Chapter 75
"This shop really isn’t small."
The fellow villagers from the Northern Territory walked around inside and outside the shop, all expressing the same opinion.
Although the shop’s location wasn’t the best, being close to the edge of town, compared to the desolation of the Northern Territory’s county town, they felt that even a shop on the outskirts of Tongzhou Prefecture was more than enough to rival the bustling market of their hometown.
They had ridden over on horseback, and the weather was still early.
The summer sun at this moment was like newly sprouted leaves that had yet to deepen in color—gentle, as if washed clean.
Huo Shu took the lead in arranging the cleaning of the shop. They still needed to hire a carpenter to make beds for the back courtyard and shelves for the front shop.
They could also buy ready-made furniture from a woodworking shop, but the price would be much higher.
The Ji family had enough timber to transport to the shop for use, so there was no need to spend extra money on renovations.
After making the arrangements, Huo Shu came out from the back courtyard and saw Ji Taoyu strolling leisurely over from the street entrance, holding a half-eaten vegetable-stuffed bun in his hand.
During breakfast at home, Ji Taoyu had secretly slipped half his bowl of noodles into Huo Shu’s bowl, all so he could eat something different from the morning market in town.
Watching the light-footed, cheerful figure, acting like a child, Huo Shu felt both helpless and indulgent. "Is it good?"
Ji Taoyu held the bun up to Huo Shu’s mouth. "Try it."
Huo Shu looked at the soft, white dough, filled with chopped vegetables and a little minced meat. It was still steaming slightly, fresh out of the pot.
Without a word, he leaned forward and took a bite from the same spot Ji Taoyu had.
The small crescent-shaped bite in Ji Taoyu’s bun immediately turned into a full moon nearing the fifteenth of the month.
"Not bad."
Ji Taoyu stared at the nearly disintegrated bun in his hand—only the edges of the dough remained, while the filling had all ended up in someone else’s mouth.
He pursed his lips silently and stuffed the remaining dough into his own mouth.
Shops along the street were gradually opening. When Ji Taoyu arrived, he counted about seven or eight already open.
There wasn’t much difference from an ordinary market street—mostly places selling food, entertainment, and daily necessities.
However, there was one shop at the street entrance preparing to open, its decorations looking particularly grand. Curious, Ji Taoyu asked and learned it was a salt merchant.
Nowadays, the salt trade was jointly managed by officials and merchants, but those who could obtain salt permits were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns—undoubtedly all prominent merchants.
[凤毛麟角 (fèng máo lín jiǎo): lit. phoenix feathers and unicorn horns; fig. extremely rare, precious few]
Since salt was something common people couldn’t do without in their daily meals, salt merchants never worried about business. Once the salt shop opened, foot traffic in the area would surely increase.
With their shop as the center, the eastern side of the street was already fully built with shops.
To the west, however, shops and buildings were still under construction.
After walking around, they found that open land only started about a li (half a kilometer) further west.
If they bought land beyond that distance, the archery workshop and riding field would have to be separated.
Still, the distance wasn’t too far, and the two businesses could still be connected.
So Huo Shu bought some wine and food and, through the construction crew working on the buildings, got the contact address for the merchant managing the land.
The workers were quite friendly.
They told Huo Shu that this land belonged to the Changlong Merchant House, and they themselves were employees under the Merchant House.
Changlong was a major merchant house, with affairs neatly divided into departments.
The merchant house had specialized craftsmen for building houses, brokers for handling sales—each with their own role.
If they had any needs, they could go directly to Changlong’s shopfront, where someone would receive them.
However, the foreman advised Huo Shu not to go straight to the shop, as newcomers unfamiliar with the process wouldn’t get a good price.
Instead, he offered to introduce Huo Shu to a contact inside.
Ji Taoyu understood the way things worked—buying land wasn’t a small expense. Brokers earned commissions from successful deals, so the foreman, knowing this, would naturally want to refer them to someone he knew, ensuring he’d get a cut if the deal went through.
Thus, through the foreman’s introduction, a representative from Changlong Merchant House arrived that afternoon.
"This is Manager Qin from the merchant house’s brokerage division. This is Brother Huo, interested in a deal. His fulang’s surname is Ji."
After a brief introduction, the foreman left to return to work, leaving the two parties to discuss matters.
Manager Qin sized up Huo Shu and Ji Taoyu upon meeting them.
Huo Shu was plainly dressed, the kind of person who’d blend into a crowd, but his tall, imposing stature gave him a commanding presence. His fulang, meanwhile, had an air of refinement.
Thus, Manager Qin spoke clautiously and politely.
"Foreman Liu mentioned you two are interested in a deal. Are you looking to rent or buy? Our merchant house has shops and houses available for both in various locations throughout Tongzhou."
His brief introduction only emphasized Changlong Merchant House's wealth and influence.
Huo Shu didn’t beat around the bush. "We want to buy land, the empty plot west of the new street."
The manager’s eyes lit up. Land purchases were even bigger than property deals.
He grew even more respectful. "How much land are you looking to buy? Prices on the new street are more affordable than in the bustling city center, but it’ll still be around this much."
He held up eight fingers.
While farmland outside the city cost a little over ten taels per mu, this price in the city wasn’t particularly surprising.
After all, buying a house could cost several hundred taels, and one mu of land could hold a building, reselling for several hundred taels easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment