Chapter 23: Unexpected
Fortunately, this capital was earned by digging a hole. Su Luo felt a little distressed but did not feel dissatisfied. God will give great responsibilities to those who are capable of them. This saying applies to anyone who has failed and needs encouragement.
Su took two days off and observed Su Luo at home. Seeing that she seemed to be in a normal state of mind and did not look overly stimulated, she went to work with peace of mind. Before leaving, she asked Su Yi to take good care of his sister. This seemed to be the wrong thing to do, but she had nothing to worry about except worrying about her daughter. Su was a representative of traditional Chinese women, gentle and virtuous, and submissive. She had long been assimilated into the idea of resigning herself to fate. If she got it, she was lucky, and if she didn't, it was her fate. She was more open-minded than Zhou Chongwen who couldn't get a wife.
Su Luo had been busy for two days, but it was all in vain. Her business was not as prosperous as Bao Zi's. She was like a blind bear running in the forest, half blind.
Looking for labor to transport grain to Shandong? The foreman who managed the migrant labor force in Zhuxian Town looked at her and said, "One hundred taels."
Su Luo wanted to rip him off. Transporting grain from Jiangnan to Zhuxian Town, including the various losses such as renting the warehouse and labor, was only one hundred taels, and that was based on the total of 1,200 dan at that time. Now he just wanted to transport grain to the neighboring province, and there were only 500 dan. It was obvious that he was trying to rip her off.
Eight hundred taels were taken away from her one thousand taels, eighty taels were used to pay for the initial shipping fee, twenty-five taels were used to pay for the warehouse rental and emotional contact fees, ten taels were used for the house purchase, and ten taels were given to Zhou Si's wife, so there was a remaining seventy-five taels.
Su Luo tried to bargain. The foreman asked about the final destination. Su Luo said it was in the western suburbs of Shen County. As a result, the foreman raised the price by another twenty taels. The reason was that Shen County could not be reached directly by water, and one had to take a land route and go into the mountains. Confiscating two hundred taels from you was already a bargain.
Even after talking so hard, it didn't work. Su Luo was puzzled. Normally, wouldn't the foreman be tempted by her beauty and say that if she just stayed with him for one night, everything would be fine? Why didn't anyone ask her for this? Although it would definitely be a Foshan Shadowless Kick if she asked, Su Luo always felt frustrated that she wasn't being affirmed.
In fact, this is really related to Su Luo's gender. No one looks down on women these days, and she has an "I'm a newbie" look on her face, so who else can they kill if not her?
When he got home, Su had not come back yet. Su Yi was sitting in the yard writing. Since his family became well-off, the boy has changed to using rice paper to write.
Su Luo walked around behind him and praised him sincerely, "It's really well written."
The boy was suddenly as happy as a flower. Looking at such a big flower, Su Luo's mood also improved a lot. She walked into the main room and saw Zhou Chongwen reading a book in the room.
"Aren't you setting up your stall?" Su Luo greeted lazily and wanted to go back to his room.
Zhou Chongwen called her and asked, "How was the conversation going?"
Su Luo sighed exaggeratedly and explained the general situation. Zhou Chongwen frowned, "You still want to go to Shen County? Aren't you afraid that Wang Han is just talking nonsense and lying to you again?"
Su Luo shook his head. "I asked the foreman. There is indeed such a town in Shen County. It's just that the road is blocked and it's very difficult to travel. Otherwise, he wouldn't have raised the price again."
Zhou Chongwen's face was full of sympathy, and then he suggested that we could sell them in town, or if that doesn't work we could go back to the village to sell them.
Su Luo had thought about this idea. According to the market price in the town, these 500 dan of rice could be sold for at least 400 taels, which could make some money back. But she had to open a business. It had been said long ago that the wholesale of rice in this town was only controlled by the two major grain stores. You could buy grain from them, but if you bought grain from other places, wouldn't you be waiting for a run? And Su Luo had promised not to sell a grain in Zhuxian Town. If we go back to Baolai Village, according to the purchasing power of the village, how long will it take to sell 500 dan of rice? Besides, she didn't want to squeeze out the job of the old man who sold grain in the village. So now she had to act according to the original plan. According to the price difference between Shandong and Jiangnan, after deducting the freight, even if she sold it at the original price, she could sell it back for more than 300 taels, so she wouldn't lose too much.
After listening to Su Luo's explanation, Zhou Chongwen didn't say anything for a long time. It was unknown what he was thinking about. Su Luo remembered something and sat down opposite him. "How is your marriage proposal going?"
Zhou Chongwen glanced at her but still said nothing. Su Yi came in from outside and said, "Mr. Xie thinks Brother Zhou didn't give him enough silver, so he refused again." This kid looked as if he was gloating over other people's misfortune.
It's really like a snake swallowing an elephant. Before, it was ten taels, and then it was twenty taels. Naturally, the standard went up. Zhou Si should have a total of 17.5 taels, and he was short of 2.5 taels. What a fate.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Su Luo went back to the house and came out a little while later, throwing a silver bar to Zhou Chongwen, "I'm not in a hurry to use the money now. Tell me where else you need the money. Do you want me to buy you a house in town?"
Zhou Chongwen placed the silver bars on the table, stood up and picked up the bundle beside him. There was a rustling sound in the bag, which sounded like money.
"Miss Xie and I are not destined to be together in this life, so why force it? Mr. Xie thought that I had found the silver, and he would not be satisfied without a few hundred taels. Besides..." He paused and sighed softly, "This year is the year of selection again. The capital will send people to the people to select women to enter the palace as concubines. Mr. Xie wants Miss Xie to try as well."
Most of the concubines in the Ming Dynasty came from the common people, mainly because they were afraid that if a concubine became favored, the imperial relatives would rule the country. Therefore, the first requirement for the selection was a clean family background and no political background. The poorer and less powerful one was, the more popular he was.
"Miss Xie, are you willing?"
"It is only natural to obey your parents' orders."
Su Luo was speechless, she was really speechless, she couldn't even sigh. She thought Miss Xie and Zhou Si were in love until death, but now it seems that is not the case.
But she has no right to comment on this matter as she hasn't figured out her own business yet.
Zhou Chongwen felt sentimental for a moment, then put aside the shadow of his failed marriage proposal and opened the bundle. Sure enough, it was full of copper coins, including his own five coins and the silver bar that Su Luo gave him last time.
"I originally wanted to open a shop in this town to sell grain, but after listening to what you said, I feel that it would be very difficult. In this case, I will proceed according to the original plan."
"It's not about ." Su Luo fiddled with the copper coins, feeling a little touched that Zhou Chongwen was willing to use all his belongings to help her. "Bao Zixing ran away, but he still has a bun shop. If I sell it, it can be worth some money. The key is that I don't want to spend all my money on that foreman. He wants 120 taels now, and he raises the price halfway through the journey. What can I give him?"
"I want to go too." Zhou Chongwen seemed not to hear Su Luo's words.
Su Luo walked up to him and grabbed his ear without any hesitation, repeating what she had just said. It happened that Su came home from get off work at this time. Seeing this, she was shocked and quickly pulled Su Luo away to apologize to Zhou Chongwen. Su Luo smiled indifferently and said that this guy had a problem with his ears.
This was the first time she called Zhou Chongwen "Si" in front of her. Zhou Si didn't care at all. He just looked at Su Luo calmly and said in his sweet voice, "I will let you transport the grain over at a fair price, but the prerequisite is that you take me with you."
This time it was Su Luo's turn to have trouble hearing. She asked twice and got the same answer. She snorted and laughed, "I'm not looking down on you, but you don't look like a person who can handle things in a respectable manner. How can you negotiate the price with the foreman?"
Zhou Chongwen just refused to say anything, and disappeared mysteriously the next day. He had not been seen for two days. Just when Su Luo was speechless again, he magically appeared again, followed by a dozen strong men, each of them was stronger than Li Bao, the butcher. Next to him was a smiling fat man with a shrewd face.
"This is Boss Xue," Zhou Chongwen introduced. "He has several businesses in Shandong and is very familiar with the situation there. After our grain arrives by water, he will help us contact vehicles to Shen County."
Su Luo greeted Boss Xue blankly, and then glanced at the strong group behind the guy. Zhou Si turned around and introduced, "These... are brothers from Kaifeng. With them here, we can save some labor."
"How much does it cost to hire these people?" Su Luo swallowed. She didn't believe that Zhou Si found these people through personal connections. If he could really mobilize so many people, he wouldn't have to borrow money to marry a wife.
The sturdy man standing one step behind Zhou Chongwen heard the words and laughed: "Miss, you are joking. My brothers have money but we can't hire them. But if Master Zhou asks, we are willing to serve."
Su Luo's throat tightened. Aside from the Boss Xue who looked like a profiteer, these dozen strong brothers didn't look like ordinary laborers. They were alert from time to time, and their hands were always scratching their waists intentionally or unintentionally, habitually touching something. Although their waists were empty now, Su Luo would not be surprised if he told them that there was a knife hanging there. They were definitely a group of martial artists.
Who is he? Who is Zhou Si? How can he just pull in a group of gold medal fighters to work as laborers?
