Chapter 308: Your Acting Is Quite Bad

Jiang Jinshi had nothing to do, so he walked to the window and looked downstairs again.

Jiang Qingyan's figure didn't appear until dusk. She held a food box in her hand, looked left and right, and walked straight into the inn.

Jiang Qingyan went upstairs: "Xiao Shi, I brought you food!"

"Doesn't the inn have it?" Jiang Jinshi opened the door and let Jiang Qingyan into the room.

Jiang Qingyan took out the meal, still muttering: "This is what I made myself, the dishes I learned to make after coming to Jiangnan, you try it first!"

"Good!"

The two chatted idly. Jiang Qingyan didn't ask about the situation of the 'family members' now, and Jiang Jinshi also kept silent.

After a while, Jiang Qingyan rolled her hair with her fingers and asked casually, pretending to be indifferent: "Xiao Shi, what business are you doing now? Tell your sister about it!"

"Jiang Qingyan!" Jiang Jinshi wiped his mouth with a silk cloth, "Your acting is quite bad, speak directly if you have something to say!"

Jiang Qingyan, who was exposed, blushed, but still said what the young lady said and her own thoughts.

Jiang Jinshi didn't interrupt and listened quietly to what Jiang Qingyan said before speaking slowly, "Then you help me arrange a meeting with Miss Fu, this business can be done!"

Jiang Jinshi needed a partner for cooperation. Ordinary merchants didn't have enough strength, and organizing a caravan to go north was a bit difficult. Fu Ruyan, as a young lady of the scholar-gentry, should have this strength.

Now Jiang Qingyan couldn't find words to say. The young lady and her own younger brother both wanted to do business with the other party. It wasn't a matter for her to block in the middle, so let them be!

The next afternoon, in the backyard of Yunlai Inn, this place was separated from the noisy hall of dining and accommodation in front by a door, and it was quite quiet.

There was an old locust tree in the courtyard, and stone tables and stools were set up under the tree. Fu Ruyan was wearing a plain goose-yellow ru skirt, sitting on a stone stool, with several account books spread out in front of her, but she was engrossed in a scroll of books in her hand.

Jiang Qingyan stood behind her, and when Fu Ruyan coughed, she gently stroked her back.

Jiang Jinshi walked in and bowed, his attitude polite and courteous, "Miss Fu! I am Jiang Shi, a merchant from the north. Hearing my sister mention the young lady's care, I came to thank you specially."

Jiang Qingyan heard Jiang Jinshi call himself Jiang Shi and just thought that her younger brother was using a pseudonym outside like her!

Fu Ruyan raised her eyelids. Her eyes were clear, but covered with a layer of fatigue and fear. When she looked at Jiang Jinshi, she carried a few points of scrutiny, a few points of curiosity, and a trace of nervousness that she tried her best to hide.

Fu Ruyan put down the book and nodded slightly, her voice soft: "Young Master Jiang, no need for courtesy! Qingyan is a useful person by my side, and her younger brother is naturally not an outsider! Please sit."

"Hearing my sister say that the young lady is managing this inn? Miss Fu is so capable." Jiang Jinshi opened his mouth after sitting down, his tone sincere, just ordinary polite words.

Fu Ruyan's pale cheeks flushed with a very faint red, not knowing if it was from coughing or something else. She lowered her eyelashes: "It's just looking at the account books and not making big mistakes. It can't compare to Young Master Jiang traveling north and south with broad knowledge."

"I'm just a merchant, not as talented as Miss Fu!" Jiang Jinshi followed up with another polite word.

"Hearing Qingyan say that Young Master Jiang came from Beijiang." Fu Ruyan opened her mouth, her gaze falling on the teacup, not looking directly at Jiang Jinshi, "Recently, the water in the canal is shallow and water transport is not smooth, and many merchants are complaining. Young Master Jiang's goods... are they still smooth?"

"Thank you for your concern, young lady." Jiang Jinshi's tone was peaceful, carrying a merchant's practicality, "The business of transporting north and south is indeed affected. However, the 'specialties' I brought from the north this time are not very afraid of the obstruction of the waterway."

"Oh?" Fu Ruyan raised her eyes, revealing a curiosity that was just right, "I wonder what specialties they are?"

"It's sugar, 'Ice Crystal Sugar'." Jiang Jinshi said it ordinarily, but his gaze remained on Fu Ruyan's reaction.

Since the Yan family sold this thing, and the servants under Cui Wangshu recognized it, he figured the other party should know it.

Fu Ruyan was puzzled: "Sugar... this is a common item, and Jiangnan also produces it abundantly. What's different about the one from the north?"

Jiang Jinshi was speechless. He didn't expect that even though they were both young ladies of the scholar-gentry, the gap between this Miss Fu and Cui Wangshu was not small.

After thinking about it, Jiang Jinshi called out toward the door: "He Chou, tell the brothers to bring up a dou of sugar!"

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Fu Ruyan stood up and bowed to Jiang Jinshi: "I heard from the shopkeeper that the young master arranged for thirty people to stay at the inn last night. This intention makes me feel very grateful!"

"No matter!" Jiang Jinshi waved his hand: "Anyway, they have to find a place to sleep. It's quieter here!"

He Chou walked over with the sugar and handed it to Jiang Jinshi.

Jiang Jinshi pushed it forward, signaling Fu Ruyan to watch.

Fu Ruyan leaned forward slightly, examined it carefully for a moment, then cautiously extended a finger, lightly dipped the tip into the sugar, and placed it into her mouth.

Her eyebrows first frowned slightly, then relaxed, and a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"This sugar... has no bitterness or mixed taste, is clear and sweet, and has no dregs or smoke and fire. This quality, even if it were used in the palace, might not be as good. Where did you get this, Young Master Jiang?"

"Beijiang has an ancient method, which has been improved and obtained by luck." Jiang Jinshi naturally wouldn't elaborate on the process.

Jiang Jinshi continued calmly: "The output is still considerable, and the quality is stable. Jiangnan is wealthy, and families, restaurants, tea houses, and even pharmacies have an even greater demand for this item. The price is naturally not comparable to ordinary soil sugar."

Fu Ruyan was silent for a moment, her gaze moved away from the pile of snow-white and crystal-clear things, and fell back on Jiang Jinshi's face.

"With such strange goods, Young Master Jiang's trip can already be considered a steady profit." She blushed, originally thinking that she could help the other party, but found that the other party didn't need it at all.

Although she didn't go out of the deep boudoir, she was a child of the scholar-gentry after all, and it was impossible for her not to have this bit of vision.

Young Master Jiang's goods, if placed in any shop in Jiangnan, the other party would have to collect them at a high price. Looking at it this way, it was her own wishful thinking.

"Although Miss Fu has grace to my sister, business is business. I can only give Miss Fu the bottom price for this thing, and it won't be much cheaper!" Jiang Jinshi said seriously.

"Ah?" Fu Ruyan's pale lips moved, "Young Master Jiang, this cargo... why would you worry about sales? You don't have to... sell it to me!"

"This business is not something ordinary families can do!" Jiang Jinshi showed a confident smile, "Actually, I came here not to sell the goods in my hands, but to find a suitable partner for cooperation."

Fu Ruyan's mind immediately became active. She knew this was a rare opportunity, but she didn't know what the cooperation model was.

Jiang Jinshi took out a small mirror from his bosom, only the size of a palm, and handed it to Fu Ruyan.

"Miss Fu, our Beijiang goods are not just sugar, but also high-quality Snowflake Salt, as well as glazed glass and this mirror!"

Fu Ruyan took the mirror and lost her mind for a while.

Jiang Jinshi had thought about it carefully last night. It was inevitable to clash with the scholar-gentry in the future. Cui Wangshu's courage and ambition were great and could be used. Fu Ruyan was the opposite, but could be cultivated, which was easier for him to control! ===== CHAPTER 309 =====