Popularity could actually strengthen his cultivation. It seemed this, too, was a path of cultivation.
"Li Quan, take them back to camp. There's plenty of grain in the tent behind mine, and cured meat too. Let them eat their fill.
Zhang Kui and I have business to attend to. Everything else can wait until we get back.
And Dongwen, pick a few people to come with me," Tang Wen instructed.
So Li Quan led the group straight toward Su Mei Island.
At around ten, the party finally arrived in Yanling Commandery.
Tang Wen first took Zhan Dongwen and the others into a small restaurant and ordered three dishes and a soup.
There was a plate of meat among them, along with a bucket of rice. They ate until their bellies were round, then left the restaurant belching.
Afterward, Tang Wen went straight to the Zhang Family Bank and exchanged 1,200 taels of silver ingots for 120 taels of gold ingots.
"Dongwen, I'll give you 500 taels of silver. Take them to buy some robes.
Use the rest to buy horses, mules, and flatbed carts.
Once you're done, we'll meet at the crossroads and head back together." Tang Wen handed the silver to Zhan Dongwen.
"Don't worry, my lord. I'll get it done." Zhan Dongwen was momentarily taken aback, but quickly nodded, accepted the silver, and led the others away.
"My lord, aren't you afraid they'll run off with the silver?" Zhang Kui asked anxiously after Zhan Dongwen left.
"I am!" Tang Wen nodded.
"Then why give it to him? Why don't I go keep an eye on them?" Zhang Kui said.
"Their families are still with us. What's there to fear?
Besides, I wanted to test him.
If Zhan Dongwen would abandon even his parents and younger siblings, I'll consider it the price of a lesson." Tang Wen smiled.
"That's an awfully expensive lesson. That's 500 taels," Zhang Kui muttered.
"Five hundred taels to see a man's true colors? Worth it!" Tang Wen looked unconcerned, while Zhang Kui wore a worried expression.
Tang Wen turned and headed to the Floating Fragrance House, the finest brothel in Yanling Commandery, where he shelled out twenty taels of silver to request its star courtesan, Li Chun'er.
"Chun'er greets the baron." This time, Tang Wen had deliberately worn the nobleman's cap issued by the royal family.
These caps were made to a standard design by the royal craftsmen. Anyone without a noble title was forbidden to wear one.
The caps also differed by rank, making the wearer's status clear at a glance. They were a symbol of noble standing in the Chu Kingdom.
"My main purpose in coming today was to ask a favor of you, Miss Chun'er." Tang Wen nodded and sat down.
"Please, my lord, tell me," Li Chun'er said politely.
"I brought back a batch of Western novelties. These are mirrors, lipstick, and perfume. Have a look." Tang Wen took them out of his bag.
Li Chun'er was dazzled by the array. Amazed, she said, "My lord, when I look into this mirror, it's as though my whole self has stepped inside it.
And this perfume gives off a scent with just one spray. It smells wonderful.
The lipstick is lovely too. One swipe turns my lips red, all glossy and beautiful."
"One mirror costs a tael of gold. The lipstick and perfume cost half a tael of gold each.
You have plenty of sisters here and know plenty of people. For every item you sell, I'll give you half a tael of silver as commission.
I'll leave a batch with you first. Once you've sold them all, send someone with a letter to Paradise Island.
Then I'll arrange for someone to collect the payment. If you need more stock, we can discuss it then," Tang Wen said.
"I don't want a commission. Just give me mirrors and lipstick in place of the money. I have lots of relatives, and I'd like to give them gifts," Li Chun'er said, shaking her head.
"That works too. I'll calculate them at a ten percent discount for you." Tang Wen nodded, had Li Chun'er draw up an agreement, then turned and left.
He wasn't afraid of Li Chun'er pocketing his goods. After all, what commoner would dare swindle a nobleman out of his belongings? Not unless she no longer wanted her head.
By the time he finished, it was nearly one in the afternoon. Tang Wen went to a martial arts hall and bought a few Marrow-Washing Pills, twenty Foundation-Nourishing Pills, and a set of martial techniques.
He still owed Luo Jun in Yunhai City several hundred thousand, after all. That was the money Luo Jun had paid to preorder medicine.
It was almost two by the time they finished their errands, and the two hurried straight to the crossroads.
"My lord, look! They're waiting for us over there!" Zhang Kui spotted Zhan Dongwen's group from afar and pointed excitedly.
"Mm. Zhan Dongwen passed the first test." Tang Wen smiled.
"My lord, these past two years, it's been either drought or floods. The fields in several neighboring provinces haven't yielded a single grain.
Where would people find coarse grain to feed livestock? That's why livestock prices keep rising.
An ordinary horse used to cost thirty taels. Now it's forty.
Mules are much the same, and even flatbed carts have gone up by several taels.
Of the five hundred taels, seven went toward clothes for them..." Zhan Dongwen took out a sheet of paper and offered it to him. It contained a detailed record of the prices and quantities of everything purchased.
"No need, Dongwen. I trust you! It's getting late. Let's head out." Tang Wen waved him off without even taking the paper, and the group set off.
Zhan Dongwen was taken aback and couldn't help stealing glances at Tang Wen.
Tang Wen knew Zhan Dongwen was sneaking looks at him, but pretended not to notice and kept walking.
Since you dared write it all down, would you really dare pocket my silver?
To win his subordinates' hearts, he had to make them feel the full extent of their master's trust.
Only then would they follow him with unwavering devotion.
In his previous life, Tang Wen had been the director of a provincial hospital, so naturally he understood the art of managing people.
The evening glow spread across the sky and shone upon Su Mei Island. From a distance, it truly looked as though the sunset clouds had descended onto the island, a magnificent, enchanting sight.
Tang Wen's party returned to Su Mei Island as well, only to find everything cold and quiet outside the tents.
"Why hasn't anyone lit a fire to cook yet?" Tang Wen asked.
"The old madam said everyone ate their fill at lunch, so there was no need for dinner," Li Quan said, coming over.
"My lord, with so many more mouths now, we should save what we can," the old family servant Jiang Er said as he approached.
"My lord, when we were fleeing the disaster, we couldn't even get one full meal a day. Today, we finally got to eat meat. Let's leave it at that tonight. There's work to do tomorrow," Zhan Dongwen said.
"Who says so? Li Quan, Zhang Kui, go bring the grain and iron pots out of the storehouse. We'll light the fires and cook right now. Bring out a hundred jin of cured meat too. Today, everyone will eat to their heart's content," Tang Wen said.
"Wen'er, in a famine year, we can't feast like this. We have to think of the future," his mother, Liu Qingmei, said as she came out.
"Mother! Don't worry. Your son will take care of everything.
Starting today, I'm going to let you enjoy a life of comfort.
If everyone follows me, I can't let them go hungry or cold," Tang Wen said firmly.
"You child, all of this costs silver. You've never managed a household before, so you don't know how dear firewood and rice are. You know how little our family has left..." Liu Qingmei said with a frown.
"Mother, let me help you back inside to rest. The rest of you, set up the pots and light the fires!" After giving his instructions, Tang Wen helped Liu Qingmei into the tent, opened his bag, and said, "Mother, look."
"Where did you get so much gold?" Liu Qingmei was startled.
"I earned it selling calligraphy and paintings when I was studying at Ridge-Sea Academy. So, Mother, you don't need to worry anymore. This isn't all I have, either," Tang Wen said.
"Ah... why didn't you bring it out sooner? Then we wouldn't have had to sell our ancestral home." Liu Qingmei sighed, her eyes reddening.
"I only received it today. An instructor at the academy forwarded it from the provincial capital," Tang Wen lied.
"Ah... Wen'er, you've really grown up. You can earn money now. Good, good. I can finally rest easy.
Still, you must spend it sparingly.
We don't have a house yet. We need to save enough to build a residence.
And you don't even have a wife. In the future..." Liu Qingmei began to cry.
"We'll have all of that in time, Mother. Just wait and enjoy your blessings."
When he left the tent, he found several large iron pots already propped up on stones out front, with logs as thick as a child's arm blazing beneath them.
Zhan Dongwen's mother, Li Lanyue, was leading a group of women as they bustled about. Heaps of vegetables and meat had been chopped on a door plank, and the children standing nearby were drooling.
Half an hour later, Li Quan shouted at the top of his lungs, "Time to eat! Time to eat!"
"Everyone, let the elderly, women, and children get their food first. We're grown men, so we'll all line up at the back," Tang Wen directed.
"Line up, line up." Zhan Dongwen got everyone into an orderly queue.
Zhan Junru and her mother, Li Lanyue, were in charge of serving, first filling the large bowls with rice, then adding the dishes on top.
There were no tables, of course. Everyone squatted on the ground with a large bowl in hand, smacking their lips as they ate with gusto.
In truth, there was only a basin of potatoes stir-fried with cured meat, a basin of dried bamboo shoots, and a basin of tomato and egg soup.
After all, there was no cold storage here, and fresh vegetables and meat spoiled easily.
So most of what Tang Wen had bought in Yunhai City consisted of dried vegetables, dried meat, and other foods that would keep for a long time.
But to these disaster refugees, who hadn't eaten their fill in ages, it was no different from dining at a five-star hotel.
Tang Wen ate with his mother inside the tent, where they did, of course, have a small table made from wooden planks.
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