Huang Deyou

The next day, after school, Jiang Ding wandered around the city.

"Selling steamed buns..."

"Fried pancakes... wontons..."

Jiang Ding's hand rested on his sword hilt. It was early morning, and the air was filled with the aroma of various snacks from the street. He himself had no intention of trying any of them; he wouldn't eat food from another world.

Among the passing crowds were wealthy families in silk and well-off families in ordinary cloth, as well as laborers and shop assistants in short tunics. Most of them looked well-fed, and there were very few beggars.

There were also quite a few martial artists carrying sabers and swords. Occasionally, they would bump into passersby and curse, but no bloody incidents occurred.

"From the perspective of an ancient feudal society, this should be considered a prosperous and peaceful era, right?" Jiang Ding thought to himself. "This Marquis Zhen Dong is truly a capable and loyal minister, someone the people adore. Under this level of productivity, with martial artist guilds and sects, and various local powers, officials, and gentry interfering and plundering... to achieve this is quite impressive."

Somewhere, a crowd had gathered, mostly consisting of martial artists wearing weapons.

With nothing else to do, Jiang Ding followed the flow of people.

Before he got close, he heard the dense clanging of metal weapons striking each other from a fighting arena, surrounded by a circle of onlookers.

Jiang Ding looked over and saw two young martial artists in black and white combat attire fighting. Both had the aura of early Inner Qi Realm.

Sabers and staffs crisscrossed... it was hard to describe.

Let alone compared to his classmates in the Inner Qi Realm, they seemed much weaker than Gong Caiyu and even the iron spear martial artist he had encountered before.

"As expected of 'River-Mixing Monkey' Yuan Ye, to have broken through to the Inner Qi Realm at such a young age. He must have received the true teachings of 'Heaven-Overturning Divine Monkey' Old Master Yuan..."

"Our Righteousness Gang's young master, 'Righteousness Saber' Yang Dong, is also not weak!"

"These two are both talents of East Spirit Prefecture. If they train for a few more years, they might even make it onto the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking!"

The surrounding martial artists chattered, and the young martial artists looked on with envy.

"Why are these two fighting?" someone asked.

"Sigh, what else could it be? One is the young master of the Dragon Tiger Martial Hall, and the other is the young master of the Righteousness Gang. They've disliked each other since childhood and are both pursuing the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking's 'Flying Snow Fairy'. They've been evenly matched, and today, upon breaking through, they wanted to show off. It just so happened that the other person also broke through."

"Flying Snow Fairy... is that the one from the Seven Profound Sect?"

"Naturally. It's a shame that East Spirit Prefecture finally produced a prodigy for the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking, who might one day achieve Innate realm."

"Achieving Innate is easier said than done..."

Ding!

As they were talking, 'River-Mixing Monkey' Yuan Ye smashed his opponent's saber away with a staff strike. The brass staff stopped just above his opponent's head. Full of pride, he declared, "Righteousness Saber is nothing more than this!"

'Righteousness Saber' Yang Dong's face turned ugly.

Yuan Ye grew more excited.

"This is just the beginning. One day, I will break through all enemies with my staff, ascend Golden Iron Mountain, and rescue..."

"Cough cough!"

Below the stage, an old man coughed, interrupting his grand speech.

"Hmph!"

'River-Mixing Monkey' Yuan Ye snorted, didn't even look at his defeated opponent, jumped off the stage, and left.

The crowd dispersed as the excitement faded. Jiang Ding did the same.

He wandered around with the crowd and soon, a well-dressed young attendant approached him and bowed: "Greetings, young master. I am Huang Gui from the Four Seas Merchant Guild. You can just call me Xiao Gui."

Jiang Ding was not surprised that the Four Seas Merchant Guild had found him. His features were distinctive, and if the guild was as powerful as they claimed, finding someone would be easy.

"Brother Huang..."

"You flatter me. Please just call me Xiao Gui," the attendant quickly replied.

"Brother Huang, how is your esteemed guild handling the matter of the Fierce Tiger Stronghold bandits?" Jiang Ding asked with a smile. The attendant looked young, about twenty-six or twenty-seven, so calling him Xiao Gui didn't feel quite right.

He was just a commoner with no power or wealth, relying entirely on the Immortal Sect platform. He wasn't any nobler than the attendant.

"Replying to our esteemed guest, our guild's Deity Bai has already led people up the mountain," the attendant said cautiously. "Deity Bai is a master of Inner Qi Great Accomplishment. He will surely make the Fierce Tiger Stronghold pay heavy compensation and ensure they no longer attack the Four Seas Merchant Guild's goods after collecting passage fees."

"Oh? Is that all? Is the Fierce Tiger Stronghold some major power?" Jiang Ding asked in surprise. According to the information he had gathered, the Four Seas Merchant Guild was considered a major merchant guild in the entire Yue Kingdom, not just boasting like Long San.

"Not at all."

The attendant said cautiously, "The Four Seas Merchant Guild is a merchant guild. We have always believed in generating wealth through peaceful means. As long as we don't kill any disciples of the Long family, we generally avoid bloodshed. At most, we retaliate with methods like blockading trade routes and raising prices. Therefore, being suppressed in certain places is quite normal."

"Your esteemed guild's foresight is admirable."

"The way you conduct business may often be looked down upon by others," Jiang Ding flattered. "But you can establish branches everywhere without incurring the jealousy of local powers, thus earning your reputation across the four seas."

Huang Gui forced a smile.

After a moment of thought.

"I want to rent a shop with a storefront for business and living quarters in the back. It doesn't matter if the location is a bit remote. The rent should be around ten taels of silver per year. Do you have anything available?"

The attendant thought for a moment. "Esteemed guest, this way please."

The two turned left and right, passing through a clean and tidy stone-paved street, then onto a dirt road. The people around them wore increasingly worn clothes, often with patches, and there were puddles and small pits on the road.

Soon, the two arrived in front of a blacksmith shop with its main door closed.

"Esteemed guest, please take a look."

The young attendant in green clothes whispered, "This Mo Family Blacksmith Shop perfectly suits your needs. The storefront is over three zhang wide, with a small courtyard behind it where fruits and vegetables are grown. It used to be rented out for fifteen to sixteen taels, but now you can rent it for just five taels."

"It's just that there are some... complications."

"Brother Huang, please elaborate," Jiang Ding said calmly.

"There's a small gang nearby, the Wild Wolf Gang, with a minor leader named Liu Qi. He wants to buy this property at a low price and has repeatedly sent people to pressure the owner, forcing the blacksmith out of business. If you open a shop here, you might also have to deal with him."

"Do you know him?" Jiang Ding smiled.

"Esteemed guest, please forgive me!" The young attendant panicked. "I..."

"No, it's alright."

Jiang Ding waved his hand. "Let's find another one. A smaller one will do."

Even if there was a suspicion of manipulation, they had stated the terms upfront, and the price was indeed much cheaper.

But he didn't want any trouble.

The two wandered around and came to a more secluded shop. Huang Gui took out a key and led Jiang Ding inside.

The storefront was about a zhang wide, and the backyard had only two small rooms, barely enough to house a few people.

"The owner is asking for nine taels for this place. In my opinion, seven taels should seal the deal," Huang Gui said with a fawning smile.

"Alright, let's do it this way."

Jiang Ding then asked, "In this market, how much is the monthly salary for an experienced general store manager?"

Huang Gui thought for a moment. "Five hundred wen and up. The more experienced they are and the better their past performance, the higher the salary. It also depends on the size of the shop, etc."

Jiang Ding took out a ten-tael ingot of official silver and handed it to him, then took out about two to three taels of silver.

"The previous owner is gone. Just bring me the deed. You can handle the government procedures as well. Also, regarding the cleaning, setup, and hiring of a manager for my general store, how many days will this take?"

"One day should be enough."

"Fine, let's leave it at that. Whatever is left is yours."

He stuffed the silver into Huang Gui's arms and walked into the dusty shop.

The next day, he opened the shop door, and a bit of dust scattered.

Two people were standing outside the door, covered in morning dew, having waited for an unknown amount of time.

"Greetings, esteemed guest (Owner)." The two bowed respectively.

"Hello to both of you."

Jiang Ding was quite satisfied. His movements were always unpredictable, so it was excellent that others could be so considerate. He then looked at a short, stout middle-aged man behind Huang Gui.

"Brother Huang, who is this?"

"I was just about to introduce him to you, esteemed guest." Huang Gui quickly said, "This is my clan uncle, Huang Deyou. He was previously a manager in charge of purchasing medicinal herbs at the Four Seas Merchant Guild. When Manager Long arrived, he replaced them with his own trusted subordinates, so he became available."

"His asking price is one tael of silver per month. I've used the silver you gave me to prepay three months' salary. If you're not satisfied, I'll find someone else for you."

The short, stout middle-aged man cupped his hands. "I am Huang Deyou. Greetings, Owner."

Jiang Ding couldn't discern anything special about him and nodded.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. Thank you, Brother Huang."

Huang Gui bowed and retreated.

"Manager Huang used to deal with medicinal herbs, which is quite relevant..."

Jiang Ding pondered for a moment and stated his requirements: "I want to acquire some plants. I need a sample of every type of plant, with complete roots, stems, and leaves. That's the general idea."

He took out a specimen board of a grass family plant he had prepared yesterday and handed it over.

"Can it be done like this?"

Huang Deyou took the specimen board, feeling confused, but didn't ask further. After carefully examining it for a long time, he said, "Owner, it can be done. The herb-gathering apprentices at the Four Seas Merchant Guild can do this easily. Ordinary people can do it too, but they would need more instruction."

"If we were to acquire one such specimen, what would be a reasonable price?"

Huang Deyou pondered for a long time. "Owner, for a specimen like this, a skilled herb collector could dig and prepare over ten in half an hour. Finding them takes time, and we wouldn't be repeatedly purchasing them... In the initial stage, two pieces for one wen would be fine."

Jiang Ding was astonished. "Two pieces for one wen? Isn't that too little?"

"It's not little, Owner," Huang Deyou said seriously. "A liter of rice is only twenty-one to twenty-two wen. You can earn two liters of rice by working five to six hours a day! We're not collecting rare herbs from deep in the mountains; even common roadside weeds can be used."

"Let's make it one wen per piece."

Jiang Ding sighed and casually took out the remaining seventeen taels and a bit of silver from his pouch, handing it to him. "Start collecting from now. I need them tomorrow. Also, please arrange for the shop's facade and interior."

Huang Deyou's heart skipped a beat when he touched the silver.

This was the first meeting, and they weren't even familiar yet, yet such a large sum of money was placed in his hands.

"It's only a small amount."

Jiang Ding said calmly, "Every specimen must be complete, with no damage to the roots, stems, or leaves. Do you understand?"

Huang Deyou's expression turned serious. "Rest assured, master. My eyes have been examining medicinal herbs for so many years; there won't be the slightest mistake!"

"Mm."

Jiang Ding stopped speaking and lightly stroked his sword hilt, lost in thought.

Huang Deyou bowed slightly and went to direct the others to get to work.