Ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh.
Gu Yuzhi was very interested in Wen Xiuzhu's suggestion, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still refused.
"This time, Manager Zhou was carefully selected from among the people of Xinliang. If we open a jewelry store now, where will we find a manager, waiters, and accountants?"
He couldn't ask Prefect Qi for help again, otherwise the Wen family would be too entangled with Prefect Qi.
Most importantly, he needed to save the money to buy salt permits.
Gu Yuzhi counted on his fingers, "Now the business has inns, clinics, and the clinics are also involved in the medicinal herb business, as well as a security escort agency! In addition, we also have to deal with the salt permit issue recently, so I think it's better not to open a jewelry store for the time being."
Wen Xiuzhu stepped forward, clearly unwilling to give up and wanting to argue his case again.
Gu Yuzhi covered his ears and shook his head: "I won't listen, I won't listen, I just won't listen!"
He'll be tempted after hearing that!
If he wouldn't listen today, he'd keep talking tomorrow. Wen Xiuzhu was like a monk chanting sutras, which annoyed Gu Yuzhi to no end. Finally, to keep the peace, he made Wen Shu, who had been occupying Gu Yuzhi's mind for more than a year, finally leave.
The three shopkeepers from Dingzhou stayed at the Wen Family Inn. They witnessed firsthand how the Wen Family Inn had become famous, and even after several days, the business was still booming.
These three had no conflict of interest in Dingzhou, so when they came to Changzhou, they naturally wanted to stick together and cooperate. In just a few days, they figured out the Wen family business thoroughly.
Coupled with the steady stream of business at the inns during this period, the owners of the three inns in Dingzhou were somewhat worried.
The Wen family business not only has a powerful background, but it's also not short of money!
They suddenly had a premonition that they might not be able to meet the prefect's expectations!
The waiting was agonizing; the three of them couldn't sleep for several nights in a row. Finally, on the fifth day after the inn opened, they received news that Young Master Wen had returned from Xinliang.
To prevent a recurrence of eavesdropping incidents, the Wen Family Inn converted the last room in the corridor into a simple meeting room during renovations. The room was not only luxuriously decorated, but the partitions were also specially thickened.
In Shu Xiaohan's words, this room is a VVVIP exclusive room.
The three from Dingzhou, naturally aware of the importance of this room, waited quietly in the conference hall after speaking with Manager Zhou, each with their own sincerity.
When Shen Yu'an and the others pushed open the door and entered, the three shopkeepers stood up at the same time. After looking around at the newcomers, their gazes finally settled on Shen Yu'an.
They knew that Young Master Wen had a youthful appearance and that he was young, but no one said that Young Master Wen was so handsome.
When he smiled, he had a small dimple on his face, and he looked completely innocent, like a young nobleman who was traveling and didn't know the ways of the world. No one would associate him with the fact that he was leading the merchant guild and secretly robbing salt permits.
The group did not look down on Young Master Wen because of this, especially the cloth shop owner.
Before the other two could react, he stood up with a smile and grabbed Shen Yu'an's hand: "Young Master Wen, it's an honor to meet you. Meeting you today, I can see that your reputation is well-deserved. My surname is Zhang, and I am the manager of a cloth shop in Dingzhou. My purpose in coming to Changzhou this time is very simple: I just want to ask Young Master Wen for a share of the profits!"
Shen Yu'an blinked. This shopkeeper was indeed a businessman; he could come up with compliments so easily.
Despite all this talk of admiration, he was certain that before the Wen family took the lead in buying salt permits, these shopkeepers didn't even consider him, a mere upstart, a jerk!
Shen Yu'an suppressed his thoughts and smiled, his dimples becoming even more pronounced. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the managers of the other two shops rush over and grab his other hand, which was hanging in the air.
The two shopkeepers were stunned for a long time, never expecting that Manager Zhang of the cloth shop would be so shameless. They only came to their senses after Manager Zhang finished introducing himself.
The two exchanged a glance, quickly stepped forward, and together pushed the cloth shop manager, Zhang, out. Instantly, both of Shen Yu'an's hands were grabbed by the two shopkeepers.
Their eyes were sincere, and neither of them mentioned business matters. The two of them showed concern for Shen Yu'an, their enthusiasm as if they were already close friends who had known each other for many years.
Looking at the chair in front of him, Shen Yu'an suddenly felt a sense of being so close yet so far away.
Forced to endure the enthusiasm of the three shopkeepers, Shen Yu'an turned to look at the three shopkeepers, his eyes filled with pleading for help.
The three shopkeepers exchanged glances, crossed their arms, and looked at Young Master Wen with mocking eyes.
Ever since Young Master Wen made his appearance in front of the prefectural government office, he has received many flowers thrown by girls whenever he leaves the Wen residence. Sometimes he is even forced to return to the Wen residence. This is the first time they have seen Young Master Wen being so harassed by men that he can hardly move.
After a while, the two managers ran out of fresh words to exchange pleasantries, and Shen Yu'an finally broke free, pointing to the chairs and saying, "Managers, please sit down. We still need to discuss the salt permit matter carefully. Please be patient."
Shen Yu'an always had a smile on his face, his dimples appearing and disappearing, and he exuded a pure and harmless aura. However, the hand he held in Dingzhou's shopkeeper's hand was like an iron fist, forcibly pressing the two of them down to sit.
Although the shopkeepers greeted him with smiles as soon as he entered, seemingly without any guile, how could they be without guile when they were able to withstand the pressure from Li's Trading Company and gain the trust and support of the prefect?
Shen Yu'an never underestimated the shopkeepers because of their smiles. On the contrary, he raised his vigilance to the highest level, even feeling that the shopkeepers' smiling eyes hid the deepest schemes.
The two men's seemingly casual conversation had actually revealed his few habits of ordering food at the Changzhou Inn.
Shen Yu'an lowered her eyes, thinking of the instructions His Highness had given her before she came, and felt a little worried.
You have to understand, the old foxes opposite him are incredibly shrewd. Even though they know that the qualification to purchase salt permits is a done deal, it will still be quite difficult to maximize the profits of the Wen family business.
Shen Yu'an and the other shopkeepers exchanged glances and gave awkward laughs. Then they turned to look at Shopkeeper Zhou, and only after seeing him nod slightly did they breathe a sigh of relief.
No matter how the shopkeepers probed about the salt permit, Shen Yu'an avoided the topic. However, no matter how he stalled for time, the three shopkeepers showed no dissatisfaction and remained consistently humble and amiable.
This situation only ended when the door to the room was pushed open again.
The group looked up at the same time and saw Manager Zhou walk in with two unfamiliar faces. He introduced them to everyone with a smile: "Boss, managers, these two managers have come from Qizhou."
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