Chapter 22: The Filial Person

  Zhao Gan, who was selling the house, was going to a distant place to visit his relatives. After pressing his handprint and selling the house to Qin Feng, he took the money and left immediately. "Qin Feng is a good official, I wish you peace for the rest of your life." Zhao Gan, who had walked out of the gate, bowed towards the gate and slung his bundle over his shoulder and left.

  Zhang Li Zheng smiled and handed the new land deed to Qin Feng, saying: "Qin sir, I'll have my wife bring our little girl over to sweep your place clean..."

  "I understand, so I won't bother Zhang Li Zheng anymore." Qin Feng smiled and said.

  Zhang Li Zheng felt disappointed in his heart, smiled and bowed again, and before leaving said: "From now on, if Lord Qin has any orders, just send someone to find me."

  Hou Cheng and Bian Xi voluntarily offered to affix the official seal of the government office on Qin Feng's land deed, and then took the contract and left.

  Everyone left, Qin Feng was excited and walked around the courtyard of his own home. He had been messing around in Donghan for over a month, and today he finally made a name for himself. With a house and an official position, this first step can be considered as taking off.

  In April 183 AD, Qin Feng was appointed as the prison officer of Luoyang and owned his first property in Eastern Han.

  The first step is done, and now it's time to accumulate wealth. With money, one can recruit soldiers and expand their power quickly in a chaotic world. Just look at Yuan Shao, who had the advantage of being from a wealthy family and was able to gain an upper hand in the northern regions.

  "Whether or not one can make a fortune, it's always worth trying." Qin Feng thought that since the sky was still early, he would go to Luoyang market to take a look.

  In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a type of sugar that was yellowish-black in color. Qin Feng had seen this type of sand sugar at Cai Yong's house before. He remembered that when he was chatting with his classmates later on, he mentioned that hundreds of years later, domestic sugar craftsmen invented the "dripping method" to decolorize cane sugar. The method involved boiling the cane juice to a certain concentration and then pouring it into a funnel-shaped ceramic vessel called a "瓦溜", and then adding yellow mud paste from above. From a modern technical perspective, this was equivalent to using the yellow mud paste as an adsorbent to produce white sugar.

  The National Academy of Dramatic Arts is the university that is best at teaching acting, and because it's so big, they have a lot of props for performing. Qin Feng had only seen this thing called "瓦溜" by chance, it was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom with a small hole at the bottom. This small hole was used to filter out impurities, putting brown sugar in and flushing it with yellow mud water, what came out was white sugar.

  Qin Feng had a memory, but he was also confused about what to do next. He thought for a moment and then headed towards the market in the west of the city.

  The vast city of Luoyang has a population of over one million, with wide streets and dense shops everywhere except in the concentrated residential areas for ordinary people.

  Outside the city's western market. Qin Feng took a glance inside, where crowds of people were bustling about, with endless calls and shouts, on a scale that was not small, similar to the outdoor farmers' markets in the back alleys.

  He then looked for a large store with some scale and walked in.

  There were many people shopping in the store. As soon as the shop assistant saw Qin Feng's silk clothes, he enthusiastically came up and said: "Sir, do you need something? Our store has goods from all over the country, with fair prices..."

  "Oh, do you have sugar in your store?" Qin Feng asked with a smile.

  "We have it, our store has top-grade Jiaozhou sugar cane, one yuan per catty, how much does the customer need?"

  "Give me five catties." Qin Feng was still a bit confused about the refining process, but he also knew that buying some sugar back to research was a necessary step, and other things would be planned slowly.

  "Good!" The fellow saw a big deal coming and didn't dare slack off, hastily calling his companions to fetch the sugar.

  Before long, his companion handed a package of dark red sugar over to Qin Feng.

  Qin Feng suddenly felt a little hesitant, damn it, how did this black lump turn white? Although he knew some craftsmanship from later generations, at this moment, with sugar in hand, he also came up with a helpless idea.

  "Is there a tile here?" Qin Feng took out several large coins and asked the shopkeeper.

  The fellow took over the reward with a smile and said respectfully: "What? This... I've never heard of it."

  Qin Feng didn't want to be too clear with this person either, and asked: "Do you know where there is a place nearby that makes ceramics?"

  "This customer, the market in the south of the city is mostly where blacksmiths, carpenters and other craftsmen gather. There are also people selling pottery. If you can afford it, they might be willing to fire a kiln for you." The partner who benefited from this said nothing but knew everything.

  Let's take it one step at a time. Starting a business isn't that easy, with goods, tools, and workers... everything needs to be prepared. Qin Feng thought to himself as he walked outside.

  At this time... "Zhōu Shān, the master won't see you, get out of here quickly..." Amidst the loud shouting, a middle-aged man was pushed out of the store.

  The middle-aged man's face was pale and his eyes were lifeless, he begged: "Officer Ma, please, let me see the master for a moment, please..."

  "Hmph, the master won't see you, not sending you to the authorities is already a favor...". The horse manager sneered. Zhou Shan, you finally left, with you around, I had no chance of getting ahead in the Ma family. Luckily I was clever and gave you a push from behind.

  "How hateful......" The middle-aged man scolded, his face fell, and he cried out in sorrow: "I, Zhou Shan, came here to work at the age of thirteen, and for seventeen years I have been diligent and conscientious..."

  The guests in the store were shocked, and a look of regret appeared on the face of the shop assistant. Reality is cruel like this, no matter how clever you are, you are just an employee, and no matter how much money you make from doing business, it all belongs to the boss's family, and in the end, you can only get a little bit of insignificant wages.

  "You dare to be so reckless in the master's store, Zhou Shan! Come on, throw him out!" Ma Guan shouted, and several of his trusted subordinates walked over with a fierce expression, dragging Zhou Shan out of the gate and throwing him onto the street.

  Qin Feng slightly furrowed his brow, indeed it was a world where the strong prey on the weak, those with power and status ran amok, while ordinary citizens had no human rights.

  "What a pity! This week, Shan has been doing odd jobs here for over ten years and was driven out just like that..."

  "This man is a filial son, I heard that his elderly mother was ill and he borrowed a lot of money from the local landlord to treat her. Unfortunately, he couldn't repay it, so the landlord took away the house and land of the Zhou family in order to recoup his losses. They had a falling out, and fearing that he would continue to cause trouble if he stayed, they drove him out of here..."

  "This orphaned widow... Alas... Good people don't get good rewards..."

  The most filial person? He has been doing chores here for over a decade! Qin Feng's heart stirred, and he walked out.

  "I've been serving the Ma family for seventeen years, standing at the counter since I was fifteen, earning them so much wealth. How can Ma Ming treat me like this..." Zhou Shan cried out helplessly as he got up from the ground.

  "Dare you, Zhou Shan, to directly address our master by name! Come and beat him for me!" The steward shouted, and immediately three servants ran over from behind him.

  "Get out!" Qin Feng blocked their way and shouted angrily, causing the three servants to be stunned on the spot.

  Ma Guanshi was shocked in his heart and angrily said: "Who are you, dare to interfere with the affairs of my Ma family?"

  "Hmph, the world's people manage the world's affairs." Qin Feng sneered and turned to Zhou Shan: "People go to high places, water flows to low places. This place doesn't keep people, there are places that do. Since your former master took away your family business so ruthlessly, you should plan for a comeback. Remember, a gentleman takes revenge even after ten years..."

  "A gentleman takes revenge ten years later, it's not too late! Alas, how easy to talk...". Zhou Shan saw that Qin Feng was extraordinary in his words and sighed. He wasn't a bad person either, so he didn't bother the Ma family again.

  Ma Guanshi saw Qin Feng's luxurious clothes and dignified appearance, and didn't dare to provoke trouble immediately, but only coldly observed from the side.

  "There is a good place to go right now..." Qin Feng said with a smile.

  "Ah?" Zhou Shan was startled and didn't understand what he meant.

  "There are ten taels here, take them to support your mother. Come find me in the west of the city tomorrow and I'll give you a good job." Qin Feng then took out the money and stuffed it into Zhou Shan's arms.

  "This...". Ten taels! Ten taels! For the sake of these ten taels, he was driven out of the Ma family and had his house taken away. Ten taels, ten taels! Zhou Shan stared at the ten taels in his arms, momentarily stunned. "Huh? Sir, may I ask which household in West City is this?" Zhou Shan shouted as Qin Feng walked far away.

  "Hehe, go to Anping Street in Chengxi and ask about Qin Feng, then you'll know."

  Qin Feng, Qin Zijin! Zhou Shan immediately remembered this name, he coldly glanced at the horse manager who was standing at the door and left with a flick of his sleeve.

  Ma Guanshi was startled by this glance, and thought to himself: This kid really has a lucky break, earlier that young man's move was worth ten taels, who knows if he's from the big household in west city!

  Qin Feng, Qin Zijin? The onlookers whispered to each other, the name sounded familiar, but for a moment they couldn't quite recall it. However, everyone sighed in admiration of his generosity and extraordinary behavior, thinking that he must be no ordinary person. With murmurs of amazement, they dispersed.