Lin Yuchan was so furious that the cotton in both her hands was squeezed into tight balls, her eyes blazing with anger.

No wonder Su Minguan had stared at her so strangely when she returned to the dock!

No wonder she had found his fingers cold. It turned out her skin was burning hot!

Her anger made her nose even hotter. She snapped the mirror shut, turned around, and left.

“Hungry, hungry, time to eat, time to eat.”

Pushing open the door to the teahouse, she found the dishes had just been served. Stir-fried mixed vegetables, a fine soup pot, and fresh steamed fish just caught. Rice had been expensive lately, so coarser grains were mixed in with the rice, but each grain still gleamed lustrous and fragrant, filling the room with aroma.

Aunt Hong had been tired all day, her stomach already growling with hunger, but she still waited for Lin Yuchan to arrive before eagerly starting to eat.

Su Minguan hadn’t eaten either. He took his pair of chopsticks and sat down to share the meal.

He casually asked about the self-combed sisters, whether they were adjusting to life in the north, and if anyone had been bullying them again.

That earlier mischievous mood had completely vanished, replaced by his protective big brother demeanor.

Aunt Hong never complained about hardships, immediately smiling: “Need you ask? Look, I’ve even gotten fat.”

The labor bosses had all been driven away, and under Yixing’s territory, no one dared to bully these foreign women workers anymore.

Su Minguan asked again about those women working at the textile mill, whether things were still going smoothly for them.

Both Aunt Hong and Miss Nian sighed: “Each has their hardships! The textile mill has long hours; they come home dizzy and see stars every day, and they dock pay for the slightest mistake. But at least the wages aren’t delayed or withheld, and they don’t have to deal with people much – just keep their heads down and work hard. Even when someone injures their fingers, that foreign boss still provides some medicine!”

They were all suffering women born to poor farming families, with childhood companions aplenty – some who died young, some who starved, some who died of illness. These remaining sisters in hardship all had bodies tempered by long trials, not easily crushed by life’s heavy burdens.

Being able to eat their fill, have clothes to wear, and have a brazier for warmth on winter nights was already the life countless people dreamed of. How dare they complain further – even the gods and bodhisattvas would find them ungrateful if they heard such grumbling.

Lin Yuchan listened to their conversation while silently eating her rice, her thoughts drifting back to cotton quality.

…If Zheng Guanying’s “Zheng Family Cotton” rated 80 points, then this batch of Ningbo cotton was quite good. Selecting one-tenth of it could rate 90 points, certainly enough to convince him.

The problem was… the remaining cotton scoring between 80 and 90 points, slightly better quality than Zheng Family cotton but without obvious advantages, would very likely be rejected with a single word from him.

Foreign merchants had various communication channels to save labor costs. Put nicely, it was information sharing; put less nicely, it was collusion. Once given a poor review by one comprador, other compradors wouldn’t bother looking at these goods again.

Would this remaining cotton have to be sold cheap, wasted for nothing?

Or… simply ignore Zheng Guanying altogether, find other trading houses to negotiate with, or try her luck at the docks?

Or find higher-level Chinese agents and sell quickly to be done with it?

After all, cotton prices climbed year after year. As long as she wasn’t hopelessly dull, she shouldn’t lose money.

But…

She quietly lifted her head, looking at the big boss chatting and laughing across from her.

Su Minguan was picking up a piece of fish. After steaming, the fish meat was firm, but the white, tender fish belly was soft, with a few drops of light soy sauce clinging casually to his chopstick tips.

He lightly closed his fingers, leaving the most succulent fish belly on the plate, then inconspicuously pushed it toward her.

Lin Yuchan smiled sweetly at him, gratefully picked up that piece of fish belly, and ate it with relish.

Hmph, small favors and petty kindness.

She gave herself a mental warning.

The predatory major shareholder, with his bold and conspicuous signature on the betting agreement, was always ready to swallow her whole once her profits fell short.

She absolutely couldn’t muddle through.

“Young Master Minguan,” Lin Yuchan suddenly spoke up, asking: “Do you know if there are any cotton experts in Shanghai? – Um, for instance, authoritative figures who can appraise cotton quality?”

Su Minguan was still smilingly asking about that Teochew preserved fruit shop in Zhoupu Town when her sudden question caught him off guard. He paused, then shook his head.

“I don’t understand cotton, but all trades are similar. The experts have all been hired by major trading houses, each with their positions – hardly what you’d call authoritative.”

Lin Yuchan nodded, continuing to feel disappointed.

Her original thought had been that if she could find a neutral judge – say, some old cotton expert who could provide an objective appraisal report – she could break through Zheng Guanying’s rhetorical traps and prevent him from exploiting loopholes.

Su Minguan glanced at her and asked quietly: “The comprador at Baoshun Trading House, a Cantonese surnamed Zheng?”

This man’s mind-reading skills were advancing further. He could even guess who she was thinking about.

Lin Yuchan’s eyes widened suddenly as she whispered: “He’s not also from our hometown association, is he?”

Su Minguan shook his head: “I’ve dealt with him. Not the same type of person.”

Lin Yuchan thought that made sense. Zheng Guanying was currently young and naive, focused solely on making money, helping foreigners exploit the common people. But in his later years, he would have close ties with the Qing government, both donating to official positions and establishing enterprises, and would become one of the spiritual leaders of the reform movement.

Full of life wisdom, he certainly wouldn’t get involved with rebels.

“However…” Su Minguan suddenly remembered something, put down his bowl, drank a large gulp of tea, and called to her: “A’Mei, come with me. Excuse us, ladies. Tea utensils and leaves are in the cabinet. help yourselves.”

Lin Yuchan got up to follow. She was pretty much finished eating anyway.

Passing through two doorways, they returned to Yixing, went up to the third floor, came to Su Minguan’s bedroom, and unlocked the door with a key.

She pursed her lips. Yixing had closed for the day, and most clerks had finished work. This time, she wasn’t afraid of being seen.

She followed him in with grim determination.

The young master didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, but went straight to open a small locked drawer, gently taking out a small booklet of maps.

“Remember this?”

The Small Swords Society’s territory map from ten years ago, discovered in the hidden compartment of Yixing’s counter.

Very detailed, with streets and waterways all clearly marked. Slightly different from Shanghai’s current administrative divisions, but not by much.

Su Minguan had her sit at the writing desk, spread out the map, and positioned himself behind her, one finger slowly sliding across the map.

“Look at Shanghai County… Huayi Street, Little South Gate, Dongjia Ferry Road, Wang Family Dock…”

When he concentrated, without pretense, his voice was gentle, making even the recitation of place names cause faces to flush and hearts to race.

Lin Yuchan felt his body heat behind her, trying hard to focus her gaze on his fingertip, seeing a line of faded small characters.

“Huayi Guild Hall…” She turned back in delight, meeting those jet-black eyes, “This is the cotton industry association?”

If there were an industry association, there might be unified quality standards!

“I haven’t heard of it now,” Su Minguan said, “probably also destroyed during the Small Swords Society’s occupation of the city. However…”

He gently turned a page of the map. Fine print densely recorded the names of shops and individuals – all forces that had once been friendly to the Hongmen, who could respond to the Jiangzhe branch’s call to arms.

These old addresses, when discovered in the counter’s hidden compartment, should have been burned immediately by any qualified rebel.

But Su Minguan wasn’t exactly a proper rebel either. In a moment’s hesitation, he had kept them.

For businessmen, network information was more important than anything. He was also confident he could protect these things well, never letting unrelated people see them.

Lin Yuchan moved the kerosene lamp closer, carefully distinguishing.

“Ah… these people are all listed at Huayi Guild Hall.”

Most likely, former employees of the industry association.

If they were still alive…

They were the old experts she was looking for! Industry veterans that even Zheng Guanying would have to acknowledge!

Lin Yuchan was so excited that her breathing quickened. She reached for the pen and ink on his desk, taking the liberty: “Let me copy this down!”

She heard a laugh behind her. Not waiting for the domineering president to ask for payment, she proactively said sweetly: “Those Teochew preserved fruits I had Aunt Hong buy two boxes. The other box is completely new and unopened, downstairs in the tea room.”

Su Minguan leaned down, his lips close to her ear, chuckling coldly: “One box of preserved fruit in exchange for an entire industry association?”

Her whole body shivered as she whispered: “Then what do you want?”

He said nothing. After a long while, he imitated her tone, returning her own words: “I’ll owe you for now.”

Uncollected debts were equivalent to non-existent ones. Lin Yuchan focused on the present matter and began writing on her own, picking up a sheet of paper.

Just as she happily started writing, her nose tip suddenly felt slightly cool.

He had dabbed something on it!

“Keep writing.” Su Minguan still leaned behind her, but his right hand came around, slowly and deliberately, his fingertip touching her nose bridge, rubbing extremely lightly, “Don’t mind me.”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

Her hand shook.

Looking at those crooked characters, she felt embarrassed.

“Western cold cream.” A small glass jar was pushed to her side, “Use when it’s dry, just a little bit is enough. Better than your Vaseline.”

Lin Yuchan was amazed, letting out a small “Wow.”

Glass bottle, tin lid. She had thought such things were products of the twentieth century and later. She hadn’t expected them to be manufactured now.

And she recognized this brand. Pond’s.

Incredible, this was still the nineteenth century, and they were already getting male celebrities to endorse products?

It was undeniably a hundred times better than the crude Vaseline of this era. Even better than the cheap face cream from the twenty-first century, she had used as a child. Though unremarkable in appearance, it was cool and moist, very comfortable when applied to her sun-reddened skin.

Her heartbeat quickened half a beat as she whispered: “I… I’ll apply it myself, thank you.”

“Keep writing.”

Su Minguan used his fingertip to slowly push downward. The milky white cream, dotted on that delicate nose tip, gradually melted away and disappeared, leaving only a faint scent of beeswax and almonds on her skin.

He couldn’t help moving closer, capturing that fragrance.

She dared to confront Zheng Guanying with that red nose tip. That Zheng Guanying seemed like a boring person, but wasn’t someone to be trifled with either. After today’s dealings, he would certainly have a deep impression of her.

He had to massage her little nose back to normal.

What was even more amusing was her tense expression, her large eyes that should have been watching the pen tip, but kept looking down at her nose. Her originally pretty features, due to this misplaced gaze, gained three parts more anger.

Like when he was small, unable to compose eight-legged essays, with the disciplinary ruler gleaming before his eyes, but his mind flying to the wall, not daring to move, watching that pen tip spinning in place, puffing up with sullen anger.

“Keep writing.”

He hadn’t had enough fun, so he picked up another bit of cold cream and dotted it on both her cheeks.

She flinched slightly from the cold but had to concentrate on writing. She swayed but stubbornly didn’t move.

Girls had lustrous skin, her face looking palm-sized, but full where it should be full. Touch it once and it bounces back plump. After returning from the countryside, she had scrubbed her face hard. Blown by the cold wind, her skin was somewhat rough and reddened. Apply a layer of cream, and it immediately became extremely smooth and delicate, irresistible to touch.

Usually, he was too embarrassed to touch much, but today he finally had an opportunity.

Bit by bit, like a Western sketch artist, he outlined the young girl’s facial features, his knuckles tracing her eyebrows, tracing her clearly defined hairline, feeling that half-smooth, half-fuzzy texture. Soon, her face grew as hot as her nose, the cold cream melting even faster, and before long, her entire face carried that fragrance.

Su Minguan had not had a pleasant day. Luna’s passenger license kept getting delayed, and upon inquiry, it was Jardine Matheson & Co. causing trouble again. They had united several shipping companies’ foreigners to lobby the Municipal Council, claiming Chinese passenger ships were full of rats and fleas that would bring inland infectious diseases to the foreign settlements.

Chinese ship owners had always been scattered like loose sand, each going their way. When encountering such matters, they invariably resigned themselves to bad luck.

Everyone was like fish in a mud pond, dormant in a comfortable environment, relying on heaven for sustenance, lacking ambition, yet living quite contentedly.

Even as the mud pond gradually dried up and the space for movement grew smaller and smaller, the sluggish fish had little awareness, only knowing to compete among themselves to make their own lives more spacious.

They were completely unaware that outside that mud pond, the world was turning upside down. Wild beasts ran, birds flew, even insects puffed out their bellies, occasionally looking down at that pool of lifeless water, mocking the clumsy swimming postures of the fish.

Once a fish tried to jump out of the mud pond and swim toward broader waters, without exception, they would face a comprehensive blockade, beaten back to that increasingly arid mudflat.

Wanting to leap through the dragon gate? Don’t even think about it.

Su Minguan was unwilling to waste his life on mudflats. Relying on the “hometown association” network, he united several friendly merchants to protest together, fighting for equal passenger transport qualifications for Chinese shipping.

Reasoning naturally didn’t work. In the end, it was threatening to use sand boats to block the foreigners’ passenger docks that finally got some concession, presenting him with various harsh requirements that, once completed, would earn him the license.

“This is for your good, Mr. Su,” the Municipal Council’s petty clerk wagged his head, speaking to him in the tone of a master, “Chinese shipping already has a poor reputation and poor conditions. Without raising standards a bit, no one would want to buy your tickets! If you go bankrupt, how sorry we’d feel! Right? Haha.”

Su Minguan was too lazy to argue with him, grabbed the hard-won stamped document, and only wanting to go back for some hot tea.

He thought perhaps the shipping industry also needed an industry association.

However, for energetic young people, a day’s mental and physical exhaustion didn’t have much lasting impact. Just two hours after work, he was revitalized with full energy again. Under the lamplight, looking at the young girl’s red face, he felt such days could come by the dozen.

Lin Yuchan finally finished copying down several names and addresses with much difficulty, touched her face, feeling somewhat drowsy with her mind full of almond fragrance.

She put down the pen, sensing Su Minguan’s gaze still lingering on her face, and thrust the copied list before his eyes.

“Take a look, among these people, have you heard of any?”

Su Minguan, through the sheet of paper, his handsome facial features visible, looked at her teasingly.

“A’Mei, you’re holding it upside down.”

Lin Yuchan hastily turned the paper 180 degrees, cursing beauty’s misleading influence in her heart.

He just had bad intentions! He deliberately wanted her to make work mistakes, lose money daily, so he could seize her business later!

She rang alarm bells in her heart, trying her best to portray the devastatingly handsome, domineering president before her as a detestable villain.

Su Minguan’s lips curved into a smile as he folded the secret map and locked it back in the drawer. He also capped the cold cream and pressed it into her hands.

“Want it?”

His tone carried smugness as he asked her.

The villain portrait in Lin Yuchan’s mind immediately blurred. She looked up blankly, beauty once again occupying her vision.

She gave up resistance, curiously holding up that round glass bottle, examining it from all angles.

A very standard medicinal cosmetic face cream, with conventional fragrance, the bottle labeled with flowery product descriptions, nothing more than moisturizing, skin-soothing, calming, and such.

But placed in the nineteenth-century Qing Dynasty, it was a rare treasure you couldn’t find even with a lantern. It was fortunate the young master had good taste – anyone else would probably mistake it for lard and use it for cooking.

He definitely wouldn’t say the specific price, but Lin Yuchan knew it was not cheap.

She was unwilling to take others’ beauty, smiling: “Where did you find this? I’ll go buy one myself, you keep this one.”

“Happened to see it while running errands. Shareholder benefit, only this one jar, don’t be polite.”

Oh, right, she was still a shareholder of Yixing. A measly one twenty-fifth share, yet he still remembered.

Lin Yuchan, therefore, happily accepted it, not lingering longer in his room, and stood up.

“Rest early.”

Turning back, she saw he had no intention of coming out to see her off, his expression carrying hints, looking at her with a half-smile.

Lin Yuchan felt all the cold cream on her face had evaporated, growing hot again.

“Is there something else?”

“Yes.” Su Minguan’s low voice said, “I’m thinking about when Boya’s shareholder benefits for this year will be distributed.”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

So this was the main point!

She had invested three hundred taels of silver in Yixing, getting one jar of Pond’s cold cream that had crossed oceans, something probably even Empress Dowager Cixi had never had the fortune to use in her lifetime.

But he had invested three thousand taels in real silver, ten times as much!

What, give him ten tubes of lipstick?

Lin Yuchan thought for a moment, then smiled sweetly, raising both arms above her head, then spreading them left and right, painting him a picture:

“Dividends. Lots and lots of dividends.”

Su Minguan couldn’t help but smile. Lin Yuchan had spread her arms wide with a brilliant smile – exactly the posture for inviting an embrace.

So he obliged her wish, stepped forward, and gently held her. The scent of almonds surrounded his nose.

“Just teasing you.” He spoke unhurriedly close to her ear, “I originally planned to wait until New Year to give this to you. Couldn’t resist today, opened it early. It’s all because you don’t wear a hat.”

He had acted on impulse, encountering a rare little thing, casually buying it for her, just wanting to see her smile.

Once he gave it to her, he was not satisfied with merely “a smile.”

His little girl, her skin carrying the fragrance he had chosen, would take it all the way home, accompanying her as she undressed for sleep. The various associations from this inevitably stirred restless thoughts.

He also realized how truly poor he had become now. Going back a dozen years, the things the women in his family applied to their faces would cost more per fingertip than a poor family’s daily meals.

Lin Yuchan was stunned for a moment, pursed her lips in a slight smile, and nuzzled his chest.

“You didn’t need to…”

He immediately stopped her seriously, blocking with his hand: “Don’t rub it off. Don’t wash when you go back. Remember to apply it every day, or your nose will get redder and redder.”

Lin Yuchan still clutched that crooked list in her hand, somewhat bewildered, looking up at Su Minguan.

What kind of anti-scientific threat was this!

Su Minguan laughed softly and long, cupped her face, and carefully placed a kiss on her forehead.

His lips were very soft, just carefully pressing once, creating a different feeling, like melting cold cream.

The almond fragrance was criminally enticing.

She half-closed her eyes, saying bashfully: “The Huayi Guild Hall list… I’ll go look for people first thing tomorrow morning… Registration rules seem to be that five commercial establishments can form an industry guild hall, the government archives might still have previous registration documents…”

“The government offices are closed.” Su Minguan punctured her excuse with one phrase, “What’s the rush?”

“…But these five people may not all be traceable… so I also need to go to Huayi Street to feel out the situation, see if anyone is willing to do this with me…”

“The shops are all closed too. Let people have a good meal in peace.” Su Minguan spoke deliberately, smoothing the stray hairs at her temples, “Besides, you’d go knocking on doors with that red nose?”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

He wouldn’t let that go!

She certainly knew about work-life balance. But she started from a lower point than others, and due to age and gender, she faced more restrictions than others. If she also adopted the foreign eight-hour work system, this little fish would sooner or later be swallowed whole by others.

Clutching the jar of cold cream, she suddenly thought of reciprocating, lifted her eyelids, and asked sweetly: “What would you like for New Year?”

Transportation and shopping were inconvenient in this era, so gifts had to be prepared in advance. She had also experienced the young master’s way of saying one thing and meaning another. This jar of cold cream, described so casually, had probably taken ages to select.

If she procrastinated until the last minute, she could only grab some pastries and candy from the market, which might fool business associates but would be worse than giving nothing to Su Minguan.

Su Minguan’s eyes were bright, looking at her, deliberately thinking for a while before saying, “Miss Lin is too kind. You decide. Something similar to the previous two years would be fine.”

Lin Yuchan: “The Previous two years? When did I…”

Various memories quickly crowded her mind: two years ago on Little New Year’s Eve, she had given him a gun, along with the entire Yixing Shipping Company; last year at the New Year banquet, she had provided timely help with 1,600 taels of silver, in exchange for a steamship that could make fish sink and birds fall in shame…

She lightly punched him in anger. Good heavens, what an appetite!

Su Minguan refused to stand straight and take the beating. He caught her wrist and pulled gently, bringing her into his embrace.

He hadn’t used much force, yet she couldn’t break free.

After running dozens of miles through cotton fields during the day, she was only now beginning to feel tired. Her joints were soft and aching all over, her attention reduced to just the tip of her nose, a tiny area, wanting only to sink into a warm embrace and let him hold her properly.

“You don’t have to give anything at all.” Su Minguan said in a low voice, “Just spend more time with me.”

She felt somewhat dazed, leaning against his chest, obediently humming “Mm.”

“The people I deal with during the day are all annoying. You must watch over me, don’t let me become that annoying, too.”

“Mm.”

“Also, don’t work so hard. What’s the point of earning money if you don’t have time to spend it?”

Lin Yuchan wanted to say, Actually, I haven’t earned that much money. But her mouth felt lazy, she just gave another simple “Mm.”

“And also…”

His voice suddenly cut off, dissolving into a suppressed breath.

Perhaps she was truly tired. The little girl was rarely this compliant, forgetting to argue, forgetting to set conditions. He said one thing and she answered with one thing, drowsiness already showing in her eyes, incredibly well-behaved.

The kerosene lamp behind her suddenly seemed unbearably dazzling, things deeply buried in his heart began to sprout and grow. Su Minguan closed his eyelashes, lowered his head, his nose tip touching her warm little nose tip, the rubbing carrying obvious suggestion.

“And also… I want.”

She indeed hadn’t thought it through, a shallow “Mm…” sliding from her throat.

Then she suddenly came to her senses, her heartbeat suddenly racing. Somehow bewitched, she looked up without moving, even closing her eyes.

Warm breath brushed her face, the hand behind her unconsciously tightened, gently stroking her joints.

Lin Yuchan felt her behavior was already quite bold, but theory and practice were completely different matters. When it came to herself, she still chickened out at the crucial moment. After enduring for a while, she suddenly laughed aloud, twisted away from his embrace, pushed open the half-closed door, and bounded down the stairs three steps at a time.

“I think business is still more important! Excellence comes from diligence, ruin from play! Comrade Xiao Bai, let’s encourage each other! Farewell!”

From upstairs came an exasperated shout: “I’ll collect the debt!”