sjar Chapter 410 Zhang Yingnian's Deception
Chapter 410 Zhang Yingnian's Deception
Li Ju'an received a message from Pang Duolai that Qin Shuang from the Hong Kong Auction House wanted to see him.
He wasn't surprised at all that Qin Shuang wanted to see him, because there was a piece of information in the snow leopard skin he had given Pang Duo, enough to make Qin Shuang's heart flutter.
But he knew this woman's mind too well; she didn't care about things that came easily, so he had to fish her out more. He asked Pang Duo to tell Qin Shuang, "I can't leave the village right now; I'm busy with things in the mountains. If Boss Qin is really interested in coming, she can come to our town to meet me. I'll save some good hides for her then."
Pang Duolai scoffed at this, thinking he had no right to expect the Hong Kong proprietress to come to the Xing'an Mountains to see him. He casually mentioned it, but to his surprise, Qin Shuang actually nodded. Her bright eyes and white teeth made him dizzy with admiration.
"Sure, I'll go check out the Xingan Mountains once I'm done with what I'm doing. I've heard that ice skating and skiing there is really fun."
Pang Duolai thought to himself, "Grandma, the snow in the Xing'an Mountains isn't like your Xiangjiang Ski Resort. It's natural snow, all dog-drawn sleds, not the elaborately constructed, paid snow village resorts."
He wouldn't dare say that. Qin Shuang was heading north and would have to travel with him. He could earn extra money along the way, so why wouldn't he?
Pang Duolai smiled, revealing his neat, clean white teeth, and said, "Alright, I'll arrange it right away."
At this time, Li Changqing was also having a hard time in Shanghai with Zhang Yingnian.
A letter arrived from the Li family. Li Changqing was living in a rented alleyway, sharing a kitchen with six or seven other families. The cramped and simple shikumen house was cramped and crowded. Five generations of his family lived in a room of less than 20 square meters, and they had to climb wooden ladders to get up and down.
Li Changqing had just climbed down the narrow wooden ladder when he bumped his head on a plank and fell a step down. The landlady said to him, "Little Li, you can't do things like this. Be careful."
Li Changqing readily agreed. Zhang Yingnian was already waiting for him outside on his bicycle, saying, "Let's go, we're going to discuss a big deal today."
Li Changqing no longer believed what Zhang Yingnian said. He looked at the letter his mother had sent, which was full of concern and care, as if she was worried that he was not living well or eating well. She even included a large sum of money in the letter, which brought tears to Li Changqing's eyes, and his emotions were rising and falling uncontrollably.
He borrowed his landlady's pen and wrote a reply, forcing a smile as he wrote: "Mom, I'm making a lot of money in Shanghai with Zhang Yingnian. Don't worry, I'll bring a lot of money back to support you both at the end of the year."
He wiped away his tears with his sleeve, folded the letter, and borrowed an envelope from the landlady since he didn't have one. He then sat in Zhang Yingnian's car seat and went to the post office.
The landlady rolled her eyes at him and said, "Little Li, writing letters again? Next time, let me know if each envelope costs two cents. You haven't paid last month's rent yet, so come back today and settle it."
Li Changqing nodded repeatedly in agreement, but the resentment in his heart just wouldn't dissipate.
On his way to the post office, he asked Zhang Yingnian, "When will the speaker you said you wanted arrive?"
Zhang Yingnian shouted loudly against the wind, "Wait a minute, wait a little longer, the funds haven't been recovered yet."
Li Changqing was also puzzled and exclaimed, "Why haven't the funds been returned yet? Last time we sold cotton, didn't we make several thousand yuan? You haven't shared the money with me yet. This money should be credited to my account before the New Year. My family is waiting for me to come home for the New Year."
Zhang Yingnian shouted, "I've lent the money to someone!"
"Borrow money? Who can borrow several thousand yuan at once?"
"He's also a friend who's in business."
Li Changqing got angry, jumped off the car seat, stopped Zhang Yingnian, and shouted, "It's one thing if you borrow your own money, but my money was in that loan too. How can you just lend it to me like that? Did you get my permission?"
Seeing that he was getting anxious, Zhang Yingnian quickly changed the subject, saying, "Oh dear, we haven't paid yet."
"You can't take my money and give it to someone else even if you haven't transferred it. What if they don't pay you back?"
Zhang Yingnian reassured him, saying, "Don't worry, you know this person too. You also know the person he's dealing with. He won't refuse to pay it back; they're all from our hometown."
Li Changqing became even more wary and asked, "Who is the counterparty in this transaction?"
"Li Ju'an".
The air was somewhat quiet.
Li Changqing stared at him for a long time without saying a word. After several seconds, he finally came to his senses, his eyes wide open, and shouted, "Li Ju'an? Who did he make several thousand from?"
In the letter Li Changqing sent to his aunt, there were a few extra paragraphs. After reading the letter, his aunt felt that her son's emotions had been somewhat unstable lately.
The old woman nudged the old man beside her and said, "Have you seen the letter our son sent? What does this mean? It sounds like he's talking about Ju'an from the third branch of the family."
The old man put on his reading glasses, leaned over, picked up the letter, and saw that it was indeed true.
The letter subtly implied that Li Ju'an was making a lot of money back home, and inquired about the type of work that paid several thousand yuan in cash.
The old man asked the second old man, who had just gone to the Li family's self-built house and asked for two jars of wild honey. The second old man said on the phone, "Ju'an has recently taken on the rat-catching job for the forest farm. He's caught so many wild goats that they could fill several sacks. Captain Wang from the ranch also hired his rat-catching team to catch wild goats, and I heard the ranch gave him a large sum of money."
The old man's eyes widened as he said, "How much money can the ranch and the forest farm give? A few hundred yuan, and that has to be split with the hunters, so each person doesn't get much."
Uncle Er said sourly on the phone, "I said the same thing last week. Guess what Song Lanhua said to me? She said the most valuable parts of the wild goat are the hide and the bones. Just those two can sell for several thousand. After the hunters divide the spoils among themselves, each person can get two or three thousand. Ju An is the leader, so he gets an even bigger share. I reckon just these two jobs will make him a ten-thousand-yuan household."
The old man's hand holding the telephone receiver froze on the spot. He called to the old woman, "Hurry up and write to your son. What kind of money can he earn out there? He can't earn any money and he has to suffer in Shanghai. Tell him to come back and work hard. As long as he is diligent and capable, he can become a millionaire."
Li Changqing was originally in the south, but he couldn't make any money and was even cheated by his partner, which made him very angry. A month later, he received a letter from his aunt, and after reading the message in the letter, he regretted it even more.
With resentment in his eyes, he looked at Zhang Yingnian, who hadn't yet shared his money, and said, "Do you know that after Li Ju'an built a house in his hometown, he earned another ten thousand yuan?"
Zhang Yingnian was watering the flowers. He had bought a factory and wanted to get into the clothing trade. He planned to use the factory as a warehouse and ship the clothing to Hong Kong for export, saying he could make a lot of money.
He whistled, in a good mood, and said, "Oh, that country bumpkin Li Ju'an. At most, he hunts in the mountains. What kind of future can he have? Don't worry, we brothers will go into the clothing trade together. We can make a fortune by trading in one hand and selling in the other."
Li Changqing sighed, a pang of regret flashing through his mind. He suddenly remembered Li Ju'an's advice not to leave the Xing'an Mountains, which he had ignored, instead heeding Zhang Yingnian's words. Now, he saw less and less hope in Zhang Yingnian, and his heart was filled with remorse.
Zhang Yingnian noticed his hesitation, patted him on the shoulder, and then cheerfully offered him a piece of candy, encouraging him, "Come on, we're heading north this afternoon to buy some goods. The leather we get up north, we can sell it in Hong Kong and make four or five times the profit. If that kid Pang Duolai can make money, so can we. Get your wallets ready, let's get rich together!"
"Can you really earn that much?"
Li Changqing's eyes lit up again at the prospect of being offered a bribe, and his resolve wavered. Perhaps this time he could really turn things around and bring glory to the Li family.