Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Since Ye Changyan said so, Mr. Cai did not try to stop him.

At the beginning, Qingxuzi asked Xingwang to follow him down the mountain to gain experience, so Ye Changyan called Xingwang to go along as well. The few of them said hello to everyone and went out.

Liang Jingcheng got on Xiao Jingxing's carriage, while Ye Changyan took Xing Wang and got on the Cai family's carriage with Zhong Yunfeng. Lu Tingfeng was responsible for driving.

On the way, Zhong Yunfeng mentioned to Ye Changyan that when he was at the Ye family and negotiated with Qiu Zhenkui, the big shopkeeper of Lihua Lane, he promised to supply Wei Haojia exclusively to Qiu Zhenkui in Shengjing.

"When I first arrived in Shengjing, I heard that Lihua Lane sold Weihaojia candy for two or three taels of silver per bag. I thought the price was a bit too outrageous at the time, but even at that price, people were still rushing to buy it. People without any connections or background might not be able to buy it even if they had money."

"It seems that I underestimated the wealthy people in Shengjing. There are many dignitaries here. For them, spending two or three taels to buy a bag of delicious candy may be a common thing. But in this way, the candy we worked hard to make, and the majority of the money we earned was taken away by Lihua Lane. We can't sell it to other merchants. I get angry when I think about this. Why did I agree to be the exclusive supplier in the first place?"

"Behind Lihua Lane stands the Qiu family, a powerful family in Shengjing. We cannot afford to offend them easily, but there are loopholes in the contract you signed with Qiu Zhenkui."

Ye Changyan showed a playful smile, but Zhong Yunfeng looked at Ye Changyan with excitement.

"First, your contract only states that you will supply him exclusively in Shengjing. There was no agreement on the quantity to be supplied each time or each month. You can learn from Fu Yuzhen and buy the goods from Lihua Lane."

Zhong Yunfeng nodded thoughtfully.

"Secondly, you can find merchants from the provinces surrounding Shengjing, reduce the supply to Lihua Lane, and increase the supply to merchants from the provinces surrounding Shengjing. If the wealthy people in Shengjing really want to buy, they can send a buyer to the surrounding provinces, and maybe they will find that it's cheaper here."

When Zhong Yunfeng heard this, the corners of his mouth unconsciously raised.

"But I just said, don't offend Lihua Lane easily. When you finish your work in the next two days, you can go to Lihua Lane and talk to Qiu Zhenkui about the current tight supply of goods and test his reaction. If he wants you to guarantee his supply, you can complain for a while and then propose your conditions."

"That's fine. After I'm done with my work for the next two days, I'll go visit Qiu Zhenkui."

Then Ye Changyan lowered his voice and spoke to Zhong Yunfeng.

"Shengjing City is different from Yuzhou Prefecture and Yizhou Prefecture. The power and interests here are intertwined. If we, a country bumpkin with no foundation, come here and want to gain a foothold, we must follow the rules here."

Zhong Yunfeng heard Ye Changyan deliberately lower his voice, but the words that came out of his mouth made Zhong Yunfeng's originally restless mood suddenly feel like a bucket of cold water was poured on him in the hot summer.

Seeing that Zhong Yunfeng's expression suddenly became calm, Ye Changyan smiled.

"There is a good opportunity right now. The Xiao family is a prestigious military family in Shengjing. Just now, I heard Jing Cheng say that Xiao Jingxing's in-laws are the Duke of Liang. If we can get Xiao Jingxing to invest, it would be like finding a backer for ourselves."

Zhong Yunfeng's expression changed from gloomy to bright in an instant, just like turning over a book.

"But we also have to have our own principles and bottom line. We can't just try to curry favor with the rich and powerful. The ideal situation is that the other party only takes shares and is just a figurehead. The core matters should still be in our own hands."

Ye Changyan's words made Zhong Yunfeng feel that Ye Changyan was not like a scholar at all, but an old shopkeeper who had been immersed in the business world for many years.

"If that's the case, we can accept Xiao Jingxing's shop if its conditions are a little worse. The most important thing right now is to find a place to stay in Shengjing first."

Zhong Yunfeng was quite quick-witted and his mind suddenly changed, but he saw Ye Changyan smiling at him.

"Don't worry, the place that Xiao Jingxing took the initiative to propose shouldn't be too bad. Besides, this is the dowry that Duke Liang gave to his daughter. No matter what, it can't be too shabby."

The two looked at each other and smiled with a hint of playfulness, but Xing Wang, who was standing aside, had no idea what the two were talking about. Seeing that both of them were smiling, he also tried to raise the corners of his mouth stiffly.

Ye Changyan found Xing Wang's actions a little funny, but he tried his best to hold back and reached out to pat Xing Wang on the shoulder.

"Xingwang, I know you may not understand our conversation very well, but it doesn't matter if you don't understand. Follow me in the future, you can listen more, watch more, and ask me more questions when there are no outsiders around. Over time, you will gradually understand."

Xing Wang smiled sincerely this time and nodded. When going down the mountain, his master just asked him to learn more from his uncle, but didn't tell him how to learn. He thought it was like practicing martial arts, and he should do whatever his master did.

But what his uncle-master said just now cleared up the doubts in his heart. It turned out that what his uncle-master meant by learning was to listen more, watch more, and ask in private if he didn't understand.

After leaving Cai's house, the carriage drove all the way towards the Imperial College. Zhong Yunfeng lifted the curtain and looked outside.

"This Shengjing City is indeed worthy of its reputation. Our carriage has been traveling for such a long time, but we haven't arrived yet."

"It should be soon."

As he was speaking, the voice of Lu Tingfeng, the driver, was heard.

"Go through Shunping Street in front of you and then go through another alley and you will arrive."

Zhong Yunfeng was startled by Lu Tingfeng's sudden words. He looked at Ye Changyan with some concern.

Ye Changyan nodded at him, indicating that what he had just said was trustworthy to Lu Tingfeng.

Soon, the carriage stopped at the second intersection in front of the Imperial College.

When Ye Changyan and others got off the carriage, they saw Xiao Jingxing pointing to a spacious shop next to them and speaking to them.

“This is the shop.”

Xiao Jingxing ordered his followers to open the door and invited everyone to go in and check.

Just as Ye Changyan said, this shop was not only not shabby, but was even better than Zhong Yunfeng had expected.

"How about it?"

After checking, Xiao Jingxing saw that Zhong Yunfeng was smiling all the time, so he started asking.

"Brother Xiao, this shop is really great. It's quite suitable in every aspect. But I have a small request."

"But it doesn't matter."

"If the cloth shop next door ever gives up its lease, Brother Xiao, you must tell me. Then I will rent it as well and combine the two shops into a restaurant. That will be even more perfect."