Chapter 3 Business

  Wei Zhao and Xiang Qiang had just walked out of the door when a loud commotion broke out inside the teahouse. Wei Zhao chuckled and shook his head, wondering if he would be put on the list of unwelcome guests at Huiwen Tower from now on.

  Xianglian followed behind Wei Zhao, furrowing her brow in deep thought as she tried to figure out the strange scene from earlier. Unable to come up with an explanation, she silently blamed herself for dozing off and missing such a wonderful moment. Looking up at Wei Zhao, the little maid hesitated about whether or not to ask Young Master.

  "Xiangliang, do you have to pay to listen to the storytelling?" Wei Zhao slightly furrowed his brow and suddenly turned to ask Xiangliang. In his understanding, this should be a promotional method of the teahouse and shouldn't require payment, but he couldn't understand the flash of anger in the old man's eyes.

  Don't get angry just because you laughed yourself?

  Xiangxiang was still thinking about what had just happened when Wei Zhao suddenly asked her a question, startling her so much that she jumped up, patted her chest anxiously and scolded: "Young master, you scared me to death!"

  Wei Zhao saw her lovely appearance and smiled, saying: "What are you thinking about in broad daylight? Ah, right, what was the bowl on my head just now used for?"

  Xiangliang was startled by him and forgot everything, rolled her eyes coquettishly and said: "For the reward money, of course."

  Wei Zhuo's footsteps came to a sudden stop, his eyes wide with surprise: "So that means listening to storytelling requires payment?"

  Xiangliang's feet didn't stop moving as she said with a bad temper: "If you don't pay to listen to the storytelling, how can there be such good things."

  Wei Xiao sighed and finally understood why the old man had been looking for him alone.

  "Xiangliang, you take these, I'll be right back." Wei Zhao stuffed the things in his arms into Xiangliang's bosom, glared at her, turned around and walked towards the teahouse again.

  Xiangxiang felt a little guilty, holding a large bundle of things and not daring to make a sound. The first time she really had forgotten, but later it was intentional. In her opinion, monks chanting sutras didn't collect money, and the old man's lectures were even less worthy of payment than the monks' chanting. Thinking of Young Master's delighted expression when he read that ancient book, Xiangxiang plucked up some courage again, feeling she had done the right thing. 'Young Master usually rewards us with food, drink, and clothes, and is such a good person, I'm just being diligent, it's not excessive.' But thinking about it, she felt a little guilty again.

  "Taizu let out a loud roar, and the million-strong army collapsed with a deafening crash, retreating hundreds of miles..."

  Wei Zhuo had just stepped through the doorway when the old man's rhythmic speech struck his ears once again. He closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and slapped his forehead before rushing back to the table where he had left his bowl earlier.

  As soon as Wei Zhao entered the door, the old man's voice suddenly dropped, staring straight at him, and everyone else immediately turned their heads, gazing intently at him, but no one made a sound, just like before, eerily quiet.

  Wei Zhao rushed out in a mad dash, amidst the attention of the crowd, a dozen or so large coins clinking into the bowl, then he gave an old man a fist bump and quickly escaped.

  Wei Zhuang rushed out of the door, and inside was still eerily quiet.

  Wei Zhuo took the Xuan paper from Xiang Qiang's arms, panting slightly, and immediately stepped forward. He was no longer worried about whether the Huteng Building would let him in, but rather whether he could muster the face to come back and listen again in the future.

  Xianglian was a little nervous and felt a bit guilty, her lips pursed slightly as she carefully looked at Wei Zhao and whispered "Young Master, are they teasing you?"

  Wei Zhao turned his head to look at her, smiled and shook his head, with an inexplicable sense of relief in his heart: "No." In fact, he had a thief-like feeling in his heart, and felt very guilty.

  Xianglian secretly glanced at Weizao's profile, seeing that Weizao was indeed not angry, she quietly let out a breath and immediately curved her big eyes into crescent moons.

  Two people were walking slowly on the street, occasionally saying some irrelevant words, and Xiaoyu's crisp laughter kept ringing out. Especially when Wei Zhao told a story about what had just happened in the teahouse, Xiaoyu laughed so hard that her small waist was bent, her delicate face scrunched up, her eyes were not like eyes, and her nose was not like a nose, her appearance was extremely cute.

  When the two returned to the Wei residence, it was already time for dinner. Wei Zhao put things in the study room and endured a nagging from Wan'er, promising again and again to return home on time for dinner. Then, Wan'er glared at Xiangqiang, who had been sneaking peeks and smiling, and scolded her some more. Wan'er had always had prestige, and Xiangqiang also obeyed her, appearing very obedient as she nodded her small head, but with a cunning glint in her eyes that flashed from time to time.

  Wan'er also knew this little girl's surname very well and lost interest after saying a few words, standing by the table to serve Wei Zhao rice and dishes.

  Wei Zhuo saw that Fan Qian's introspection had ended and hastily called out to Xiangqin to close the door, and only then did they sit down together to eat.

  Wan'er served Xiangqiang a full bowl of rice, and herself took a small portion. After taking one bite, she let out a soft sigh to Wei Zhao, "Young master, you... why don't you study tomorrow?"

  Wei Zhuo was sipping on a refreshing fish soup, his face filled with enjoyment. Upon hearing this, he paused for a moment and said: "Aren't I reading books every day?"

  Wan'er's rosy lips pursed as she sipped the soup, and she said in a low voice: "Young master, I'm not talking about that kind of book, but the books for the imperial examination, such as the Four Books and Five Classics."

  Xiangliang was eating with gusto, a steamed bun in her left hand and a chicken claw in her right, completely oblivious to the conversation between the two people.

  Wei Zhao raised his eyes and looked at her, seemingly thoughtful: "What's wrong, trouble with business?"

  Wan'er nodded slightly gloomily, she had grown up in the Wei family since childhood and could be said to have regarded the Wei family as her own. Now that the Wei family was having trouble, although she couldn't help, her heart was also anxious.

  Wei Zhuo nibbled on a steamed bun and said lightly, "Tell me about it?"

  Wan'er looked at Wei Zhao, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes, before lowering her head and speaking softly: "Recently, the Chu and Chen families have been very active, many local bosses from all over have been pulled over by them. Although our Wei family still holds the title of Chamber of Commerce president, it's almost nominal now..."

  Wei Zhao nodded as he listened, his eyes seeming to be deep in thought.

  The three major textile merchants in Jinling have always been led by the Wei family, especially after Mr. Wei's strong takeover of the Chamber of Commerce presidency from the Chen family three years ago, which made the Wei family's business thrive and not only dominate the entire Jinling but also spread to various parts of the country!

  The Wei family business should have been booming, but after the sudden death of the old master two and a half years ago, some important members of the family suddenly betrayed them. Although Li Xianyun used her extraordinary abilities to quickly calm down the internal turmoil without harming the foundation, it also greatly damaged the Wei family's vitality. In recent years, the Wei family not only failed to expand its business but also became increasingly conservative. This was not due to Li Xianyun's lack of ability, but rather the sudden rise of the Chu and Chen families, who suppressed the Wei family in all aspects, from officialdom to commerce. Despite the open-minded atmosphere of Daqi, Li Xianyun, as a woman and a widow of the Wei family, was unable to rebuild the old master's network of relationships, and establishing new ones took time. This led to the current predicament faced by the Wei family.

  Now that the Chamber of Commerce is reconvening for the third time, the Chen and Chu families will surely take the opportunity to re-elect a new president. Once the Wei family loses the title of "president", they will become lambs to be slaughtered in the Jinling business circle, surrounded by two tigers and a pack of wolves.

  Wei Zhao thought for a moment, then smiled at Wan'er and said: "Don't worry, I'll talk to my sister-in-law tomorrow. The Wei family is so big, it's not that easy to fall."

  Wan'er listened and thought it was reasonable too, so she smiled and snatched the last chicken leg from Xiangqiang's chopsticks and handed it to Wei Zhao.