The coachman only said that Cheng Zhiwen would need to stay in Shanghai for a few more days. Now, five days have passed, and Shen Qing still cannot be sure whether Cheng Zhiwen has left Shanghai.
She thought that on her way to Shanghai, she would pass through Yongzhou and try to find out some information from the Cheng family. If Cheng Zhiwen was not in Yongzhou, then he should still be in Shanghai.
She went to the market with her suitcase to hire a horse-drawn carriage, and unexpectedly found that the carriage that had brought her back that day was among them.
Overjoyed, she ran over and patted the driver, who was resting with his eyes closed against the front of the cart: "Old Xu!"
Old Xu opened his eyes, saw that it was her, quickly jumped off the carriage, and bowed to her: "Boss Shen, where are you going?"
Shen Qing smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I'm going to see your boss. Should I hire your car?"
Old Xu quickly carried her suitcase to the carriage, placed a footrest under it, and helped her onto the carriage.
The carriage sped off.
Shen Qing pulled back the curtain, sat down by the door, and chatted with Old Xu: "Why are you still in Jiangzhou? I thought you had gone to Shanghai long ago!"
Old Xu, driving the car, chuckled and said, "Boss Cheng doesn't need the car for seven days. I was thinking of not going back to Shanghai empty-handed, so I waited for the guest in Jiangzhou, but after a few days, he still hasn't gone to Shanghai."
Shen Qing laughed heartily: "Old Xu, you are truly my benefactor! First, you deposited five hundred taels with me, and then you sent me to Shanghai again!"
It was those five hundred taels that inspired her to come up with a way to raise money from the Gao family.
Old Xu scratched his head: "Boss Shen, you're a kind person. That day at the teahouse, you were willing to dine at the same table as me."
He was a servant who had lived most of his life without ever eating at the same table with his master. Shen Qing was not only willing to eat at the same table with him, but also willing to chat with him and answer his questions.
He was flattered and could tell that Shen Qing was a capable businesswoman, which is why he felt comfortable leaving his money with her.
Shen Qing guessed these things.
Although five hundred taels is not much, it represents all of Old Xu's wealth.
Compared to the other members of the Gao family who invested 10,000 taels but were treated harshly and unfairly by her, the trust from Old Xu deeply moved her.
She pursed her lips and said to Old Xu, "I've invested all five hundred taels you deposited with me into my business. I'm going to Shanghai to see Boss Cheng this time, also for business matters! Don't worry, Old Xu, I'll definitely double your five hundred taels as soon as possible!"
Old Xu said "Hey," holding the horse's reins with both hands, but still bowed slightly to her to express his gratitude.
In the evening, Shen Qing arrived in Shanghai.
Old Xu told her that Cheng Zhiwen was still staying at the Astor House Hotel, so she went in and asked for a room.
As she passed by Cheng Zhiwen's room, she stopped and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she went back to her own room, thinking she would knock again later that night.
No matter how busy you are during the day, you still need to come home and rest at night, right?
With this in mind, Shen Qing felt relieved and took out paper and pen to continue writing about the process of refining rayon raw materials.
She planned that once she got her hands on the baking soda, she would return to Jiangzhou to refine other chemical solutions, and then buy raw materials to extract cellulose.
After the cellulose undergoes several final drying and desulfurization processes, as well as weaving and dyeing, rayon is produced.
With this in mind, Shen Qing felt that success was just around the corner.
The orange light outside the window had faded away sometime during the night. She looked up after finishing organizing the documents and realized that it was already night.
Judging that Cheng Zhiwen should be back, she stretched her limbs, put on a shawl, and went to a door on the other side of the corridor.
She knocked lightly on the door a few times, but there was still no answer, so she simply stood at the door and waited.
Another hour passed while they waited.
Her legs ached from standing, and her back hurt. Just as she was about to go back to her room to rest, she saw Cheng Zhiwen walking up the stairs from the corner.
He wore a brown overcoat over his suit, and still had that light brown British-style top hat. His cheekbones were slightly flushed, as if he had been drinking.
Shen Qing quickly went to greet him, forcing an awkward smile: "Busy until so late?"
He stopped in his tracks at the sound, looked at her, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
Shen Qing introduced himself: "I have something to discuss with you, so I've come here again today."
He then came to his senses, climbed a few flights of stairs, and headed straight for his room.
Shen Qing quickly followed him into the house.
He took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, walked to the table, poured himself a large glass of water and drank it all in one gulp. Then he loosened his bow tie and sat down on the sofa.
He leaned his neck against the back of the sofa, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and exhaled upwards.
Shen Qing walked over and kindly asked, "Have you had too much to drink?"
He ignored her, and after a long while, he closed his eyes and asked, "What do you want?"
Shen Qing mentioned that he wanted to buy baking soda, and added at the end, "Don't worry, I'll give you a reward."
He gave a slight smirk, slowly sat up straight, legs spread apart, arms hanging at his knees, and looked at her with an unfathomable gaze: "What benefits are you going to give me?"
“I’ve raised the money to make rayon, and now all I need is baking soda. If you can help me buy baking soda, I will pay you.”
"...There is no baking soda in China right now. We have to send a telegram to find someone to bring it from the United States. It will take at least a month."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qing was extremely excited. She took a few steps forward and stood in front of him: "So I can get the baking soda in as little as a month, right?"
"yes."
"I want 100 pounds of baking soda!"
Fearing that Cheng Zhiwen might think she was asking for too little, she added after speaking, "This hundred catties is just a small test. For the subsequent mass production of rayon, I will need a lot of baking soda, and I'll have you help me import it then!"
Cheng Zhiwen agreed readily: "No problem, it's just a matter of sending a telegram."
Shen Qing finally felt at ease.
She had expected Cheng Zhiwen to make things difficult for her, but to her surprise, she didn't. Her current mood could only be described as ecstatic.
To express her gratitude to Cheng Zhiwen, she immediately added, "Then calculate how much it costs for 100 kilograms of baking soda, including shipping costs and your payment. I'll prepare the money for you later."
"No need for money, I'll give it to you."
Shen Qing smiled: "Why are you suddenly being so kind?"
She subconsciously felt that Cheng Zhiwen was making it up to her because she felt sorry for her after being accused of a lot last time.
However, she realized the next second that she had been naive.
"If you want baking soda, tell me your true identity." Cheng Zhiwen looked at her sharply. "Otherwise, I won't help you import baking soda!"
Shen Qing's expression changed.
She knew this person wasn't kind!
But we can't offend him right now, otherwise we won't be able to get the baking soda.
She took a deep breath, composed herself, and feigned weakness, like a traditional, innocent woman: "I don't have a real identity. I am Shen Qing, a pitiful woman who was widowed early and has to do business on my own."
Cheng Zhiwen closed her eyes and frowned, looking quite agitated.
He didn't believe her.
Shen Qing also tensed up and searched his memory bank, recalling what kind of contact the original owner had with Cheng Zhiwen before, which made him so sure that she was not her.
No one in the Gao family ever doubted that she wasn't the original owner, so why is Cheng Zhiwen so insistent on it?
Just because she can speak English?
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