Chapter 196 Cao Yingying's Background
Zuixianlou (Drunken Immortal Pavilion)
Cheng Wanwan walked in and looked around.
Her family has been thinking about opening a restaurant, so she needs to start thinking about how to decorate it now.
Ancient restaurants were all decorated in a similar style: the first floor was the main hall, and the second floor had private rooms. They were all antique and elegant, with no flaws, but of course, they didn't have a unique style.
She found a seat in the lobby, and Manager Yang immediately ordered the waiter to serve tea.
"What brings you here today, Sister Zhao?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "We've been working together for a few months now, so we're pretty familiar with each other. I just wanted to ask Manager Yang to help me find out if there are any carriages for sale. I'd like to buy one so it will be more convenient for me to travel in the future."
"It's no big deal, no problem at all." Manager Yang was eager to help out and said with a smile, "A good horse costs about eighteen taels of silver, and with the carriage, it will be a little over twenty taels of silver. I wonder if Sister Zhao thinks this price is acceptable?"
Twenty taels of silver was a price that Cheng Wanwan could totally accept.
In ancient times, the fastest means of transportation was the horse, similar to a modern car. A modern car can easily cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, but now you can buy the best means of transportation of this era for twenty taels of silver. It's such a good deal!
That's settled then. Come pick up the car in three days.
Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to leave, several people from Zuixianlou walked in chatting and sat down at a nearby table.
This was a group of men, and they were speaking quite loudly.
"The Cao family got the government to issue a reward order, offering a hundred taels of silver to anyone who can provide information about the eldest daughter of the Cao family."
"One hundred taels of silver is far too much. Could the Cao family be trying to scam us?"
"I heard that a servant from Yihonglou went to the Cao family to report Miss Cao's news, and the Cao family immediately gave the servant one hundred taels of silver."
"Yihong Pavilion? Isn't that a brothel? How would people from a brothel know about Miss Cao?"
"I heard that Miss Cao's disappearance this time was because she was sold to the brothel, Yihonglou..."
"The Cao family is considered a prominent family in our Hekou Town. It's unbelievable that the daughter of such a wealthy family has ended up selling herself in a brothel. I wonder who was so lucky as to sleep with her..."
Cheng Wanwan's brows furrowed suddenly.
She asked softly, "Does Manager Yang know anything about the Cao family?"
"Sister Zhao, look over there. Those big ships at the dock belong to the Cao family. They've made a fortune off these ships. Boss Cao is a big shot in our Hekou Town," Manager Yang said in a low voice. "This Miss Cao went missing several days ago. Madam Cao is frantic, asking everyone she can to find her... But I heard she was sold to a brothel, and because the madam forced her to serve customers, she escaped halfway through..."
Cheng Wanwan said calmly, "Did the Cao family file a lawsuit against Yihonglou with the authorities?"
"No, not at all. Yihong Pavilion said the person was missing, and the Cao family searched the place and found that she was indeed missing, so the matter was naturally dropped." Manager Yang shook his head. "This matter caused quite a stir. Even if Miss Cao is found, her reputation is ruined..."
He also has a daughter. If his daughter were sold to a brothel, he would chop those people into mincemeat with a knife.
Cheng Wanwan's expression was very solemn.
As she walked through the streets of Hekou Town, she heard many people talking about the matter.
She finally understood why Cao Yingying didn't want to go home and be a rich young lady.
This lady from the Cao family is truly a killer who doesn't shed blood.
When their attempts to force someone into marriage fail, they resort to ruining their reputation.
Using a reward of one hundred taels of silver, they spread the word that Miss Cao had been sold into a brothel. For a girl to be sold into a brothel was tantamount to having her chastity ruined, which was extremely devastating for a teenage girl. Some families, in order to protect their reputation, had no choice but to let the girl prove her innocence by dying.
This girl has suffered a lot living under her stepmother's care for over ten years.
She doesn't like to meddle in other people's business, but Yingying has lived in her house for so many days that she already considers her her own child.
When their own child is wronged, the elders can't just stand by and do nothing.
Throughout the journey, Cheng Wanwan kept thinking about this matter.
The oxcart swayed and rattled until it arrived at Ping'an Town.
Zhao Ergou waited at the city gate, and as soon as he saw Cheng Wanwan, he began to report on what he had done over the past hour.
“There are eighteen cloth shops and embroidery workshops in Ping’an County. I ordered ten bolts of coarse cloth, ten bolts of linen, and five bolts of fine linen from each of them. The coarse cloth cost a total of fourteen taels and four qian of silver, the linen cloth cost a total of twenty-one taels and six qian of silver, and the fine linen cloth cost a total of twenty-one taels and six qian of silver. In total, it costs fifty-seven taels and six qian of silver.” Zhao Ergou spoke of the numbers with great confidence. “I can earn forty wen of silver from one bolt of coarse cloth, eighty wen from one bolt of linen, and one hundred and twenty wen from one bolt of fine linen. So, I can make a net profit of more than thirty taels of silver from this batch of goods.”
Cheng Wanwan was very impressed with this young man for actually managing to make this business a success. He was very methodical and articulate, and she couldn't find any fault with him.
This business is no easier than selling braised food. Although the profits are higher, the risks are also higher. If the cloth cannot be sold, it will all be stuck in your hands, and more than fifty taels of silver will go down the drain.
But we can't avoid doing it just because there are risks.
Young people like to do challenging things, and as their mother, she naturally supports them unconditionally.
However, I still have to remind you: "This batch of goods is quite large and must be sold as soon as possible. How many days do you plan to sell this batch of goods?"
Zhao Ergou was about to say that he would ship the goods right now.
It's still early. If I go to Baiyun Town, I can probably sell half of them. I can go again tomorrow and sell the other half.
Before he could even speak, the sky, which had been clear and sunny just moments before, suddenly darkened.
Zhao Da quickly got into the oxcart: "It's definitely going to rain within half an hour, we have to hurry back."
Fabric is not like other things; it absolutely cannot get wet. Besides, the road conditions are terrible after the rain, so we definitely can't make it to Baiyun Town today.
The group decided to return to Dahe Village first, and the shipment would have to wait until tomorrow.
Hundreds of bolts of cloth filled an entire oxcart, leaving no room for people to sit. Cheng Wanwan and Zhao Ergou could only walk behind the oxcart.
They had barely stepped inside when the rain started pattering down.
Fortunately, the fabric was safely brought into the house without causing any damage.
Cheng Wanwan was covered in sweat from walking, so she quickly grabbed a clean set of clothes and went to the bathhouse to shower.
There was a large bathtub in the bathhouse, which she had specially asked Old Man Zhao to make. She sat comfortably in the bathtub and soaked in the tub, and all her fatigue disappeared instantly. She felt very comfortable.
Zhao Ergou was outside sorting out the fabrics. To make it easier to sell them tomorrow, he sorted all the colors and made labels that only he could understand.
The women were more patient with the task of sorting the goods, and Wu Huiniang and Cao Yingying were both helping out.
Zhao Ergou was keeping accounts when he looked up and saw Cao Yingying pacing back and forth in the room. His fingers paused for a moment.
He suddenly spoke up: "Miss Yingying, there's something I'd like to ask you."
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