The two-day deadline arrived.
Early that morning, Hongzhou, accompanied by his entourage and carrying 70% of the silver, arrived at the He family's shop in a grand procession. To be cautious, since Young Master He had already suspected Hongzhou's identity, he decided to disguise himself as a nouveau riche merchant; excessive discretion would only arouse more suspicion.
Upon arriving at the He family's shop, a young shop assistant came out to greet them warmly, saying, "Honorable guest, what business do you have here for?"
Hongzhou looked at the shop assistant and calmly said, "I made an appointment with your young master. Two days ago, I purchased a large amount of grain from your shop and agreed to pick it up in two days. Now that the two days have passed, it's your young master's turn to fulfill his promise. Didn't he tell you anything?"
"Oh dear, esteemed guest, it's such a pity. My young master suddenly fell ill last night and is feeling very unwell. He can't get out of bed at all, so he's resting at home. He didn't come to the shop today and didn't have time to explain these things to me."
"Illness? What illness? Is it serious? When I saw Young Master He two days ago, he was radiant and showed no signs of illness. How did he suddenly become sick and unable to get out of bed?" The waiter's words aroused Hong Zhou's doubts, so he immediately asked.
"This... I don't know, I just heard it from the foreman. I'm just a shop assistant, I have no way of finding out what the masters are doing. It seems you won't be able to pick up the goods today, why don't you come back another day?" The shop assistant's eyes darted around as he spoke, as if he was hiding something.
Hongzhou found the matter suspicious, so he calmly said, "Don't you have anyone in charge of your shop? Young Master He probably doesn't have time to deal with small things like order picking. I brought the 30% of the pre-ordered silver with me. Don't you want to take advantage of this opportunity? Tell your manager to come out and pick up the goods according to the order. There's no need for Young Master He to come in person. Just stay home and rest."
The young waiter did not move. He continued, "Esteemed guest, please don't make things difficult for me. My whole family depends on this wage to make a living. Without the master's orders, I dare not take on business on my own. Besides, the manager is not here right now. Please come back another day."
Seeing this, Hongzhou suddenly understood everything. It seemed that the He family had changed their minds. As for the reason, he didn't know, but the He family definitely didn't want to give Hongzhou any more grain.
Hongzhou knew that even if he argued with the man there, it would be of no use, so he had no choice but to go back first.
"Thirteenth Uncle, I'm so angry! The He family shop has such audacity. They dared to go back on their word after we had already agreed on something. They really don't want to do business anymore. We've already wasted a lot of time. We thought that getting grain from the He family shop would solve the food problem for the Northwest army. Now, everything is out of the question."
Seeing Hongzhou's angry appearance, the Thirteenth Master did not panic. He said, "What's the panic? Let's wait and see. According to what you said, the He family's shop should not have any doubts about your identity. Otherwise, they would never dare to go back on their word. As long as there is grain in the market, we can buy it. It's just a matter of time."
“But 300,000 dan of grain is no small amount. If we go to other grain merchants to buy it, I’m afraid we won’t be able to find it in a short time. We’ll have to collect it little by little. How did the He family know my identity?” Hongzhou said angrily.
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