My Fulang is a Delicate Flower Chapter 42 Part 1

Chapter 42  

Huo Shu came up with an idea and, upon returning, immediately shared this plan with Ji Taoyu. If it was feasible, they could start preparing; if Ji Taoyu disagreed, they could snuff out the idea right from the beginning.  

“You mean to go into trading?”  

Ji Taoyu was somewhat surprised upon hearing Huo Shu’s proposal.  

After all, in his understanding, Huo Shu was a man of few words and not particularly worldly or smooth-tongued. It was hard to imagine him suggesting a business venture.  

“Mm.”  

Tongzhou was prosperous, teeming with merchants—large trading companies above and peddlers supplying goods to counties below.  

In every village within a ten-mile radius, there were several people who had dabbled in reselling goods to make a living. It wasn’t an obscure or niche trade by any means.  

However, precisely because so many were involved, competition was fierce. Many rushed into it, only to fail to grasp the intricacies and end up losing money.  

Setting aside the matter of profit or loss, since Huo Shu had brought it up, Ji Taoyu decided to discuss it seriously based on his own understanding:  

“Given the differences between the north and south you mentioned, there certainly is potential for profit. But if the destination is the northern frontier, the vast distance means you can’t travel alone like a peddler. You’d need at least a dozen people to escort the goods and watch out for each other, if not a full-fledged caravan.”  

“Manpower is one issue. Secondly, if you plan to resell cloth, even if Tongzhou’s fabrics are cheaper and come in more patterns, high-quality materials and designs still carry a high base cost. Since you’d be traveling far, you can’t carry too little stock. More goods mean higher capital, so you’d need substantial funds to keep things running.”  

Ji Taoyu added, “These two are the major hurdles. If neither can be met, then there’s no need to worry about the rest.”  

Huo Shu looked at Ji Taoyu, then turned and went to open a chest tucked away in the corner.  

When he first arrived at the Ji family, he had brought only a bundle. Seeing the dusty pack sitting pitifully on the cabinet, Ji Taoyu had cleared out one of his own chests for Huo Shu to store his belongings.  

He had even promised not to rummage through it without permission, assuring Huo Shu he could safely keep his things there from then on.  

Huo Shu opened the chest, dug out a dagger from beneath two worn-out sets of clothes, and retrieved a cloth-wrapped bundle from the very bottom.  

He carried it to the table and pushed it toward Ji Taoyu. “Would this be enough to keep things running for a while?”  

Seeing the heavy bundle, Ji Taoyu narrowed his eyes at Huo Shu before hurriedly unwrapping it.  

This time, his expression was even more stunned than when he had opened Huo Shu’s pouch before.  

Holding two rectangular gold bars - shaped like whetstones, he was utterly dumbfounded.  

The Ji family was well-off, and his grandfather’s medical hall did quite well, but this was the first time he had ever seen so much money!  

It might seem ridiculous, but their family transactions had always been in silver. That pouch from Huo Shu during their last city trip had actually been Ji Taoyu's first time touching gold.  

No wonder Huo Shu had been so generous back then, handing over his pouch without hesitation, because he still had the bulk of his wealth stashed away.  

“One of these must weigh at least twenty taels, and it’s gold! One tael of gold is worth ten taels of silver!”  

Ji Taoyu clicked his tongue, then suddenly remembered something. He spun around and rushed to the old, unlocked chest, rummaging through it to see if Huo Shu had any more hidden treasures.  

“That’s all. Everything I own is here.”  

Seeing Ji Taoyu crouched by the chest, clutching two gold bars, Huo Shu found it somewhat amusing.  

“This amounts to about five hundred taels of silver. Should be enough to start.”  

Recalling how he had once joked about using his own savings to support Huo Shu if he lost his livelihood, Ji Taoyu suppressed the urge to interrogate him about how he had amassed so much money and instead asked, “What about manpower?”  

“I have a plan for that. It depends on your decision.”  

“Huh? What do you mean, ‘depends on my decision’?”  

Huo Shu replied, “If you agree to this venture, I’ll proceed with the arrangements. If you think it’s unsuitable, we’ll drop it.”  

Ji Taoyu fell silent, not answering immediately.  

If this venture succeeded, Ji Taoyu understood the consequences all too well.  

Long journeys across mountains and rivers would become routine, and time spent apart would far outweigh time together. Just the thought of it made his heart clench.  

But any worthwhile endeavor required effort and sacrifice, even his grandfather’s medical hall required him to travel several times a year.  

If Huo Shu achieved nothing and simply stayed tied to the land, they’d never be apart.  

But a man’s ambitions stretch far and wide, and Huo Shu was a capable man. Forcing him to spend his life butchering pigs or farming would be a waste of his talents.  

He had already fulfilled his late friend’s wish by retiring from the military and could have wandered freely. The only reason he stayed here, willingly bound, was because of Ji Taoyu.  

If Ji Taoyu forbade him from pursuing this or that, it would be far too stifling.  

When it came to major decisions, Ji Taoyu had his own principles.  

“This is a good thing. Why would I think it unsuitable? If the plan moves forward, it’ll save Father from worrying too.”  

Encouragingly, he added, “You know the northern territories well—who knows, you might really make a name for yourself! Even if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be a lesson learned. We’re still young, we should take risks in business. We can’t just rely on the meager foundations left by our ancestors forever.”