He Jiuniang chuckled twice and then said, "The public funds are out of money, but I have money in my hands. I'm willing to invest my money. When we make a profit, just give me a share of the profits according to the agreed ratio!"
Everyone was confused. What did they mean by investing and receiving dividends?
He Jiuniang knew they didn't understand, so she gave a very simple example to explain.
“If our business requires a total investment of one hundred taels of silver, then I will contribute fifty taels, and the public fund will also contribute fifty taels. When we distribute the profits at the end of the year, if we have earned a total of one thousand taels of silver, then I will receive five hundred taels, and the public fund will also receive five hundred taels. The five hundred taels I receive are my earnings, and they will not be mixed with the public fund’s money.”
With such a simple explanation, everyone understood and once again marveled at how clever the third son's wife was; how come they hadn't noticed it before?
Sun's eyes lit up. She thought this was a good idea. With He Jiuniang's investment, their current urgent problem could be solved.
Mrs. Yu's eyes lit up and she said, "Then can we also invest like my third sister-in-law? My third sister-in-law gave us some money before, and we don't have any use for it right now. Why don't we invest and make money too?"
The children in the family are still young, and Leizi is only twelve years old. They are not old enough to be married yet. The couple feels uneasy about keeping so much money. If they could take the money out to do business, they could get a large dividend at the end of the year. That would be money making money!
"We'd like to invest too!"
Qin hurriedly spoke up, saying that their second branch was in the same situation as the first branch; they didn't have the ability to earn more money like He Jiu Niang. Now, joining the family business would be a good option.
He Jiuniang thought so too. Even if the first and second wives hadn't thought of this, she still had to remind them. Otherwise, if she was the only one who invested, when the dividends were distributed at the end of the year, the whole family would inevitably feel unbalanced seeing how much money she had made. So why not all of them work together?
The money was divided up when they were still bandits, so Lu Guilan and the others didn't know that the eldest and second sons had money. Now, hearing them talking about joining the gang, they were very tempted.
However, they also know their own situation; they have no money now, so it's pointless to do anything they want.
Therefore, no one said a word.
Mrs. Sun was at a loss for what to do. She was just an old woman from the countryside, and this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.
He Jiuniang then spoke up for her, saying, "Great! Then everyone can invest together. Naturally, there won't be any more wages. This is equivalent to everyone's property, and we can just distribute dividends at the end of the year. Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, how much are you prepared to contribute?"
"We only have twenty taels of silver on us, so let's just hand it all over!"
Madam Yu readily agreed. In any case, she now trusted Ren Jiu Niang completely, and following her third sister-in-law would definitely make her money!
Besides, the more you invest now, the more dividends you'll receive in the future.
Madam Qin quickly nodded, "We'll take twenty taels too!"
Sun paid for the purchase of Lotus Flower, and she still has her twenty taels saved up. If this investment makes a profit, she will definitely return the money she used to buy Lotus Flower to the public.
He Jiuniang nodded: "Alright, then I'll do the same as my two sisters-in-law and contribute twenty taels. Once we make money at the end of the year, we can invest more next year."
She had plenty of money, but in order to maintain the balance, she could only contribute the same amount as the first and second wives.
"Uh-huh!"
Neither the eldest nor the second wife had any objections. He Jiuniang then looked at Lu Guilan and asked, "Little sister, would you like to invest as well?"
Lu Guilan naturally wanted to, but neither she nor the Shen family had any money, so investing now seemed somewhat inappropriate.
Before she could speak, He Jiuniang continued, "If you're willing, I have twenty taels of silver left here. You can each borrow ten taels to invest. You can pay me back when you make a profit at the end of the year."
Sun glanced at her leisurely, feeling very gratified. She knew that her third son's wife definitely had more money than that, but in order to avoid any psychological gap between the eldest and second sons, she deliberately only took out twenty taels. Also, because she wanted to distinguish that Lu Guilan was a married-out daughter and it was inconvenient for her to be treated the same as her brother's family, she only lent ten taels to each family. This way, everyone's feelings could be balanced.
"What should we do?!"
Lu Guilan wasn't stupid. She knew that if He Jiuniang didn't lend them the money, she could have invested all forty taels and received a larger share of the profits at the end of the year. But she was willing to contribute the same amount as her two brothers' families and lend them the rest of the money. She could never forget this kindness.
Zhang Yong and Shen were also very excited. They thought that it was already a blessing from their past lives that Sun paid them wages, but they never expected that they could participate in the investment. They never dared to dream of such a thing!
“There’s nothing wrong with that. As long as you’re willing, I’ll just give all the money to Mom. We’re all family, and you’ll have to pay me back anyway once you make some money.”
He Jiuniang smiled gently. Nobody is stupid. If it weren't for maintaining the balance of the family, she could have gone it alone. Besides, the family business is now her idea.
But the reason she was willing to maintain this relationship was naturally because these people gave her the warmth of home, satisfying her heart that had never felt kinship. Therefore, she was willing to treat them well and help them make money.
"Okay, thank you, Third Sister-in-law, thank you!"
Both Lu Guilan and Madam Shen had tears in their eyes. They held onto He Jiuniang, not knowing what to say, and could only keep thanking her.
The Zhang brothers, Zhang Song and Zhang Yong, didn't say anything, but their eyes were red. They never expected to have such an opportunity in their lives.
Even Mrs. Sun secretly wiped away tears. Although she said that a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, she was still a piece of flesh that fell from her body, and she was just as important as her three sons. She wanted to do her best to help her daughter's family, but she didn't expect her third son's wife to be so helpful and solve the problem that had been bothering her.
I should have discussed it with her beforehand; the solutions I came up with with the old man are useless!
So, each family took out their money and gave it to Sun. Sun, representing the public fund, took out all the money currently in the public fund. The public fund currently has a total of fifty-eight taels, plus several dozen copper coins.
He Jiuniang suggested, "Mother, you and Father should keep eight taels of silver and only take out fifty taels. It will be easier to settle accounts at the end of the year!"
No one objected, so Sun put away the eight taels of silver. Fifty taels were allocated from the family coffers, twenty taels each from her three sons' families, and ten taels each from her daughter, son-in-law, and Zhang Yong's family, for a total of one hundred and thirty taels.
Gongzhong holds 38% of the shares, his three sons each hold 15%, and his daughter, son-in-law, and Zhang Yong's family each hold 7.5%.
After calculating, there was still 2% left that was difficult to allocate, so they unanimously agreed to use it as the pension for Mr. Sun and Mr. Lu.
The family meeting concerning property came to an end, but He Jiuniang still had something to say.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com