Gu Yanzhou was originally a scholar who collated ancient books at Liulichang in Beijing. He could write beautiful articles with a pen, but he could not hold the brass key that his father gave him before he died. In the accounting room of Wan Yuanxiang Spice Shop, the debt contract of five thousand silver dollars was overwhelming - my father fell into the trap of Feng Jingyao of the Water Transport Chamber of Commerce for a batch of fake ambergris, and the shop passed down from his ancestors became a piece of fish on the chopping block.
From the capital to Jinmen, he put away the collection of classics and history, put on a gray cloth gown, and stood in front of his father's funeral. There is an even more shocking secret hidden in the cry of Mr. Forbes, the accountant: the cause of his father's death was not a stroke, but being forced to death by debt collectors; and in the apartment on Saint-Louis Road in the French Concession, the cheongsam woman named Su Meiniang hid her father's unfinished fragrance recipe "Love in a Falling City" in her sleeve.
The scar-faced Brother Leopard of the Water Transport Chamber of Commerce smashed the blue and white porcelain jar, and Mr. Wu, who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, made a bet: within three months, the "Love in a Falling City" would be restored and the debt would be written off; otherwise, Wan Yuanxiang would change hands, and he, Gu Yanzhou, would run out of Tianjin.
Scholars don't understand business warfare, but they know Mo Xiangli's character. He rummaged through the pile of spices for his father's notes, used the eye for collating ancient books to identify Qinan and ambergris, and used his pen as a blade to unravel the opponent's situation at the teahouse negotiation table. When the faint aroma of "Qingxin Pills" overwhelmed the fishy smell of the dock, and when the formula of "Love in a Fallen City" gradually became complete in his writing, Gu Yanzhou finally understood: there were always more than just cardamom and cloves in his father's spices, but also unspoken deep feelings, and the heavy responsibility that a scholar must take on in troubled times.
