Looking at the twenty-two silver ingots laid out on the table, An Ye's family was beside themselves with joy.
The silver was clearly of excellent purity, its appearance and quality every bit as good as the finest Official Silver.
An Ye's son took their household scale and began weighing the ingots. He found that they weighed exactly 1,100 taels, not a fraction more or less.
After putting away the money, An Ye's family looked at Lin Ze with even greater warmth.
A sincere deal—truly a young hero from a renowned family!
This time, their An Family had met a benefactor.
"Go kill the two old hens and get them stewing."
An Ye gave the order.
Before, he had only invited Lin Ze over under the pretext of sharing a meal. Now, he truly meant to spare no expense in treating him to something good.
Although Lin Ze had no intention of staying for a meal, he didn't stop An Ye's family from killing the chickens.
They'd just made a fortune. Couldn't they have a nice meal to celebrate?
"Now that you've come into this money, Elder, how do you plan to spend it?"
Lin Ze asked with a smile.
The ginseng deal had been an unexpected interlude. What came next was the real purpose of Lin Ze's visit.
And with that successful deal as a prelude, the conversation he wanted to have now would surely go more smoothly.
"I plan to put up some money to establish a private school in the village, then buy some farmland as family property to support the children's studies. Perhaps one of my descendants will prove a promising scholar someday."
An Ye described his simple, unpretentious plan. In ancient society, this was the most conventional path for a family to advance and secure its future.
It wasn't that An Ye hadn't considered repairing the family home or improving their living conditions. But though 1,100 taels of silver seemed like a lot, there was no such thing as spending too much on educating future generations.
After all, supporting a scholar who did no productive work was no simple matter.
So it was better to spend carefully.
Lin Ze followed his train of thought. "It's wise of you to consider the future of your family's descendants, Elder."
"But studying costs money: books, ink, paper, and inkstones all have to be bought, and a tutor has to be hired. There are also expenses for socializing with fellow students and even traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations—not to mention food, drink, and all the necessities of life. And it might take several generations of study before anyone achieves anything. When you think about it that way, 1,100 taels of silver won't go very far."
"You still need to find a steady source of income."
An Ye looked at Lin Ze with approval. He hadn't expected the young man to see things so clearly.
He agreed. "That's true. My An Family has made its living hunting and farming around Cloud Mist Mountain for generations. It may take several generations of hard work before we produce a scholar, so we'll have to be careful with this money."
At that, Lin Ze changed the subject and said with a smile, "I have a business venture in mind that could help the An Family prosper. I'd like to work with you, Elder. What do you think?"
An Ye's eyes lit up. "Really?"
It felt as if a pillow had appeared just as he was getting sleepy.
He had only just been thinking that his family needed more income to support the younger generation's education, and now an opportunity had appeared right before him.
Lin Ze nodded firmly and said, "The Matsutake I brought back last time were a hit with many of my elders at home. They told me to buy more, since they can be eaten all year round. But going from street to street to buy them myself is far too inefficient, so I'd like to ask you to help."
"You can spread the word in the villages within a ten-li radius: anyone who gathers Matsutake can dry them into slices and bring them to you to sell."
"I usually pay eight wen per jin for Matsutake. You can buy them from the villagers for eight wen per jin, then sell them to me for ten."
"If you buy five thousand jin of Matsutake, you'll earn ten thousand wen. If you buy a hundred thousand jin, you'll earn two hundred thousand wen. Keep it up, and you'll surely build a fortune. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one day the whole clan could be made up of scholars."
"Besides Matsutake, you can also help me buy other rare medicinal herbs, such as old ginseng that's been growing for many years. I'll pay you a referral fee for those."
"You can also get goods from me and earn a profit selling rock sugar."
This was the distribution network Lin Ze had been talking about.
The distributors would help Lin Ze gather Matsutake, saving him time.
In return, Lin Ze would give them a share of the benefits. It was a win-win arrangement.
As long as they worked well together, Lin Ze could make a profit much faster.
And even if the partnership failed, Lin Ze would lose very little. With force on his side, he could flip the table whenever he pleased. At worst, he could just find another group of people.
An Ye listened to Lin Ze's proposal and considered it carefully.
The source of income Lin Ze described was simple and clear; there was nothing complicated or hard to understand about it.
And he had some standing around Clear River Township, so buying Matsutake shouldn't pose much of a problem.
The only thing he had to worry about was whether Lin Ze might suddenly stop buying Matsutake one day. If he was left with a pile of unsold goods, he'd lose money.
But then he thought of the ginseng deal he had just made with Lin Ze, worth a hefty 1,100 taels of silver.
Lin Ze's willingness to pay such a high price clearly showed that he had the money and could be trusted.
Given how wealthy Lin Ze seemed, he wouldn't cheat him out of a few measly coins, so there was no need to suspect him.
After thinking it over, An Ye said, "I've considered it carefully and believe this can work. Then I'll take Zi Yi up on his offer and seek blessings for the generations of the An Family to come."
Lin Ze smiled. "In that case, here's a deposit. I'll head back today. I'll leave the rest to you, Elder. I'll come by every few days to take the Matsutake you've gathered back with me."
When An Ye agreed, Lin Ze acted promptly.
He wrote up a new contract, setting out the terms of their partnership.
"On the eighth day of the seventh month, An Tai Year 3, Lin Ze, also known as Lin Zi Yi, and An Ye, a resident of Two Rivers Village, agreed on the purchase of Matsutake. An Ye will buy Matsutake from others for eight wen per jin, and Lin Ze will buy it from An Ye for ten wen per jin on an ongoing basis. To establish a long-term partnership, Lin Ze has paid a deposit of fifty taels of silver."
He wrote two copies of the contract, then each of them signed and pressed a fingerprint onto both.
Afterward, Lin Ze took out a fifty-tael silver ingot and handed it to An Ye.
From then on, An Ye would gather Matsutake for Lin Ze from the surrounding villages, or even from places farther afield.
All Lin Ze had to do was haul the Matsutake from An Ye's home back to the Main World.
With the partnership settled, Lin Ze refused An Ye's repeated invitations to stay for lunch.
"My elders at home are waiting to eat these Matsutake, so I can't stay long. I'll come back for a meal another time."
Lin Ze spoke with a smile.
Then he rose to take his leave. He left some of the Matsutake he'd collected that day at An Ye's home and started back with six hundred jin of Matsutake.
"Next time I come, I should get a vehicle with a bigger load capacity."
"Driving a car into this ancient Other World would look a bit strange, but there's nothing wrong with getting a bigger cart—an ox cart or a horse-drawn carriage, for instance."
Lin Ze thought it over on the way back.
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