A smile from Eastern Cottage

  Liu Yuan knew that Zhang Pangzi was referring to Chen Chang, the owner of Yumanlou Jewelry Store on Jinshui Street.

  This man was originally just a failed scholar, but later with the help of his uncle, who was also the head of the Yangzhou jewelry association, he managed to establish himself on Jinshui Street. He stole other people's techniques, poached skilled craftsmen from competitors at high prices, and spread rumors about his rivals, so that no one on Jinshui Street didn't hate him.

  It's said that scholars are good at scheming, but if this scheme is used for evil purposes, it becomes a belly full of bad water. Chen Chang relied on his uncle's industry leadership and his sister married the sixth concubine of the Yangzhou prefectural governor. With connections in the imperial court, he managed to get an official plaque as a trustworthy merchant and monopolized the supply of jewelry to the Yangzhou Education Office. His business grew bigger and bigger.

  However, he relied on official support and was in a dominant position. If the owner of the Golden Jade House, Yuan, could be said to be a forgotten figure in Jinshui Street, then Chen Chang of Yuman Tower was the public enemy of the entire Jinshui Street. Unfortunately, ordinary people couldn't fight against officials, so they could only hold their breath and keep it in their hearts.

  This is not the case, as soon as he saw that the Jin Yu Shi Jia was making a fortune with their activities, Chen Chang of the Yu Man Lou couldn't sit still and immediately followed Liu Yuan's method to hold activities to attract customers and promote sales. It's likely that Chen Chang, who considers himself the leader in the industry, felt uneasy seeing Jin Yu Shi Jia's rising momentum.

  Upon hearing Zhang Pangzi's invitation, Liu Yuan gladly agreed and asked the gatekeeper, Sutu Changxin, to keep an eye on things before following Zhang Pangzi to see what was going on at Yumanlou.

  Jade Mansion is the first house on the street, compared to other people's small shops, it is a three-story building, decorated with gold and jade, absolutely not comparable to the small facade of the Golden Jade Family, just the decoration level, it has already surpassed the Golden Jade Family by nine streets.

  When Liu Yuan and Zhang Pangzi arrived here, it was already crowded with people, three layers inside and three layers outside, each pair of eyes shining brightly looking forward.

  Right in front of the entrance to the Jade Full Building, a gigantic golden ingot is on display, shining so brightly that it seems to dazzle people's eyes. This is probably the highlight of this event. On the third floor, a huge banner hangs with five large characters written on it:

  One wooden is millet.

  Next to Jin Yuanbao is prominently displayed: "Merchant of Integrity" as certified by the Yangzhou government.

  The golden lacquer signboard is really good at doing business.

  A large group of talented scholars, literati and wealthy patrons, each with their heads bowed in deep thought. Several of them looked very familiar to Liu Yuan, clearly frequent visitors to the Jin Yu family's gate, trying their luck here after finding the other place too difficult and clever.

  Put a word in the wood, it's a "Ben" word, put it on top, it's a "He" word. The dissection of words is ingenious and meaningful, absolutely a superior sentence. No wonder in Yangzhou, where talented scholars emerge, they dare to offer 100 taels of gold as a prize, without fear of being taken away.

  "Liu, look at this, Chen is quite clever. He knows he can't compare with your three exquisite pieces of jewelry, so he directly went for the gold ingot. He's not stupid." Zhang Baozi said with a cold smile.

  Liu Yuan smiled and said: "The benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom, that's all. But I have to say, this Chen Chang is quite talented, and these couplets are of a high standard."

  "Who?" Zhang Pangzi said disdainfully: "I've heard about this a long time ago. It's said that a great writer accidentally got it, and after thinking hard for a long time, he couldn't come up with the next line. He heard it from his brother-in-law who was a secretary, and now it's being used."

  "Yeah, it's worth spending money on." Liu Yuan nodded.

  It must be said that Yu Man Lou's success is not solely due to official support, but also the owner's own abilities. One hundred taels of gold is equivalent to one thousand taels of silver, which is an amount that not even the entire Jinshui Street can afford, yet Chen Chang was able to produce it.

  That magnificent golden ingot seems to be showcasing the mighty strength of Yu Man Lou.

  With strength, with the official plaque sent by the authorities, plus the quality is indeed top-notch, people's first impression of him is trustworthy. As a result, the originally bustling Yu Man Lou, customers came and went like a river, business was booming, Liu Yuan didn't notice anything, but Zhang Pangzi on the side felt unhappy.

  "Hey, aren't you the two bosses of the Golden Jade House? What's going on, you have nothing better to do than come here and take advantage of me today?"

  The two of them turned their heads and took a look, their faces changing slightly.

  Liu Yuan recognized that the man in a green robe, holding a white fan and narrowing his triangular eyes was none other than Chen Chang, the boss of Yuman Tower and the public enemy of Jinshui Street.

  "Oh, hearing that it's lively here, our Liu Zhuanggui just came over to join in the fun." Zhang Pangzi of Jinyu Zhai said calmly before Liu Yuan could even open his mouth.

  "It's lively down there~~" Liu Yuan also chimed in and said.

  Chen Chang, although a merchant, had read several years of books and had a good brother-in-law who was a high-ranking official. In his heart, he still considered himself a scholar and looked down on Jin Shui Street's peers, not even deigning to notice the two men.

  "Oh, okay, just you wait and see, next time it'll be even better, don't try to cheat customers with inferior goods, or we'll ruin the reputation of Jinshui Street. Zhang Boss, what do you say... is that right?" Chen Chang said with a deliberate drawl to Zhang Pangzi.

  "Hum, I've learned a lesson. Mr. Chen's words of gold are etched in Zhang's heart. When the opportunity arises, he will surely repay him generously."

  Zhang Pangzi said with hatred.

  Chen Chang's hint, Zhang Paozi's "gnashing of teeth", Liu Yuan knew what was going on. Just the day before yesterday, a customer came to the door with a damaged piece of jewelry, insisting that there was a quality problem. No matter how much they tried to persuade him, he refused to budge and even took them to court. In the end, the government ruled in favor of the customer, ordering Jin Yu Zhai to refund the silver. Although the jewelry was only worth a few taels of silver, the loss of reputation was immeasurable. Jin Yu Zhai's thriving business suddenly collapsed. Although there was no evidence, everyone in the industry on Golden Water Street knew that Chen Chang of Yu Man Lou was definitely involved.

  He is jealous of others' success and can't bear to see others doing well.

  This is also why Zhang Pangzi immediately pulled Liu Yuan over to watch the activity at Yu Man Lou, to see what this arch-nemesis was up to.

  It's best to find an opportunity to take revenge!

  Chen Chang saw that several local celebrities also came to join in the fun, and he didn't have the mood to care about these two colleagues anymore. He turned his head and loudly said to the followers behind him: "These two are fellow villagers from Jinshui Street, no need to entertain them. If they want to see something, let them take a look. As for the valuable ones, forget it. If they break anything, that would be a loss of face."

  "Yes, shopkeeper."

  Chen Chang finished speaking, swung his sleeves and asked enthusiastically without looking back: "Old Master Zhao, Mr. Su, what brought the two of you here today? It's truly an honor to have you both here."

  That voice was so familiar and warm, with a quick pace, enthusiastic to the extreme. Compared to Liu Yuan and Zhang Baozi's attitude, it was like one was in heaven and the other on earth.

  Too arrogant, too arrogant.

  Not only Zhang Pangzi, but also Liu Yuan was made to be furious by him. Everyone is looking for something to eat on Jinshui Street, and now they don't even give each other a bit of face, it's as if they've trampled the two men's faces into the ground.

  "Two of you, would you like to go inside and take a look? I'll lead the way." The attitude of that fellow was still quite respectful.

  "Never mind, never mind. People like us shouldn't be in a place like this. You go ahead and do your thing." Zhang Pangzi waved his hand impatiently to shoo the fellow away.

  He is now so angry with Chen Chang that his head is about to smoke.

  Although the two people's mood was not bad, the scene was really very lively. After all, 100 taels of gold is a huge sum of money. In terms of purchasing power, one tael of silver in ancient times was equivalent to about 600-1000 Chinese yuan. Taking an intermediate value of 800, 100 taels of gold is equivalent to 1,000 taels of silver, which can be exchanged for about 800,000 yuan.

  800,000, no need to spend money or pay taxes, as soon as the previous sentence is matched, it can be obtained immediately, both fame and fortune are tempting.

  "Excellent, excellent! This pair is just as wonderful as the two pairs from the Jin Yu family. Who would have thought that this small Golden Water Street could produce three extraordinary pairs?"

  "A hundred taels of gold! With just one successful deal, I can have a house, a wife, and new clothes all at once."

  "What kind of character can be split like this: one wood is grain, one wood, basic?"

  "Zhou, have you got a lead? If not, shall we discuss it together?"

  "Husband, hurry up! Didn't you say you were exceptionally talented? The previous two pairs didn't match, and this one still doesn't match either? I'm truly disappointed in you."

  。。。。。。。。。

  Everyone was discussing this couple, and many people were even whispering about it.

  "Liu Zhanggui, what's wrong with you? What are you thinking about? We can't see it here, let's go and take a look." Zhang Baozi said in a low voice to Liu Yuan.

  Liu Yuan still lowered his head and did not respond.

  "Manager Liu?"

  He called out again but there was no response, so Zhang Baozi gently patted him: "What are you thinking about?"

  "I've got it!" Liu Yuan suddenly shouted.

  The people around immediately cast their eyes over, thinking that someone had come out of the house.

  "Sorry, sorry, I said it was a mismatch, rude, rude!" Liu Yuan pulled Zhang Pangzi and quickly walked to the outer circle. Before Zhang could speak, Liu Yuan whispered mysteriously:

  "Zhang, I know you hate Chen Chang, how about it? Want to avenge that arrow?"

  P.S: My status has finally changed to A, everyone doesn't have to worry about me being TJed anymore. The power was out this afternoon, so the update is late, sorry, please support more~~~