Jiang Zhen dealt with these people and then counted the cargo on board. Seeing that it was no longer early, he hurried back.

As Jiang Zhen was heading back, Zhao Jinge was taking Ruo’er for a walk outside the house.

People planted a lot of vegetables near the house, and there were several kinds that Zhao Jinge had never seen before. So he found the farmer and talked with him, wanting to buy some seeds so that, in future, his family could eat dishes of more variety.

When Jiang Zhen came back, he saw Zhao Jinge holding a lump of mud in his hand. On the mud, there were some green leeks.

Seeing Jiang Zhen, Zhao Jinge paused in his steps, then he showed Jiang Zhen a flattering smile. Jiang Zhen observed him closely and hardly let him do any work. Would he be unhappy to see him getting dirty? 

He kind of wanted to throw away the plant in his hand, but he was reluctant to give it up. 

“What are you doing with that leek?” Jiang Zhen asked.

“This is called leek?” Zhao Jinge was surprised and said, “There is no such thing in Hecheng County. I wanted to take it back and plant it.”

When he saw that there were both long and short vegetables in the field and it seemed that he could immediately grow it as a crop after getting cuttings, so he wanted some seeds to take back to sow. But, the farmer did not understand him, so he finally handed over a bunch of vegetables for him . . . 

“It’s good to plant some. I’ll take you to buy seeds next time.” Jiang Zhen nodded and said, “As for now . . .”

Jiang Zhen looked threateningly at Zhao Jinge, and then he took Zhao Jinge, who was startled by his actions, back to the house for a bath.

This bath, of course, was not an ordinary bath, but a bath that could hold several people. There was a large bathtub in their house, and it was a pity not to use it . . .  Of course, the most important thing was that he saw Zhao Jinge holding a lump of mud with leeks. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Although he couldn’t help it, but, taking into account the child in Zhao Jinge’s belly, Jiang Zhen couldn’t do anything in the end but just use someone’s two legs and making Zhao Jinge blush.

That night, Jiang Zhen ate late, eating leeks he hadn’t seen for a long time. 

He still liked the taste. Zhao Jinge, who ate it for the first time, didn’t like it very much, but seeing that Jiang Zhen liked it, he decided to take some seeds back and plant them well. 

For several days in a row, Jiang Zhen was very busy. Going to docks every day, going out early and coming back late, leaving only Zhao Jinge at home. 

This was a very normal thing for other gers, but Zhao Jinge couldn’t help feeling a little lost. 

In the past, he could go out with Jiang Zhen, but now, he had nothing to do all day. However, Zhao Jinge only felt lost for a few days.

This day, after Jiang Zhen returned, he said to Zhao Jinge, “I’m going to discuss business with someone tomorrow. Will you go with me?”

Zhao Jinge felt that if he were to go along, he might only cause trouble for Jiang Zhen, but he genuinely wanted to go . . . “All right.”

Zhao Jinge agreed, and Jiang Zhen took him outside the next day. 

A few days ago, both Zheng Yi and Jiang Zhen were organizing the goods they had and had been asking about the market until this day when they officially started selling their goods.

They didn’t need to find buyers on their own after informing the dock trade administration what they had in their hands. Many businessmen interested in their goods had come. Some of these businessmen went to Zheng Yi’s side while a dozen or so came to Jiang Zhen’s side.

Jiang Zhen did not know the local market, but Zheng Yi had asked his shopkeeper to look at his goods and set prices for him, so he would not suffer a loss. 

Jiang Zhen had a lot of mixed goods, and the goods with the largest quantity of them were cloth.

These merchants were all interested in the cloth, so Jiang Zhen first took them to the ship to look at the cloth. After letting them see it, he asked, “What price are you willing to offer?”

Those merchants looked at each other, and one of them took the lead to walk up to Jiang Zhen. “Master Jiang, my surname is Zhu. I am the shopkeeper of Wanlong Merchant Firm.” That shopkeeper Zhu spoke and extended his hand hidden in his wide sleeve towards Jiang Zhen.

On this dock, negotiating prices were always one on one and then they could bargain directly, and if a seller didn’t know the language, they would play with the abacus. However, when a group of people wanted the goods, and Jiang Zhen was ready to sell them, everyone would negotiate the price with their sleeves. 

Merchants have their own set of gestures to indicate their offers.

The Zheng Yi’s steward talked to Jiang Zhen about this, so Jiang Zhen naturally knew. He reached into the sleeve of the Zhu shopkeeper and touched the other’s hand to “see” his offer. 

The price offered by shopkeeper Zhu was a little low, so he was waiting for Jiang Zhen to raise the price so they could have a good talk with their sleeves. But unexpectedly, after Jiang Zhen “saw” his price, he quickly reached out and had no intention of negotiating the price with him any longer. 

The shopkeeper Zhu was a little stunned. He looked at Jiang Zhen’s face but couldn’t see anything, so he could only add, “Master Jiang, our Wanlong Merchant Firm is very sincere.”

Jiang Zhen had “looked” at the price of shopkeeper Zhu and went to see the price of the next businessman, but as it turned out, the price given by this man was even lower than that of shopkeeper Zhu.

Jiang Zhen quickly withdrew his hand just like before.

At the beginning, several merchants offered lower prices than Jiang Zhen expected, but soon, it was the turn of the young and petite merchant. 

“My surname is Shen and I’m the head of the Shen family.” The merchant held out his hand, and the price he drew in his sleeve was higher than the price set by the steward of the Zheng family for Jiang Zhen.

“All right, I’ll sell it to you.” After Jiang Zhen “saw” the other party’s price, he immediately agreed, not wanting to bargain. He just wanted to find someone who could do things briskly. 

The merchant surnamed Shen was very young, in his twenties, and with a white and good-looking face; he revealed a surprised expression when he heard Jiang Zhen’s words.

His family used to be famous in the capital, but now, it has declined a lot. When it came to business, he ran into a brick wall everywhere. 

It was precisely because of this that he would give a sincere price as soon as he came. But unexpectedly, this man was willing to sell something to him without bargaining. 

“Master Jiang, the price is negotiable,” the merchant surnamed Zhu said hurriedly.

“There’s no need to discuss it. I will sell to him.” Jiang Zhen looked at the merchant surnamed Shen. “Do you want any other goods?” It was too troublesome to find buyers one by one, so he might as well sell it to one person. 

“Yes.” The youth smiled, revealing two dimples. All the goods Jiang Zhen had were good, so, of course, he wanted to buy them all if he could. 

When the shopkeeper Zhu heard the words, his face changed. Jiang Zhen had so many goods here that he thought he would be able to buy one or two of them, but in the end, he couldn’t buy any at all . . . Of course, what displeased him most was that Jiang Zhen actually sold the goods to Shen Anxin. This Shen family and the Wanlong Merchant Firm were competitors. 

“Master Jiang, the Shen family is now led by a ger, so can you do business with them at ease?” shopkeeper Zhu suddenly said.

Jiang Zhen listened to that shopkeeper Zhu’s words and looked at Shen Anxin in surprise; the person he was talking business with was actually a ger?

Jiang Zhen looked carefully and found that Shen Anxin had a faint scar between his eyebrows. He probably dug up his cinnabar mole just like Zhao Jinge but took better care of it, and the scar was barely noticeable.

“How can a ger do a good business?” Shopkeeper Zhu added.

“Master Jiang, my Shen family has several shops, and I can also bring some silver . . . ,” Shen Anxin’s face turned pale as he spoke eagerly. Many people refused to do business with him when they saw he was a ger, and some of them even wanted to take advantage of him. The young boss of Wanlong company wanted to marry him and take over the Shen family’s property . . .

Having encountered a lot of trouble these days, he was really anxious at this moment, afraid that Jiang Zhen would go back on his word and not sell to him.

“Master Jiang, our Wanlong Merchant Firm can offer a higher price than him,” shopkeeper Zhu said with certainty.

A lot of men who were in business looked down on gers, thinking that they should stay at home with their husbands and raise their children. Shopkeeper Zhu was willing to offer a higher price, so Shen Anxin was almost certain that the business would definitely fail. 

He couldn’t help feeling a little desperate. 

“I made a deal with him to sell it to him.” Jiang Zhen pointed to Shen Anxin, making an unexpected decision. Just because this man dug out his cinnabar more like Zhao Jinge, he had a good impression of him.

As soon as Jiang Zhen said this, the shopkeeper Zhu’s face turned black. 

“Shopkeeper Shen is good at hooking people up by touching their hands.” With a despicable glance at Shen Anxin, shopkeeper Zhu turned around and left.

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: LuLu

 

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