Chapter 5 Facade

  Facade

  He Wan Nian held the phone with a look of increasing horror, feeling that he had shrunk by half in front of Yao Fang. He carefully and gingerly held it, not daring to use force for fear of crushing it, nor did he dare hold it with one hand for fear of dropping it, so he could only hold it with both hands.

  Under Yao Fan's guidance, He Wan Nian calculated it himself and was shocked as he went on.

  "Yao brother, what's this thing called again? Look at my memory." He Wan Nian eagerly asked Yao Fang.

  "Calculator!" Yao Fang smiled patiently and repeated.

  "Our Yao family has a sideline business in Europe, specializing in selling these calculating machines to European royal families. Brother He, you should know that the silver money of European royal families is counted in tens of millions, if there were no calculators to help, even if one calculated for three days and three nights, they would not be able to finish."

  He Wan nian held the "electronic calculator" in his arms like a treasure, and asked eagerly: "Brother Yao, I ask you, why can this box display words? Is this some kind of magic?"

  Yao Wenyuan saw He Wan's eager and infatuated expression, thinking that he had taken the bait. Immediately, he began to talk nonsense with a mouthful of saliva and a crooked smile: "This is Europe's most advanced electrical calculator, the screen on top displays Arabic numerals, inside there are countless mechanisms, driving the electricity of heaven and earth for calculations, as for the rest, I won't say any more, only European Western scientists know the subtleties. This time I came to Qingdao in a hurry, tonight I also have to attend a dinner party with the local governor, so I'll pawn it here first and exchange some silver money for expenses, when my cargo ship arrives from Shanghai to Qingdao in two days, I will naturally redeem it."

  After finishing speaking, Yao Fan took over the tea bowl handed by a partner who was staring at the calculator in amazement and took a sip, saying: "To say that you, Old He, are also a lucky person. If it wasn't for my temporary financial difficulties, how could I have pawned this 300,000 gold francs worth of electronic calculator here? Otherwise, where would you have had the chance to see such an extraordinary Western gadget?"

  He Wan Nian wiped the sweat and said in surprise: "Brother Yao, this electric calculator is really rare and extraordinary! However, our small shop has never dealt with such things before, so we can't accurately price it. May I ask, Mr. Yao, do you plan to pawn it or sell it outright?"

  "It's a living thing, it turns over in ten days or half a month at most."

  He Wan Nian said: "Since it's a living account, not for sale, then the 10,000 taels of silver are precious. Don't mention 3 million gold francs to me. A small shop has thin profits, that's something we can't afford no matter what."

  "Why don't I lend you two thousand taels instead? The interest is two percent per month. If you're willing to mortgage your property, I can grit my teeth and lend you three thousand taels."

  Yao Fanzhen said this is just a case of asking for the sky and returning to earth, once the goal is achieved, that's it.

  "What I want is cash, do you have it?"

  He Wan Nian smiled and said, "In this Qing Dynasty, if you want to use silver, it's better to bring a silver note than to carry silver. The four major Heng's notes in the capital are at your disposal, and there is a ready-made Hengli gold shop on this street of Industry Encouragement. Brother Yao can exchange for cash whenever he wants."

  Yao Feng nodded thoughtfully and said, "In that case, let's consider it two thousand taels. I'll just need to turn the money over for a few days and it will be fine. However, I must have both small and large denominations, which will make it convenient for me to spend."

  He Wan Nian carefully wrapped the mobile phone in his handkerchief and sent it to the warehouse at the back, then came out to fill in the receipt, took out the silver ticket of large and small denominations, carefully sorted them out, and put some loose silver coins together with the receipt in a white gauze cloth handkerchief, and handed it over to Yao Fang. Yao Fang checked that everything was correct, wrapped it up and put it away.

  After receiving the silver, Yao Fan didn't feel like leaving immediately, so he lifted his leg and sat in the shop, drinking tea and chatting with He Wannian.

  "Hello boss, I'd like to ask you, where in this city can I find shops for rent? Additionally, I also need a warehouse, the bigger the better."

  He Wan Nian hid his mobile phone in the back warehouse of the store, came over and sat down saying: "You've asked the right person, just behind this street, I have three storefronts on that Taiping Street, one of which is a rice shop that has just moved to Fuhai Street, and the storefront has just become vacant. If you're free, why don't we go take a look together? If you like it, you can rent it, and the price is negotiable."

  Yao Fang's heart was urgent, and he immediately said: "Let's go if you say so."

  He Wannian smiled and looked up and down at Yao Fan, asking: "You're going in that?"

  Yao Cong woke up and nodded: "This Western-style suit is indeed a bit out of place, what does Mr. He mean?"

  "Mr. Yao, if you don't mind something old, my store just received a shipment the other day and there's a pretty good silk long shirt that's about 80% new. You can take a look and consider it a gift from me if you like it."

  Yao Feng smiled and said: "Don't be particular, we business people travel all over the place, it's not interesting to dress too well. You gave me this, I don't dare accept it, just tell me how much money it is."

  He Wan Nian shook his head and waved his hand politely, saying: "Brother Yao is being too polite, isn't he? What you're saying doesn't make sense. At the time, this garment was pawned for two taels of silver, so just return two taels and that's it."

  He ordered his assistant to bring it, and Yao Fan tried it on. The dark green lake silk was half new and not old, and the wide robe with large sleeves was put on outside the suit, which didn't feel tight.

  "Hey, it fits perfectly, just like it was tailored for me. This garment is worth at least five taels of silver, and I won't sell it to the old clothes shop for less."

  Yao Feng smiled and thanked He Wan Nian, then directly put it on over his suit.

  The two got up, Yao Fangan wearing a hat, with black leather shoes on his feet, paired with a blue satin shirt on his body, and no queue at the back of his head. He walked to Taiping Street in an odd manner with He Wannian, who was wearing a six-sided melon-shaped hat with a black ribbon and red thread.

  "Hey, Brother Yao, what do you think of this storefront?" He Wan Nian called out to Brother Yao in a familiar tone, standing by the street and pointing at the storefront on Taiping Street.

  Yao Feng didn't say a word and waited for him to unlock the side door.

  Yao Fangan pushed open the door and went in, seeing that inside was a two-story quadrangle courtyard. The front and back yards each had a path made of green bricks connecting the doors of the long houses on all sides. Moss had already grown on the green bricks, probably no one had lived there for some time. The front yard was larger, with an area of about 100 square meters, while the back yard was smaller, but still around 80 square meters. In the four corners of the front yard were planted a large locust tree and three slender weeping willows, while the back yard was bare without any trees, only two waist-high large water tanks were placed there. Calculating it out, including the storefront facing the street in the front and all the rooms in the two courtyards in the back, the total indoor area was approximately over 700 square meters.

  Yao Fan didn't have time to look at each house one by one, so he directly asked He Wannian: "How is the rent calculated?"

  He Wan Nian replied succinctly: "Half a year is 18 taels, one year is 34 taels."

  "It's not expensive, so I'll rent it for a year first."

  Yao Fan said as he took out the money to pay He Wan Nian, thinking that this year's rent was really cheap. He Wan Nian saw Yao Fan being so generous and his intention to make friends with him grew stronger.

  "Mr. He, this house can only be used as a store, but there's not enough space to store goods. Do you know where I can find a large warehouse?"

  He Wan Nian put the silver into his pocket and said, "This Qingdao port is a big warehouse, among which several warehouses on the dock are the largest, they are all properties of various merchants from north and south. If you want to rent some space to store goods, it's possible, but no one will rent an entire warehouse to you."

  Yao Fanzheng frowned: "I have a lot of goods, but the place is too small to hold them. If I want to build a large warehouse here, what procedures should I follow?"

  He Wan Nian waved his hand and said lightly, "The land surrounded by the city wall of Qingdao, one mu is only twenty taels of silver, the best border is at most forty taels, and the poor border can be taken down for eleven or twelve taels."

  As for the land outside the city wall and by the dock, it used to be possible to get two or one mu of land with just a few taels of silver, but now it costs seven taels per mu.

  As for the stony beach and wasteland outside the city, nothing can be grown except grass. It was cheapest during the Qing dynasty, at a price of 1-2 taels per mu, but now the price has risen slightly, to no more than 2 taels.

  "As for farming, I think you're probably not interested."

  "I'd rather build a warehouse on the outskirts of town, where the land is cheap and it's still close to the city, making it convenient to manage."

  He Wan Nian readily agreed, saying: "Alright, I'll ask around for the next two days and if there's a suitable plot of land, I'll get them to reserve it for you. As for the formalities, since you know Sun Zhoupan, he should be able to help out."

  "Alright, thanks Brother He for helping me ask around, I'll definitely owe you one when the time comes."

  "Look what you're saying, it's not like I'm hitting your face. Brother Yao has come all the way from the West to find his ancestors, and my little help is only natural, no need to thank me." He Xianyun said with a smile, but in his heart he was very pleased.

  Yao Fan now feels that He Wannian is quite familiar with the local land prices and various businesses, and has a good impression of him.

  He Wannian felt a strange sensation in his heart, however. The aura surrounding Yao Fang was indescribable, majestic and independent, like a towering tree standing alone between heaven and earth, inspiring trust in others. Yet, every move he made was unlike ordinary people, with an air of nonchalance that left one feeling unfamiliar.

  He Wannian thought that probably overseas Chinese like Yao Feng were all like this? They looked completely different from the ordinary merchants of the Qing Dynasty. The ordinary merchants of the Qing Dynasty, if they were not shrewd and cunning, would be deceitful and flattering, and few people had a strong sense of justice and decisiveness like Yao Feng.

  "After all, he's a man of great experience. He rented a storefront in Jiaozhou Port and plans to build a warehouse later, which means he wants to do long-term business here. It's really worth getting along with him." thought He Wannian.

  Yao Feng inquired from He Wan Nian's mouth and understood the land price of Qingdao Port, finally knowing that the current land price was completely unimpeded for himself. In this way, the site needed for his own time-space trade was settled.

  Yao Feng glanced roughly at each house in the yard, seeing that they were all very simple, and then walked out of the yard. Before leaving, he entrusted He Wannian to help him find some workers to clean up the shop and roughly set up some tables, chairs, beds and other daily necessities. He Wannian agreed with a full mouth.

  After parting ways with the two men, Yao Fan raised his head to see that it was getting late, and he strode towards the government office, intending to invite Magistrate Sun Mao-wen to dinner.

  Arriving at the gate of the government office, someone was already waiting there.

  Yao Fan was quite eye-catching in his Japanese attire, and even his long gown couldn't hide it. The people of the Sun Mansion recognized him from afar and came to greet him.

  "Mr. Yao, my master invites you to go to Shi's restaurant, and he will come later."

  Yao Feng nodded and casually took out a silver ingot worth one or two taels from his sleeve pocket to reward the family member. Yao Feng had read about the customs of the Qing dynasty when he was studying, so he knew that rewarding with silver was a rule of the Qing dynasty as well as a reputation for being a good person, and he had already put some loose silver in his sleeve pocket beforehand.

  The people of the Sun Mansion nodded and bowed, stuffing the silver into their waistbands, thanked in an excited tone, and ran ahead with lanterns to guide the way, constantly bowing their heads and beckoning Yao Fang to be careful of the muddy road, stinky water, and potholes.

  Generally, the Qing people didn't give much money as rewards. On TV, handing out one or two silver coins was really just a show of wealth by princes or wealthy families. Usually giving three to five copper coins or ten to over ten large coins was already very generous. But Yao Feng didn't know these rules.

  The Sun family was overjoyed to receive a generous reward of two taels of silver. However, they couldn't understand why Yao Fang, who seemed to be extremely wealthy, didn't ride in a carriage.

  Yao Feng followed the Sun family to the Shi family restaurant, where he saw two floors of wooden buildings with red lanterns hanging up and down. In front of the door, four horizontal boards were hung, each with a single character written in bold font: "Shi", "Jia", "Fan", "Dian".