Chapter 130 Shamelessness as Always

Lu Yun Chu pursed her lips and thought to herself: If you hadn't upset my mother, her complexion would naturally be better; as for you...?

Lu Yun Chu opened her eyes wide and carefully examined the two women, but she couldn't see anything wrong with them.

Wei then stepped forward, found a seat for herself, and sat down, saying, "Sister-in-law, you are in high spirits when you have a happy occasion, so naturally you look better. Unlike us two families, whose hard times have just begun."

Madam Ning said calmly, "What do you mean by hard times? Your two families have plenty of houses, shops, and money. How can you say you're suffering? Since you're here, please sit down and have some tea."

After saying this, he instructed the maid to serve tea to the two of them.

Madam Wei picked up her teacup, took a few sips, and put it down, saying enviously:

"My sister-in-law lives a very comfortable life. I haven't drunk this top-grade Da Hong Pao tea since we separated from the family, because my family simply can't afford it. I never expected to be able to drink it here with my sister-in-law today."

"Sigh! It's all my husband's fault for being so useless. When we divided the family property, he gave me two run-down shops that have been losing money year after year. Now those shops are almost bankrupt. Not only are they not making any money, but they're also losing money. The New Year is just around the corner, and the whole family needs food and clothing, but we're already strapped for cash. I'm so worried I can't eat or sleep. Sigh!"

After saying this, Wei let out another long sigh.

Madam Ma nodded in agreement, saying, "Who says otherwise? The two shops that my family was allocated are the same. They don't earn a single penny, and we have to pay out of our own pockets to keep them going. I'm thinking of just selling them off."

Seeing that the others didn't respond, Madam Ma rolled her eyes and said, "We've all heard that after the Empress's birthday banquet, a kind of silk called 'Xia Guang Jin' has become popular in the capital. It's said to be very valuable."

Wei continued, "Isn't that right? That day, my fourth sister-in-law and I passed by the West City and unexpectedly saw the two cloth shops of our General's Mansion. The entrances were bustling with people, so we went over to take a look. Unexpectedly, the cloth shops were selling Xia Guang brocade."

Nowadays, everyone in the capital knows that Xia Guang brocade is extremely rare and sells for a sky-high price of three hundred taels of silver. Any cloth shop that sells Xia Guang brocade is guaranteed to make a fortune.

Wow, this isn't just selling silk fabrics, it's like the God of Wealth has descended to earth! It's impossible not to get rich here!

"Sister-in-law, that's not fair of you. We're all family, even if we've separated, blood is still blood. Since the eldest branch's shop can get such good quality brocade, why don't you be generous and share some with our two branches as well? Give us a hand, and we can all make money together, wouldn't that be better?"

Ma: "Yes, yes, that's exactly right. We should all make money together."

After the two of them talked back and forth for a long time, the expressions on the faces of Old Madam Ning and the others gradually froze. They really had the nerve to say that, just by talking, they would have to send the Xia Guang Jin to the second and fourth branches of the family to sell.

Seeing that the others remained silent, Madam Wei continued:

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. We're not taking it for free. We've already found out that a bolt of this 'Xiaguang Brocade' costs around thirty or forty taels of silver from the south. Although we're family, we'll keep our accounts straight. We'll calculate it at thirty taels per bolt. You can send a batch of Xiaguang Brocade to our two shops first, and we'll consider it credit. We'll pay you back after we sell the goods. How about that?"

Lu Yun Chu almost jumped up, raising her voice, "Thirty taels? You really dare to ask for that much! My sister-in-law told me that this stuff costs eighty taels in the south, not thirty!"

Wei said with dissatisfaction, "Yun Chu, what do you know, you little girl? Where did you get eighty taels? It's clearly thirty taels! We found out the purchase price from someone else, there's absolutely no mistake!"

"What do you think, niece-in-law? You can't lie to us. If word gets out that you're even trying to make money off your own family, that won't sound good."

Yu Qingci smiled but remained silent. She knew that these two people were after the Xia Guang brocade. After all, the most exciting thing in the capital recently was seeing which family's mistress or young lady was wearing the Xia Guang brocade that even the Imperial Concubine had worn. These two were as shameless as ever.

Now that the family had separated, Yu Qingci no longer wanted to indulge them and spoke up:

"I thought the two aunts were here to chat, but now I understand. It turns out they were thinking of getting something for nothing."

Wei said, "Niece-in-law, don't put it so harshly. What do you mean by 'getting something for nothing'? Didn't I just say we gave you money? If we had such a good thing, would we need to come to your door to talk about this?"

Yu Qingci: "What you mean by 'giving us money' is that we send the goods that sell well in our shop to your shop to sell, and then we get paid after they're sold?"

Mr. Ma nodded matter-of-factly: "Yes."

Yu Qingci: "But we can sell such good stuff, why bother you two aunties to help us? If we suddenly can't sell it, will you just throw it back to us and save your costs?"

Madam Wei said disapprovingly, "How can you talk like that, niece-in-law? Everyone knows how well this 'Xia Guang Brocade' sells in the capital right now. How could it not sell?"

Madam Ma: "That's right, niece-in-law, you can't be stingy. We won't ask for much. Just give us two hundred bolts per family first. Once they're sold, we'll definitely return the money we owe you with both hands."

Yu Qingci stared at the two talking incessantly with a half-smile, remaining silent. Madam Ma, thinking Yu Qingci was complaining that she was asking for too much, held up one finger and said:

"Then one hundred horses, one hundred horses will do, no less than that."

Yu Qingci secretly rolled her eyes: "Don't even mention a hundred bolts, there isn't a single one left over."

Upon hearing this, both Madam Wei and Madam Ma's faces immediately fell. Madam Wei pursed her lips and turned to Old Madam Ning, saying:

"Sister-in-law, I'll say it again: even if we move out, we're still family. You can't do anything unfair, sister-in-law."

When we divided the family property, we obeyed your eldest branch in everything. You gave us a pittance and sent us away without saying anything. We never expected that you would have such a good thing as the Xia Guang Jin hidden away.

Now that I know, all I wanted was to borrow some to sell in my shop, and you still won't agree?

Madam Ma looked sad and said to Old Madam Ning, "Sister-in-law, please have mercy on us. When we moved out of the General's Mansion, we only got two unprofitable shops and five hundred taels of silver. We didn't have anything else. After we moved out, we realized that life was not easy and we needed money everywhere. Every day when we opened our eyes, there were debt collectors coming to us to ask for money. How could such a small amount of money be enough for a whole family?"

"Sister-in-law, I imagine you can't bear to see your nephews and nieces suffer, so please let us buy some Xia Guang brocade on credit, so we can earn some money to spend during the New Year."

Having dealt with them for so many years, both Madam Wei and Madam Ma knew that Old Madam Ning was gentle and easy to talk to. Since their niece-in-law was so firm, they would try to persuade Old Madam Ning. In short, they had to get the Xia Guang Brocade today.