Tie Miaoqing and Sun Ping had not been gone long before they returned, and immediately met with the two martial brothers upon coming back.
Yu Qing was naturally worried that they had returned so quickly.
Upon asking, he learned that it was not that matters had not been handled well. After confirming they could obtain exclusive selling rights for the immortal peaches and immortal peach trees, You Ya expressed welcome and support for them opening a shop.
Maintaining the diversity of goods sold at Youjiao Port was one of the foundations for maintaining its continued prosperity. Being able to buy anything here was one of the attractions for customers, so the people responsible for managing Youjiao Port would provide a certain degree of support.
However, the matter had arisen suddenly. Deciding which shop to remove from the port also required You Ya to sort through matters and deliberate carefully.
Youjiao Port only had three thousand shops in total, never more and never fewer. Controlling this number was also to avoid excessive duplication in the types of goods sold. Youjiao Port did not need that kind of competition, nor did it need large numbers of people hiding here under the guise of running shops to seek protection. It also hoped that those doing business at Youjiao Port could make profits.
Now, You Ya’s triennial elimination of shops had not yet begun.
Since the elimination period had not yet arrived, if Miaoqing Hall wanted to open a shop and You Ya supported it, that would mean some shop had to be eliminated early to free up a space. Whenever this happened, You Ya would target those lacking business vitality or those poorly managed, and persuade them to withdraw.
If You Ya insisted you withdraw, no one could resist. Besides, they were not asking you to leave without reason. You truly were poorly managed.
This was actually also a method of eliminating shops.
“You Ya has not yet made a decision. They told us to go back tomorrow morning, and they will give us an answer then.”
Sun Ping explained matters very clearly.
That was the situation. When Tie Miaoqing and Sun Ping left, Nan Zhu eagerly went to see them off.
Yu Qing watched them leave, his thoughts somewhat complicated. The reason he had agreed to these two women was still because Qin Jue had been mentioned.
Through Qin Jue, he thought of Jianyuan Hall being shut down, and of the inconveniences of having a Youjiao Port identity. One needed to obey You Ya’s rules. If anything inappropriate was discovered outside, You Ya would discipline you, and it would directly implicate the shop.
He himself could not be sure whether he would still do something outside in the future. After thinking it over, having these two women front the shop might not be a bad thing.
First, compared to other outsiders, his relationship with these two women was fairly good, and he knew them relatively well. Second, the two of them happened to be familiar with this trade, so they would not need to fumble around completely from scratch. Finally, both women had been manipulated by others until they lost their power and backing, so the possibility of raising a tiger to create future trouble was small.
He himself did not know why he had suddenly started considering matters from these angles.
Nan Zhu had not returned for ages after seeing them off, sitting in the small courtyard where the two women stayed, chatting with Sun Ping.
The person he truly wanted to chat with was inside the room, sitting before the dressing table.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Tie Miaoqing tried removing the small white flower from her temple. However, after slightly lowering her head, she slowly pinned the small white flower back to her temple.
The next day, the two women went to You Ya but soon returned quickly, hurrying back to meet Yu Qing again.
“Two shops, choose one?”
Yu Qing was very surprised when the two women mentioned the situation upon hurrying back.
Sun Ping said, “One shop is very large, and the other is very small, even smaller than the old Miaoqing Hall. The large one is expensive to transfer, the small one is cheap. You Ya also considered our situation, saying we have a pile of trees. For our convenience in business, they specially found a large shop for us, which happens to have a ‘skylight’ above. The environment is truly good. If not for that merchant’s decline, it truly would not be our turn to choose.”
“Which to choose, You Ya will not force us. It is entirely up to us. However, there is one point You Ya especially emphasised. If we choose the large shop, they want us to consider carefully whether those immortal peach items can continue to be sold. Once the supply is lost in the future and poorly managed circumstances appear, it is very likely we would be asked to vacate the shop at any time to give it to more suitable people. They want us to consider this clearly.”
Nan Zhu asked, “How much for each, the large and the small?”
This he had to know. This fellow Old Fifteen was in a pile of debt, 200 million taels of silver.
He worried that if word got out, it would scare Second Brother still at Linglong Temple to death. For a few hundred taels they could fall out and beat each other black and blue. Now he dared to borrow 200 million. If something unexpected happened and he could not repay, what then.
Sun Ping said, “You Ya’s fixed prices were quite straightforward. The small one is one million taels, the large one…” She sighed. “Very expensive. We need to give 30 million taels to the previous party vacating the shop. We cannot come up with that much money.”
Nan Zhu snorted. “That is practically robbery.”
Sun Ping said, “Then we will go and settle on the small one.”
“Wait.” Yu Qing called out, hesitating a moment. “If we choose the large one, we cannot produce so much cash right now. Can we delay payment for ten days or half a month?”
Nan Zhu stared at him blankly.
Sun Ping said, “This kind of thing has not been tried before, but it is not something that cannot be discussed. You Ya still considers the merchants’ interests, so we can negotiate. Besides, we have so many things to use as collateral. I think the problem should not be too big.”
Yu Qing said, “Then go negotiate. If possible, directly settle on the large one. If it truly will not work, then the small one.”
“Alright.” Sun Ping agreed excitedly, and together with Tie Miaoqing took their leave, heading to You Ya once more.
Once the two disappeared, Nan Zhu immediately could not hold back. “I say, Old Fifteen, you are really capable now. Spending money by the tens of millions at every turn. I see if something unexpected happens, what will you do, with over 200 million in debt.”
This time Yu Qing did not bicker with him. He pondered and said, “Whether or not we can repay that 200 million, owing 30 million more or 30 million less makes no difference. The small shop is smaller than the old Miaoqing Hall. We need both living space and cultivation space. With us plus those two women living there, it is already crowded. Can you guarantee Little Martial Uncle and the others will not come in the future?”
Nan Zhu frowned. He personally also believed the immortal peaches included a share for Little Martial Uncle and Second Brother.
“You Ya’s consideration for us is correct. Trees need light. If the place is too small, even displaying samples is inconvenient. Sun Ping also said the environment is very good, and we are lucky, otherwise it would not be our turn to choose at all. Actually, getting it right in one go is good, saving us from being cramped in the future. A larger place benefits us.”
“I see you are so deep in debt you have stopped worrying.”
“Stop nagging. It is not as if you will repay the money for me.”
This time, Tie Miaoqing and Sun Ping were gone a long time, returning after nearly half a day, both looking very happy.
Matters were settled. The shop had been successfully taken over. The money was advanced by You Ya, giving ten days to repay. Additionally, the merchant was given three days to vacate the premises. After three days, they could go to receive the shop.
You Ya advanced the money? Hearing this, Nan Zhu could not help but pinch his forehead and turn away.
Owing money was one thing, but owing it to people they could not afford to offend, neither party could be defaulted on.
Three days both gave the previous party time to vacate and gave the new party time to prepare.
Three days later, the shop was smoothly handed over.
Renovations were temporarily set aside. They moved in directly, directly moving goods and cargo over. Yu Qing was anxious to open for business. The repayment deadline on You Ya’s side was only six days away.
The environment was indeed good. Judging by environment alone, even within the entire Youjiao Port, its ranking was near the top.
In the courtyard there was a gurgling stream diverted from the river, and pavilions and towers had been built. There were many rooms, and even more, pillar-like natural light shone down.
Yu Qing stood alone atop the tower, bathing in the natural light, looking around at the entire shop’s panorama. Looking again at the trading messages formed by flowing light dancing in the air all around, fantastical and magnificent, his heart was filled with infinite emotion. He truly had never imagined before that one day he could own such a fine shop at Youjiao Port.
He fell in love with it at first sight upon entering, discovering it was truly as Sun Ping had said. To secure a shop with such a good environment was truly luck.
Standing inside Youjiao Port, looking up at the white clouds drifting across the sky, Yu Qing estimated in his heart, not knowing whether he was the first person in Linglong Temple’s history to have acquired property outside the temple, and at Youjiao Port at that.
A sudden surge of pride welled up in his heart, pride at being the most outstanding temple head in history.
Mu Aotie was planting trees in the courtyard, intending to grow one immortal peach tree as a sample for people to view.
The remaining peach trees were still stored at Youjiao Port’s cargo import and export depot. Here they only set up one sample tree, but the immortal peaches had all been transported over.
“So these are immortal peaches.”
Sun Ping and Tie Miaoqing clicked their tongues in amazement, surrounding the opened crates, looking like they were greatly broadening their horizons.
After careful consideration, Yu Qing decided it was better for the three martial brothers to avoid showing their faces as much as possible. The business dealings should still be handed to the two women. Why not use people when you have them? So Nan Zhu was put in charge of explaining the immortal peaches and immortal peach trees to the two women. Nan Zhu was naturally happy to do so.
“They cannot be eaten? I heard they were contaminated by evil qi. I did not expect it to be true.” Sun Ping sighed, then asked Nan Zhu, “How much is each immortal peach priced at?”
Nan Zhu looked towards Yu Qing. He truly could not decide this matter, and did not want to speak nonsense and get slapped in the face. He called out, “Old Fifteen, how much should we sell each one for?”
Yu Qing was wandering nearby with his hands behind his back, not knowing what he was pondering. Hearing the voice, he gave a non sequitur answer. “Listening to the noise outside, are there already people interested in our things?”
Sun Ping smiled. “When the immortal peach trees were transported over, they attracted many people following to watch. They have not seen the immortal peaches yet, but probably all want to wait for us to open, so they can come in and broaden their horizons. These items have indeed caused a certain sensation at Youjiao Port.”
Yu Qing nodded, stopped walking, and looked at the few people. “The immortal peaches will sell for 500,000 taels each, the peach trees for 50 million taels each.”
“Ah!” Nan Zhu lost his voice.
Sun Ping and Tie Miaoqing were choked speechless, feeling these prices were somewhat excessively high.
Mu Aotie, who was adding soil to the peach tree, also turned his head to look.
Yu Qing, with his hands behind his back, continued speaking to himself. “There are many people who want to see, so we will not let them look freely. We do not have enough manpower to handle too many people, so we will just do business with closed doors. Later, put up a notice outside. Only those who confirm they are willing to buy immortal peaches may enter to look. They must first pay 500,000 taels to enter and see the immortal peaches and immortal peach trees. Upon leaving, they can take one immortal peach. No refunds. If they want more, they pay more. Willing buyer, willing seller, neither side forced.”