Chapter 176 Agarwood
"Indeed," Chen Mao said. "My Yongfu Pavilion has two seagoing vessels that travel non-stop between Guangzhou and the foreign kingdoms of the South China Sea every year. It's just by chance that a batch of top-quality agarwood arrived recently. I've also selected some exquisite jewelry and brought it with me for your appreciation, Madam."
After he said that, he pointed to several maids in the yard.
They were holding various exquisite boxes in their hands. Without even looking, one could tell that they must contain precious jewels.
Sun Wei said to A'ru, "Go and look for me and pick out four or five that you like."
Aju seemed to understand something and bowed and left.
When there were no strangers around, Sun Wei looked at Chen Mao with a smile: "Manager Chen, how are you?"
Chen Mao hurriedly bowed and said, "I have been waiting for Madam for a long time. I thought I would never see you again."
"Thank you for your concern, Boss," Sun Wei said, "It's just a little bit of a problem, nothing serious. How's everything at home?"
"Everything is fine," Chen Mao said. "Father still thinks about Madam from time to time. He said he hasn't heard from Madam since we parted in Guangzhou last year. Madam saved my life and gave Yongfu Pavilion guidance for its future. He hasn't had the chance to thank Madam properly yet."
"Please tell the old gentleman that he is willing to fulfill his promise and open a branch in Jiankang, which is the greatest help to me. You are welcome to do it."
Chen Mao smiled bitterly. "I don't know who helped whom. Madam told me to open a branch in Jiankang before the New Year and use Funan agarwood as my sign. I just did what Madam asked. The shop just opened and the agarwood was snapped up by the dignitaries. My father asked me to leave a box for Madam, so I brought it here today. Please accept it."
——
The trade of rare goods from the South China Sea is a unique business that Chen Mao and his son have built up through risking their lives.
Although this business is very dangerous, it also makes a lot of money.
After getting started, they asked other members of the Chen clan to join in, hoping to help their clansmen get rich together, but this brought disaster upon themselves.
At the beginning of last spring, news came from the foreign country in the South China Sea that there was a batch of pearls of excellent quality. Chen Mao prepared to go to Funan in person to negotiate the deal.
Just before his departure, the strange woman named Lu came to visit him and blocked his way.
At that time, Lu told him that once he boarded the ship, he would never return.
Chen Mao naturally didn't believe it and ignored it.
Seeing this, Lu instructed him to keep three things in mind. First, bring more men and be careful of his cousin. Second, the pearl shipment was just a pretext to lure him out to sea; he didn't need to worry about pearls on this trip; Funan had a shipment of fine agarwood waiting for him, so he could buy more. Third, after making his purchases, he was not allowed to linger and had to return home before April.
When Chen Mao heard this, he felt a little strange.
Of course, he didn't believe what Lu said, but when she actually told him the name of his cousin and many other details, he couldn't help but believe it. So, he became cunning and asked a group of skilled servants to pretend to be boatmen and sent people to keep an eye on his cousin's movements.
Sure enough, on a dark and windy night, his cousin and his men sneaked into his hiding place and pointed a knife at him.
Fortunately, he was prepared. At a command, the servants captured his cousin.
Chen Mao was shocked to see his relative holding a knife against him.
He couldn't help but think of Lu.
And everything that happened next confirmed Lu's prediction one by one.
The ship soon arrived in Funan. There were no pearls at the port, but there was a shipment of fine agarwood. The buyer had broken his promise, and they were struggling to find a buyer.
Chen Mao bought the agarwood without hesitation and rushed home without stopping, arriving in Guangzhou on the last day of March.
When he moved in, the Chen family was undergoing a dramatic change.
The clan members forged the news of Chen Mao's death and forced the elderly Chen father to hand over the family property and divide it among several cousins.
At the critical moment, Chen Mao returned in time and calmed the farce.
He naturally reported the matter to the authorities and brought his cousin and greedy clansmen to justice.
After this disaster, the Chen family treated Lu as a guest of honor.
Lu was not vague either, and only said that the reason he helped them was because he had something to ask for.
Since he is his savior, Chen Mao should do his best to help.
The first favor Lu asked him to do was to take care of two families: one was Lu Ming who lived in Nanling, and the other was Sun Nian's family who lived in Anning City.
"Lu Ming is my relative. Please send him a bolt of cloth, a bolt of silk, and ten dan of rice every month. Sun Nian is a minor official at the post station, and he is also my benefactor, so I cannot intervene. Please also give him five hundred coins a month as a convenience fee, under the pretext of renting a horse, so that his family can live."
To Chen Mao, these were just trivial matters, so he agreed without hesitation.
Besides this, there is another thing.
"I wonder if Manager Chen knows about the Three Immortals Sect?" Sun Wei asked.
"Of course I know. Last year, he caused great suffering to the people of the Three Wus. I heard that he has now been banished to an island by the imperial court?"
"Exactly. The Three Immortals Sect has a Left Protector named Wu Fen, a native of Guangzhou. Could you, Shopkeeper Chen, please check for me to see if Wu Fen still has any dealings with anyone in Guangzhou?"
This wasn't difficult. He had a large business and knew many people, so it was easy for him to gather information.
"If I get the news, how should I inform Madam?"
At that time, Mrs. Lu said, "When the shopkeeper opens a shop in Kuaiji, I will come to your house and ask for the best agarwood."
Last November, Chen Mao’s shop in Jiankang finally opened.
From then on, he had been waiting for the Lu family to come to him, and he didn't dare to leave for a moment, not even going back to his hometown in Guangzhou for the New Year.
He waited for four months and finally waited for Lu.
"Seeing that Madam is safe and sound, I feel relieved. Is Madam living in this house now?"
"This is just a temporary residence. I will leave Jiankang tomorrow."
"I see."
Sun smiled and said, "I guess, in Shopkeeper Chen's mind, I'm still a person of unknown origin."
"Madam, you are kind," Chen Mao said. "My business, after all, is about dealing with people. Madam, you have helped me, and I shall repay you. As for the rest, I know what I should and shouldn't ask."
Sun Wei nodded. This was one of the reasons why she approached Chen Mao.
Of course, the bigger reason is that they value Chen Mao's ability.
When she woke up in her hometown of Anning City and decided to use Lu Xian's identity to find Sima Jun, the first thing she had to do was to find a reliable person to solve her worries.
Her father had decided to move to Beijing earlier because his grandfather had passed away, and his meager monthly salary as a clerk in the post station was insufficient to support the family. Before she left home, she had persuaded her father to postpone his move, but Sun Wei knew that only by ensuring a stable life for him could she persuade him to give up the idea.
Later, in order to obtain Lu Xian's identity, she made a deal with Lu Ming. In order to stabilize Lu Ming, she also had to ensure that he had a comfortable life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
