Chapter 377: Reward, I want your everything (1/2)
Chapter 377: Reward, I want your everything
“Miss Helian, then 60,000 taels. 60,000 taels is already our limit,” Manager Qian said helplessly.
Han Yunxi got straight to the point. “50,000 taels. If you won’t sell, then forget about it!”
50,000 taels… Of all the offers to give us! Master Lin and Manager Qian both felt powerless against the onslaught. Just where did this woman get the insight to gauge their lowest limit with a single offer?! Even if they didn’t want to, they’d have to sell it at 50,000 taels! Manager Qian only hoped that the imperial uncle wouldn’t lose his temper on him once he found out about the price…
And thus, the price was settled at 50,000 taels per 100,000 dan of grain. Manager Qian had to include all the grain the storehouses to break even with the imperial uncle’s debts.
“So you had more than 2,000,000 dan of grain after all?” Han Yunxi’s tone was full of ridicule. Unfortunately, neither Master Lin nor Manager Qian picked up on her hidden meaning. Both of them were stifled beyond belief, preoccupied with the matter of the silver. In the end, Miss Helian would have to pay them a total of 1,530,000 taels. It was uncertain whether she had that much ready cash on hand. If they were late by even a day, then everything would be over.
After all, even though they’d asked for cash payment, a delay of one or two days with the funds couldn’t be counted as a delay at all in normal business practices. While Master Lin and Manager Qian were fretting over another potential struggle with the payment, Han Yunxi smiled and said, “Master Lin, the rules were to exchange the money directly for the goods, right?”
Both Master Lin and Manager Qian expelled a sigh of relief at the words. “Exactly so, exactly so!” Master Lin supplied hastily.
“Fine then. I’ll get people to transport the grain. After it’s all moved out, I’ll pay you the money immediately,” said Han Yunxi.
Master Lin had a fright. The grain depot wasn’t located in the black market itself, which only stored a small fraction of the entire supply. The main storage was aboveground. If she had to wait for them to get the grain, Heaven knows how long it’d take to move the entire thing. Meanwhile, the imperial uncle needed the silver by tonight so they could pay the Ministry of Revenue by tomorrow morning at the latest.
After some hesitation, Master Lin cast his face aside and said helplessly, “Miss Helian might not know, but this one is in desperate need of silver to make a turnover. I don’t know whether we could first…”
Han Yunxi was doing it on purpose, of course. She feigned hesitance. “But without seeing the grain, it really is…”
“Miss Helian, this one can take you to the grain depot right now!” Master Lin said hastily.
Both Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were waiting for his exact words. “Alright!” Han Yunxi agreed easily.
Master Lin and Manager Qian personally brought them there, taking them out of Sky Domain Black Market and into a carriage. Inside, Master Lin took out two blindfolds and said, “Miss Helian, these are rules of the business. I hope that you can understand.”
Nobody asked about where businesses started and ended up in the black market. If Master Lin was going to take them to the grain depot, he had full right to blindfold them during the trip. Han Yunxi was quite generous. She was about to let Master Lin blindfold her when Long Feiye grabbed the black cloth from his hands and did it himself. Master Lin didn’t dare to protest in the face of those icy eyes. Once Long Feiye finished blindfolding himself, he went to sit back in his corner in silence.
Han Yunxi and Long Feiye didn’t end up seeing anything on the way there because of the blindfolds, but Long Feiye’s guards were tailing them the entire time. After circling around a few times, they finally reached their destination. When Han Yunxi and Long Feiye descended from the carriage and took off their blindfolds, they discovered that they were in a forest on the outskirts of the city. Han Yunxi assumed that the imperial uncle’s grain depot would be some distance away from the capital, but he actually had the gall to hide it closeby.
That was a form of taunting Emperor Tianhui as well, right? In truth, the imperial uncle’s estate used to have multiple smaller storehouses scattered in the various counties and prefectures. But in order to keep things under wraps, all of the grain was amassed together in one location. That way, they would only need one set of men and horses to guard the stores while minimizing knowledge of its location. The grain depot here resembled an estate, so casual bystanders might simply assume it was the side property of some wealthy family.
“The two of you, please come in!” Master Lin was very polite despite his urgent need for money. Han Yunxi and Long Feiye walked in and discovered that the huge rooms of the house were filled with piles of grain. All of them looked exactly alike with no discerning features as to where they’d come from. The couple took a stroll around the entire estate to make a rough inventory before determining it was close to the quantity they’d agreed to buy.
“Miss Helian, you’ve seen the goods. If you could…” Master Lin trailed off.
Han Yunxi understood. In a cold tone, she said, “I’ll give you half the payment upfront. The other half comes when all the grain’s been moved away.”
When she finished, the wealthy moneybags behind her took out his money. Han Yunxi didn’t see Long Feiye do it first hand, or else she might have been smitten all over again. Long Feiye elegantly withdrew a silver draft from his sleeve worth over 700,000 taels and handed it to Master Lin.
Master Lin glanced at Manager Qian. They could neither accept nor deny the money. Manager Qian was hesitant as well. The woman’s demand had been perfectly reasonable, to pay only after she got all of her grain. But their time was tight!
“Master Lin?” Han Yunxi pressed, not giving them more time to think
Master Lin couldn’t help but complain in his heart. Why didn’t this woman come to buy grain earlier? Even if it was one day earlier, it would’ve helped!
Heheh, Han Yunxi had calculated the time perfectly. How could she have come in advance?
Finally, Manager Qian came up with an idea. “Miss Helian, how about this? I’ll get men to move the grain right away while you wait here. Let’s settle the silver for good within today, alright?”