Chapter 46 I want to inspect the goods in person...
"The second option,"
Zhou Mujiao paused for a moment, keeping everyone in suspense. Seeing everyone staring at her, she smiled brightly and stopped joking.
"The second option. I will give you a plan. You can take this plan directly to your employer to discuss the price and ask for a commission. A commission means that for every bolt of cloth you sell for the cloth shop, the cloth shop will give you a certain amount of money in addition to your basic wages."
Before Zhou Mujiao could finish speaking, Liang An hissed and waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no! The boss has already paid me my wages. If I ask him for extra money, he'll beat me to death!"
"If the minimum commission for a bolt of cloth is one coin, and I need three hundred bolts a month, then your commission will be three hundred coins. If I need three thousand bolts, then your commission will be three taels of silver."
As for how much commission you want, you can negotiate with your employer. Whether it's 3% or 5%, it depends on your ability to persuade them. Even if you only get one penny, your income will still be more.
"If we go with the first option, the money we need to bribe will be more than this. Rather than giving it to others, we might as well keep it in our own pocket." Zhou Mujiao took a sip of tea.
Liang An waved his hand less forcefully, and after a moment he hesitated before asking, "What would your proposal likely include?"
"The amount of fabric, patterns, quantities, and prices needed each quarter will increase a hundredfold once I start operating freely. At that time, your earnings will also increase a hundredfold. Of course, if you think it's too risky, then you can introduce me to your employer. If you can't, then there's nothing I can do. I can only find another partner or directly find another fabric shop."
The Great Liang Kingdom is so vast, and there are countless people in the cloth trade. Surely there's someone who resonates with me; only those who resonate can walk this path together.
Liang An didn't understand the concepts of "working in sync" or "going together," but his mind was already racing.
Zhou Mujiao wasn't in a hurry: "Brother Liang, there's no need to rush. Just tell me your answer in three days. If you still don't have an answer in three days, then I'll assume that you've given up."
"Miss Zhou, I—"
"Is the fabric that Sister Liu asked you to buy last time ready? I'll take it back now."
"Everything is ready, Miss Zhou. Shall I escort you directly to the city gate?"
"No need," Zhou Mujiao smiled faintly. "I want to inspect the goods in person."
The fabrics Liang An prepared were of excellent quality and pattern. Zhou Mujiao inspected some and was very satisfied. She smiled knowingly and said, "Who said you weren't capable enough? These are pretty good, aren't they?"
Then he gave him some money, saying, "Brother Liang, you've gone to a lot of trouble."
Sister Liu asked in surprise, "Brother Liang, did you really bribe them?"
"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Xiao Liu'er and Miss Zhou. I really only have that much ability, so..."
"So, when I asked you for the goods before, you also took care of things?"
"……A little bit."
"Liang An!" Sister Liu turned and left angrily. "I've been indebted to you for so many years, it's infuriating! Listen to me, I'm not paying you back! Not a single penny!"
"Hey, Little Willow..."
Liang An and Sister Liu were arguing and pulling at each other when Zhou Mujiao patted the cart full of fabrics and turned to look at Zhao Yunjing: "Brother Zhao, it's the sixth day of the month, now it's up to you two!"
Zhao Yunjing grunted and pushed. Chu Liu and Xiao Wu exchanged a glance, then turned their faces away and snorted, before simultaneously exerting force: "Go!"
"snort!"
Zhou Mujiao followed behind, watching the two little brats bickering all the way, her lips curving into a smile, her eyes full of joy.
Suddenly, Xiao Wu's body swayed, and Zhou Mujiao was startled and rushed over.
On the sixth day of the lunar month, Chu Liu was quicker and grabbed her with one hand, saying with utter disdain, "With this kind of physique, you think you can compete with me? Ha, that's hilarious!"
Xiao Wu was recovering, but he was still a little weak. He had been pushing himself all the way, and now he was completely exhausted. His lips were pale. He pushed Chu Liu and said, "Let go! Let go! I didn't lose!"
On the sixth day of the lunar month, he slapped her and said, "Shut up!"
He bent down, picked up Xiao Wu on his back, and walked away without looking back: "Sister-in-law, push the cart!"
Zhou Mujiao stumbled.
I don't know if it was because of the unconventional approach taken on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, or because of that one word, "sister-in-law."
Now, let's talk about Liang An.
He and Sister Liu escorted Zhou Mujiao and the others out of the city, and when they saw Ma Dalang and his men following them from a distance, Sister Liu went home, and he also went back to the cloth shop. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize he had arrived at the entrance of the cloth shop and kept walking forward.
He bumped into someone without even looking up: "Sorry."
He swerved to the side and was about to continue walking when he bumped into someone again. He apologized, continued walking, and bumped into someone again.
Liang An sensed something was wrong, looked up, and hissed, "Master...Master!"
Boss Zhu squinted at him: "Where to?"
"Go back to Buzhuang."
"Is this the way back to the cloth shop?"
Liang An glanced around, his heart instantly panicking: "Um, boss, I was so engrossed in thinking that I didn't notice you passing by. I didn't mean to be lazy!"
"What are you thinking about so intently? Tell me about it."
Liang An hesitated for a moment, then decided to go for it: "Master, may I speak to you in private?"
The owner, surnamed Zhu, was a fat man around forty years old. He looked very kind and gentle, but after hearing Liang An's words, his expression immediately changed: "You are someone I employ. Your monthly wages already include all your activities in the cloth shop. Even if you can bring me a million taels of silver in revenue every month, I don't need to give you any extra money! Get out of here now, and pretend I didn't hear what you just said!"
Liang Anyi gritted his teeth: "What if I'm no longer your worker?! Would Boss Zhu be interested in doing this business deal I have?!"
Boss Zhu was taken aback by Liang An's words. He was speechless for a moment, then became angry: "Since you don't know what's good for you, from now on you are no longer one of my cloth shops! I won't do business with you! Not only will I not do business with you, I will also make sure that no cloth shop in the entire Peach Blossom County will do business with you!"
Boss Zhu was extremely confident because once Liang An's matter took the lead, his subordinates would definitely follow suit, and then a portion of the money that should have gone entirely into their pockets would have to be given to people like Liang An.
If he's not willing, others certainly won't be either. Who would want to share the money in their pocket with someone else?
"Boss Zhu—"
"roll!"
Liang An was fired on the spot. When he left, he was surrounded by his former colleagues. They didn't even bother with formalities; they immediately mocked him, laughing at his greed and his incompetence for daring to dream.
Those laughs were like knives stabbing into his heart. Liang An walked step by step under the jeers, gritting his teeth and thinking, "Am I destined to live like this for the rest of my life?"
Zhou Mujiao was naturally unaware of the disdain and ridicule Liang An suffered.
They had just returned to the Zhao family home and hadn't even unloaded the cart full of cloth when a group of uninvited guests arrived.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com