"Why have you come at this hour, young master?"
Upon seeing Jing Zhe appear at the door, the distillery's staff came forward to greet him.
"What, can't I come?"
Jing Zhe glanced at him.
"No... but didn't you tell our manager you'd be picking up the wine in three days? Why are you here in less than a day?"
The waiter, knowing that Jing Zhe was wealthy, was exceptionally polite to him.
"I've staked a thousand taels of silver here. How can I feel at ease if I don't come to check on you often? What if you run away?"
"How could that be! Our winery is so big, how could we run away for a thousand taels of silver?"
The waiter smiled and said, but in his heart he was very disdainful: The real owner of our wine shop is the Prince of Jin, would he run away for a mere thousand taels of silver?
Our target is the entire Anguo!
It's just that I can't tell anyone this information, which makes my colleague feel a bit frustrated. It's a real regret that I can't say it out loud.
"That's hard to say."
Jing Zhe pursed his lips. "How's the liquor making going?"
Hearing this, the guy perked up.
"Normally, given the size of our distillery, it would take three days to make the two hundred jars of strong liquor that you requested, young master. But seeing that you were in a hurry, we specially recruited more people this morning, adding many more tools and workers. Starting this afternoon, production doubled, and we estimate that we won't even have to wait until the third day; we should be able to finish the two hundred jars of strong liquor by tomorrow night!"
The man patted his chest, full of confidence.
"real?"
Upon hearing this, Jing Zhe's face lit up with joy.
"Of course, if you don't believe me, just send a carriage over tomorrow evening, and two hundred jars of strong liquor will be ready!"
"Amazing, amazing!"
Jing Zhe clapped his hands, looking very excited: "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to make it, but since you made it so quickly, I don't need to be hesitant anymore. I'll just order another four hundred jars!"
"Four...four hundred jars?"
The waiter was momentarily stunned, and after a while, he looked at Jing Zhe tentatively and asked, "That's two thousand taels of silver, young master?"
"Only two thousand taels!"
Jing Zhe sneered, then reached into his pocket and pulled out several silver notes, slapping them onto the counter.
The waiter was overjoyed. "Please wait a moment, sir. Our manager just returned recently. I'll go and fetch him right away!"
After saying that, the man made a quick getaway.
When a big order comes in, not only will Zhang Xuehou get a substantial commission, but his employees will also get kickbacks. How could they not be excited?
...
Zhang Xuehou looked dejected.
Yesterday he was unlucky in the boxing ring but lucky in the casino, not losing a single round, but was later called back by his buddy, which was a bit of a disappointment.
So he went to the casino early this morning, and when he started playing small bets, he continued his good luck from yesterday, winning all of his first few bets!
He used to frequent small casinos where a game only cost a hundred or so coins. But after coming to the Du family's casino, the smallest bet started at one or two taels of silver, which was incredibly exciting.
Fortunately, he now has some money, which is enough to cover his expenses.
As for the large bowl, he had considered it, but with less than a hundred taels of silver, he lacked the confidence to afford it.
With over a hundred taels of silver in hand and a stroke of good luck, Zhang Xuehou was itching to get his hands on some.
The luck completely vanished once the big pot was started.
He felt it was an accident that he lost the first game.
He lost the second game, but he felt he could definitely win next time.
He lost the third game, but he gritted his teeth and thought he had to win it back.
...
After eleven rounds, he lost everything.
I originally wanted to borrow money from the bookmaker, but I was kicked out.
At this moment, Zhang Xuehou was alone in the room, sitting cross-legged on the bed drinking alone, feeling somewhat regretful that he had given all the money to Su Xinping the night before.
I should have given it to him two days later, taken his money and gambled it all away, then paid him back if I won...
"Shopkeeper!"
Just then, the waiter knocked on the door.
"What's wrong?"
"That talented scholar from Jiangling is here again!"
Bah! To hell with the talented scholar from Jiangling!
It's clearly Jing Zhe!
Zhang Xuehou cursed inwardly, then said impatiently, "Just tell him to come pick up the liquor the day after tomorrow—tomorrow night. It's only been less than a day, why are you rushing him?"
After saying that, he tilted his head back and took another gulp of wine.
"Manager, he's not here to urge us to buy strong liquor, he's here to give us money!"
Upon hearing the word "money," Zhang Xuehou jumped out of bed, opened the door, and looked at the shop assistant: "What kind of money are you giving me?"
So the waiter explained that Jing Zhe was planning to order another four hundred jars of strong liquor. Zhang Xuehou's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he ran out immediately. The waiter called after him, "Manager, shoes...you're not wearing shoes yet!"
Zhang Xuehou didn't even turn his head. He thought to himself that compared to money, he would be willing to go barefoot or even run naked!
...
"Oh, Young Master Jing is here again?"
Zhang Xuehou scurried over excitedly, and seeing Jing Zhe still standing by the counter, he turned around and kicked the shop assistant who had just run over.
The guy was a bit confused.
"Young Master Jing is of such noble status, shouldn't you at least brew a pot of fine tea to serve him?"
"..."
Jing Zhe didn't want to watch his act, and instead asked curiously, "How did Manager Zhang know my identity?"
"hey-hey…"
Zhang Xuehou rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed, and said, "Young Master Jing is so famous, I must have been blind to not recognize you before!"
Is Zhang Xuehou's attitude this time completely different from yesterday's because he fears Jing Zhe's identity?
Obviously not, because having latched onto the Prince of Jin's heir, he still looked down on a mere fifth-rank official.
The reason he's acting this way is because Jing Zhe has financial power, and he desperately needs that power right now…
As the saying goes, "He who feeds me is my mother," and as long as Jing Zhe pays, he'd call him "daddy" right now—never underestimate a gambler's determination to turn things around...
Jing Zhe curled his lip, finding Zhang Xuehou's rapid change of attitude somewhat disgusting. "Alright, since you know my identity, you must also know that I'm not short of money."
He then pointed to the worker behind him, "He just said that your distillery's brewing level has improved a lot, and you can make two hundred jars of spirits by tomorrow night. In that case, I'll order another four hundred jars of spirits. I'll give you the money again, but we still need to write a deposit slip. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, yes, absolutely!"
At this moment, all Zhang Xuehou could think about was getting the money as soon as possible and then going to the Du brothers' casino to win back all the money he had lost. He couldn't care less about anything else.
Seeing his impatient look, Jing Zhe shook his head, thinking to himself that the Prince of Jin was simply a fool. He dared to cooperate with such a gambler, and he respected him as a man!
Without a word, the money was exchanged for a deposit slip, and the transaction was quickly completed in a peaceful atmosphere.
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
