Chapter 4: The Deal
“Sorry, my brother-in-law seems to have caused trouble.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Gu Yu said sorry, but there was no apology on his face. Instead, he wore a smug look that was very annoying.
However, with Gu Yu’s pretty face, it wasn’t too detestable.
It’s a world that judges by appearance, regardless of dynasty.
“Who is this?”
“This is my brother-in-law, Gu Yu.”
Before Gu Yu could speak, Gu Qingheng excitedly introduced himself. At the same time, he thought that his brother-in-law had finally come to save him, and he could withdraw with honor!
Ever since Gu Yu taught Gu Qingheng these poems, Gu Qingheng had been deeply impressed, thinking that his brother-in-law was a truly amazing self-taught genius!
Others would study characters for many years before composing poetry, but his brother-in-law skipped these steps and directly wrote a good poem!
Even though Gu Qingheng was still young, he could recognize the brilliance of these poems, which could only be compared to those of great writers.
If Gu Yu knew his brother-in-law’s thoughts, he would probably feel a little embarrassed… Because Gu Yu was thinking that in ancient times, people made friends through poetry, and with the high status of scholars, reciting poetry from time to time would definitely impress everyone.
And this was the result Gu Yu wanted.
However, Gu Qingheng, who was originally preparing to retreat with glory, remembered what this rich-looking young master had promised.
“Esteemed young master, does what you said earlier still count?”
“Of course it counts, but I don’t know what you want!”
“Of course it’s… cough cough, there are too many eyes and ears here, I’d like to find a quiet place to discuss this.”
Gu Qingheng, who was about to ask for silver directly, changed his tone and coughed twice after seeing Gu Yu wink at him. He put on a posture of a little adult, with his hands behind his back, asking Shan Chengfeng to find a secluded place for further discussion.
Gu Qingheng could distinguish between what was important and what was not, so he didn’t say anything more at this time.
His smart little brain turned, and he knew why Gu Yu had gone to such great lengths to make him shine. It was nothing more than wanting to sell the white sugar stockpiled at home.
Although Gu Qingheng was very reluctant to have his family’s white sugar decrease, he also knew that all the family expenses were now borne by Gu Yu alone, so he could only grieve in his heart.
When there was no more white sugar, he could ask his brother-in-law to make more!
Shan Chengfeng’s eyes were naturally not blind. When he saw Gu Yu wink at Gu Qingheng, he frowned in surprise, wondering what these two were up to.
If today’s event was a trap, the person behind it was truly willing to contribute such a good poem, making today’s tea party even more lively.
No matter what schemes and tricks were involved, Shan Chengfeng agreed to his request just for Gu Qingheng’s poem.
Afterwards, the tea party continued, and Shan Chengfeng led Gu Qingheng and Gu Yu to a quiet place for discussion.
As for why Gu Mengyao didn’t go with them, it was because Gu Yu remembered Wang Hu’s lecherous look before. It was better to be careful when he didn’t know Shan Chengfeng’s character.
His wife was too beautiful, and he couldn’t let scoundrels bully her.
Although the final outcome… might be Gu Mengyao kicking him away…
Later, after Shan Chengfeng led Gu Yu and Gu Qingheng into a private room, he waved his hand to dismiss the servants attending them. Then, he fanned himself with a folding fan painted with ink and water, blowing his ink-black hair behind him, looking quite dashing and elegant.
If the young women saw him, they would probably scream a few times to express their admiration for Shan Chengfeng’s handsome appearance.
However, Gu Yu felt that Shan Chengfeng was pretentious. It was almost winter, and he was still fanning himself around. Wasn’t he cold?
“You came to me, what’s the matter?”
“Good news.”
“?”
Seeing that there was no one else around, Shan Chengfeng asked Gu Yu directly. After hearing his reply, his eyes immediately showed confusion, not knowing what Gu Yu was planning.
Seeing Shan Chengfeng’s directness, Gu Yu smiled slightly and stopped talking nonsense. Instead, he took out a paper package from his arms.
After quickly unwrapping the package, it revealed the loose white sugar inside.
“This is our family’s secret recipe. We further purified the sugarcane into a better-tasting white sugar.”
To show that it was not poison like arsenic, Gu Yu first pinched a small pinch of white sugar and put it into his mouth.
Since someone had voluntarily tested for poison, Shan Chengfeng had no doubts at this time.
He looked at the rare white sugar in front of him with a hint of curiosity, then picked up a little and put it in his mouth.
The next second, Shan Chengfeng’s eyes widened in surprise.
The sweet taste was incomparable to the sweet taste with a burnt bitterness of sugarcane candy!
Having traveled to many places, Shan Chengfeng had never seen such rare white sugar. Its taste and texture were top-notch, and he could imagine the sensation it would cause when this new product was launched to the outside world!
If he could get the recipe for white sugar, then… he might become the new Imperial merchant!
Not by the blessings of his ancestors, but by the wealth he earned himself!
It must be said that Gu Yu had only just taken out the white sugar, and Shan Chengfeng had already thought far ahead… This showed that the value of white sugar was very high, especially when met with the eager Shan Chengfeng, it was like parched land meeting rain, solving an urgent need.
“How much of this white sugar do you have?”
“A pottery jar has more than three catties, about ten of them! The production method of white sugar is not easy, and the raw material of sugarcane is not cheap, so I didn’t make too much. How about it, how many jars do you want?”
“I’ll take them all!”
Upon hearing Shan Chengfeng’s words, Gu Yu rubbed his chin and pretended to think before slowly stating the quantity of ten jars.
When Shan Chengfeng heard the quantity of ten jars, his expression seemed unsatisfied that there were so few, but he directly agreed to take them all.
Gu Qingheng, standing aside, immediately frowned upon hearing that a large half of the family’s white sugar was gone.
Then, he glared at Shan Chengfeng as if he were a puppy whose bone had been snatched.
Gu Yu had anticipated Shan Chengfeng’s reaction. As someone from an Imperial merchant family, Shan Chengfeng was different from ordinary merchants and should be better at seizing opportunities.
He believed that Shan Chengfeng would definitely cherish this opportunity when he was presented with white sugar this time.
Moreover, Gu Yu had heard someone mention before that Shan Chengfeng was the youngest son of the Shan family, not as good as the best, but better than the worst. He must have felt awkward in the Shan family.
This time, with the opportunity, he could finally hold his head high.
“Brother Gu, what is your asking price for this white sugar?”
“Hmm… this much.”
Since he didn’t know how much white sugar could be sold for, Gu Yu didn’t state it directly. Instead, he opened one palm towards Shan Chengfeng with a smile, waiting for Shan Chengfeng to make an offer.
“Five hundred taels per jar? That’s too high!”
“……”
But the next moment, upon hearing Shan Chengfeng hesitantly state the price of five hundred taels, Gu Yu was stunned and quickly recovered.
Although the raw materials for making this sugar did not exceed fifty taels, after some bargaining, he believed he could sell it at a high price!
Gu Qingheng, watching from the side, was also stunned when he heard the figure of five hundred taels. He never expected that the white sugar made by his brother-in-law could be sold at such a high price.
It was practically comparable to gold!
So, had he been eating gold before?
“Of course, I won’t ask such a high price. How about this! We both compromise, two hundred and fifty taels per jar, but let me make it clear first, I only accept cash on delivery.”
“Two hundred taels, if that’s the price, I’ll buy them all!”
“Heh heh, you said you wanted them all before, but now you’re not going to buy them?”
“How could I not buy them! However, the price is indeed too high. Although it’s a scarce commodity, my offer of two hundred taels is absolutely not deceptive.”
Shan Chengfeng was not stupid enough to set a price directly. Gu Yu had also guessed his intention for bargaining.
So, dealing with him was particularly smooth.
However, seeing Shan Chengfeng’s shifting gaze, it was likely that he had other ideas, and now it was a matter of seeing how long he could hold out.
“Alright, since you’ve said so, two hundred taels it is!”
“Hahaha, Brother Gu is indeed forthright! Also, are you selling the recipe for this white sugar?”
Gu Yu had overestimated Shan Chengfeng’s patience.
As soon as he agreed to sell the white sugar at the price of two hundred taels per jar, Shan Chengfeng impatiently expressed his desire to buy the recipe.
It seemed he was quite ambitious.
Gu Yu maintained his usual smiling demeanor. Upon hearing that Shan Chengfeng wanted to buy the recipe, he secretly rubbed his thumb and index finger together with his left hand, knowing that a large sum of silver was about to enter his pocket.
“If the recipe can be sold, how much silver would you pay for it?”
“Thirty thousand taels.”
After some conversation, Gu Yu was once again stunned by the figure of thirty thousand taels.
Although the appearance of white sugar was bound to cause a sensation throughout Linfeng Kingdom, the price of thirty thousand taels of silver for a recipe exceeded Gu Yu’s expectations.
However, no one disliked more money, so Gu Yu happily agreed.
The method of making white sugar was actually not difficult, but it required a lot of manpower. Gu Yu was unwilling to let his wife twist sugarcane with her bare hands every day. Now that a fool with too much money had appeared, Gu Yu couldn’t be more pleased.
Anyway, he didn’t only have white sugar as a way to make money in his mind. After selling this recipe, he had more.
Both parties were very satisfied with this conversation. After finalizing the contract, they agreed on a time for Shan Chengfeng to bring the silver to the Gu family to pick up the sugar.
After the transaction was completed, both parties were content. When Shan Chengfeng enthusiastically wanted to host Gu Yu, Gu Yu immediately refused, not wanting to attract too much attention at this sensitive time.
He believed that handing over the white sugar to Shan Chengfeng for sale would soon attract envy.
Because of Shan Chengfeng’s background, no one dared to touch him. But if they traced back and found out about the three of them in the Gu family, it would not be good.
They were just civilians without any backing, so they naturally couldn’t contend with those influential powers… Although if they dared to come, they wouldn’t leave in one piece.
Thinking of this, Gu Yu even winked at Gu Qingheng, reminding him not to forget his prize.
This was not about being greedy for petty gains, but about creating proof for the outside world.
They had entered Shan Chengfeng’s sight because of Gu Qingheng’s poem, and thus received many rewards. Apart from this, there was no other connection.
As for when Shan Chengfeng came to the Gu family later, they could explain it as becoming sworn friends with Gu Qingheng… However, if they really did this, Gu Qingheng’s reputation as a child prodigy would also be established.
But on second thought, Gu Yu had originally intended for his brother-in-law to take the imperial examinations and become an official in the future, so it was good to have some fame now. After all, Gu Qingheng was truly a genius with photographic memory, and his future was limitless.
Upon seeing Gu Yu’s signal, Gu Qingheng immediately grinned, looking at Shan Chengfeng as if he were a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
Since his family’s white sugar had been bought, he should demand a higher price later!
…
Finally sold the white sugar, hehehe, a sum of silver is in the account.
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