The small tea room suddenly fell eerily silent. The sunlight heated the curtains, making even the air inside restless. People were moving about in the shop outside, and Shi Peng’s voice greeting customers could be heard.

Su Minguan suddenly laughed, his burning gaze cooling as he slowly toyed with the cup in his hands.

“A’Mei, who did you learn this from?”

Lin Yuchan said timidly: “From you.”

Since entering the trade, how many “scheming merchants” had she encountered in total? If not him, then who else?

Su Minguan gritted his teeth lightly. Here he had just been cherishing and protecting her, and now he wanted nothing more than to throw this girl into a teacup and steep her for drinking.

This wasn’t just a case of the student starving the teacher – she was planning to kick the teacher into a pit!

He still smiled coldly, stood up, pulled out a string of keys from his waist, pushed the door open, and said: “Excuse me.”

A moment later, he returned, carrying a stack of account books.

These were the “old versions” – unrevised black ledgers.

“Before I took over, Yixing’s total capital…” He opened a page, tore off several sheets of his practice calligraphy, covered the top and bottom lines, showing her only the middle few rows. “About thirteen thousand taels. Two thousand in cash, five thousand in sand boats, shop premises, warehouse inventory, and receivables. The rest was from illegal business. Chu Nanyun kept messy records – of course, there’s also money house financing, which I’m assuming he defaulted on. Take a look, roughly calculate it, see if what I’m saying is correct.”

Lin Yuchan read it carefully several times and nodded.

“About right. I’d say twelve thousand taels.” She nitpicked, “This ‘customer receivables’ column has inflated figures, and the boats have depreciated too.”

“Fine. So far, most of the illegal business has been written off, boats reduced by two-fifths, eleven hundred in cash already spent – worker wages, bonuses, boat repairs, warehouse renovations…”

Su Minguan opened a new ledger.

“This is last month’s income. Mainly new customer deposits. ‘Hometown association fees’ and such only buy some crab roe xiaolongbao, so I’m ignoring those. I have separate books for association-related income and expenses.”

Lin Yuchan calculated carefully and reached her conclusion: “Young Master Su’s current net worth is about eight thousand… let’s round it up, eight thousand seven hundred taels of silver. Of which cash… Ah, less than five hundred. Have you paid the customs fines? No? Then you have to deduct more…”

This was laying his cards on the table. About what she had guessed.

If he had no more cash, after paying the fines his cash flow would be nearly exhausted. That’s why he was so anxious.

Su Minguan couldn’t help smiling, seeing her confident calculations.

“My net worth… forget it, let’s go with what you said. So then…”

Lin Yuchan: “Wait! Don’t you have other gray income? You can’t hide that from potential shareholders!”

“My other colorful income has nothing to do with Yixing.” Su Minguan raised an eyebrow, decisively blocking her comeback. “Are you investing in Yixing, or investing in me as a person?”

Lin Yuchan: “…Yixing. Please continue.”

“May I ask what Miss Lin’s current net worth is, and how much do you plan to invest?”

Lin Yuchan said generously, “I have four hundred eighty silver dollars in cash, equivalent to about three hundred forty taels of silver. I’ll put in three hundred taels for one-thirtieth share. Immediately enough for you to pay the fines.”

Su Minguan frowned almost imperceptibly.

In current Chinese business practice, whenever someone “bought shares,” it was usually some wealthy gentry investing the major funds to become the big boss of a shop. At worst, it was several people pooling resources, each taking fractional shares to operate jointly.

Even the most dispersed “shareholding” would be at least ten percent or more. When making major decisions, you’d have a say.

This girl came asking for “one-thirtieth” without feeling embarrassed.

But Lin Yuchan’s thinking was opposite to his: investing in shares showed she thought highly of him, knew the money wouldn’t be wasted, so she was willing to put down real silver. This was venture capital!

Su Minguan asked patiently: “Miss Lin, if you put up half the capital, you could have half the say in Yixing’s operations. Now you’re putting up one-thirtieth of the capital… sorry, but all business decisions would still be made by me alone. What’s your point?”

Lin Yuchan answered without hesitation: “Dividends.”

This was simply common sense. Modern stockholders could tap their phones a few times, spend hundreds or thousands, and become shareholders of industry-leading companies, not only enjoying annual dividends of a few yuan, but also giving guidance at “online shareholder meetings.”

As long as Yixing didn’t go bankrupt, she’d get dividends every year – wouldn’t that mean earning money every year?

This was the first factor. Additionally, she knew Shanghai’s security was terrible. With several hundred silver dollars piled up in her rental room, how could she sleep well at night?

Leaving it with Boss Su and his gang of thugs for safekeeping – she’d feel most at ease!

Su Minguan wasn’t ignorant of her intentions, but this operation was still somewhat contrary to common practice for him.

The big foreign trading houses did issue stocks, but not everyone could buy them. Chinese small businesses rarely operated this way.

Moreover, Yixing theoretically belonged to the Heaven and Earth Society assets. Outsiders were never allowed to interfere with operations.

However… thanks to his simplified membership process, having paid one jiao, she was no longer an outsider. One-thirtieth equity couldn’t possibly interfere with his business operations either.

He remained calm, confirming again: “Just dividends?”

Lin Yuchan nodded and smiled: “No management involvement.”

“What if I mismanage?”

“Smaller dividends.”

“What if I’m in debt?”

“I’ll owe one-thirtieth along with you.”

Su Minguan nodded, his expression suddenly grave.

“What if my head ends up hanging on the city wall?”

Lin Yuchan was still smiling sweetly, but her heart suddenly lurched.

“If you…”

She suddenly went blank, forgetting how to answer.

She had learned this in elective courses – bankruptcy liquidation and such, how were shareholder rights ranked?

But Su Minguan’s brief sentence suddenly evoked her most primal bloody memories. A drifting head hanging from a flagpole, beside it a white cloth with blood writing: “Heaven and Earth Society bandit chief Jin Lanhe.”

That head was sometimes a bearded, tiger-eyed hero, but sometimes transformed into a handsome face with gentle brows and eyes lowered, disheveled hair covered in blood…

She suddenly took a deep breath, accidentally knocking over half a cup of hot tea. Her wrist burned, she jumped up, and the steaming cup spun on the table.

Su Minguan straightened up, grabbed a cup of cold water nearby, rolled up her sleeves two inches, poured it over her wrist, then gently dabbed it dry with a handkerchief. Looking down, fortunately, it wasn’t serious, just slightly reddened.

He held her wrist and blew on it, his expression unchanged, pressing sternly: “If I’m liquidated by the authorities, you won’t escape involvement either. Have you thought about that?”

Lin Yuchan’s nose somehow felt sour. While helping him clean up the tea, she mumbled: “Already can’t escape. This hasn’t been changed yet.”

She pulled out her customs resignation certificate from her bosom, slapping it hard on the table. “Su Lin Family” in black characters on white paper.

“Careful not to get it wet.” Su Minguan didn’t even look, stuffing the document back in her hands, applying pressure calmly. “Answer me.”

She forced a smile, pulled down her sleeves, and said: “Then I’ll quickly cash out my one-thirtieth, requisition a boat, and run far away.”

Su Minguan nodded, released her, and turned to grind ink.

“How much investment was it? Three hundred taels, right?”

Lin Yuchan calmed down, nodded, then quickly shook her head.

“Wait. I haven’t finished talking.”

She almost got fooled by his emotional appeal!

Su Minguan looked up. “Mm?”

“Young Master Minguan, I’m putting up silver for proportional shares – we’re making a fair trade, nobody owes anybody, right?”

“Mm, what’s wrong?”

Lin Yuchan cleared her throat, ran to his side of the table, and leaned on it to look at him.

“Then what about my commission-oh oh no, kickback?”

Her eyes sparkled as she smiled and asked.

Su Minguan’s brush tip froze. After a long moment, as if just remembering this matter, he smiled honestly: “Sorry. Forgot for a moment.”

Lin Yuchan glared at him fiercely. Men’s mouths, deceiving ghosts. If she hadn’t brought this up, he definitely wouldn’t have “temporarily” forgotten – he probably would have forgotten for a lifetime.

“How do you want to collect the commission?”

This time, Lin Yuchan didn’t give him a chance to interrupt, saying in one breath: “I want to use three hundred taels of silver for one-fifteenth of your shares. That’s the commission. If you agree, I’ll do my utmost to help you persuade Mr. Rong.”

Su Minguan laughed coldly: “So from this fifteen hundred tael shipping fee, you’d immediately get one hundred taels profit. After three such deals, you’d break even – Miss Lin, do I look easy to bully?”

Lin Yuchan quickly said obediently: “No, no, no, I only want a share of profits – one-fifteenth after deducting costs. I’m not grabbing your money.”

Su Minguan’s expression softened slightly as he told her, “This shopkeeper’s monthly salary is one thousand taels. This deal has no profit, sorry about that.”

Lin Yuchan knew he was lying and didn’t take the bait.

“Oh, and also,” she had a brainstorm, “my dividends don’t need regular distribution – keep them all at Yixing as working capital for you. I’ll come get them when I need them – how’s that, considerate enough?”

Su Minguan easily saw through her intention, saying coldly: “Oh, and you want me to safekeep them for free? Am I your private bank?”

“Money in banks earns interest! I’m not asking for interest – you’re getting the advantage!”

“Which foreign bank would accept your mere few hundred taels as deposits?”

Lin Yuchan: “…”

In the vast Qing Dynasty, there wasn’t a single Chinese-owned bank. How embarrassing.

Su Minguan, seeing he’d left her speechless, smiled sideways. From drinking too much tea, his eyes were misty with moisture.

He stood up and patted her shoulder amicably.

“Alright, A’Mei, let’s each give a little. I’ll let you have one twenty-fifth of the shares. You wanting one-fifteenth would be teasing me – I couldn’t hold my head up among colleagues.”

Lin Yuchan bit her lip silently. After a while, she countered.

“One-twentieth.”

“Twenty-fifth, no more. And no transfers allowed. When you make money later, come ask me about more shares – I’ll give you bit by bit, okay? Does it still hurt?”

His tone carried a doting flavor, as if the past half hour hadn’t been negotiations but romantic sweet talk.

Lin Yuchan quickly raised her guard, thinking these empty promises cost nothing – I won’t believe you.

Those fabric buttons on his chest were swaying before her eyes again, annoying her.

Shanghai tailors made shirts with Western-style cutting, rarely loose-fitting, and extremely form-fitting.

The front outlined his figure somewhat tightly. He seemed to have grown taller since last year, too.

Lin Yuchan also knew that today, Su Minguan had made many concessions to her. With a different greedy stranger, he might not have had the patience to negotiate.

Actually, even if he made no concessions at all, for Rong Hong’s benefit and Yixing’s prosperity, she probably would have made the connection for free.

But Su Minguan had long taught her through countless examples that free goodwill didn’t necessarily bring good results – one should think more for oneself in all matters.

From this perspective, that she could fight for these shares today was largely his doing.

…Should she concede a little more?

Or persist in fighting with him? After all, he had clear principles and wouldn’t yield an inch.

Her face showed hesitation and uncertainty, slender eyebrows knitted together, dark pupils unfocused and blank. Su Minguan saw it all.

He suddenly gently touched her fingers, lowered his gaze, and said quietly: “One twenty-fifth share, plus one bonus gift. This is the last round of bargaining.”

He stretched out an arm and latched the tea room door.

Lin Yuchan shivered: “What are you doing…”

Su Minguan took her right hand and guided it inside his waistband.

Lin Yuchan gripped firmly and pulled out a foreign pistol still warm with his body heat. Jin Lanhe’s exclusive weapon – the old wooden handle smooth and firm, the barrel slender, heavier than it looked.

“I can’t give you this.” Su Minguan said in a low voice. “But I know you’ve always wanted to learn.”

Lin Yuchan’s eyes suddenly widened, her heart beating frantically.

The Qing territory was full of pitfalls. No matter how much money she earned, being small and weak with no defensive skills, the more money she carried, the more easily she’d be targeted.

She had told him, I don’t lack money.

What she lacked was security.

Rong Hong’s friend had only taught her how to disassemble a gun – she hadn’t practiced since and had forgotten most of it.

To be able to defend herself, to reach Su Minguan’s level, who knew how long diligent study and hard practice would take.

She asked in a trembling voice: “Can guns be bought here?”

“Don’t rush. Wait until you’re proficient and won’t accidentally discharge and hurt yourself, then we’ll talk.”

She stroked his pistol lovingly. Su Minguan waited patiently.

“Deal? When I return from this shipping trip, we’ll start.”

Lin Yuchan’s face showed no expression yet, but her heart was already banging drums and gongs, a group of cheerleader figures shouting wildly at her: YES YES YES!

If he were choosing to sell his labor, then one twenty-fifth must truly be rock bottom. No more fighting.

She ultimately held firm, corners of her mouth lifting as she said in a trembling voice: “You pay for the ammunition.”

Su Minguan gave her a light glance, put away the gun, and unlatched the door.

“Grind the ink. I’ll draft the contract when I return.”