“I tried my best.”

In the reception room of Yixing Shipping Company, an eighteen-year-old girl sat gracefully, her eyes sparkling with intelligence that made her entire face glow, yet she deliberately put on a dejected expression, forcing her delicate eyebrows into a figure-eight shape that made her look pitiful.

“I’ve worked very hard to get you business. But Mr. Rong said firmly that he absolutely won’t have any dealings with shops associated with the word ‘Yixing’—I think his psychological trauma is severe. In Western terms, it’s PTSD… Post… Post-something…”

Lin Yuchan tried several times but couldn’t grasp that advanced English word on the tip of her tongue, so she changed her approach. “Anyway, it’s trauma syndrome… He slams doors when he hears the word Yixing…”

Su Minguan held a handkerchief, wiping the teapot while quietly watching her complain.

If she hadn’t been clutching that heavy bundle, occasionally glancing at the gleaming silver dollars peeking out, and sometimes unable to suppress foolish grins, he might actually have been moved by her emotions and patted her shoulder gently, saying: “It’s alright, thank you for thinking of me.”

But now… his heart remained unmoved, and he even wanted to ruffle her hair.

She had forgotten to “wear mourning” again today. Her widow’s disguise was truly hit-or-miss. Or perhaps she was afraid of angering him and had deliberately removed it before entering.

“This pot is too old and unsuitable for newly roasted oolong tea,” Su Minguan still controlled his hands and smiled politely at her. “Let me change to another one.”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

Seeing him get up to leave, she suddenly called out: “Five percent monthly interest—I’ll lend to you!”

“Blacker than Indian Parsi merchants,” Su Minguan shook his head, pulled out a fragrant calling card from a cabinet, and waved it at her. “I might as well sell myself at Tianxiang Tower.”

Lin Yuchan was speechless. He still kept that thing!

“Then… then can you pay the fine? Will you have food to eat next month?”

Su Minguan changed the teapot, brewed a pot of hot, fragrant tea, and slowly poured it into the cup in front of her.

“The tea is good—don’t waste it. Drink up before we talk.”

She exclaimed in delight: “This tea set is nice! Where did you get it?”

Su Minguan gave her a gentle sidelong glance.

This girl had probably never seen so many silver dollars in her life and had completely floated away, losing all her usual caution and composure. She’d become like a drunk little wildflower—give her a bit of wind and she’d sway gracefully.

Fortunately, she knew not to go crazy in the streets. Only after entering his Yixing Shipping Company did she drop her facade of propriety and virtue, bouncing up and down his stairs like she’d smoked two taels of opium.

Su Minguan quickly sent away the slack-jawed clerks to work, thinking helplessly that money was more corrupting than opium.

It was just that she was inexperienced. When he was young…

Forget it, no point showing off about that to her.

He waited patiently for the girl to calm down herself, and she had already drunk five rounds of tea.

Lin Yuchan finally felt embarrassed, reflected on herself for a few seconds, returned to normal speaking speed, and told Su Minguan about the origin of these seven hundred silver dollars.

“I know I struck it lucky…”

Su Minguan smiled, habitually going along with her: “Luck that can be converted to money isn’t called luck—it’s called ability.”

Lin Yuchan giggled: “Little Master Su, you know how to talk.”

Su Minguan: “…”

Floating again.

He wanted to say something stern and dignified to wake her up, but couldn’t bear to. It was rare to see her this happy.

He guided her to change the subject: “Recently, there have been a few small business deals, all introduced by Guangdong compatriots. They don’t count as profitable, but at least break even, letting these idling clerks practice their skills. Also, the sand boats and speedboats have all been repaired and replaced—absolutely no inferior vessels. And… not to boast, but with my abilities, if Mr. Rong would deign to come and observe, his prejudice against Yixing should crumble without attacking.”

Rong Hong was no ordinary man—his eyes were sharp, and Su Minguan could see this. If he could establish business relations with him, it would be a tremendous help for the struggling, fledgling Yixing.

But Su Minguan couldn’t quite understand why Rong Hong, such a scholarly merchant who was demanding and self-admiring, would uniquely favor this sixteen-year-old girl of humble origins, chatting with her about all sorts of random things and easily giving her great trust.

It didn’t seem like he had improper thoughts about her—the two simply got along well.

He had known Miss Lin first. He thought he was the only one who noticed how exceptional her mind was.

He felt inexplicably indignant, like he thought he’d discovered a hidden paradise, only to find it not only already inhabited but charging him admission.

But this thought was only a fleeting moment. Business was business, personal was personal. After years of struggling in the commercial world, he had long since concluded the secret to wealth: mind your own business, don’t ask about others.

Lin Yuchan asked softly: “So you still want to compete for this deal?”

Su Minguan patiently skimmed the tea foam, saying slowly: “I’m not a professional security agency. If he wanted to go to other provinces, I really wouldn’t be confident. But you should know that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been active for over ten years since rising in Guangxi, once achieving great momentum. Therefore, many Heaven and Earth Society members from Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, especially those who only wanted to overthrow the Qing without bothering to restore the Ming, all deserted in droves to seek advancement under Hong Xiuquan. Of course, all the local branches opposed this, but couldn’t prevent the personnel drain. Later, when more people left, some returned home in glory and came back to discuss uprisings with the Heaven and Earth Society. Among those people you saw at Haizhuang Temple last time, several had secretly returned from Nanjing to participate in the Guangzhou uprising.”

He lightly pressed his lips together and summarized: “So our two forces have… how should I put it… an unreliable alliance.”

Lin Yuchan softly said, “Ah,” took a sip of tea, and accidentally burned her mouth.

Su Minguan watched her suck in air and said blandly: “However, the Heaven and Earth Society has declined considerably now. In their eyes, we’re probably just annoying poor country relatives. But since we’re relatives, they have to give face. Even Granny Liu got twenty taels of silver on her first visit to the Rong Mansion, don’t you think?”

Lin Yuchan nodded dazedly. The Qing Dynasty was truly beyond saving, letting these rebels from all over connect so enthusiastically.

“But,” she didn’t forget she needed to take Rong Hong’s perspective, so she seriously picked flaws in his words, “aren’t you afraid these out-of-province Heaven and Earth Society members have all become corrupted? Like Chu Nanyun?”

“As long as they’re still in Taiping territory, they won’t become too corrupt. I have that much confidence.” Su Minguan poured her another cup of tea, using a subtle gesture to point to his waist, and said in a low voice, “Besides… could they be more formidable than Boss Chu?”

Lin Yuchan shuddered with lingering fear and forced a smile: “You’ve convinced me, but you haven’t convinced him.”

Rong Hong was naturally not just resistant to the two words “Yixing”—he had also met Su Minguan and felt that although he was shrewd and mature, he was still too young.

Boastful words like “Guangdong Yixing will crush Shanghai Yixing” were fine for bar talk, but Rong Hong didn’t believe he could do it.

One wouldn’t dare entrust their life and fortune to a shipping company whose very existence was precarious.

Of course, Lin Yuchan didn’t dare tell Rong Hong the truth—that Shanghai Yixing had already been eliminated by Su Minguan. She had shared many hardships with Young Master Su and roughly knew his working habits, what he would and wouldn’t do. But Rong Hong barely knew him, and if suddenly told about his bloody achievements, he would probably want to stay even further away.

Seeing her dilemma, Su Minguan smiled slightly.

“Go busy yourself with those four thousand pounds of tea. If Boss Rong changes his mind and is willing to give Yixing a chance, my quote is this amount. I’ll personally escort the shipment.”

He dipped his hand in the tea water and wrote a few characters on the table. After Lin Yuchan saw clearly, he gently wiped them away.

“Also, adjust your expression before leaving—don’t look so happy. Take care.”

“You talk about me floating. I think you’re the one floating.”

Lin Yuchan returned to her rental room, muttering to herself.

Kindly introducing him to business, and he didn’t even say thanks—that was fine. But opening with a quote of fifteen hundred taels—wasn’t this making Rong Hong hate them even more?

Of course, based on her understanding of Su Minguan, he was indeed worth that price. The people under him weren’t ordinary either. For this business trip—fleet deployment, labor costs, food and lodging, armed equipment, possible injury compensation…

If this trip succeeded, compared to the huge profits Rong Hong could make, this money was indeed insignificant.

The problem was, nothing was set in stone yet…

Lin Yuchan decided to “keep it under wraps” for now and not tell Rong Hong about this.

Making connections was goodwill, but she couldn’t serve as their intermediary for free—she wasn’t getting paid for it.

She turned her energy to those four thousand pounds of raw tea.

Processing export tea generally involved two stages: tea farmers picked fresh leaves, then performed withering, rolling, kill-green processing, fermentation, and drying to initially produce raw tea, all completed at the place of origin. The tea Rong Hong had bought cheaply belonged to this category.

When raw tea arrived at foreign trade ports, it began refined processing like roasting and screening, was graded and packaged, then entered tea shops and warehouses. Through trading house compradors, it was purchased by foreign merchants and sold worldwide.

This was the process Lin Yuchan would complete.

Guangzhou’s tea industry had a long history. Tea shops with some foundation, like Defeng Trading, all had their processing workshops and unique tea-making styles.

Shanghai had been open for business for a short time, and those who came to invest were wealthy immigrants from various places, lacking “one-stop” industrial chains but instead having many small dealers with specialized divisions and single business focuses.

Lin Yuchan discovered that there were many “local tea companies” here that specialized in processing and packaging raw tea transported from inland areas, then selling to tea warehouses.

In modern terms, this was called production specialization, theoretically beneficial to commodity economic development.

But in the current chaotic and evil society with incomplete information and imperfect systems, it has instead increased many friction costs.

The qualifications of “local tea companies” varied greatly. Lin Yuchan bought a good pair of shoes, changed into men’s clothing, and personally inspected them one by one.

Changing to men’s clothing was for the convenience of movement. Although Shanghai wasn’t as particular about feng shui as Guangdong, its tolerance for women doing business was limited to women setting up stalls selling pan-fried buns. Any respectable commercial establishment of some scale was filled with old men and young fellows.

(Middle-aged men? They didn’t exist. In this society, anyone over thirty was considered old, and many people already had grandchildren at forty.)

Some shops, like those selling clothes or tobacco, were still polite to female customers. But some markets dealing in bulk commodities like silk, tea, and porcelain might as well hang a sign at the door saying “Women and dogs not allowed.”

Lin Yuchan wore men’s clothing not to disguise herself as a man, but to tell certain snobbish clerks that these rules were nothing to her.

It should be more intimidating than being a widow.

She now had a fortune of several hundred silver dollars. She was richer than most small business owners.

Sure enough, the clerk at the door of “Xuhui Anglo-American Tea Company” saw her so bold and confident that he stretched his neck in bewilderment, never thinking to reach out and stop her.

The shopkeeper was severely bald with a pigtail as long as a thumb, not smelly at all. Lin Yuchan smiled as she approached.

“Hello…”

The bald shopkeeper’s face changed, glared at the clerk at the door, then forced out a strained smile.

“Miss, this isn’t a place for fun. The rouge shop is across the street…”

Lin Yuchan handed over a silver coin: “What’s your surname? A word in private.”

She called this a “gender tax.” Lin Yuchan classified this as necessary expenses and kept a bunch in her pocket.

Sure enough, the bald shopkeeper was stunned, smoothly accepted it, and after adjusting his smile several times, said: “Of course, of course. My humble surname is Mau. Forgive this small person’s poor eyesight—which household are you from, miss? What brings you to our humble establishment?”

He took her for a young lady from a wealthy family who had snuck out to see the world. The shopkeeper secretly shook his head, lamenting the decline of morals—a young lady going out without even bringing a maid.

But he still had to treat her well. What if her father were a potential big customer?

Lin Yuchan didn’t waste words and got straight to the point, making the same request Su Minguan had made years ago.

“I want to see you roast tea.”

Shopkeeper Mau touched his bald head and frowned inwardly again.

Although their small processing business didn’t have any “secret formulas” for tea roasting, it wasn’t something just anyone could enter and observe.

“It’s hot and smoky—nothing interesting to see,” Shopkeeper Mau smiled. “If you’re interested in tea, miss, let me introduce our establishment’s…”

“Oh, black tea, rare.” Lin Yuchan casually grabbed a can of B-grade refined tea from the shelf, opened it to smell. “The raw tea quality is average—bought cheap from the Hunan mountain areas? But your skillful hands brought it back to life. This tea master deserves a bonus. But foreigners generally don’t like black tea—is this for domestic sales? People in Beijing seem to be drinking black tea lately…”

Several busy clerks couldn’t help but stop their work and look over.

“Let me check this, can… this is last year’s Wuyi Mountain black tea, right? The heat was a bit too intense—did foreign customers rush you? No, that’s not right, this tea has been sitting for at least three months… I understand now, this is for Russians, right? They must have defaulted on payment… Ah, Russia doesn’t have a consulate in Shanghai. My condolences—you won’t get that money back. But the Jianghai Customs has a Russian commercial assistant, Victor Levin, with a big nose. He’s quite reasonable—you could try complaining to him.”

Shopkeeper Mau plopped down on a tea crate, his little pigtail wagging continuously.

“Forgive this small person’s poor eyesight—are you from… from… Yuanheng Tea Warehouse? No, that family’s eldest daughter married long ago… Huicheng Trading House? Da’an? Guokang?…”

Shopkeeper Mau rattled off over ten names of prominent tea merchants. He was certain this girl was probably the beloved daughter of some commercial establishment owner who, having no brothers and being too precious to marry off, was being groomed as a successor from childhood. But he racked his brains trying to remember—which of these establishment owners didn’t have wives, concubines, and numerous descendants? He’d never heard of such a knowledgeable young lady.

Much stronger than those designated second-generation heirs!

Lin Yuchan deliberately didn’t answer and smiled: “I want to see you roast tea.”

The tea roasting room was indeed hot and smoky. Shopkeeper Mau personally served as a tour guide.

“Miss, please look—we use low-smoke charcoal that absolutely won’t ruin your good tea… These people are sifting tea dust—look, three times, a full three times… These are foot-pressed—don’t frown, it’s a traditional technique, traditional technique… They don’t have athlete’s foot, don’t worry…”

Lin Yuchan asked for a stool and observed.

While observing, she was also learning secretly. Half the people in this “Xuhui Tea Company” were Guangdong immigrants, the rest from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Their tea roasting techniques already differed considerably from Guangzhou tea warehouses. There were strengths and also shortcomings.

She touched pots and sieves, slowly figuring things out herself.

The tea masters had good skills but poor work discipline. Seeing her unfamiliar face and being a woman, they couldn’t help but turn to look, nearly missing the timing several times.

Shopkeeper Mau kept explaining: “They’re all good masters I recruited from inland areas—they’re just afraid of strangers. Please don’t mind, miss.”

Lin Yuchan nodded. She had spent three days visiting no fewer than twenty tea companies. This one’s level was above average—quite good.

And the shopkeeper wasn’t smelly.

Suddenly, a dusty figure stumbled over diagonally. Lin Yuchan was startled.

Shopkeeper Mau scolded sternly: “Why did you come out again! Go back! Go to the back!”

Looking closely, it was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl with a round face and thick, dense black hair tied into two bulging little braids.

The little girl looked aggrieved: “I couldn’t hold it anymore!”

“What couldn’t hold what—where did a young lady learn such crude language!” Shopkeeper Mau looked like “don’t embarrass me,” glanced at Lin Yuchan, and said carefully: “Miss Lin, please… move aside.”

Only then did Lin Yuchan notice that behind the wall where she had placed her stool, there was a low little door, probably a storage room.

She stood up. The round-faced little girl immediately pushed open the door and whooshed inside.

“Sorry,” Shopkeeper Mau apologetically explained. “This is my daughter. Her mother has been ill recently and went back to her mother’s family in the countryside to recuperate. The relatives there bullied this child, so I pitied her and brought her back. At home, there’s only an old servant who can’t conveniently care for her, so I can only bring her to the tea company to help with small tasks and have a meal at noon…”

Lin Yuchan asked in surprise: “Your daughter?”

Shopkeeper Mau had probably lovingly passed all his hair genes to her—truly devoted parental love.

Little Miss Mau faced the same predicament as Lin Yuchan once had—nowhere to use the toilet.

Fortunately, being the shopkeeper’s daughter, she had certain “privileges” and didn’t have to hold it until she wet herself. Shopkeeper Mau let her hide a chamber pot in the small storage room, and when there were few people around, she could secretly go relieve herself.

Unfortunately, Lin Yuchan had unknowingly blocked the storage room door. The little girl didn’t dare come out and waited eagerly for a long time before finally losing patience and bursting out.

“Bringing children to work” violated professional ethics. Shopkeeper Mau scolded through the door for a few sentences, then kept apologizing, afraid Lin Yuchan would leave in a huff.

“I’ll send her home tomorrow. Oh dear, so embarrassing. This tea roasting room usually has no women—we’re very careful about that…”

Lin Yuchan listened to Shopkeeper Mau repeatedly emphasizing “usually no women allowed,” looked at herself, and sadly thought: Still not developed enough?

“No problem.” She chatted casually: “Your daughter looks quite clever. Can she also roast tea? Are you planning to have her learn this trade in the future?”

Shopkeeper Mau was shocked: “How could that be! What girl could learn this! Sigh, actually at her age, she should be staying home learning household management. In a couple years she should be getting married… These days I really had no choice but to bring her—it’s wrong, really wrong. Please be understanding, miss…”

With a clatter, the storage room door opened. Little Miss Mau swayed her two thick braids and immediately argued with her father:

“Who says I can’t learn? Didn’t Papa praise my good eye for picking tea just yesterday!”

Shopkeeper Mau grabbed her collar and pushed her inside: “Yes, yes, your eye is good! With such good eyes, why don’t you do more embroidery samples? If you ruin your eyes with all this smoke, let’s see how you’ll get married in the future!”

Though scolding, his eyes carried a smile. He pretended to forcefully throw his worthless daughter, but not very hard.

For unmarried daughters, marriage was the ultimate weapon. No matter how spirited a daughter was, hearing elders say such things would instantly become shy and lose interest in arguing about other matters.

Sure enough, Little Miss Mau was pierced by this comment, covered her face, and coyly called: “Papa!”

Then she ran out, still curiously glancing at Lin Yuchan before closing the door.

Lin Yuchan patted the tea dust off her clothes and stood up.

“Shopkeeper, I have a large quantity of tea to process. Can you make the decision?”

“Xuhui Tea Company” was a small business. The shopkeeper was also a shareholder who had invested half the capital, so he quickly said, “I can make the decision.”

Lin Yuchan roughly outlined her requirements.

Having worked at a large tea company, her standards were high from the start. These requirements were much higher than Xuhui Tea Company’s current technical level. The labor and material costs would naturally rise accordingly.

“Give me a quote.”

Shopkeeper Mau agreed with a smile and returned to the shop to work his abacus.

While calculating, he quietly observed Lin Yuchan.

There were no industry standards in those days. Prices fluctuated greatly between different establishments, and what price could be negotiated largely depended on the negotiating skills of both parties.

Shopkeeper Mau smiled broadly, had clerks bring pastries and flower tea, scratched his bald head himself, and made a show of calculating for a long time while muttering: “The tea business profits aren’t what they used to be these days, but many people are still breaking down doors to enter the trade, lowering the barriers. Not many people understand the business…”

Lin Yuchan ate five-nut cakes and smiled: “No need for opening remarks—just give me the quote.”

Since ancient times, there were no merchants without some trickery. In terms of smooth talking, these ancient businessmen were all more experienced than her. If it were Su Minguan, he might be able to sing duets with them for half an hour, gradually pressing down the price imperceptibly. Lin Yuchan knew she lacked this talent—better to be direct and avoid getting trapped by saying too much.

Shopkeeper Mau’s speech was interrupted, and he felt a bit embarrassed.

“Then I’ll boldly ask for a middle price. Four thousand pounds of raw tea, processing fee three hundred taels of silver, not including materials…”

Lin Yuchan’s smile froze. That was four hundred thirty silver dollars. Highway robbery!

And she thought she had intimidated him!