Chapter 248: Working Together (Part 2)

Chapter 248: Working Together (Part 2)

Three conditions?

Just as I thought, this little girl has set a trap and is singing a different tune.

Are you trying to teach me how to do things? Who are you making demands of here! And shamelessly listing three!

Still wet behind the ears!

The middle-aged men sitting below glanced at each other, using their eyes to urge the other to go first: You go, you go first.

As for why they didn’t choose to lead the charge themselves?

Probably because, secretly, everyone felt that this girl He Xianjin had something eerie about her—those who stood in her way either ended up dead or crippled!

For instance, Chen Liu and Chen Wu. Chen Liu was a fool, relying on his older brother and sister-in-law’s influence, with no brains to speak of; Chen Wu, now he was a ruthless man, having managed the Chen family for ten years. But within a year, this girl had kicked him off his perch.

And then there was the Bai family. The old man had only one son, who nowadays was foolish and delirious, hiding in a cupboard at night, saying someone was going to castrate him and send him to the palace as a eunuch...

Going against this girl never ended well.

Thus, after twenty or so men looked at each other, they all lowered their heads.

In the entire hall, only Xianjin’s voice could be heard.

The girl’s voice was steady and powerful.

“First, the ‘Chengheng’ paper, Chen's and Heng Kee will no longer sell it except for supplying the official government.”

Chen's and Heng Kee are no longer selling “Chengheng”!?

The crowd was in an uproar!

Did this girl even understand the magnitude of this business!?

How could these two leading businesses be willing to give up such a large opportunity!?

Xianjin allowed enough time for the shock to settle, her eyes lowered, her right hand casually resting on the small side table, her knuckles silently tapping a few times. Looking at her bare knuckles, Xianjin made a silent decision in her heart: Tomorrow, by tomorrow! She would add a dark green jade ring—how imposing that would be!

When the discussions quieted down, Xianjin continued, “The ‘Chengheng’ paper is a labor-intensive craft involving special processed raw paper, polished and waxed after calendering. Chen's can publish the number of polishing passes and the types and amounts of wax used—”

“However, any merchant wishing to sell ‘Chengheng’ must sign a tripartite agreement with Chen's and Heng Kee, stipulating the materials and selling prices before they can sell it independently.”

The middle-aged men were first surprised, then enlightened, with some sensible ones nodding in understanding: “Of course, if you use ‘Chengheng’ techniques, you must follow ‘Chengheng’ rules—but Boss He, what price are you planning to set?”

Xianjin stretched out her little finger and thumb, forming a “six.”

“Six wen per four-foot sheet, with a whole bundle not exceeding 500 wen.”

Some small bosses secretly breathed a sigh of relief: acceptable! Currently, to compete with Chen's, they were selling for only four wen a sheet!

The boss who had just asked also nodded, “For a day or two, it’s manageable, but over time, as more scholars come to buy, if any merchant engages in underpricing or exceeds the predetermined price, what will Boss He do?”

Underpricing was almost impossible.

Three wen per sheet was the cost price; below that, sellers would lose everything. These small and medium workshops didn’t have the capital to monopolize the market at a low price.

The only possibility was that as more people bought, prices would rise—the commodity value remained the same, but prices adjusted according to supply and demand. When supply was less than demand, prices could easily go up.

“Chen's and Heng Kee will reclaim the selling rights of ‘Chengheng’.” Xianjin calmly opened the first cowhide paper bag placed under the small side table and pushed it in front of everyone, “The contract will specify that if the cost of raw materials changes and the price needs to be adjusted, Chen's and Heng Kee must be informed for repricing. If anyone raises the price privately, they will need to compensate Chen's and Heng Kee 2,000 taels of silver each. If there is no silver, property or farmland can be used as collateral. This contract will be filed in the official office, with significant legal effect. Everyone, take it seriously.”

Two thousand taels!

The crowd was in an uproar.

After working paper pulp until their arms were sore, how many lifetimes would it take to save that much money!?

Xianjin smiled, “I don’t hope to receive any 2,000 taels, so those merchants with ulterior motives, hoping ‘Chengheng’ will make you a fortune, had better not sign this contract.”

Not sign?

Only a fool would refuse!

How many scholars were there in Yingtian Prefecture?

There were tens of thousands of them, even among the scholars!

This was examination paper!

Who wouldn’t come to buy it!?

This product would sell without any worry!

Even if you didn’t make money, just having it in your store would attract customers—especially since Chen's and Heng Kee were withdrawing from this market, essentially handing over this customer base to others!

No one refused!

Everyone present signed!

Twenty workshops lined up in the hall’s corridor, signing and pressing their fingerprints on the spot.

A few workshops that had sent representatives immediately dispatched people to bring the head of the workshop to sign.

Some bosses had a simple mindset: I’ll sign, but I don’t have to sell it! But if I fall on hard times and need to rely on manual labor for income, at least I’ll have something to fall back on, so I won’t starve!

As the contract was distributed, all twenty-one small and medium workshop bosses and representatives looked eagerly at Xianjin, waiting for the second condition.

"The second matter—" Xianjin took out a second kraft paper bag from under the small side table, and from it, she pulled out a thick stack of papers, each one filled to the brim with words.

"The second matter is this—here are five contracts that stipulate the quality of materials used for Xuan paper, the price range for each type of Xuan paper, the commitment to honesty during transactions, and an agreement on the protection of new product categories among peers—"

Xianjin picked up the last contract, "The final one is the membership application for the Xuancheng Prefecture Xuan Paper Chamber of Commerce."

A middle-aged man present thought he had misheard and, regardless of whether he was provoking the young girl or not, pricked up his ears and leaned forward to ask urgently, "Do I need to report to you how much silver my paper sells for?! How thick-skinned are you! If people didn’t know better, they’d think you just crawled out of my great-grandmother’s grave, making me unwittingly play the grandson!"

Xianjin calmly flipped the contract over, glanced at the speaker, then surveyed the room before saying, "Does anyone else have any questions? Feel free to raise them, and I will answer them one by one."

Since the female demon goddess had spoken, everyone would not hold back—

"Whether I use Shatian rice straw or Jingde rice straw, what concern is it of yours!"

"Our family's craft is passed down through generations, passed to sons but not daughters, to daughters-in-law but not sons-in-law. Are you trying to steal our ancestral techniques under the guise of signing these contracts!"

"Pah! I've been in business for decades! It's as if I've drawn the two of spades in mahjong and opened my third eye! First time I've met someone as shameless as you! Tch!"

"Not signing!"

"Absolutely not signing this!"

"Whoever signs is a donkey egg! Whoever signs is a coward!"

Twenty-one merchants cursed with the essence of Huizhou's diverse dialects.

Heng Wuniang straightened her spine, tightly gripping her silk handkerchief, watching a group of middle-aged men rant eloquently. She didn’t know if they were truly angered by these five contracts or if they were seizing the opportunity to vent their grievances of being overshadowed by a young girl…

"Slap!"

A slap landed on the side table.

"Can you all take a look at the contracts before spewing nonsense!"

Heng Wuniang's eyebrow twitched, her voice steady and seemingly converging infinitely with Xianjin's, "Attacking is difficult, but defending is easy; the effort required is a hundredfold different; one must think deeply and consider carefully—you are all of an age to be my father, how is it that you do not understand the principle of not drawing conclusions prematurely?"