“Since your Third Aunt has brought this up, we can’t refuse. Let’s do this – we’ll take on the Tian family’s business. However, we can’t let them have it cheap. Quote them a high price, and if they’re unwilling, they can’t blame us,” Li Jingdong said with a cold face in the accounting office of the Li ink factory.

He was the type who would rather be jade shattered than pottery preserved. Following his temperament, he would rather make no money than take on the Tian family’s work – they had been too excessive that day.

The batch of pine wood that the Tian family had requisitioned wasn’t just wood for the Li family, especially for Li Jingdong. It was brought with Ninth Master Li’s life, it was their blood and sweat, and it was symbolic.

To put it plainly, it was the Li family’s face. The Tian family’s actions were a slap in the face, and if Madam Tian hadn’t intervened, Li Jingdong wouldn’t have let it rest.

But now that Madam Tian had stepped forward, representing the face of the Li family’s legitimate line, other Li clan members couldn’t disregard this.

“However, we can’t be too harsh either. This business deal is something our ink factory needs,” Manager Shao said more rationally from the side, speaking purely from a business perspective.

“Yes, the price should be high, but within a reasonable range. Otherwise, Third Aunt will still have something to say,” Zhen Niang said.

Finally, the three reached an agreement – Zhen Niang would take Manager Shao to negotiate the price with the Tian family.

Li Jingdong had a bad temper; if he were to see Tian Benchang, he might end up using his walking stick, so it was better to avoid that.

Manager Shao was, after all, the manager of the legitimate line. With him participating in the negotiations, even if the price was high, Madam Tian couldn’t blame the Eighth and Ninth Branches.

Thus it was decided.

The next day, Tian Benchang brought Manager Fang to the Li ink shop to discuss the ink reprocessing matter.

Recently, after the last ink testing gathering, the Li family’s ink reprocessing business had been quite good. Even some small ink factories from Huizhou had approached the Li family. After all, which ink maker didn’t have some waste ink? Now that there was an opportunity to turn waste into treasure, who wouldn’t rush to come?

At this time, quite a few people had gathered at the Li ink shop, mostly from within the industry.

When these ink factory people saw Tian Benchang and Manager Fang enter, they all shared knowing smiles. It was obvious – the Tian family had waste ink. Everyone in the Huizhou ink industry knew about it, and their appearance at the Li ink shop now needed no explanation. Like everyone else, they were here to discuss ink reprocessing with the Li family.

“How things change – thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river! Think back to when the Tian family was requisitioning the Li family’s pine wood, and how aggressive they were. Now they’re the ones coming to beg the Li family,” said one ink factory manager.

“That’s why they say, in dealing with people, always leave some room for future encounters,” someone else chimed in.

These various comments weren’t particularly trying to avoid Tian Benchang and his people.

Tian Benchang naturally heard them, but business had taught him patience. He casually greeted everyone before being led by an attendant to a private room on the second floor.

Zhen Niang, wearing a head covering, and Manager Shao stood at the private room’s entrance to welcome him. This wasn’t for nothing – regardless of everything else, the Tian family now held imperial ink rights, and this was the proper courtesy. Being even more polite would have meant going to the main entrance to welcome them.

However, given the relationship between the Li and Tian families, meeting them at the main entrance was impossible. Everyone understood this.

“Master Tian, Manager Fang, please,” Manager Shao said.

“Miss Zhen, Manager Shao, please,” Tian Benchang responded.

Addressing Zhen Niang as “Miss Zhen” wasn’t him being arrogant – this was how everyone in the Huizhou ink industry addressed her.

After exchanging pleasantries, they entered the private room. An attendant served tea and withdrew.

Both parties knew each other’s intentions, so there wasn’t much beating around the bush. Manager Shao directly took out the contract they had previously agreed upon in the ink factory and handed it to Tian Benchang.

“Why? Why is the processing fee for our Tian family’s reprocessed ink twenty percent higher than other workshops?” As soon as Tian Benchang saw the contract, his brows furrowed as he questioned.

“This is very fair. Your Tian family has imperial ink rights, and the ink you sell is more expensive than all of ours, isn’t it?” Zhen Niang interjected from the side.

They had agreed earlier to quote a high price, but any high price needed a justifiable reason, otherwise it would seem unreasonable. Since the Tian family was an imperial ink workshop, they were already squeezing everyone else’s survival space, so charging them twenty percent more was reasonable and fair.

Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, Tian Benchang had no response. He had experienced Zhen Niang’s sharp tongue before. After thinking, he said, “But twenty percent is too high. Ten percent would be about right.” Tian Benchang was bargaining.

However, both Zhen Niang and Manager Shao just smiled without speaking.

Seeing their reaction, Tian Benchang knew there was no room for negotiation on the price. He could either accept it or give up, and giving up was impossible, so acceptance was the only way forward.

“Fine, alright, we accept. But you must speed up the process. This batch of ink – Daoist Yunsong is pressing urgently for it. I know your Li family holds a grudge about the pine wood requisition, but we received the imperial ink rights and had to ensure ink production. It was an unavoidable measure. I hope you both can understand,” Tian Benchang said.

“Was it also unavoidable to cut down all the usable pine trees before the contract handover?” Zhen Niang said casually.

This sentence nearly made Tian Benchang’s nose twist with anger. If it weren’t for those cut-down pines, he wouldn’t be in such a passive position now.

Zhen Niang’s words were rubbing salt in his wound.

Seeing Tian Benchang’s face turn dark, Manager Shao feared the negotiations might become deadlocked and quickly interjected: “Alright, since the Li family has taken on this business, we will deliver on time and to quality.”

Only then did Tian Benchang’s expression soften somewhat.

Zhen Niang paid no attention to him, letting Manager Shao and Manager Fang sign the contract.

“Miss Zhen, this time our Tian family has also paid a price. During this pine plague period, the Huizhou ink industry should work together to overcome difficulties. So I’d like to ask Miss Zhen, where did your ink factory and the Cheng ink factory get that pine resin oil? Could you tell us?” At this point, Tian Benchang asked Zhen Niang, looking quite sincere.

Inwardly, Zhen Niang sneered – if only they had been like this earlier. But Tian Benchang was just paying lip service; his words couldn’t be trusted.

However, Zhen Niang wasn’t unwilling to reveal the source of the pine resin oil. After all, the fact that they had kept it secret until now had already exceeded her expectations, and she figured it couldn’t be kept secret much longer. Whether to tell or not didn’t matter much.

But she wondered if it might be too devastating for Master Tian to hear, thinking mischievously. However, her words were not gentle: “You’d be better off not asking.”

“Why?” Tian Benchang asked, puzzled.

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle the truth,” Zhen Niang replied, truly being kind.

“What’s there that I can’t handle? Please tell me, Miss Zhen, I’m listening,” Tian Benchang said in a cultured manner.

“It’s from the Luo family pine field.” Since Tian Benchang was asking for it, Zhen Niang was happy to oblige.

“The Luo family pine grove? How is that possible? Hasn’t that all been replanted with tung oil trees? And with the pine plague now, even if there were pines, they couldn’t produce resin!” Tian Benchang said skeptically.

“Underground, you know? Have you never thought about the underground? The pine trees that were cut down over the years… when the roots rot underground, they form pine resin oil,” Zhen Niang replied calmly.

Tian Benchang’s eyes suddenly grew huge, and he pointed at Zhen Niang: “You…” Then he broke into violent coughing. His entire face turned red from coughing, and Manager Fang hurriedly patted his back.

“Let’s go, we’re leaving.” Tian Benchang finally stopped coughing, with an indescribable stuffiness in his heart. It turned out that from the very beginning, while he was calculating others, others were calculating him too. This time he had taken quite a fall.

At this point, he didn’t want to stay a moment longer. He took the contract and quickly left the Li ink shop with Manager Fang.

Zhen Niang watched Tian Benchang’s departing figure with a smile. She had told him not to ask, but he insisted on asking. Look at how upset he was, Zhen Niang thought, rubbing her chin.

Beside her, Manager Shao was also smiling happily, feeling quite vindicated.

After this, the Li family began processing that batch of reprocessed ink for the Tian family. By the time this batch of ink was finished and delivered, autumn winds were already whistling.

The weather had turned cold, and Zhen Niang wore a lined jacket. Because of the dust in the ink factory, she had wrapped her head in a scarf, looking every bit like a village girl. However, she carried herself with a natural and unrestrained air.

At this moment, she was counting the ink to be shipped from the warehouse. During this period, the Li family’s profits had come mainly from reprocessed ink.

What worried Zhen Niang was that the sales of the Li family’s pine oil ink and lampblack ink hadn’t been improving. Now, merchants from other regions were all drawn by the imperial ink reputation, and even the Cheng family’s sales had declined significantly this year.

This was why everyone with ambition fought for imperial ink rights – the benefits were obvious. Just by association with the imperial ink name, orders would pour in from everywhere. The ink factory wouldn’t have to worry about sales at all.

“How much-unsold ink do we have in storage?” Zhen Niang asked Zheng Fuli beside her.

“Quite a lot. With the White Lotus sect causing trouble in recent years, plus bandits robbing travelers, our mountainous Huizhou region isn’t very safe for travel. We’ve seen fewer merchants coming directly to us for goods compared to previous years. Now all the major ink factories have opened ink pavilions in other commercial ports, directly expanding their sales channels there,” Zheng Fuli said.

Zhen Niang nodded. Opening ink pavilions in other commercial ports was indeed a necessary path. She had heard from her grandfather that the Li family once had an ink pavilion in Nanjing, but after the imperial ink incident back then, they had to give up even the Nanjing pavilion to pay compensation.

As they were talking, they suddenly heard someone calling out.

“Miss Zhen, Miss Zhen!” Er’gou was furtively waving at Zhen Niang from a distance, his shifty appearance like that of a street loafer making people frown.

To be fair, Er’gou was quite competent at tasks – as long as you gave him instructions and ignored his uncouth manner, he could get things done passably well.

Zheng Fuli was particularly displeased, but Er’gou was too thick-skinned, and because of Chouma, he couldn’t drive him away. There was nothing he could do about this troublemaker.

“Master Zheng, please watch over things here,” Zhen Niang said to Zheng Fuli, then patted the dust off herself as she walked over, asking Er’gou: “What is it? Why are you being so sneaky?”

“Nothing much, just saw you’ve been busy until now, thought you should take a break,” Er’gou said casually.

Zhen Niang couldn’t help but glare at him.

“Don’t, don’t glare! I have something to report,” Er’gou quickly said, seeing Zhen Niang’s glare.

“Is it about Deputy Workshop Head Li?” Zhen Niang asked. This Deputy Workshop Head Li was naturally Li Jincai, whom she had asked Er’gou to watch.

“Miss Zhen is truly perceptive,” Er’gou offered flattery.

Zhen Niang was exasperated, almost wanting to kick him. “Just tell me.”

“Recently, Deputy Head Li has been frequently going to Huiyuan Bank with Manager Zheng,” Er’gou said.

“Do you know what they’re doing there?” Zhen Niang asked. Recently, with the reprocessed ink business doing well and Li Jincai learning in the accounting office, it was normal for him to accompany Manager Zheng to the bank. However, when it came to Li Jincai, Zhen Niang always assumed the worst, so she had to ask for details.

“I’m not sure about that, but I discovered they’re quite friendly with the Sun family’s eldest son. The three of them often go together to a street by the Lian River – that’s no ordinary friendship,” Er’gou said with a snort.

“The three of them go to a street by the Lian River. What street? What do they do there?” Zhen Niang asked confused. Er’gou usually spoke clearly, why was he being so vague now?

“Well, well, well, you know… you’re a young lady, it’s not proper for you to hear about such things,” Er’gou scratched his head, appearing reluctant to explain.

Seeing his manner, Zhen Niang finally understood. She remembered there was a street of brothels by the Lian River – the three men had been visiting prostitutes. She secretly spat in disgust and said, “Never mind that just keep watching him closely. Don’t you have a sweetheart working as a maid there? Help me find out what they talk about.”

Er’gou wasn’t exactly a good character either. Zhen Niang had heard more or less about how the workers joked about him, and he had quite a few “sweethearts.”

“Miss Zhen, you’re wronging me! Though my old hag of a mother does have some connections with them, I’ll help you find out,” Er’gou protested shamelessly.

Zhen Niang ignored his nonsense.

“By the way, let me warn you – that Deputy Workshop Head has big ambitions. He’s been winning over workers in the workshop every day, and now many speak well of him,” Er’gou added.

Having grown up among courtesans and street life, he was quite perceptive about people’s intentions. Every move Li Jincai made showed his attempts to win people over. His ambitions weren’t small – this couldn’t escape Er’gou’s watchful eyes.

“I’m well aware of this, why else would I have you watch him?” Zhen Niang nodded. Chouma had asked her to look after Er’gou, and since Er’gou was competent at tasks, Zhen Niang trusted him quite a bit. Plus, she needed his help with certain matters, so she didn’t hide these things from him.

“That’s true,” Er’gou nodded, then suddenly added: “Oh right, one more thing – I think Deputy Head Li might have a lover outside.”

“What do you mean?” Hearing this, Zhen Niang frowned. After the Suzhou incident, this fellow still hadn’t learned his lesson. Was he now pursuing someone close to home?

“The night before last, I saw Deputy Head Li secretly packing some food and supplies and going to the vegetable market area. He went into someone’s house and didn’t come out. That house belongs to a young woman surnamed Su, with a Suzhou accent, living with a child about a year old,” Er’gou said.

He wanted to say that the next day, Li Jincai looked weak in the knees, obviously having been thoroughly exhausted.

But such things couldn’t be said to Miss Zhen, though holding it in caused him some distress.

Hearing Er’gou’s words, Zhen Niang immediately understood what was happening. So Li Jincai had brought Madam Su and her child here – no wonder he was so desperate to find a way into the ink factory. This way he could stay in the city to take care of them.

This fellow had grown quite bold.

“Keep watching him, and report to me if anything happens,” Zhen Niang ordered coldly.