His brow unfurrowed because he was so happy(喜逐顏開)
In late Ming-Dynasty China, there was a
famous writer named Feng Menglong who wrote a collection of short stories.
One of these stories is about a loyal old
servant named Aji, who worked for a woman named Ms Yan.
Through his intelligence and prudence, Aji
changed the fate of Ms Yan and her two families, transforming them from
modestly well-off to extremely wealthy.
The story takes place in the mid-Ming
Dynasty, a peaceful era of national strength.
Aji lived in a small village in Zhejiang
Province and was over fifty years old.
Ms Yan's husband was called Xu Zhe and had
two older brothers, Xu Yan and Xu Zhao. Xu Zhe died of illness before reaching
the age of 30. Following his death, his two older brothers demanded to divide
the family fortune. The terms of the division document drafted by Xu Yan and Xu
Zhao were unfair to Ms Yan. They allocated the oxen and horses that could be
used for plowing and transportation to themselves and assigned Aji to Ms Yan.
Upon learning of his assignment, A-Ji told
Ms Yan, "Given the circumstances, I believe that the only way to quickly
make money is to start a business. If you give me some funds, I can go out and
look for business opportunities tomorrow. If I use these funds carefully, I am
sure that we will make a substantial profit.'
After hearing A-Ji's suggestion, Ms Yan
agreed that it made sense. She had known him for several years and trusted his
character and integrity, so she decided to support his proposal.
Although A-Ji had no prior business
experience, he was a shrewd and resourceful man. He remembered a village near
his hometown that was famous for its lacquer production. Upon arriving in the
village, he found a lacquer wholesaler.
Aji was meticulous and observant. After
meeting the agent, he proactively built a rapport and took the opportunity to invite
him out for meals and drinks. Thanks to these efforts, Aji was able to purchase
a batch of lacquer for just 10 taels of silver.
His first business venture went even more
smoothly than he had imagined. He bought a batch of high-quality lacquer
wholesale from a lacquer-producing village and took it to Suzhou to sell. He
sold all the goods in a very short time, earning over 10 taels of silver after
deducting costs.
After collecting the money, Aji arranged to
take a boat back to the village the next day to buy more lacquer to sell in
Suzhou. That afternoon, while wandering around Suzhou, Aji was struck by an
idea. On his way back to the village, he would pass through Hangzhou. Hangzhou
was a big city with a large population. Why not buy goods in Suzhou to sell
there?
Once this idea had taken root in his mind,
Aji went straight to Suzhou to search for goods to sell. He discovered that rice
was very cheap there.
Rice is a necessity for everyone. If I buy
some and sell it in Hangzhou, I certainly won't lose money, even if I don't
make a lot.
Aji immediately bought 60 dan of rice. When
he arrived in Hangzhou, it sold out very quickly. Aji was filled with
gratitude. He didn't attribute the success of this business to himself. He said
to himself, 'Thank God, thank Ms Yan. I think it's because she is a blessed
person that my business went so smoothly.'
After selling all the rice, he travelled to
Hangzhou to investigate. He discovered something unexpected: lacquer was in
short supply in Hangzhou, making it very expensive.
Aji didn't understand why this was
happening. After careful consideration, he came to a conclusion. He believed
that all the lacquer wholesalers in the village near Hangzhou thought the same
way: Hangzhou was too close and there was too much competition, so every
merchant travelled to distant cities to sell their products. Because everyone
thought this way, the supply of high-quality lacquer in Hangzhou was very
limited.
The day after he left Hangzhou, he returned
to the lacquer-producing village. He had thoughtfully brought small gifts for
the lacquer wholesaler to express his gratitude. He then invited the agent to
dinner. The agent brow unfurrowed because he was so happy, accepted Aji's
hospitality with a smile.
Thanks to Aji's polite behaviour, the agent
was happy to help him prepare a batch of high-quality paint. Three days later,
Aji set off again with the paint, this time targeting Hangzhou for sales.
The idiom literally translates as "his
brow unfurrowed because he was so happy".
It is often used to describe the broad
smile that spreads across someone's face when they are very happy.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Have you ever discovered business
opportunities in your daily life? Have you ever independently considered and
evaluated the various phenomena you observe?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
喜逐顏開(his brow unfurrowed because he was so
happy)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)，他寫過一本短篇小說集。
他的這本小說集中有一個有關於一個忠誠的老僕人的故事，這個老僕人的名字叫做(阿寄)，他的女主人是顏女士。
(阿寄)經由自己的聰明與謹慎而改變了顏女士與自己的兩個家庭的命運，他透過他的智慧與運氣讓顏女士的家庭從小康變成大富戶。
馮夢龍說的這個故事發生在明王朝的中葉，那是一個國力強盛的和平時代。
(阿寄)住在浙江省的一個小村莊內，他的年紀已經50幾歲了。
顏女士的先生的名字叫做(徐哲)，徐哲有兩個哥哥，這兩個哥哥的名字是(徐言)與(徐召)。
徐哲因為生病所以不到30歲就病逝，徐哲病逝後，徐哲的兩個哥哥提出了分拆家族財產的要求，徐言與徐召擬定的這份拆分財產的文件中的條件對顏女士並不公平，他們把可以幫忙耕地與運輸的牛與馬分配給自己，他們把年紀老邁的阿寄分配給顏女士。
阿寄得知自己被分配給顏女士後，他就跟顏女士說。
在現在這種情況之下，我認為只有做生意才能夠快速讓我們賺到錢，只要妳給我一些資金，我明天就可以出門去尋找商業機會。
我相信只要我小心謹慎的使用這些資金，那麼我們一定可以賺到豐厚的利潤。
顏女士聽完阿寄的話後，她覺得阿寄的建議很有道理，她已經認識阿寄好幾年了，她很信任阿寄的人格與品德，所以決定支持阿寄的提議。
阿寄雖然沒有做過生意，但是他是一個很會動腦筋的人，他想到他的家鄉附近有一座盛產漆的村莊，他到了這個村莊後找到了一個批發漆的代理人。
阿寄是一個很細心而且觀察力很好的人，他在接觸到這個代理人之後，他先主動跟這個代理人拉近關係，接著他又找機會請這個代理人吃飯與喝酒，因為阿寄採取這些行動，所以阿寄在很快的時間內用10兩銀子買了一批漆。
阿寄的第一筆生比他想像的還順利，他從一個盛產漆的村莊中批發了一批高品質的漆到蘇州市去販售，他在很短的時間內就把這些貨物全部銷售出去，扣除成本後他賺了10兩多的銀子。
阿寄把這些錢收好之後，他就安排隔天要搭船回到那座村莊去批發一些漆來蘇州市銷售。就在那天的下午，阿寄在蘇州市到處逛逛，他突然有一個想法，再回到我所要去的那座生產漆的村莊的路途上，我會經過杭州市，杭州市是一座大城市，裡面住了很多人，我為何不從蘇州市買些東西去杭州市銷售呢?
阿寄心中萌生這個想法後，他立刻就到在蘇州市中專心地尋找，他發現了蘇州的米價很便宜，他對自己說。
米是我們每個人都要吃的必需品，我買一些米回到杭州市銷售，就算不能賺很多錢，但一定不會賠本。
阿寄就立刻買了60擔的米，當他載著這些米到了杭州市時，他的這批米又在很快的時間內銷售一空，阿寄的心中充滿感謝，他沒有認為這次做生意可以那麼成功的原因歸功給自己，他對自己說，感謝上天，感謝顏女是，我想是因為顏女士是一個被祝福的人，所以我這次做生意才會那麼順利。
銷售完這些米後，他就到杭州市內去到處探訪，他在杭州市發現了一個令他想像不到的現象，杭州市內的漆的數量很短缺，所以價格很高。
阿寄不明白為何會有這種情況，後來經過他仔細思考後，他得到一個結論。他認為是因為每個人在那座離杭州很近的村莊中批發漆的商人都跟他一樣的想法，認為杭州市很近，所以銷售競爭者很多，因此每個商人都跑到很遠的城市去銷售，因為每個商人都這樣想，所以杭州市內的高品質的漆的供給很短缺。
他離開杭州市的隔天，他回到了那座生產漆的村莊，他很用心地帶了一些小禮物送給那個批發漆的代理人，他對那個代理人表示感謝，他又請這個代理人吃飯，這個代理人因為很喜悅所以他的眉頭舒展，這個代理人的臉上堆滿笑意地接受阿寄的招待。
因為阿寄的這種很有禮貌的行為，那個代理人很積極地幫忙阿寄準備了一批高品質的漆，阿寄在三天後再次帶著漆出發，他這次目標鎖定到杭州市銷售。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他因為很喜悅所以他的眉頭舒展。
這句成語通常被用來形容一個人非常喜悅這個人臉上笑意逐散開來的樣子。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你有沒有在日常生活中發現商業機會的經驗嗎?你有沒有針對你所看到的各種現象進行獨立的思考與判斷呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些醫些新的收穫。
出處為馮夢龍-醒世恆言-卷35-徐老僕義憤成家
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E9%86%92%E4%B8%96%E6%81%86%E8%A8%80/%E7%AC%AC35%E5%8D%B7