Chapter Twenty-Five: Buying a Tea Garden

  Ten taels of silver may not be a lot, but it's absolutely not a small amount either. In the great Tang Dynasty, ten taels of silver can buy a poor man's life.

  Ge Shou hastily forced a smile and begged in a low voice: "Second Master, don't joke around, business has really been bad lately. Once I have the money, I'll definitely pay this year's protection fee."

  "Old man, I'm fed up today! Now let's get straight to the point. Give us money and we'll leave with our brother. If not, we'll take that girl away right now!" As he spoke, Peng Zhi turned around, staring at Qingniang, sneering with a "heh-heh" smile.

  Song Kai secretly looked at Xue Weihai on the other side.

  Xue Weihai was still sitting on the stool and had not stood up. Zhou Ce was standing beside him, while the other two men in green were standing close in front of them.

  Xue Weihai glanced at Zhou Ce, Zhou Ce shook his head towards Xue Weihai, and Xue Weihai just nodded lightly, then didn't say anything else.

  Song Kai understood and nodded. It seemed that Zhou Ce also had no confidence in dealing with these five Taohu thieves, so he shook his head and didn't let Xue Weihai speak up.

  The young girl took a step back with her feet.

  Song Kai thought for a moment, took a step forward, cupped his hands and said: "Ge Ye, you happen to need money right now, and I want this batch of tea leaves. Why don't we just make a deal? I can pay 10 taels of silver as a deposit first."

  As soon as Song Kai spoke, Ge Shou and Peng Zhi were both taken aback.

  Ge Shou hastily nodded.

  Peng Zhi coldly looked up and down at Song Kai, pointing his finger at him, "You little brat, if you take on this task, be careful when walking at night from now on."

  Song Kai just smiled, "Song Mou is just a businessman, Peng Ye you're joking. Xue Lao, help me out and lend some silver first, I'll pay you back at the guest house."

  Xue Weihai just smiled and beckoned to a green-clad guard.

  The man in green took out two gold bars from his bosom and walked up to Peng Zhi's side. "Here!"

  Peng Zhi's face turned cold, and as he accepted the gold ingot with his right hand, his palm suddenly flipped over, almost dislocating the arm of the guard in green.

  The man in blue also had some skill, his arm quickly shrinking back, while his legs stood apart, advancing and retreating freely. He said coldly: "What are you doing?"

  Peng Zhiyuan was stunned. He hadn't expected the man in green to dodge his capture technique, and for a moment he didn't dare be careless.

  "Zheng Jun, come back," said Zhou Ce behind him.

  The man in blue clothes grunted and retreated backwards.

  Peng Zhi's eyes swept over Zhou Ce and Xue Wei Hai again, hummed, put the gold ingot into his bosom, waved his hand, and left.

  The young girl was frightened and hid behind Song Kai's back, keeping a distance from several people.

  Peng Zhihuang walked past Qingniang's side with his short stature, and couldn't help but take another glance at Qingniang, reluctant to leave just now.

  Song Kai rubbed his chin and thought, this group of people is not easy to mess with.

  After a fright, Ge Shou became even more respectful to Song Kai and Xue Weihai, and once again invited several people into the house.

  Xue Weihai took a sip of tea and said, "Prefect Zhou, what's that person's background?"

  Zhou Ce had not fully recovered his complexion, and he cupped his hands: "That person is called Peng Zhi, the second master of Taihu Gang. Although he has a short stature, his ground-lying fist has some foundation. He combines capture techniques with ground-lying fists, and with his short stature, using ground-lying fists is very advantageous. In Suzhou's green forest, he really has some prestige, don't be careless."

  "Oh?" Xue Weihai understood that since he was being praised by Zhou Ce, he must have some real skills.

  Zhou Ce thought for a moment and said: "This Taohu Gang has been established for a long time, and there have been no evil rumors about it. Why did they behave so tyrannically today?"

  On the other side, Ge Shou sighed and said: "Taohu Gang used to be quite fair. When the old boss was alive, although we had to pay protection fees for the surrounding fishing villages and tea gardens, the mountain bandits didn't dare to harass us. Although the protection fees were high, it was still affordable. However, since the old boss passed away last year and the new boss took over, the protection fees have increased by 20% but are of little use. This spring, my mountain garden has been robbed twice by mountain bandits. Alas, I paid the protection fees but still suffered from the bandits. The government is always eliminating bandits, but the ones that come here are just small groups, not worth sending troops after. It's making it harder for me to do business."

  On the side, Qingniang handed Song Kai a cup of water and whispered: "It's all because Qingniang was careless, too many silkworms died, and this year's silk production is low, so we didn't make much money."

  Kusu waved his hand.

  Xue Weihai furrowed his brow after listening, but didn't say anything.

  Song Kai nodded his hands and said, "Ge Lao, I just took a look at the tea garden. The quality of the tea leaves is not bad, but some places are not well managed. If they were properly managed and planted, the income from the tea garden should be pretty good. Today, I originally came to buy some tea leaves for myself, but now I'm actually thinking of buying this tea garden instead. I don't know if you're willing to part with it, Ge Lao."

  "Can Mr. Lang think clearly?" Ge Shou was stunned for a moment before opening his mouth to ask back.

  "It's just a matter of being clear-headed," Song Kai smiled, "but I still ask Old Ge to give me a fair price."

  Ge Shou shook his head, "I bought this estate from the government for 40 taels of gold at that time. The tea garden occupies one-fifth of the entire estate, so it should be priced at 20 taels. However, to be honest, Song Lang, the income from this tea garden is much less compared to the mulberry garden."

  Song Kai heard Ge Shou say this, and he let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He was originally worried that the manor would be too expensive and he wouldn't be able to afford it. After all, the tea garden was quite large and had permanent usage rights. Now that Ge Shou said it would cost less than twenty taels, Song Kai felt more confident.

  Twenty taels of gold is a lot, but Song Kai can still afford it. He sold several top-tier cards recently and the guest house still has some gold reserves.

  "Go ahead and name your price, I trust you," Song Kai said with a chuckle.

  Ge Shou glanced at Xue Weihai, and Xue Weihai just smiled without saying a word.

  "If Song Lang wants it, twenty taels of gold can buy it. Although the profit is low, when I bought this tea garden, there weren't so many tea trees. However, I have a condition: after Song Lang buys the tea garden, he must still hire these people to work in the tea garden, and their wages cannot be less than one guan per month." Ge Shou stated his conditions.

  "Deal!" Song Kai clapped his hands, "I'll bring the money tomorrow."

  Ge Shou saw Song Kai being so straightforward and couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

  After the conversation and discussing some details, Song Kai left with Xue Wei Hai and Zhou Ce, and agreed to come over the next day to pay for the land and also to deal with the tea leaves.

  Soon, Xue Weihai and Song Kai got on the awning boat again with five people, shaking off from the waterway.

  On the boat, Xue laughed at Hai and said to Song Kai: "Song Kai, your style doesn't seem like that of a businessman."

  "Why?" Song Kai looked around at the beautiful scenery and asked casually.

  "You bought this estate, probably just to alleviate Old Ge's urgent need, but as a businessman, you need to be ruthless and have a heart of stone," Xue Weihai sneered at Song Kai's identity.

  Song Kai didn't mind, during the Tang Dynasty, merchants had a low social status. Later on, many people saw that businessmen were making money, but in order to save face, they secretly did business, and on the surface, they never told others that they were doing business.

  Beside him, Zhou Ce leaned on the boat's awning and said, "It's not easy to buy a tea garden here. Ge Lao is also kind-hearted, taking in so many people without land and giving them a way to make a living. It's just a pity that it can't be sustained in the end."

  Song Kai waved his hand and said, "So, doing good deeds also requires a brain. I bought this estate, not just to let those people continue to live, but more importantly, this tea garden can really make money in my hands. Only when the tea garden is booming will the lives of the people employed inside naturally become better."

  Zhou Ce just laughed and nodded, Xue Wei was thoughtful and nodded, what Song Kai said was obvious, but after careful consideration, he found that there were many mysteries in it.

  "Song Kai, how do you plan to manage that tea garden?" Xue Weihai asked casually.

  "Not thought it through yet, but it's just about increasing tea production, raising tea prices and boosting sales," Song Kai replied casually.

  In the tea garden, Ge Shou still had some reaction that didn't come over. In fact, he understood in his heart that the tea garden had always been losing money. It wasn't that tea leaves weren't profitable, but rather that the selling price of tea leaves was too low. Moreover, there were many household servants in the tea garden, and protection fees needed to be paid, and from time to time they would be robbed by poor mountain bandits. Overall, it was a loss.

  He was worried and didn't know what to do, but unexpectedly Song agreed to buy it readily.

  The young woman gathered up the teapot and cups in the house, after a while, she said softly: "Grandfather Ge, is Song Langjun a good person?"

  "Uh...I suppose so," Ge Shou said with a bitter smile.

  "The young lady thinks he's a good person, it's just that his behavior is too frivolous," said the young lady in a low voice.

  Ge Shou nodded, "Someone who can make Xue Gong praise them is naturally not bad. Although their behavior is a bit frivolous and their etiquette is lacking, they are upright and honest in their heart, and their words and actions match up. Maybe, they can be considered a good person."

  The young girl smiled shyly and quickly went out of the house to find Crooked-Face Wang. She still remembered Song Kai's words, saying that the silkworms could be sold for money and could also cure Wang's crooked mouth...

  Two hours later, Song Kai and Xue Wei Hai got ashore. Song Kai cupped his hands and said: "Old Xue, it's getting late, why not go to the inn for a little drink?"

  Xue Weihai shook his head, "I'm not going, your inn has a stingy and fierce shopkeeper."

  Song Kai burst out laughing, "Not exactly fierce, but she's indeed greedy enough. Otherwise, I wouldn't trust her to be the shopkeeper either. Tonight's dinner is definitely on me, and after dinner, I'll also ask Big Brother Zhou to instruct me in martial arts."

  "Alright, let's forget it for tonight. If you really want to learn, brother, I'll come to the shop tomorrow and call you, follow me and my men to train together. When we have time, I'll teach you swordsmanship alone," said Zhou Ce.

  "That's settled then!" Song Kai nodded.

  "Alright, let's part ways then," Zhou Ce waved his hand and left with Xue Wei Hai.

  Song Kai's face lit up with a smile, and he was about to become a martial arts master. Just thinking about it got him excited. Once he became a top-notch master, he would roam the Jianghu alone, visiting Shaolin, Wudang, and the ancient tombs of Zhongnan Mountain. If he could find some secret martial arts manuals, wouldn't that be perfect? Haha...