They rode a carriage to the north of the city for a while, and then the carriage stopped.

Zheng Zhongren's apologetic voice sounded from the front: "Zhiwei layman, the alley ahead is narrow and the carriage cannot enter, so I have to reluctantly get off the car here and walk in."

"It's okay, it's okay." Zhao Ruxi got off the carriage and looked around.

The environment here is indeed incomparable with that in the south and west of the city. The houses are dilapidated and short, and sewage flows across the street. People coming and going all wear short brown clothes. Occasionally, I see people wearing long gowns, and the clothes are also shabby. They are different from the glamorous people in the other three districts.

Quite different.

Because they knew they were coming here today, Zhao Ruxi, Qing Feng, and Dianjiang wore very low-key and simple clothes, but they were still incompatible with the environment here. Several children playing on the roadside were curious when they saw them.

People gathered around.

"Go, go, go..." Zheng Zhongren hurriedly drove them away. When the children were about to leave, he grabbed one of them and asked, "You have a jade carving craftsman here named Ge, named Ge Wu. Which family does he live in?"

"

The child looked six or seven years old and was the oldest among the group of little brats.

Hearing Zheng Zhongren's question, he looked at him warily, then looked at Zhao Ruxi and the other three, and asked, "What are you asking him for?"

Zheng Zhongren raised his hand: "This noble man would like to ask him to make some jade articles."

The child looked at Zhao Ruxi carefully and saw that Zhao Ruxi was smiling and had a kind face, and did not look like he was looking for trouble. He waved his little hand: "Come with me, Ge Wu is my father."

So the group of people followed the child and walked into the alley.

Dianjiang grew up in the uncle's house. Even though she followed Zhao Ruxi back and forth during this period, she had never seen a place like this. She was afraid of soiling her skirt, so she stood there holding it up and felt like she had nowhere to go.

But Qingfeng followed Zhao Ruxi to Zhuangzi, and the houses in Zhuangzi were in dilapidated condition. Not only was there sewage on the road, but there was also mud everywhere. Therefore, she followed Zhao Ruxi without changing her expression, and even lifted Zhao Ruxi's skirt from time to time.

When Dian Jiang saw this, she quickly put aside her squeamishness and imitated Qing Feng to take care of Zhao Ruxi.

The group of people turned around and finally stopped at the entrance of a small courtyard.

"Come in." The child waved his hand and jumped into the door first, shouting inside: "Dad, someone is looking for you."

The sound of grinding in the yard stopped, and a man in his thirties walked out of a room. He saw Zheng Zhongren and his party, especially Zhao Ruxi, who was clearly dressed as an aristocratic lady. His expression

Somewhat nervous.

"Master Ge Wu, I am a middle-aged man in this area, my surname is Zheng. This is Miss Zhao from the Suiping Mansion." Zheng Zhongren quickly introduced himself and introduced Zhao Ruxi.

Yesterday, he was only inquiring about Ge Wu nearby and had not met Ge Wu face to face.

In modern times, Zhao Ruxi often had to deal with master workers. She nodded with a smile and went straight to the point and explained her purpose: "I want to ask you to make jade."

After hearing this, Ge Wu's expression on his face still did not relax: "Who introduced you here?" As he said that, he looked at Zheng Zhongren carefully.

Zheng Zhongren was a little confused and felt that Ge Wu's reaction was not normal, as if he suspected that they were bad people.

Zhao Ruxi said: "Master Ge Wu, I was introduced by your second senior brother Wang Jingsong."

When Xiao Lingyan introduced the craftsmen to her, he first asked whether the apprentices or brothers of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry were skilled in craftsmanship and whether there was a chance to hire them. After asking, he gave Zhao Ruxi not the addresses of the craftsmen to be hired, but the addresses of the craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry.

The craftsman's address.

Zhao Ruxi gave the addresses of the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to middlemen in the corresponding urban areas, and they went to visit their homes to inquire about their seniors or brothers. Only then did they get the person they wanted to invite from the craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry or their family members.

the address of.

This erased Xiao Lingyan's role in it.

Therefore, she is not afraid to mention Ge Wu's senior brother in the Ministry of Industry.

Zheng Zhongren also said quickly: "Yes. I just went to Master Wang's house yesterday. Master Wang always praised your craftsmanship. His brother Qi also remembered brother Yu and said that he would definitely go with his father next time.

Come and play with him."

Sure enough, after hearing this, Ge Wu's expression relaxed obviously, and his eyes immediately turned red.

"My senior brother, is he... okay?"

"It's good. I just miss you so much and hope you can cheer up." Zhao Ruxi said.

Ge Wu is a younger brother of Wang Jingsong, a jade carver from the Ministry of Industry. Being recommended to Xiao Lingyan by Wang Jingsong, his craftsmanship is naturally superb. Craftsmen like him will definitely be rushed by major banks and will not stay still.

Waiting at home for Zhao Ruxi to come and invite you.

It's just that this Ge Wu was unlucky. I don't know whether he offended people with his words or deeds, or was jealous of his peers because of his superb craftsmanship. The silver building where he worked was suddenly stolen, and the jade that was lost was quite valuable. And all the evidence at that time pointed to the

Ge Wu's old boss immediately showed no courtesy and sent him to the Yamen.

Wang Jingsong and Ge Wu's masters had passed away, so their brothers collected money and ran around to help him. Although Ge Wu had been in jail for three years, he didn't suffer much. At least he could still make jade carvings with his hands.

.

It's just that in the jade carving industry, because the raw materials are precious, the requirements for the craftsmen's conduct are very strict.

Ge Wu's reputation was bad. He had been released from prison for half a year and it was difficult to find work. He finally found a silver shop that liked his skills. When they heard about his stealing jade materials, they immediately fired him. He

I have no choice but to rely on my fellow apprentices to introduce some clients and take on some odd jobs.

But someone from Zhengzhong asked yesterday that because jade is precious, people who have good jade don’t trust casual carvers like them to carve it. They will go to the Silver House and would rather spend more money. Those who come to Ge Wu to do work are all small businessmen.

For merchants, the quality of the jade material is poor and the price is low, so the wages they pay are naturally not high.

Sometimes, Ge Wu would purchase some low-grade jade materials, carve them into jade bracelets and jade pendants, and then sell them on the streets.

But business is not good.

Ge Wu listened to Zhao Ruxi's words and smiled: "Please come to the room."

After everyone entered the room and sat down, a woman came in with a teapot and poured everyone a cup of tea.

After pouring the tea, she hesitated with the teapot and did not go out immediately.

Ge Wu looked a little absent-minded. Feeling his wife's strangeness, he raised his head and said to his wife: "You can go out."

Ge's wife opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say anything. She pursed her lips and turned around to go out.

Zhao Ruxi said quickly: "Is this sister-in-law? You can sit down too and let's talk together." As she said that, she glanced at Qing Feng.

Qingfeng quickly grabbed Ge's wife: "Mrs. Ge, please stay."
Chapter completed!