The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 36: No One Can Go Against Money

Jia Zhen threw the sweet potato and rode home angrily.

Sitting in the room, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more annoyed he felt.

Now, seeing that Zhan was making money made him even angrier than seeing his own family losing money.

He wanted to disrupt the business of Mr. Zhan, but now Mr. Zhan has the support of the historians and is no longer a small businessman without any foundation.

Even he has to consider the relationships with all parties and not go too far.

Moreover, the Xue family is now severely hit and needs the Zhan family's help in business. It may not be easy to break up this marriage, and it is not convenient for him to do so.

Otherwise, if there is a quarrel, the old lady will call you over and scold you, which is really not worth it.

He would not reflect on his own acts of robbery and plunder, but would only secretly hate the man named Zhan for not doing what he wanted.

In his opinion, Mr. Zhan failed to keep his shares in the end and sold them to the Shi family at a low price in exchange for the Shi family's support and protection for his new business. It would be better for him to just give Ningguo Mansion a good deal.

If the historians can do it, is it possible that Ningguo Mansion cannot do it?
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. He stood up and walked around the room with his hands behind his back, feeling extremely irritable.

Just as I was getting anxious, I suddenly heard a burst of laughter from outside. I didn't know which girl was playing outside.

Jia Zhen immediately became angry and shouted:

"Smiling or not?"

"Have you finished the work?"

The laughter outside the door stopped suddenly, and then there was a knock at the door. Youshi stepped in first, followed closely by her daughter-in-law Qin Keqing and several maids.

"Master, calm down."

"I just came back from the West Mansion with Keqing and passed by here. I didn't know the master was in this room. I laughed a little too loudly and disturbed the master."

Jia Zhen was just getting angry at the moment and wanted to vent his anger. When he saw Qin Keqing, his index finger started to twitch. He immediately softened his expression and waved his hand, saying:

"You've been busy all day, so go back and have a rest. Keqing will take care of you here."

After hearing her master's considerate words, Youshi's face turned pale. She didn't dare to stay any longer, and hurriedly stood up and bowed her head, "Thank you for your understanding, Master. I will go back to rest first."

After Youshi left with her maid, Jia Zhen waved to the two maids behind Qin Keqing.

"Ruizhu, go ask the kitchen to make some soup. It needs to be cooked for half an hour. Watch it personally and make sure it doesn't get cooked too late."

"Baozhu, you...you go and look after Rong'er. This evil creature spends his days sleeping with prostitutes and never learns to be a good person. Go find him and tell him that I told him to go to the study and copy the family motto thirty times. Keep an eye on him and don't let him leave without my order."

Ruizhu and Baozhu blushed, nodded in agreement, turned around and left the room, leaving Qin Keqing alone in the room to serve.

Keqing was afraid that he would come to bother her again, so she tried to find something to distract his attention and said:

"My wife heard in Xifu that the honeycomb coal business has been booming recently. I think it must have made a lot of money."

"It just so happens that the New Year is coming soon. I think we can have a prosperous year at the end of the year." After hearing this, Jia Zhen's face flushed a little, and the desire in his heart faded away.

The account now is almost empty.

Originally, the mansion had some savings, which were all the harvests from various farms in the autumn. They were sold at a discount and handed over to the mansion for use in the coming year.

But he spent too much last month and lost it all.

The current dividends from honeycomb coal are far below expectations, which makes him a little embarrassed. The New Year is approaching, but there is no money in the account.

He was just about to find an excuse to ease the situation, but he heard Keqing continue:
"Some time ago, the Xue family was defrauded of more than 100,000 taels of silver. Everyone in the mansion thought that the Xue family would suffer a setback and never recover."

"But my wife and I were in the West Mansion today, and we saw the Xue family spending money lavishly in the mansion, as if they were not affected at all."

"Out of curiosity, I asked a few more questions and found out that Mr. Zhan was a capable man who had come up with a new business."

"In the past, in winter, the only things sold at the street markets were candied haws, frozen pears, and dried goods. There wasn't much to see, but now there are many more mobile vendors selling hot food."

"It's so cold, it's so comfortable to have something hot."

"It is said that the mobile stalls on the street now not only sell sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and popcorn, but also various hot wines and hot food. But no matter what they sell, these various ovens and carts are all sold by the Xue family blacksmith shop."

"It is said that these two things are selling like hot cakes now. A set of them costs ten taels of silver, and you have to pre-order them in advance to get them. It is no exaggeration to say that they are making a fortune every day."

"My wife also heard that many servants in the West Mansion used the Xue family's connections to get their relatives outside to buy a set of houses on credit in advance, and set up a stall on those busy streets. Now they have made back their capital and paid off the Xue family's debts. The rest is pure profit."

"Then Mr. Zhan is also good at doing business. Before starting this business, he stockpiled a batch of raw materials for roasting, such as sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and corn."

"When the business started to gain momentum, the Zhan family not only sold ovens and carts, but also sold raw materials such as sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and corn at low prices, saving customers from having to buy them from other stores."

"But even so, they are almost sold out. I heard that Mr. Zhan is discussing with the West Mansion and wants to buy some!"

"Master, we seem to have some sweet potatoes and corn left in our farm outside the city. We can't sell them. Why don't we sell them to the Zhan family? If we have the opportunity to make a fortune in the future, he can help us, right?"

After hearing this, Jia Zhen became somewhat tempted. After all, no one would resist money and the two families were still at odds with each other. If he talked to Zhan Ershisi in a nice way, it should not be difficult to make some quick money before the New Year.

However, he was tricked by the man surnamed Zhan, and he had some knot in his heart, so he was not willing to deal with that man surnamed Zhan.

He thought for a long time with a gloomy face, then frowned and ordered:
"It's inconvenient for the master to intervene in such matters, otherwise people will think that we want to take advantage of the Zhan family."

"Go back and have more contact with the Xue family, and try to ask if you can ask the Xue family to help you sell the sweet potatoes to the Zhan family."

Keqing didn't know about the feud between her father-in-law and the Zhan family. After listening, she agreed softly.

"Don't worry, Master. It's saved by my wife."

"Speaking of which, my wife has a very good relationship with the Xiangling concubine of the Zhan family. She always invites my wife to her house to play, but my wife has never been free and has never been."

"Now that this has happened, let's just find a day and go over and have some fun."

(End of this chapter)