Chapter 76
Bei Qiao: "...Okay, I'm actually worried that the map is fake."
"Young man, bargaining is one thing, but you can't question my character!" Hearing Bei Qiao question the authenticity of his map, the old man blew his beard and glared on the spot: "I drew this all by imitating my own yard stroke by stroke!" Is it too much to sell the calligraphy of a dignified Duke for a few dozen taels of silver?
"We've never met before, how can we trust each other?" Bei Qiao shook his head, tugging on the reins as he prepared to leave. "Besides, the map can be sold for two hundred taels or a few cents. Why are you bothering a penniless passerby like me?"
"Wait, what did you say?" The old man, Duke Chen Xiaofei's eyes widened instantly: "You are not allowed to leave!"
After hearing what Bei Qiao said, Chen Xiaofei decisively stopped her horse and demanded that she hand over a method that would sell the map for two hundred taels. The previous price, arrived at through repeated experimentation, was the highest the rescuers would accept. This didn't mean he didn't want a higher price; it was simply that if the price went any higher, they wouldn't buy it.
"Fifty taels." Bei Qiao calmly stretched out a hand towards Chen Xiaofei.
Chen Xiaofei: "...You are the first one to take money from this old man!"
"You don't have to give it to me." Bei Qiao shrugged, pulled the reins and pretended to leave: What I said just now was just a casual talk, I just want to leave now.
"Stop right there! Fifty taels is fifty taels!"
Bei Qiao: "..." This guy is really greedy for money.
Chen Xiaofei pulled out a fifty-liang silver note from his sleeve and handed it over hesitantly: "You can't cheat an old man like me."
"Before that, I have a question." Bei Qiao took the banknote and checked its authenticity: "What is the current situation of that girl?"
"Are you talking about the little girl who is waiting to be rescued? She's fine, nothing happened to her except that she can't go out. That little rascal... The young master wanted to influence her with love, and with the old duke looking after her, he never touched her at all." Chen Xiaofei stroked his beard: You said you were not here to rescue anyone, now you're exposed, right?
"I'm glad you're alright." Bei Qiao nodded and put the banknote away. "The way to sell the map for two hundred taels is very simple. Just bring the person in directly."
"What? Aren't you kidding an old man like me? How can you bring someone into my house... into the Duke's Mansion?" Chen Xiaofei was so angry that his beard was about to stand on end: "That's not... Wait, young man, you mean, you can only bring people in, but not take them out?"
"That's right." Bei Qiao pretended not to notice his slip of the tongue, crossed his arms and nodded at him: "You dare to sell maps, are you afraid to bring people? If you are afraid of being punished, then discuss it with the guards in advance, and then divide the money to avoid trouble."
"That makes sense, but you want fifty taels from me just for this idea?"
"Fifty taels isn't too much for a profitable idea." Bei Qiao raised his index finger and shook it. "Also, there's another way. That's to divide the map into many pieces, selling each piece for only a hundred wen. Accumulating small amounts will add up to a lot."
"That's unreliable. If they share the map with each other, then I won't be able to sell the map worth twenty taels." Chen Xiaofei's first reaction was disbelief.
"I've already explained the method. If you want to explain it in more detail, the price will be different." Bei Qiao waved his hand: "If you still want to ask... two hundred taels."
"This..." Chen Xiaofei hesitated for a moment, and began to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"Goodbye." Bei Qiao pulled the reins. "Rich people's money is really not money. They give it away so readily. These fifty taels are enough for me to wander around for a whole year."
"Wait! I... I gave it to you!" Chen Xiaofei took a few quick steps and stopped Bei Qiao's horse again.
Bei Qiao: “…Oh.” What a courageous old man.
"But I have no cash anymore, so I can only give you the house deed and land deed." Chen Xiaofei turned his back and started to take out his sleeves again.
"Well, old man, I don't live in the capital..." Bei Qiao politely turned his head to the side: Do you have to carry the house deeds and land deeds with you? In his eyes, home is an unsafe place?
"You're dreaming! The housing prices in the capital aren't that high!" Chen Xiaofei turned around and rolled his eyes at Bei Qiao: "You can't buy a house here just because you have money!"
Bei Qiao smiled and didn't refute. She watched him reluctantly flip through the house deeds and land deeds in his hand. Finally, he pulled out a few from the box, turned around and handed them to Bei Qiao: "I don't ask where you are from or where you want to go. Here are a few house deeds. Draw one and I'll give you the corresponding land deeds."
"Okay." Bei Qiao bent down, pinched one of the deeds, pulled it out, but couldn't: "You should let go."
“Tsk!”
Bei Qiao pulled out the deed and looked at the address: Linjie City? Pretty lucky.
After checking the authenticity of the title deed, Bei Qiao took it from Chen Xiaofei under his pained gaze. After putting it away, he began to describe in detail the method of selling the map that he had mentioned briefly before: "Before, I said selling map fragments because the fragments are cheap enough. Most people can't easily come up with 20 taels of silver, but if I say 100 wen, basically everyone can bite the bullet and pay it."
"What if they plan to put together a map?"
"Whether to put the map together or not is up to them; but whether the map can be put together or not is up to you." Bei Qiao took out the paper that was used to wrap the bean cakes and tore it to show Chen Xiaofei: "The patterns on the map fragments can be repeated, and the fragments on two maps are not necessarily adjacent. You can divide a map into one hundred parts, but these one hundred fragments do not have to be released at once." Think about it, who hasn't bought instant noodles in the past, but I have never heard of anyone putting together the entire set of one hundred and eight hero cards.
"That makes sense!" Chen Xiaofei stroked his beard and listened carefully: If I hide one of the fragments and don't sell it, then they will never be able to put together this map!
"As long as they want to save money, they will always buy the fragments."
"Wait, what if they finally decide they have enough fragments and don't plan to buy any more?"
"The patrol schedule is sold separately and is frequently updated as conditions permit." What good is a map? You still have to avoid the patrols.
Chen Xiaofei: "...Young man, is your family in business?"
"No." Bei Qiao shook his head and continued: "In addition, you can also make more exquisite maps and sell them at a higher price. The map does not need to be drawn more detailed, as long as the pattern is beautiful, it will be very expensive at first glance. The main point is that you can show it off to others..." Got all the styles of blind boxes? Then get a hidden style!
Bei Qiao's words opened up a new world for Chen Xiaofei. Before, he had only thought about selling maps, but he had never imagined that maps could be sold in so many different ways.
Chen Xiaofei: It's a shame that this method is only used to sell maps...
Bei Qiao: I guess I didn't get into trouble, did I?
After explaining the method of selling the map to Chen Xiaofei, Bei Qiao said goodbye and left. Before leaving, she asked the old man out of curiosity: "Old man, how long do you think this map can be sold? When are you going to release the people?"
"How long? Who can tell? There will definitely be a day when it will end. The Duke's Mansion is not tying up the girl." Chen Xiaofei slowly put his hands in his pockets, turned around and left with small steps: Go home and draw a map!
Bei Qiao: Without tying up this girl...it seems I can give up this mission.
Seeing the old man leave, Bei Qiao no longer had any intention of staying. She had gained a lot from this scouting trip, the biggest gain being that she didn't have to waste time thinking about whether or not to do this mission.
Riding out of the inner city, Bei Qiao planned to explore the outer city before dinner. With money in her pocket, she felt at ease. This time, she planned to go shopping.
On the other side, Chen Xiaofei, who left alone, slowly returned to the Duke's Mansion. When passing by the gate, he greeted the people in the carriage at the door.
The people watching the fun in the carriages outside the gate were mostly rebellious children who occasionally didn't want to go to school. The Duke took their pocket money and made a place for them to watch the fun at the gate, so that they could skip school for a while and relax.
Of course, there were also children who couldn't skip school even here. For example, the carriage at the far end was filled not only with people watching the fun, but also with their teachers. Every time they watched the fun, they had to recite their lessons, otherwise the coachman would immediately drive them home.
Chen Xiaofei was in a good mood when he returned home. Passing by the stables, he casually fed a carrot to the pony Taxue, who had arrived home earlier than him. This little white horse was the one that had tried to steal Beiqiao's bean cakes. Before selling a map, the Duke would release Taxue to test the character of the person. If they were of good character, he would approach them for a deal. If they were of bad character, he would simply extort them without even giving them the map.
"Master is back?" Hearing the footsteps outside the house, Chen Xiaofei's wife Lan Mi raised her head holding the brush in her hand.
"I'm back. How's that brat doing today?"
"Same old, he had to use his sincerity to move the girl. Luckily, the room we arranged for her was sturdy, so he kicked around for a long time but couldn't get in." Lan Mi sighed: "Could it be that this child was taken away by mistake? His temper is nothing like either of us."
"What about those people we captured earlier? Didn't we tell them to reason with Yuan'er, and whoever wins can leave?"
"I explained the reason, and Yuan'er knew he was wrong, but he said he would soon become the county magistrate, and he didn't need to take the words of a few ordinary people to heart."
"This is nonsense!" Chen Xiaofei slapped the table, his face flushed with anger.
"That girl still thinks we are in cahoots with our son and refuses to eat all day. Fortunately, she doesn't like to move and often falls asleep, otherwise she wouldn't have survived until now." Lan Mi sometimes felt that this girl's resistance to hunger was a bit too much. If she hadn't later discovered that a wild cat was secretly bringing her food, she would have suspected that this beautiful girl was a demon.
"Forget it. It's normal for her not to believe." Chen Xiaofei put his hands behind his back and rubbed his red palms: "Wait a little longer. If this brat doesn't wake up, the previous plan will be scrapped, just like what the lady said..."
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