Pei Yan’s words made Yu Tang’s heart beat like a drum.
What does he mean by this?
If the Yu family is in trouble, for the sake of their fellow villagers, he will buy the forest no matter what the condition of the forest is and save the Yu family from the temporary difficulties.
Is this what she understood?
When she thought about her past life, her heart beat even faster.
In the previous life, the Yu family sold all the mountains, forests and fields to the Pei family, not only because the Pei family was the richest family in Lin'an City, but also because Pei Yan offered the highest price.
She didn't know Pei Yan at that time.
I thought the Pei family had a lot of money and didn't care about these little things.
But now it seems that although the Pei family has a lot of money, they also have certain things they take and certain things they don't take.
Obviously, in the previous life, the Pei family bought the ancestral property of the Yu family to help the Yu family in disguise, and it did help the Yu family - without the money from the Pei family to buy the land, she had no money to hire someone to retrieve her parents' bodies, nor did she have money to buy a cemetery for her parents so that they could rest in peace.
It turned out that Pei Yan had done her a great favor without her knowing!
Yu Tang thought of her loneliness and helplessness in her previous life, and how someone had given her help and warmth at that time, and her eyes suddenly became moist.
Pei Yan looked at her in a daze, not coming back to his senses for a long time, and couldn't help but feel suspicious. He stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her eyes, saying: "Hey, have you thought it through? Do you need my help? If not or you haven't thought it through, then we can talk about it after the tenth day of the first lunar month."
Yu Tang was startled and his mind started to work rapidly.
She said, "I want to continue growing sea buckthorn and then make candied sea buckthorn to sell for money. Do you think this is feasible?"
Pei Yan didn't expect Yu Tang to be so stubborn.
But this is her choice. Even if it’s a wall, she will not turn back until she hits her head against it and it hurts.
He reminded Yu Tang: "It takes at least three years for a sea buckthorn tree to bear fruit. You should think carefully about this."
"I've thought it through!" Yu Tang took a deep breath.
No matter what the reason was for Pei Yan to plant sea buckthorn trees in his previous life, she felt that as long as she followed his path, she would be able to succeed.
Pei Yan stopped trying to persuade her and said, "If you've really made up your mind, just do it. I hate people who give up halfway the most."
"Don't worry!" Yu Tang assured him, "I will definitely do my best."
Pei Yan thought, it could be considered as paying the tuition.
Who doesn't pay some money to learn something?
"I still have a few sea buckthorns at home," he said. "After the tenth day of the first lunar month, you can send someone to dig them up and plant them in your woods. If they survive, they will bear fruit this fall. You will know when you taste the fruit."
It's bland and tasteless, and it's really useless without being used as a preserve.
Yu Tang didn't expect such an unexpected gain.
In her previous life, she heard that this tree was recommended to him by a friend who was an official in the northwest. In this life, it was Zhou Zijin who dug it from the northwest. She didn't know whether the information in her previous life was correct or in this life. But no matter what, she decided to make a batch of preserved fruits in advance after the result and let Pei Yan and Mr. Shen, who was helping to find seedlings, taste them.
Both of them helped her a lot.
Yu Tang respectfully saw Pei Yan off.
Pei Yan hadn't even settled down at home when Pei Man came to see him and brought him some unexpected news: "The Wu family has been lobbying everywhere, and the Tao, Yin, Li, and Sheng families have all decided to keep the price at around 5,000 taels of silver when the auction is held. Whoever wins the bid for this painting should share it with the public."
There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Pei Yan poured himself a cup of tea and drank it leisurely before saying, "Don't worry. I'm not going to let any of them win the bid. If they all agree, I'll sell the map to them for 5,000 taels of silver. Add in the 2,000 taels of silver deposit from each family, and the Yu family will get at least 20,000 taels of silver. With this 20,000 taels of silver, it's not too much, and it's enough for their family to spend for several generations. Besides, what's the use of having a lot of money? If your descendants are not good enough, all the money will be squandered anyway."
Pei Man was surprised and asked, "Isn't it that the highest bidder wins?"
Pei Yan chuckled and looked at him like a fool, saying, "The highest bidder wins. Do you think it's possible? How much is considered a high bid? I didn't plan to do it from the beginning. I just didn't want them to get it so easily. Otherwise, they would think that our Pei family has evil intentions and that the map is fake."
Indeed, there are many people who judge others by their own standards.
Pei Man said: "Then we really won't keep Zhang Yutu?"
The Yu family once said they would give a painting to Pei Yan, so it wouldn't be considered a breach of contract if they kept one, right?
Pei Yan shook his head and said, "I know my second senior brother. He will do anything for his career. Now the Prime Minister, Lord Shen, is old and will retire in two years at most. He and Li Xun are competing for the position of Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Given his personality, he will definitely target the Maritime Customs Office and reshuffle the wealthy families in Jiangnan. Those who don't support him will all be trampled into the mud. He and I didn't get along well to begin with. If it weren't for the teacher being alive and Senior Brother Fei's advice, he would probably have disowned me as his junior brother long ago. It's better for us not to get involved in this matter."
Pei Man's expression changed drastically and he nodded repeatedly.
Pei Yan stood up, stretched his back, and yawned as he said, "I slept too late yesterday, so I'm going to take a nap today. I have to welcome the Peng family this afternoon, so tell Ah Ming to wake me up when the time comes."
Pei Man agreed and instructed the maid to make the bed for Pei Yan.
When Yu Tang returned home, he was in a trance, thinking about some details of his past life. On the day of the auction on the tenth day of the first lunar month, Yu Yuan arrived at Yu Tang's house early and waited for news nervously with Yu Wen.
Although Yu Tang was sitting in the study, he seemed a little absent-minded.
She was thinking about the rumors about Pei Yan in her previous life.
We know very little about him, and we don't even know whose daughter he married. We haven't heard that he has children. I don't know if he doesn't want others to know or if he doesn't have any after marriage.
She was so stupid in her previous life. Why didn't she think about why the Pei family would pay a higher price than other families to buy their forests? However, even if she knew, with her previous personality and courage, she probably wouldn't dare to thank the Pei family. And the Li family, in the previous life, got the map and colluded with the Peng family, becoming the second largest family in Lin'an after the Pei family. Who knows how much impact it has on the Pei family? In addition, Pei Yan said that the court wanted to withdraw the Ningbo and Quanzhou Maritime Customs, but in her memory, until her death, the Ningbo and Quanzhou Maritime Customs seemed to still be there...
Thinking of this, Yu Tang almost jumped up.
Yes, why didn’t she think of using the information she knew in her previous life to repay the Pei family?
In her previous life, whether Ningbo and Quanzhou's Maritime Customs were withdrawn or not had little to do with her, but it was different for the Pei family. Their family was engaged in big business, and even if he didn't want to do business at sea, he must have acquaintances or relatives who were doing business at sea. She could reveal this news to Pei Yan, and then Pei Yan could use this news to trade with others, or help his relatives and friends reduce losses!
The more Yu Tang thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
She paced around the room, her desire to see Pei Yan was like a raging fire, burning more and more vigorously.
Yu Wen looked at him and whispered to Yu Yuan, "Look at Atang. He says he has grown up and has his own ideas, but at this age, he still loses his temper when things go wrong."
After working so hard for so long, he finally got rid of the map, and Yu Yuan was very happy from the bottom of his heart.
He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Aren't all of them family members? If there were outsiders, she would have endured it. You would have praised her for being calm and responsible. Uncle, please stop nitpicking!"
Yu Wen smiled silently and said to Yu Tang, "Don't keep talking. I'm getting dizzy. The Pei family is a prestigious family. They will send the money from the auction to our house intact. You keep talking back and forth like this. I'm getting nervous."
Yu Tang chuckled, without explaining why he was walking around. Instead, he calmed himself down, sat down and drank two cups of tea, then went back to the house to make two silk flowers before waiting for someone from the Pei family to come and report the news.
"The deposit and the proceeds from the auction total 27,000 taels of silver." The visitor was a man in his thirties, with a very ordinary appearance. He wore a very ordinary blue coarse cloth robe and spoke slowly. He introduced himself as Chen Qi, the accountant of the Pei family. "As I said before, all of it has been deposited in the Pei family's bank. Here are the banknotes. Please count them, Master Yu, so I can go back and give the account." After he finished speaking, he took out a box. "It's full of banknotes of 1,000 taels each. This is also the largest denomination banknote in the Pei family's bank."
Twenty-seven thousand taels?!
Everyone in the Yu family was stunned for a moment.
Yu Yuan couldn't even hide the joy and excitement in his heart. He glanced at Yu Tang and quietly clenched his fists.
Yu Wen was also very happy. He coughed lightly, took the box without even glancing at it, and handed it to Yu Yuan. He stood up, bowed to Chen Qi, and said, "Mr. Chen, you have worked hard. We have prepared some wine at home. Please don't be rude, and have a drink at home before going back."
Who knew that Chen Qi said in a serious tone: "Master Yu, the banknotes were given by the Third Master himself. Several people in the accounting office looked after the box, and I brought it here alone. Please count it again. If there is no mistake, we can talk about other things."
Yu Wen smiled indifferently and said, "Since Mr. Chen is the accountant of the Pei family, why can't I trust him? He must be right..."
"Please ask Mr. Yu to count it once." Chen refused to show favoritism to Yu Wen and insisted on counting the money in front of him.
Yu Wen was somewhat unhappy, thinking that Chen Qixin did not live up to his character.
Yu Tang secretly sighed in his heart and had to persuade his father: "Dad, you believe in the Pei family, that is your trust in the Pei family, but Mr. Chen is the accountant and has his own set of operating requirements. If you don't count such a large amount of money in front of him, how can he report it when he goes back? You should listen to Mr. Chen and count the banknotes in front of him!"
Yu Wen then counted the banknotes together with Yu Yuan and Chen Qi.
It was sent by the Pei family and handed over to Chen Qi by Pei Yan himself, so there must be no mistake.
Yu Wen thought, now Chen Qi should be able to have a drink with him without worry, right?
Chen Qi still refused: "I came here in the Third Elder's carriage and I have to hurry back to report. If you want to thank someone, thank our Third Elder! I am just an official."
He didn't give Yu Wen any face at all, which made Yu Wen so angry that he didn't see Chen Qi off personally, but asked Yu Yuan to see him off on his behalf.
Chen Qi did not feel neglected. He bowed to Yu Wen and followed Yu Yuan out of the study.