Chapter 63: The Palace
After choosing a seat and sitting down, Liang Jinyu personally poured a cup of tea and handed it to Tang Xian.
Tang Xian quickly stood up and took it with both hands, saying in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Liang Jinyu smiled.
Tang Xian placed the teacup beside him, but did not drink directly from it. Instead, he asked, "Miss, you invited me here, so you must have something to discuss with me, right?"
Liang Jinyu nodded and said, "I won't beat around the bush. I know that Brother Tang is honest and cautious, so I'm curious and want to ask what you do now."
When talking about this, Tang Xian looked bitter: "It's embarrassing to say that I was the second manager of Fusheng Bank, but because of some misunderstandings with the first manager, I was dismissed. Now I am a free man."
Liang Jinyu often goes to the city these days and has seen Fusheng Bank. If I remember correctly, it should be the property of the Xie family.
Today, business in the Great Zhou is prosperous and there are many business gangs.
Among them, the Lingzhou Xie family, the Yueqing family and the Langcang Yuan family are the most prominent, although their main business areas and business methods are different.
But they also have something in common, for example, each family has a family crest, which is printed on the shop or carriage to distinguish them.
The Xie family crest is three long-tailed sparrows connected head to tail, shining with golden light and visible from across the street.
Seeing that Liang Jinyu hadn't said anything for a long time, Tang Xian took the initiative to say, "Miss, if you have anything to say, please feel free to speak up."
Liang Jinyu thought for a moment and asked, "Rice prices are so low now, but Brother Tang still goes to the grain store to sell rice, and the quantity is not much, so I guess Brother Tang must have encountered some difficulties, right?"
Tang Xian shook his head helplessly: "I'm sorry to make you laugh, but my father's old illness has relapsed, so I had no choice but to resort to this last resort."
"I heard that the price of rice has been rising recently. What do you think about this, Brother Tang?" Liang Jinyu said, then picked up the cup and took a sip of tea.
Tang Xian was a smart man. After a few conversations, he realized that the girl in front of him was examining him. Although he didn't know her identity, it would not be a bad thing if he could get a suitable job for her.
After a moment's silence, Tang Xian said seriously, "The reason why the grain prices in the city have risen is mainly because the Xie and Chu families are competing to buy refined rice. Scarcity makes things valuable, and the price of refined rice will naturally rise as the quantity decreases. The rise in the price of refined rice also brings up the prices of coarse grains and flour."
"But this situation will not last long, and food prices are expected to stabilize after three months."
At this point, Tang Xian added: "If there are no special circumstances."
Liang Jinyu asked curiously, "Why three months?"
"There are three reasons. First, three months is enough time for grain merchants to buy new rice from other places. Second, the Xie and Chu families will have a time to 'eat their fill', and three months is enough. Third, after three months it will be the spring equinox."
Liang Jinyu raised her eyebrows. Tang Xian's analysis was correct. This was also the general opinion of everyone.
"So what do you mean by special circumstances?"
"Both natural and man-made disasters can affect food prices. Nothing is absolute."
"Then according to Brother Tang, what is the best way to do it?"
Tang Xian thought about it and answered very cautiously: "Then I have to ask the girl what you want?"
Liang Jinyu smiled and said, "Brother Tang, there is something I really want to ask you for help with."
"I'd like to hear the details." Tang Xian raised his hand, his expression focused.
Liang Jinyu then told Tang Xian that she had bought a house and now she needed to hire someone to renovate it.
This seems to be a simple matter, but there are many things involved, such as the purchase of bricks, tiles and timber, the deployment of masons and carpenters, the statistics of incoming and outgoing accounts, etc. Most importantly, Liang Jinyu also needs several large warehouses.
Tang Xian thought for a moment and shook his head to refuse: "Miss Liang, I used to work in a bank, I'm afraid I can't do you a favor."
"Everything has a first time. I believe that Brother Tang, with such a huge fortune, can take care of it properly. My small house is nothing more than a child's playhouse to you."
Tang Xian remained silent and still did not respond.
Liang Jinyu could also understand. Even if she was just the second in command of Fusheng Bank, she was from the famous Xie family. The gap between the Xie family and her was like heaven and earth.
"How about this? I will entrust the renovation of the house to Brother Tang. It will only take two to three months. How about that?" Liang Jinyu asked.
Tang Xian thought for a moment and picked up the teacup: "In that case, I am grateful for your trust, young lady!"
"No problem." Liang Jinyu said with a smile, "Let's use tea instead of wine. I'll toast to Brother Tang first."
Tang Xian finished the drink in one gulp, and the frown on his face also faded a lot: "Since you are my boss, you can just call me Tang Xian from now on."
Liang Jinyu readily agreed, and since it was still early, she thought about taking Tang Xian to the Song residence to have a look so that she could start the renovation work as soon as possible.
The three of them left the teahouse and went straight towards Song's residence.
...
The moment he saw the house, Tang Xian's expression changed obviously.
"Miss, are you sure it's here?" Tang Xian asked.
Liang Jinyu nodded: "Yes, don't be fooled by its shabby appearance, it is actually very large."
"It's not a question of new or old, but this house is unlucky." Despite saying this, Tang Xian still followed.
Liang Jinyu knocked on the door and said, "I know, but when a person dies, it's like a light goes out. How can a living person be afraid of the dead? Besides, my two children have been living here for half a month."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the house opened.
Tang Xian was just wondering what "my two children" meant when he saw the Wang siblings sticking their heads out of the door.
"Aunt, you're here." Wang Juaner shouted happily.
Liang Jinyu slapped her forehead and suddenly remembered that she had broken her promise again. She said she would bring a candy man for Juan'er.
"Have you eaten?" Liang Jinyu asked, and secretly promised herself that she must remember it next time and never forget it again.
The few of them walked towards the backyard, and Liang Jinyu introduced the layout of the house to Tang Xian.
The entire house covers an area of several hundred square meters, but Liang Jinyu only plans to keep one third of it. The rest will either be demolished and turned into a warehouse or separated into a small courtyard.
Tang Xian took notes as he looked along the way. By the time he reached the main courtyard, he had already written down most of it and had some preliminary ideas about the renovation.
"Currently, the brother and sister live here, and this is also the most complete place in the entire mansion." Liang Jinyu walked into the main courtyard and introduced.
Tang Xian looked around and soon noticed the sacks piled up like a wall in the room.
"What is this? Food?" Tang Xian asked in surprise.
Liang Jinyu said: "Yes, your first task is to build a warehouse that can hold tens of thousands of kilograms of food."
Tang Xian frowned and said, "Miss, please forgive me for being blunt, but if you want to get involved in the palace, I'm afraid it's like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket."
Liang Jinyu was confused by this: "What palace?"
"Young lady, you don't know?" Tang Xian was very surprised. "If it's not for the palace, why did you hoard so much food?"
Liang Jinyu made up an excuse: "You may not believe it, but I met an expert a few months ago, and he said that the harvest next year will be bad, so I thought about hoarding goods, maybe I can make a fortune."
Tang Xian had a complicated expression; this statement was obviously hard to convince people.