Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 376 Lively
The Xia family steward brought the perfume shop's designs to Xia Ziqiao and Xie Chengrang.

"The owner's surname is Duan. He owns restaurants and teahouses in Huaizhou and also deals in medicinal herbs. He came to Bianjing this time without making a fuss, and only instructed a few merchants who work for him to go out and make some noise."

Xie Chengrang asked, "What connections does the Duan family have in the capital?"

The Xia family steward said, "There's nothing on the surface, but I'll have people keeping an eye on them these days to see who they associate with."

It's impossible for a merchant like that not to have acquaintances in Bianjing.

Xia Ziqiao said, "As long as they are not royalty or members of those prestigious families, it's fine."

“How can such merchants be compared to a prestigious family?” said the Xia family steward. “The Duan family doesn’t have much money either. They are not generous in their spending. They spend their money on buying land and building houses. Even the carriages they ride in are the most ordinary.”

"Duan Dalang is in his thirties and seems quite cunning, but that was because he was raised in Huaizhou. Now that he's in Bianjing..."

The manager did not continue speaking.

Coming to Bianjing will be useless. He's already been targeted by his master, and sooner or later he'll have to leave here in disgrace.

Xia Ziqiao instructed the steward: "Keep an eye on things, don't let your guard down."

The manager responded.

After everyone left, Xie Chengrang picked up his teacup and drank with Xia Ziqiao.

Xia Ziqiao said, "Although we lost the He family, if we can acquire the Duan family's assets, it won't be a complete loss."

"The Guo brothers' fleet is transporting coal," Xie Chengrang said. "Are you aware of this?"

Xia Ziqiao frowned: "The He family has been incompetent. They underestimated those two brothers and let them cause so much trouble right under their noses."

Now he realized that the two brothers had not only secretly filed a lawsuit against the authorities, but also secretly bought boats and formed a fleet. Because they had dredged the river in advance, the imperial court had granted permission for them to transport coal.

Xia Ziqiao thought for a moment: "Do you still think the Guo brothers have someone backing them?"

Xie Chengrang remained silent. He had figured out many things, but he still felt something was amiss.

The imperial court has already used coal in Bianjing, so why hasn't the Xie family of Daming Prefecture appeared yet?
It's impossible for Xie to leave Bianjing. Since she's gone into hiding, she'll definitely choose an opportunity to come out into the public eye again. Could it be that she's backed down?

Merchants who made such a commotion in Daming Prefecture, even if they couldn't establish themselves in Bianjing, would still have to make a move; they wouldn't be afraid to even try.

Or perhaps she's always been there, but they just haven't noticed yet.

If she were there, where would she be?
Xie Chengrang said, "We must find that Xie woman from Daming Prefecture." Only by knowing the woman's whereabouts can he feel at ease.

……

South City.

Duan Dalang came out of the teahouse and was on his way to his lodgings when he encountered hired workers and boatmen, who all made way for him and bowed to him.

Duan Dalang was the owner of this land. No one knew who had spread the news, but within half a day, most people in the southern part of the city knew about it.

Duan Dalang, who had followed his father around the country to do business since he was a child, was able to face it calmly at first, but when he heard more and more praise for him, he became a little embarrassed.

Merchants from the north all wanted to pay him a visit.

After the teahouse hung up the plaque of the hometown association, merchants from other states and prefectures came to him one after another. They also wanted to establish their own hometown associations and asked him for some guidance.

Duan Dalang naturally refused. He acted with ease in the crowd, but inside he was panicking because... he was a fake.

This all started when he approached Master Zheng himself.

He knew that Master Zheng was making Buddhist charcoal, and he saw that coal and Buddhist charcoal were a lucrative business. Most importantly, he had his eye on Madam Xie of Daming Prefecture. Every single thing Madam Xie did was extraordinary. Whether it was the clay furnaces of Daming Prefecture or her treatment of her employees, everything impressed Duan Dalang. He couldn't wait to meet Madam Xie and even more so, he wanted to join the local association of Daming Prefecture.

He approached Master Zheng and mentioned the matter, asking Master Zheng to make an introduction. Master Zheng wrote a letter of recommendation for him and sent it to the Yang family in Daming Prefecture.

Unexpectedly, before he could even see his wife, he received a letter from his husband.

Like Master Zheng and the others, he had some connection with the Wang family, but the young master had never ordered them to do anything. This time, the young master suddenly wrote him a letter, asking him to come to Bianjing, as there was something he needed to entrust to him.

He dared not delay and rushed to Bianjing as quickly as possible. Along the way, he considered many possibilities. The things his master asked him to do must be extraordinary, otherwise he would not have repeatedly told him to keep this secret and not to reveal the truth to anyone.

He was prepared that he might lose his life this time.

After arriving in Bianjing, we took a boat to the South City Wharf, and then...

Everything was not as he had imagined. He didn't need to do anything else; he only needed to show his face occasionally. At first, he was completely confused, but he soon realized that what was right under his nose was exactly what he wanted.

He didn't need to guess who the real owner was; it must be Madam Xie.

Lady Xie received his letter and asked about her husband. Her husband trusted him greatly, so he sent him to Bianjing to help. Although Duan Dalang thought it was somewhat impossible, this explanation was the most reasonable.

As for why he was brought here, it was because Madam Xie could not show her face at the moment, and they needed to conceal her identity.

Duan Dalang was willing to do this, but if the eldest daughter-in-law's identity were to be revealed, everything at the South City Wharf would have to come to an end, and he did not want to see that happen.

In his eyes, this place was the second Daming Prefecture, and everything was just beginning to take shape and needed to be carefully protected.

"The lady is inside the house."

Mother Yu lifted the curtain and invited Uncle Duan and Third Uncle Zheng inside.

Xie Yuyan was talking to Yang Xiaoshan.

“All the workers, whether they are scratching backs, combing hair, shaving heads or trimming feet, must do it exactly the same way the master taught them.”

There are many advantages to this. Each time a guest comes to the perfume shop, they encounter a different salesperson, but the experience is always the same.

Furthermore, having established procedures makes learning faster. It also makes it easier to spot if someone isn't putting in the effort.

Yang Xiaoshan responded.

Grandpa Duan couldn't help but interject at this moment: "Recently, there have been more and more people at the dock. Many of them come here to find work."

"Guo Xiong picked out several people today to take to the ship."

Guo Xiong kept his eyes fixed on the hired workers who came to him all day long, and he snatched up all the suitable boatmen.

Of course, this is a good thing.

Now many people in the city know that it's easy to find work at the South City Wharf.

It's still the busy farming season now; once the planting season is over, even more people will come.

Grandpa Duan could already foresee the excitement that would follow.

"Many people come to the perfume shop to learn the craft. The fact that meals are provided during the apprenticeship period attracts a lot of people. If they are willing to work hard, they can start working in the perfume shop immediately after they have completed their apprenticeship."

"I think it won't be long before we've made something of ourselves here."

What kind of climate will it become?
Naturally, many people were willing to work for Madam. Money wasn't important; what mattered was people. As long as people were there, anything could be accomplished.

This is what Duan Dalang learned from Lady Xie during this period.