Misty Canyon Volume 2 Chapter 17 Sharing the Burden

  Other people's face can be ignored, but the county magistrate's face still needs to be given some consideration. So when he heard Yao Yifei speak, Wang Guanlan nodded and said, "Alright, I didn't want to talk to you guys in the first place, but since County Magistrate asked me to talk to you, I'll talk to you!"

  Yao Yifei felt extremely relieved upon hearing this and his gaze towards Wang Guanlan suddenly became more pleasant.

  "Boss Wang, you said so much earlier, and I listened. Isn't it just that in recent years, the yield of Yicheng Fengwei grass has been increasing year by year, far exceeding demand? The medicinal materials you collected can't be sold, prices have fallen, so you want to lower the price of herbs, control costs, and alleviate pressure, is that right?"

  "Exactly!!" Wang Dazhuang's heart skipped a beat, he had just spoken at length for half a year, but the core meaning was exactly what Wang Guanlan had just said in that one sentence. Seeing Wang Guanlan speak so lightly and casually, the ominous premonition deep within his heart grew even stronger, because Wang Guanlan's attitude clearly showed that she had come prepared.

  "Alright, let's talk about the cost issue. You think the medicine can't be sold at a good price and want to lower it, but Ningtai's annual cost of planting lemongrass remains unchanged. Moreover, with consecutive bumper harvests, more workers are needed, which means costs continue to rise. The original price we gave you is already very low, and our cost pressure is huge. If the price drops further, Ningtai's lemongrass will be grown at a loss, it's better not to grow it at all!"

  "This——!"

  "On this point, I actually have a suggestion!"

  Just then someone interrupted.

  "Oh, you have a suggestion? Great, let's hear it!" Wang Guanlan saw that the speaker was Lin Qing?, and unexpectedly did not erupt.

  "The labor shortage, we can help Ning Tai share the burden! In the Duan Yun mountain valley, there are sixty miles of Feng Wei grass. Planting and harvesting is indeed a big responsibility, let Ning Tai's family do it, the pressure is indeed a bit too much. Our other business houses don't lack labor, how about this: Ning Tai sets aside a portion of his share and rents it to us businesses to do? What do you think, Young Master?"

  As soon as the words came out, the bosses of various business houses took a deep breath and rented part of the Phoenix Tail Grass in Duan Yun Gorge to major business houses.

  Don't listen to what Wang the shopkeeper said earlier, it's not as bleak as he made it out to be. The truth is that they know exactly how much they have in their hearts. The so-called "Fengwei Cao harvest" only applies to the three southwestern states. You see, these merchant houses are all representatives of various forces in the southwest. Their ultimate goal in purchasing Fengwei Cao is to supply it to these forces for use. Any excess will be sold off, and the money earned will go towards maintaining the business on one hand, and on the other hand, like the industries in Yicheng, it will be handed over to the main house.

  However, since the focus of all parties is on the use of phoenix tail grass, the profits they are required to hand over are only symbolic and not much. So, in essence, it can be said that in the end, the money earned is theirs. In recent years, although the price of phoenix tail grass has fallen due to a bumper harvest, its demand is huge. These business houses are just branch institutions with headquarters, and the largest Shunhe and Xinghe businesses span the entire Daqi dynasty. The price of phoenix tail grass outside the southwestern three states is several times that in the southwestern three states. Some smaller business houses sell their remaining phoenix tail grass to larger ones like Shunhe and Xinghe, earning a profit from the difference. In recent years, it can be said that they have earned a lot. This is still just the income from directly purchasing medicinal herbs from Ningtai House. If they could rent some medicinal fields from Ningtai House to cultivate and sell directly, they would earn even more. Moreover, if this succeeds, they will also achieve great merit.

  So these shopkeepers were all stirred up.

  Wang Guanlan felt the change in everyone's mood and couldn't help but smile, these people were brainwashed, always thinking about good things, looking at Lin Qing who was the instigator. He, who had successfully stirred up everyone's emotions, no longer had his initial tension, looked more confident, stood up straighter, raised his head, and even had a hint of provocation in his eyes.

  He slowly walked up to Lin Qing's face, making Lin Qing tense again, afraid that he would be kicked by Wang Guanlan like Weng Ding Shu. The momentum was overwhelming, but then it came down again, stiffening his neck and staring at Wang Guanlan with a look of resignation.

  "Don't be afraid, don't be nervous!" Wang Guanlan took two steps in front of him, spoke softly, patted his shoulder with his hand, and then made a few gestures towards his head, as if comparing their heights.

  In terms of age, Wang Guanlan was only a fourteen-year-old half-grown child, his body had not yet fully developed, and he looked a bit weak due to studying for many years. Recently, he has been practicing martial arts, so he has become more robust, but the change is not very significant. Lin Qing, on the other hand, was already in his forties or fifties, in the prime of life, and should have been much taller than Wang Guanlan by reason. However, he had a slender and small build, and it wasn't until Wang Guanlan compared them that he realized this guy was almost as tall as himself.

  "Boss Lin, aren't you getting on in years?!"

  Lin Qing was taken aback for a moment before saying, "I am 42 years old this year, I don't know what guidance you have to offer me at the age of 14?!"

  "I don't dare to accept your compliment, but I'd like to ask you something based on what you just said!"

  "What's going on?!"

  "You're already so old and frail, I'm sure your body isn't in great shape. It can't be easy handling those few rooms of beautiful women who are like wolves and tigers. The pressure must be huge! Why not do this: rent out those few rooms of beautiful women to the people here today, and let everyone help you share some of that pressure? What do you think?"

  "Ah!!!!!!"

  Lin Qing? I never thought that this legendary, well-read and talented young master of the royal family would suddenly come out with such a sentence. At that moment, everyone was stunned, and the bosses of various business houses also stared blankly, thinking that their ears had gone bad and they were hallucinating. Then, a burst of loud laughter erupted.

  "Hahaha!"

  "That's interesting, this is also a way!"

  "Right right right! Hahaha!"

  ………………

  …………

  Although everyone was in the same camp, men are like that, and a few of them were serious. As soon as they heard this, they couldn't help but burst out laughing. Among them, several shopkeepers who were not on good terms with Lin Qing laughed even louder. The huge roar spread far away, making the servants waiting outside the business think that their masters had already reached an agreement with Ning Taihang!

  "You, you, you——!"

  Lin Qing's face had turned a deep purple, his fingers trembling as he pointed at Wang Guanlan, unable to utter a single word for half a day.

  "Look at you, I told you so. Your body isn't good, it's better to go home and rest more, let everyone help out, helping others is the root of happiness, right? Everyone says so!"

  Hahahaahaha!!!

  Another burst of laughter erupted from the hall, Lin Qingyi's face flushed with shame and anger as she flung her sleeve and rushed out of Ning Tai's gate in a flurry, like a lost dog.

  "Alright, alright, stop laughing, let's stop joking around!"

  After laughing for a while in the hall, Wang Guanlan stretched out his hand and calmed down the laughter. "Now that the annoying person is gone, let's talk about the main issue!"

  Looking at the crowd below whose smiles gradually subsided, Wang Guanlan said, "You all think that the price of Phoenix Tail Grass is too low and can't make a profit, it's because of the consecutive good harvests, and the inventory accumulated over the years is too much, right?!"

  Everyone nodded.

  "That's really great, I think so too! It seems that heroes do think alike! Wang Guanlan showed a happy smile. "However, using price cuts to reduce costs isn't a good method either. After all, prices always have a bottom line, and we businesspeople also need to consider costs. If the price drops too much, it'll ultimately be a loss. So, I thought of a better way!"

  What a good idea!!

  The unease in Wang's heart grew stronger, and he slightly raised his head to look at the smile on Wang Guanlan's face, a chill rising up in his chest.

  "Come with me, everyone! I'll show you my way!" Wang Guanlan beckoned to the crowd.

  Everyone looked puzzled and followed him. Suddenly, Wang the shopkeeper spoke up, "Fourteenth Young Master, shall we not go to Shunhe Store?"

  "What?! Wang Guanlan stopped in his tracks, "Wang Da Zhanggui, what do you mean?!"

  "After careful consideration, I think what Shiyan said also makes sense. Every family has its own difficulties, and some things can be overcome by each of us making an effort. So I am willing to accept the price offered by Shiyan and take on the future transportation costs!!"

  What!!!!!!

  A stone stirred up a thousand layers of waves, and the bosses of various shops present looked at Wang Dapang with a hungry gaze, Wang Dapang also felt somewhat uneasy, his old face turned red, but he looked at Wang Guanlan with an expectant gaze.

  "Boss Wang is a clever person!!" Wang Guanlan sighed, "However, don't you think it's too late to say this? I've given you many opportunities, a long time for you to reflect, but you still came today. Since you're here, then we'll have to settle things once and for all, isn't that right?"

  "This...!" Wang Da Zhuang no longer spoke, his eyes flashing with a hint of helplessness and despair.

  "Let's go and take a look!!!"

  Although they seemed to have heard some hidden meaning in the conversation between the two, the crowd of shopkeepers couldn't figure out what had happened for a while and followed Wang Guanlan's back.

  They were led by Ning Tai to the back hall, and what caught everyone's eyes was a large gate. Pushing open the gate revealed the rear courtyard of the Ning Tai business firm.

  This backyard is actually a spacious square, just like the football field of Wang Guanlan's descendants, but it's more than twice as large. It's specially used for drying phoenix tail grass, only today's drying phoenix tail grass seems to have increased in number.

  On the vast square, piles of pampas grass were stacked into high heaps, occupying the entire venue. The scene was spectacular. Although these shopkeepers dealt with pampas grass every day, they had never seen so much of it at once before. What terrified them most was that on this site, dozens of servants were sprinkling oil on the pampas grass.

  "Fourteen Shao, what is this?!"