As night fell, the owner of Baixiang Pavilion poked his head out of the food delivery window, holding a toothpick in his mouth. He rang the bell to pass the hot dishes to the waiter while talking to the high-spirited middle-aged man not far away in a loud voice, "Sometimes I envy your luck!"
Chen Dafu, full of energy, wiped his shiny scalp and said, "Hey! What are you envious of?"
"When I was young, I had my mother to support me. Now that I'm old, a great daughter has appeared from the sky!" The shopkeeper of Baixiang Pavilion has been friends with Chen Fu for decades. After cooking the last dish, he came out of the stall, opened a pot of wine and poured a glass for Chen Fu, and nodded towards the second floor, "You are so old and a grown man, but you let your daughter sit at the top of the table!"
Chen Fu laughed happily, "Okay, okay."
The shopkeeper of Baixiang Pavilion is surnamed Feng. Boss Feng came over and said, "Look at Old Man Ma from the east end of the city, Boss Niu from the west end of the city, Boss Zhu from the north end of the city... seven or eight of them! They are all here! What are they doing?"
Cows, horses, pigs, what? A large gathering of livestock?
Chen Fu picked his back teeth and said, "How should I know?"
Boss Feng said, "Tsk, why don't you go up and sit down?"
Chen Fu was horrified: "It's ok that you're tired from cooking! But you're also urging me to work!"
Boss Feng: ...
If a person is lucky, he indeed has this destiny.
Look at the old man Hengji. He is afraid that his own daughter is capable, so he locks her up at home when he gets the chance and puts himself out in public - he can't even enjoy the good life, and he makes a fuss about working every day. I really don't know what he is thinking.
Boss Feng looked at his old friend and felt annoyed: He was about the same age as him, but his face was so smooth? His hair was black! His eyes were bright! It was obvious that he had never experienced the hardship of making money!
It's really frustrating.
Boss Feng thought for a moment and said abruptly, "My grandson will be one year old next month, so remember to come."
Chen Fu:? Let’s talk about the matter next month, next month…
It took me a long time to realize that my old friend had changed the track to compete with his children!
Chen Fu sneered and looked at his old friend with a look of confidence and relaxation: Wait until I tell you who my son-in-law is, I won’t scare you to death!
Well...but I won't tell you now.
My daughter doesn’t seem to know that I’m about to have another son-in-law.
...
After about an hour, the guests in the elegant rooms on the second floor left one by one. Xianjin called a mule cart to take Chen Fu back to the orange garden. After sending off several bosses, he took Aunt Zhong and Qiqiqi and turned to the east of the city.
When I came out of the narrow alley again, the moon was high in the sky and the crescent moon was like a hook.
Xianjin looked calm as he handed a thick stack of brown paper bags to Qiqiqi, "Send it to the post house where Mr. Huo from Shandong is staying. Ask him to sign immediately and stamp the red seal of Huo's Printing House on it. First, pay a deposit of 20,000 knives for the first phase of 3,000 knives. If the first phase goes well, then the second and third phases will still be sold at the price of one knives, two taels and eight cents. Within three years, the price of Suxuan will not increase. This is my promise to him."
Qiqiqi took the brown paper bag, turned around to look at the mansion with two lonely red lanterns hanging on it, and lowered her voice, "She... is willing too?"
Xianjin curved his lips, "She doesn't want to, she... wants to."
Qiqiqi was stunned for a moment, then understood.
Aunt Zhong didn't understand, but that didn't stop her from shining in what she was good at. "...In the past two days, Boss Huo went to Hengji first, then to Baiji, and also to Yunliu and Liu's. He probably went to get the price. Twenty thousand dollars is not a small amount. If he signs a contract with someone else, it will be difficult for us to end it - in front of those small workshops, our reputation will be ruined."
Xianjin smiled and asked, "In the past few days, what time does Boss Huo return to the post station every day?"
Aunt Zhong whispered, "Before the evening hour, around three quarters past the evening hour."
Before 5pm.
Xianjin asked again: "Are you sober when you go back? Are you drunk?"
Aunt Zhong shook her head. "He's sober. I've never seen him drinking."
Xian Jin smiled and said firmly, "Then he must not have successfully signed a contract with any company."
It took Aunt Zhong half a minute to realize: When men discuss business, their favorite things to do after the deal is done are to hold a banquet and drink wine!
Xianjin walked out, speaking in a calm tone, as if he had it all planned out. "Twenty thousand dollars sounds like a big order. Based on three taels per dollar, the profit will be about four thousand taels. According to Boss Huo's request, it will take three years. To make a profit of a few hundred taels a year, you would need to use all your manpower to make that money - Hengji will never do that!"
"Besides, the big workshops like Hengji and Yunji are now looking down on the world. They are unlikely to lower their prices, and they are also unlikely to honestly produce inferior plain rice paper."
"This deal is just chicken ribs for Hengji. It's a waste to eat it and throw it away. The signing process cannot be fast."
Aunt Zhong's eyes were solemn, and she fully understood what Xianjin meant. She frowned and asked, "Can Henglian also hand over this business to the small workshops below like us?"
Xianjin smiled and asked, "What does he want?"
Aunt Zhong was stunned.
"Could it be possible that he should take a cut and earn a commission?" Xian Jin smiled happily, "How much is that? Would the now prosperous Boss Heng be interested in it? Would he be willing to bend down and act as a broker?"
"If there is no profit to be made from it, why would Henglian introduce business to small workshops? The upstream drives the downstream?" Xianjin laughed sarcastically, "If he had this mind, it would have been my turn to be the banker of Xuancheng Paper Industry long ago."
Henglian’s ideas can basically represent the ideas of the Yun and Liu families.
Aunt Zhong was silent for a moment, thinking about the fact that the Chuan Ji she had acquired had not yet hung up a plaque: she had been with this young girl for many years, and even though the former shopkeeper's thoughts and layout were difficult to understand, she could still taste some of it by careful consideration.
Only this time, she still didn't understand what the shopkeeper wanted to do.
Qiqiqi was smarter than her. She had consulted Qiqiqi in private. She only remembered that Qiqiqi narrowed his eyes and said, "Our shopkeeper has ambitions that go beyond Xuancheng."
"Do you...want to go to Yingtian Prefecture to make a living?" Aunt Zhong asked softly.
Xianjin paused, smiled and tucked up Aunt Zhong's hair, "There are many places in the world that are farther away than Yingtianfu."
Aunt Zhong blinked her eyes. Under the night sky, the young girl in her memory had turned into a tall, beautiful, and decisive adult without her knowing when. She was like an invincible female general who easily won the black-and-white business war.
Achieving victory looks effortless.
Only these guys who followed day and night knew that the oil lamp in the west wing was not extinguished until very late, very late, very late on many nights.
"No matter where you go, I will follow you." Aunt Zhong repeated firmly, "We will all follow you."
Half an hour later, Qiqiqi returned with the signed contract and a deposit of eight hundred taels.
Xianjin stroked the signature on one of the deeds in the brown paper bag and sighed softly.
On February 18, Henglian's post was earlier than Xianjin expected, inviting members of the Xuancheng Chamber of Commerce to the Wuxu Hall to discuss matters.
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