On the Qinhuai River, in the small gaily-painted boat that looked a little dim because some lanterns had been extinguished, Xi Junyu looked around. Wu Qilong smiled and took out a rice pot from the side. He went over to scoop some rice, then sat down at the table next to him and poured a dish into a bowl.
"It's always like this after every bustle. The food on the table is all over the place. I just don't know who's really full." In the flickering light, Wu Qilong picked up a vegetable and threw it into his mouth, making a crunching sound.
"At least I won't be hungry." Xi Junyu replied lightly.
"I feel hungry every time … Once I was very envious of Ning Liheng. Not long ago, we invited him, Manager Liao, and Manager Luo for a meal …" Wu Qilong thought for a moment. "He's been eating. He's really eating."
"Irrelevant people can naturally eat their fill."
"That's true."
After a simple conversation, the two sat there and ate. Although it looked like some leftovers, it was indeed carefully cooked by a famous chef. At this time, it still tasted quite good. The sound of chewing sounded in the cabin, and the water rippled. After a while, Wu Qilong put down his chopsticks and tapped his fingers on the table.
"Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the night after that, everything will come to a showdown. At this time, no news is good news. Brother Xi, there shouldn't be any changes, right? "
"No." Xi Junyu shook his head. "Chen Er confessed that the assassination was instigated by someone. The crisis in front of us has been resolved, and the imperial merchant is no longer obstructed. Everyone is very happy. Although not to the point of being dizzy, at least everyone can see clearly that if the imperial merchant is taken down, all the problems of the first branch will be solved. In the future, there is no way out. At the moment … they have no way out. They can only go forward with the current momentum. It's impossible to change anything. "
"That's good news." Wu Qilong poured himself a glass of wine, smiled, and drank it in one gulp. "I've also prepared everything. I won't say much. My father just asked Lord Dong to arrange the order that night. Haha, our Wu Family's weavers have always been better than the Su family's weavers. We just need to take advantage of the first impression. As for the rest, I'll leave it to the Weaving Bureau …"
After he said this, he smiled. When Xi Junyu finished eating and put down his bowl and chopsticks, he shook his head. "Two days later, Su Tan'er basically has no chance to take over the Su family. The Su family has internal strife, and those idiots will only lose all the family business. There is no future for them. Are you sure you don't want to come to my Wu Family?"
Xi Junyu glanced at him. "You know what I'm going to do."
"You and I have known each other for many years. A few years ago, I invited you to my Wu Family, but you refused because of Su Tan'er. I understand that. Now you're a married woman. Tsk, you're really something … "Wu Qilong sighed. Then he looked at Xi Junyu's expression and smiled." Okay, I know. They haven't consummated their marriage yet. After the ownership of the imperial business is decided, of course, you can manipulate some shopkeepers to deal with Ning Liheng, so that they will never have the chance to consummate their marriage. Su Tan'er's efforts over the years have been wasted, and she will definitely find someone to vent her anger on. But in the end, it's really difficult. Xi Junyu, once the Su family collapses, with Su Tan'er's temper, she will definitely grit her teeth and carry it on. At that time, you can help her behind the scenes. After a few years or more, she will be indebted to you, and you may be able to be together. But it's really difficult … "
Wu Qilong paused. On the other side, Xi Junyu said indifferently, "And when the time comes, the Wu Family will have become the imperial business. The time has come. You can go to the world's number one cloth department. As for the Su family, it has been decades of accumulation to this scale. Once the old grandfather dies, it will collapse, and it won't be able to rise again for decades. We will no longer be opponents, and naturally, I am no longer a threat to you. "
"I have never cared about such threats, but it's a pity." Wu Qilong frowned. "In Jiangning. Me, my second brother, Xue Yan, and you can't compare to Su Tan'er. To be honest, in the past few years, she has been holding on to one thing and pushing it to this point. This is the right way of business. She is indeed powerful, and we are all inferior to her. In the younger generation, apart from Su Tan'er, only the Puyang family's Puyang Yi and the Tang family's Tang Xu can make me feel ashamed of my inferiority. But she is, after all, a woman. Although I may not be able to do what she did if I were in her position, she still has her limitations, and there are many complications. "
Wu Qilong took a deep breath. "To be honest, I have never thought of specifically dealing with the Su family. If it weren't for this situation, where I and the Xue family both have their eyes on the imperial business, Su Tan'er would have been prepared. She would have earned what she should have earned, and no one would have fought her for it. When she wanted to make a move, everyone had their eyes on her. It can only be said that she was unlucky. Since she has fallen into the trap, this is how mutual deception is. But I have never thought of dealing with anyone, it is just business. My Wu Family has long been the number one cloth merchant in Jiangning. Brother Xi, Jiangning is just a pond. You can go to the sea, do you really want to stay in this pond? "
Xi Junyu smiled. "It is just doing things, there is no such thing as logic."
"That's true." Wu Qilong smiled and shook his head. "I know what you are thinking. Life is just to do some things, and when there is something you want to do, you will do it. But … she is just a woman. One day, when you reach a higher level, you may find these things boring. Or a few years later, you will find this woman ordinary and no longer have the same feelings as before, and you will regret it. Do you know? I got married when I was eighteen, and she passed away three years later. I swore that I would never touch another woman, but one day, when I thought of her, I suddenly forgot what she looked like. I married two concubines … the women are all the same. "
"People are like this." Wu Qilong said, "Men of my generation, if we want to do something, we will do something big. Women can do nothing, and they are all the same. If you let go of Su Tan'er, you will find that there are many women like her. Do you know, many women like to flirt and pretend? Whether she is pretending or not, as long as I do it once, I will never put my mind on her a second time. These are all small matters, but I will give you a word of advice: Love is useless. If you don't have the heart, I will stop! "
"There is a lot of nonsense today."
"Heh, I know you may not listen, but as long as it is possible, I must say it. Because there are three days left, this matter will be resolved. Are you going to pester her for ten or twenty years just because she did not consummate her marriage? One step forward, and you will see the sea. One step, and in the next ten or twenty years, you will be completely different. This time, the matter of the Su family, of course, is good, but even if the imperial merchants gave it to the Su family, I did not care. My Wu Family is still the Wu Family. If you and I work together, our influence will not only be limited to Jiangning. "
Wu Qilong smiled. "How this matter is, after all, you have to consider it yourself."
The more capable a person was, the more determined he was. It was not that Xi Junyu did not know how to think, and it was certainly difficult to persuade him, but he still had to speak when it was necessary. After he finished speaking, Xi Junyu's expression was still calm. After a long time, he said, "In the last two or three days, don't complicate things.
Su Tan'er is not simple, and she may not be without backup. For the matter of the Lunar New Year cloth, she has withdrawn funds from various places and has been preparing for more than two years. At this time, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver have been spent. When the imperial merchants are revealed, all her expectations will be in vain. No one can say what she will do. "
"Heh, Brother Xi, are you talking about lowering the price to boost the goods?" Wu Qilong laughed happily. "I can't wait for her to do so. If she breaks the rules, everyone will come to beat her up, and the Su family will collapse even faster. Your Old Master will not allow her to do this, and neither will Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang. If she does this, she will drag the entire Su family down into the water and go crazy. "
He shook his head, and his voice rose with happiness and confidence. "If you want to talk about what I am guarding against now, Su Tan'er and Manager Liao have done their best to bring the Su family's reputation to this point. Su Yu is the most powerful person. Back then, he supported the Su family alone and established Jiangning's cloth industry as one of the top three. If he comes forward, he may be able to turn the tide, but he is old, and the Su family will not last for long. Of course, this is a matter for the future. Now that he has let go, the role he can play is limited. As for the others, who else? Is it the Brother Ning who received the order in the face of danger, the focus of everyone's attention, and turned the tide? "
Xi Junyu narrowed his eyes, his expression lazy. To be honest, he did not like hearing this name. An incompetent person, but he married Su Tan'er, and now the Su family even pushed him to temporarily take charge. An incompetent person had taken away what he could have had in the first place. "Don't be arrogant. He is the number one scholar in Jiang Ning, and is extremely talented in poetry. You've done such a despicable thing in secret. Be careful that he doesn't punish you."
"Haha, that's reasonable, that's reasonable." Wu Qilong slapped the table and laughed, then his expression turned serious. "This person is not stupid. Looking at his bearing and demeanor, compared to the Su family, he is actually much more sensible. These days, although his actions are clumsy, he is not very reckless. It can be seen that he still has the heart to think, and the heart to learn. It's just that the Su family's situation is like this, it is inevitable that he will be anxious. If something small happened in normal times, letting him take charge would not be a big mistake, but now … he is in such a situation in front of a scholar, and the opponent is not on the same level as him. What can a smart newcomer like him do? From the beginning to the end, this matter is not something he can participate in, I can only say … it is not the right time. "
"After this time, I believe he will understand a lot." Xi Junyu thought about some of Ning Yi's actions these days, at this time, he lightly shook his head, then turned and walked out. "If there is nothing else, thank you for your hospitality."
"Words can't express my gratitude, you should repay it with a gushing spring." Wu Qilong made a joke, then waved his hand. "Think about what I said, in front of the sea is the sea, it is not worth it for a pond. The door of the Wu Family is always open to you. Oh, and that sentence … it is useless to be lovesick … "
"Since you are not interested, I will stop." After walking out, Xi Junyu repeated, his figure disappearing in the darkness of the ship. "It is best not to meet like this again."
"This matter is settled, there will be no more changes," Wu Qilong replied. When the hazy figure went away with the boat, he sighed, pushed away the bowl and chopsticks in front of him, stood up, and turned to leave. "What a pity …"
He murmured and sighed. In any case, Xi Junyu was a talent he had always wanted to poach. In the future, he would be in charge of the Wu Family, and he must have his own team. Although it was gratifying that the Wu Family got the imperial business now, some plans could be made in advance, and it was the icing on the cake. But even if he couldn't get it, the Wu Family was still the Wu Family. He was still young, and there were many opportunities in the future. Only such a talent could not be found. What he really valued was the future, not the current interests.
However, since there was such a benefit, of course, it did not matter to take it. He stood on the side of the ship, thinking of the panic of the Su family in the past month, the hidden fear in the radical, the anxious Old Grandpa Su, who claimed to have brought the Su family to the top of Jiangning, and the smirk of the Xue family on the opposite side, he could not help but smile and shake his head.
It was really ridiculous.
The light on the river dimmed a little, and the small painted boat sailed forward in the waves.
The sky was bright, and if it got darker, it would be the 24th of August. When the sky brightened again, it would be the morning of the 25th. Ning Yi slept in, so he missed the morning meeting. That night was the annual general meeting of the textile industry held by the Weaving Bureau. Because autumn was the harvest season, such a general meeting would be held in each industry every year.
*****
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