Chapter 50 Finding a Bargain
"Okay, I'll go see him."
After changing into inconspicuous clothes, Xie Qi walked out of the Xie family home through the back door.
When they arrived at Zuixianju, Yuanxu was already waiting in the side room.
Xie Qi pushed open the door and entered, only to see Yuan Xu with his arms crossed and eyes down, quietly listening to a little tune coming from the room.
"You can go down now."
The pipa music stopped, and the singers gradually left, leaving only the two of them.
Xie Qi raised the wine cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp. He emptied the three cups, yet his face remained completely flushed.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
He was decisive and unrestrained in his actions, and unscrupulous in his methods. He and Yuan Xu were kindred spirits, and the two had been friends for a long time.
Yuan Xu was not old, but he had been in the inner court for a long time. His brows were rather sinister. He was thin and pale, giving him a ghostly appearance at first glance.
Xie Qi was quite close to him, and reached out to pour him a full glass of wine.
Yuan Xu said, "The Xie Cui Fang workshop that you asked me to keep an eye on has indeed shown unusual activity. Today, the scribe came to report that the craftsmen from Xie Cui Fang brought back a batch of goods from Songjiang, which I have now detained outside the city."
Xie Qi nodded: "In recent years, Xie Cui Fang has been quite powerful. Although it is far from being able to compete with the Xie and Shen families, it should not be underestimated."
"The rest of the cloth merchants in the city are all established shops with decades of history, but only this Xiecuifang has made a name for itself in Suzhou Prefecture in just a few years. I have also studied the goods of this shop, and it has its own techniques and dyeing manuals. The person behind it should also come from a family of weavers and dyers."
"So when you heard that his family issued cloth coupons that required payment upfront, you knew there was a profit to be made?"
Yuan Xu chuckled: "Sharp eyes."
Xie Qi said, "That's right."
"The owner of this Cui Fang is quite interesting."
Yuan Xu said, "I sent a scribe to Songjiang to inquire. It turns out that someone in Songjiang was spreading rumors and slandering that the cotton cloth sold by the Ye family's cloth shop was woven from shrouds."
"Affected by this rumor, the Ye family's cotton cloth suddenly dropped in price, and other goods also went unsold."
"Furthermore, someone had pre-ordered 10,000 bolts of new cotton cloth from the Ye family this year, but the delivery failed, resulting in a significant amount of financial loss due to breach of contract."
Upon hearing this, Xie Qi sneered, "I'd like to get to know the owner of this Cui Cui Fang. His methods are so ruthless, they're comparable to mine."
Yuan Xu hummed softly, seemingly in a good mood.
The two of them weren't fools; once they pieced together the whole story, they understood the truth.
Rumors drove down the price of cloth, and pre-sales were conducted. In the end, Xiecuifang completely devoured an old shop in Songjiang and made a fortune for itself.
He's quick and ruthless; he's quite a character.
Xie Qi was holding the wine cup, about to drink, when he suddenly let out a soft "Eh".
"Did Father-in-law just mention the Ye Family Cloth Shop in Songjiang?"
"Is it the Ye family of Songjiang, with whom you have a connection?"
After drinking the wine, Yuan Xu's paleness faded somewhat, and his complexion became slightly rosy.
"Um……"
Xie Qi pursed his lips, as if he had something difficult to say.
After a long silence, he said, "There is some connection. The Ye family is the wife's family of my betrothed's half-brother."
"Not yet married?"
Yuan Xu raised an eyebrow: "The Xie family has arranged a marriage for you? Ye..."
"Didn't the Ye family's daughter marry Shen Yanhuai? And isn't the eldest daughter of the Shen family your brother's fiancée?"
Xie Qi said, "Xie Xuchuan and Jiang Hong's illegitimate daughter are pregnant, so the marriage with the Shen family has fallen to me."
Xiecuifang showed no mercy to the Ye family. If it wasn't because the owner of Xiecuifang always acted so ruthlessly, then he must have some deep-seated hatred for the Ye family.
Xie Qi lowered his eyes slightly, suddenly remembering how Ye Yunyi had blackmailed Xie Xuchuan a few days ago, which led the Xie family to consider a marriage exchange.
In this process...
Staring at the slightly rippling golden liquid in the wine cup, Xie Qi felt something flash by and then vanish into nothingness.
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