At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Kaifeng Prefecture was the administrative center of Henan Province, which was now the provincial capital. It was economically prosperous.
Because the local area was rich in peanuts, Kaifeng was the oil hub of 13 provinces in the south, 7 north, and 6 north. Almost all the oil merchants in the country had set up shop in the local Youfang Street.
Because of the bad behavior of the merchants, they were often short on weight and bullied the market. The government took the money but did not care about it, which made people angry.
One night, the sound of the night watch came from the Youfang Street.
"The weather is dry, be careful of the fire … Bang, bang, bang …"
In the Liu Family's old shop, a middle-aged woman was awakened and saw her man sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking a pipe.
"Husband, why aren't you sleeping?"
"I can't sleep. This year's peanut harvest is good. The new oil will be 30% cheaper than last year's. I'm afraid we will lose the oil we have in stock!"
The woman thought and said hesitantly, "I heard from the shop staff that other shops mix sesame oil and cotton oil into the oil. That's why the price is so low. Husband, should we …"
Before she finished, the man snorted, "God is watching what people do. Our Liu Family has always been honest. This immoral trick can be popular for a while, but can it last?"
The woman sat up with her clothes draped over her shoulders and said timidly, "Husband, have you heard?
Old Gao's family all buried magnets under the big scale, giving one catty is two taels less. Today, the foreign merchant came back directly after buying the oil, but Old Gao didn't give it to him and even gave him a good beating. This world ah … in the whole old oil lane, our family is the most honest. "
The man was still unmoved. He took a puff and seemed to not want to continue this topic. "Doing business is being a man. We have to be conscientious.
Go to sleep. It's the Mid-Autumn Festival in two days. We have to get up early to prepare the tributes to the Fire God. Bless us to get through this year safely. "
The woman seemed to be a little angry and muttered, "I know, I know. It's better to pray to the Fire God to bless us to get rich. A good man like you doesn't bless us. Why do you worship the Fire God?"
Old Liu knocked his pipe on the brick bed and scolded, "Don't talk nonsense. There's a god watching over you."
"Sleep, sleep." The woman muttered and went to help the man take off his clothes.
At this time, an old voice suddenly came from the street.
"Big fire for fourteen taels, small fire for fifteen taels …" (Huo Shou is a type of noodle dish in the north, commonly called Huo Shou Mo)
Old Liu frowned and muttered, "This muddle-headed old man. How can a small one be heavier than a big one? Fifteen taels is almost a catty. Is this for humans or for pigs?" (In ancient times, a catty was sixteen taels per catty)
The woman rubbed her stomach and pleaded, "Husband, let's go buy two. I'm hungry."
Unable to resist the woman's pleading, Old Liu put on his clothes and went to the street. Sure enough, he saw a blurry figure walking back and forth not far away.
"Sir, give me a fire."
The old man stopped and turned around to look at him. Suddenly, he disappeared into thin air, as if he had never appeared.
But the peddler's voice still echoed in the street.
"Big fire for fourteen taels, small fire for fifteen taels …"
Old Liu rubbed his eyes in disbelief, not only because the old man disappeared into thin air, but also because when the old man turned around, he saw the face of the God of Fire!
His legs were numb, and he stood there for a while before Old Liu came to his senses. He muttered a curse and hurried back to his shop.
It was strange that the old peddler shouted in the oil square street for three nights. But no matter who came out to look for him, they could not find him. It was very strange.
Three days later, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, the festive festival made people forget the peddler's voice in the middle of the night.
On this night, a gust of wind suddenly blew on the old oil square street. Then, a fire came out of nowhere and suddenly spread.
"Water is on fire …"
A mournful scream came from the west end of the oil square street, echoing the sound of the wind and waking everyone up.
The woman shook Old Liu awake, put on her clothes and hurriedly ran out. When they ran to the street, the fire was like a snake, snaking through the whole street. The crackling sound of burning wood could be heard.
Countless people held buckets of water, kneeling on the ground with tears and snot, praying to God for rain to extinguish this damned fire.
But when they looked up, there was only a jade plate like moon hanging in the sky, coldly watching the joys and sorrows of the world.
"Big fire for fourteen taels, small fire for fifteen taels …"
Old Liu suddenly remembered the peddler's voice that echoed in the oil square street for three days, and the old man who looked exactly like the God of Fire when he turned around. He suddenly understood something.
He madly rushed into his shop on the east side of the street, took out the hook scale that had been passed down for five generations, ran out of the house, and knelt down in front of the fire.
"Grandpa God of Fire, my ancestors have always been honest people, this is the jingling sixteen taels scale!"
He kept shouting and roaring at the top of his lungs.
A miracle happened!
When the fire spread to his shop, it suddenly stopped, then turned around and continued to burn to the west.
Old Liu's eyes were full of tears, and he kept kowtowing on the ground.
"Thank you Grandpa God of Fire, thank you Grandpa God of Fire …"
The fire burned for a whole night, and the whole oil square street was reduced to ashes. Only the Liu family's shop still stood in the ashes.
Speaking of which, it was strange. This fire burned down all the shops on Youfang Street, but it did not hurt a single person, nor did it burn down any residential houses. The stores that were usually short on weight, the more severely they burned. The stores that did not usually bully the market still had twenty percent of their stock left.
The common people applauded, saying that this was Grandpa God of Fire's punishment for those black-hearted profiteers.
For a time, oil was more expensive than gold in Kaifeng City, and this matter also became the topic of people's leisure time. The Liu family's shop was praised by the common people as the symbol of a shop with a conscience. Although his own stock was saved, Old Liu did not sell at a high price. He still bought and sold, and business was booming.
When the oil square street regained its vitality, the Liu family's shop was already the largest shop.
Later on, when the Henan Chengxuan government official heard of this story, he personally wrote a board with the words "Shop with a Conscience" to show glory.
Old Liu hung the board, and added the words "Honest to all, no two prices" on both sides. Then, he built a Fire God Temple at the east end of the oil square street, and the incense never stopped burning throughout the year.
The descendants of the Liu family also followed this teaching, and continued to operate the oil shop, and gradually developed it into a large business.
After closing the booklet, Boss Liu looked at me, and said slowly, "The Old Liu in this story is my ancestor, my business was also passed down from generation to generation."
I nodded, and was a bit confused, "The story is very interesting, but Boss Liu, what does the place you want to find have to do with this story?"
Boss Liu waved his hand, signaling me to calm down, then took out a thin piece of paper from the safe, and carefully spread it in front of me.
I looked down, it was a piece of paper that had been mended, and there were some messy lines on it, like an ancient map.
I didn't have time to look at the things on it, and frowned. There was a thick aura of death on this piece of paper, as if it was an old item that just came out of a grave.
I couldn't help but think about how Boss Liu insisted on moving the grave.
I had my suspicions at the time, but now it looks like he did it because of this piece of paper?
I looked down to take a closer look, there were a few lines of small words under the messy map.
"In the third year of Qianlong, I traveled to Shennongjia with my friend.
I met the Fire God Temple in the mountains, and experienced all sorts of dangers.
My friend and servant died here, and I was lucky enough to escape with my life.
I invited people to go with me again, but the sea of clouds was vast, and I couldn't find them.
I searched seven times, and found twenty-seven dead people, but I didn't know where they were. I couldn't understand them, and I experienced all sorts of absurd things that made me afraid.
It's a pity that I can't fulfill my wish, so I record the picture here, and hope that future generations can learn from it … "
After that, there were traces of tearing on the paper, and there seemed to be some unfinished words, but I couldn't see them anymore.
After reading it, I roughly understood what Boss Liu meant, so I asked him, "You're talking about finding this Fire God Temple?"
Boss Liu nodded, "The Fire God was kind to my ancestor, and finding the Fire God Temple is my ancestor's last wish. I've been preparing for this trip for the past two years, and I hope that Mr. Zhou can help me."
I frowned, and couldn't help but ask Boss Liu, "This story … Boss Liu, do you think it's true?"
To be honest, I'm also a Feng Shui master, and I can believe in mountain spirits and ghosts, but the story of gods is too vague, and I don't really believe it.