Chapter 48: Protector of the Flower, Li Yang, is harassed; Chen Junbo steps in to help...
The night market on East Street was brightly lit, and two young women, one tall and one short, stood at the entrance of the flower shop, looking around at the passing carriages and horses.
Xiao Lu: "Young Madam, all those salt merchants are coming to the shop for a banquet today, but look, the waiters are still dressed like that Hwarang. Should we have them change their clothes so they don't lose face?"
Hearing this, Li Yang chuckled. "My little deer, you're still worried about them." He turned to look at her and said, "How is this attire disrespectful to them? If the brothel doesn't make money and has to close down, then their family will have to stop paying for things, and that would be truly disrespectful."
As she spoke, she hurriedly looked at the carriages and horses passing by on the street, afraid that she might miss the carriage belonging to the Chen, Li, and Liu families.
Although this flower shop doesn't make money, thanks to the Chen family's influence and the fact that the owner, Madam Chen, is incompetent at accounting, the manager and waiters' monthly allowances are more than 40% higher than those of other shops.
These people are used to spending their monthly allowance according to the current allowance. Not to mention anything else, just take the loan for the new house that Manager Zhong's family has purchased, which takes up 60% of his monthly allowance.
If he leaves the flower shop, where will he find such a good job again in a short time? I'm afraid that house will change hands.
Although Songshan Town is extremely wealthy, how many families are so poor that they can't even afford to tie their hair?
What Li Yang didn't say was that Xiao Lu herself was also in dire financial straits, which was why they had to sell her.
After hearing what Li Yang said, the little deer stopped making a sound.
However, she still harbored resentment. In the past few days, she had been inseparable from Brother Bifang, and from his words, she could tell that the young master was also dissatisfied with the attire of those courtesans, but he didn't say much out of consideration for the young mistress.
Brother Bifang is the head steward of the Chen family; his words are the young master's words, aren't they? This young mistress is so tactless. This isn't just about the Hwarangs losing face; she means that such a lack of understanding is disgracing the young master and the Chen family. But even after she's said that, this young mistress still doesn't seem to care.
"Little Deer, Little Deer, the person is here! Quickly go and call Manager Zhong to come and pick them up!" Suddenly, Li Yang shouted. Little Deer snapped out of her daze, responded, and quickly ran into the shop.
The carriages of several families arrived at the flower market almost at the same time. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, they were led into the backyard by Zhong Qian.
Late June, with its warm evening breeze, is the perfect time to relax in the courtyard.
In the center of the courtyard was a pavilion, which was covered with light yellow and pinkish-white gauze. Through the shadows, one could see that several small dishes had been placed on a round table in the middle.
Six meat dishes and four vegetable dishes: red persimmons with white sugar, green cucumber salad with yellow garlic, white shredded radish with green onions, and yellow pumpkin chunks with lily bulbs, along with beef, mutton, pork, fish, shrimp, and crab pieces. They all look like home-style dishes, but they are vibrant and delicious.
Because the banquet was being held at a flower shop, Zhong Qian was surprisingly given a seat. This afternoon, he went out and ate four ounces of noodles, just in preparation to be fully alert and observant at the banquet that evening.
To others, tonight is just a banquet, but to Zhong Qian, it is a matter of life and death, like the imperial examination for scholars.
Sitting next to him was Young Master Zhou from the banquet hall. Because this young master had organized today's banquet, all the dishes were prepared at the banquet hall, placed in warm baskets, and delivered to the flower shop by carriage. Therefore, he was also given a seat.
Upon seeing Zhou Chengli, Manager Zhong couldn't help but find it amusing. That afternoon, when he went to the banquet hall to urge the delivery of dishes, Manager Zhou, upon hearing that his son had sent out a whole table of food, was so angry that he almost cursed.
But when he realized that the banquet was being served at the Chen family's flower shop, he immediately beamed and patted his son on the shoulder, praising him for "getting it."
When he came to his senses, the banquet had already gone on for several rounds. It seemed that Mr. Zheng had offended the girl named Ziyan earlier, and he was carefully trying to appease her with a smile, while she was giving him a cold look.
Zhong Qian secretly admired her. This Ziyan girl was so beautiful that even if you were blind, you would still love to look at her, let alone look at her with disdain.
Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly heard the young mistress start acting up.
"Mr. Liu, I heard that you have contracted the planting along both sides of the road in Ganquan County. I wonder what you think of my flower shop today? Could it contribute to the construction of that official road?"
After speaking, Li Yang glanced back at the person beside him, not knowing what it meant, but subconsciously wanted to look at him.
Chen Junbo glanced down and saw the young woman acting coquettishly. Without changing his expression, he put his left hand on her waist and patted her gently to comfort her.
Seeing the two men's actions, Zhong Qian felt ashamed and quickly looked away.
Liu Yitong chuckled upon hearing this, slowly put down his chopsticks, raised his glass in a toast, and said, "Madam Chen, I haven't yet wished your flower shop a prosperous business. I'm truly sorry..." He then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.
Seeing that he didn't respond but just drank, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, Li Yang frowned slightly, looked down and saw that there was only a little wine left in his glass. He smiled, quickly raised his glass to thank the other man, and drank it all in one gulp.
Zhong Qian was startled, secretly applauding in his heart, "The young mistress is truly a heroine among women!"
Liu Yitong pursed his lips, picked his teeth with his tongue, and darted around in his eyes. After a long while, he finally spoke, "This matter is not difficult to handle, but I wonder how Young Madam Chen plans to cooperate?"
When Li Yang saw that Chen Junbo's expression suddenly turned serious when he talked about serious matters, he glanced at Chen Junbo and thought to himself: He was right, this man is really hard to deal with.
Suppressing the glint in her eyes, she sat up straight and said seriously, "General Manager Liu, let's talk business. I have a list of all the seedlings and rocks in my warehouse, and it's here." As she spoke, she took out a stack of papers from her sleeve and handed them over. "After you've made your selection, I'll sell them at market price. If you can sell all your stock, I'll give you a 20% discount."
Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped in astonishment.
Everyone knew that this was Chen Junbai's beloved wife. They thought she was just an innocent and lively girl who didn't know anything about the world, but seeing how well-prepared she was today, and how efficient she was in discussing business.
But Liu Yitong wasn't a fool. Hearing this, he didn't take the stack of papers, but instead fiddled with them. Liu Yitong coldly sneered, "How long has this batch of goods been sitting in the warehouse, young mistress? According to market prices, has the depreciation been factored in?"
That bastard!
Even if it were any other salt merchant, they would at least respect the Chen family and wouldn't bother with a few hundred taels of silver from Li Yang. They certainly wouldn't be so ungrateful at the banquet, embarrassing Madam Chen.
However, Liu Yitong had always disliked women doing business. This young mistress Chen was talking about buying and selling flowers and seedlings. Wasn't she just relying on Chen Junbai's support to come and be a sucker for him?
Just like the peach blossom in his yard, he opened shop after shop, truly thinking himself a business genius. The people in town only gave her discounts because of Liu Yitong. He's probably been subsidizing her for who knows how much; he really thinks he's something special. Pshaw.
Upon hearing this, Li Yang felt a tightening of the hand behind her back, and she quickly replied, "Of course it counts."
Doing business is all about mutual consent. That day, I had a sudden thought to cheat and use Chen Junbo's connections. But after calming down, I realized it was wrong. Once a person has tasted the pleasure of taking shortcuts, they'll probably only know that one method from now on.
Although her mother relied on her father for everything, she always managed to sell the animal hides for a higher price when he wasn't home, though she never told him.
Thinking of this, she said loudly, "General Manager Liu, of course, depreciation should be included in the market price." After saying that, she looked intently at the other party with a slight smile on her lips.
Liu Yitong was taken aback. Chen Junbai's wife seemed to have suddenly aged. She looked calm and composed, not afraid at all. Didn't she used to just sell wontons on the street?
Without realizing it, he reached out and took the list of seedlings. He quickly glanced at it and found that the list was indeed well done, with the types of seedlings, their condition, age, quantity, and depreciation clearly displayed.
A silence fell over the table. Li Yuhan, who was always good at flattery, noticed Chen Junbo's increasingly furrowed brows and quickly spoke up to mediate, "Old Liu, that's enough. Your wife wouldn't let you suffer."
To everyone's surprise, Liu Yitong didn't want the excuse he offered at all. When it came to taking money from his pocket, this man was never sloppy, meticulously checking several pages of paper over and over again.
Seeing Li Yang's earnest eyes, Chen Junbo couldn't help but say, "The Chen family salt shop did not make any offerings for the Emperor's southern tour and road construction. The transport vehicles are all registered under the Chen family's name. The Chen family salt shop has done its part for this. You only need to be responsible for arranging the laborers."
Upon hearing this, Liu Yitong's eyes lit up, and he immediately put on a silly grin, "Oh, Ziheng, you're too kind. Your wife has done a clean and efficient job. I'll send someone over to finalize the contract and sign it later."
When everyone heard this, their eyes practically rolled back to the back of their heads.
Just now, the young lady spoke to him politely, and he only called her "Young Madam Chen." Now that he had gotten such a good deal from Chen Junbai, he simply started calling her "Sister-in-law Madam" all the time.
"Come, come, Ziheng, sister-in-law, let me toast you both and wish this cooperation a success!" With that, Liu Yitong ignored the expressions of the others, tilted his head back, and licked the wine in his glass clean.
Chen Junbo grabbed Li Yang's hand and looked at Liu Yitong coldly, saying, "She can't hold her liquor, so I'll drink this cup for her. I hope Mr. Liu will take good care of her."
He drank two cups in a row, and then lightly slapped Liu Yitong twice across the face: "You, Fatty Liu, are quite capable of bullying my wife."
As long as Liu Yitong saved money, his skin was thicker than a city wall. He didn't feel ashamed at all when he was teased like this, and even smiled and said, "Not at all, not at all. My sister-in-law is shrewd and capable, and will surely achieve great things. Hehe, sister-in-law, Ziheng, you two should be magnanimous and let me go like a fart."
These shameless words instantly shattered the silence at the table, and the crowd burst into laughter and jeers once again.
Zhong Qian sat in the corner with her neck hunched over like a shrimp, silently wiping away a bead of sweat. Luckily, she had the young master as her protector; otherwise, the young mistress would have been left standing there in the cold.
Then, he became excited again. With the goods in the warehouse settled, the warehouse lease could be terminated. No wonder the young mistress had asked him to inform Brother Long the other day that the contract would be terminated at the end of the month. With this inflow and outflow, the accounts for this month shouldn't look so bad.
Thinking back to this, he belatedly realized that the young mistress's reckless and impulsive punches had actually resolved the flower shop's predicament. If this deal were to be completed, the flower shop's accounts would stop bleeding, and his future would become even brighter.
When he looked at Li Yang again, his expression unconsciously showed admiration and appreciation. Young mistress, no, mistress of the master, Zhong Qian will follow you for the rest of his life!
After several rounds of drinking games, everyone was somewhat tipsy. The atmosphere was harmonious, but suddenly Ziyan shouted angrily, "Zheng Qingbo!"
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