Upon hearing the words "Jiangnan," Yunling quickly covered Yun Ruoxia's mouth, afraid that Zhang Shi, who was cooking in the kitchen, would hear it and she would have to spend a lot of time explaining.

"Auntie, don't talk nonsense. That's the place Mother worries about the most. And with Aunt Fan's example before, she thinks it's more terrifying than the eighteenth level of hell. If she knew I had such thoughts, she would definitely skin me alive."

Yun Ruoxia was almost suffocating from being suffocated. She quickly patted Yun Ling's hand, and the moment her hand was released, she seemed to come alive again.

"You really have the heart to do that, you almost suffocated your aunt."

Yunling looked at the red mark on the back of her hand and laughed happily:

"How could I bear to smother my aunt to death? I still have a lot of things waiting for you to help me with."

Yun Ruoxia gave a resentful snort and said bluntly:

"I think you're not trying to suffocate me, you're trying to work me to death. You treat your aunt like an ox or a horse. It's autumn now, and I've been picking mushrooms, scraping honey, attracting royal jelly, and gathering matsutake mushrooms all by myself. And you still want me to do other things. Ling-jie, you're really not human."

Yun Ling actually thought Yun Ruoxia was telling the truth. The thought of this person complaining while simultaneously having to do it for the money made her chuckle.

"Of course I feel sorry for my aunt, but I need to tell her that only she can do this job; no one else in the family can."

Yun Ruoxia may have been joking, but if Yun Ling gave her an order, how could she refuse? After all, Yun Ling was like a money tree to her—she could generate wealth without her having to tend to it, which was incredibly convenient.

"What's going on? Don't make me work in the fields, or raise two pigs at home. Good heavens, I'll chase you all the way to Bianjing with a kitchen knife."

"Come to think of it, raising a couple of pigs isn't bad at all."

"you,"

"Alright, alright, we'll talk about that later. That's not what I meant. Aunt, from today onwards, you must remember to go to the Chamber of Commerce's exchange shop a month from now and find Wen Siqing. You can get three pieces of information from him."

"Wait, wait..." Yun Ruoxia scrambled off the stool. She thought about going to Yun Chu's room to find paper and notebooks to write it down, but then worried about wasting the paper. So she quickly ran to the kitchen, grabbed a small piece of firewood from the stove, and ran back to her room, shouting:

“Ling’er, tell me now.”

Yunling ran into the room and saw Yun Ruoxia standing on a stool, writing the number three on the wall opposite the bed, and then drawing a circle next to the three that looked like a coin.

"Are you waiting for the monkey to perform? Tell me quickly."

Yunling smiled and said:

"If you ask Wen Siqing, he will tell you how many copper coins two hundred beef tendons will cost. According to the usual price, it is about two hundred and thirty copper coins each. Let's calculate based on that number."

"Furthermore, he will also tell you the price of a thousand catties of cotton, yarn, and a hundred bolts of cotton cloth. I once did him a favor, and a thousand catties of cotton and yarn could be delivered from Qingcheng to the next two towns for only seventy-five strings of cash."

"As for cotton cloth, last time I bought two hundred bolts, and the lowest price he gave me was four hundred and eighty coins per bolt. This time I want one hundred bolts, so I think it will be the same price."

"Another very important thing is that he will also tell you how many copper coins a bolt of dyed cloth transported from the workshops in Jiangnan costs. There are many dyeing workshops in Jiangnan, and with so many, the price can't be high. If the original color is 480 copper coins a bolt, the dyed cloth will be around 500 copper coins a bolt."

"With the waterway transportation costs included, I think he can get it for 510 cash per bolt if the quantity is large. However, I heard from the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) that this Master He has several sons, but I don't know which son is in charge of the cotton workshop in Jiangnan."

"I don't know his temperament, whether he's easy to deal with or not. Even if I've done He a great favor, it's hard to avoid settling accounts even between brothers. Besides, the waterways from Jiangnan to here are well-established, so I can't expect any favors in return..."

Yunling scratched her temples, feeling a real headache coming on. The sky was gradually darkening, and people's thoughts tended to lean more towards emotion. She needed to make a decision quickly.

Yunling placed her hand on the door and knocked lightly twice, a price popping into her mind.

"Aunt, how about this, when you go, cut up some of the twenty bolts of dyed cloth waste I bought earlier and put them in your pocket. Then you can hear the price he quotes. Even if it's a thousand or a hundred bolts, the price will be between five hundred and eighty and six hundred coins."

"Give him these twenty scrap pieces and say that you want to test the waters with five hundred pieces of each color and want the most suitable price."

Yun Ruoxia almost fell off her stool when she heard this. Five hundred bolts of each color, twenty colors would be tens of thousands of bolts! My God, tens of thousands of bolts of dyed cloth, with both cotton and dyed cloth, how could they possibly fit all that?

"Ling-jie, are you sure you're not mistaken? It's fifty horses, not five hundred."

“You’re right. By then, Grandpa will have finished building the house here, and we can store all our things over there.”

That's what they said, but Yun Ruoxia still couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. The entire cloth shop didn't even have tens of thousands of bolts of dyed cloth, and Yun Ling was just saying she wanted to buy it so easily... It was really...

However, Yun Ruoxia also knew Yun Ling's personality. Once a person makes a promise, there is usually no room for negotiation. If she got too entangled in this matter, she would inevitably be criticized. She couldn't argue with Yun Ling, so there was no need to make trouble for herself.

"What price do you think is most appropriate, Sister Ling? That way I'll have a better idea of ​​what to expect."

Yunling stroked her chin and replied:

"Then let's go from 530 to 550 coins."

"I thought 530 coins was too much, but 550 coins? With such a large quantity, an extra 20 coins would be 200 more copper coins. I wonder how many mushrooms I would have to sell to make that back."

Yunling let her have her way. If they could negotiate that price, that would be best. If not... given her aunt's personality and with Wen Siqing's help, she figured they would eventually reach an agreement.

"By the way, Auntie, when you go to town, you should visit the shops often and see if any of the young ladies need anything. You can help them buy it."

Yun Ruoxia rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Others are maids, but they are maids. Not only do they not serve their masters, but they also have to make their masters serve them. What kind of nonsense is this?"

That's what she said, but Yun Ruoxia still obediently marked the matter on the wall.

After everything was settled, Yun Shenghua and Yun Chu returned.