Chapter 306: They All Follow You

Chapter 306: They All Follow You

As night fell, the manager of Baixiang Pavilion poked his head out of the food pass window, a toothpick dangling from his mouth. He rang a bell to signal the waitstaff to pick up the hot dishes and shouted at the spirited middle-aged man nearby, "Man, sometimes I wish I had your luck!"

The beaming Chen Fu wiped his shiny, bald head and replied, "Hey! What's there to envy?"

"When you were young, your mom always had your back. And now, out of the blue, you’ve got a capable daughter to help you out!" The Baixiang Pavilion manager, who had been brothers with Chen Fu for decades, finished cooking the last dish, came out from the counter, opened a bottle of wine, and poured a cup for Chen Fu. He nodded toward the second floor. "A guy like you, and they’re putting your daughter in the spotlight!"

Chen Fu chuckled, "It's all good, it's all good."

The Baixiang Pavilion manager, whose surname was Feng, gathered closer and said, "Look at Master Ma from the east side of the city, Boss Niu from the west side, Boss Zhu from the north side... Seven or eight of them! They're all here! What do you think they're up to?"

Is this some kind of livestock convention?

Chen Fu dug at his back molars, "How would I know?"

Manager Feng clicked his tongue, "Why aren't you sitting up there?"

Chen Fu looked alarmed, "You're already tired from cooking, and now you're pushing me to work more?"

Manager Feng: ...

Some people just hit the jackpot in life.

Take that old man from Heng Kee, for example. He was afraid of his capable daughter, so he found a way to keep her at home and came out to show his face himself—he couldn’t even enjoy his blessings, insisting on working every day. I can’t figure out what’s going through his head.

Manager Feng looked at his old friend and couldn’t help but feel annoyed: they were around the same age, but how come his skin was so smooth and his hair so black? His eyes were bright too! It was clear he hadn’t experienced the harsh realities of making money!

It was really irritating.

Manager Feng thought for a moment and suddenly said, "My grandson will be celebrating his first birthday in two months. You have to come, okay?"

Chen Fu: ? We’ll cross that bridge when we get there...

It took him half a day to realize that his old friend had switched tracks and was now competing through their children!

Chen Fu sneered coldly, his eyes filled with the ease of someone holding a winning hand: when I tell you who my son-in-law is, you won’t believe it!

Hmm... But I'm not saying it now.

My daughter probably doesn’t even know that I’m about to gain a son-in-law.

...

About an hour later, the private rooms on the second floor emptied out one by one. Xianjin called a mule cart to send Chen Fu back to Orange Courtyard, and after seeing off a few other bosses, she took Aunt Zhong and Qiqi towards the east side of the city.

When they emerged from the narrow alley, the moon was high in the sky, a crescent hanging like a hook.

Xianjin's expression was calm as she handed a thick stack of brown paper envelopes to Qiqi, "Take this to the Shandong-based Boss Huo's inn. Ask him to sign it immediately and stamp it with the red seal of Huo Kee Printing Workshop. Pay the deposit for the first 3,000 sheets of the first batch of 20,000 sheets of plain xuan paper. If the first batch goes smoothly, the second and third batches will still be priced at two taels and eight qian per sheet—the price of plain xuan paper will not increase within the next three years. This is my promise to him."

Qiqi took the brown paper envelope and glanced at the residence with two lonely red lanterns hanging outside. He lowered his voice, "Is she... willing?"

Xianjin's lips curved slightly, "She’s not willing, but... she is willing."

Qiqi was momentarily stunned but quickly understood.

Aunt Zhong didn’t fully understand, but that didn’t stop her from shining in what she was good at, "...These past two days, Boss Huo visited Heng Kee, Baiji, and Yunliu. He’s probably been checking prices. This 20,000 sheets of paper is not a small order. If he signs a contract with someone else, it’ll be hard for us to salvage the situation—we’ll be utterly disgraced in front of those small workshops."

Xianjin smiled, "What time has Boss Huo been returning to his inn each day these past few days?"

Aunt Zhong whispered, "Before 6 PM, around 4:45 PM."

Xianjin asked again, "Is he sober when he returns? Does he appear drunk?"

Aunt Zhong shook her head. "He's sober. I've never seen him drink alcohol."

Xianjin smiled faintly, her tone certain. "Then he definitely hasn't successfully signed a contract with any of them."

It took Aunt Zhong a quarter of an hour to realize: after men close a business deal, they love to host banquets and drink!

With a casual and confident tone, Xianjin began to walk out. "Twenty thousand sheets sounds like a big order. Calculating at three taels per sheet, the profit would be around 4,000 taels. According to Boss Huo's requirements, it would take three years. A profit of a thousand taels a year, requiring all your manpower to earn this money—Heng Kee would definitely not take this on!"

"Besides, big workshops like Heng Kee and Yun Kee are too arrogant nowadays. They wouldn't lower their prices, nor would they quietly produce plain xuan paper."

"For Heng Kee, this deal is a tough sell—too bland to be appealing but too costly to abandon. The progress of signing the deal won't be fast."

Aunt Zhong's eyes darkened as she fully absorbed Xianjin's meaning, frowning as she asked, "Couldn't Heng Lian, like us, hand this business to smaller workshops?"

Xianjin smiled. "Then what would he gain?"

Aunt Zhong was taken aback.

"Would he take a cut as a commission? The boss, who is thriving, would never settle for such small amounts. Would he stoop so low to be a middleman while Heng Kee is in full swing?" Xianjin chuckled. "If he had such a broad mind, Xuancheng's paper industry wouldn't be under my control."

Heng Lian's thoughts can pretty much represent the thoughts of both the Yun and Liu families.

Aunt Zhong fell silent for a moment, recalling the Chuan Kee acquisition that had yet to open for business. She had known this young lady for many years. Even if the boss's thoughts and plans were difficult to understand, she could always figure out some of it with careful consideration.

But this time, she couldn't understand what the boss was aiming for.

Qiqiqi, being sharper, had privately consulted her as well, and she remembered Qiqiqi narrowing her eyes and saying, "Our boss has ambitions beyond Xuancheng."

"Do you… want to venture to Yingtian Prefecture?" Aunt Zhong asked softly.

Xianjin paused in her steps, smiling as she tucked a strand of hair behind Aunt Zhong's ear. "There are many places in the world farther than Yingtian Prefecture."

Aunt Zhong blinked. Under the night sky, the memory of the young girl had somehow transformed into this tall, beautiful, and decisive adult, like a seasoned commander, easily winning victories in the cutthroat world of commerce.

Winning effortlessly.

Only the group of us following her day and night knew about the light in the west wing, which often stayed on very late into the night.

"No matter where you go, I will follow you," Aunt Zhong firmly repeated. "We all follow you."

Half an hour later, Qiqiqi returned, bringing the signed contract and 800 taels of deposit.

Xianjin rubbed one of the contract papers in the brown paper envelope, gently sighing.

On February 18th, Heng Lian's invitation came earlier than Xianjin had expected. The invitation requested the presence of Xuancheng Chamber of Commerce members at Wuxu Hall to discuss matters.