The Creators: From Night City

A good actor not only shapes the character through lines, but also through his words, actions, every frown and smile.

But Jiang Bing's acting skills can only be described as mediocre.

But his acting skills are not good enough, so he makes up for it with his looks.

Just based on his glowing white skin (compared to the rough guys present), clean and tidy appearance, and casual demeanor, he always exudes a strong and arrogant temperament of "wherever I am, that's my home ground", which is very convincing.

Sure enough, Tavish Gray subconsciously straightened his body and rolled up his sleeves to make himself look as elegant as possible.

People are like this. They ask for face from those who have face and ask for money from those who have no money.

"Where is Mr. Sable from?"

"Chinese."

"Qing Dynasty?"

"You could think of it that way, Mr. Tavish."

"It's not common to see Asians as tall as you."

“Just because it’s uncommon doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

"The American West is very dangerous. It's not very safe to go out with just these few friends."

"That's enough, they are all good players."

Tavish Gray glanced at the members of the Vanderlin Gang, all of whom were holding two guns, and agreed with Jiang Bing's statement in his heart.

"Besides, sometimes, it's easier to get things done with fewer people."

Jiang Bing deliberately made his words very ambiguous.

"It makes sense."

After a quick round of questions and answers between the two, Tavish Gray reluctantly let down his guard a little.

"What kind of business does Mr. Sable want to do with the Gray family?"

Having passed the test, Tavish brought the topic to the point.

Jiang Bing put down his crossed legs and put on a serious attitude to discuss business.

"Tobacco, of course."

"After all, the Gray family owns the most famous tobacco plantation around here."

Jiang Bing gave a compliment against his will.

Tavish really benefited from it. Western people's thinking has never had the option of humility.

So he didn't say anything like "it's a compliment", but accepted it calmly.

"Ha, that's right. The Gray family's fire-cured tobacco is not only supplied to the St. Denis cigarette factory, but even cigarette companies in New York, Chicago, and Denver come to us to purchase it."

"Mr. Sabul, how much are you prepared to pay?"

The familiar conversation seemed to be happening again yesterday.

"How many Greys are there?"

The arrogant words made Tavish laugh.

"Mr. Sabul, the Gray family owns hundreds of acres of flue-cured tobacco plantations. Not to mention the tobacco still growing in the fields, the tobacco leaves already harvested and fermenting in the storage warehouses alone are a considerable sum. Not to mention we still have a lot of good products from last autumn."

In Lemoyne, where the land is fertile and the climate is suitable, tobacco is generally grown twice a year.

The harvest season is mainly concentrated in autumn and early spring in March of the following year.

Generally speaking, due to factors such as light and humidity, the quality of tobacco leaves produced in autumn is the best.

When harvesting and picking, a tobacco plant is also divided into different parts and stages.

通常，下部的叶子会在在6月25号到7月1号之间采摘，中部的叶子在7月5号到7月10号之间采摘，而上部的叶子则在9月20号前后一次性采摘。

After being picked, it does not mean that the tobacco leaves can be used directly. They must undergo a series of processing steps before they can become raw materials that can be sold.

The processing process mainly includes key links such as drying, baking, moisture regain, grading, storage and fermentation.

The baker job that Margaret had once applied for was a processing step in the baking process.

Tavish Grey replied with sufficient confidence: "As many as you want, the Grey family has as many as you want."

Jiang Bing somewhat understood the feelings of those to whom he had flaunted his wealth.

He waved his hand, signaling the maid beside him to put the suitcase he kept in his hand on the coffee table.

Margaret opened the suitcase, revealing a pile of banknotes inside.

Accompanied by the sound of swallowing saliva and heavy breathing, Jiang Bing casually pushed the box in front of Tavish Gray.

"$8000. This is the deposit."

Boss Jiang will never allow anyone to be more pretentious than him.

"As for the deposit, I'll take whatever amount you have."

The colorful banknotes made Tavish Gray and the members of the Gray family behind him dazzled.

You know, although the Gray family owns 300 acres of plantations and a very luxurious-looking manor, and seems to be a big force, they would not say that they would ignore $8000.

In fact, this is a huge sum of money.

The average yield of tobacco leaves per acre is about 1200 kilograms in today's era. The Gray family, which owns 300 acres of land, produces about 36 kilograms of tobacco in a season.

Chapter 206: Doing Things with Emotion

The average dry-to-fresh ratio of normal tobacco leaves is about 1 to 11.

That is to say, after 36 kilograms of fresh tobacco leaves are dried, baked, fermented and other processes, the final amount of finished tobacco leaves obtained is about 3.3 kilograms.

Converted into British pounds, it is about 7.3 pounds.

Just as there are classes among people, there are also high and low levels among tobacco.

Premium tobacco might cost several dollars per pound, while regular tobacco might only cost a few dozen cents.

Even if the Gray family sold all the best tobacco in the fall, the payment they could get would only be around $6.

This money also includes workers' wages, seeds, fertilizers, transportation, losses, marketing expenses, etc. After deducting these costs, the amount of net profit will be reduced by more than half.

Then, the atmosphere suddenly became cheerful.

If you don't make money even though you have it, you're a bastard. The US dollar doesn't recognize nationality or race.

And what Hosea said was indeed true, the Vanderlin Gang really provided a lot of help in this transaction.

Unexpectedly, the military support of the Big Three was not the MVP of the entire transaction. Leopold Strauss, who was dressed in a suit and ties, lent money at high interest rates and engaged in financial fraud all day long, emerged as a dark horse and defeated the three people on his own to win the best player of the game.

Lending money at high interest rates requires him to assess the borrower's repayment ability to avoid bad debts.

This involves the valuation of the other party's house and property, as well as understanding the approximate salary of the other party's job.

Having lent out money at high interest rates for so long, he had a thorough understanding of market prices, labor costs, logistics and transportation costs, etc.

Financial fraud and usury inevitably involve business negotiations and contract drafting, and they must try to avoid legal provisions on the surface.

These are also useful in doing business and are indispensable.

It is precisely because of his existence that the subsequent acquisition and collection methods, tobacco grading and pricing, transportation and storage, and other aspects were easily solved.

It is precisely because of his professional ability that the Gray family is more confident in the subsequent fulfillment of this transaction.

Therefore, talent is the most important thing not only in the 21st century, but also in the 19th century.

After the news was discussed, the few people left without stopping, leaving the boxes behind and leaving.

Jiang Bing was not worried at all about the other party defaulting on the debt, and although the Fan der Lin Gang had some concerns, they did not say anything since it was not their own money.

This move made the Grey family look up to Jiang Bing even more.

Outside Grey Manor, four horses and a carriage stopped at a three-way intersection.

Jiang Bing leaned against the caravan.

"Mr. Sabul, I'm right, aren't I? Cooperation is mutually beneficial."

Hosea boasted about his wise plan and the role the Vanderlin Gang played tonight.

Jiang Bing remained silent, turned around and took out the gold bars sponsored by the Emerald Rancher from the carriage.

At the end of the 19th century, the gold rush had not yet completely subsided, and gold has always been a symbol of wealth, especially in the West.

In the light of the torches, the gold bars gleamed with golden light.

"Today's reward."

Jiang Bing threw hundreds of dollars worth of gold to Dachi without even blinking.

The backward smelting process makes the surface of the gold bars appear somewhat uneven.

"I'm unworthy of it, Mr. Sabul. We just did a small job." Dutch was used to talking nonsense, but his hands did not slow down at all in putting gold into his pockets.

Jiang Bing threw the second gold bar to Strauss.

"bonus."

Before the other party could speak, Jiang Bing threw the third piece of gold to Daqi.

"What is this one?"

Jiang Bing pointed with his cane at Arthur, who was silent beside him. Seeing Arthur's face full of surprise, Jiang Bing said, "Hire money."

"Let him stay with me for two days, until the tobacco is dispatched."

The $8000 order is enough to clear out all the remaining inventory in the Gray family warehouse, and there will still be less than $1,000 left as a deposit for one month later.

However, packing and transportation take time, so the two parties agreed to deliver the goods at Van Horn Trading Post three days later.

As a station where multiple railway tracks intersect, it is also close to the Lanachchee River. With its unique geographical advantages, the Van Horn Trading Port firmly sits at the top of the western logistics hub.

Similarly, the huge demand for logistics operations has spawned a large number of mature supporting measures.

Large and small warehouses, loading and unloading workers, related materials, the railway company also set up a freight service station here to further facilitate the flow of materials.

Of course, the large mines around the site also provide a large number of performance orders for the site's train and ship transportation orders, which in turn drives the further development of the trading port.

This tobacco transaction can be considered a bulk commodity, so this place is naturally the most appropriate. The Gray family is responsible for delivering the goods safely here, while Jiang Bing is responsible for hiring transportation to transport the goods out of the west.

Of course, this is a normal logistics and transportation process, not the transportation plan of Zhutian Trade.

Jiang Bing had no intention of reselling the goods from the trading port, but was planning to unload the goods directly from the warehouse to the "warehouse".

As for hiring Arthur.

Considering that Van Horn Trading Port is a logistics transit center, it is bound to be a mixed bag with various forces. Having multiple locals responsible for external dealings will save a lot of trouble.

Although the maid was also a local, her gender meant that she was unable to control those barbaric cowboys and workers.

On the contrary, looking at Arthur, he is big and strong, intimidating without even getting angry, and just standing there he can solve 80% of the problems.

As for the remaining 20%, the revolver in his hand is not a pushover either.

Of course, the filter effect also plays a part.

Arthur's expression finally changed. He asked with a hint of confusion, "Why me?"

The hiring fee of one gold bar is enough to hire three or five fearless gunmen on the market. Hiring only himself is considered a high premium.

"You draw your gun quickly, and you look like the best fighter among you."

Jiang Bing looked around at the other three people and found that they had no objection and all agreed with Jiang Bing's statement.

"That's not as fast as you." Arthur retorted with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"You have the most ferocious face."

This reason was too strong, and Arthur was teased so much that he couldn't speak.

Dutch and Hosea laughed out loud in a somewhat wicked way.

The three of them had been together since before the founding of the Van der Linde gang, and their relationship was already very close. They had no qualms about making jokes about Arthur.

Only Strauss, although also very happy, was not willing to be too unrestrained.

The two men patted Arthur's shoulders, and Dutch laughed: "Indeed, Arthur, I always think that when you have a stern face, you look like a fat Scottish chicken. It is quite intimidating."