Volume 1 Chapter 144 Three Advances and Retreats (8)

  Chapter 144: Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back (8)

  It's the third time now, Mu Zi lowered her eyelids and fell into deep thought.

  The first time, Qiu San Niang asked her if she believed in fortune-telling. If she had said yes without hesitation, there probably wouldn't have been a second test. In the carpentry workshop, Qiu San Niang mentioned building ships, and if she had accepted it with great enthusiasm again, she wouldn't have made it to this third time either.

  She was happy to listen to others' opinions on trivial matters, but on important issues, she had to think things through for herself. The more people spoke in line with her own thoughts, the more she would negate them. It's not an exaggeration to say that this was a shadow from her childhood. After losing her mother at a young age, although her father loved her dearly, there was still Zhang Shi lurking around, making it impossible for her to speak directly or act freely. The carefree and innocent-looking young lady had to follow her merchant father on his travels in order to protect herself. This way of living, where she had to be cautious with every step and rely solely on herself for everything, wasn't something she wanted, but rather something that was forced upon her by her environment.

  However, this third time, Mozi knew that Qiu San Niang had agreed to it, but she didn't understand why. Because, compared to her previous expectations, Qiu San Niang made the decision much sooner than expected.

  On this side, Mozi hadn't figured it out yet, but on the other side, Qiu Sanniang was implicated by Wei Liuniang's commotion, and Mozi was innocently dragged down with her, which made her thoroughly understand.

  In this palace, there are the old queen and the queen, who are usually quite kind to people, but actually have their own ways. After yesterday's events, she understood more clearly than ever before. A legitimate young lady became a nameless concubine, and the old queen and queen did not raise any objections, ultimately just letting things be. It's true that Sixth Lady Wei insisted on giving herself to their grandson, and with the wealth of the Wei family, they could support Xiao Er's future career, so they had many benefits, where would they truly care about Sixth Lady Wei? If they had good intentions, they would have taken care of Sixth Lady Wei no matter how she struggled, even if it meant her own death. After all, Xiao Er had already saved the person, and insisted on sending them back to Luozhou, where the elders of the Wei family could persuade them, and maybe they could still find a good marriage arrangement. As time passed, people might not be foolish anymore. Now, however, Sixth Lady Wei said she didn't care about her status, so they just wouldn't give her any status.

  Looking back at herself, she has a similar background to Wei Liu Niang, and was favored by Wei Qiong Yu, becoming Xiao San's legitimate wife, which is already fortunate. But if the elders look down on Wei Liu Niang like this, who knows that one day they won't treat themselves the same way. It can be imagined that if Xiao San treats her badly, no one will stand up for her and speak a fair word. Now she is being obedient to Old Wang Fei and Wang Fei, but doesn't know what's ahead on the road.

  So she must prepare for a rainy day.

  "What do you think about Wei Liu's situation?" Qiao San Niang suddenly changed the subject.

  Mei Zi's calculations have always been neither rushed nor slow. Qiu San Niang said Wei Liu Niang, and she spoke of Wei Liu Niang's affairs.

  "It's clear that human plans can't compare to heaven's plans. I'll speak bluntly, don't get angry, Grandma. Why didn't Madame Wei let Wei Liu Niang marry Xiao San Lang? It's obvious she was afraid of the bad reputation of Xiao San Lang's divorce and its potential impact on her niece. This shows that the Wei family is thinking of Wei Liu Niang's well-being, wanting to find a good marriage for her. Although Wei Liu Niang has become a concubine now, the Wei family will be disappointed but won't cut ties completely. Xiao Er's future is bright, and it's possible he'll become a king in the future. Since things have been decided, we can only try our best to turn them in a good direction. Xiao Er currently doesn't want to see Wei Liu Niang, they live in the same courtyard but don't interact. Human hearts are made of flesh, and with time, emotions will develop. With emotions, everything will fall into place naturally. The Wei family is wealthy and powerful, when Xiao Er's official wife enters the household, they might even rely on her family, promoting the concubine to a higher status is only a matter of time.

  In name, Wei Liu Niang is already Xiao Er's woman, if she has the ability to cause such a commotion, she should also have the wisdom to make their relationship real. Otherwise, isn't it all just pointless? Isn't Madame Wei helping Wei Liu Niang? Even the princess knows that Madame Wei's words yesterday were just anger. Just watch, in the future, Wei Liu Niang's greatest help in rising to a higher position will still be her own aunt. There's a saying: 'Fat water doesn't flow into other people's fields.' It's all about being reckless when you have nothing to lose."

  Qiu San Niang chuckled and thought to herself that she would test Mo Zi again, and indeed there was no time when he had let her down.

  "Wei Liu's mother has a wealthy and noble family background, with an aunt who is about to become the imperial concubine. But what do I have?" The sense of crisis grew stronger by the day.

  "Grandma has us several clever girls. In terms of distance, we're always by her side day and night, any fire can be put out." Mozi understood that yesterday's incident had stimulated Qiu San Niang.

  "Well said, especially since I have you, Mozi." Ju Sanniang called out.

  Mei Zi's eyes widened in surprise, "Grandma said so, I'm deeply honored."

  "Alright, stop pretending. Let's get straight to the point. I plan on being a good daughter-in-law and listening to my mother-in-law for a while, getting familiar with everything in the Wang household, and then they might not be able to bother me anymore. Wishing Autumn Pavilion has Cen Er, it's not a new business, so if I let go of it, I can rest assured. But Red Bud Valley, just thinking about that abandoned land makes me uncomfortable. Our ancestral business is being neglected, our family's prosperity is declining. Mozi, you take over and manage it. I won't ask any questions, I'll only look at the account books, and all big and small matters will be up to you." Qiu San Niang formally suggests handing Red Bud Valley over to Mozi.

  It's no longer a probe, but time to start discussing terms.

  Mozi looked at Qiu Sanniang.

  Qiu San Niang put down her pen and picked up two pieces of paper, one in each hand. "According to your method, one copy per person."

  New Covenant?

  "Grandma, go ahead and read it to me, maybe I'll change my mind." Look at this, it's just the right time. Clearly thinking to death in her heart, smiling on her face, but not a single bit of meaning.

  With Qi San Niang's tacit consent, the two were now evenly matched and on an equal footing.

  "Frankly speaking, I'm lazy, but I can give you a rough idea. Listen carefully. I'll give you 2,000 taels of silver, and as for the size of the shipyard, the number of people to hire, it's all up to you." Article one.

  "Two thousand two, a bit less." Haggling over prices.

  "That's no use, you know I'm the most petty." To save money, he'd rather lower himself.

  "Money is not enough, nothing can be done." Keep striving.

  "With more money, you can accomplish more things. With less money, you can accomplish fewer things. I didn't ask you to build a large venue, just handle some small tasks like ferry boats and pleasure boats." This is the second point.

  The two of them were in agreement on this point. She hadn't planned on making a big cake, she just wanted to do something independently that she loved doing.

  "As for Hong Yu Valley, I didn't have high hopes of making a lot of money. Let me calculate it for you. A small painted boat costs over 100 taels of silver, and the wood alone is not cheap. Adding the labor costs of the shipbuilders, it would take ten days to half a month to complete, and if we can make a net profit of 20-30 taels, that's already good. Now, Hong Yu Valley has nothing. Starting from scratch, building a dock and houses will take at least one or two months, and finding work might take another one or two months. Without reputation, without skilled shipbuilders, without experience, if you can just earn back the initial investment in a year, that's already not bad." Fundamentally, Qiu San Niang knew nothing about the shipping industry.

  Zi certainly agrees with her, otherwise how can she make money by telling her that she is wrong? She's not stupid herself.

  "Of course, my expectations for you are always a little higher. Let's set a time limit of one year. If after one year, the account has 5,000 taels, I'll give you what you want most." Comprehension level: zero, lovely money level: one hundred.

  "Five thousand taels. According to your calculations, if I sell fifty small pleasure boats at a hundred taels each, it will take half a month's labor to build one boat, and in a year, only twenty-four can be built. And as you just said, the first three months may not even start work. How can this account be balanced?" Inner thoughts: Fortunately, it's not asking for pure profit.

  "That's right, others can only make twenty-four, but it shouldn't be too hard for you to make fifty, Mozi? Few words." Okay, her expectations, her expectations of Mozi, were more than double that of ordinary people.

  "Hehe, grandma overestimates me. Everything else is fine, but this boat business... it's really tough to handle. Five thousand taels of silver, I just can't do it." Actually, it's indeed quite difficult.

  Qiu San Niang's previous assumptions were not unreasonable. The shipyard was in the preparation stage three or four months ago and couldn't start work yet. Without shipbuilders, just having a site is useless. If customers who want to order ships come to take a look and see an empty place, who will pay the deposit? To find shipbuilders, you have to spend money. Among scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants, craftsmen are more respected than merchants. Some famous master craftsmen are supported by the imperial court with thousands of gold coins. Although Mozi is comparable to those people, he can't do it alone.

  "Indigo purple, I know it's not easy. If it were easy, I wouldn't have let you do it either. You return the 5,000 taels to me and I'll give you back your freedom." The only way to make this clever maid do difficult tasks is by using this method.

  "Freedom? Grandma, a clever housewife can't cook without rice. Even if you reduce my sentence by two or three years, I'll still be in trouble." Confirmed, confirmed.

  "You said you're clever, how can you be so foolish? Which is a matter of two or three years? In a year's time, there will be 5,000 taels on the account, and the contract we signed at the beginning will be abolished. You are no longer my maid, whether you can redeem yourself or not, I can transfer it, all don't need to worry about it. Really and truly abolish your slave status, and the new household registration, only you can be your own master. I won't punish you by starving you, nor can others help me discipline you. How is that? Am I clear enough?" Jiuzi understood Mozi.

  *sigh*

  "What's with the sigh?" The astute person laughed.

  "Grandma, what if I can't pay back 5,000 taels?" There's no such thing as a one-sided benefit, might as well finish speaking.

  "I really enjoy crossing hands with you. It's simple, if we can't come to an agreement, we'll just sign another contract. But it's a lifelong death contract. From now on, your marriage will be arranged by me, and I'll give you to one of my servants? Even your sons and daughters will become my property." One-time solution, once and for all.

  "...Can't I just not be the one in charge? Just serve by grandma's side until my time is up and then leave?" Ruthless, using all the chips at once, if it doesn't work out, so be it. A clever person bites their teeth and smiles wryly.

  "No." With her small chin held high, her bright face shone like the ripples on a summer pond. "Also, it cannot be borrowed or transferred. These five thousand taels can only be used for the shipyard's business."

  He glanced at those two white papers with black characters.

  Do you want me to press this button or not?

  Chapter 144: Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back (8)

  Chapter 144 Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back (8)