The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

You can strike up a conversation with all sorts of people, and negotiating prices for large quantities of goods with shopkeepers is child's play; it's all too easy.

Jia Huan received the goods and delivered them to the mansion, but Aunt Zhao intercepted them.

After that, Aunt Zhao took over the task of distributing the goods, without paying any wages.

When the maids and wives in the mansion received the goods with the slips of paper, they naturally had to say a few nice words.

Aunt Zhao is just that vulgar; a few nice words can make her very happy.

Jia Huan's courtyard became a scattered place for trinkets such as rouge and face powder. Maids and wives came and went in an endless stream every day, but Aunt Zhao did not find it annoying. On the contrary, she enjoyed it.

Except for the time he spent serving Lady Wang, he basically stayed in the courtyard and didn't go anywhere else.

Even so, Aunt Zhao was able to know about all the big and small things happening in the mansion, and even some very secret matters.

He looked radiant and full of energy, and Master Zheng Er came here several times.

I heard that Zhou Rui's wife, that scoundrel, secretly instigated Madam Wang to forcibly stop Aunt Zhao from distributing goods in the courtyard, on the grounds that Aunt Zhao's reckless actions were affecting the peace of the second branch of the family.

Later, seeing that Master Zheng often visited Aunt Zhao's courtyard, Madam Wang stopped doing so, lest Aunt Zhao affect the relationship between the couple.

Privately, he probably harbored some resentment towards Aunt Zhao.

Jia Huan was happy to see this happen, but every time Master Zheng came over, he had to go to bed early to avoid hearing anything he shouldn't, which would be embarrassing.

Life is easy and carefree, but I'm a bit young, so it's inconvenient for me to do whatever I want.

Two days later, Jia Huan saw Jia Baoyu at the clan school, along with Qin Zhong who was with him.

He is indeed a shy young boy, but perhaps a little too introverted?

Anyway, whenever Jia Baoyu introduced himself to his classmates, this guy would blush and hide behind Jia Baoyu, looking like a frightened little rabbit.

If this were in the original Dream of the Red Chamber, it would probably immediately attract Xue Pan's attention.

At this moment, Xue Pan was preoccupied with the fighting and killing in the martial arts world and the desire to expand his territory, and he had no interest in paying attention to the new elementary school students in the clan school.

Besides, this is the clan school. If he does anything wrong, does he really think Jia Huan won't punish him? Xue Pan has that much insight.

Xue Pan, that fellow, is also someone who can't sit still.

He got to know the local thugs who took turns guarding the small martial arts school.

This guy is a big spender and quite generous, which suits the temperament of street thugs.

Then, the thugs on Ningrong Street, along with the curious Xue Pan, joined the struggle for territory expansion in the martial arts world. At this moment, they were in a state of high blood pressure, completely immersed in the struggle.

Of course, with Jia Huan keeping him in check, the thugs on Ningrong Street wouldn't dare take Xue Pan to those shady places; they wouldn't even take him to gambling dens.

As for the struggles and expansion of territory in the martial arts world, they were nothing to Xue Pan.

As long as he's willing to spend money, even silver, he can carve out a considerable territory.

Anyway, he always brought plenty of servants and guards with him when he went there, so he had at least some security. Jia Huan didn't bother to pay much attention to it, since there was always a detailed summary of the information afterward, and nothing could go wrong.

Xue Pan was completely unaware of these things. He thought that his participation had greatly boosted the morale of the thugs on Ningrong Street, giving them a significant advantage in the struggle for territory.

Chapter 87 Everyone Has a Special Talent (Please Add to Favorites)

The satisfaction of becoming the backbone and leading others to success is incomparable to anything related to sex. Are you kidding me?

Jin Rong was in a similar situation. This kid had become Jia Huan's top errand boy. He was shrewd and had earned a lot of money by running errands.

Didn't Jia Huan own a small general store before?

Jin Rong was a master at dealing with people; he could flatter and fawn over anyone with ease. In modern times, he would be considered an absolute social expert.

This guy has no interest in martial arts or the fighting and killing in the martial arts world, but he is very enthusiastic about business matters.

Jia Huan naturally knew how to use talent, so he sent the fellow directly to help out at the small grocery store.

First, he was put in charge of running errands as a helper. Jia Huan also gave him another task: to deliver a basic price survey form within half a month.

Jia Huan was also eager to see for himself the bizarre story of an egg costing one tael of silver.

As a result, those who had come to watch the spectacle ended up at the Rong Mansion and were at a loss for words.

Well, it's kind of funny when you think about it.

The Rong Mansion's main kitchen was a magical place, at least in Jia Huan's eyes.

Apart from the old lady, the second wife, and Wang Xifeng, everyone else's meals, in addition to their allotted allowances, had to be paid for, and not a single penny less!

In such a large place as Rong Mansion, sometimes the meals are cold when they are delivered. How can anyone eat them?

In addition, the food served in individual portions didn't taste very good; it was a typical example of communal cooking.

This forced many maids with some spare money, as well as concubines and wives, to pay extra to order food from the main kitchen, while enduring disdainful looks.

Damn, why does Jia Huan give off a vibe of a state-run restaurant from the public era?

Aunt Zhao is also a foodie; it's only natural for people to love good food.

Previously, due to limited funds, I could only order food from the main kitchen every now and then. Now I can order food almost every day, though of course I don't dare to order anything too expensive.

Even so, when Jia Huan went home for dinner at night, he often heard Aunt Zhao cursing and complaining that the kitchen staff were heartless and had charged her a hundred coins for a bowl of steamed egg custard.

He asked out of curiosity about the purchase price of eggs at the main kitchen, and was surprised by what he found.

From Aunt Zhao, I learned that the eggs purchased by the main kitchen cost at least ten coins each, and were usually around twenty coins, which was ten to twenty times more than the price outside.

That's right, eggs outside cost about one copper coin each, which is the usual price and hasn't fluctuated much. Jia Huan can guarantee this with his hand on his heart, having looked at price surveys for almost half a year.

Tsk tsk, if eggs are like this, what about the other ingredients that the main kitchen buys from outside?

No wonder the harvests from the Rong family's estates outside the city have been declining year after year. Clearly, it wasn't just the estate managers who were rigging the harvests; there was also a powerful alliance within the Rong family working together.

The purchasing for the main kitchen is inevitable, that's for sure!

The reason becomes clear upon reflection: if the harvest from the estates outside the city were normal, all the necessary ingredients for the main kitchen could be obtained for free from those estates. How could they possibly tamper with the produce?

Leaving aside the gossip, Jia Huan, who was watching the commotion, was thoroughly disgusted by his own family's situation. However, he was helpless to do anything about it, as he had no say in the Rong family's internal affairs and was unwilling to get involved.

Jin Rong is quite capable; even as the owner of the small general store, he has often been praised by Jia Huan for his talent.

This time, didn't we just casually acquire five shops from the unfortunate Rong family's son at a low price?

Aside from one shop that runs a bookstore and another that specializes in the Four Treasures of the Study, the other three shops sell regular goods, all sourced from the Xue family's shops.

Don't underestimate the Xue family's shop. As imperial merchants, they specialize in supplying the palace with small trinkets such as beaded hair ornaments, which are not only exquisite but also fashionable.

The imperial concubines would naturally not use the hair ornaments provided by the Xue family, but the lower-ranking beauties and many palace maids would.

This single deal is enough to become the Xue family's most stable source of income.

After all, those are items used in the palace. With just a little promotion, they would sell quite well. If top-tier wealthy and powerful families don't care, does that mean ordinary rich merchants and average middle-class families also don't care?

In addition, although the Xue family has split into different branches, the relationships remain, and the business network has not been severed.

The Xue family's shops in the capital were also able to continuously obtain specialties from the south, such as fine silk and porcelain, which naturally sold very well in the shops.

Jin Rong helped out at the newly opened shop, and you could tell from his energy that he was enjoying it.

Jia Huan certainly didn't mistreat him; he paid him a considerable monthly wage, which was said to have made even his parents envious.

Under such circumstances, it was already quite remarkable that he was able to come to the clan school every morning to listen to the lessons attentively. How could he possibly have any thoughts about the newcomer, Qin Zhong?

As for Xiang Lian and Yu Ai, Jia Huan also made the best use of them.

They help check the quality of cosmetics, face powders, and hair accessories, and as purchasing consultants, they are quite busy.

Well, once they got used to it, these two became even more pretentious.

However, she has gradually developed her own unique insights and opinions regarding cosmetics, hair accessories, and the like. With Jia Huan's help, she opened a workshop at the small general store and is currently trying to make cosmetics herself, keeping her quite busy.

Of course, Jia Baoyu was unaware of these things. If he had known, he probably would have considered these two as close friends.

As for the other students, they each had their own things to do, and their personalities weren't particularly outgoing.

I don't have much of an opinion about the newcomer, Qin Zhong. If we can get along, great; if not, then we don't.

Like Cong-ge'er, and a few others who were interested in martial arts, they basically spent every afternoon at the small martial arts school, and didn't care about anything at the clan school.

Even those who don't want to hang out outside can still spend their afternoons at the Cuju field.

Finally, there are students who are eager to learn and improve, who focus all their attention on studying and don't care what the new classmates are like.

Among them, Jia Lan, who started school half a year ago, is the most prominent!

It's unclear how his mother, Li Wan, raised him; he's so young yet acts like a little old man.

He's always engrossed in a book, seemingly lost in it.

In reality, every afternoon when the lively sounds from the Cuju field reached the teaching building, this guy's eyes would show a hint of longing, but unfortunately he didn't dare to make any move.

Jia Huan had seen him a few times, but he didn't make a fuss by telling him to relax or spouting grand theories about balancing work and rest. He was afraid that Li Wan would come knocking on his door to cause trouble the next day.

Even Aunt Zhao had privately reminded him more than once or twice not to provoke Li Wan easily. How could Jia Huan possibly invite trouble for himself so easily?

In short, the situation at the clan school is quite good, and there have been no significant changes since Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong arrived.

Chapter 88 Useless Snack (Please add to your favorites)

At this time, Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong were so deeply in love that they were too lazy to pay attention to anything outside, and naturally did not notice anything different.