Chapter 85 Those Who Are Willing to Take the Bait

Back at Fulai Inn, there were about ten carriages parked in front of the inn, and the person leading the group was someone Shang Yuji knew.

"Miss Yang!"

Yang Bai was sitting in the lobby, chatting with Sun Fengwan, whom he had just met. Hearing Shang Yuji's voice, he turned around and said in surprise, "What a coincidence, Miss Sun and I were just talking about you."

"What did they say about me? Let me hear it too."

"Working under a merchant's patron is the thing that the people of Yangzhou look forward to the most."

"Don't exaggerate and mislead Miss Sun."

Sun Fengwan waved his hand: "I should thank Miss Yang for telling me about the current situation in Yangzhou, so that we wouldn't be completely clueless when we went there."

Not only is she the innkeeper, but she is also the current Miss Yang. Everyone says that Miss Shang has good business ideas and is kind-hearted. After hearing this, she felt even more at ease.

With the merchant girl acting as guarantor, at least the girls can get through the initial adjustment period smoothly.

She said to Shang Yuji, "So far, there are forty people going to Yangzhou. The remaining girls have few family members and need to go back to support their families. Some of them have elderly family members who need someone to take care of them..."

The purpose of explaining this was to let Miss Shang know the difficulties those girls faced.

Miss Shang treated them with sincerity, but they had too many concerns and simply couldn't accommodate them all.

Forty people remained, more than double the twenty that Shang Yuji had estimated, which shows that they had contributed a lot.

Yang Bai added from the side, "There are twelve carriages that have come; they can carry all of them."

Forty people are to be seated in twelve carriages. How should they be allocated?

...She inexplicably thought of the Da'an version of the car allocation problem, her thoughts drifted, and she came back to her senses in the blink of an eye.

The main hall was filled with girls from the Yang family gang who were skilled in both driving and martial arts. Some of the bolder girls from Quanshan had already started chatting with them.

After hearing about the girls' experiences from Yi Ning, and fearing they would be afraid of men, Yang Bai sent mostly girls from his gang this time.

Fortunately, the Yang family had quite a few girls, so they were able to find someone who met their requirements.

Considering that there were many of them, and that the inn might not be able to accommodate them all, they brought their own food so as not to trouble the innkeeper with the trouble of entertaining them.

Shang Yuji: "Thank you for your hard work."

Yang Bai laughed so hard his eyes disappeared: "Not at all. If possible, I would like to invite Jiang Langjun to the martial arts school to spar with them and dampen the spirits of those brats, so they know that there are always people more capable than themselves and that there is always something beyond their reach!"

The Yang family gang originally intended to give the Yang Family Martial Arts School as a New Year's gift, but it was unfortunately returned by Shang Yuji.

After much persuasion, the deal was eventually struck that Shang Yuji would invest in the martial arts school, and the school would give Shang Yuji 30% of its profits.

If Shang Yuji hadn't insisted, Yang Bai was planning to give up half of the profits.

When Shang's shops sold goods to the Yang family gang, the prices were always lower. Yang Bai felt really bad about it, so he discussed with the gang members about giving away the Yang family martial arts school. Although the Yang family gang was later put in charge of the operation and Shang received a share, the friendship between them was already inseparable.

In addition, most of the Yang family members are swordsmen, and Shang Yuji once sent Jiang Xi to a martial arts school to spar with them. It would be right to learn from the strengths of many schools.

Jiangxi went there several times, and the mischievous monkey in the gang broke his Daoist heart several times.

Despite his Dao heart being shattered time and time again, he refused to give up and challenged again, only to have it shatter into pieces once more.

Yang Bai also competed with Jiang Xi, and could only admit defeat.

Jiang Langjun-style leather monkey-shaped squeegee – everyone who's used it raves about it.

Shang Yuji glanced at Jiang Xi and saw that he smiled with his fox-like eyes when they met. She then said to Yang Bai, "Okay, we'll confirm the time when we get back."

As for Jiang Xi... we'll compensate him then.

The three of them set a time to leave the inn.

Having obtained the confirmed time, Yang Bai went to arrange the convoy.

Shang Yuji then spoke privately to Sun Fengwan: "If the girls who are going back still have the idea of ​​coming to Yangzhou, you can make arrangements for them based on the situation of the shop. Just let me know when you get back."

“They all have the opportunity to choose again. Perhaps some girls have taken good care of their families and want to try again. Let them come.”

Sun Fengwan was speechless for a moment before replying, "On behalf of my sisters, I thank you, young lady. We have no way to repay your kindness..."

"It's nothing," Shang Yuji waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't save you because I wanted you to repay my kindness."

She caught a glimpse of Sun Fengwan's hesitant manner out of the corner of her eye, and thought to herself with distress, "If you want to pay... you should just expand the bookstore and help me make more money."

She's a genius; she even came up with this way of repaying a debt of gratitude.

"Thank you, young lady, we will try our best." Or rather, "We will do everything we can."

Sun Fengwan now understood why everyone always praised her so much.

Because Miss Shang is truly a person as radiant and dazzling as the sun.

After clarifying things, Sun Fengwan told the girls who weren't going that there would be other opportunities in the future, while Shang Yuji took Jiang Xi to find the shopkeeper.

The innkeeper was busy in the backyard. With the girls from Quanshan and the newly arrived caravan, this was the first time his inn had received so many people.

Knowing of the plight of the Quanshan Fulai Inn, the Wanshang Alliance, the owner of the Fulai Inn, transported a lot of supplies.

At least the tables and chairs in the inn are no longer the battle-damaged versions from before. Many old items have been given a fresh new look. The innkeeper said he was tired these past two days, but he was happy!

Upon seeing the benefactor who brought them this good fortune, the shopkeeper couldn't stop smiling: "Miss, please feel free to ask for anything you need!"

Even if the inn didn't have any, he would still squeeze out time to satisfy these two important guests!

His overly attentive attitude caught them off guard: "We've come to inquire about our expenses over the past few days."

She squeezed her purse, wondering if she had enough money...

Originally, I only planned to take Jiang Xi to see Granny Qian. Since there weren't many places to spend money along the way, I didn't bring much money.

But now that the girl from Quanshan wants to go with her, as their future boss, she has to reimburse their food and lodging for the next few days.

Furthermore, Yang Bai was there to help her pick up people and go to Yangzhou, so she couldn't ask him to put in the effort and money while she reaped the benefits.

After calculating all that, the amount has increased considerably. Hopefully, I have enough money with me. If not, I'll just have to owe it to them and pay them back when I get back to Yangzhou.

Upon hearing her purpose, the innkeeper's smiling eyes relaxed and lowered, his expression softening as he said gently, "Please rest assured, young lady. The main department is aware of the inn's difficulties and has promised to cover the expenses for the next few days until the inn is renovated. Without you two, the inn would not have benefited from this misfortune. In fact, I should be thanking you two."

Shang Yuji paused, realizing that Huo Shengge had booked the entire venue. In that case, she would help offer more benefits to the Wanshang Alliance next time they sought cooperation.

Hopefully, Yi Ning won't feel betrayed by her allies.

After all, a triangular relationship is most stable when there are mutual checks and balances.

At lunchtime, the innkeeper invited the entire caravan over, and the guests, unable to refuse his hospitality, enjoyed themselves immensely.

After resting and confirming that all personnel were present, the convoy headed towards Yangzhou.

·

Yangzhou, the commercial and residential area along Lotus Road in the west of the city.

Upon returning to Yangzhou, he first sent the girls from Quanshan to a residence in the south of the city, and then gave them a generous settlement fee, instructing them to check what was missing in the courtyard and to buy replacements.

The house has all the basic utensils, but they have to complete the details themselves.

Shang Yuji gave them ten days to familiarize themselves with Yangzhou, and during that time she also sent them printed books for them to review.

During the ten days the girls were in transit, Shang Yuji was extremely busy. First, she checked the accounts of the various shops she had been away from for many days, and fortunately, everything was as usual.

They then visited the two bookstores they had already purchased. Aunt Wu, who was supervising the renovation of the bookstores, was a recent hire; she was strong and capable and originally did manual labor at the household.

Later, Shang Yuji arranged for him to supervise the bookstore's renovation.

As expected of Shang Yuji, the bookstore has taken initial shape and, after some further decoration, will be ready to open for business.

There were also bookstores in Da'an, but they were very few in number and only in wealthy places such as the capital and Cangzhou. They catered to wealthy families and noble clans. The bookstores mainly contained treatises on sages, with the occasional travelogue. The quantity and variety of books were limited, but the prices were very high.

Therefore, it is clear that Senior Yi Sha possesses considerable perseverance and ability to find such poignant and heart-wrenching love stories in Da'an, a place with a small number of historical and philosophical texts.

It's clear that he really enjoys this kind of food.

After inspecting the entire area, Shang Yuji nodded in satisfaction, acknowledging Wu Sao's hard work over the past few days. She then mentioned that the decoration should focus on creating a relaxed and tranquil reading atmosphere, and remarked that she would increase the bonus upon completion.

After saying that, Boss Shang felt even more familiar with the rhetoric for motivating his employees.

But the difference is that some reward providers actually deliver the rewards; it's not just empty promises or getting something for nothing.

Mrs. Wu was overjoyed and immediately said she would display the finished product as soon as possible!

After finishing his work at the bookstore, Boss Shang went to the south of the city to meet with Sun Fengwan to get a better understanding of the girls' situation. Just as they were about to return home after reaching an agreement, Geng Zhi caught them red-handed.

"Miss Shang...it's been a long time..."

"Haha, Elder Geng, it's been quite a while since we last met..."

"I thought Miss Shang was avoiding this old man."

"No, no, how could that be?"

"Since that's not the case, would you please explain to me, young lady, what a foot-operated keel cart, a waterwheel, a water-powered tippler, a high-speed waterwheel, and a waterwheel are?"

"Um, where did Old Geng learn about these irrigation tools?" She remembered that she had never mentioned this to him.

Geng Zhi coughed a few times, covering his face: "It's the engineering blueprint that the young lady wanted to print. By chance, I accidentally saw it."

Shang Yuji was silent for a moment before speaking, "What did Elder Geng ask just now? I can't remember."

"?" Geng Zhi asked in confusion, but still repeated, "What are foot-operated keel carts, waterwheels, water-powered tippers, high-speed waterwheels, and water-powered carts?"

"No, it's the previous question."

"...Is Miss Shang avoiding this old man?"

Shang Yuji nodded vigorously: "Although I'm very sorry, well, I'll take my leave now."

If she doesn't leave now, she won't be able to get home before sunset today.

Hey! They actually tricked him here!

However, he has plenty of ways to deal with it.

"Ahem!" Geng Zhi coughed twice, pretending to mention casually, "The disciples of the Mo family have recently come to see me, their senior. Alas, although these juniors are a bit dull, they still respect their teachers."

Her steps suddenly felt incredibly heavy. Shang Yuji turned around stiffly, her lips curving upwards in a forced smile:

"Ah... well, I suddenly realized I still really respect you, Elder Geng. Haha, I'm not in such a rush to go home anymore..."

I'm sorry, my warm mansion.

The bait thrown out by the enemy was simply too tempting.

She took the bait with tears in her eyes.