely tempting aroma filled Gou Dan's yard. The boys who were drinking yogurt couldn't help but swallow their saliva when they smelled it. However, they knew that this sweet treat was not for them to eat; it was for the nobles in the capital. Being able to eat this yogurt was already a rare privilege.

Old Wang watched the whole process, and when the egg tarts came out of the oven, his eyes widened. He couldn't understand how these things could be made into such sweet treats. Although he didn't eat any, he knew from the tempting aroma that the desserts in front of him must be very delicious.

However, this time Old Wang did not ask to eat any. He knew very well who the sweets were for. No matter what, that important person was his master, and he naturally dared not overstep his bounds.

After making the egg tarts, Fang Heng wrapped them in kraft paper and placed them in a food box to keep them warm as much as possible.

"Is it finished?"

Uncle Jiang arrived an hour earlier. He knew very well that the dessert had to be eaten as soon as it was made, as it would taste better the sooner it was eaten. So, he naturally had to arrive earlier so that the important person could eat it sooner.

"It's done."

As Fang Heng handed the food box to Uncle Jiang, he wiped the sweat from his neck with a handkerchief.

Uncle Jiang took the food box and turned to leave, not wanting to delay, but Fang Heng called him back.

"Uncle Jiang, there's something I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you with."

Fang Heng considered his words carefully before speaking.

"We can talk about it later. We can't keep our esteemed guest from enjoying this delicious meal."

After saying this, Uncle Jiang arrived at Gou Dan's house, mounted his horse, and headed straight for the capital.

Another hour passed, and as afternoon approached, Uncle Jiang rode his horse back.

"Your esteemed guest is very pleased with this dessert; it is a gift from your esteemed guest to you."

As he spoke, he handed a jade pendant to Fang Heng. Fang Heng took the pendant and touched it, finding it to be very smooth. However, Fang Heng knew nothing about jade and could not tell whether it was good or bad, so he casually hung it on his waist.

"You said you had something to do earlier, what is it?"

Uncle Jiang wanted to remind Fang Heng about such a waste of resources, but ultimately gave up.

Fang Heng immediately told Uncle Jiang everything that had happened in the Fang family in the past few days. Fang Heng knew very well that as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Uncle Jiang could investigate the Fang family's affairs thoroughly if he wanted to. Deliberately concealing some things would be foolish. Therefore, Fang Heng told him in great detail without hiding anything.

"This is easy to handle. Taiji Academy is in decline now. It has a big reputation, but there are not many great scholars teaching there. It would be perfect for your younger brother to go to Taiji Academy."

Uncle Jiang said indifferently.

"However, I cannot recommend Lord Zhang to you. Lord Zhang is a member of the Qingliu faction, and not just any Qingliu faction, but a truly good official. Most Qingliu factions regard us as a flood and beasts, and call us the court's lackeys because their own hands are not clean. Although Lord Zhang will not do that, he still has to distance himself from us, the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"I won't trouble Uncle Jiang with Lord Zhang's matter. I still have my grandfather's seal. I'll write a letter of introduction, and it shouldn't be difficult for me to become Lord Zhang's apprentice."

Fang Heng responded to Uncle Jiang's words.

"That's excellent. You should have gone to the capital long ago. With your abilities, you can't fully utilize them in this hometown. With your personality, you'll definitely thrive in the imperial court in the future."

Uncle Jiang said with satisfaction.

As he said this, he glanced subtly at Old Wang beside him, as if to say, "I'm right, aren't I?"

After Uncle Jiang left, Fang Heng looked at Gou Dan and the others standing to the side.

"Who among you is willing to come with me to the capital? I have several shops there that need someone to manage."

"I'll go."

Dog Egg was the first to jump out and speak.

"I'll go too."

"I'll go too."

.....

In an instant, followers flocked to him.

"Okay, then we'll all go."

Fang Heng said, "I welcome all who come."

Fang Heng planned to open a dessert shop on one of the shops in the capital and a clothing store on the other. He didn't need to worry about making a lot of money, since making too much money in the capital wasn't a good thing. He just needed to be able to support his brothers.

On the other hand, after returning to the capital, Uncle Jiang went straight to the Crown Prince's residence.

"Wenyi, how is it?"

Inside the Crown Prince's residence, a somewhat thin young man saw him and dismissed the others to ask him a question.

"Your Highness, everything has been arranged. Lord Wang is currently by Fang Heng's side, and Fang Heng just asked me for help."

He immediately repeated Fang Heng's request.

"That's excellent. Once this kid enters the capital, I won't have to go through so much trouble to eat these sweets. I can even use the excuse of eating sweets to learn how to lead troops from Master Wang."

The boy nodded.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Wenyi looked worried.

"Your Highness, if those people find out that you're rashly learning these things from Lord Wang, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of? Are you just going to watch the Ming Dynasty rot away like this?"

The boy said with displeasure.