Nan Baoyi thanked Xiao Yi and happily went back to Jinyi Pavilion.
She took out all her money from her treasure box and counted a total of two thousand five hundred gold. This included red envelopes gifted from her elders and also her own allowances that she saved.
Two thousand five hundred gold was not a small amount. It was enough to buy the entire opera group, what more an opera actress.
"I'm really rich…"
After experiencing a lack of food and clothing in the previous life, Nan Baoyi held on to her money happily and quickly summoned He Ye to prepare a carriage to go out.
He Ye was anxious, "You just recovered from your illness, why do you want to go out at this time? Don't be silly. What if something goes wrong, how can I explain it to Old Madam and third master?"
Nan Baoyi hid her banknotes in a small pouch and cleverly came up with an excuse, "Grandmother's yard is very quiet. Since she likes to listen to operas I want to go to the opera place and buy two actresses to stay in the residence. Grandmother can listen anytime she wants, that will be great. Grandmother won't blame me for leaving the residence because of my good intentions.
He Ye could not persuade her. She had no choice but to arrange the carriage.
One hour later, Nan Baoyi's carriage stopped steadily along the street.
She got off the carriage, with He Ye supporting her and looked up. This was the biggest opera group in Jinguan City. The horizontal board above inscribed "Spring Jade Hall", looking very elegant and sophisticated.
Nan Baoyi told the place manager her reason for coming over. The manager looked at her and smiled, "Miss would like to purchase actresses of what ages? Coincidentally our boss just trained a few young female opera actresses, they are all girls of twelve and thirteen years of age. They all looked pretty ―"
Nan Baoyi handed him some silver, "The actress I want to buy has a history. You are not the decision-maker. I want to talk to your boss."
The manager looked at her, smiling while sizing her up. The girl in front looked very young and clearly a pampered miss who had not seen the world. It was obvious she was relying on her family's wealth and came here to make a scene.
He replied, "Our boss is very busy, I'm afraid he does not have the time to mess around with you. I can decide on all matters in this opera group. Even if miss wants to buy our main actress, I can also decide on that!"
"No need for the main actress… The name of the actress I want to buy is Liu Xiaomeng, are you able to make that happen?"
The manager quivered.
He looked at Nan Baoyi incredulously. This little girl looked delicate on the outside but her phoenix looking eyes were dark with an air of coldness that did not match her age.
He stuttered, "You, how do you know Liu Xiaomeng?"
Nan Baoyi smiled slightly, "Take me to your boss."
The manager had no choice but to lead her into Spring Jade Hall's elegant lounge.
The fragrance of wine permeated. A young girl of sixteen or seventeen revealing half of her shoulders and smelled sweet carried a wine jar lazily and sat on an expensive couch. She raised her eyelids and looked at her. She took a sip of wine carelessly and smiled lightly, "You want to buy Liu Xiaomeng?"
Nan Baoyi did not expect the boss of Spring Jade Hall was actually a girl.
And so young and beautiful!
Nan Baoyi nodded, "Miss please name your price."
The girl had a seductive appearance, "You are Nan family's fifth miss, right? You managed to find out that Madam Liu's indenture for sale of oneself is still here at Spring Jade Hall at such a young age, you are more capable than your father."
She lifted her head and took a sip of wine, her tipsy-looking charming eyes were bright and calm, "Seeing that fifth miss is such a smart person, one price, fifty thousand gold."
"Fifty thousand gold?!" Nan Baoyi choked.
"I'm sure fifth miss hates Madam Liu very much and once her indenture is in your hand, whether or not she would be able to enter the Nan residence is all up to you. Fifty thousand in exchange for your residence's peace, this is a very fair trade…"
The girl slowly drank more wine. The wine slipped down her white slender neck into her gown, looking alluring and distinguished.
She lifted her sleeves and patted the corner of her captivating mouth, "Otherwise, once Madam Liu becomes Nan family's third madam, I will use her indenture and ask your father for money. The amount is definitely not just fifty thousand anymore."
In the previous and present life, Nan Baoyi had never come in contact with such a business person who had a long term plan for a bigger business.
Their Nan family way of doing business was both honest and kind, they would not use such a way to extort people!
On the inside, her heart was screaming out at the unscrupulous business person but she remained calm on the outside, "Based on my understanding, officially Spring Jade Hall makes a living by singing and selling tea. But in actual fact, you raise beautiful girls to be concubines for others when they are older. Once they have children, they have better positions in the family. You then bring out their indenture and extort money from their families. In order for those families to maintain their reputation, they would not disclose this publicly… You really know how to do business. But what if the government officials knew about this, I wonder what will happen to Spring Jade Hall?"
This was Nan Baoyi's assumption.
Because in Jinguan City, many wealthy and powerful families liked to marry beautiful actresses as concubines.
Nan Baoyi was willing to bet that many people's fate was like Liu Xiaomeng's.
She used this to threaten so that the other party would not disclose this to anyone and at least they would be willing to give her a discount.
Seeing the girl on that expensive couch only smiled and did not say anything, she was more sure that what she said was true.
She gripped her handkerchief and summoned the courage to say, "Ten thousand gold, I want to buy Liu Xiaomeng's indenture!"
"Done."
The other party responded so swiftly. Nan Baoyi could not help but feel a tightness in her chest.
After all, she did not do much shopping, it seemed that she gave a high counter-offer…
She had no choice but to continue, "I will get the money as quickly as I can. Before that happens, I hope you will not leak out this news."
The girl graciously said, "I am honest when it comes to doing business, you can rest assured."
Nan Baoyi twitched her mouth.
No actress in the world was worth such a high price of ten thousand gold. This girl was clearly extorting and still called herself honest. Damn her honest business!
But no matter what, this was a case of a willing buyer and a willing seller, she could not say anything more.
When she was on her way back to the residence, the carriage slowly crossed the bustling streets.
Nan Baoyi flipped open the corner of the window curtain. This street was called Hanlin street, specializing in selling mostly calligraphy sets, historical books, and antique paintings. Scholars from Shu liked to come here to buy things.
Xiao Yi gave her the idea for handling her problem, should she buy him something as a gift?
The little girl wondered. He Ye suddenly nudged her, "Miss, look, isn't that Nan Yan?"
Nan Baoyi looked around. A weak-looking girl wearing a white outfit stepped into a literary shop. It was definitely Nan Yan.
"I heard rumors in the residence, saying Nan Yan's brother was studying in Wanchun Academy and he will take the imperial examination in two years. It looks like she is here to buy calligraphy sets for her brother."
Nan Baoyi bent her lip, "Let's go and take a look…"
Upon entering the shop, Nan Baoyi heard the warm voice of the owner saying:
"Miss Nan, the material of this Duan inkstone comes from Lanke mountain of Ziyun valley and I personally polished it. You can touch and feel the smooth and delicate surface. And look at the intricate carvings of fish and dragon on it, no other inkstone could compare with this beautiful inkstone! You already came here to see it three to five times, why don't you just straight away buy this inkstone this time?"
Nan Yan hesitated, "I really liked this inkstone otherwise I won't come here three to five times to look at it. But the price that you gave is too high, can it be cheaper?"
The owner laughed, "You must be joking, miss. Everybody knows that you are Miss Nan. The Nan family is beyond wealthy. This is only one thousand gold, what is it to you?"
Nan Yan bit her lip and looked at the inkstone without saying anything.
Although her father was the third master in the Nan family, the old madam was very strict. Her father did not have that much money and the allowance that he gave her usually was very little.
Her brother's birthday was coming soon and she really wanted to gift her brother a decent present. She had her eye on this piece of inkstone. The fish and dragon carvings were also a sign of good luck, she really did not want to give it up…
While she was still in a dilemma, suddenly there was a slight hibiscus fragrance in the air.
She turned around. A slender and charming girl was approaching slowly.
The girl had her hair tied up in two beautiful buns and wore a light pink outfit. There was an expensive and exquisite pearl ornament hanging from her waist and her shoes were woven by high-quality silk from Shu.
It was Nan Baoyi…
Someone she hated the most saw her in a helpless difficult situation. Blood from Nan Yan's entire body shot up her head.
Nan Yan's beautiful face was flushed red, "Such a coincidence meeting you here… Are you here to buy something too?"