The next morning, Li Xuhai took his son Li Qingyun and set off for the prefectural city with the officials and constables.

This trip will probably take at least ten days to two weeks to get back.

Li Xuhai's departure, apart from the villagers' attention, did not cause much of a stir in the Li family.

Li Qingzhang was quite fast at harvesting soybeans. He would stay here today and go elsewhere tomorrow, without lingering or being greedy enough to harvest all the soybeans on the ground.

Buy a batch and then move it to a different location; this won't affect the price of soybeans, and we need to act quickly.

Because of this, his actions went unnoticed by others.

It was normal for the Li family to buy soybeans. If anyone noticed their actions, they would just ignore it once they realized it was the Li family.

Some middlemen, knowing that the Li family was buying soybeans, also took the initiative to come to their door.

"Li Xiaodong, six coins, six coins. I'll go get it for you."

"Just tell me how much you want to charge."

Because so many people were coming to him, Li Qingzhang simply booked a private room in a restaurant in the city and gathered them together to talk.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who he asks to collect it. If someone is willing to make the connection for him, it saves him from running around and makes things much more convenient.

Moreover, he collects the goods himself, and there are many people who want to sell to him, including those who are unwilling to sell to him. The small vendors have been collecting goods from various villages for years, and the villagers have a high level of trust in them.

When he first arrived, many people were skeptical and thought he was a fraud.

Everyone here is a middleman, making money entirely through reselling.

"Gentlemen, this business is negotiable, but the price won't be six coins."

Li Qingzhang leisurely sipped his tea. Although everyone present was older than him, he was the buyer and had nothing to fear.

They're already doing wholesale, do you think he'd be stupid enough to buy goods at market price? His money didn't fall from the sky.

"Hehe, young boss, if this business can be done, then it's fine. Everyone here knows my name, Old Chen. I'll deliver the goods for five and eight cents a day, and I guarantee there will be plenty."

Once Boss Chen spoke, no one else spoke; they all waited for Li Qingzhang to speak.

Li Qingzhang put down his teacup. Were these people treating him like a fool?

"It seems that none of you bosses are sincere. I think we should stop talking today."

After saying that, he was about to get up and leave.

Mr. Chen quickly stood up and stopped Li Qingzhang.

"Haha, the young master is in a hurry. Four and six cents, all from last year's soybeans."

Li Qingzhang stared intently at Boss Chen. This price must be the bottom line, right?

"Sigh, as expected of the workshop's young owner. Alright, I'll give you a friendly price of four and a half wen. I can't go any lower. Starting price is ten thousand jin."

"·····"

Speechless. I almost agreed just now, but it turns out there's still room for negotiation.

"Young master, this is the bottom price."

"Yes, young boss, Mr. Chen has shown great sincerity for our first collaboration."

"That's right, low prices hurt farmers, so we need to make some money too."

"Alright, I'll take 100,000 shi."

"One hundred thousand stones?!"

"Li's Workshop needs this many beans?"

"Young master, have you thought this through? This isn't just a few thousand taels of silver, it's tens of thousands. Can you make that decision?"

"The Li family workshop is really rich and powerful. How could they earn so much money in just half a year? No wonder the workshop workers are paid five hundred coins a month."

"No need for further words, I can make the decision myself. If it can be sold, just draw up a contract. After signing, just go to the Li family to collect the deposit."

"Young boss is generous, sign!"

This silver was naturally not earned by the workshop. The workshop was making money, but not this much.

This sum of money includes dividends from Pan Jinhua's braised food shop, investments from various branches of the Li family, and profits from Yan Min, Liu Yun, and others making hairpins. It's quite a large sum because they started with high prices, and over the past few months, they've indeed made a lot of money.

The largest portion consisted of Qi Wan's dowry and the silver that the Li family had hidden with Qi Wan.

When Qi Wan came here, she sold off all of her dowry and exchanged it all for money.

The Li family also possessed a lot of things in Qi Wan's possession, which amounted to nearly ten thousand taels of silver. This was the capital that Pan Jinhua left for the Li family to turn their fortunes around.

If Qi Wan doesn't come, then everything will be given to Qi Wan.

The Li family has put in almost all their money; they're determined to gamble this time.

As long as they don't get greedy, they won't lose.

Li Qingzhang signed contracts with those people, then ordered the waiter to serve everyone dishes before leaving.

"ah!"

As soon as he stepped out of the private room, Li Qingzhang was caught off guard and bumped into someone.

His chest ached from the impact, and his nostrils were filled with a sweet fragrance. Li Qingzhang reacted quickly and, after being bumped, immediately moved to the side.

In the blink of an eye, I only caught a glimpse of a peony hairpin, a handmade item from my family.

"What are you doing! Miss, are you alright?"

A maidservant ran up from behind. Li Qingzhang rubbed his chest, steadied himself, and looked at the two of them, master and servant.

The other party was clearly a young lady from a prominent family, and at this critical juncture, he couldn't afford to cause trouble, so Li Qingzhang politely bowed and apologized.

"How is this young lady? I'm sorry, I was in such a hurry that I didn't watch where I was going. If you are feeling unwell, I'm willing to compensate you."

Li Qingzhang was the first to admit his mistake and apologize. Regardless of the reason, it was always right for him to apologize.

"Ouch, that hurts."

Cao Ying rubbed her forehead. Oh no, this is so embarrassing! She bumped into someone like that. Bihe shouted so loudly that even the person who didn't mean it was hers was scared.

However, Cao Ying doesn't consider herself a rude person. She was the one who caused the accident, and it wouldn't be right to make someone else take the blame.

"Please forgive me, young master. Oh, it's you?"

Cao Ying returned the greeting and looked up, recognizing Li Qingzhang.

Li Qingzhang was also somewhat surprised.

"Miss Cao?"

"Li, Qing, Zhang, right? I remember you."

"It is I. I did not notice Miss Cao when I went out. I hope Miss Cao will forgive me."

"hehe."

Cao Ying covered her mouth and laughed. How could there be someone who kept taking the blame on her?

"What does this have to do with you? I didn't notice it myself. I should be the one apologizing."

"Young Master Li, I was walking too fast just now and bumped into you. It's not your fault, it's my fault. I apologize to you here."

Cao Ying smiled and apologized to Li Qingzhang quite frankly.

Li Qingzhang had never had this experience before, and he blushed, not knowing what to say. He was completely different from how he had been when he was doing business with the vendors.

"Ahem, Miss."

Seeing that the two were about to start chatting, Cao Ying's maid coughed loudly twice, and sure enough, the two looked over.

"Miss, Mr. Li, this is not the place to talk. Shall we go outside?"

Li Qingzhang nodded, then quickly turned and walked out, his steps conveying a sense of fleeing in panic.

"Miss?"

"Bihe, why does his face look red to me?"

"Miss!"

Bihe stamped her foot, "Miss is just too naughty."

"Hehe, he's quite interesting, unlike other people."