Chapter 20: The Path of the Rooster Dad

Chapter 20: The Path of the Rooster Dad

The inability to cash in the silver notes meant no red envelopes, no payment for goods, and no purchase of raw materials...

In terms of personnel, finance, and market impact, it was a significant blow to the Chen Ji Paper Shop.

Under normal circumstances, if she couldn't cash them, she couldn't cash them. She could have taken the time to admire the face of ancient high-denomination banknotes...

But it had to be at year-end!

She dreamt of playing mahjong, with her upwind opponent being a gold ingot, her across-the-table opponent a silver bar, and her downwind opponent a string of copper coins.

She reveled in it, sweeping all three opponents, basking in the blissful stench of copper.

Xianjin was so anxious that she anthropomorphized money, yet she showed not a hint of it on her face. Even in the morning, she practiced the Eight Section Brocade in the courtyard—a permitted activity for a former heart patient.

When Manager Dong arrived with a brisk pace, he saw Xianjin dressed in a loose, front-buttoned off-white outer robe, wearing pure black cloth shoes, and her hair tied back with a dark brown wooden hairpin. Beside her on a stone stool was a steaming covered bowl of tea.

Manager Dong was taken aback.

He felt as if he were seeing the elderly but sprightly Master Wang from the neighboring business...

After witnessing campaigns like obtaining thousands of taels without capital and the guild hall pen-thrusting incident, Manager Dong tacitly approved of Xianjin's assumption of Chen Fu's duties.

Upon seeing Xianjin's spirited boxing, his tacit approval soared to new heights.

"What's wrong?"

Xianjin retracted her fists, placed them at her waist, gathered her breath in her dantian before exhaling.

Even... even more so...

Manager Dong shook his head vigorously and said, "I went to the banknote exchange and they can release funds early, but based on Manager Zhu's credit..."

He deliberated over his choice of words.

In ancient times, poor credit was a disaster of epic proportions.

But he couldn't find a way to gloss over it.

So Manager Dong changed the subject, conveying the gist, "The banknote exchange will charge us nearly four percent monthly interest."

As expected.

Hmm... much like in modern times, if you deposited a fixed-term deposit at the bank and suddenly wanted to withdraw it, the bank wouldn't agree—where did they move your money? It could be buying oil in the Middle East or digging Bit_coin in the virtual market, facing the earth with their backs to the sky.

Once your money enters the bank, it's no longer entirely yours.

Everyone understood the principle, but... four percent?

Xianjin wanted to call the police.

In modern times, an annual interest conversion rate exceeding twenty-four percent, or two percent monthly interest, would be considered usury, not protected by law.

And here, a formal banknote exchange was calling out four percent interest.

Xianjin silently cursed in her mind, damn lawless feudal dynasty!

For one thousand taels, the monthly interest would be forty taels.

It wasn't even the first month of the lunar year yet. If they were to withdraw the silver now, they would lose two hundred and eighty taels, leaving them with only seven hundred and twenty taels.

And Jing County's workshop made only fifty taels in profit per month.

This was nearly a thirty percent loss!

Xianjin picked up the covered bowl of tea and sipped it restrainedly.

Given the current state of the workshop, did they really have the confidence to bear such an inexplicable loss of two hundred and eighty taels?

"Cash the silver?"

Manager Dong was anxious. "The banknote exchange closes on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month and opens on the fifteenth day of the first month. We don't have much time left."

"Has Master Li Sanshun returned?"

Xianjin put down the covered bowl of tea.

Manager Dong nodded. "He plans to return tomorrow. He has always wanted to pay respects to Third Master."

"What about Third Master?" Xianjin frowned.

Manager Dong fell silent.

Well, everything was self-explanatory.

That love-struck brain was either eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating.

"Bind... no," Xianjin swallowed the word 'bind', "escort Third Master to the shop."

Xianjin asked again, "Alcohol? Or tea?"

Manager Dong didn't understand.

The spy that Old Lady Qu had arranged, still needed a few years of training to become a chief assistant.

Xianjin explained patiently, "Does Master Li Sanshun prefer alcohol or tea?"

Manager Dong thought for a moment. "Tea! Top-notch papermaking masters cannot drink too much alcohol. Drinking too much makes your hands shake, making it easy for the paper to come out uneven when scooping it."

She smiled again and said, "Yesterday when I was at the shop, I saw several tea whisks with patina, along with tea strainers, spoons, and teaspoons. Master Li must be quite skilled in this art."

Indeed, while not suited for an executive assistant role, she was competent as a general manager's secretary.

Xianjin nodded, thinking of the popularity of tea art during the Song Dynasty, and said, "Find an elegant teahouse by the Yellow Field Brook, set up two small red clay stoves, prepare some salted peanuts, small tangerines, and jujubes. Get three boxes of pastries, bring along the Third Master's treasured tea, and invite a master of tea performance. In the evening, reserve the Heavenly Fragrance Building for a fine dinner, inviting everyone to attend."

"The expenses will be covered by the company."

Would the budget be around one tael and seven hundred seventy coins?

It wouldn't cost less than a thousand modern currency to have a tea party by the river, would it?

"If there's any overspending, I'll write a voucher to cover it from the Third Master's personal account," Xianjin thought. "Once we make a profit, I'll immediately replenish his private funds."

A business cannot grow if it doesn't keep its corporate and personal finances separate.

In her previous life, after her Nth surgery, her father's company's finance officer came to visit her, trying to cheer her up with exaggerated expressions, saying, "...guess what the most outrageous expense I've ever seen was?"

"The details read: four thousand three hundred dollars for renting a house for the boss's mistress!"

"My goodness! I quickly left! I feared that if I didn't run away, the boss would go in next, and I'd be next!"

She couldn't stop laughing.

Half a year later, she heard that the company had collapsed.

What a sad story indeed.

After Mr. Dong repeated the instructions and left, Xianjin changed into a simple short outfit and hurried to the workshop, coincidentally meeting Chen Fu at the entrance.

"Haven't eaten yet?"

Xianjin shook her head.

Chen Fu held out two oil-soaked paper packets to Xianjin. "I guessed you hadn't eaten! These are scallion pork buns from Little Rice Fragrance, they're delicious!"

Xianjin smiled, took them, and followed Chen Fu into the workshop.

Last time she visited the shop, she only looked at the accounts in the external store area and didn't come inside.

Papermaking, no matter how you look at it, is purely a craft.

It relies on the selection of raw materials and the skills of the craftsmen.

As an outsider and a woman, it wasn't appropriate for her to go to the workshop alone, fearing others might suspect her of trying to learn their techniques.

Following Chen Fu made it proper.

The workshop was where Zhou Ergou was; as soon as the key turned, the smell of moisture, humidity, and the earthy scent unique to plants filled the air.

Several large water vats, dozens of bamboo screens, and stone troughs showing signs of age... inside, it was quiet. The few Zheng brothers she had met at Changqiao Hall were idly sitting by the troughs, each with a dogtail grass stem in their mouths.

Zhou Ergou slapped one of them on the back. "Young Master has arrived!"

They hastily stood up, first bowing to Chen Fu, then to Xianjin.

Whoa.

That was a deep bow.

Almost ninety degrees.

"It's the end of the twelfth month, nearing the New Year, and with Master Li not back yet, without someone in charge, everyone isn't intentionally slacking off," Zhou Ergou quickly explained.

Chen Fu waved his hand. "Don't mention it, it's freezing cold and the New Year is coming, who wants to work? Even dogs don't want to work! If it weren't for..."

Chen Fu glanced at Xianjin. "I'd still be eating Eight Bowls at Little Rice Fragrance!"

To be honest, Xianjin, who suffered from congenital heart disease in her previous life, always thought she wouldn't have the chance to raise children.

Never did she expect that fate was kind to her!

Reborn, she was granted the opportunity to raise, well, not children, but a father!

Xianjin kept silent. "Let's go see the warehouse first."

What to do when funds are tight?

Collect outstanding debts, take out bank loans, or issue bonds.

None of these options were available.

So they had one path left:

Clear inventory and recover cash flow.