Chapter 12: Are you trying to brush me off like a beggar?

Zhang Qi sneered, "Neither of us is a fool. If you can get me that warehouse before tomorrow, I will naturally give you what I promised."

Lu Jia curled her lips. "Why wait until tomorrow? Today will do. But we must draw up a contract first. After all, someone like you really has no character to speak of."

Zhang Qi’s face turned livid with rage. He chased her into the hall, but before he could lash out, the wretched girl had already shoved two sheets of paper covered in writing right in front of him!

He looked closely and saw two identical contracts. The content was exactly what they had just discussed: within two days, Lu Jia would help him purchase the warehouse, and in return, he would return the Xie family’s assets he had previously seized!

Zhang Qi felt a lump of air stuck in his chest. "You had this prepared? Does that mean you knew I would come?"

Lu Jia sneered, "Right now, besides taking this path with me, do you have any other way to go? The brush and ink are ready. Sign it, press your thumbprint, and then bring the items!"

Zhang Qi was choked with anger and speechless. His gaze lingered on the paper for a moment before he picked up the brush and signed his name.

Sign it, then. What could a mere piece of paper do to him? Back then, all the silver and shops were in their hands, and in the end, didn't they all wind up in the Zhang family’s possession?

He’d sign it to humor her for now!

He pressed his thumbprint and said, "Can you tell me now?"

"Of course not. You are wealthy and powerful; if I only have this contract, I can't do anything to you. So, you must first place the shop’s deed and the three thousand taels of silver notes here to show your sincerity."

Zhang Qi had lost his patience. "You’re treating me like a sucker!"

Lu Jia scoffed, "I didn't invite you here."

Zhang Qi rose abruptly, intending to flick his sleeves and leave. Halfway out, he turned back, pointing at her angrily. "You can have the silver, but I’m only giving you five hundred taels. Don't even think about asking for more!"

"Do you think you're dismissing a beggar? I am the eldest daughter of the Xie family, a guest of honor at your Zhang house back in the day. You haven't even brought the shop’s deed, and you expect me to trust you?!"

Lu Jia slammed the table as well.

Zhang Qi jumped in surprise. His chest heaved, and he barked at his servant, "Go and get the shop’s deed!"

He glared at Lu Jia. "I want to see if you have the capability to swallow it!"

Lu Jia sneered and said nothing.

The two houses were wall-to-wall, so it didn't take long to retrieve the items. Zhang Qi held them in his hand for her to see, his teeth nearly grinding to dust. "See clearly?"

Lu Jia reached out to take them, but Zhang Qi snatched them back.

Lu Jia glanced at him and said

"I did the math for you this morning. In Shawan alone, counting only those within the wharf, there are twenty-seven warehouses. Over sixty percent of these belong to rice merchants, and they certainly won't let them go. The remaining nine are like the Li family’s—local businesses not reliant on the rice market.

"You know better than I do that apart from the Li family’s, the other eight have all been reserved. And now, the Li family won't sell to you either."

Zhang Qi glared at her. "Isn't that just stating the obvious?!"

Lu Jia raised her lips. "Among those eight reserved warehouses, there is at least one you still have a chance at."

Zhang Qi shot her a sideways glance.

"After the cargo ships from the Tonghuo Gate wharf are diverted here, the Shawan wharf will definitely need to expand its loading and unloading area. That is why the big merchants of Tanzhou Prefecture are pooling their own silver to extend the commercial streets.

"A longer commercial street means more loading and unloading points. The warehouse I mentioned is at the southern end of the wharf, right along the river. As far as I know, the one who bought this warehouse is the Liu family, who run an inn. They likely intended to buy it and convert it into an inn.

"But if a boarding point is added in the future, this location loses its advantage as an inn. There is no extra space outside for carriages and horses, and it cannot become a hub for merchants.

"However, as a warehouse for loading and unloading goods at any time, it is just right.

"Although not many people know about the Tanzhou merchants pooling funds to expand the wharf, the Liu family runs an inn and is well-informed; they must know by now.

"And they are likely already looking to sell."

Lu Jia looked out the window as she said this. "There are plenty of people wanting to buy warehouses right now. If you rush to the Liu family immediately and beat others to it, the rest is just a matter of price."

Zhang Qi’s overflowing rage had already turned into shock.

He had never imagined that the Tanzhou merchants' actions could hide such an opportunity for him—although he would have to pay every cent for the warehouse himself, the point was that he hadn't thought of it from start to finish!

Was her sharp mind not enough to be shocking?

"It’s getting late, time to go."

Lu Jia stood up and tucked the dry-inked document into her sleeve. "To prevent you from being unreliable, I’ll go through the trouble of accompanying you."

...

It was evening by the time they left the Liu residence.

Zhang Qi and Lu Jia parted ways in front of his house. He then scurried inside, limping as if avoiding a ghost, and slammed the newly repaired gate shut.

When he placed the warehouse deed in front of Madam He, she jumped off her stool!

"How did you manage this?!"

"I don't know how the hell I managed it either."

Zhang Qi tilted his head back and gulped down a large cup of tea.

After leaving the Xie house, they had gone straight to the Liu residence. Sure enough, before he even arrived, a Jiangxi medicinal merchant and a local rice merchant were already sitting in the Liu family’s hall.

Zhang Qi was determined to win—in fact, with Lu Jia following along and urging him on, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and offer a price five hundred taels higher than what the Liu family had paid to secure it.

Watching Lu Jia trade barbs and haggle with the other merchants, so fierce and capable, all he could think about was the Lu Jia of the past—the one who, while stubborn, had never confronted him head-on.

He hadn't expected that after being unconscious for only a few days, she would wake up and start dominating, leaving everyone unable to keep up!

This wretched girl, it seems, has some use after all...

Madam He’s shrill voice pierced the roof again: "You mean that wretched girl just came up with an idea and swindled us out of a shop and three thousand taels of silver? Why doesn't she just go rob someone?!"

After scolding, she grabbed Zhang Qi. "You didn't actually agree to her, did you?"

Zhang Qi looked miserable. "You think I wanted to? How was I to know she was that formidable?

"When the Liu family brought out the deed for the warehouse, I don't know how she was so quick, but she snatched it away and forced me to hand over the shop’s deed before she would return it!"

"That god-forsaken girl!"

Madam He let out a pig-like shriek. "That shop is worth a full two thousand taels! She just swindled it away like that?

"I’m not finished with her!"

Zhang Qi didn't feel the same way. It was a pity to return the shop, but you have to lose a minnow to catch a whale. Besides, letting that wretched girl be smug for a while wouldn't hurt...

...

The rain outside the window had stopped, and twilight shrouded the earth. This wave of late spring cold would soon pass.

Before Lu Jia went to the wharf that morning, she had intended to use Li Er’s anger from the previous night to goad Zhang Qi into buying the Li family’s warehouse, then set them up again to ensure they became mortal enemies.

But when she saw the Liu family’s warehouse at the wharf, and Zhang Qi later mentioned his ties to the Assistant Prefect at the county office, she changed her mind.

Strictly speaking, there was no trickery involved; it was just that Zhang Qi lacked the brains for business.

If he truly had the vision of Old Master Zhang, he wouldn't have stooped so low as to collude with Li Er.

The shop was back, and there was three thousand taels of silver.

Although she knew the Zhang family would surely still covet the shop, silver was much easier to move than a shop.

Before they had the ability to protect more of their family assets, the fate of Xie Yi in her past life was a cautionary tale.

With this shop, at least the immediate problem of food and drink could be solved.

The wharf was worth watching next, because in her past life, this was when Lu Jia left Shawan for the capital.

What would the future Shawan wharf look like? She hadn't seen it. What specific aspects of Shawan would the imperial court’s water transport reforms affect? She didn't know.

This meant that for the next period of time, she wouldn't be able to reap much benefit from information advantages.