Chapter 1: Winter in Jinling Chapter 54: Spending Money Like Water
Looking at Qiaoqiao's slightly flustered back, Zhao Hao couldn't help but sigh.
"What on earth was she thinking? Why didn't she ask what I put in the soup bowl?"
He showed the scallops Su Xiu to Qiaoqiao on purpose, hoping that she would warm up first when she went back so that she would have a good start tomorrow.
"Hey, don't bother yourself, young master." Old Man Gao shook his head and said, "How can you guess what a little girl is thinking?"
"Yeah." Zhao Hao nodded in agreement and stopped thinking about it.
…
Over there, Tang's Southern Goods Store has already opened its doors to welcome customers.
The guys skillfully moved the general merchandise in the store to the door for display and solicitation. They were all busy as hell, but no one dared to say a word.
Three days ago, Boss Tang woke them up, broke Liu Gou'er's legs in front of them, and then sent him to the county government. Yesterday, the news came that Liu Gou'er had starved to death in the prison, which made everyone silent... They thought that Boss Tang must have bribed the jailer and made some moves to kill Liu Gou'er before the trial.
Seeing that the boss was sitting in the store in a state of restlessness, who would dare to offend him?
The shopkeeper couldn't bear it any longer and whispered, "Boss, what's wrong with you?"
"Hey, isn't it the same thing we talked about the day before yesterday?" Boss Tang looked outside and saw that it was getting bright, scratching his head and saying, "Today is the day we agreed to go, but I haven't made up my mind yet, whether I should go or not."
"Since you are so conflicted, then don't go." The shopkeeper suggested: "Although the child is mature, he is still a poor dandy boy of fourteen or fifteen years old. The master's money is not flushed down by the flood. It is not worth spending so much money to play house with him."
"You're right," Boss Tang nodded, but then shook his head and said, "But I always feel that boy is a little extraordinary."
"I left She County at the age of eleven to be an apprentice. I have been doing business for twenty-eight years. I have met more than ten thousand people." He said with a wry smile: "There are only a few people who can make me feel this way. The last one was Shen Zhuangyuan."
"Boss, are you talking about the number one scholar who fought against the Japanese invaders?" The shopkeeper couldn't help but exclaimed, "He was the incarnation of the God of Literature, even though his ending was a bit tragic..."
"Yes, it's a coincidence that Shen the No. 1 Scholar is also from Xiuning. But I feel that guy may be even better." Tang Youde laughed as he spoke. How could he compare a kid with Shen Kun, the No. 1 Scholar in the 20th year of Jiajing?
But he had made up his mind, put the ticket on the table into his sleeve, stood up and said, "Prepare the car, just take a gamble, I'll take the loss!"
Actually, this was a bit of a coy statement. After a few days of investigation, he was sure that the silk price had almost reached the bottom. Zhao Hao was talking about buying low and selling high. He was not running a weaving factory. Even if he didn't make any profit in the end, the most he would lose was the transportation and storage costs.
"Yes." Seeing that his boss had made up his mind, the shopkeeper stopped talking nonsense.
…
After breakfast, Tang Youde had not yet arrived. Zhao Hao was getting bored of waiting, so he picked up a brush to calculate his recent expenses.
All the previous minor fights were not counted. Starting from the time when the five hundred taels were received, Tang Youde gave another fifty taels as compensation, for a total of five hundred and fifty taels.
There were only two items of income, but more than a dozen items of expenditure... fifty taels for the house, twenty-eight taels for the furniture... and that was after Old Man Gao cut two taels;
It cost ten taels to buy the floor tiles, and two taels for the labor of laying them.
It cost five taels and seven cents to purchase bed sheets, quilts, mosquito nets, tea sets, tableware and other daily necessities.
He gave his father twenty taels of pocket money and one hundred taels of reward, including the expenses for attending the literary meeting... Although it was said that they were not donated, Zhao Hao would not ask him for it again.
The walnuts, dates and other brain-boosting dried fruits bought for Zhao Shouzheng totaled one tael, as well as one tael of fresh milk money for both father and son for a month.
There are also four treasures of the study weighing nine taels and seven cents.
The father and son each bought four sets of new clothes for spring and summer, as well as various accessories such as shoes, hats, sachets, belts, hairpins, jade pendants, etc., which cost another twenty-one taels and three cents.
Besides, there are more people in the family now, and the total cost for food for five people was three taels and nine cents... Of course, it was also because Zhao Hao often ordered banquets and even went to Deyi Ju for a good time.
As for the carriage fare and random tips, I won’t calculate them in detail, but five cents of silver will be enough.
By the way, he also paid the five taels of tax for Fang De... Although it was deducted from Fang Wen's salary, how could Zhao Hao be so kind? Sooner or later, he would make it up to Fang Wen.
I almost forgot, there is also twenty taels for my uncle.
All in all, it turned out to be as much as 278 taels and 1 qian...
You don’t know until you calculate it. Once you calculate it, you will be shocked.
"It's only been a few days? I thought you were quite frugal." Zhao Hao took a breath. He didn't expect that half of the 550 taels of silver had already been spent!
"Don't worry, sir. A lot of the money is a one-time expense. It won't be like this every month." The old man Gao who was serving on the side hurriedly comforted him, "At most, we can just save money."
Old Man Gao thought to himself, it’s time to put my special talents to use again.
"It's okay. This money can't be used for food or drink. It's money only when you spend it." Zhao Hao was very open-minded. What's more, he still had 520,000 Yuanhao membership tickets in his chest, so he was naturally very courageous .
He smiled and pointed to the gate of the courtyard and said, "If you are worried about not being able to make ends meet, then just make more money."
Tang Youde finally arrived late.
…
As soon as he entered the door, Tang Youde's face was full of apology and he said, "I'm sorry, sir. I was busy in the store this morning and just got around to come here."
"Glad you can come." Zhao Hao looked at him with a half-smile and said, "I thought Boss Tang had backed out."
"You are joking, sir. My Tang's is based on trust..." Tang Youde patted his chest, his resolute look was completely different from when he was in the store.
"Yes, it's been eighty-nine years since it became a century-old store." Zhao Hao smiled and invited him into the house.
Tang Youde sat down on the official hat chair and looked at the blue brick floor, new doors, windows and furniture in the house. He became more and more certain of his guess. The old Zhao family pretended to be poor and lived in Caijia Lane to avoid Gao Gong.
"It's a world of difference compared to the last time I came here." Tang Youde complimented casually, "If you put a few pieces of porcelain and hang a few calligraphy and paintings, it will look very nice."
"Why, Boss Tang wants to give me a few things?" Zhao Hao joked with a smile while making tea for him.
"Oh, haha, I don't know what you like, I'm afraid it won't touch your heart." Tang Youde said with a strong smile.
"I like anything expensive." Zhao Hao sat down at the main seat, took a sip of tea, and shook his head, saying, "This Maofeng is not as good as Boss Tang's."
"Okay, I'll bring you a pack next time to try." Tang Youde understood in his heart that Master Zhao thought I was late. If I don't bleed a little, I won't be able to live in peace.
"Just a bag of tea?" Zhao Hao was still not satisfied. He looked at Tang Youde and said teasingly, "I heard that your store's 'Frost into Snow' is very popular in Nanjing recently."
"Hehe..." Tang Youde knew that he could not hide it from this kid, which was why he hesitated and did not move. If he came, he would definitely get stabbed.
Since sticking your head out will result in a knife, and hiding your head will also result in a knife, he naturally took the initiative to smile and said: "Thanks to you, I didn't expect that the white sugar is selling so well. But don't worry, Old Tang will never let you suffer a loss."
As he spoke, he took out a meeting ticket from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Hao for inspection.
Zhao Hao glanced at it and said, "Three thousand taels?"
"I will invest all the money I earn, and we will split the profits equally. What do you think of this, sir?" Tang Youde looked generous and righteous.
"That's more like it." Zhao Hao finally smiled. In fact, after the payment and goods were settled, it had nothing to do with him how much the other party sold the candy for. It was very rare for Tang Youde to be able to do this.
Tang Youde took the ticket from Zhao Hao and asked with a smile, "Is yours ready?"
Zhao Hao flicked his finger and a scratchy mulberry paper banknote flew in front of him.
Looking at the two thousand taels of silver bill of Wanyuan Bank, Zhao Shouzheng's signature on it was particularly eye-catching. Tang Youde couldn't help but take a breath and thought to himself: "It's true that a lean camel is bigger than a horse."
Now he had no doubts and signed a contract with Zhao Hao without hesitation. Both parties put together a capital of 5,000 taels to collect silk this month and sell it within the year. They would share the losses and the profits equally...
After the signatures were completed and the document was signed, Tang Youde finally couldn't help but ask, "Sir, now can you tell me why you believe that the price of silk will rise sharply?"
"In January of this year, Fujian Governor and Chief Censor Tu Zemin wrote a letter saying, 'Please open the maritime trade and change private trade into public trade.'" Zhao Hao finally did not keep the secret.
