Сhаpter 120: Gоssiр аnd Асtion
Earlу in thе morning, Zhen Niаng rose аs usuаl аt dаwn. Shе jоgged sevеral laps around the bасkyаrd to strеtсh hеr limbs, thеn madе hеr сustоmаry rоunds through the Ink Workshор and thе front Ink Manоr like pаtrolling her tеrritоrу, grееting thе еarly-rising wоrkеrs befоrе rеturning to thе small building in thе rеar cоurtуard tо have breаkfast with her seсоnd аunt-in-law.
Вreakfast соnsistеd of сеnturу еgg аnd lеan роrk cоngeе, a plаte оf sрring rоlls, and sеvеrаl sidе dishes. The sрring rolls made by Daо Po werе exсeрtiоnallу good—the outer wrapper fried to a tender golden crispness, thin and fragile, while the filling inside was piping hot and fragrant, bursting with savory juices. Zhen Niang could finish one in just two bites.
Huang Shi genuinely praised Dao Po a few times.
When Li Jingming’s family had been in Nanjing, they employed three servants. One was the cook Dao Po, another was Wu Tou, a maid who attended to Madam Ge. Wu Tou had been part of Ge Qiu Jie’s dowry, and after Ge Qiu Jie divorced Li Zheng Ping, Wu Tou naturally returned to the Ge family with her. As for Duan Qi, the odd-job boy, he had only been hired for short-term work. After three to five days, once his contract ended and he received his wages, he went off to find other jobs.
Only Dao Po, with her decent culinary skills, was kept on by Huang Shi. Now, she and Ma Sao managed the household affairs together—Dao Po oversaw the kitchen, while Ma Sao handled everything else, effectively acting as the housekeeper.
Dao Po, having received Huang Shi’s praise, smiled and withdrew.
“Zhen Niang, we’ve received a letter from home. Your eldest brother is likely to arrive in the next few days,” Huang Shi added.
“Hmm, I suppose it’s about time,” Zhen Niang nodded. Last time Seventh Grandmother visited, she mentioned that her eldest brother would be coming. However, at the time, his wife was in the early stages of pregnancy. Perhaps due to the lingering effects of the tung oil incident, her pregnancy had been unstable, with recurring health issues. Her brother, worried, had stayed home longer. Now that his wife’s condition had finally stabilized, he planned to come to Nanjing. Over the past few months, tung oil prices had been falling repeatedly, and her brother was probably growing anxious.
In truth, the earlier surge in tung oil prices had been somewhat inflated, entirely driven by the Pine Blight incident. The current price drop was merely a correction.
Zhen Niang estimated that this round of price declines for tung oil had largely bottomed out. After the Longqing opening, tung oil prices would soar again—though only Zhen Niang knew this. She had considered advising her brother to simply stockpile oil and wait.
However, for one thing, although her brother had once worked in an oil workshop, he had been merely a laborer and knew nothing about the tung oil trade. Now that the oil workshop was operational, they needed to conduct business and maintain cash flow. Moreover, due to the earlier tung oil incident, the Li family’s eighth branch owed the Ink Workshop a considerable sum. If they didn’t sell this batch of tung oil, they would struggle to pay workers’ wages and fund the next phase of production.
Additionally, to grow a business, one must think big. If they simply sat at home waiting for tung oil merchants to come and buy, the prices offered would be heavily discounted, making it unprofitable. Therefore, they first needed to establish a foothold in the tung oil market.
Thus, her brother’s trip to Nanjing was unavoidable.
With that, Zhen Niang and Huang Shi chatted a while longer about tung oil matters.After finishing breakfast, Huang Shi went to the Ink Workshop in the backyard again, taking several apprentices to carve plates.
Zhen Niang then headed to the Ink Manor. She first walked around the shop before stepping out the main door, where she saw Yao Niangzi from next door standing at the entrance, gazing toward the official street not far away.
"Aunt Yao, what are you looking at?" Zhen Niang asked curiously, following her line of sight toward the Yi Hou Sheng Money House. There, Luo Jiu was dressed in short work clothes, accompanied by two money house guards carrying bundles, appearing ready to set out.
Luo Jiu happened to notice Zhen Niang looking over and waved at her.
Zhen Niang squinted and smiled, then watched as several people boarded a carriage, which then drove toward the official street entrance. Behind the carriage followed two riders on horseback, both there to protect the bundles carried by the money house guards—bundles filled with silver.
This scene played out every morning, much like the armored trucks of later banks. In the morning, branch trucks would deliver operating funds to various savings offices, and in the afternoon after closing, the trucks would return to collect the day's earnings and bring them back to the branch.
Money houses of this era operated similarly. Moreover, money houses at this time emphasized alliances, as individual establishments were far less capable than the banks of later times. Thus, regional alliances formed. For instance, in Huizhou, several money houses often coordinated and supported one another. This was also why Luo Jiu faced exclusion when he first arrived to open a money house—as a young and inexperienced newcomer, others naturally felt he lacked the qualifications to cooperate with them.
When it came to money houses, the true giants were the Shanxi merchants. In present-day Nanjing Yingtian, the Shanxi merchants' draft banks still overshadowed the Huizhou merchants' money houses.
In short, the conflicts within this sphere far surpassed those in the ink industry.
Hearing Zhen Niang's question, Aunt Yao pointed to a shop next to the Yi Hou Sheng Money House and said, "Look, that shop is opening today."
Only then did Zhen Niang understand—Aunt Yao wasn't watching the money transport from Yi Hou Sheng but rather the shop next to it. Zhen Niang knew this shop well: it had a front storefront and a large warehouse in the back.
When she first arrived, all the shops on her side had been leased to others, leaving no vacancies. Zhen Niang had even considered renting that shop to open an ink store. Later, however, both tenants leasing her family's shops withdrew, so she no longer needed to rent additional space.
Until now, that shop had remained unrented, mainly because the owner's asking price was too high. It seemed it had finally been leased, but Zhen Niang wondered who had taken it and what business they planned to run.
"Aunt Yao, do you know what this shop will be used for?" Zhen Niang asked curiously.
"Zhen Niang, you don't know?" Yao Niangzi replied with surprise, as if Zhen Niang's ignorance were truly unbelievable.
"Know what? I really have no idea," Zhen Niang responded.
"It's a raw silk shop opened by the Ge family's Ge Qiu Jie. Somehow, the Ge family has connected with the Wealth God Wei and taken over some of his raw silk purchasing business. I heard the Ge family made a fortune in the first two seasons," Aunt Yao said, her face full of envy.Zhen Niang finally understood—the shop had been rented by the Ge family. With Ge Dana stepping in, no matter how high the rent might be, it couldn’t possibly be exorbitant.
As for the relationship between the Ge family and the God of Wealth Wei, it was somewhat connected to Zhen Niang herself. The story began on the day the Li family’s Ink Manor opened for business. At that time, Huang Lang had brought his men to cause trouble for the Li family. Coincidentally, Wang Cuiqiao arrived with the God of Wealth Wei to offer congratulations. Although Marshal Qi was also present that day, someone of his status naturally wouldn’t bother with a minor figure like Huang Lang. Thus, even though Huang Lang had been thoroughly frightened at the time, he wasn’t too worried about Marshal Qi afterward. Instead, his concern lay with the God of Wealth Wei.
When the God of Wealth Wei first built his fortune, his situation was quite similar to Ge Dana’s—he also started from a gang of idlers. Now, he had become a merchant with influence in both the legitimate and underground circles of Nanjing. What he valued most was face, and Huang Lang’s actions that day had clearly disrespected him. Therefore, Huang Lang had been constantly worried that the God of Wealth Wei would send his men to deal with him, so he went to his boss, Ge Dana, to discuss the matter.
Ge Dana believed that avoiding the issue would be useless, so he decided to follow the example of Lian Po and offer a humble apology.
He personally took Huang Lang to the Wei residence to apologize.
The God of Wealth Wei might not have taken Huang Lang seriously, but he couldn’t completely ignore Ge Dana either. After all, Ge Dana had some connections in the tax bureau and was on very good terms with Eunuch Ma from the tax office. It was even rumored that Ge Dana had privately acknowledged Eunuch Ma as his godfather.
Thus, out of respect for Ge Dana, the God of Wealth Wei let Huang Lang off the hook. Seizing this opportunity, Ge Dana managed to establish a relationship with the God of Wealth Wei, which later led to the raw silk business.
Originally, according to Ge Dana’s intentions, Qiu Jie’s divorce had at least preserved some dignity. She should have stayed quietly at home, waiting to find a good match. With her dowry, she could still have a grand and glorious wedding, which would also help restore some face.
However, his idea of saving face was completely different from Ge Qiu Jie’s. On one hand, Ge Qiu Jie was inspired by Zhen Niang, believing that women could also achieve great things. On the other hand, she wanted to accomplish something to make Li Zheng Ping regret his actions.
Thus, Ge Qiu Jie decided to use her dowry as capital to start a business.
Ge Dana had always doted on his daughter, so naturally, he let her do whatever she wanted. He entrusted the raw silk business he had obtained from the God of Wealth Wei to Ge Qiu Jie to manage.
Because of this, Cao Shi hadn’t spoken to him at home for several days.
Meanwhile, as Zhen Niang chatted with Aunt Yao, the Ge family’s raw silk shop had already hung up lanterns and pasted couplets. Several strings of firecrackers, symbolizing prosperity and descendants, crackled loudly, followed by fireworks. A lion dance troupe also performed noisily at the entrance for quite some time. The grand opening was a lively spectacle, drawing all the idlers from the entire street to watch the excitement.
The lion dancers were none other than Huang Lang and his gang of brothers.
“Haha, Huang Lang is really putting in all his effort today,” someone watching the scene remarked cheerfully.
“How could he not? Who knows, maybe he even has a share in the profits from that shop,” another person added with a hint of ambiguity."What, does Huang Lang also have a stake in this shop? I thought it was Ge Qiu Jie's. Could it be that Huang Lang has set his sights on Ge Qiu Jie? He must be out of his mind." A woman nearby, her eyes gleaming with gossip, chimed in.
"Huang Lang doesn't have any stake at all. Even if he wanted to pursue Ge Qiu Jie, she'd have to take a liking to him first. Qiu Jie has never given him a good look—there's no way she'd fancy him. But that Huang Lang has the courage of a bear and the daring of a leopard. I heard he's gotten involved with Ge Dana's second wife, Cao Shi. The two of them have some rather unclear and unspeakable dealings." At this, a matchmaker nearby spoke with a suggestive tone.
"Matchmaker, is this true or not? You can't just spread rumors. Not to mention Ge Dana, even Huang Lang could make trouble for you." The people around her were half-believing, half-doubting.
"Heh, there's no smoke without fire," the matchmaker chuckled, then waved her hand dismissively. "Enough, enough. Anyway, you didn't hear anything from me today. Even if someone asks about it later, I'll absolutely deny it."
With that, the matchmaker turned and sauntered away.
If she hadn't added that last line, it might have been fine. But with those words, she only fueled everyone's curiosity even more. People began whispering to one another, and before long, they had pieced together the threads of the story.
The Ge family's grand opening remained lively, but the onlookers now wore strange expressions. The Ge family's affairs were becoming more and more intriguing. Ge Dana regarded Huang Lang as a brother, unaware that his own head was already adorned with a green hat.
Zhen Niang, standing nearby, overheard all of this but offered no comment.
"Miss Zhen, it's terrible! The Tian family has also produced Liquid Ink. They've even invited traveling merchants from all over to hold a Liquid Ink ordering event. Their ink is priced at only sixty percent of ours. I just got a bottle of their ink, and it's exactly the same as ours. Damn that Zeng Yipin! He must have stolen our ink formula and given it to the Tian family. No wonder he's been hiding and hasn't dared to show his face." Just then, Zheng Fuli hurried over from the other side, holding a bottle of ink, his face flushed with anger.
The Tian family has never played by the rules. This time, we must demand justice from them.
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