After the New Year, the “Yixing Business Association” hung out its shingle with great fanfare.

The association’s guild hall was located near the Wang family wharf outside the county town. The courtyard entrance was decorated with red silk and colorful banners, with firecrackers thundering loud enough to shake the heavens. A Foshan lion dance troupe performed for two full hours, attracting nearly half the county’s residents. After offering sacrifices of pork, beef, and mutton to the ancestors, all the affiliated merchants shared a feast, officially marking the grand opening.

On the wooden bulletin board in the guild hall’s main lobby, black characters on white paper outlined the business association’s scope of operations:

Mutual assistance among Chinese merchants, intelligence sharing, dispute arbitration, maintaining fairness and credibility in Shanghai’s Chinese business community, and so forth.

Of course, anyone could spout such high-sounding rhetoric. In the past, many successful big bosses had organized various “business associations” large and small, but they either flashed in the pan without gaining momentum, or gradually evolved into oligarch cliques that turned around to oppress small and medium merchants, ultimately becoming isolated with ruined reputations. Once their financial backers fell, the groups would scatter, leaving only tales of former wealth and glory.

So when this “Yixing Business Association” first appeared, many people just listened with curiosity without taking it too seriously.

But unlike those previous small-scale commercial organizations, the Yixing Business Association had an unexpectedly large number of “member affiliates” right from its opening day. The banquet tables stretched into the streets in a dark mass, with representatives from all walks of life—from high society to the underworld—coming to show their support.

Sharp-eyed observers immediately noticed: “Who’s backing this business association? To command such widespread response—this is no ordinary affair.”

During the feast, some whispered gossip: “No surprise there! This Yixing Shipping Company is also affiliated with a ‘Huguang Hometown Association.’ Many of those here today to show support are hometown association members.”

Someone became interested: “Really? You mean that small storefront next to their shipping office? How many people could that ‘hometown association’ possibly have? I don’t believe it.”

Those in the know smiled knowingly and didn’t explain further.

Yixing now operates two organizations under its name: the business association and the hometown association—two completely different groups.

The “Huguang Hometown Association” focused on grassroots mutual aid, particularly helping common people deal with corrupt officials and local tyrants. It operated on the edge of legality, with something of a criminal organization flavor. Due to its sensitive nature, it had always operated quite secretly, with rumors that it received funding from certain secret societies, which allowed it to continue operating at a loss. However, since government soldiers and police had never come knocking, no one bothered to meddle and investigate its true nature.

The newly established Yixing Business Association, on the other hand, was a legally registered non-profit merchant organization aimed at information sharing, maintaining public welfare, harmonizing commercial relations, and providing Shanghai’s struggling merchants with a better business environment. Its entire operational logic was completely transparent, with no flaws to be found.

To put it simply and bluntly: this Yixing Shipping Company now had connections in both the legitimate and underworld spheres—truly impressive.

Merchants seek profit, but merchants raised under traditional Chinese values often care about their reputation both in life and after death. When a business grows large and money accumulates, some become ambitious and high-profile in social activities, or donate to public welfare and charitable causes—building roads, ancestral halls, family genealogies—to gain neighbors’ respect and government praise. Then, using reputation as capital, they can gradually elevate their social status, purchase official titles, or marry into established families, allowing them to escape their humble “merchant” origins and truly enter the scholar-official class.

Yet Boss Su of Yixing Shipping, despite all these “boundary-crossing” activities, remained surprisingly low-key as a person. Unless necessary, he rarely showed off in public settings. Many of his business concepts and operations existed only in underworld legends, rarely allowing others to glimpse them.

During the feast, some onlookers who didn’t know the full story ate heartily while pointing and speculating.

“Everyone keeps saying Boss Su, Boss Su—which one is he exactly! Is it that one in silk robes with white hair? —No? Then it must be that well-fed gentleman leading the drinking games? —Also, no? Surely it can’t be that old gentleman in official robes? Even if he has scholarly credentials, why wear official dress to this occasion?”

People gossiped harmlessly, completely unaware that the business world star, Boss Su, they were discussing was not currently on-site schmoozing.

Instead, he was in a quiet, small room in the back courtyard of the guild hall, being pressed against a wall for a kiss.

Not pressing someone else against the wall. Rather, he was being cornered by a girl a head shorter than him. His hands cooperatively raised beside his ears as he resigned himself with closed eyes.

What a disgrace to the domineering CEO community.

“There.” Su Minguan lifted his head slightly, gently urging in a soft voice, “Satisfied now?”

The young woman couldn’t reach his neck even on tiptoe, so she viciously bit his neck once more.

This time, she used too much force, and Su Minguan’s brow furrowed slightly.

Suddenly lifting his eyelids, he embraced her waist and the back of her head, lowered his head, and gently demonstrated a kiss that wouldn’t leave someone breathless.

“Satisfied now? You don’t hate me anymore?”

Lin Yuchan wiped the corner of her mouth and smiled sincerely: “I never hated you. You were overthinking.”

Su Minguan snorted.

Lin Yuchan said seriously, “In business matters, my attitude was perfectly normal.”

Ever since she had proposed cooperation on that “intelligence club” before New Year, lacking funds and being taken advantage of by Su Minguan, who proposed the condition of naming rights to Yixing, Lin Yuchan had been quite displeased, feeling he was calculating and scheming to seize the fruits of her hard labor.

So she put on a sour face, planning to give him the cold shoulder while busying herself with other matters.

But ultimately, she couldn’t let go of that grand ambition. After all, she was asking people to take risks with her in an uncertain venture—she couldn’t expect others to respond blindly.

She finally decided to compromise with reality, sheepishly knocking on Yixing’s door and proposing a few minor modifications before signing the contract with him.

Throughout the signing, her mouth was pursed the entire time—not even government officials signing humiliating treaties looked as dejected as she did.

She wasn’t particularly excited when buying the ship and signing contracts either. The fact of “owning a steamship under her name” didn’t make her happy.

Who told her she lacked sufficient capital? Boss Su would never miss any opportunity to exploit someone.

She couldn’t help thinking that if she had gotten rich speculating in real estate a few months earlier and was now worth millions, Su Minguan’s attitude would be completely different—he’d be fighting to curry favor with her!

With most of her staff on holiday leave, she worked overtime alone with him on preparations. Using nearly a month, they improved and perfected the crude idea of “crowdfunding a ship for intelligence transport,” solidifying foundations, adding branches and leaves, organizing and pruning until they created a polished, comprehensive “business association” prototype.

Of course, cooperation was cooperation, but she maintained her attitude while working with him. She worked conscientiously but with a cold demeanor, refusing to discuss any unrelated personal matters. When Boss Su’s mind wandered and he desired to steal a kiss, no chance.

Su Minguan had never heard the term “cold war” and was initially somewhat at a loss. But since he felt he had done nothing wrong and wouldn’t lower himself to apologize against his conscience, he was also happy to have peace, and his work efficiency improved considerably.

However, after being subjected to her sarcastic mockery with veiled barbs on one occasion, he was still somewhat hurt and gently reminded her: “One more month.”

Lin Yuchan’s heart immediately softened, and she felt too embarrassed to continue being cold to him.

Thus, the “cold war” was maintained within an understanding limit until the business association took shape.

Lin Yuchan’s sour expression gradually became unsustainable. The day before the business association’s opening, when she finished work, she unexpectedly said goodbye to Boss Su.

During the process of preparing the business association, she gradually realized that these ambitions of hers that transcended the era could not have achieved such scale based on Boya Company alone without the support of Yixing’s vast resources and network connections.

Actually, thinking back, all the assets of Yixing Business Association—except for the steamship she had funded, though she also received ownership and the cost could be completely recovered—everything else including venue, personnel, coordination, and promotion was handled by Su Minguan. Half of the first batch of member affiliates came from the “hometown association” network, from Yixing’s past accumulation bit by bit.

Her earlier comparison about “having a child take his surname” was inappropriate. If forced to make an analogy, this child was mostly born by Su Minguan.

Aside from that steamship, she had only contributed the initial idea and planning—essentially “technical shareholding.”

While Boss Su contributed money and effort, belonging to the “investor” category, and handled much of the dirty and tiring work. What he wanted in return was merely the nominal rights to the “Yixing” name.

If she continued to withhold this, it would be a lose-lose situation.

During these days of preparing the business association, Lin Yuchan learned quite a lot. Looking back at her naive proposal, it was full of loopholes. Without Yixing’s resource assistance, even if she could create some ripples, they would likely be just ripples, and how long they could be sustained was questionable.

Didn’t “The Wealth of Nations” say not to blindly pursue being a “jack-of-all-trades,” but to be good at cooperation, leverage respective comparative advantages, and play to strengths while avoiding weaknesses to achieve maximum benefit?

After correcting her limitations in thinking, Lin Yuchan stopped being coy and immediately decided to unilaterally make peace.

On the day of the business association’s opening, with lion dances and firecrackers still going on outside, she quietly invited Boss Su to the back hall, intending to express her thanks.

“Actually… I think… after all these days… our cooperation has been quite good…”

After rambling for a long time, Su Minguan was still immersed in Cold War thinking, maintaining a stern face and not buying it.

“Miss Lin, the contract is signed in black and white. Even if you sweet-talk me now, it’s useless. I won’t…”

Halfway through his words, Lin Yuchan got tired of arguing with him. Not wanting to analyze her mistakes word by word, she simply pressed him against the wall.

Su Minguan was caught off guard and initially didn’t understand her meaning, so his cooperation wasn’t ideal. She couldn’t reach him on tiptoe, making the encounter somewhat violent. Su Minguan felt another sharp pain at the corner of his lips, realizing this girl had made no progress since the first time.

And she said she wanted to thank him. Was this thanking? This was getting back at him!

Revenge for his “business is business” attitude!

By the time he came to his senses, his lower lip had gained another row of small tooth marks. He smiled helplessly, lowered his head to accept the abuse, and even quietly slid down a couple of inches to make it easier for her to reach.

…

Su Minguan licked his lips, cupping that little face that made him love and hate her, admiring her excessively obedient expression. Though satisfied, he deliberately said: “I don’t believe it. You must still be cursing me in your heart.”

Lin Yuchan sneered coldly. Taking advantage while playing innocently.

Since he was actively asking to be scolded, she wasn’t polite, nitpicking and pointing out: “You knew perfectly well the contract was fair but didn’t explain, letting me get angry for nothing, clearly enjoying watching me make a fool of myself.”

“Many things only become clear after doing them. This contract of ours is unprecedented—whether it’s fair or not, I was going by feeling and couldn’t list out specific amounts.” Su Minguan said helplessly, “Even if I had explained, you would have just thought I was smooth-talking and given me dirty looks.”

“You think I’m that pig-headed? I wouldn’t be like that.”

“Not pig-headed—genuine. It’s better that you lay out your concerns clearly and openly to me than those who are half-true, half-false, all smoke and mirrors, only knowing how to take advantage of others.”

Lin Yuchan: “Oh, talking about yourself?”

“Heaven and earth be my witness—who’s taking advantage of whom now?”

She punched his chest lightly, listening to the noisy social chatter outside.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect the first wave of member affiliates to be so numerous,” she said. “How many of these are here out of respect for you? If the business association were still called Boya, this main hall would be half empty today.”

Only then did Su Minguan truly believe she held no grudges, and smiled as he reminded her: “Face value has its limits. The hometown association members only agreed to pay six months of membership fees upfront. After that, how to keep them all depends on your ability.”

Lin Yuchan said No problem. Today’s turnout already exceeded expectations, and she was full of motivation.

Under money’s temptation, never mind letting the business association take the Yixing name—even if she had to change her surname, she would seriously consider it.

“Mrs. Su.” Someone suddenly called from outside. “Mrs. Su, where are you? They’re waiting for you to say a few words outside.”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

She had forgotten—under money’s temptation, her surname had already changed…

Su Minguan’s eyes curved with laughter.

“The stage is set. Mrs. Su, the rest is up to you.”

While speaking, Lin Yuchan quickly arranged her hair in front of the mirror and hurriedly stepped out.

“Coming!”

Su Minguan’s ambitions had limits. He didn’t dare claim the position of first chairman of Yixing Business Association for himself, leaving it to Lin Yuchan.

After all, without her flash of inspiration and painstaking planning, this business association wouldn’t have risen from the ground up.

However, this meant Lin Yuchan needed to formally show her face in public. If she were still called “Miss Lin,” matchmakers would probably be blocking her door the next day.

There would also be moral condemnation: Where were her father and clan members? Hurry up and marry off this unruly girl!

So after weighing the options, she continued using the widow identity on her identification documents—although it had been so long that no one cared whether she wore mourning clothes anymore—to show she had once “belonged to someone” and now showed her face in public only due to livelihood pressures.

This way, it would be much more legitimate.

Though matchmakers might still come calling, a simple “I intend to remain chaste” would claim the moral high ground and easily dismiss them.

As for the relationship between Mrs. Su and Boss Su of Yixing…

Everyone knew she was a widow. A simple “same clan, same family” would be reasonable enough.

Fortunately, Lin Yuchan’s social circle was limited. She only needed to coordinate with the old employees of Boya and Yixing to keep their stories straight and avoid revealing flaws.

“Mrs. Su” graciously entered the banquet hall, raised a cup of wine, and smiled: “Thank you all for coming to show your support.”

The merchants who had been whispering among themselves suddenly fell quiet.

Though dressed in somber azure cloth jacket and skirt with the simplest hairstyle and accessories, they could still see that this powerfully backed “Yixing Business Association’s” first chairman was a young woman in the bloom of youth.

Everyone was momentarily unsure how to respond socially.

They had heard beforehand that the business association chairman was female—unusual, but not too fantastical. After all, the entire Qing Dynasty was currently under the Empress Dowager’s regency—the hen crowing at dawn, the natural order already disrupted. If some family produced a Grandmother Jia-like figure who could manage affairs capably and handle responsibilities independently, everyone would be willing to set aside their prejudices and communicate with her as equals, considering Yixing’s reputation.

Who knew they wouldn’t see “Grandmother Jia,” but instead find Sister Lin on stage!

People couldn’t help wondering: exactly how old was she? Had she even reached eighteen?

Fortunately, several of the business association’s directors were core Heaven and Earth Society members who knew her society identity as “Bai Yushan” and understood she was no ordinary person.

Without needing discussion, they would provide support.

“Mrs. Su is a woman who doesn’t yield to men—we’ve long heard of your reputation. Meeting you today is truly fortunate!”

“Boya Company has always maintained excellent credibility—anyone who does business with them knows this! Having you lead the business association today gives us all confidence!”

“Exactly! Mrs. Su is a remarkable person in the business world. Let me tell you, two years ago when she purchased four thousand catties of tea…”

“She manages factories with hundreds of people under her—young girls, elderly women, old ladies, all depending on her for their livelihood!”

“She speaks both English and French! She can even write letters in foreign languages!”

Several shills below the stage spoke one after another, gradually building the atmosphere, then shamelessly began applauding.

Other merchants looked around, saw that others seemed open-minded, and, not wanting to fall behind, followed with a few claps of their own.

Gradually, the applause spread infectiously, making the hall’s beams and pillars hum with vibration.

Of course, some grumbled inwardly: “Am I the only one who thinks women should step aside in business matters?”

The thunderous applause around them answered: Yes, you’re the only one who thinks that.

Thus, everyone reached consensus—since this young widow could be accepted by so many people, she must have extraordinary qualities.

Maybe she had backing. Maybe she had the support of an entire family behind her.

The attending friendly merchants numbered a full hundred. Lin Yuchan spotted many familiar faces in the crowd: several cotton merchants from Flower Clothes Street, the silk and satin merchants who had helped her besiege Wang Quan that day, several hardware merchants who had previously purchased from Boya, Boya’s two managers, and also Shopkeeper Mau from Xuhui Tea Shop, who obsequiously bowed when he saw her gaze turn his way.

Lin Yuchan smiled slightly and imperceptibly caught her breath.

This first hurdle was passed. Though it relied on shills below the stage and bluffing, at minimum, the first batch of members of the Yixing Business Association had all accepted her gender identity.

She was in business and couldn’t forever “rule from behind the curtain”—she would eventually need to establish her reputation in public settings.

Her credentials didn’t need a personal introduction—others had already exaggerated them tenfold. The business association’s daily operations also didn’t need elaboration—they had been printed in handbooks for internal members to read.

Lin Yuchan drained the wine in her cup, set it down, and opened her notebook.

“Everyone,” she didn’t engage in pleasantries but went straight to the point, “we’re all businessmen who’ve dealt with foreigners and have surely suffered plenty at their hands. They rely on their legal and tax privileges to exploit Chinese merchants to the extreme; they rely on their abundant capital to unite in pressuring us; they are united while we are scattered like sand. The court cannot provide us any backing, and for the sake of a penny or two of profit, we even fight internally, letting the foreigners benefit as fishermen. We’re getting the worst of all worlds.”

Her bold mention of “the court” made quite a few people quietly gasp.

But then, looking around and seeing others seemed unfazed, they thought: maybe I’m being oversensitive.

Many people nodded secretly, showing indignant expressions.

Lin Yuchan’s words needed little exaggeration or embellishment. Everyone present had been in business for years and could empathize with the hardships caused by foreigners.

“Not to embarrass anyone, but when Boya Company first entered raw cotton export, during last autumn’s low cotton prices in Shanghai, I nearly went bankrupt. Looking back now, the foreign merchants knew about flooding in India and cotton production losses, but they suppressed the news while aggressively driving down purchase prices, deliberately creating price differences between ports, causing devastating losses to us Chinese merchants. That’s when I thought…”

Before Lin Yuchan could finish her sentence, a cotton merchant in the audience suddenly stood up in agreement, cursing loudly.

“Mrs. Su is right! I lost a thousand taels last year! Only now do I know I was done in by that damn India! Listen to this—India! What kind of godforsaken place!”

Several cotton merchants, still traumatized by last year’s abnormally low prices, cursed viciously for several moments.

Lin Yuchan waited for everyone to quiet down before continuing: “That’s when I thought, even if we couldn’t know the foreign merchants’ schemes in advance, if we could just know the real-time price differences between ports, we could deduce something was fishy and not suffer such huge losses. So at the end of last year, I took ships to investigate various treaty ports…”

The sound of whispering rose again.

“A young widow traveling by ship to other places? And came back safe and sound?”

“Isn’t she bragging? How is that possible?”

But some well-informed people explained: “Nowadays, foreign steamships are safe and reliable. First class is separately partitioned—though more expensive, many Western ladies travel by ship.”

Lin Yuchan smiled and explained that she had taken Chinese steamships.

Then she briefly described her observations from her Yangtze River journey, simply explaining the foreign trading houses’ usual operations that she had summarized—fixed-price contracts, quota agreements, suppressed opening prices… all explained in basic terms.

The doubting voices gradually dispersed, replaced by low sighs.

And she held nothing back, speaking everything out clearly in public!

Many people thought with petty hearts: if I knew so much inside information, I’d tell my shop assistants and a few close merchant friends to help them avoid risks. If I made it all public, wouldn’t I lose my competitive advantage?

Everyone knew foreign merchants were cunning. These schemes couldn’t be something she made up to fool people.

Just from these few sentences alone, today’s excitement wasn’t wasted.

Someone angrily declared, “Everything in the market nowadays is controlled by foreigners. I thought it was just the officials being spineless, but now I see the foreigners smile while hiding daggers, specializing in scheming—even more detestable than those spineless officials! But those foreign trading houses all have capital of tens or hundreds of thousands of silver taels. For us small businesses, besides suffering their oppression, what else can we do?”

Lin Yuchan raised her voice: “Exactly! Compared to foreign trading houses, we’re all small businesses. Everyone here went into commerce for different reasons—some inherited family businesses, some by coincidence, some forced to pay debts… We’re all decent people who just hope to earn some money peacefully and provide warmth and sustenance for our families. But since the Qing opened its ports, foreign merchants came prepared. They traveled thousands of miles to China, not for sightseeing, not for vacation, but to squeeze every last penny from the Chinese people! Even if we don’t want to fight, for our very survival, we must respond to battle!”

Her voice finally carried emotion. Her small face showed a solemn expression, her back straight as a rod.

Everyone was moved. This seemingly fragile young widow chairman showed hints of a tragic heroic spirit.