#29Chapter 29: Dongfang City, a small fortune
After the snow melted, the roads in the outer city were full of water and full of potholes.
The old elm wheels rolled into puddles filled with water, and sewage splashed everywhere like broken pearl curtains.
The lowly households in the outer city, with their bare feet on the muddy water, were like vultures, surrounding the carriage, moving slowly on the muddy streets.
If they hadn't been forced by Shen Qing's power, they would have swarmed up and snatched up a whole cart of mountain goods.
"Brother Qingzi, I'm a little scared." Shen Xiaohu, who came to the county for the first time, had never seen such a formation before and asked Shen Qing for help.
"Take out your bow. If anyone comes up, shoot them to death." Shen Qing said expressionlessly: "You won't be afraid if you have someone in your hand."
"ah!"
Seeing Shen Xiaohu's hesitation and knowing that he was not mentally prepared for this, Shen Qing continued: "Just treat them as prey in the forest. See if the one with long ears looks like a wild rabbit in the mountains."
"Like!" In Shen Xiaohu's heart, his cousin is still very powerful, even the big shots in the village admire him.
"Then treat him as a hare. If he misbehaves, shoot him."
Seeing what he said, Shen Xiaohu immediately took out the bow and arrows he had brought from home, filled the string with arrows, and showed a fierce look.
Sure enough, when he did this, the lowly people who gathered around seemed to slow down, and they slowly distanced themselves some distance.
Zhang Shuyuan reminded me intentionally or unintentionally: "This is your first time here, and the few bosses in the outer city haven't figured out your way around you yet. You should be careful after you go a few times and they figure out your background."
In fact, Zhang Shuyuan does not need to remind him that Shen Qing, who has hunting skills, is also extremely sensitive to the external environment.
He had already noticed that there were several sharp eyes staring at him in the shanty town in the outer city. They were all tall and tall, like a practicing master.
"You are going to give me some money. I need to pack some money before entering the city." Zhang Shuyuan raised his chin, gestured to the city gate in front of him, and clicked.
Shen Qing looked forward.
There were crowds of people under the city gate engraved with the word "Taiping", and there were many farmers queuing up carrying vegetables and firewood to sell.
The city gate guards held inspection sticks, and their cold eyes swept over their faces one by one.
The crying of children, the complaints of traders, and the lowing of livestock mixed together, making it extremely noisy.
…
After a while, Shen Qing tightened the reins and stopped outside the city gate.
On both sides of the city gate, several guards leaned lazily under the mottled city wall, with a bit of disdain and indifference in their eyes.
Two of them saw Shen Qing carrying a cart full of goods, and each walked over. They lazily raised their hands and signaled Shen Qing to get out of the car.
"Enter the city?" The guard snorted, with a trace of undisguised greed on his lips: "Do you understand the rules? It costs one tael of silver to enter the city, and it doesn't matter if you lose a penny."
Shen Qing's eyes glanced at the simple vendors and ragged lowly people around him. He could see clearly that the entry fee they gave them didn't even have a tael of silver.
At this time, Zhang Shuyuan jumped down from the cart, walked over with the twenty coins in his hand, stuffed it heavily into the guard's hands, and said with a smile: "I work for the owner Ruan Kiln, brothers, please do me a favor convenient."
The guard weighed the weight, and then managed to squeeze out a trace of satisfaction from the corner of his mouth. He waved lazily to let them go, and by the way, he joined them in the queue.
Shen Qing couldn't help but be a little impressed by this serious bookworm in the village. After all, he had seen the world.
After all, the money spent on him was not wasted.
Once you enter the city gate, you can make money back.
The moment he crossed the city gate, Shen Qing instantly felt as if he had stepped into another world.
The streets in the city are wide and there are many shops. The shouts and laughter are intertwined and lively, which is in sharp contrast with the shanty towns outside the city.
Inside there were many well-dressed young men and young men, talking and laughing as they paraded through the streets.
Those farmers wearing ragged coats walking on the same street with them felt a little ridiculous.
Shen Qing, who had seen the prosperous times of the modern era, was unfazed, but Shen Xiaohu, who saw this lively scene for the first time, couldn't help but be a little stunned. His eyes were full of novelty, and he was really a country bumpkin.
The streets in the inner city are paved with bluestone slabs, forming a crossroads along the center, dividing the entire county into four districts: southeast, northwest and northwest.
Shen Qing was not familiar with this and humbly asked Zhang Shuyuan for advice.
"I did some accounts for Chen Youguang. They were all sold to Song Dongjia Restaurant in Dongfang City. Turn right from that intersection." Zhang Shuyuan pointed in the direction and said based on the appearance in his memory.
Shen Qing followed Zhang Shuyuan's instructions and walked to Dongfang City smoothly.
Various restaurants, inns, and snack shops are lined up inside.
There are county residents in various costumes walking around inside.
Soon, Shen Qing came to a restaurant called "Wanfeng Building" and stopped. After explaining his purpose, a boy led them to the backyard of the restaurant.
When he arrived, he saw various people dressed as farmers and hunters coming in and out of the back door, and from time to time he could hear some bargaining.
Shen Qing waited at the back door for a while before it was his turn.
"The hunters outside come in."
After hearing the summons, Shen Qing did not delay or neglect, leaving Shen Xiaohu to look at the car and walked in with Zhang Shuyuan.
As soon as I entered the door, there was a noise.
The backyard is like a vegetable and meat market, with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, poultry and livestock, and a lot of wild products on the ground.
A middle-aged man with thin cheeks and sharp chin holds an abacus in his hand and is checking it from time to time.
He muttered quickly, his voice was high-pitched but stern, and he would not let go of every small mistake, even the extra half a penny.
Seeing Shen Qing and others walking in, the middle-aged man glanced at Shen Qing and said, "I've never seen him before, where did he come from?"
"Steward, I'm from Hongshan Village." Shen Qing said matter-of-factly: "I wonder what your last name is, steward?"
"Hongshan Village? My surname is Wang. Where is Chen Youguang?"
"Hui Wang Guanshi, he is dead." Shen Qing raised his head and said calmly: "We have a tiger here, and everyone in his family is dead."
Manager Wang from Wanfeng Tower put down his calculations and looked stunned.
Dead?
Wouldn't it mean that all the things he had agreed upon before were nullified?
Suddenly, the manager of Wanfeng Tower was in a bad mood.
Shen Qing continued: "We are a small place in the village and don't have much knowledge. If I'm bolder, I want to give it a try. Supervisor, can you give me this chance?"
The steward of Wanfeng Building came to his senses and said, "Let me take a look at your things first."
With that said, he walked outside the door and started picking out the mountain goods on Shen Qing's cart.
Shen Qing introduced: "These are all newly hunted hares and roe deer, as well as newly hunted roe deer. They are all good products from the mountains. Manager Wang, take a good look at them."
"These are all common things. Are there any treasures?" the manager of Wanfeng Tower asked casually.
Shen Qing said: "Manager Wang, how can it be so easy to meet Shanzhen? In our village, we don't see them once a month."
The manager of Wanfeng Tower said: "I have agreed with Chen Youguang before that I want to find some mountain treasures for Song Dong's family. Can you find them? If you can find them, then I will accept this cart."
Shen Qing was slightly startled, hearing the implication.
If he didn't agree, he might not be able to do this business today.
"Manager Wang, please tell me."
Manager Wang was wearing black boots, staring at Shen Qing with a sly smile, and said slowly: "I want blood bird's nest, jade deer tendon and tiger king whip."
When Shen Qing heard these three things, his face suddenly became troubled.
"Manager Wang, I've never heard of the ones you want. Where can I find them from you?"
"If not, I won't accept your goods."
Shen Qing looked at Zhang Shuyuan aside, lowered his voice and asked for advice: "In the county, besides his family, can we sell to anyone else?"
Zhang Shuyuan replied: "Do you know what the four major bosses in the county do?"
"I don't know."
"There are four big business owners in the county, including Zhou, Wang, Song, and Li. They are engaged in four major businesses: silk clothing, pawn banks, restaurant actors, and ship shipping. It can be said bluntly that the basic necessities of Taiping County include food, clothing, housing, and transportation. I can't live without these four."
Zhang Shuyuan continued: "This Wanfeng Building is the property of the Song family. He said that if you don't take it, you won't be able to sell it anywhere."
After hearing Zhang Shuyuan's explanation, Shen Qing's face looked a little ugly.
He knew that people inside and outside the county relied on the four major bosses for food, but he didn't expect that they would be so overbearing.
The manager of Wanfeng Tower said impatiently: "Have we discussed it? If you don't want to, please don't delay my affairs."
Shen Qing said hurriedly: "Yes, yes. I will tell everyone in the village then that I will find it for the manager. Manager Wang will take a look at my car first."
"Be sure to find it before spring starts. If you can't find it, give me thirty taels of silver to honor my boss."
Shen Qing's heart couldn't help but trembled, and she secretly cursed these vampires.
Thirty taels of silver is really not a small amount of money.
Even if the Chen family has all their property, they may not be able to get it together.
But now he has no better option, so he has no choice but to accept it.
It took a lot of effort to get this opportunity, and he couldn't give it up so easily.
People have to bow their heads under the eaves.
Before he could get rich, he had to endure it.
The manager of Wanfeng Building in front of him must have some means to achieve his current position. He must rely on the big tree of the Song family.
In this county, it would be easy to kill a hunter from his village. It was not something he could kill at will now.
But as for the future...
"Your cart of goods is worth a total of fifteen taels of silver. I will also take the raccoon dog and some pheasant feathers. I will give you an additional five taels of silver, for a total of fifteen taels." The steward of Wanfeng Building quickly fiddled with his hands. With abacus in mind, he quoted a price to Shen Qing.
"Can you raise the price a little more? It's too cheap."
The manager of Wanfeng Building put his calculations together, with a somewhat unhappy expression on his face, and said forcefully: "I'll give you half a penny more, don't even think about it. If Chen Youguang hadn't begged for nothing, the Song family's own merchants would have gone to buy it, like this Good things won't happen to you yet."
Shen Qing suppressed those thoughts in his heart, put on a smile on his face and said: "Thank you very much, Manager Wang, for your support. I would like to express my gratitude to Manager Haihan."
As he spoke, Shen Qing stuffed a large amount of money into the hand of the manager of Wanfeng Tower with his usual expression on his face.
In this way, Manager Wang's face became a little better: "I can see that you are very smart. I like to deal with smart people."
"It just so happens that I won't hide it from you. I'm not deliberately targeting you for asking you for that mountain treasure, but it's an opportunity given to you by my boss. Now there are several young masters in my boss's family who have reached a critical point in their martial arts practice and need these mountain treasures for nourishment. If you find it, your boss will reward you."
After listening to this, Shen Qing pretended to be grateful and said, "So that's how it is. Thank you for telling me, manager."
He was very tactful and did not ask about the thirty taels of silver from the boss.
He had already guessed a little about the tricks.
After putting away the abacus, Wang, the manager of Wanfeng Building, asked people to start moving things from his car, and then asked the accountant to take fifteen taels of silver and give it to Shen Qing: "What's your name?"
Shen Qing counted the silver and confirmed that it was correct, and said: "To answer the manager, my surname is Shen, and my given name is Qing."
"Shen Qing, right?" Wang, the manager of Wanfeng Building, nodded and said: "I will remember you. You can send your goods here in the future. If you do well, I can give you the mountain product business of seven or eight villages around Shicheng Mountain."
Facing the big pie drawn by Wang, Shen Qing accepted it on the surface, and said respectfully: "I will do it well."
Wanfeng Building Manager Wang waved his hand casually and sent him away: "There is nothing else here."
"Then I'll take my leave." Shen Qing said a few words respectfully and left the backyard.
Looking at Shen Qing's back as he left, Wang Qiyao, the manager of Wanfeng Building, couldn't help but glance at him a few more times, looking thoughtful.
A servant came over and said to Wang Qiyao: "Manager, do you want to tell the people outside the city?"
"What the boss told you is important. Wild delicacies are indispensable. Have you told the hunters in other villages?"
"Manager, don't worry. I have told every hunter who came. They will not delay your work."
Wang Qiyao's face became serious and he said: "No matter what method I use, I must find all three wild delicacies before the spring. That guy surnamed Cai doesn't get along with me, and he must be thinking of a way in secret. The position of the shopkeeper of Wanfeng Tower must not be given to him."
"Manager Cai is definitely not as well-connected as Manager Wang. The position of shopkeeper will definitely be yours in the future." The servant beside him said flatteringly.
Wang Qiyao waved his hand to send the servant away, walked to the place where Shen Qing had unloaded the goods, and took out the raccoon dog inside.
"This raccoon looks good. It should be able to sell for six taels of silver. I made a tael of silver for free, haha."
...
Walking out of the door, Shen Qing carefully calculated what he had earned today.
He got a total of fifteen taels of silver.
Among them, the silver money from his hunting goods was about five taels and five cents, mainly because of the raccoon, which made him a lot of money.
The remaining nearly ten taels of silver were all mountain products in the entire village.
After deducting the cost, he could make a net profit of about five or six hundred coins.
This money was almost equivalent to his uncle Shen's twenty days of hard work.
Even if he ate refined rice and noodles every meal, he could afford it.
The important thing is that this way is not like hunting, which is a matter of luck. It is very stable.
No wonder Chen Youguang had this idea.
Adding the total hard work, he got almost six taels of silver this time.
It was enough to be considered a windfall, a small fortune.
The days to come will be much better.
I also have some confidence to practice martial arts.