Lu Yang didn’t have the skill to read accounting books, so upon hearing this, he said he wanted to learn.
Hong Chu teased him, “You’re already a jinshi husband, and you still want to learn bookkeeping?”
Lu Yang smiled and said, “Passing the jinshi exam is my husband’s achievement. If he can go out and be called ‘Lu Yang’s husband,’ that is my achievement.”
Hong Chu nodded. “Alright, I’ll find an experienced shopkeeper to teach you. Accounting isn’t about numbers—it’s about business.”
Lu Yang understood. Business is about handling information, judging opportunities, and understanding the market; only then can one sense differences among countless numbers.
Compared to the Hong family’s enterprise, his own business was tiny. Yet Lu Yang spoke of it with great joy. He told Hong Chu about his study room, about his initial ideas and how they had taken shape.
“Perhaps it will open around the first month of the lunar year. I’ll invite you over as a guest!”
Hong Chu agreed and then asked about his shop.
“Your shop’s scope is too narrow.”
Lu Yang had heard from Wu Pingzhi and, after a trip to the provincial city, had shifted his thinking. He no longer insisted on investing in his own workshops and could cooperate with others.
Now that he knew Hong Chu, he could offer all the Hong family’s product lines to clients. He essentially acted as a middleman, earning a modest margin.
It was much like when he first went to the county to buy goods for resale and negotiated prices for Lu Liu’s small shop. With multiple Hong family shops attracting business, their network was broader and could meet more client needs.
Once his own business grew, he could gradually narrow the cooperation scope. Building a shop takes a decade. By making many friends, one can advance together and shorten the growth period.
Xie Yan and Sheng Daxian, as well as Ji Mingzhu, were already on friendly terms; these families also had businesses. He could inquire about their product types and negotiate collaborations.
The Wu family needed no mention; cooperation with them was straightforward, as Wu Pingzhi wouldn’t refuse.
In this way, their shop would at least have a framework.
Hong Chu listened as Lu Yang elaborated and shared his business ideas.
“There’s one thing I haven’t tried yet—it carries both risk and opportunity. Listen: how can a shop handle everything at once? For instance, we know ink from Place A and tea from Place B—these are signature products. You can attach your shop’s sign next to their sign. The risk is that clients will know the source and bypass you, leaving you no margin. But if you guarantee the source and quality, they’ll know you’ve selected the best. What they receive will definitely be good.
“Why would they choose you over someone else selling the same quality ink from Place A? Even knowing the source, they come to you because of your guarantee. When your reputation is strong enough, your guarantee carries value. Not only can you handle procurement business, but workshops from various regions will seek you out to supply goods, competing to be bought by you.”
Lu Yang immediately understood.
Previously, he had also taught about “reputation,” using small-market examples: buying meat here, rice there, all because of honesty and integrity. In other words, sufficient goods and good quality.
The last time he went shopping with Hong Chu, they had discussed many things—the interplay between street-level experience and the systematic experience of a large family—and this time was the same. Both were thoroughly engaged.
Lu Yang couldn’t help but sigh. “When the God of Wealth returns to the prefectural city, you must have something to discuss with him too.”
Hong Chu asked, “Which God of Wealth?”
Lu Yang said, “The young master of the Wu family—he also passed the jinshi exam this time.”
Hong Chu nodded in realization. After a moment, he asked, “Does he read well and handle business too?”
“Yes. His insight is sharp; when a deal is set up, he can roughly estimate the profit,” Lu Yang replied.
Hong Chu asked further, “Has he suffered? Been harmed? Does he understand men?”
Lu Yang paused, hesitating. “He has suffered, been harmed, and should understand men. After all, he has also endured the hardships men face.”
Nowadays, few young men or women went into business; the Wu family’s hardships could only have been imposed by men.
Finally, Hong Chu asked, “Does he have a clan?”
Lu Yang answered quickly, “Yes. Before his exam, his relatives arranged for many people to stay at his house, which scared him into hiding in the prefectural city!”
Hong Chu understood and said, “I want to meet him; I have a question or two to ask.”
Lu Yang blinked. “What matter?”
Hong Chu quietly said, “Look at my father—he’s still seeing guests now. Even though I’m home, the accountants and shopkeepers would rather wait than come to me. I swore at the ancestral hall: during this period, my methods are strict, no one controls me, yet I see no future. The people I can rely on are all Hong family, mostly men. I can’t tell them. I want an outsider to advise on victory or defeat. Isn’t he sharp-eyed? Ask him if I have a chance to break the deadlock.”
Lu Yang’s heart sank. He said, “You might only meet him at the end of the year; he’s going to the Golden Buddha Pagoda to fulfill a vow. Last time we parted, we agreed to meet in the prefectural city at year’s end.”
Hong Chu could wait. “Two months is nothing; two years would be worrisome.”
The room fell silent. After a while, Lu Yang said, “With your skill, starting from nothing would be easy. If this place can’t contain you, you can build your own Hong family. Like this courtyard—at worst, divide it into Greater and Lesser Hong.”
Hong Chu shook his head. “All my ambition is here. I must win, not lose. Starting anew… forget it.”
Lu Yang knew he couldn’t help Hong Chu now, but still asked, “Is there anything I can do?”
Hong Chu said, “Just come visit. It’s too dull here.”
Lu Yang smiled. “That won’t work.”
Hong Chu raised an eyebrow without speaking.
Lu Yang said, “I’m expecting a child. Going out soon will be inconvenient, so you’ll have to come to me. I’ll be home every day. You can come anytime.”
Hong Chu chuckled. “Double happiness then? I didn’t know, otherwise I would’ve given a gift too.”
Lu Yang looked at the qin on the low table and said he wanted to hear it.
“Let my child listen too, so they grow up versatile like you.”
Playing the qin is simple; choosing a piece is hard.
Lu Yang hadn’t heard many pieces before, and couldn’t even name them.
Hong Chu sat at the low table and chose a piece himself.
Lu Yang didn’t understand it; he couldn’t judge its quality, only feeling a deep peace as if the invisible strings swept away all his worries.
Hong Chu played quietly, with no sharpness—this seemed to be his true self.
When the piece ended, he said, “This is High Mountains and Flowing Water. I’m not very skilled yet, and I made a few mistakes.”
Lu Yang had heard the story of High Mountains and Flowing Water, knowing it was about finding a true soulmate.
He didn’t understand music well and felt a little embarrassed, yet he smiled thinking that they could connect and think alike.
He truly liked this gift.
Around noon, Lu Yang didn’t stay for lunch at the Hong residence.
Seeing the tea snacks, he felt the Hong family home wasn’t suitable for dining.
Hong Chu didn’t comment, just escorted him out, as he had when welcoming him in.
At the gate, a few men dressed as guards were speaking with Li Feng; when Lu Yang came out, they dispersed.
Lu Yang looked curiously at Li Feng. “Why are you here?”
Li Feng had been called by his mother and Lu Liu. He said, “You’re pregnant—why didn’t you say anything before going out?”
Lu Yang said, “If I don’t say, who would know? The prefectural city is quite safe.”
Li Feng said, “The Hong family is different.”
Thinking of Hong Chu testing poison with a silver ring, Lu Yang fell silent.
For Hong Chu, the most dangerous place was home, and the most poisonous were his own family.
Lu Yang glanced back. Since meeting Hong Chu, he often thought of the past at the Chen residence.
At the Chen residence, he first tasted hardship, then escaped far away.
Hong Chu, however, had first tasted sweetness, emerged outstanding, and only then witnessed the heart of his relatives. He clearly had affection for the Hong family.
