Chapter 15 (1/2)

Before daybreak, the workers on the dock already began singing a chant, through which, one could sense their spiritual enthusiasm and physical fatigue. The unison was repeated again and again with a thick Jiaxing accent. Since Huang Xuan couldn't sleep, he touched his face and got up.

Jiang Yisheng had been awake for some time and was chatting with the shop a.s.sistants outside the door. Huang Xuan looked at them with the least care and started to brush his teeth and wash his face. The shopkeeper Zhu had arrived early by carriage. Although it was the 16th year of the Republic of China, cars were rare, so it was impossible for a small shop like Zhu's to afford one. He couldn't spare energy to consider such an unrealistic issue yet.

The grain price increased by 10% this morning, which was what shopkeeper Zhu cared about. All the rice shops were on the verge of running out of grains. It had been said that the government was about to launch measures to limit price. He had come here to seek the biggest profit.

Having drinking his fill of water, Huang Xuan stepped out of the porter's room with a stretch. Seeing shopkeeper Zhu get off the carriage, he said to him, ”You are very early, Mr. Zhu. Some grains have been transported here by my family. Shall we go and have a look?

”Which trade is your family in, Mr. Huang?” Mr. Zhu folded his hands in front to show respect. The two a.s.sistants behind him were confounded. They had been in front of the warehouse since before daybreak, waiting for the arrival of the s.h.i.+p. However, one hundred dans of grains had been moved to the warehouse without their knowledge, without porters or sampans. Not even one grain had been left on the ground in front of the warehouse. They looked at each other, followed their boss with their heads lowered and hid their confusion inside.

Huang Xuan walked in front, swinging his arms, with an expression of carelessness on his face, like a son of a wealthy family traveling around, which in modern film art was called ”portraying himself”.

Shopkeeper Zhu was modestly half step behind. Holding his gown, after two steps he suddenly asked, ”I wonder how much wheat has been transported?”

It seemed that this shopkeeper preferred the words ”I wonder” which he had used a lot. However, Huang Xuan didn't answer his question because it was totally up to Rolin. He pointed to the warehouse and said, ”Let's go have a look first.”

Seeing Huang Xuan answer his question so casually, the shopkeeper thought that this was another young man from a rich family who was going to pay for a lesson. Thinking this, he had a plan.

Modern seed grains were all fine varieties grown in greenhouses, plump and smooth, five times more expensive than their offsprings. The a.s.sistants were amazed, thinking that this wheat was better than the rice stocked in the warehouse.

Shopkeeper Zhu was experienced and knowledgeable. Although wheat wasn't grown in Jiangxing, he knew at first sight that these seed grains were much more expensive than the ordinary ones. As for where they had come from, he wasn't interested in investigating; that was the boss's business.

”What's the price?” Shopkeeper Zhu asked anxiously but remained calm on the surface.

”70% of the market price.” Huang Xuan spread one finger and said, ”I will give you one day to prepare the money. I only accept silver.”

At the time, legal tender reform hadn't been conducted yet, but for various reasons, merchants preferred hard currency like silver dollars. However, to raise one thousand dollars within one day seemed too difficult. Shopkeeper Zhu didn't agree immediately, he didn't have that kind of money. However, a profit of 30% was too tempting. Furthermore, the price would rocket in the future.

Huang Xuan didn't get shopkeeper Zhu's dilemma, he just wanted to sell the grains quickly. Before the shopkeeper had replied, he said, ”Mr. Zhu, please lend me two warehouses. Can I pay the rent altogether?”

”No problem,” he readily agreed. A lot of grains had been sold within these two months, yet little bought in. Hence, the warehouses had been empty. Looking first at Huang Xuan, then the grains, he clenched his teeth and said, ”About the warehouse, you can go to one of my a.s.sistants, Little Six. How about my delivering the money tonight?”

”I will wait for you,” Huang Xuan shrugged his shoulders and said casually. Shopkeeper Zhu a.s.signed three a.s.sistants on the dock.

Just like in Huang Xuan's time, the upstream controlled the downstream, the downstream coerced the upstream. It all depended on who was on the favorable side of the market. Presently, the market was short of grains, so the news of shopkeeper Zhu getting a great deal of grains traveled fast like a duck with four wings. Before noon, a group of people from other shops had been wandering on the dock to check it out. Huang Xuan pretended not to see anything and stayed in the warehouse to watch the a.s.sistants make an inventory of, and weigh the wheat.

Rolin had transported about 15 tons of wheat without packaging. He had used a simpler way to cover time tracks. According to the current calculating method, there were about 250 dans, more if calculated by minor dan1. Actually, the British measuring method was being used by this time in Shanghai, but in Ganpu the a.s.sistants were used to the old way.

Huang Xuan was clear inside about the account, so he wasn't worried about anything fishy. He asked Jiang Yisheng to watch the a.s.sistants' work and walked out the warehouse. He was impatient with trivia and wanted to observe this time which was at a turning point, hoping for a surprise fortune.

If there was enough time, the information had provided by Rolin could bring him hundreds or thousands of times more profit, but because of either Huang Xuan's authority or the capability of the base, Rolin had only agreed to three days. Looking at the materials given by Rolin, he had mixed feelings. The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were full of inspirations, in which the technology had progressed, the economic crisis had pa.s.sed, and the World War had been over. People had an urge to express their feelings, the outcomes of which had made numerous collectors obsessed.

However, too much information had overwhelmed people. Many of them hadn't been valued in their lifetime. Van Gogh had sold only one painting when he was alive ”The Red Vineyard”, which was reputed to have been bought for the sake of his brother. When he had known his painting had been sold at 400 French francs, he said excitedly to his brother, ”Do you believe that my painting will be sold at 500 French francs after I die?” However, unexpectedly, at the 100th anniversary of his death, his painting ”The Vase with 14 Sunflowers” had been sold at 48 million dollars, the highest price of western paintings in history.