In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Ten ounces per pound!"

Shen An's voice wasn't loud when he made the offer, but Jiang Caijun immediately jumped up from his chair.

"Young Master Sun, isn't your price a bit outrageous? Although the price of hemostatic drugs on the market has increased several times, it's still far less than your price. When we sit down to talk business, we should at least show some sincerity, right?" Jiang Caijun said, suppressing his anger.

Shen An yawned: "The hemostatic drugs are out of stock now, there's no market for them even though they're available."

If something comes out that can replace hemostatic drugs and is even more effective, then you can set the price yourself.

"If I hadn't come out behind my family's back, would you even have a chance to do this business?"

Jiang Caijun's expression remained unchanged, but he was inwardly startled.

This young man looks young, but he's very good at keeping accounts.

The current situation is indeed as he described, but as a businessman, how can one easily admit defeat?

Before he could speak, Shen An waved his hand and said, "If you're not willing, I'll find someone else."

I made a prior agreement with you, which is why I left you this thousand catties. I'll give you ten breaths to consider; if it doesn't work out, I'll leave.

"nineteen……"

Shen An counted down at a leisurely pace, but Jiang Caijun felt a tightness in his back.

He originally thought the other party was in his early twenties and easy to handle, but he never expected that the other party would be even tougher than him.

He wanted to just walk away and leave as he usually does when negotiating business, but the price of hemostatic drugs was currently high, and he could make money as soon as he got the goods, so he couldn't bear to let go.

"Three ounces to a pound, that's the highest it can go!"

"five……"

Shen An continued counting.

Jiang Caijun gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke: "Five taels!"

Shen An didn't even lift his eyelids: "Four, three..."

"Six taels! Six taels is enough!" Jiang Caijun shouted, then felt ashamed of himself: "Young Master Sun, stop counting. Six taels is the limit. I really can't afford any more."

Six ounces is already more expensive than the price of hemostatic drugs on the market.

Shen An knew he couldn't suppress it any longer; doing so would really push him to the edge.

"Alright, six taels it is. Delivery in Xiaoyao Town before dawn tomorrow."

Jiang Caijun breathed a sigh of relief; they had finally reached an agreement.

Shen An tapped the table and added, "Remember this: never let outsiders know that the goods came from my hands."

If you speak up, not only will you not receive any goods in the future, but you will also become an enemy of the Sun family of Hebei.

Jiang Caijun isn't stupid.

If he tells others that he has something to sell, they will all come and snatch it up. What will he earn then?

He nodded quickly: "Young Master Sun, rest assured, I will absolutely not tell anyone."

"Very good, I'll go prepare the goods. See you tomorrow."

Shen An turned and left as soon as he finished speaking, coming and going quickly.

As soon as he stepped out, one of Jiang Caijun's henchmen leaned over and whispered, "Boss, this guy comes and goes alone, and doesn't seem to have any help. How about we intercept the goods tomorrow?"

Jiang Caijun raised his foot and kicked out: "Do you think the Sun family is easy to mess with?"

"What if he's not even a member of the Sun family?"

"Fool! Who but someone from the Sun family could concoct that blood-replenishing powder?" Jiang Caijun finished cursing, then added, "Go prepare the silver; we must get tomorrow's goods."

Shen An hurried back to Qingtian Village, arriving home in the evening.

Pushing open the door to the courtyard, one sees Dugu Meng standing at the kitchen door, covered in soot and looking extremely embarrassed.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Um... I was going to make you some barbecue... but it all burned, and I almost set the kitchen on fire..." Dugu Meng's voice trailed off: "I only put the fire out about fifteen minutes ago."

Shen An couldn't help but laugh at her expression: "Alright, I'll do it."

Aren't you angry?

"Didn't you put out the fire? Why should I be angry?" Shen An said, already pulling on his apron.

Dugu Meng stood to the side, a smile slowly appearing on her face, as if a stone had been lifted from her shoulders.

The reason Shen An wasn't angry was that Dugu Meng's appearance today reminded him of his girlfriend who fought alongside him in his past life.

She was the same way back then; she wanted to cook for him, but almost burned the house down while doing so.

Unfortunately, she is no longer here to save him...

After finishing his meal with Dugu Meng, Shen An stuffed the rest of his hair into the stove.

After burning and letting it cool at midnight, I counted all the blood residue charcoal stored in the cellar.

"You stay home, I'm going with Xiaoqi."

After making arrangements for Dugu Meng, Shen An and Shen Xiaoqi each pushed a flatbed cart loaded with over a thousand catties of blood residue, and carrying crossbows, headed towards Xiaoyao Town that night.

Xiaoyao Town is located between Qingping County and Qingyang County. Although there are soldiers checking the road, there are no city walls blocking it. They can be searched and inspected with a travel permit, and it is passable at night. It was a delivery location that he had long ago chosen.

Along the way, there were three to five waves of searches, and the frequency of these searches increased, showing that the government officials were afraid that the people would run away, so they increased the intensity of their inspections.

The blood-stained charcoal was pitch black and had a strange smell. The soldiers didn't think it was anything special, so they opened it, took a look, and left.

They arrived outside Xiaoyao Town before dawn.

Jiang Caijun and his men were already waiting at the agreed location.

Shen An and Shen Xiaoqi did not put away their crossbows; they kept them in their hands.

If Jiang Caijun dares to have any ulterior motives, he can take action immediately!

Fortunately, Jiang Caijun was wary of the Sun family and behaved himself throughout the entire process, paying for the goods without any mishaps.

Both parties agreed to meet again at this location ten days later to discuss cooperation, and Jiang Caijun then left with his men.

One thousand and fifty catties of goods, six taels per catty, totaling six thousand three hundred taels.

Holding the silver notes in his hand, Shen Xiaoqi's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are we rich now?"

"Of course it's a success, but it can grow even bigger in the future." Shen An couldn't help but smile as he said this.

"Hehehe, we've all made our fortunes! Go back and get married to your sister-in-law!"

Shen An glanced at him: "Don't mention this matter again. What we need to do now is to resolve Ma Tianming's threat. As long as he's around, neither of us can live in peace."

Shen Xiaoqi said nonchalantly, "Brother, let's live for the moment! Let's get the important stuff done before we die, it's not a loss!"

"That makes sense." Shen An laughed: "Then how about I find you a wife so you can take care of your life's most important matter first?"

"I won't marry anyone from around here!" Shen Xiaoqi puffed out his chest: "If I, Shen Xiaoqi, am going to marry, I'll marry Luo Jinan, the number one female general of our Great Liang!"

Shen An hadn't expected him to have such ambition: "Alright, then from now on, focus all your efforts on that."

The two chatted and laughed all the way back to the village.

Shen An showed the silver note to Dugu Meng and asked if 6,300 taels was enough to go and discuss cooperation with Liu Wenyuan.

Dugu Meng was stunned.

She thought that Shen An would earn at most a few hundred taels on this trip; she never imagined she could earn six thousand taels.

It took her a while to come to her senses: "This money is more than enough."

"Then why not just cooperate with the county magistrate directly!" Shen Xiaoqi interjected from the side.

"No way." Shen An shook his head: "The magistrate is very greedy. If he knows that a squad leader has money, he will just rob him."

Dugu Meng nodded: "The person we're looking for must be influential, but not too much stronger than us. Otherwise, it will create an imbalance between us, which will be detrimental to us!"

By the way, Shen An, when do you plan to go see Liu Wenyuan?

"Let's not delay, let's go tonight."

After finishing his sentence, Shen An went to sleep.

He hadn't slept for a long time, and he didn't wake up until mid-afternoon.

After waking up and getting ready, I rode my horse into Qingyang County.

He found a tavern on the street and had a few drinks. Only after it was completely dark did he walk around to Liu Wenyuan's house.

Although Liu Wenyuan was a county magistrate, his residence was located on the outskirts of the county town, looking much like an ordinary family's home, without even a proper gatehouse. This showed that he had not colluded with the county magistrate; otherwise, he would have been living in a grand mansion long ago.

Shen An knocked on the door, and Liu Wenyuan opened it.

When he saw Shen An, he immediately recognized him.

He had always regarded Shen An as Ma Tianming's lackey, so when he saw him come to his door late at night, his first reaction was that Ma Tianming had sent someone to cause him trouble.

His expression changed, and he turned to shout into the yard, "Third brother, fifth brother! Grab your weapons! Let's teach those lackeys a lesson!"