Chapter 294

Fan Xiaoxiao took the abacus from the shopkeeper and started typing away.

"They even injured my shop assistant, slapping him twice, each time costing 100 taels."

Finally, she shook the abacus beads with a clatter: "A total of 290 taels of silver."

"What do you mean? 100 taels for a slap?!" The Gan family was dumbfounded. She really thought money grew on trees.

"This is outrageous!"

"What?" Fan Xiaoxiao tilted her head: "You have the guts to cause trouble, but no money to pay for it? Is the Gan family really that shameless?"

"Everyone, please listen carefully."

"They defaulted on their debt because they couldn't afford to pay it back; it wasn't that we wanted to collect it ourselves."

After shouting this, Fan Xiaoxiao turned to the young waiter with a bruise on his forehead and said, "Go and see which dog on the other side hit you. You should hit it back twice as hard!"

"You dare!" A strong voice came from behind the crowd.

The old patriarch of the Gan family came over with officials from the Qingzhou government.

"Our Qingzhou isn't something your Fanji Trading Company can call the shots!"

Fan Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow.

Sure enough, once the governor's army left, the Gan family revealed their true, aggressive nature.

It seems this was premeditated?

The younger one gets beaten up, and then the older one comes out.

Although Old Master Gan doesn't usually show off, he is still a traditional force in Qingzhou.

Even the governor Yu Cheng had to give him some face.

Especially when he first arrived in Qingzhou, he even had to bow and scrape before the local powerful gentry and visit them one by one.

The Gan family was the largest and most powerful family in the area, not only possessing abundant wealth but also controlling most of the commerce in Qingzhou.

But now, Fan Xiaoxiao has arrived.

Her branch of the family is considered a newly emerging noble family.

In the months since they arrived, relying on their status and the presence of new forces such as the Ancient Moon Sect, the Tianshan Sect, and the Prefectural Governor's Office, they have openly and covertly seized a large portion of the business opportunities.

Fan Xiaoxiao had never dealt with this old fox before, but the others at Fan's Business knew how formidable he was.

At this moment, not only the shopkeeper, but also her sister Fan, who had just taken over the account books and knew some inside information, whispered to her about the pros and cons.

Seeing their reaction, Old Master Gan snorted coldly.

He spread his wide sleeves, raised his head and walked to the side of the Gan family.

Those members of the Gan family who had almost suffered a great loss were overjoyed: "Old Master!"

"They're all useless idiots!" The old man didn't tolerate it. He glared at his own people with a dark face.

Under his long-standing authority, the Gan family members all remained silent in fear.

"You've utterly disgraced the Gan family! Get out of here now!"

The words were spoken softly, but the intention was all too clear.

The intention is to get all the instigators to leave.

With the perpetrators gone, and the officials handling the case slightly biased, the matter was easily resolved and the issue was minimized.

The onlookers were all bullies who preyed on the weak. Even if Fan Xiaoxiao restored the reputation of her business, not a single person would confront Old Master Gan like they had done before.

"Wait!" Now that Fan Xiaoxiao understood, she certainly couldn't swallow this insult.

"The accounts haven't been settled yet, where are you going?"

Her gaze fell on the faces of the constables who had come with her.

The head constable was filled with remorse; on one side was the Gan family, an old power in Qingzhou, whom he couldn't afford to offend.

On one side is Fanji Trading Company, a representative of the new forces, which they also dare not offend!

Originally, I thought I would give the Gan family face as usual, especially now that the governor is not here.

Even a slight bias is not excessive.

But now they've been put on the spot.

“This…” Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Boss, let's help the Gan family, shall we? Officials are like ironclad magistrates, but their jobs come and go. The Gan family is powerful now, and we're still counting on them to pay our salaries..."

"No way! Boss! Let's help Fan Ji instead. That woman standing over there is the governor's wife, and the young master is her son..."

One is someone you can't afford to offend now, and the other is someone you might settle scores with later.

There seems to be no solution no matter how you look at it!

The leader had no choice but to compromise.

"How about this, let's each compromise. Madam Fan, you can lower the price a bit and just cover the cost. You see, no matter how precious the silk is, it's still an inanimate object. It's not worth it."

He then reluctantly pulled out ten taels of silver from his pocket: "I'll take the extra part, and we can make money peacefully, okay?"

Fan's heart had actually softened.

She turned her gaze to Fan Xiaoxiao beside her.

Only then did Old Master Gan notice the fair-skinned, slender woman.

Even though she's married now, she's only a teenager. Plus, she has a small face and isn't very tall, so she looks like a young girl who hasn't reached marriageable age yet, with her hair styled in a mature woman's bun.

"That won't do." Fan Xiaoxiao was very clear-headed at this moment.

Now that Old Master Gan has come in person, along with her and her sister, who are the de facto and perceived owners of the Fanji Trading Company, are also present.

It was almost like two companies were competing against each other.

If that's really how it's handled.

On the surface, it seemed like everyone had saved face, but in reality, it was as if the people of Fanji Trading Company had been humiliated, yet could only let the matter drop.

Fan Xiaoxiao's vision is not something she can simply do business in one place to make a living.

What she wants to do is support Qingzhou and leverage the entire world's trade!

"Little brat, you're being unreasonable!" Old Master Gan's face darkened, and he snapped the fan he was holding in half.

His aura was so strong that everyone around him trembled and dared not speak.

"Old Master Gan's words are strange. He ruined my goods and beat my people, and you're just going to get rid of him like this? Don't you think that's too hasty?"

"Moreover, the messenger arrived at just the right time."

She pointed at those people and said, "These people are deliberately stirring up trouble and inciting the people to slander the governor's wife."

"It implies that the governor's office abused its power for personal gain and perverted the law."

"I suspect they have other motives! Should we arrest them and interrogate them?"

"We're innocent! We didn't do it!" The Gan family members were dumbfounded and immediately cried out to the old man, accusing him.

"Hmph!" The old man was furious. "What a huge accusation! I never expected the women of the Fan family to be so vicious!"

"Ruthless?" Fan Xiaoxiao thought to herself with disdain.

If she hadn't said those words, these people would probably have forced themselves to leave.

Fan Xiaoxiao doesn't have many capable people around her right now.

The person on the other side came with officials from the government office, so their relationship must be quite close.

In addition, considering the Gan family's previous support for the governor's mansion, even if the brother-in-law hadn't left, he probably wouldn't have been able to support them.

Now that they have this still undetermined charge, they dare not leave easily.

If it's confirmed, then the implications can be either significant or minor.

The head of the yamen was about to cry.

Seeing that the Fan family was unwilling to back down and seemed determined to compete with the Gan family, he swallowed hard and said, "Then... how about you pay more money, sir?"

(End of this chapter)