books44 Chapter 141: Settling Things Down
Chapter 141: Settling Things Down
Chapter 141: Settling the Situation
My heart finally settled down, and the person I sent to inquire returned.
Ji Meiqing invited him to a private room in her family's restaurant, where the two discussed the matter.
"The Jiang family is indeed looking for new partners, but there's no news yet..." the man said.
Ji Meiqing twirled a strand of her hair as she pondered the matter. However, upon hearing that the Jiang family was also looking for partners, she suddenly became interested.
"How far along are you in the Jiang family's search for a partner?"
"I don't know, but it seems to have been a while. Old Master Jiang has rather unique tastes, so there hasn't been any news."
Ji Meiqing understood, and her smile finally relaxed. "I know what to do now. Please introduce me to them when the time comes."
“That’s no trouble at all. I heard that the Jiang family has also sent someone here to recruit people. If you would like to go, I can take you to the inn where he is staying.”
She thought about it and agreed, finding it a good idea.
After seeing the person off, Ji Meiqing went home and sorted out the receipts from her transaction with Young Master Jiang, then put them in a small box.
Lu Yu is now in charge of things at the wine shed, and she went there to inquire. Because they just made a deal with that person, there's no stock left at the wine shed, and everyone is rushing to catch up on another batch of goods.
She took some more silver and went straight to the street. She decided to inquire about the dye shop she'd had her eye on a few days ago. There wasn't much of a person on the street, so she went straight there.
The yard was overgrown with weeds and looked dilapidated. The pond in the yard was dyed in different colors, but because of its age, the colors were not particularly bright and had started to turn black.
The gate to the courtyard wasn't locked, but the rooms were secured with iron locks. She looked around and then went out.
There were people on both sides of the road, so she casually walked into a courtyard and asked around. That's how she found out the location, and she rushed over there without stopping.
The dye shop belonged to a pawnshop. Ji Meiqing went there and explained her purpose directly. The shopkeeper glanced at her a couple of times before opening the cabinet door and inviting her inside.
"If you want to buy that land, we can offer you a discount."
That's what the shopkeeper said. Ji Meiqing smiled and asked, "Then how much of a discount can you give me?"
"How about we round it down?"
He habitually raised the cunning and sly smile typical of businessmen, which caught Ji Meiqing's eye. She pretended to be deep in thought, secretly observing the expression on his face.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of anxiety; it was as if they didn't care how much the land could sell for. Since she couldn't detect any tension, Ji Meiqing decided not to delay any longer.
"How about a price, shopkeeper?"
"Three hundred taels... How about this price?" He gestured with his hand, and Ji Meiqing pondered.
Three hundred taels, not too much, not too little. Here, eight hundred taels can buy a small courtyard, so three hundred taels doesn't seem like a bad deal...
"Could you please send someone over to take care of it, sir?" she asked tentatively.
The shopkeeper didn't mind and readily agreed.
The two parties quickly reached an agreement. As they were signing and pressing their fingerprints, she suddenly remembered something else and looked up at the shopkeeper intently. "Is there anything strange about this place? Like... someone died here?"
"No, that's not it. It's just that the house has been in disrepair for years, and I don't know if the beams have been eaten by insects." The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly, and a hint of panic finally appeared on his usually calm face.
"That's alright." The handprint was pressed down, and the transaction was complete. The land deed was finally in hand; all that was left was to report it to the government office.
Blowing away non-existent dust, Ji Meiqing smiled and tucked the dust into her sleeve.
"The guy will go help the girl clean up tomorrow."
"Okay." After finishing these tasks, he prepared to leave.
After leaving this place, she planned to go back. It was getting late, but fortunately she was already in the city, so the journey wasn't long; she only had to turn a few corners to get there.
When she got home, they were waiting for her to come back for dinner. As soon as she returned, Grandma Mei went to the kitchen and brought out the food. Because she had just closed a deal, Ji Meiqing was in a very good mood, which even Lu Yu noticed.
"Why are you back so late today..." Ji Tianci looked at her with a resentful expression, like a wronged woman.
Ji Meiqing glanced at him and smiled, "I just went out to find something and forgot the time."
"What's been looking for so late..."
"Money," she said casually, her bowl already full of food, which she quickly finished, then looked at Lu Yu.
"I have something to tell you after you finish eating."
After saying that, he got up and went back to his room.
Ji Tianci looked at his brother-in-law, while Lu Yu calmly ate the food in his bowl. Ji Meiqing wanted to talk to him about something, probably because it was related to what happened today.
After finishing his rice, he went over. The door wasn't closed, and Ji Meiqing, as if she knew when he would come back, was about to knock when she heard voices from inside.
"Just come in."
After he came in, Ji Meiqing said again, "Close the door."
Lu Yu then noticed that she was writing on a piece of paper without looking up, and not knowing what she was writing, he leaned over out of curiosity.
There weren't many words written on the paper. When Ji Meiqing saw him coming, she got up and went to get him a chair. "You go first, I'll talk to you slowly."
The tea is poured, and the drawings are finished.
“Currently, we have a factory, a courtyard, and a restaurant,” she said slowly. Seeing Lu Yu’s puzzled look, she was in no hurry to explain to him. She simply said in her own words, “Today, I bought the dye house in the city for three hundred taels of silver. I’m not telling you this to get your praise. On the contrary, I think we should expand our production facilities.”
"So what you mean is..." Lu Yu tried to understand her thought process, always feeling that they were not from the same world.
Ji Meiqing pushed the things in her hands in front of him, gesturing for him to look carefully: "I have written the recruitment notice and plan to post it... In addition, I have learned a lot about the Jiang family's affairs, and I have decided to take advantage of this opportunity to secure the Jiang family's order in one go."
Lu Yu remained silent.
"Our current production capacity is completely unable to keep up with our demand. We need to hire more people, establish a foothold in this city... Once we've laid a solid foundation, we'll expand towards the capital... What do you think?"
Her face suddenly came close, startling Lu Yu awake.