Ning Yi met Yunzhu and Jin 'er in the afternoon. Recently, due to the Lunar New Year, the construction of the Bamboo Ji branch had paused for a while. However, as the New Year's Eve was approaching, work had to start again. Ning Yi had been busy for a while, so when he had time, he was dragged over to have a look. Yunzhu had to inform someone about the purchase of goods on the way, so Jiner accompanied her to the branch first.
In fact, the style of the shop had basically taken shape. There were not many things that Ning Yi needed to decide. As for the name of the shop, it was called Second Shop or Jin 'er Shop. Ning Yi didn't mind. The restaurant was built near the river, and many windows were not installed. There was even some snow on the side of the vent. Fortunately, they were both wearing thick clothes. Ning Yi's second-rate Kung Fu had reached the basic level — at least he felt so. Yuan Jin 'er had always been lively. Not long ago, she boasted that she could take a bath in the snowy Tianxia River, so she didn't feel cold. At this time, she chatted with Yuan Jin' er.
"After the shop is finished, I've decided to perform on the stage for three days in person to gain popularity."
"I haven't performed for a long time. You must be rusty."
"Get lost. I only perform in front of Sister Yunzhu … Uh, what do you think?"
"I haven't seen it. It must be bad."
"I said I'll perform on the stage."
"… You know it yourself. Don't make trouble."
Although they didn't seem to have a good temperament, Jin 'er admired Ning Yi on many important matters. She naturally had high hopes for the shop with her name on it. She said she wanted to perform on the stage to gain popularity. But since Ning Yi said so, she curled her lips and didn't mention it again.
"Then I can only find my former sister. It's expensive." Jin'er dragged a stool and sat down in a sheltered corner of the hall. She was quite popular and played a big role in helping Takeshi find connections, but in fact, she did not have a very clear concept of money. Sometimes, when Yunzhu was doing the accounts, she would just stand by and watch. She was always angry about the expenses and was extremely stingy.
"You can make a name for yourself and you don't have to accompany a stinky man like me. It's a win-win situation." Ning Yi placed a few stools on the round table and cleared the space. He smiled and said, "Furthermore, if Takeshi really becomes big in the future, he can train a group of performers."
"Cultivate …" Jin'er blinked and whispered, "You want to open a brothel?"
"Why are your thoughts so perverted!" Ning Yi glared at her. "In the future … when Takeshi's scale becomes big, he can train some girls and even men. He can teach and learn all kinds of things. He can form a troupe and do everything from opera and singing to acrobatics. Anyway, there are many children who can't eat outside. It can be considered as doing something good and solving the problem of surplus labor."
Listening to Ning Yi's plan and vision, Jin'er was stunned for a while. "That … it's very expensive. If we don't open a brothel and only perform, the troupe won't make much money at all. And … how big does it have to be …" She couldn't imagine these things at all. If they only ran around and performed, wouldn't it be no different from an opera troupe? Who would be willing to spend a lot of money on this kind of thing?
"After opening more than three branches, the chicken will lay eggs quickly. At that time, we can make a process and let it slowly split on its own." Ning Yi wrote some things about the layout of the shop on a piece of paper. "The important thing is … the collusion between the government and business. Yunzhu is quite familiar with Elder Qin's family and knows Prince Consort Kang … That old man recently owes me a lot of things. This way, at least the whole process can be guaranteed to go smoothly. There won't be too much interference from the government. If we want to go through the back door, there will be a way …"
He paused. "The main point is to make it high-end. Develop south, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and so on. Slowly build the supporting entertainment. As long as the management and publicity are right, there will be business. This Wu Dynasty … Anyway, they are so poor that they only have money. Of course, it depends on whether you like to make it too big. Otherwise, you can stop at any time. "
In terms of these businesses, Ning Yi had enough ability to plan. Moreover, nowadays, the most important thing in doing business was not planning but backing. He didn't need to be too polite to let Takeshi's business run with the power of the Prince Consort's Mansion. It wasn't a big problem. In the past, whenever he talked to Yunzhu and the others about this, Jin 'er would be surprised when she heard it. She thought in distress that she might become a tycoon in the future, but then she thought that this guy was too daring. She didn't believe him.
While they were talking, Yunzhu had already entered the restaurant. As she closed the door, she looked at the road in front of her. She was different from Jin 'er. Jin' er sometimes looked like a man, but Yunzhu usually only wore women's dresses. At most, the colors were monotonous. From a distance, she looked a little rustic, but up close, her beautiful appearance couldn't be hidden. Seeing her come over, Jin 'er laughed and rushed over. She looked around and asked, "Sister Yunzhu, what are you looking at?"
"Uh, I think I saw … Miss Qi Lan pass by here. Maybe I was mistaken."
"Qi Lan?" Jin 'er pushed the door open and looked around. "Maybe it's a coincidence. Anyway, we weren't very familiar with her before. There was a grudge between us during the Top Beauty Competition. It must have nothing to do with us."
"When did you have a grudge with Qi Lan …"
"She won the Top Beauty Competition, and Ning Yi even gave her two thousand flowers. She made me lose face. That's a big grudge."
Yuan Jin 'er didn't want to compete for the Top Beauty Competition. But this was the only thing that made her bring it up to criticize Ning Yi's shamelessness. Yunzhu burst into laughter. Ning Yi patted his forehead helplessly. He was not far from the snow pile under the window. At this time, he walked over silently and picked up a snowball. Jin 'er's expression froze. She wanted to escape. Yunzhu laughed. "Well, hit her."
Ning Yi didn't have any tender feelings for the fairer sex, especially for an enemy like Yuan Jin 'er who always provoked him. He waved his hand and the snowball came whistling. "Ah!" Jiner held her head in her hands and let out a low cry. She was thinking that she would take revenge after being hit, but in the next moment, snowflakes splashed everywhere.
Yunzhu shrank her neck and didn't react at all. The snowball splashed on her head. Ning Yi kept the posture of throwing the snowball and was stunned for a moment. Jin 'er held back her laughter. After a moment, her whole face was puffed up.
"You call yourself a martial arts master … You can't even hit her with a snowball …" Yunzhu patted the snow on her head and lowered her shoulders. There was a hint of bitterness in her eyes. Then, she pursed her lips and began to walk out. Jin 'er followed her out with a smile. The two girls began to make snowballs under the eaves.
"Hey, it's a misunderstanding … Yunzhu, you are more sensible than Jin 'er. You can't do this …"
*****
It turned out that even sensible people wouldn't be willing to be hit for no reason. Soon after, when the three of them came out of the hall, Ning Yi patted the snow on his body and looked a little helpless.
"Hidden weapon skills also need to be practiced …"
"It means that your hidden weapon skills are not as good as ours." Yuan Jin 'er tidied her hair as if she had just been ravaged. Then, she turned around and looked at the store that was still waiting to be renovated. "It will open in February, right?"
"Yes." Ning Yi nodded. "Second store."
"Jin 'er's store!"
"Okay, whatever you say …"
It was getting late, and they had almost finished talking about the details of the store's renovation. In fact, it wasn't the main point. The three of them parted at the street. Yunzhu and Jin 'er went back in a carriage, and Ning Yi went home from the other side.
The weather was still cold, and the snow in the city was quite thick. On the way home, they looked at the shops and teahouses that were open on both sides of the road. The faces of the pedestrians on the road seemed to indicate that this year was still going to be peaceful. Ning Yi thought about Takeshi's development. These things were said to be businesses, but for him, it was like a family business.
Rationally speaking, he was inclined to develop the business in the south. After all, the Wu dynasty was weak. No matter how the Liao people or the Jin people developed, no matter how the situation developed, they might be conquered by the north in the future, and the south would definitely be more peaceful. However, at this thought, he remembered that he mentioned to Lu Hong that he would expand his business to Lüliang Mountain in the future. In this case, it would be very difficult to do business there, especially since it was a poor area. Now that Tian Hu was making trouble, if he really wanted to do business in the future, he might have to find another way.
Ning Yi had plans to expand his business. Of course, it wasn't for some boring results such as a national chain. The main reason was actually for the inventions related to weapons. In the future, he would definitely do these things. If he really could do it, he didn't want to directly hand it over to Kang Xian. The reason was very complicated.
First, a half-baked firearm was not very meaningful. If he really wanted to turn the tide, there were many places where Ning Yi needed to intervene. In this case, he definitely had to come out and do something. There were internal intrigues in the officialdom, and there was still the emperor above him. Ning Yi was used to being a superior. It wasn't that he couldn't handle the intrigues, but it was definitely very annoying. He didn't like this kind of pattern where there were always people telling him what to do. Secondly, he didn't have a sense of identity with the imperial court. Instead, he had a sense of identity with Lu Hongti. He admired this strong and powerful woman. If possible, he might as well help her.
Of course, when one's thinking expanded to the scope of "the country," the specific considerations would always seem very superficial. Now, there were only two shops, and it seemed a little exaggerated to think of a national chain. Currently, the scope of Ning Yi's activities was only within Jiangning City. Recently, he accompanied Tan'Er around to pay New Year's greetings. Usually, the things he came into contact with were mostly trivial matters at home or in the business world.
This wasn't the era of information explosion, where any passerby could talk about politics and patriotism. When future generations looked at history, they might be able to see how many patriots there were, and how tragic and moving the stories were. But in fact, in the current society, the war in the north might be an extremely vague concept. In the business world, there might be contacts with the Liao people, but the Confucian scholars on the pleasure boats in the brothels actually didn't know what the Jin people were really like.
Ning Yi only occasionally learned some bits and pieces of information from the conversations between Elder Qin and Elder Kang. What he came into contact with more were the leisurely days in Jiangning City, the quiet and secluded bamboo forest near the Academy, a group of children shaking their heads while studying, and his wife's smile or playfulness while chatting at home while keeping accounts. These things were, after all, more real.
But some of them were gradually expanding. The officials who visited Elder Qin at the end of the year had made the identity of the old man more complicated and three-dimensional. One thing was for sure, Elder Qin probably wouldn't be able to set up a chess stall by the Qinhuai River in the future. As for what exactly Elder Qin had done, Ning Yi didn't know. He could only outline a rough outline based on what others said. The old man was extremely calm in this aspect. He never talked about these things in his daily chats, but since the end of the year, Ning Yi could clearly feel something tense. Whether it was Elder Qin or Kang Xian, everyone was waiting for something to happen in the north.
But what they were waiting for had yet to come.
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