These were all handwritten records by Zhou Yu's father, stroke by stroke. He used to look at them frequently when he had nothing else to do. However, Zhou Yu's father's knowledge was limited, so his records were rather vague. He often wrote down whatever came to mind, and the sentences sometimes didn't connect. When he encountered a word he didn't know how to write, he would simply leave it blank or draw a circle to represent it. In the past, when Zhou Yu looked at these records, it was like solving a riddle. Sometimes, he would ponder a sentence for a long time before he could understand its meaning.

He was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even notice the sound of the courtyard gate opening and closing, until Grandma Zhou approached and softly called out, "Yu'er, why did you decide to open this room?"

Zhou Yu suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly closed the book: "Ah, it's...it's a friend of mine. She wants to organize a caravan to the Western Regions and came to borrow these books to take a look. I was just organizing them to give them to her."

A silence fell over the room. Grandma Zhou's gaze lingered on the book in her grandson's hands for a long time before she suddenly asked softly, "Yu'er, do you... also want to go with the caravan?"

"How could that be!" Zhou Yu denied hastily. "The journey to the Western Regions is long and dangerous. What...what would I do there?"

Grandma Zhou saw through his insincerity, found a place to sit down, and said, "Yu'er, you're twenty-three this year, aren't you?"

Zhou Yu was taken aback. "Yes, why did Grandmother suddenly ask this?"

"When your father was your age, he had already traveled to the Western Regions once." The old woman gazed into the distance, as if she could see scenes from many years ago. "He brought back many novelties and told me many interesting stories from his journey."

Zhou Yu said in a low voice, "I was too young then, I can't remember clearly."

"Yes, your father went to the Western Regions for the first time to earn more money to support his family, but after going once, he really fell in love with the place, so he went a second time, a third time... You are his son, so it's possible that you have the same idea as him."

Zhou Yu's throat tightened. "But Grandmother, Father..."

"Silly child." Grandma Zhou patted the back of his hand. "I know you're worried about this old man, but if I were really the kind of person who likes to keep his children by his side, I wouldn't have agreed to let your father go to such a far place in the first place."

Zhou Yu's eyes suddenly reddened, and Grandma Zhou continued, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. When your father passed away, I told him that a good man should have ambitions in all directions. Now, I want to tell you the same thing."

The grandfather and grandson held those yellowed books and talked for most of the night under the dim oil lamp. They talked about things they usually didn't want to mention to avoid hurting each other, but tonight they reminisced about them to their hearts' content.

The next morning, before Meng Zhao could send anyone over, Zhou Yu arrived at Yingkelou with his belongings. He placed the bundle on the table and said in a steady, powerful voice, "I've thought it through what you said yesterday. I'll take this job."

Meng Zhao was somewhat surprised and asked, "Really? What about your grandmother?"

“I plan to hire two maids to take care of her daily life.”

Meng Zhao nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, if you don't have enough money, you can just tell me."

Zhou Yu shook his head. "No need. I plan to sell the shop, leave some of the money for my grandmother's retirement, and invest the rest in the caravan."

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao narrowed his eyes and a smile appeared on his lips: "Judging from what you're saying, it doesn't seem like you're here to work for me, but rather you want to partner with me."

“That’s natural.” He looked intently at Meng Zhao: “The journey to the Western Regions is long and treacherous, and without sufficient incentives, mere enthusiasm alone would not be enough to sustain me on this journey.”

Meng Zhao raised an eyebrow: "Then what do you want?"

"I want 30% of the caravan's shares," Zhou Yu said bluntly.

"No, that's too much. Your shop can only sell a few hundred taels at most. Even if you put it all into the caravan, it won't make much of a splash."

Forming a caravan isn't as simple as buying a few horses and hiring some men to set off. The vast Gobi Desert, the majestic Tianshan Mountains, and the sandstorms and bandits deep in the desert can all be deadly. Without providing enough money to settle down and without making proper arrangements for their funerals, who would be willing to go on this dangerous journey?

Moreover, to travel such a long distance, one must choose the best steeds, so the price will naturally be high. The same goes for camels; only the strongest ones can be selected to ensure the journey is completed. Just procuring these animals will take a lot of time and money to collect.

According to Meng Zhao's investigation, Qiao Yanhe's caravan had about a hundred people. The food and supplies for these hundred-plus people along the way, as well as the fodder for the camels and horses, would cost nearly twenty taels of silver every day. Even if she only needed to assemble a medium-sized caravan of forty or fifty people, she would probably not be able to leave Yumen Pass without several thousand taels of silver as a base.

Moreover, the caravan structure cannot be taken lightly. The chief caravan leader is mainly responsible for the route, trade decisions, and crisis response, but the two deputy caravan leaders, who are in charge of goods, accounting, personnel scheduling, and guard duties, are also extremely important. If they are not tied down by profits from shares, they might abandon the goods and flee for their lives when danger arises, since the goods on the carts are not their personal property.