The strangely dressed man casually took out a piece of green transparent irregular object and said, "These colored glaze materials are all real. You can inspect them and ask someone to process them. It won't take much effort to make a good colored glaze ware. If we weren't in urgent need of silver, we would definitely process them ourselves and not sell them to you."
The shop assistant looked at him with a puzzled face and asked, "You … didn't speak like that just now."
The foreign merchant was stunned and asked, "Then how did I speak like that?"
"Yes, yes, you spoke like that." The shop assistant twitched his mouth and immediately shut his mouth after saying that.
He was worried that if he continued talking to him, he would also speak like that in the future.
Shopkeeper Ma didn't pay attention to the conversation between the two. All his attention was on the piece of colored glaze in his hand. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath, asking, "How much is the piece of colored glaze in your hand worth?"
The man weighed the colored glaze in his hand and said, "Three thousand taels."
"Three thousand taels?" Shopkeeper Ma smiled and said, "If it's a real piece of colored glaze ware, three thousand taels isn't expensive. But this is just a raw material. How can it be worth three thousand taels?"
"You're in this line of business, so you should know that it doesn't cost much to make a piece of colored glaze ware." The foreign merchant opened his mouth and paused. He looked at the shop assistant next to him and said, "The important thing is the raw material … Three thousand taels isn't expensive."
"I'm in the raw material business, so I naturally know the rules of this line of business." Boss Ma smiled and said, "It's risky to carve the raw materials into jewelry. How about 2,000 taels of silver?"
"We have a lot of colored glaze and wanted to find someone who is worth cooperating with." The man shook his head, took the colored glaze in his hand, and turned to leave. When he walked to the door, he turned back and said, "Since you're not sincere, we'll find someone else."
At the door, a middle-aged man stopped him and said with a smile, "Wait, wait. Our Xu family is also in this line of business. Three thousand taels it is. The price is negotiable. Can I have a look at this piece of colored glaze first?"
Shopkeeper Ma quickly walked out and happened to see the middle-aged man holding the piece of glass and looking it up and down. His heart sank and he immediately stepped forward and said, "Brother Xu, how could you do something like stealing business? Don't you know the rules?"
The man looked up at him and said with a smile, "Brother Ma, what are you talking about? This is obviously a business that you don't want to do. Don't tell me you don't want others to do it?"
"What business do you mean I won't do? Aren't I discussing it now?" Shopkeeper Ma walked over with a face full of smiles as he stopped in front of the foreign merchant and said: "Come, come, come. Brother, I was in the wrong just now. Come in and have a cup of tea, we can talk about it slowly."
The man surnamed Xu said, "Alright, I'm thirsty. Let's talk inside."
Shopkeeper Ma looked back and said, "What do you mean? Let's talk inside. I'm discussing business with this brother. What are you doing here?"
The man surnamed Xu said with a sullen face, "Brother Ma, this is a bit too much. Can your Ma family handle such a big business?"
The young man surnamed Bai immediately stepped forward to smooth things over. "Shopkeepers, we've been friends for so many years. Let's not hurt each other because of such a small matter. Shopkeeper Xu, Shopkeeper Ma accepted this business first. Why don't we let them talk first? There must be some rules, right?"
After saying that, he looked at the foreign merchant and asked, "You just said that you have a lot of glass?"
…
…
"This damn Xu family and Ma family. We've been working together for so many years. How can they raise the price just like that? What a despicable person …"
In the courtyard, Lin Yong was squatting on the ground, snorting as he ate the noodles and complained angrily.
Li Yi used a small fan to fan the fire while brewing the medicine for Lady Liu. "Merchants only pursue profit. Don't take friendship seriously. Money is their true friend. Don't think that the three of them are in the same boat now. If there is a conflict of interest, they will turn hostile faster than anyone else," said Li Yi casually as he used a small fan to fan the fire while brewing medicine for Lady Liu.
Lin Yong interrupted, "My lady is not like that."
"Alright, alright, I know your lady is a good person. Kindness will be rewarded. It's not that she won't repay her kindness, but it's not time yet …"
Li Yi added more firewood to the pot and said, "You don't have to be too angry. No matter what you do, you have to have a bottom line. Otherwise, you'll suffer retribution. Those who cheat others will be cheated. This has been the truth since ancient times. Maybe those families will soon suffer retribution."
Lin Yong snorted and finished eating the noodles. He put down the bowl and said gloomily, "Why haven't I seen evil get retribution? Good people don't live long, but scourges last for thousands of years. In this world, evil people live more freely."
Li Yi saw that a window of a room in the inn next door was opened. He stood up and handed the fan to Lin Yong. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Believe me, there will always be retribution. It's just a matter of time … I'll go out for a while. Help me watch the fire for a while."
Lin Yong squatted down and fanned the fire from time to time. Li Yi walked out of the courtyard and walked into the inn next door. He went straight up to the second floor and knocked on a door three times.
After three knocks, the door opened.
Inside the room, a man stood up and said, "I've just reached an agreement with those three families. Those raw materials will be given to them. It's not convenient for us to use silver notes, so let them directly trade with gold."
Unlike other things, colored glass was not only valuable after it was made into colored glass wares. Even if it was just a ball, it was also an auspicious sign and treasure in people's eyes. That thing could be burned in large quantities every day, so there was no time to carve it one by one. It could be casually burned and sold for money. It didn't take time and effort, and it was extremely convenient.
The Bai family, the Xu family, and the Ma family had obviously joined hands this time to force Lin Wanru to give in. It just so happened that there was no place to sell these things. Previously, they lived and lived in other people's houses, so they would do whatever they could to help.
The man smiled and asked tentatively, "Young master, do you think we can get ten more points this time?"
Li Yi looked at them and said with a smile, "Everyone has worked hard these days. When we go back, everyone will get fifty more points."
A few people's faces lit up, and they cupped their fists and said, "Thank you, young master!"
After Li Yi left, one person closed the door, but the joy on their faces still did not fade.
A young man's face lit up with anticipation, and he said, "Fifty points, in addition to the previous points, we can get Senior Liu to teach us martial arts once."
"I plan to exchange five hundred taels of silver to buy a house in the capital and bring my mother back." Another middle-aged man smiled and said, "Xiaowu, what about you?"
A young man sitting in the corner smiled and said, "I also plan to buy a house next to yours, and then I'll go back and propose. Xiuxiu has already waited for me for three years, but that old guy didn't agree. This time, I'll go back and smash him to death with silver …"
"Haha, you're ambitious …"
The conversation in the room was limited to this small space. In another part of the city, Bai Yu and two other middle-aged men were gathered together, also talking in low voices.
Bai Yu looked at the two of them and said, "This is a big business, and only our three families can handle it. You two should stop fighting."
"They actually only want gold. Where are we going to get it?"
"Gold is easy, we can just go to the bank and exchange it. The problem is that we don't have that much silver on hand, unless we sell that batch of goods to the Lin family …"
"If that's the case, then we'll be letting Nephew Bai down."
Bai Yu smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's fine, this business is very important …"
The two of them nodded. Faced with such a big business, they, who were in urgent need of money, naturally would not turn down such a huge profit for a promise.
The opportunity could not be missed, and it would not come again. Next time, they would not encounter such a stupid foreign merchant.
In the shop in front, a shop assistant scratched his head in confusion and mumbled, "Foreigners, all talk like this?"
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