Chapter 186 A Red Apricot Enters the Wall
Is Wang Xifeng nearby?
Sun Shaozong's movements froze for a moment, but he immediately became active again, laughing, "Still want to bluff me? If the second sister-in-law is really nearby, why doesn't she just come out in person? She can't be deliberately trying to bring us together so that she can listen to the secrets, right?"
"Who coaxed you?"
Ping'er was also manipulated by him to be full of passion. Her usually crisp voice seemed to be blocked by some syrup, full of sweetness and naivety: "Do you think I don't want that? But the Second Madam is really nearby!"
She struggled to free one arm and pointed at the hill opposite the window and said, "See the tent on the top of the hill? The Second Madam is guarding under the tent! If someone comes this way, she will stop them first and then ask the maids to remove the tent to warn them."
At this point, Ping'er fished out a key from her sleeve and said, "There's a small door to the southwest, which is usually locked. If anyone really comes, I'll slip out through that side door, and you can just say I'm just wandering around here."
This is quite well prepared!
Sun Shaozong saw the tent when he arrived. There was smoke coming out of it, as if someone was having a picnic - but he didn't expect that it was actually Wang Xifeng who was standing guard there.
But it’s not like he had never met Wang Xifeng before.
I just want to talk about how to make money. What's the big deal if I ask a few trusted maids and old women to accompany me and talk to them face to face?
"It's nothing to see each other before."
Ping'er listened to Sun Shaozong's doubts and sighed helplessly: "But when they had an argument a few days ago, the Second Master did something stupid and didn't reflect on it. He even bit the Second Mistress in return!"
It turned out that Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng had been arguing at home that day. In his anger, he lost control of his mouth and said something like: You don't allow me to get close to any woman, but you spend the whole day fooling around with your brother-in-law and nephew!
Just this sentence made Wang Xifeng so angry that she couldn't eat for the whole day.
From then on, there was a layer of estrangement between her and the male members of the two mansions, including Jia Baoyu, Jia Qiang, and Jia Rong. Unless she had to, she would never say a word to them.
Based on this inference, she naturally couldn't stand a foreigner like Sun Shaozong.
After hearing the whole story, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but laugh and said, "I didn't expect that Second Brother Lian is so romantic, but he is also a jealous person at heart!"
After a pause, he jokingly said, "If he knew what your master was thinking, I wonder how he would react."
"Don't recruit him!"
Ping Erh heard this and said anxiously, "Right now, the relationship between husband and wife is like fire and water. If this incident is brought up again, I don't know how that ungrateful man will torment us!"
Sun Shaozong just said this casually and had no intention of telling Jia Lian the truth. After all, he and Jia Yucun were the only ones who knew about the strangeness that day. If the news really got out, Jia She would easily be able to trace it back to him.
It's not a long-term solution to just stand there like an idiot holding Ping'er.
Sun Shaozong looked around and saw two armchairs against the wall. He used his toes to hook one of them to the window and sat on it with Ping'er. This made it convenient for him to move his hands around and he could also observe the situation on the top of the opposite mountain at any time.
After sitting down, he continued, "So, my second sister-in-law is acting like a thief just to let you hear my way of making money?"
"Um."
Ping'er sat on Sun Shaozong's lap, feeling only the warm comfort, and her nasal voice became even more delicate and naive.
"It's pretty simple, actually."
Sun Shaozong said, "I saw in the court newspaper a few days ago that General Wang wants to build hundreds of warships of different sizes. I don't know how much high-quality wood will be needed. This business is a sure win. Why don't you, Second Madam, get involved?"
Although Ping'er was quite aroused, she had been a housekeeper for several years after all, so she immediately shook her head and said in a tender voice, "We have to hire people to cut wood, and then we have to travel through mountains and rivers to transport it to the seaside. I don't know how much manpower it will take!"
She gathered up some strength and continued, "Besides, it will take at least two to three years to sort out all these rules and regulations. By then, I'm afraid it will be too late."
"Haha... What I want to say is naturally not such a stupid method!"
Sun Shaozong laughed and used a little more force on her, causing Ping'er to whimper.
He quickly reduced his strength and continued, "Those merchants who have no connections, or whose connections are not strong enough, naturally have to do everything themselves. But what is the status of my second sister-in-law? Do you need to earn such hard-earned money?"
Ping Erh took a breath, recovered from her distraction, and hurriedly warned, "That won't do. The master has always been impartial and would never do anything that would enrich himself!"
"Who said you were going to lining your own pockets?"
Sun Shaozong curled his lips and said, "If we sell things at the same price, ours will be of better quality. Besides, we don't ask for anything else. We just want Wang Taiwei to settle the payment as soon as possible. This won't be considered as lining his own pockets, right?"
"What I mean is, let my second sister-in-law say hello to General Wang first, and then I will allocate capital and manpower to go to the south to buy the wood shipped by timber merchants at 90% of the official price, and then sell it to General Wang at the standard official price."
"How can those... those timber merchants agree to this?" Ping'er said in a trembling voice, "If you use the master's name to... to threaten those timber merchants, you absolutely cannot do that!"
"threaten?"
Sun Shaozong sneered and said, "We won't need to create any reputation at that time. We just need to show the money and the timber merchants will cry and shout to sell the good timber to us!"
"Why... why is this?"
"In order to build a navy, General Wang even came up with the idea of a tea monopoly. Do you think he would hand over the goods and pay the money to those timber merchants? I'm afraid it would take a year or two to make it easy!"
"Suppose a timber merchant can deliver two batches of timber to the seashore in a year, and he only has the capital to store two batches of timber. Do you think he would be willing to wait anxiously for a year after delivering these two batches of timber, or would he rather take a small portion of the profit and ship two more batches as soon as possible?"
"Just pick the best quality ones then, so that if the news gets out it won't damage the reputation of General Wang!"
"You only need to trade it a dozen times a year to multiply your capital several times!"
This is of course also relying on relationships to buy low and sell high, but on the one hand, it is not so ugly, and on the other hand, those timber merchants will not suffer losses, so it will not attract too much jealousy and hostility.
Ping'er pondered for a while and felt that this matter had great potential. She was about to ask Sun Shaozong how he planned to divide the profits and how to ensure that Wang Xifeng would not dump him and look for someone else to cooperate with.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Sun Shaozong's body suddenly stiffened, and then he jumped up from the chair, pointing to the opposite mountain and said: "The tent seems to have been dismantled!"
Ping Er also looked out the window, but saw only a faint smoke on the top of the mountain, but no sign of a tent? !
"I...I have to get out of the way!"
She was immediately frightened and her face turned pale. She hurriedly tidied her clothes and ran out. However, she stopped at the gate of the courtyard and turned back hesitantly and said, "If the Second Madam gets your idea, she will go find someone else..."
Sun Shaozong smiled and said, "Don't worry, she will choose me!"
Seeing that he was full of confidence, Ping'er felt relieved and hurriedly lifted up her skirt, left the yard, and went straight to the side door.
But after watching Ping'er leave.
Sun Shaozong also cleaned it up carefully, and waited for the area that was congested with blood to finally soften. Then he prepared to pretend nothing had happened and leave this dangerous place.
Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived at the gate of the courtyard, they saw two people pushing the door open and entering. They were Li Wan and her servant!
