The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 845 Sister Feng Rekindles Her Desire to Make Money

After Zhou Yanru left, Jia Lian asked Hu Yuanyao to bring the couple in.

He is indeed a top-notch talent.

Looking at the two timid girls in front of him, whose eyes held similar unease, Jia Lian was somewhat puzzled.

It would be best to nurture such promising young talents for a few more years before giving them away.

However, he was too lazy to think about these things. After casually giving the two little girls the names Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang to distinguish them, he asked Hu Yuanyao to send them to Gu Qingyi as his apprentices.

Feng Jie's courtyard was bustling with activity at this moment.

Countless maids and servants gathered here, crowding around the corners and corridors, watching the scene unfold in the courtyard.

The once spacious courtyard was now filled with rows and columns of lychee trees, each over half a meter tall.

Every tree was laden with heavy fruit, making it look like a lychee grove.

Qingwen led a group of maids through the woods. Seeing someone trying to approach, she immediately scolded them:

“You all need to be careful. Second Grandma made us count how many fruits are on each tree here. If even one is missing, Second Grandma will skin you alive. Don’t blame me for not warning you.”

Upon hearing this, the others quickly stepped back.

They knew that such precious things were not something they were entitled to enjoy.

Even if the second grandmother didn't blame them and only asked them to pay the original price, they still couldn't afford it.

But isn't it said that this thing is rare in the capital and only has special supplies in the palace? How come there are so many of them here at Second Madam Lian's place?
When Jia Lian returned, he was also surprised by the scene in the courtyard.

He originally thought that Zhou Yanru would send him a whole lychee tree, or at most one or two or three trees, but he never expected it to be like this.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have let Zhao'er send them all in.

When Qingwen saw Jia Lian come downstairs, she quickly went up to him with a smile and said, "Second Master, where did you get so many lychees?"

Instead of answering, Jia Lian asked, "How many are there in total?"

"There are eighteen trees in total. As for the exact number of fruits, Xiangling is leading people to count them. Anyway, there are no fewer than several thousand fruits."

Jia Lian casually picked a fruit from a nearby tree, peeled it, and ate it.

I'd say the taste was alright.

He placed the shell and pit in Qingwen's hand, and seeing her throat move slightly and her eyes full of longing, he picked another one, peeled it, and put it in her mouth before walking into the main room.

Qingwen was overjoyed to receive a meal personally fed by Jia Lian.

He slowly and carefully ate the lychee flesh, then raised his head, looking down at the envious crowd, and said seriously, "You all saw it, this was given to me by Second Master, I didn't steal any!"

After saying that, he called to Xiangling, who was leading the counting on the other side, and said with a smile, "Quick, come and see which tree this is, and cut off two of them..."

……

Inside the main room, Sister Feng was taking stock of the things Jia Lian had brought back from the Marquis of Linzi's mansion.

Upon seeing Jia Lian enter, she immediately pointed to several wooden boxes on the table and asked, "Where did you get so much agarwood, musk, and camphor?"

Jia Lian approached and said with a smile, "They were all given to me by my second aunt."

Wang Xifeng understood, and then sighed, "These are all good things, it's a pity there are so many. It would be such a waste if we couldn't use them all."

"If you can't use it all, just give it away, right?"

Sister Feng rolled her eyes. Did she not know this?
I just feel it's a waste to give away these nice things.

However, she didn't dwell on it too much, since it was the lychees outside that truly shocked her.

Seeing Jia Lian lying on the bed, she went over and asked, "I haven't asked you yet, where did those lychee trees outside come from? A whole eighteen of them, wow, I've never seen so many lychees in my life!"

Jia Lian, lying on the bed with his eyes closed, smiled to himself.

No wonder she grew up in the capital; she's so pitiful.

Feng Jie'er spoke with surprise, and after she finished speaking, she saw that Jia Lian was too lazy to pay attention to her, so she knew that Jia Lian had high standards and did not care about these lychees.

It makes sense, really. These days, it's become common for Jia Lian to bring her back rare and precious things from time to time.

If she were too easily swayed, she'd probably just stay home in shock every day.

However, since her husband had brought her so many nice things, she still wanted to show her appreciation.

So he put one hand on Jia Lian's chest and gently pushed him away with the other, speaking intimately: "Tell me, who gave you these lychees? You don't know, fresh lychees are hard to find in the capital this year. You might not even be able to buy them for ten taels of silver a pound. They're very precious."

Hearing his wife's almost coquettish voice, Jia Lian smiled slightly and said, "It was sent by a merchant."

"A businessman? What kind of businessman has such power?"

Sister Feng was very surprised.

Seeing that Jia Lian still did not answer, she added, "I've heard people say that this thing is very difficult to handle."

These eighteen lychee trees are so neatly arranged, almost all of them are about the same size, they must have been cultivated from the beginning to be transported to prosperous places for sale.

They said that this thing requires choosing a good piece of land at the beginning, and then spending several years cultivating the lychee trees to a size suitable for digging and transportation. When the fruit is ripe, the whole tree is dug up and transported to the capital by car or boat, preferably by boat.

Even so, we have to hurry, otherwise the lychees will still become stale and affect the selling price.

Just think about it, how much time, energy, manpower, and resources would be wasted going on like this?

Therefore, they say that it is not unjust for these lychees to be sold for silver in the capital.

"The fact that they could give you so much at once speaks volumes about their respect and their considerable wealth!"

Jia Lian overheard Feng Jie plotting beside him and chuckled to himself.

To further impress her, he slowly raised his hand and used his index finger to form the character "一" (one).

Upon seeing this, Sister Feng reached out and grasped his fingers, asking in confusion, "What do you mean?"

After saying that, she used her other hand to pry open Jia Lian's eyelids to see if he was asleep because he wasn't speaking.

Jia Lian shoved her groping hand away and continued to lie there, but finally managed to reply, "Didn't you ask about their strength? This is it."

Sister Feng looked at Jia Lian's fingers, which she was holding, with a puzzled expression. She let go of them and looked at them again, but still didn't understand.

Jia Lian knew without looking that Feng Jie wouldn't understand, and continued, "You know that your aunt's family is said to have a million in assets, right?" Feng Jie laughed and said, "What do you mean 'said to have a million'? They really do have a million in assets!"

Suddenly, she realized something and asked, "You mean the merchant who gave you the lychees also has a family fortune of a million taels of silver?"

Jia Lian shook his head from side to side as it rested on the pillow.

"Not a million, but tens of millions."

"Wh-what...how much?"

Wang Xifeng's eyes widened in surprise.

She felt that either she had misunderstood, or Jia Lian was joking.

How can a businessman amass a fortune of tens of millions?

Wouldn't that make them richer than a country?
Jia Lian secretly opened his eyes and glanced at Feng Jie's simple-minded appearance.

Originally, Jia Lian wasn't quite sure whether the Zhou family actually had that much wealth. He only knew that the Zhou family was the most secretive and low-key of all the salt merchants in Yangzhou.

It was precisely because he was unsure of the Zhou family's background and because the Zhou family acted discreetly that Jia Lian had no intention of taking any action against them at the time.

After reviewing the information he gathered, Jia Lian boldly guessed that the Zhou family's assets, even if not exceeding ten million, were certainly close to it.

Perhaps only the Zhou family, at their level, dare to be called "rich enough to rival a country".

As for the Xue family, who were imperial merchants, their fame was only due to their official background.

According to Jia Lian, the Xue family's total assets might not even exceed two million.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Every year, the Lianghuai Salt Administration had to contribute nearly ten million taels of regular salt tax to the imperial court, and that was just the tax.

No one can give an accurate figure for the total profits of the Lianghuai salt industry.

It is quite remarkable that the Zhou family, having been rooted in the salt industry for generations and also engaged in many other businesses, was able to accumulate a fortune of tens of millions.

This doesn't even include the money they spend on bribes each year.

Just thinking about it, even an official as upright and incorruptible as him was almost fed by the other party, which shows how much the other party was willing to spend in this regard.

Indeed, those who were unwilling to invest would probably have failed halfway through and wouldn't have survived to this day.

Seeing that Jia Lian wasn't joking, Sister Feng immediately pressed, "Tell me quickly, who is it? Whose family has such extraordinary wealth?"

Originally, Sister Feng had secretly calculated that the wealth she and Jia Lian controlled should be around one million taels of silver.

In just a few years, the couple had achieved what several generations of the Xue family had worked for. She was quite proud of herself and felt that she must be one of those super-rich people.

Unexpectedly, compared to this wealthy businessman with tens of millions in assets, the ten boxes of gold in her hands suddenly seemed insignificant.

Seeing that Sister Feng was genuinely concerned, Jia Lian didn't hide anything from her and briefly told her about Zhou Yanru's background.

However, he still warned me in the end: "They know the principle of not flaunting their wealth, and their dealings with me are conducted in secret. You must not go out and publicize it."

As for the lychees in the yard, if anyone asks, just say that a friend of mine sent them to me through a third party.

Feng Jie once again learned from Jia Lian about the wealth of Yangzhou salt merchants, which greatly broadened her horizons.

After her eyes darted around for a while, she suddenly said, "There are so many lychees in the yard, we can't eat them all. Why don't we sell them for money?"

After being satisfied by Jia Lian, Sister Feng's desire to make money was no longer as strong.

Upon hearing that someone could actually amass a fortune of tens of millions, she was immediately seized by a strong desire to make money.

She thought that lychees in the capital were worth as much as silver, and if all eighteen lychee trees were sold, it would be a lot of money!
Upon hearing this, Jia Lian opened his eyes and tapped Feng Jie on the head.

"Forget about selling lychees. Even if you do, the money will be mine."

Feng Jie wasn't angry at all, mimicking Jia Lian's old shamelessness: "Hey, why are you being so formal? What's yours is mine..."

Jia Lian remained silent, but he was quite pleased with the changes in Feng Jie'er, who had been influenced by her surroundings.

So he softened his tone and said, "Don't even think about those lychees, I still have a use for them."

If you really want to make money, there are so many ice blocks in the cellar in the garden. Judging from how stingy you are, you can't possibly use them all.

Once the hot weather is over, those ice blocks will be worthless.

"Alright then, you keep enough for the expenses of both our households. As for the rest, you can sell it or give it away as you see fit."

Upon hearing this, Sister Feng immediately smiled and said, "That's right, I was just about to tell you about this."

It feels hotter this year than usual. I've already inquired, and after the Dragon Boat Festival, ice in the capital has already reached almost 100 coins per pound.

I even had someone buy some to look at, and those ice cubes were all dirty, not at all as clean as the ones we keep in our cellar.

So if we're willing to sell, we can definitely get a good price.

Sister Feng began to seriously consider how to sell the ice in the cellar to wealthy and powerful families at a high price.

Jia Lian was not surprised at all when he heard what Feng Jie said.

Even if some people in the capital did store ice in winter, they mostly just took advantage of the frozen rivers inside and outside the capital during the cold winter months to obtain materials from nearby sources.

Many of them are even taken from lakes at home, so you can imagine the quality.

He, on the other hand, specially sent people to the cleanest riverbed in the north to dredge the river and break the ice, so that the ice could be taken out and brought back, which was naturally even better.

Moreover, the more ice is stored, the less likely it is to melt.

Just like in the imperial palace, every year, in addition to the palace's own expenses, there is a surplus to reward the princes and nobles.

Seeing that Sister Feng had been sitting motionless for a long time, clearly still figuring out how to make money with ice, Jia Lian nudged her and instructed her:
"Have someone carry one of those lychee trees to the old lady's courtyard, and cut off one or two trees to bear fruit, and send some to each of the two households so that they can have a taste of the fresh fruit."

We'll keep a few of the remaining plants at home, and have the rest moved to the main hall of the garden.

Then please inform the old lady and the others that I'm hosting a lychee banquet in the main hall tomorrow at noon, and invite them all to attend.

After Jia Lian finished speaking, he closed his eyes, turned over, and fell asleep, completely unaware of what Feng Jie was babbling in his ear.

　Thank you to the reader "He's Lazy" for the generous donation!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)