Chapter 311 I wish you and me
Song Xian smiled. She nudged her daughter and said, "Go run an errand for Liang Ge'er. I'll go back and wait for you."
Green Bud: "...Okay."
After Lu Yaer left, Song Xian asked the caravan to enter the city for inspection. She glanced at Sui Liang, then at the servants behind her, and said with a smile, "Then you wait outside the city. We'll be leaving first."
Sui Liang's face flushed. He glanced towards the city, nodded, and said, "You go ahead, we'll be in soon."
"Aren't you waiting for your sister and the kid to come over?" Song Xian teased.
Sui Liang blushed, then smiled and said, "That's fine. It won't be a wasted trip for them."
Song Xian laughed heartily. After entering the city, she recalled how no one had come to meet her when she returned from Chang'an. She wondered if she could be like Sui Liang, and if she could be more cheerful. Then she shook her head, clearing her mind of the thought. She decided to allow herself to be herself.
"Master Song? Sui Liang is back too?"
Song Xian came back to her senses and saw Zhao Xiping walking towards her with sweat on his face. The training ground was not far away, so it was not surprising that he appeared here.
"Your brother-in-law is still outside the city gate, waiting for his sister and nephew to pick him up. Otherwise, he will not go home until he enters the city." Song Xian said.
Zhao Xiping couldn't help laughing and said, "Why are you still in this state after going out? I'll go over and take a look."
"Okay, go and greet them."
Sui Yu and Xiaozai also received the news. She got up from the cotton field, washed her face and hands by the river, and saw Xiaozai leading the camel over.
"Mom, my uncle is back." The boy's face flushed with excitement.
Sui Yu walked on the wooden planks to cross the river. She took the camel's reins, carried the baby on the camel, and then she followed suit.
"drive--"
The camel started running and entered the city in less than a cup of tea. When it got closer to the city gate, the cub leaned over and looked around, and first saw his father standing at the foot of the city wall.
"Mom, my dad, he's here to take my uncle home too."
Zhao Xiping had come a long time ago. Seeing that Sui Liang was really shameless enough to wait outside the city gate, he did not show up. He felt embarrassed to see the city guards looking outside the city for a few seconds and then asking whether the caravan could enter the city.
The camel stopped at the city gate. Zhao Xiping took the cub and put it on the ground, saying, "Go and greet your uncle."
"How long have you been here?" Sui Yu asked with a smile, "You should have gone out earlier and brought him in."
"I can't. I don't know how to say cheesy words that won't satisfy your spoiled brother's desire to act like a spoiled brat."
Sui Yu patted him and walked out quickly.
Zhao Xiping said hello to the city guard and said, "I'll be out for a bit and will be back soon."
"Is this your caravan? I thought there was something wrong with it. It kept looking into the city, asking if we wanted to go in, and then asking if we could wait a while."
Zhao Xiping didn't want to admit it but he had no choice. He could only bite the bullet and walk out of the city gate. Seeing that the uncle and nephew were hugging each other, almost crying, he clicked his tongue a few times.
With the kid around, Sui Yu was useless. She stood next to Sui Liang for a while and tried to interrupt twice, but her words fell silent. She didn't want to disturb the uncle and nephew who were talking to each other, and chose to talk to the servants.
Zhao Xiping walked straight to Sui Yu's side. He glanced at the silk and wooden boxes on the camel's back, put his hand on Zhang Shun's shoulder, and said, "I was right about you."
Zhang Shun was in high spirits after receiving Zhao Xiping's affirmation. His face was flushed, and he did not forget to say modestly: "Thank you for your trust, sir. However, this is not just my credit. The second shopkeeper contributed at least half of the effort to do business in Chang'an this time."
Zhao Xiping was surprised. He glanced at the boy squatting on the ground and asking the kid about the mulberry silk business, and always felt that Zhang Shun was lying.
"Let's go, let's go into the city." He said, "You take the caravan to submit the paperwork first. If we delay for a while, we will become a lively place in the eyes of others."
Sui Liang had already recovered from the initial shock, and he couldn't help feeling embarrassed when he heard this.
"Are you able to spare some time to talk to me now?" Sui Yu stepped forward, standing on tiptoe. "You're a finger taller than me, right? You've lost weight, too. You must have suffered so much along the way."
Zhao Xiping reached out and squeezed Sui Liang's arm, saying, "You feel stronger now. How do you feel about this trip? It was worth the trip, wasn't it?"
"No, no." Sui Liang shook his head. "Everything is fine when I'm out here, except I miss home and you guys."
"Will you go outside the Great Wall later?" Zhao Xiping asked.
Sui Liang immediately waved his hand and said solemnly, "Brother-in-law, I've thought about this. I still prefer to stay at home and don't like wandering around. But if it's inconvenient for my sister to go out, I can follow the caravan."
"Let's not talk about this for now. Let's go home." Sui Yu glared at Zhao Xiping, then turned to his brother and said, "The little one is missing you like crazy. Me too. Since April, he and I have been eagerly waiting for the sound of camel bells."
"Then why didn't you come to the city gate to pick me up?" Sui Liang still cared about this.
"The cotton in the field is sprouting. I can't leave. My little bastards are busy with your silkworm business. But I told your brother-in-law to come to the city gate as soon as he hears the camel bells."
"Yes, when we came here, my father had already come and was standing there." The boy pointed to the base of the city wall.
Sui Liang believed his nephew's words. He turned his head and looked in the direction of his finger, and saw two big footprints.
"Even though your brother-in-law doesn't say it, he cares about you just as much as we do." Sui Yu explained.
Zhao Xiping didn't say anything and agreed.
Sui Liang turned around and deliberately asked, "Brother-in-law, do you miss me?"
"You are so shameless." Zhao Xiping could not stand it only in front of Sui Yu. If it were someone else, his mouth would be harder to pry open than a dead duck's, and asking him to say what he thought and remembered would be harder than breaking his teeth.
Sui Liang rolled his eyes.
"Uncle, I'm speaking for my father. Liang'er, your brother-in-law misses you." The kid interrupted.
This sentence shocked both of them. Sui Liang felt choked and Zhao Xiping got goose bumps all over his body.
Sui Yu burst into laughter, attracting the attention of passers-by on the road.
"A caravan is coming! Oh my God, how much silk have they bought?" exclaimed the radish vendor.
"Heading north, hey, hey, hey, I recognized them. I know the man in the lead. This is Shopkeeper Yu's caravan."
"No wonder she bought a whole herd of horses last year. No wonder she got rich."
Amidst the discussions, Sui Liang walked with his head held high, holding the cub's hand. Sui Yu took a step back and walked with Zhao Xiping.
When we returned to the guesthouse, Grandma Yin was already stewing chicken. There was no business in the guesthouse, so the cash box and goods were unloaded directly onto the open space outside.
Sui Liang handed over a scroll of bamboo slips, which recorded the price of each horse, as well as the goods purchased and the price of the goods.
"The black horse was sold to Zuo Duhou. He spent two days raising money and could only come up with 158,000 coins. However, he introduced us to a silk shop, and we got a good price for Shu brocade, 950 coins per piece. I decided to buy 80 pieces of Shu brocade, but the shop was only willing to sell so much."
"I bought Shu brocade in Chang'an for 1,200 coins per piece. That's a 20,000 coin discount, so the horse is worth nearly 180,000 coins. Not bad," Sui Yu said, looking at the bamboo slips. "The horse market is better than I expected. When you left Dunhuang, I thought I'd make a profit if I could sell Wuzhui for 80,000 coins. Zhang Shun, I mean what I say. If Wuzhui sells for a high price, I'll give you a 4,000 coin commission."
Zhang Shun was excited, "Thank you, Master."
"Well, I'll do the math and give you the profit tomorrow at the latest," Sui Yu said. "Liang'er, tell me more. I bought eighty pieces of Shu brocade, and eighty pieces of satin brocade, too. The purchase price was 1,160 coins a piece... And I bought one hundred pieces of dyed silk cloth, and they were 400 coins a piece? How come the price is so low?"
"We bought it in Qijia Village in Taiyuan County. They didn't want a high price because the villagers are grateful to you for the kelp incident," Sui Liang said with a beaming face. "Our caravan was recognized as soon as we entered the village. The villagers treated us warmly. Not only did they provide us with lodging without rent, but several families even stewed meat and sent it to us. And Brother Qi took the initiative to arrange for us to buy silk cloth. They also agreed on the price themselves: 400 coins per piece. We bought 100 pieces, but Sister Song only bought 40. She returned to Chang'an and bought another 100 pieces of silk cloth for 480 coins each."
"Raising silkworms and weaving cloth are not easy. Many women have gone blind from staring at the looms. They shouldn't be charged this price, four hundred coins per piece. After paying the tax, they probably won't make any money." Sui Yu suppressed the pride in his words.
"Yes, I realized it after returning to Chang'an. After that, I got 200 kilograms of dried kelp from the head of Hua family. I asked Zuo Duhou's people to bring 50 kilograms to the people of Qijia Village." Sui Liang explained.
"Well done." Sui Yu smiled at him and asked, "What's going on with the honey business?"
"We brought too much money and goods, and the news of the horse sale was widely known. Sister Song and I were worried about being robbed on the way back. It just so happened that Zuo Duhou came to us and proposed to trade his honey business in exchange for him sending soldiers to escort us out of the Qinling Mountains. We agreed. We took his people to Qijia Village to find Sister Li. From now on, the honey from her family and the honey from the beekeepers in the deep mountains will only be sold to Zuo Duhou. We can no longer interfere." Sui Liang pointed to two jars leaning against the wall and said, "I brought back two jars of honey, enough for us to drink for two years."
Sui Yu understood and asked, "What's the price of kelp?"
Sui Liang explained the business he had discussed with the head of the Hua family, "The Hua family's caravan takes a year and a half to travel from Chang'an to the seaside and back. Our caravan can get the goods every time we go there."
Zhao Xiping couldn't help but glance sideways. He now believed what Zhang Shun said. Although Sui Liang was spoiled, she still had a lot of ideas in her mind.
Sui Yu gave a thumbs up, "Very far-sighted."
Sui Liang was very happy.
After reading the bamboo slips, he found that the purchase cost two hundred thousand and eight thousand eight hundred coins, and the round-trip customs clearance fee was more than seventeen thousand coins. This was mainly because the tax on horses entering the customs was high. Before, Sui Yu had led a caravan back and forth, and it cost him a little over twelve thousand coins.
Sui Yu squatted down, picked up a stone and wrote and drew on the ground. After deducting the money spent on purchasing goods, passing customs and food, she made a total of 556,600 coins. A 20% profit was 111,320 coins... She took a deep breath. It was really painful. This was more than the price of buying a slave.
"I've figured it out. 20% interest is 111,320 coins, plus the 13,400 coins you should have shared three years ago. But that's after deducting Ding Quan's 610 coins... I've calculated that except for Ding Quan, everyone else will get 6,000 coins each. Plus, I promised everyone except Ding Quan 200 coins for the encounter with the ghost fire, so the total is 6,200 coins." Sui Yu sighed, forced a smile, and said, "If you don't betray my trust, I'll make your pockets fatter. Whoever does the best will get the money. Zhang Shun will end up getting 1200 coins. Everyone applaud."
Applause louder than his heartbeats rang out, and Zhang Shun straightened his back. At this moment, the sense of accomplishment in his heart overwhelmed all the suffering and injustice he had suffered in the past, and he felt like he was reborn.
"Next, give yourselves a round of applause. You've gone through five years of ups and downs, endured the fears and responsibilities, shed blood and sweat, worn-out soles, smelly clothes, calluses on your thighs, cracked and bleeding lips, sunburned skin, frostbitten toes... everything is worth it." Sui Yu said this to the servants, and also to himself.
Zhao Xiping looked at her, raised his hands and clapped loudly.
Xiao Chunhong wiped her eyes, and the tears that could not be wiped away fell to the ground and were drowned in the applause. She had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. She had earned more money in five years than her brother and sister-in-law could earn in their entire lives. These two short-lived people sold her out to give her a chance of wealth. They were cruel and blind, and they deserved to be poor all their lives.
The applause lasted for a long time. A Shui, Hua Niu, A Qiang and Da Zhuang watched from the side. Their eyes were shining, as if they saw themselves in the crowd. Whether it was money or praise at this time, it touched their hearts.
"How much is a box?" Sui Yu turned his head and asked Sui Liang.
"It's exactly six thousand coins." Sui Liang tightly grasped his sister's arm and asked through gritted teeth, "Are you really giving it to me?"
"Here, I will keep my word." Sui Yu covered his chest.
"One box is six thousand coins. You each take one box away." Sui Yu gritted his teeth and said generously, "Zhang Shun, take two boxes. The extra money can be distributed to the others. Those who don't get a share can come to me and get it."
After saying that, Sui Yu glanced at Zhao Xiping, who came over to help open the cash box.
Ding Quan stepped forward and said earnestly, "Master, you see my injury has healed. The next time the caravan leaves the border, I can go with them."
"No, no, we have enough people. Ding Quan, you just stay at home and farm." Aniu jumped out to stop him. If there were more people to share the money, he would get hundreds less.
"Yes, we are short of people to work in the fields. You are not suitable for business anymore. You are too timid." Zhang Shun was referring to the incident of encountering ghost fire. It was too stupid not to run away even when your hair was burned. He was unwilling to take such a person with him.
Ding Quan looked at Sui Yu, who said vaguely, "Don't stop practicing martial arts. If the caravan is short of manpower one day, you can fill in."
It was a hope after all. Ding Quan nodded heavily and said, "I will definitely practice my martial arts well."
The difference between six hundred coins and six thousand coins is greater than the difference between a human and a dog. It's too exciting and he can't stand it.
The money was distributed and the chicken was stewed. Zhao Xiping opened a can of mulberry wine brought back by the caravan to celebrate with them.
"Brother Liang, when you go back to your room tonight, you should also take a box of money away." Sui Yu raised his glass and clinked it with his brother's, saying happily, "I wish you and me a happy life. I wish us a happy life, a successful career, and you growing up."
"And me, and me—" The kid came over with a bowl of rice soup, "I want to clink glasses too."
With two "ding" sounds, all the red and white food was eaten.
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