Bet Placed, Hands Off

"Spot goods refer to items that can be handed over on the spot, while futures are those that can only be handed over on a specified date. Manager Qian, didn't you say you needed to arrange the stock and could only hand it over in ten days?" Wang Shouzhe casually imparted this bit of knowledge to him.

"That makes sense. Now that Brother Shouzhe puts it that way, I understand the difference." Manager Qian's spirits lifted. His eyes darted around, and he whispered, "Brother Shouzhe, these five thousand bags of Pest-Exterminating Powder surely aren't something you had on hand. Could it be that you've found a new business opportunity?"

"Hehe, since Brother Qian calls it a new business opportunity, then so it is." Wang Shouzhe smiled as he picked up his tea to take a sip. "I am helping your firm clear out inventory, and I am obtaining a modest profit from it; it is a win-win situation. Brother Qian, give me an honest price."

"Hahaha, a win-win situation—Brother Shouzhe's words are truly interesting. In that case, I won't pry. Since that is the case, I will give you a ten percent discount on these five thousand bags of Pest-Exterminating Powder, totaling four thousand five hundred Qian Gold."

"Four thousand!"

"Four thousand two hundred is the lowest, Brother."

"Four thousand two hundred it is, but I must use the credit of the Ping'an Wang Clan to pay for this shipment." Wang Shouzhe said calmly, "In one month, I will deliver the four thousand two hundred Qian Gold without a single coin missing."

Manager Qian was slightly stunned, but he immediately laughed: "This is feasible, but we must draw up a contract. If you cannot pay the funds when the time comes, our firm has the right to use any means to pursue the debt."

No matter how fallen the Wang Clan was, it was still a Profound Martial Aristocratic Clan and possessed some foundations. Selling the Fenggu Farm alone would fetch at least ten thousand Qian Gold. As long as there was a contract, the powerful Qian Clan Trading Firm had plenty of ways to recover this debt.

"Even if Brother Qian didn't mention a contract, I would have drafted one." Wang Shouzhe said with a serious expression, "I am already contacting merchant ships. In three days, I will send people to your firm's warehouse to move two thousand bags of Pest-Exterminating Powder, and the second batch will follow in ten days. If your firm breaches the contract by refusing to deliver the goods or failing to produce them, you must pay our side a penalty of three times the value of the goods."

"Brother, please rest assured. Reputation is the foundation upon which our Qian Clan Trading Firm has stood for hundreds of years." Manager Qian said with a very solemn expression, "No matter what, we will deliver the goods on time and in full quantity."

"I trust your firm's reputation, but for our small Ping'an Wang Clan, this deal is of great importance." Wang Shouzhe also said with a serious face, "With it written in black and white, I can feel at ease."

"Since that is the case, then let us write it down." Manager Qian did not think for a moment that his side had any reason to breach the contract, and besides, it was only a transaction of a few thousand Qian Gold, which was nothing to the entire Qian Clan.

The two spent a full hour, and under Wang Shouzhe's nitpicking attitude, every clause of the contract was clearly implemented.

When both sides had affixed their signatures and seals and received the contract, Manager Qian was already covered in sweat. He wiped his brow and gave a wry smile: "I have been in business for twenty years, and this is the first time I have seen such detailed contract terms and precise wording. But then again, such detailed terms avoid unnecessary disputes in the future. It has been an eye-opener for me, and I have learned much."

Hehe~

Wang Shouzhe only smiled. What was this? On Earth, some complex commercial contracts were a hundred times more intricate than this crude agreement; laymen would find them as incomprehensible as heavenly books.

Having finally obtained the contract, a heavy stone in Wang Shouzhe's heart fell to the ground.

Although, based on his understanding of the Qian Clan Trading Firm, they would not tarnish their reputation even if the contract were not so detailed. The reputation accumulated over hundreds of years was the most valuable asset a trading firm possessed.

As for sending experts to exterminate his clan over this small amount of money, that was even more impossible.

Although his own Ancestor Longyan did not have much time left, she was, after all, a veteran Spirit Platform ancestor who had come out of the Purple Mansion Academy, and no one knew what trump cards she held. Once she disregarded her life to unleash a burst of power, it was highly likely she could take a Spirit Platform Realm expert down with her.

It was the weighing of these various factors that led to Wang Shouzhe's decision to take this risk. There was no other way; the Wang Clan was too poor, so poor that they had to calculate every single "Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pill." If things continued this way, they would only fall into a vicious cycle.

The only person he felt sorry for was this Manager Qian.

He was already middle-aged and only a small manager at a branch in a remote area; clearly, he did not have a high status within the deep-rooted Qian Clan. For this loss-making operation, the branch manager would very likely make him shoulder the responsibility.

"Brother Qian, this has been a pleasant cooperation." Wang Shouzhe stood up to take his leave, then whispered, "If nothing goes wrong, in the near future, I will send you a great merit."

Manager Qian was stunned, then immediately laughed: "I accept your auspicious words, Brother. Let me see you out." Amidst their laughter, Manager Qian escorted Wang Shouzhe directly out of the main gate.

After leaving the Qian Clan Trading Firm, Wang Shouzhe's mood became incredibly pleasant. Three days—in just three days, he would be able to significantly alleviate the Wang Clan's financial crisis.

"Clan Head."

The two family guards who had been waiting outside the door led the horses over and greeted him respectfully.

"Wang Zhong, Wang Yong." Wang Shouzhe smiled, "I haven't been out in a long time. Accompany me for a stroll around the Guard City."

"Yes, Clan Head." Both family guards replied respectfully, leading their horses as they accompanied Wang Shouzhe on a leisurely walk through the Guard City.

When Ancestor Zhouxuan was alive, the Wang Clan had forty-seven family guards at its peak, the strongest of whom had reached the ninth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

But the Wang Clan of today had only nine family guards, and the strongest among them was only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Family guards were different from domestic servants; they were no longer of slave status, but of vassal status, yet they were also different from the contract-hired outsiders known as guest retainers.

The vast majority of family guards were trusted confidants raised within the clan. They held high status and received good treatment within the clan, yet they did not have the freedom to come and go as they pleased; they were born family guards and would die as family guards.

Their fate, life, and death were firmly tied to the main family—they prospered together and suffered together. It was precisely because of this that some families often arranged for collateral or illegitimate children to marry outstanding family guards. This served to bind them more tightly and, secondly, to improve the family's bloodline.

The nine family guards of the current Wang Clan were all descendants of those personally raised by Ancestor Zhouxuan, and their loyalty was extremely high.

"Wang Zhong, I recall your youngest son is already seven or eight years old, right?" Wang Shouzhe asked casually, "Has his Profound Martial aptitude been graded?"

Wang Zhong hurriedly took two steps to catch up and replied, "Thanks to the Clan Head's concern for my son, the boy participated in this year's spring aptitude test. The result was Grade C of the Lower Tier. He has now entered the clan school for enlightenment and has begun the stage of nourishing his meridians."

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile; he was clearly very satisfied with his son's aptitude.

Profound Martial aptitude was first divided into graded and ungraded; whether one could be graded was extremely important, as it represented whether one had the potential to be cultivated. Among the Lower Tier aptitude, it was further divided into Grades A, B, C, and D. Being rated as Grade C of the Lower Tier was already considered the second tier, worthy of the family spending great effort to cultivate.

"Truly, a tiger father has no dog for a son." Wang Shouzhe praised, "Teach him well; he may surpass you in the future."

"Many thanks for the Clan Head's auspicious words." Wang Zhong smiled until the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes bunched up. He was thirty-six years old and had two sons, both of whom had graded Profound Martial aptitudes. His eldest son was already fifteen; in another year, he would be considered an adult and could become a family guard to serve the clan. His youngest son had even reached the Grade C Lower Tier, entering the key cultivation sequence.

In contrast, the expression of the other family guard, Wang Yong, was somewhat awkward. He was about the same age as Wang Zhong and had married a woman from a collateral branch of the Wang Clan, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

His son's Profound Martial aptitude test was ungraded, so he could only study literature and was currently seventeen, working at the silkworm farm. His daughter was only six and had not yet been tested for Profound Martial aptitude. But even if she were found to have aptitude, she was, after all, just a girl.

"Wang Yong, you must seize the last few years of opportunity. Work hard with your wife and strive to have another one." Wang Zhong teased with a laugh, "Perhaps your luck will turn, and you'll have a boy with Grade B Lower Tier aptitude."

"Go, go, go!" Wang Yong waved his hand impatiently; he became unhappy whenever this topic was mentioned.

The three of them strolled through Changning Guard City, and Wang Shouzhe's memories of Changning City gradually became clearer. The city had a permanent population of about 150,000 to 160,000. It was home to several old Profound Martial clans, among which the one with a relatively close relationship to the Ping'an Wang Clan was the Changning Xu Clan.

But they were only relatively close; the gap in their scale had grown larger and larger, and they were no longer on the same level, so Wang Shouzhe had no intention of visiting the head of the Xu Clan.

In addition to operating traditional farms, the Changning Xu Clan's unique special industries were mainly concentrated in silk and cloth workshops.

All the raw cotton, hemp, and cocoons grown and produced in the entire Changning Guard region were supplied to the workshops of the Changning Xu Clan. They produced cloth and silk, which were sold throughout the entire prefecture, earning them a fortune.

At the same time, one of the pillar industries of the Ping'an Wang Clan—the Xinmao Silkworm Farm—supplied its raw cocoons to the Changning Xu Clan.