“Marinated pork belly with money bags, steamed crab roe siu mai, black bean sauce chicken feet, bean curd skin shrimp rolls, shredded radish pastries—sister-in-law, don’t be polite, try some of everything. Shanghai has many Cantonese dim sum shops, but it’s rare to find an authentic one.”
Lin Yuchan smiled as she introduced the dishes, filling the teacup in front of Meng Sanniang.
Meng Sanniang blushed, thanking her repeatedly while glancing at Chang Baoluo beside her and gently bumping his shoulder.
The meaning was: How can we let your boss pour tea?
Lin Yuchan quickly said: “Oh my, please don’t stand on ceremony with me. I can’t even warm cups properly—it’s embarrassing.”
In the Western-style building of Boya’s headquarters, Lin Yuchan had spread out a table of takeout, arranging a modest welcoming feast for Chang Baoluo and his wife returning from their honeymoon.
Strictly speaking, Chang Baoluo should have been at work today and shouldn’t have brought family members. But Lin Yuchan had still made a special exception, inviting both of them.
Although Meng Sanniang was a believer, her values were still those of a traditional Chinese lady. Following her husband wherever he went, she wholeheartedly supported Chang Baoluo, recognizing a young lady as his boss and working together ten hours daily, having no objections whatsoever.
But Lin Yuchan still felt a bit uneasy. Was she truly open-minded, thinking that men and women working together was harmless? Or was she just trying to appear virtuous, unwilling to leave outsiders with the impression of being jealous?
If it was the former, she thanked heaven and earth. If it was the latter…
That wouldn’t do. If some gossiping aunties and uncles brought up that mistaken matchmaking incident again, it would cause trouble sooner or later.
Finding a capable intellectual manager wasn’t easy. So Lin Yuchan had invited the manager’s wife to the small Western building to let her understand and observe Boya’s daily work routine.
After eating and drinking their fill, several people competed for a while, with Meng Sanniang winning and diligently clearing the table and dishes.
Lin Yuchan thanked her and retrieved a memo from behind the counter.
“Manager Zhao has gone to manage the tea shop. Aunt Hong and Sister Nian are taking people to collect cotton in the countryside.” Standing about ten feet away from Meng Sanniang, she briefed Chang Baoluo on work matters. “I’ve reached an agreement with Bishop Lang Huairen. Tushanwan Orphanage, Tangmuqiao Orphanage, and Guanyin Lane Orphanage—a total of 170 school-age children—can all help with cotton ginning and sorting, as well as painting tea canisters, paying them at adult male worker rates. I’ll need you to supervise and implement these arrangements. I’ve written the details here.”
Chang Baoluo was a graduate of a missionary school and should communicate well with those bishops and nuns. It was a pity he hadn’t returned to Shanghai earlier, or she would have sent him to negotiate with the orphanages from the start.
Chang Baoluo was surprised and impressed to hear that Lin Yuchan had reached a cooperation agreement with the orphanages. He took the memo, glanced through it briefly, and said there was no problem.
Lin Yuchan continued: “I went to the foreign trading post wharf this morning. The first batch of early-ripening cotton has begun competitive bidding at three taels of silver per dan—I inquired, and last year’s price was still two taels and one qian. Our cash reserves aren’t abundant. I’ve already placed an order for three hundred taels worth and had Aunt Hong and Sister Nian collect from the suburbs…”
Chang Baoluo listened attentively, his round face showing a thoughtful expression.
He suddenly interrupted: “Miss Lin.”
Lin Yuchan was a bit surprised, then smiled happily: “Go ahead, speak up.”
Chang Baoluo’s skills were improving! He never dared to interrupt people speaking before.
This rare assertiveness would be even better if he could use it on clients.
Chang Baoluo then felt a bit embarrassed, glancing sideways at Meng Sanniang, who was curiously listening to their conversation but didn’t dare get too close.
This gave him confidence as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.
“Miss Lin, you instructed me to investigate cotton market conditions in Ningbo and do some small business if there were opportunities. I went to Ningbo Port and asked about recent export prices—one penny per pound.”
Lin Yuchan was stunned and asked incredulously: “One penny? One penny per pound?”
Foreign merchants purchasing local goods quoted prices arbitrarily, often directly using foreign currency and Western measurements, forcing Chinese merchants to accommodate them.
Moreover, exchange rates changed frequently, and small and medium Chinese merchants knew almost nothing about this, only passively accepting price fluctuations.
However, Lin Yuchan had a clear understanding and had long-established conversion channels.
“One pound is three-quarters of a jin. One penny per pound equals 133 pence per hundred jin, which at current exchange rates is approximately… one tael and six qian of silver…”
She quickly calculated and was dumbstruck.
“Why is it so cheap?”
Chang Baoluo smiled slightly, like a student with perfect test scores, his eyes showing some pride.
“Because there’s a bumper cotton harvest around Ningbo, and everyone’s stockpiling goods at the wharf, so prices are low.”
Lin Yuchan found it incredible: “Shanghai also had a good harvest! The price here can be nearly double that of Ningbo?”
Chang Baoluo shook his head and guessed: “Perhaps because Ningbo was captured by the Taiping Army last year, foreign merchants don’t like going there anymore?”
Lin Yuchan immediately had an incredible idea.
She turned to Meng Sanniang: “How much cotton does your family grow?”
Chang Baoluo puffed out his chest and answered for his wife: “Sanniang’s family has considerable cotton field output. I… I also felt the local purchase price was a bit low, so I didn’t let them sell.”
Lin Yuchan happily jumped onto the green sofa, bouncing several times: “Quick, go find Yixing! Don’t forget the 20% discount on shipping!”
Many factors influence prices. In ancient times, with poor information flow, achieving a completely efficient market was impossible.
According to Chang Baoluo’s description, cotton farmers and merchants around Ningbo had probably overestimated foreign buyers’ purchasing intentions, stockpiling large quantities at Ningbo Port, causing local raw cotton prices to fall.
Most people had taken on debt to grow more cotton and just wanted to quickly dispose of their goods, with many selling at a loss.
After all, not everyone was like Chang Baoluo, who happened to travel between Ningbo and Shanghai during cotton harvest season and became aware of the price difference between the two places.
Even if someone knew about this price gap, they wouldn’t easily tell others—why let others share the profits when you could quietly make the money yourself?
Even if someone vaguely felt that raw cotton prices at Ningbo Port were somewhat too low, Chinese people were conservative by nature. In business, they emphasized securing profits, and no one was willing to risk taking large quantities of goods to other places to try their luck.
This forced many individual cotton farmers and merchants to sell locally in Ningbo at low prices and quickly take the money and leave.
This benefited the foreigners who came to Ningbo to collect goods. In a year when cotton was becoming increasingly scarce, they unexpectedly found a great bargain.
Lin Yuchan decisively decided to use all the idle funds on their books to purchase cotton from around Meng Sanniang’s hometown.
Then transport it to Shanghai and sell it at three taels of silver per dan—directly doubling the profit!
She looked at Chang Baoluo and asked with a smile: “Did you bring the contract?”
Chang Baoluo was stunned: “Ah, ah, that cotton field isn’t mine, it belongs to her father’s clan…”
Before finishing half the sentence, Chang Baoluo’s face turned red with regret as he stamped his foot.
He had recently felt his business capabilities had become much more refined. In just one short year of turbulent changes and considerable tempering, he had truly transformed from last year’s slacking employee into a capable general manager.
Unexpectedly, compared to this clever little boss, he was still a step behind.
When he was in Ningbo and learned of the price difference between the two places, he should have immediately made a decisive decision, directly having his in-laws sign contracts to transport the cotton to Shanghai for Miss Lin to pay for directly!
Instead of returning nonchalantly, proudly telling her this intelligence, and waiting for her to make decisions.
In the new employment contract, Lin Yuchan had indeed given him much decision-making authority. He had forgotten.
Chang Baoluo said awkwardly: “I’ll know for next time…”
“It’s fine, I’ll just have to trouble you to make another trip. I’ll give you ten days—collect as much as you can.”
Lin Yuchan didn’t blame him either. After all, her style was too different from Rong Hong’s, and she was still adjusting to her new subordinate.
“However…” she smiled and glanced at Meng Sanniang, “if sister-in-law could make decisions, that would be much more convenient.”
Meng Sanniang had been earnestly listening to their conversation, seeing documents and letters stacked high with various terms that left her completely bewildered. When the topic suddenly turned to her, her plump, blessed face immediately turned bright red like an autumn persimmon. She stepped back two paces and frantically waved her hands.
“I… I can’t make such decisions… I’ve never managed those fields…”
When she had just married, some gossipy elders had told her that before her husband courted her, he had courted another girl. Although it didn’t work out, that girl was apparently bold and somehow still lingered at the foreign trading house where Baoluo worked, even becoming a manager. They saw each other constantly, and who knew what she was thinking?
The elders spoke with the attitude of enjoying drama, but then their tone turned caring: “…I’m just afraid you’ll suffer losses. You must never act rashly. Just knowing about this yourself is enough—girls shouldn’t be jealous, as it only damages your own reputation… and never tell anyone I told you this!”
What could Meng Sanniang do but convince herself to endure it? Men working outside encountered all sorts of temptations based purely on their conscience, and wives should ask fewer questions and interfere less.
Last time at the wharf, meeting Miss Lin briefly and exchanging just a few words, Meng Sanniang felt that the elder’s gossip was watery. If she had any past relationship with Baoluo, she shouldn’t have been so open about it!
Today, after being invited to the small Western building and observing for half a day, Meng Sanniang completely put her mind at ease.
Miss Lin was beautiful, but definitely not Baoluo’s type. When discussing business, her steady yet firm tone—if you covered her face and changed her voice, people would believe she was an experienced man.
Chang Baoluo’s tone when speaking with her was about the same as when talking to his brother-in-law relatives, with nothing inappropriate to be heard.
Meng Sanniang couldn’t understand how anyone could have tried to matchmake these two people. How blind.
It must have been the elders talking nonsense.
Her husband—she understood him best. After today’s observations, she also understood why he was so convinced by Miss Lin.
She would be convinced, too. This girl was no ordinary person.
Meng Sanniang looked at Lin Yuchan’s encouraging gaze and suddenly remembered something, asking Chang Baoluo quietly: “Oh yes, in my dowry, there are still several acres of fields. Could we include them…”
Lin Yuchan was delighted, running over to put her arm around Meng Sanniang’s shoulders and saying intimately, “Why ask? Your dowry, your decision! Come, come, I’ll teach you how to sign purchase orders.”
Outside Xiaodong Gate on Zhaojia Bay Street, residences and shops were mixed. Between two warehouses, a very low-key plaque hung reading “Xiangsheng Hao.”
Inside was only one courtyard, making the shopfront appear somewhat shabby. Especially with a young woman sitting in the hall, her thick skirt spread out with several large cloth bundles at her feet, making it even more crowded.
The clerks coming and going could hardly find a place to step, politely advising: “Miss, our boss is busy with business. Why don’t you come back another day?”
“I also have business here.” Lin Yuchan smiled in response. “It’s fine, I can wait.”
After speaking, she lowered her head, flipping through two foreign-language booklets, continuing to mutter while taking notes.
“…et pourquoi cet air de tristesse répandu sur tout votre bord…why have you such an air of sadness aboard…”
The clerk had never seen original foreign books and curiously looked down—
“Miss, what are you reading?” The clerk looked distressed. “I’ve also been studying English at night school. Why can’t I understand a single word!”
Several months of English study were wasted! Could it be a scam?
Lin Yuchan quickly said, “It’s French.”
French was currently the common language of the European continent. Only because the Qing’s doors were blasted open by Britain, and the British Empire had colonies everywhere, did foreign merchants and compradors in China commonly use English.
But among foreigners—especially non-British Westerners—many spoke French to each other to show off. Many documents and treaties also used French as the standard version. Not understanding it was very disadvantageous.
Lin Yuchan felt that knowing more languages opened more paths. Now without wifi or phones, while waiting she might as well learn as much as possible during the idle time.
However, searching throughout the Qing Dynasty, there were currently no decent French textbooks, let alone language training classes.
Victor had volunteered to be her tutor, but she dared not agree.
Having a flash of inspiration, she borrowed a popular bestseller The Count of Monte Cristo from Bishop Lang Huairen.
She also borrowed an English version from Miss Compton. Comparing English and French while referencing the Chinese version she had read before, she deciphered it herself.
Of course, progress was slow—she could only “let scholars figure it out themselves.”
Still, it was more reliable than pidgin English tongue twisters.
She played this English-French matching game, unaware of time passing.
Suddenly noticing the light being blocked, she looked up to see Zheng Guanying with a preserved plum in his mouth, thoughtfully looking at the textbook in her hands.
Lin Yuchan put away the textbook and stood up smiling to greet him.
“Boss Zheng! I brought cotton samples—they all meet standards. There are still 120 Dan in the warehouse, mostly from Ningbo cotton fields. As you promised, Baoshun Trading House can buy with eyes closed.”
At Baoshun Trading House, Zheng Guanying was just an apprentice comprador, but in his privately opened trading house, he was naturally the big boss.
Of course, she couldn’t go directly to Baoshun Trading House to find him, as that would expose the fact that they had communicated about cotton fields, thereby exposing his privately opened Xiangsheng Hao. Lin Yuchan felt she was being very considerate.
Although Zheng Guanying was somewhat annoyed by this persistent little girl, he cherished his reputation. He wouldn’t go back on his word once spoken.
He quickly glanced at her nose. Today it wasn’t red—finally looking somewhat like a normal girl.
A proper young lady, instead of staying home with female companions chasing butterflies and playing with flowers, why come out to join the commodity trading commotion?
Zheng Guanying smiled coldly, glancing at the cloth bundles at her feet and giving his clerk a look.
The clerk was clever, immediately opening packages and bringing out boxes, tongs, scales, and other tools.
Snow-white raw cotton spilled from the openings. Lin Yuchan proudly introduced: “These were all ginned by children from Tushanwan Orphanage. They were very careful, though they worked slowly…”
Zheng Guanying wasn’t listening at all. He signaled for the clerk to bring another sample package of cotton.
This was what his Xiangsheng Hao had collected themselves, already designated for Baoshun Trading House, classified as first-grade qualified goods.
(Of course, he had personally graded it. This couldn’t let Baoshun’s foreign bosses know.)
Boya Company’s raw cotton and Xiangsheng Hao’s raw cotton were placed side by side. Both equally snow-white and full, with fibers smooth and resilient when examined closely.
In professional eyes, those cotton strands had already transformed into rolls of snow-white yarn, woven into tough, clean cotton cloth in noisy machinery, and sold worldwide.
Zheng Guanying pointed at both, his eyes asking the clerk: Which is better?
The clerk naturally sided with his boss, making a show of examining them up, down, left, and right for a while before smiling: “Seems ours is still better.”
Zheng Guanying’s eyes showed mocking amusement as he spat out a preserved plum pit and pointed toward the shop door.
The quality comparison was just to humor this overreaching little girl. No matter what divine cotton she brought, he just had to shake his head and say it wasn’t good, then embarrass her out.
Lin Yuchan wasn’t discouraged at all. The big shot was just giving her a challenge. In the past, with bigger shots and harder challenges, hadn’t she solved them too?
She calmly pointed to a handwritten thick paper attached to the cloth bag: “This is a quality inspection certificate. Color, fiber length, fiber strength, moisture content, impurity content… oh, and origin and net weight, all clearly written. The inspection methods are all printed in this booklet. If Boss Zheng doesn’t mind, let me test yours?”
Her cloth bundle contained another set of tools: scales, calipers, grip strength meter… taking them out one by one.
Finally, she pulled out a thin booklet with “Raw Cotton Quality Assessment Manual” printed on the cover, compiled by Boya Trading Co., Ltd. The back cover had a large character “Gift.”
“Here, a gift for you. The last page has sample quality inspection form templates. Just fill them out accordingly.”
She was about to use the scale when a thin hand reached out to interrupt her bold operation.
“Sorry,” Zheng Guanying pointed at her illegal publication, speaking his first sentence of the day, “don’t buy it.”
“But half of Huayi Street’s fellow merchants have already bought it,” Lin Yuchan smiled back, “when I sent people to give out booklets, most people even said thank you!”
Zheng Guanying rarely showed surprise, pondering for a long while before asking quietly: “Huayi Guild?”
Lin Yuchan suddenly felt chilled to the bone: “How do you know I…”
Then she calmed herself down. Zheng Guanying was a comprador with extensive business connections. When she was organizing the Huayi Guild, she had knocked on almost every cotton merchant’s door. It would be strange if he knew nothing about it.
As a comprador who exploited Chinese people and was the enemy of Chinese merchants generally, she was already grateful he hadn’t sabotaged her.
Feeling defiant, she stubbornly answered: “It’ll be ready soon. Welcome to join when the time comes.”
As if.
Besides Old Man Huang, she really couldn’t find a fifth merchant willing to cooperate.
The “Huayi Guild” plan could fail—that didn’t matter. The raw cotton quality inspection standards were hard currency. Originally, Lin Yuchan had planned fee-based inspections, but now she could only give some ground, offering inspection standards for free to seize market share first.
Free things—of course, why not take them? Those small and medium merchants, usually fed up with foreign trading houses’ arbitrary inspection standards, got the booklets not expecting compradors to follow them, but at least if they were exploited too outrageously, they could argue their case.
This was a crucial task related to the company’s survival. Lin Yuchan didn’t dare to be too stubborn this time. She didn’t appear directly as a woman but sent the affable Chang Baoluo, borrowing Big Brother Shi Peng from Yixing, covering both legitimate and underworld channels. She wasn’t worried about fellow merchants not giving face.
Whether everyone would strictly follow the Manual, she had no idea, but at least most people accepted the booklets, and Boya’s reputation in the raw cotton industry was established. If someone wanted to challenge her with other standards, the industry would naturally compare the merits of both. Lin Yuchan was very confident that her inspection standards, compiled with scientific thinking from two centuries later, wouldn’t be easily surpassed.
Unless Zheng Guanying himself took the lead in establishing another Huayi Guild to suppress her. But Zheng Guanying’s main business was being a foreign trading house comprador, not a cotton merchant. If he dared to make such a show, sooner or later, his foreign bosses would discover his neglect of proper duties. He wouldn’t take this risk.
Lin Yuchan calmly looked up.
The oil-and-salt-proof Comprador Zheng gave a cold laugh and rarely spoke a long sentence.
“Then go play with others.”
He wasn’t an ordinary small merchant. His initial agreement to let her compete on quality was purely because of those preserved plums making him feel guilty. He wasn’t running a charity—he had so many powerful and influential clients in his network that he couldn’t attend to them all.
He turned to leave but saw his clerk winking with a somewhat guilty expression, his eyes pointing to a small compartment under the counter.
“Boss, I’m sorry. I was ignorant—that day someone knocked to deliver something…”
Zheng Guanying glanced into the compartment and turned pale with anger, nearly having heart palpitations on the spot.
Boya’s Raw Cotton Quality Assessment Manual had been lying there for two days…
The clerk said quietly: “It is quite useful.”
Lin Yuchan smiled brilliantly: “Boss Zheng, let’s do a test.”
Sample measurement results showed that Boya Company’s first-grade raw cotton was slightly superior to Xiangsheng Hao’s in fiber strength and toughness. Quality in other dimensions was comparable.
Zheng Guanying was stubborn by nature—once he decided on something, he wouldn’t change his opinion.
For instance, he felt this girl was being unreasonable, and he should have shown her the door long ago.
For instance, he was different from other Chinese merchants. He believed in science, believed in numbers, and believed that everything had an objective truth.
These two stubborn beliefs battled in his mind. That weak, sickly face suddenly showed slight distortion.
The clerk said worriedly: “Boss?”
Zheng Guanying suddenly turned around as if making some unspeakable decision, properly looking at Lin Yuchan and forcing a smile.
“Come to Baoshun tomorrow to sign the contract.” He said quietly, “Purchase price one penny one farthing per pound. Ten percent commission.”
Lin Yuchan smiled, just starting to say “good” when her tongue froze.
“One… one penny one farthing per pound?”
“Calculate it yourself. Excuse me.”
Most Chinese merchants didn’t understand exchange rates. Zheng Guanying was too lazy to educate her and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Lin Yuchan blurted out, “One penny one farthing per pound is one and a quarter pence, which is… which is two taels of silver per dan. Ten days ago, when I checked purchase prices at the wharf, it was three taels per dan! Boss Zheng, you’re cutting the price too much!”
Zheng Guanying turned around with a mocking expression.
Wharf prices change daily. Go look. I’m always ready.”
He spoke calmly, but inwardly was somewhat impressed by her accuracy and speed in currency conversion.
He no longer dared treat this little girl as a simple-minded fool with a red nose. Adjusting his attitude, he returned to the tone he used when dealing with normal business opponents.
After speaking, he entered the back hall, the yin-yang fish at his waist swaying.
The clerk felt a bit sorry. Such a pretty little girl coming out to sell cotton and instead being ridiculed by his boss—no pity for beauty at all, too heartless.
The clerk said quietly, “Miss, our boss does not need to deceive you. Foreign trading houses post opening prices at Wang Family Wharf daily, and all foreign houses execute unified prices. Cotton prices at Shanghai Port have fallen hard these past few days—everyone’s rushing to sell.”