Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 38 Don't run away
As always, there were many gamblers at Fuxingfang.

As soon as Shen Qingzhou stepped inside, Zhang Laosan came to greet him: "Young Master Qin! We've finally been waiting for you!"

Without further ado, he ushered Shen Qingzhou into the tea room where they had sat down to drink tea that day.

Shen Qingzhou still had He Qu and the other man guarding the gate, and watched as Zhang Laosan busied himself making and serving tea: "I wonder what important matter Third Master has for me?"

Zhang Laosan said, "I mentioned last time that I would invite you for tea, but I've been busy with the shop these days. Besides, you're rarely seen, so I'm very happy to meet you today."

Shen Qingzhou raised an eyebrow: "Is Third Master busy with things at the counter?"

Old Zhang smiled and said, "My three shops will soon be back in my hands. These days I've been busy taking them over."

"Oh?" Shen Qingzhou twirled the walnuts. "Congratulations."

“Young Master Qin,” Zhang Laosan sat down a little closer, “when I open my own port in the future, I hope you will take good care of me. Our Zhang family still has some influence in Shawan. No matter how big or small the matter is, as long as it can serve you, I, Zhang An, will not hesitate to do so.”

Shen Qingzhou stared at his magnified face for a moment, then smiled and said, "Since Third Master is so sincere, it would be a disservice to you if I refused."

Zhang Laosan was used to dealing with all sorts of people, so wasn't the implication behind his words that he had agreed to give him business opportunities?
His eyes lit up, and he immediately bowed, saying, "Then I'll pay my respects in advance!"

Shen Qingzhou twirled the walnuts and smiled.

After leaving Fuxingfang, he went straight to the carriage: "To the Xie family."

He Qu replied, "Young master, I just went to the Xie family, and Miss Lu is not at home right now."

Shen Qingzhou, who had just closed his eyes, opened them again and asked after a moment, "Where did you go?"

"She went to Shitan Town on the outskirts of the city to collect grain today and hasn't returned yet."

Shen Qingzhou frowned as she gazed at the moon high in the sky.

……

Thanks to Qin Zhou's excellent acting skills, Zhang Laosan has taken the bait. However, Zhang Laoer is much more composed than him, and there is also Zhang Qi and He Shi, who are full of scheming. How to bring both of them into the picture is what is troubling Lu Jia.

That day, Chen Quan mentioned that the predicament of the Hongtai ship stemmed from the loss of grain from the He family. That very night, Lu Jia came up with a plan to bring Zhang Qi and Zhang Lao Er into the picture.

But this plan requires Liu Xiyu.

If Liu Xiyu could have salvaged the He family's business, he wouldn't have personally gone to Yufeng to humiliate them that day.

In other words, she went to Yufeng Hotel in person, which not only exposed He's despicable methods, but also embarrassed her old customer, Madam He.

If even Li Chang and his group could easily find out the information, how could Liu Xiyu not find it out himself?
Of course she knew the He family had grain.

But she also knew that after embarrassing Madam He like that day, she would definitely be turned away if she went to her door.

Therefore, Liu Xiyu did not send anyone to contact the He family at all.

Lu Jia offered to help her find Madam He, which Liu Xiyu was naturally more than happy to do.

But Lu Jia never expected that the He family only had a thousand shi of grain left. Just before they arrived at the He family's house in the evening, people from the rice market association suddenly came and took away several thousand shi.

The remaining stone was far from enough to plug the hole of three thousand stones on Liu Xiyu's side.

In other words, even if Lu Jia painstakingly wins over Madam He, she still can't immediately form an alliance with Liu Xiyu to deal with the Zhang family.

At this point, Lu Jia realized that the reason why this Boss Liu was finally persuaded by her to agree to sign the contract was because she herself knew that even after Lu Jia took over the He family, she would not be able to fulfill this agreement.

Lu Jia either had to bite the bullet and help her procure food, or she could simply give up. Neither outcome would be bad for Liu Xiyu.

So, which of these traveling merchants is a vegetarian?

But Lu Jia was not one to give up halfway. The He family still had a thousand shi of grain; he'd find a way to get it first.

As expected, Madam He had some complaints about Liu Xiyu, but Lu Jia was prepared. After half a day of persuasion, Madam He finally got fed up with her and agreed to let her take a bag of grain back to get its value appraised.

If the price is right, then both parties will continue the cooperation. If not, then she will keep it for herself.

Knowing that things were urgent, Lu Jia knew that Liu Xiyu's offer would be no problem, so she carried half a bag of grain.

But man proposes, God disposes; after securing this negotiating opportunity, they found themselves stuck halfway back on their journey—

"How is this going?"

As the moon rose high in the sky, Lu Jia, along with Li Chang and Xie Yi, stood at the entrance of Shitan Town. Looking at the several emaciated people on the road ahead, she couldn't help but take two steps back.

"do not know!"

Li Chang and Xie Yi's teeth were chattering. One clutched the abacus tightly in his hand, and the other clutched the half-sack of grain tightly in his hand.

The people in front of me were wearing straw sandals and carrying hoes; they looked like local villagers.

But they were as thin as sickly ghosts, and their eyes were fixed on the food in their hands, which gleamed green in the moonlight.

"Do they want our rice?" Xie Yi swallowed hard. "How can there be people this poor in Shawan? Isn't our rice market famous throughout the land? The docks dozens of miles away are overflowing with rice, why are they so hungry?"

A series of questions all pointed to one fact: these people had come to ask for food.

As for why, that's not something we should be investigating right now!
Li Chang felt a pang of pity: "They include both the elderly and the young, and they don't seem like they'd be happy to do this. Why don't we give them the rice, and then go to the He family to get some more later?"

"no!"

Lu Jia scolded in a low voice, "This amount of rice is not enough for them at all. If you give them the rice, those who can't get any will swarm us and ask us for money!"

"Do you have money?"

Li Chang certainly didn't have any money.

If they rush over but don't find the money, the consequences are easy to imagine.

“Don’t give them pity indiscriminately,” Lu Jia took a deep breath. “Tell them to let us through, and that we’ll give them the rice when we get to town!”

Li Chang steadied his breathing and shouted towards the other side.

The people opposite them shifted their feet, indicating that they intended to release the person.

Lu Jia took the opportunity to count them. There were six of them, all men. Although they were thin, people in dire straits always harbor a force that should not be underestimated.

Li Chang handed her the rice, saying, "You go first! We'll cover your retreat!"

Lu Jia caught the heavy bag of rice and headed towards the town without saying a word.

She wouldn't push the issue back and forth; in this situation, it's clearly better for everyone if she goes to a safe place first.

"Stop running."

After rushing forward with her head down for a while, she crashed into a chest with a thud.

Touching his nose, he stepped back and then saw the face illuminated by the moonlight.

Lu Jia immediately threw away the rice bag:
"Qin Zhou? Ah, Qin Zhou!"

(End of this chapter)