Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 99: Profits

However, after a night passed, Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping came to the Jiangyou Guild Hall for the second time, this time with all six of them.

As usual, they brought gifts. This time it was tokens of appreciation. Unlike the goods they bought yesterday, which were specialties from the western part of Jiangnan, Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping decided to buy tea leaves, ham, and a few jars of fine Shaoxing wine, all of which were excellent products from Zhejiang. It was hard to determine their exact value in silver, but the gesture and etiquette were excellent.

People who observed proper etiquette were often treated better. Chairman Liu naturally welcomed them warmly. Seeing a group of six young men, he praised them again for their youthful heroism. This time, they not only conversed in the inner courtyard but were also led to several halls in the second courtyard, where Chairman Liu introduced them to many fellow provincials.

In terms of age, their group was indeed young. Unlike other places where there was usually one main figure, here all six were young, astute merchants. A brief conversation revealed that there were only two main figures among them. They each had a brief chat.

Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping thus learned about the businesses these fellow provincials were engaged in. Most of them were transporting and selling specialties from the western part of Jiangnan, including grains, tea, oil, tobacco, sugarcane, tea oil, porcelain, paper, and ink. It was truly eye-opening.

After Chairman Liu’s introductions, he naturally wouldn’t accompany them personally. Knowing that they had been busy in Nan City all day today and probably hadn’t rested well last night, and hearing that they were only staying one night and heading to Wuxing the next day, he summoned Manager Xu to arrange several guest rooms for Lu Chengxiao and his group to stay tonight.

Manager Xu received the assignment with a smile and invited Lu Chengxiao and his group to follow him to the nearby guesthouse. Since there were many visiting merchants, only three rooms were available. With a smile, Manager Xu explained to Lu Chengxiao, “Young man, please bear with us. Although we can’t provide one room per person, staying in our guild hall is much safer than outside in the inns.”

When away from home, especially in such commercial towns, the greatest fear was being targeted by petty thieves. Manager Xu’s words were both sincere and practical. Moreover, after Lu Chengxiao had twice presented gifts and Chairman Liu had taken special care of them, Lu Chengxiao naturally understood. He said, “This is already very good. Thank you for Chairman Liu’s kindness and for your trouble, Manager Xu.”

Manager Xu smiled, “You’ve had a long day. Rest for a while. There are tea and meals available at the guild hall. If you need anything, just call for the servants in their livery to bring it. The same goes for dinner. You can call for it or dine outside as you wish.”

After expressing their gratitude and seeing Manager Xu off, they finally had time to look at the environment of this guesthouse. The quiet courtyard, the garden-style buildings to the south, and the serene atmosphere with fewer people coming and going made it clear that it was much better than the inns outside.

The three rooms were connected, so it was easy to decide on the allocation. The Liu brothers would share one room, Lu Chengxiao and his servants would occupy another, and Lin Huaigeng and Liu Zhang would have the third room.

Within a day, they sold goods worth more than seven hundred taels of silver. Who had the time to rest? They all went into Lu Chengxiao’s room to divide the money!

Once the door was closed, Lu Chengxiao took out a money pouch from his sleeve. The silver notes were kept close to his body inside the pouch, while some silver coins were in a purse nearby. He opened them all.

More than seven hundred taels was easy to split. They first divided the money for Lin Huaigeng and Liu Zhang, who had the smallest shares. Each of them received twenty taels, with Lin Huaigeng borrowing an additional ten taels from Lu Chengxiao. Since they didn’t have to pay for expenses on the road, only the cost of the raw and dyed cloth was considered. One profited thirteen taels and five qian, while the other profited nine taels.

Lu Chengxiao didn’t exchange all the silver coins for silver notes. He kept some silver ingots handy, so there was no hassle during the distribution. After accounting for expenses, Liu Zhang received twenty-nine taels, while Lin Huaigeng, after repaying the ten taels to Lu Chengxiao, received thirty-three taels and five qian.

The remaining portion was split evenly between Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping.

As Liu Yanping had predicted, Lu Chengxiao didn’t bother with small change. He covered the expenses himself, and it was Liu Yanping who balanced out the few taels that were missing.

In this trip, each of them bought two hundred taels of raw cloth. Since the selling price of some dyed fabrics was higher, and they sold out their goods in just a day without taking two or three days, they saved a few taels on the shop rent they had planned for in Nan City. In the end, after giving gifts to Chairman Liu and arranging matters with Manager Xu, each of them earned about ninety taels.

Thus, Liu Yanping had nearly three hundred taels in hand, including the forty-five taels he hadn’t used before. Meanwhile, Lu Chengxiao, who had kept nearly a hundred taels for covering expenses along the way, had a bit more than Liu Yanping. It could be said that this trading trip was more profitable than initially estimated.

Liu Yanan was stunned. He had never seen so much money before, nor had he seen such large sums of silver notes. He held them in his hands and examined them over and over.

Liu Yanping chuckled and pushed the money over to Lu Chengxiao. “Why not let you keep it? But it’s only for a few days. Once we return to Wuxing, we’ll have to exchange it for goods.”

Liu Yanan shook his head and pushed the money back. “No need. I’m fine just looking at it. You keep it.”

Although he was agile, he wasn’t as reliable as his elder brother. Moreover, Liu Yanan hadn’t forgotten about the huge debt owed to the village, and this money was also meant for setting up a shop for Yu’er. It was an unspoken agreement between the brothers. Losing this money wouldn’t be a joke.

Liu Yanping chuckled. “Alright, don’t worry. You can decide what to do with it in the future.”

He collected the silver coins.

Liu Yanan believed in this promise. This trip had broadened his horizons.

Everyone made a profit except for one person, Babao. He was just tagging along, happily watching the excitement. It seemed as if he thought that whatever his third young master earned was also his.

Seeing Liu Yanping soothing Liu Yanping, Lu Chengxiao took out a silver ingot from his money pouch and pushed it onto the table in front of Babao. “Here’s yours. You shouldn’t tag along for nothing.”

Babao was stunned. He instinctively leaned forward, looking down at the silver ingot weighing two taels on the table and then at Lu Chengxiao. “Do I also have money?”

Lu Chengxiao laughed immediately, ruffling the hair on the head of his servant. “Yes, it’s for finding a wife. You better keep it safe.”

Babao was excited, rubbing his round face, then chuckled and happily took the silver ingot in his hand, clasping his hands in gratitude. “Thank you for your reward, Third Young Master. Please make more money in the future. Wherever you go, Babao will follow you!”

Everyone laughed.

After a round of laughter, Liu Yanping gave an extra word of caution, saying, “Now that we’re all carrying a lot of silver on us, we need to be extra careful when we’re out and about.”

After some thought, still feeling uneasy, he asked Lu Chengxiao, “There are many river bandits in Zhejiang, and we’ve been traveling by water all along. Shouldn’t we wrap the silver notes in several layers of oilcloth?”

Having never dealt with silver notes before, having only handled copper coins and silver pieces, he felt that these paper objects were just too unstable.

Lu Chengxiao thought it over. He had initially brought goods with him. Although he had nearly a hundred taels of starting capital, after spending on dyeing cloth in Yuanzhou and expenses along the way, what was left were mostly silver ingots, some of which he carried on his person and some in his baggage.

Now that all the goods had been sold and it wasn’t convenient to carry too much silver, the larger denominations were exchanged for silver notes, which naturally had to be carried on one’s person. Thinking back to when Li Cunyi encountered river bandits and fell into the water during a fight, if the silver notes got soaked, it would be a disaster. So he said, “You’re right.”

Oilcloth didn’t need to be bought; there were ready-made ones available. Babao cherished things, and several large sheets were neatly folded and kept in a bag. He took them out and cut a few small pieces to divide between Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping. They each wrapped their silver notes in several layers before stuffing them into their money pouches.

With the money divided and another busy day behind them, surprisingly, no one felt tired. Their eyes were shining. Lin Huaigeng was particularly excited, saying, “This trip earned me more than I expected. I made over thirteen taels in just half a trip. On the return journey, I already have more than thirty taels of starting capital. If I can earn another ten or so taels, won’t I earn over twenty taels this time?”

As he counted, he smiled happily. “I think when I go back this time, maybe I can sound out my aunt.”

Fearing that his aunt might only think of it as a one-time deal, he quickly asked Lu Chengxiao, “Lu Xiao, Yanping, can you take me along on your next trading trip? I’ll share the travel expenses.”

He knew in his heart that the expenses for this trip were supposed to be paid by Lu Chengxiao, but in reality, the Liu brothers also helped share half of them, so he asked both of them together.

Liu Zhang quickly said he could take him along, and he would pay for his own travel expenses.

Both Liu Yanping and Lu Chengxiao smiled and said, “Of course.”

Lu Chengxiao added, “As I said before, doing business involves both profits and losses. Higher profits correspond to higher risks. Before you consider the profits it can bring you, think carefully about whether you can accept the risks.”

Both Lin Huaigeng and Liu Zhang nodded, and amidst laughter and conversation, it was already dark.

They simply ordered some food at the guild in the evening, washed up, and went to bed. Holding their first large sum of money they earned, they were initially too excited to fall asleep, but later they sank into a deep slumber, each dreaming their own dreams and harboring their own aspirations.

In the morning, after breakfast at the guild, the six of them bid farewell to Chairman Liu once again, repeatedly inviting him, “Chairman Liu, if you ever come to Anyi County, be sure to find me. Let me also have the chance to show some hospitality.”

He wasn’t just being polite. He told Chairman Liu about the cloth shop opened by his parents, showing sincerity.

Chairman Liu felt comfortable with this. Sitting in the position of chairman of the guild, being able to judge people was the first skill. He could tell whether someone was being polite, had genuine intentions to make friends, or was simply being courteous with a single glance.

In his eyes, Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping, these two young men, were capable of making a living in the trading business. They could have a promising future ahead. Moreover, considering their character and conduct, they were the kind of people Chairman Liu was willing to befriend. He smiled and agreed, saying that in the future, they could come to the guild whenever they traveled this way for business. He also reminded them of some things to pay attention to when purchasing fabric in Wuxing. Then, he warmly sent them off, escorting them all the way to the gate of the guild.

To go to Wuxing by water, they needed to board a ship from another ferry terminal. Manager Xu specially called a donkey cart for them, pointed out the way, and even paid for the cart fare, seeing them off.

The six of them clasped their hands together and bid farewell to Chairman Liu, saying, “Until we meet again!”

Then they got on the donkey cart and headed to the ferry terminal leading to Wuxing Waterway.

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