Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

After the third brother left, Bai Jingwen took a sip of tea and said, "We've received quite a few visits from these officials along the way. We'll have someone send a gift to Lord Xu later to acknowledge our poor hospitality."

Madam Bai agreed. After all, they were just ordinary merchants, and their motto was to avoid offending anyone and to make money through harmony.

"Seeing how well you've taken care of Suihe, we're relieved. But we don't plan to stay here permanently. We'll keep moving forward; our real destination is Quanzhou."

The family had just sat down and all the servants had been sent away, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.

Bai Suihe: "Was Father also involved in shipping?"

Bai Jingwen now views this legitimate daughter with new eyes. She used to be a gentle and weak person. She originally thought that by finding the third son of the Gu family, she wouldn't be in charge of the household and the backyard would be relatively peaceful. That way, she would at least never be bullied in her life. Once her mother-in-law passed away, she could take charge of the household herself. If that didn't work, she could have her children support her when they grew up. But she never expected that the third son of the Gu family would be so quietly under her control. She had underestimated him.

He had only just begun, yet he had already guessed some of his own actions, and a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes. If this were a son, even if he couldn't expand the trade routes, he could still maintain the business with his foresight.

“We were operating several boats together with others,” Bai Jingwen said, feeling there was nothing to hide from his family. “My choice of that place wasn’t solely based on that.”

Your Majesty does not prohibit the sea now, but that may not be the case under the next emperor. Until the situation becomes clear, I also need to go there and keep an eye on things.

As for moving the family there, I've investigated the area; the climate and other aspects are very suitable for living. Moreover, it's a strategically important location, avoiding conflict.

“Coastal areas are inevitably prone to many natural disasters.” Gu Kaiyuan was somewhat worried. He had previously considered moving to the coast, but during typhoon season, it was not an ideal place to live.

Even if Bai Suihe wanted to find an island as a backup plan, he didn't really agree with it. However, there were several large islands overseas. If all else failed, they could try to acquire them. Larger islands were more resilient to risks.

“That’s nothing,” Bai Jingwen said confidently. “A little typhoon, as long as we choose a good location and build the house sturdily, it’s not a big problem.”

Bai Suihe blinked. She did know the formula for cement. Her family had helped her so much, it was time for her to do her part.

However, she planned to discuss these matters privately with her mother and her two younger brothers later.

Their father had more than just the three of them as children, and Bai Suihe knew she wasn't that much of a saint.

Gu Kaiyuan is very interested in shipping, and he is also preparing to build a ship. Now that he knows his father-in-law is involved in these matters, he naturally wants to learn from him.

Bai Jingwen already knew before he arrived that the boy had changed his household registration and become a son-in-law of the Bai family. Although it was all done in private, he was still very happy.

Having gained most of his son, and with his heart completely biased towards the Bai family, he patiently explained things to him when he saw that the man had something to ask for.

Knowing that his son-in-law was recruiting craftsmen to build his own ship, the father-in-law and son-in-law immediately became interested. They went to the study and, upon seeing the blueprints, instantly realized that their previous ships were nothing compared to what they had done.

After the father-in-law and son-in-law left, Madam Bai immediately took her daughter's hand and asked her how she was doing.

Seeing that there were no outsiders present, Bai Suihe asked, "Mother, have you finished dealing with all your properties?"

Madam Bai said, "We dealt with most of it, but there was still a small part that we couldn't handle right away, so we left people there to manage it."

The same goes for your father's side; after all, he has too many businesses, and it's impossible to deal with them all at once.

Most of what was disposed of were estates and land, while a large portion of the shops were retained, since they were merchants and primarily engaged in business. The capital was the center of power and wealth; businesses there were always profitable, so he was reluctant to let them go.

They've already taken most of their assets with them, so if there's any turmoil, we can't afford to cause them serious damage.

The daughter wouldn't ask this question without a reason, so she inquired, "Is something wrong?"

Bai Suihe quickly waved her hand, "There's no problem. It's just that I have a recipe here, and my mother said it was part of her dowry or something she found herself."

Madam Bai asked, puzzled, "What prescription is it?"

Taking advantage of returning to her room, Bai Suihe took out the cement formula she had copied down earlier from her spatial storage. "I have a formula for building materials here. The houses built with this formula will be more sturdy. Mother and Second Brother can try it out first. If it's suitable, we can build some houses for ourselves."

This house can withstand typhoons; you and your second brother can figure out how to operate it yourselves.

Madam Bai immediately understood her daughter's thoughts, and gently patted her hand a few times. Sure enough, it was her own son and daughter who were the most considerate of her, always thinking of their mother.

Bai Jiannan gave his eldest sister a thumbs up, saying that it was right for her to be wary of their father, since he didn't only have a few children, but also several favored illegitimate sons.

According to the Bai family's rules, the eldest son should inherit 90% of the family business. Although the father would not violate the family rules, he had still subsidized them quite a bit over the years.

“However, this stuff is very valuable,” Bai Jiannan wasn’t ignorant. He didn’t ask where the recipe came from, but they couldn’t take it. “You and your brother-in-law can set up your own shop, and we’ll buy it from you then.”

Although they are siblings, they still need to keep clear accounts. Now that the older sister is married, it wouldn't be right for her to take all the good things back to her parents' home.

“This is my stuff, take it.” Bai Suihe stuffed the prescription directly into his arms. “This is the dowry my mother gave me before, now it’s just returning it to its rightful owner.”

These words were meant for Madam Bai's ears, and had absolutely nothing to do with the Bai family. If they were, the profits from this formula would belong to the three siblings.

Mrs. Bai said, "You should discuss it with your son-in-law first."

“He knows all of these,” Bai Suihe said, “he has plenty of good remedies. You can ask him privately later if you don’t believe me.”

Hearing her say that, Madam Bai finally told her son to accept the gifts, saying, "You can ask your brother-in-law about it later."

"If he really knows, then we can't keep it for ourselves. If the deal goes through, the three of you siblings will split it equally."

Even so, he still took advantage of his daughter.

As for whether the prescription was as effective as she claimed, Madam Bai didn't even consider it.

“Alright, I’ll keep it safe for now,” Bai Jiannan said, putting the things into his pocket. “I’ll go and call Jianbei back now, so we can have a good talk.”

Bai Jianbei, who was picking leaves in the backyard, sneezed several times, drawing laughter from his half-brothers who were strolling there. He glared at them fiercely, and when they quieted down, he circled around the tree. (End of Chapter)