Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 45: Compromise
Mr. Cai stopped talking and took out a hookah. Most of the hookahs in western Guangdong were made of bamboo tubes. However, Mr. Cai was the top boss in the Thirteen Hongs, so this hookah was made of glass - it was made of two tubes of fully transparent glass, one large and one small, imported from the East India Company, and then assembled by skilled craftsmen from Guangzhou.
He didn't say a word at this time, and it was unclear whether he heard Cai Qiaozhu's words or not. The atmosphere in the dim back hall was extremely depressing.
Cai Qiaozhu came over, took the flint before Cai Zongshang, and helped light the cigarette. She served the man very smoothly in a few strokes. Her father, Cai Shiqun, also smoked hookah, and she often served Cai Shiqun before she got married. But she had been married to the Wu family for twelve years, and this was the first time in twelve years that she had to lower herself to serve others, except for her seriously ill husband.
Lian Qiao saw this and felt anxious. She thought to herself, "Our eldest young lady has lowered herself to serve you, and you really want to let her serve you? If the third young master saw this, he would definitely make a scene on the spot."
Wu Chengjian knew that his sister-in-law was not at home, so he went to the backyard.
During this period, the schedules of the several owners of the Wu residence were all disrupted. In the past two years, Mr. Wu tried to go to bed early and get up early, but tonight he was very nervous. When he heard the noise, he woke up and asked, "Is it my sister-in-law who is back? Or is it Haoguan who is back?"
Wu Chengjian said: "Father, it's me."
After entering the room, Aunt Yang put on her clothes and avoided them.
Wu Chengjian helped his father put on a coat, then said, "Did your sister-in-law go to see Cai Shiwen?"
Wu Guoying didn't answer, but her expression showed assent.
Wu Chengjian looked annoyed: "What's the point of asking him for help? Our family got into trouble this time, even if Cai Shiwen was not the mastermind, he was an accomplice. He is just asking to be humiliated! Dad, why didn't you stop my sister-in-law?"
Wu Guoying sighed deeply and said, "I know it's probably useless, and my sister-in-law... should know that, too. But the situation has come to this point, how can she give up if she doesn't try?"
Mr. Cai leaned back in his armchair, smoking a hookah, gurgling , gurgling, and really let Cai Qiaozhu serve him. Once he started smoking, he didn't stop. This was the only sound in the dim back hall. The smoke from the hookah lingered, making the already dim room even more unclear.
Cai Qiaozhu had been pampered for more than twenty years, especially after she got married. Normally, the brothers Wu Chengjun and Wu Chengjian would not let her get close to any smoke. But at this moment, she endured being enveloped by the smoke for a long time, and finally she covered her mouth and coughed.
Lian Qiao hurriedly took out her handkerchief and stepped forward. Cai Qiaozhu took it and wiped it. At this time, Mr. Cai had finished smoking the first tube of hookah and opened the cigarette pack. Cai Qiaozhu knew that he wanted to smoke the second tube, so she stuffed the handkerchief into the cigarette pack and helped to arrange it, pouring out the ashes, scraping the ashes with tweezers, filling it with tobacco leaves, stuffing it in and lighting it, saying, "Uncle, be careful."
After Mr. Cai had exhausted all the smoke from his mouth, he finally spoke: "Qiaozhu, why are you doing this? It's so boring."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "A real man can bend and stretch, let alone a woman like me? My family is about to be destroyed, why should I worry about whether it is good or bad? As long as I can survive, I, Cai Qiaozhu, can bend my waist and knees, and I hope that uncle can show mercy."
"Why are you so high-handed!" said General Merchant Cai, "Although I am the general merchant, this is not an official position with a certain rank. To put it nicely, I am the head of the Thirteen Hongs' merchants, but to put it bluntly, I am Master Jishan's mouthpiece. I can only pass on what the higher-ups say and do what the higher-ups want me to do."
"Of course!" Cai Qiaozhu said, "We all rely on the grace of our emperor and father to have such a good life. Your Majesty's holy instructions and the orders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should naturally be carried out. But in the end, there is still room for maneuver as to who will be in charge and how to do it specifically. Uncle, don't you think so?"
The last sentence means that although Jishan's opinion cannot be disobeyed, you, uncle, still have the ability to change which family the apportionment will ultimately fall on.
Mr. Cai said, "Qiaozhu, you are the head of the inner house. The affairs of men outside are more complicated than you think. They are not as simple as you say."
"Of course, of course." Cai Qiaozhu said, "If the Thirteen Hongs business was easy to do, there wouldn't be only these eleven in the entire Qing Dynasty. I watched Chengjun work day and night. No one knows better than me how heavy the burden is for men outside and how difficult it is. But my niece only believes in one truth: with your uncle's ability, as long as he has the heart, he can save people."
Mr. Cai laughed dryly, "Qiaozhu, you think too highly of your uncle. Think about it, how have I treated you and Chengjun over the years? I'm afraid my two daughters and son-in-law will have to take a back seat. If I really have the ability, how can I not help? I really can't do it."
"Uncle, you're too polite." Cai Qiaozhu said, "At that time, the business protection meeting had not yet been held, and the news of our Yihe Bank losing tea in Huizhou had not yet spread, but uncle already knew that our Wu family was going to go bankrupt. Uncle could have such foresight, so of course he had seen through the whole thing a long time ago."
Mr. Cai's expression changed slightly: "What do you mean?"
Cai Qiaozhuo hinted at her intention to tell Cai Shiwen: Although I am a woman, I am not ignorant. I came here today knowing that there are tigers and wolves in the cave, but I still begged them for mercy.
"It doesn't matter." Cai Qiaozhu said, "No matter who is behind the harm to our Wu family and why they want to harm us, at this critical moment, our Wu family does not want to pursue it. Right now, the Wu family does not ask for anything else, but only for a way out. Since uncle has the ability to turn the clouds around, it is impossible that he does not have a back-up plan. Now, we do not ask for anything else, but for the sake of our relationship, uncle will point out a clear way for the Wu family."
This made the bottom line and requirement clear: as long as they could survive this disaster, the Wu family would let bygones be bygones even if it was later discovered that the matter was related to Cai Shiwen.
Mr. Cai snorted and said nothing.
Cai Qiaozhu said again: "Uncle, although my niece doesn't understand the overall situation, she also knows four words: blood is thicker than water. In the business world, you have to form alliances and form partnerships. Who you form an alliance with is not an alliance, and who you form partnerships with is not a partnership. In this case, why don't you choose the close Wu family, but the distant Ye family? Even if it is the Xie family, Xie Yuanli is still a little less blood-related than our Wu family. Although my niece is not your biological daughter, but after twelve years of getting to know each other, you have become close to everyone. Am I worse than an outsider? Uncle, if not for my niece, please give me a hand for my father, your grandfather, and my niece's great-grandfather."
After a pause, he continued, "As long as uncle is willing to help, the Wu family's filial piety will definitely be higher than that of the Ye family in the future."
When the word "filial piety" was spoken, it really meant that one's dignity was completely abandoned, as if one was willing to humble oneself and work for the Cai family. Not to mention that Wu Chengjun was ambitious when he was in charge, even when Wu Guoying first founded Yihe Bank, he aimed to catch up with the Pan family. Even when Yihe Bank was much weaker than it is today and faced Pan Zhenchen, Wu Guoying at least verbally strived for independence.
Forced by the current situation, she had no choice but to bow to the Cai family. Not only that, but she had to become a subordinate of the Cai family. When Cai Qiaoju said this, she thought about how her husband and third uncle would react if they knew, and her heart was bleeding.
"Qiaozhu," Mr. Cai said slowly, "Do you know what you mean? The one who is in charge of Yihehang now is Wu Chengjian, not you."
Cai Qiaozhu said: "My niece came here today to report to my master."
This means that Wu Guoying agreed.
A barely perceptible gleam of satisfaction finally flashed across Mr. Cai's eyes. In the past two years, Wu Chengjun's ambitions in the business world and Wu Chengjian's arrogance in Shenxianzhou, the two brothers took advantage of the good momentum and gained power in the business world.
When doing business, Wu Chengjun "always insists on reason". He would "prefer to take the straight path rather than the crooked one" and would not give in an inch as long as he was right. Not to mention that Pan Yi, Liang, Yang and Ma were overshadowed by him, even the Xie and Lu families clearly felt the pressure. On two occasions, even Pan Youjie was forced to give way. Cai Shiwen, as the general merchant, was left speechless by Wu Chengjun several times.
As for Wu Chengjian, he was even more rampant in the Immortal Continent. No matter whose family the child was, he would kill anyone he saw.
The attitude of the wealthy families in Xiguan towards the Baietan entertainment venue is extremely contradictory: on the one hand, they naturally want to teach their children to be frugal and not to indulge in eating, drinking, gambling, prostitution, or extravagance, and not to show off their wealth, so as not to be noticed by the higher-ups. Therefore, everyone wears dusty clothes and keeps a low profile during the business meetings; on the other hand, if you don’t show off your wealth, who knows how much money you have? If you don’t show off your wealth, who knows how powerful you are?
So, Mr. Cai spent a lot of money to support Shen Xiaoying, but was later beaten by Mr. Cai. He was not only beaten for spending money recklessly, but also for spending money recklessly and still not being able to outspend Wu Chengjian! How could Mr. Cai look good when his son was beaten in public?
In this famous Xiguan Street, the more money you have, the more confident others will be in placing their money and goods with you. The more powerful you are, the more loyal your followers will be. But if your momentum is not good, merchants will think twice before paying you money and sending you goods, and may even come to your house to collect the debt. If the Guangdong Customs Supervisor sees that you are poor and penniless, he will also consider whether to change someone else to get the license. Even the servants of Shenxian Island have to change someone else to show their loyalty.
So in the past two years, seeing Wu Chengjian spending money like water in the Immortal Continent, all the merchants in Xiguan secretly believed that the Wu family's ranking in the Thirteen Hongs was "underestimated". If the family was not financially strong, how could the eldest son of the Wu family dare to let the third son of the Wu family waste money like this? He was still a younger brother, not a son.
However, seeing Cai Qiaozhu lowering her eyebrows and looking submissive at this moment, Cai Zongshang couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth unconsciously. He finally let out some of the resentment that had accumulated over the years.
