Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 3 Tea Talk
Ye Dalin waved his hand, and Ye Duofu went to bring Changzi in.
Changzi is different now than he was a few months ago. He has just been promoted and is now the top servant of the Wu family. He has the highest monthly salary in Ritianju except for Wu Qi. He is also dressed up. As the saying goes, "A man needs clothes, and a Buddha needs a golden body." Once he puts on new clothes, his whole demeanor is different. He also secretly learns Wu Qi's speech and behavior , so his demeanor is also different now. When he entered the door, he greeted Ye Dalin and said, "Officer Hao, I need to borrow the garden tonight. I'd like to meet Officer Qi."
He spoke intermittently, but he tried not to repeat any words, and kept his sentences as short as possible. Ye Dalin knew that he had a stutter, so he half-listened and guessed, and asked, "Is Qiguan coming?"
Changzi said: "Officer Qi wants to see Officer Hao. Officer Hao said he wanted to come to the Ye family."
Ye Dalin would naturally attend tomorrow's business insurance meeting, so he knew what was going on immediately after hearing these two sentences. He smiled, beckoned Changzi to take two steps forward, casually took off a thick red gold ring and said, "You are very good. You have made my family proud. This is a reward for you."
The gathering of the three families tonight is of great importance. In the past, it would have been Wu Qi who reported it, but now it is Changzai who reports it. It can be seen that Changzai's status in the Wu family is different, so Ye Dalin wants to reward him.
Changzi did not refuse, and after accepting it, he said, "Thank you, Master Ye, for the reward."
It was not until dinner time that Wu Chengjian returned to the left courtyard.
Seeing him, Ye Youyu was about to stand up: "Are you done discussing this? I'll ask them to bring the food."
Wu Chengjian said: "Don't move - Dongxue!"
Dongxue brought a small table of food in a short while, and also brought Ye Youyu's light porridge and snacks. She was about to give birth, and rich people had no shortage of nutrition. At this stage, she should eat light food to avoid the baby being too big to be born. Wu Chengjian frowned and asked, "Why haven't you eaten yet?"
Ye Youyu said, "You are so busy every day, it's rare for me to have a meal with you."
Wu Chengjian waved his hand: "Don't do this again in the future."
The two of them ate facing each other. Wu Chengjian asked a few questions about her health and then said nothing more. The meal was almost finished in silence.
After dinner, Wu Chengjian got up and went out. Before leaving, he stopped and said, "I have to go to your mother's house tonight to discuss something with Qi Guan and your father. Don't wait for me. Go to bed early."
Ye Youyu responded, but Wu Chengjian had already left.
He first went to the right courtyard to see his elder brother, and then went to the backyard to see his father. Wu Guoying asked about Wu Chengjun's complexion, and Wu Chengjian said, "It's OK."
Wu Guoying knew that Wu Chengjun was not well, so she said, "If I had known that, I would not have allowed Xi's wife to come to the old house to take care of the baby. Now that she is so big and thin, it is not good for her to move around."
Wu Chengjian understood what Wu Guoying meant. He knew that good things were about to happen and bad things were about to happen. He frowned. He did not like some of the old man's ideas, but he held back and did not say anything.
After visiting his old father , he went back to the left courtyard to have dinner with Ye Youyu before coming to Ye's house.
The Ye family had already made preparations. They cleaned everything from the front door to the garden and decorated it a little. It was already winter, and snow had already fallen in the north, but not in Guangzhou. It was a cool season. The few osmanthus trees in the garden were in full bloom, so Ye Dalin set up a tea table under the osmanthus trees.
He took Wu Chengjian's hand, and the father-in-law and son-in-law came to the osmanthus tree affectionately, leaving only Wu Qiye Duofu to serve, and then asked: "What are your plans for meeting Qiguan tonight?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "It was Qi Guan who wanted to see me. I don't know what he wants to do."
"What else can I do?" Ye Dalin sneered twice: "I just want to know your plans for tomorrow."
Wu Chengjian smiled, and sat under the osmanthus tree with Ye Dalin without saying a word.
Among the servants of the Wu family, Wu Xiaojiu is the best in tea art, but Wu Qi is not bad either. The Ye family prepared Gongfu tea sets, so Wu Qi started to fiddle with them and made a cup of oolong tea.
After the father-in-law and son-in-law drank a round, Ye Dalin asked, "Speaking of which, Hao Guan, what are your plans for tomorrow? You have to tell me the truth first. Then when we face Qi Guan later, we can advance and retreat together."
Wu Chengjian sniffed the second round of tea, took a sip, and said, "What I mean is that we should do the work first and get the good things done. We can put the struggle for power and profit aside. Let Qi Guan continue to sit in the position of the general merchant."
Ye Dalin asked, "Are the Fanyi really willing to give up the compensation? Can you still get money out of them?"
After the fire more than a month ago, the nine major insurance merchants all suffered heavy losses. The whole of Guangzhou was in mourning. The insurance merchants who were once so powerful were like ants on a hot pan. Some went to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, some went to the Supervisor of Guangdong Customs, some went to Pan Youjie and Lu Guanhuan, and naturally some went to Wu Chengjian and Ye Dalin.
Everyone was thinking about what to do if foreign merchants came to demand compensation, or if creditors came to demand payment for goods.
Be it the Governor's Office or the Supervisory Office, including Pan and Lu, everyone is playing Tai Chi and no one can give out real information.
In fact, these small insurance companies and small merchants also know how difficult this is, and the reason they still seek help everywhere is just to hope for the best - and in the end they really got what they wanted!
When they came to Wu Chengjian for help half a month ago, Wu Chengjian actually gave a vague promise. As a result, the merchants, big and small, felt like they had grabbed a life-saving rope in the raging waves, and once they had grabbed it, they would climb up!
All of a sudden, everyone looked at Wu Chengjian, and everyone moved closer to the Wu family.
But Wu Chengjian just said that if everyone was willing to trust him, he might be able to think of a way. All the insurance companies and merchants affected by the fire were almost in despair. After hearing this, they immediately rushed over like thirsty fish and shrimps seeing a waterfall. But no matter how they asked, Wu Chengjian did not say a word and only said that they would know the result in half a month.
Only when talking to Ye Dalin did Wu Chengjian reveal some of the truth, hinting that he would go to the East India Company and not only ask the foreign company to agree to reduce or waive the compensation, but also ask the foreigners to borrow a sum of money as start-up capital for the reconstruction of the Thirteen Hongs.
After hearing this, Ye Dalin did not leak it out. Although he was still half-believing and half-doubting, he had used this opportunity to accomplish several things that he had not been able to do before, such as exchanging two shops with the Liang family. At this critical juncture, no one dared to offend Wu Chengjian, let alone Ye Dalin.
However, Ye Dalin was worried about whether Wu Chengjian could do what he boasted.
Wu Chengjian then took out the preliminary agreement signed by Mr. Milton, which was in both Chinese and English.Ye Dalin couldn't understand it, but he could recognize the Chinese. He glanced at it and was overjoyed: "Officer Hao, I didn't expect you to be able to do it!"
He had always suspected that Wu Chengjian had deliberately spread the rumor, set up a scam, and then deceived the people who fell into the trap in order to make up for the Wu family's losses.
Holding the preliminary agreement, Ye Dalin smiled and said, "Once this is done, the rest of the Thirteen Banks will be depending on you."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "It's not that exaggerated."
"How can it be exaggerated?" Ye Dalin said, "What you sent is life-saving money. With this agreement, you can squeeze those big and small insurance merchants and upstream merchants however you want! Not to mention them, even the Guangdong Customs and the Governor's Office can get a piece of meat!"
Wu Chengjian pondered and shook his head: "No, if these compensations and settlements can be waived and settled smoothly, then the matter will end here. Everyone is in trouble after a big fire, so don't add any more trouble. I know that you, father-in-law, have gained some benefits during this period, but it's enough, so stop it."
Ye Dalin knew that he couldn't hide his own affairs from him, and he also knew what Wu Chengjian meant, but he was still a little surprised: "You really don't want to be the general merchant? Let me tell you straight, the Pan and Yi families have come to see me secretly, and they have said that as long as you can really exempt the foreign ghosts from compensation and lend them money, they are willing to turn to us. Lao Liang also came to see me and said a few words in secret, but the meaning was very clear: if this thing can be accomplished, the Lu family will also be on our side."
"No." Wu Chengjian said, "How old am I? When Qi Guan was denied the position of successor, he was older than I am now. Besides, how long has Qi Guan been the general merchant? If I replace him now, I will be put on the fire, and the great hatred between the Pan and Wu families will be formed. So forget it. Let Qi Guan take the lead and make a fortune quietly. Isn't it better?"
Ye Dalin laughed loudly, and then said: "But this is too cheap to be promoted."
Wu Chengjian smiled and shook his head. Just then, a servant came to report: "Official Tonghe Xingqi's sedan chair has arrived."
Ye Dalin and Wu Chengjian stood up together and went to the gate to greet them. When the three of them met, Pan Youjie said with a smile, "Official Hao, Official Da, we are all family, why should we be so polite?"
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "Qi Guan is my elder brother and also the general merchant. I should welcome him with open arms both privately and publicly!"
Ye Dalin said: "I am a landlord, so I have no choice but to come out."
The three of them laughed together. Pan Youjie walked in the middle, holding Wu Chengjian on his left hand and Ye Dalin on his right hand. The three of them walked hand in hand to the bottom of the osmanthus tree in a friendly manner under the attention of everyone. The tea had been changed and the water had just boiled. A middle-aged female tea master made tea and invited the three richest men to taste it.
The three of them admired the osmanthus flowers and drank three rounds of tea. Pan Youjie then asked, "What are your plans for tomorrow's business meeting, Hao Guan?"
Wu Chengjian said: "Everything is subject to the arrangements of Qiguan."
Pan Youjie said, "Milton came to me and said that you took an agreement to him. He mentioned two things: no compensation and low-interest loans. From his words, he probably felt dissatisfied with you, Haoguan, and wanted me to take over this matter."
Ye Dalin was shocked and looked at Wu Chengjian.
