Film and Television World Life Record

Su An nodded.

“Recently, my Su family has encountered some problems. I can’t say how big they are, but they have had some impact.”

"First of all, the market share of the Su family in the Jiangning area has declined, but not by much, less than half a percent. But the main problem is not there. Some suppliers know that the Su family is in trouble and have started to kick us while we're down. Many suppliers are asking to negotiate with the Su family to raise the price of raw silk... If we agree, our profits will be greatly reduced... If other suppliers see this and follow suit, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Su An spoke in a loud voice. Anyone present who understood business could recognize the crisis involved. The Su family had recently encountered a series of events that caused their reputation to plummet. Many people looked down on them and even wanted to take advantage of their misfortune.

After Su An finished speaking, the scene immediately erupted in discussion.

Many of the clan elders also showed signs of worry.

"What are they doing... kicking me when I'm down, thinking that something bad is going to happen to the Su family, or that the Su family is hopeless?"

"Since things have already come to this, we still need to find the problem and solve it as soon as possible."

"Yes! Everyone, tell me, what's the root of the problem..."

Su Wenxing suddenly shouted, "If we're talking about the root of the problem, it all boils down to my Su family's unsuccessful high-profile competition for the Imperial Merchant title. With such a grand display and such a huge investment, we ended up with nothing..."

"In truth, it's inevitable that outsiders will start to have doubts, and even kick us when we're down. Sigh!"

As Su Wenxing spoke, he sighed again, feigning a sense of sympathy.

His words finally ignited the conversation, and everyone began to whisper among themselves.

"I told you, you can't run a stable business, you have to compete for the title of Imperial Merchant. Now look what happened."

"I heard that the eldest son's family has established a presence in various places as imperial merchants, replacing old looms and building new workshops at great expense. I wonder exactly how much they've spent..."

"Who knows, the eldest son's family has never revealed it to the outside world. It's a pity that Manager Liao is not in Jiangning, otherwise we could have inquired about it."

"I've also heard that in the past two or three years, the eldest son's family has spent a huge amount of money trying to operate as a royal merchant, and now it's all gone down the drain..."

Everyone whispered and discussed animatedly as the planned scenes unfolded one by one. Only the main branch remained calm, with Su Tan'er and the others occasionally speaking, but their emotions were not apparent.

By the end of the discussion, the problem was clear: the Su family had recently encountered a major issue with far-reaching consequences. Ultimately, the root cause was a problem with the Su family's next successor, the only daughter of the eldest son's wife, who made problematic decisions. Her autocratic behavior, massive investment in the imperial merchant business, and initial overconfidence followed by a sudden downfall triggered turmoil, severely damaging the Su family's reputation and consequently impacting their business.

At this moment, Su Zhongkan also stood up: "Elders, I have a few words to say."

"In this battle for the imperial merchant position, although my niece Tan'er was somewhat arbitrary, the main reason was that the Wuwu family was too despicable, and my niece Tan'er simply lacked business experience. But a mistake is a mistake, and things have come to this point, so there must be an explanation."

Su Yunfang from the third branch chimed in, "Yes, I have seen my niece Tan'er's efforts. But... a mistake is a mistake. How much money did our Su family spend to compete for the Imperial Merchant title? We made such a big fuss, and yet we still failed. So many people laughed at us. What a blow this was to our Su family, and even the entire Su family's business was greatly affected."

"Everyone says that the Su family will be handed over to Tan'er in the future, but whether we can trust such a person to manage such a large family business is debatable."

"I think we need to reconsider who will lead the Su family in the future and select someone from the younger generation. Of course, this depends on the opinions of the elders. I am also thinking about the development of the entire Su family."

Chapter 616 The End

Su Yunfang's words intensified the discussion in the room. Waves of discussion and debate spread from the council hall, merging into a fierce and noisy tide that gradually spread to the small square outside the council hall and the surrounding area.

Starting with Su Yunfang, people from the second and third wives began to speak enthusiastically, as did their supporters. Some supporters of the first wife also started to speak, and the scene became chaotic.

In the end, the eldest son's family was less influential. Regardless of the outcome of the argument, what was clear was that the eldest son's family was no longer favored and that the people's hearts were turned against them.

Ultimately, Su Tan'er was not a man, and her status as a woman made her unable to withstand failure; few people were willing to give her another chance.

Despite being the target of criticism, Su Tan'er remained calm and composed, sitting quietly beside her father, Su Boyong, occasionally glancing up indifferently at everything around her.

The debate continued. Some members of the main branch who knew that Su Tan'er had lost power and that they would inevitably be marginalized were still arguing. Many people from the second and third branches were also excited and determined to completely suppress the momentum of the main branch.

Su Zhongkan offered a few perfunctory words of advice, but to no avail. He could only suppress his excitement and slowly sit down.

Now that all sorts of emotions have been brewing, once the debate subsides, it will be natural for the elders sitting above, and the father who is the clan leader, to make a decision.

However, when things seem unpredictable, something unexpected always happens.

Amidst the intense and chaotic scene, few noticed that Su Tan'er took out several sheets of paper and handed them to her father, Su Boyong, and then to Su Yu, the patriarch. The patriarch glanced at them, a knowing look on his face, and passed them to the clan elder beside him.

As the conference progressed, the clan leader, Su Yu, clearly displayed something, which perhaps represented a certain attitude. Several clan elders nearby immediately became interested in those few pieces of paper.

On the other side, amidst the heated debate, few people paid attention to the few pieces of paper until they began to circulate among the clan elders. Everyone who saw them had a drastic change in expression, their faces becoming serious, their brows furrowed, and then suddenly relaxed.

After reading the papers, many clan elders would ask Su Yu questions, and Su Yu would turn his head to answer a few questions. Then, one, two, three... these clan elders seemed to have stopped caring about the debate below and sat together discussing the papers.

This phenomenon finally attracted attention, and many people turned their attention to those few pieces of paper, wondering what exactly was written on them and what magic they possessed that made so many clan elders change color.

Afterwards, the debate below subsided, and the elders above began to discuss it again.

Su Zhongkan glanced at Su Yunfang, not quite understanding the meaning of the few pieces of paper that had suddenly appeared. He then looked at Su Tan'er, who was still sitting quietly, her expression unreadable.

Su Zhongkan could only suppress his thoughts and wait for the outcome.

A moment later, the sound of the cane hitting the ground rang out.

As the clan leader, Su Yu rose from his seat and scanned the entire room with his gaze.

"You've all finished arguing, right? Let me say a few words."

"In recent months, our Su family has encountered some troubles, both internal and external. As for what those troubles are, everyone knows. You all have come back from far away to resolve this matter."

“I’m getting old, and there are some things I can no longer do. I’ve been thinking about successors all these years. As for my Su family, everyone knows the situation of each branch. None of the boys are capable of anything. On the contrary, they are very good at eating, drinking and having fun. Maybe my Su family’s way of educating people is wrong.”

"Over the past few years, only Tan'er has caught my eye. She's a promising talent with ideas and potential, so I thought I'd give her a try."

"However, in the business world, girls ultimately have to put in more effort than boys. What they can do with one unit of effort, you have to put in three. As a result, Tan'er's marriage was delayed, and she almost became an old maid. There were all sorts of gossips outside... But in the end, it was still good. She found a good husband, Li Heng."

"Everyone has seen how well Tan'er has performed over the years, and she is qualified as the successor of the Su family. As for what happened in the past few months, although many people have misunderstood, the elders have already come to their understanding, and everyone will soon know the reason."

"Although Tan'er is a bit young, her performance is already good enough to manage the household, and I can now enjoy my retirement."

Ignoring the shocked expressions on the faces of the crowd below, he nodded to Su Tan'er: "Tan'er, come up here too!"

Su Tan'er's face remained calm, seemingly without the slightest surprise. She picked up a small box, stood up, and walked forward.

The old man tapped his cane on the ground and said, word by word, "From today onwards, all my businesses and affairs in various states will be handed over to Tan'er to manage."

"Boyong..."

Su Boyong quickly stood up: "Father..."

Su Yu said, "Tan'er is still young, so you, as her father, need to take better care of her."

Su Boyong replied, "Yes, Father!"

While someone on stage was still talking, Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang felt their minds buzzing. How could this be? Why did this happen? Tan'er made such a huge mistake, how could she still take over?

Not only them, but the result also caused an uproar in the audience. Everyone was stunned and discussed it. Some people questioned the result, but... seeing that the elders had no objections, they could only keep their opinions to themselves for the time being.

Before they could remain puzzled for long, Su Tan'er opened the box she was carrying and took out the contents one by one in front of the elders.

Inside the box were silver notes, land deeds, house deeds, and signed contracts. After taking the items out and arranging them, Su Tan'er stepped forward, smiled faintly, and bowed to everyone. Suppressing their surprise and curiosity, everyone looked over, waiting to see what she wanted to say.

Su Tan'er pointed to the items on display: "I know that everyone has been puzzled these past few months. The eldest branch of the family, which was doing well, suddenly seems to have gone mad and has done a lot of inexplicable things. They were originally quietly setting up their business in the Imperial Merchants, but suddenly they became high-profile, wanting the whole world to know. As a result, after failing to win the Imperial Merchants election, they suffered a terrible setback, and no one is optimistic about them anymore."

"In addition, the eldest son's family has been mobilizing a large amount of money recently and has made arrangements in many seemingly unreasonable places, which has amplified this suspicion."

"Everyone wants to know why? Actually, the answer is right here, I've already laid it out."

"However, this is only the result of this period of time. There will be another batch later. Originally, we wanted to keep it a secret for a while longer until we had all the items. But given the current situation, we have no choice but to release it now."

Everyone stared in astonishment at the things on the table, and some couldn't resist crowding around to take a closer look.

After a long pause, he stammered, his face blank, "This is...this is..."

Su Tan'er said calmly, "There are a total of 210,000 taels of silver notes here, more than 50 land deeds, real estate and shop transfer contracts. Transfer contracts for the market share originally held by the Wu family in various prefectures; there are also the formulas for the Wu family's five most famous dyes, and some other miscellaneous items, which I won't go into."

"These are all things we've already received. Next, we'll receive another batch of items."

Everyone stared in disbelief, their faces filled with disbelief.

Su Zhongkan strode forward: "This...it's impossible. These are the lifeblood of the Wu family. Why should we give them to you?"

As he spoke, he personally inspected the banknotes, land deeds, house deeds, and other documents on the table…

As for the dye formula, Su Tan'er had kept it hidden beforehand, telling them that they only needed to know it was available, and absolutely not to look at it.

Su Wenxing also stepped forward, suddenly picking up a property deed, his face full of surprise. "Isn't this the three-story shop we fought with the Wu family for two years ago, the one they finally acquired? It's here... could it be..."

He glanced at Su Zhongkan beside him and whispered, "Father, this looks real. The Wu family head has signed all those contracts."

Su Zhongkan's face was full of disbelief: "Impossible, it's fake...it's all fake...this is the Wu family's most valuable property, their lifeline, why would they give it to you?"

Su Tan'er smiled faintly: "Because their fabrics fade!"

Su Zhongkan said, "The fabric is fading... What does the fading of their fabric have to do with you?"

Su Tan'er laughed: "Because the fabric formula was stolen from me. Now that it's faded, what else can they do but beg me for help?"

“The cloth from the Wu family…” Su Yunfang thought for a moment, then his gaze shifted: “You mean, the cloth from the imperial merchants? The batch of cloth used by the royal family that faded?”

Su Tan'er nodded: "Mm."

Such explosive news left everyone momentarily stunned. The scene fell silent as they looked at the nineteen-year-old girl in front of them, whose smile still carried a girlish innocence. They couldn't believe that she had orchestrated such a grand scheme, ensnaring not only the Wu family but everyone else as well.

Many people swallowed hard, feeling that Su Tan'er suddenly seemed unfathomable, inspiring a sense of awe.

"So, you were already planning this months ago..."

"The Wu family stole a fake formula? The real formula is with you?"

"For the past few months, have you been waiting for the yellow cloth to fade? So you could take over the Wu family without bloodshed..."

Amidst the uproar and gasps of the crowd, Su Tan'er simply smiled faintly and remained silent. There was no need to reveal everything; it was fine to let everyone guess.

Su Yu looked around at everyone's expressions: "Now, everyone doesn't need to question the outcome of the Imperial Merchants' meeting... A few months ago, Boyong was assassinated, so the eldest branch of the family decided on this risky method."