Today, Hanren and I have already persuaded two shopkeepers, and they agreed to exchange goods. Hanzhong will continue to persuade others tomorrow. If there are buyers who are unwilling to exchange goods or defer returns, we now have money to process the refunds.”
Xu Hanyao said, “Brother, don’t forget that I still have many customers waiting for refunds.”
Xu Hanzhong nodded and placed the silver notes in front of him: “Hanyao, take what you need.”
Yu Yi, seeing the brothers finish discussing compensation, said, “Now there’s another urgent matter to resolve. We need to find good raw silk, or the workshop will soon stop working, and the shop will have no goods to sell.”
Xu Hanren suggested, “Mother, my elder brother and second brother are familiar with the city’s business. They will be busy exchanging and returning goods these days. Why don’t I run errands to find silk?”
Xu Hanyao, who had just seen Xu Hanzhong and Hanren come in together, began to suspect whether the eldest and third brother were now working together. After hearing how they persuaded buyers to agree to exchanges, he became more convinced. He then spoke to test them: “Why should Hanren go to make up for the problems caused by the eldest brother’s poor management of the workshop?”
“
Xu Hanzhong glared fiercely at Hanyao but was speechless, acknowledging that he was indeed at fault.
Yu Yi suddenly stood up and shouted, “Enough! At this point, are you still arguing about whose fault it is?” She stood up too quickly, forgetting her fragile health, and became dizzy.
Xu Hanyao, being closest to her, rushed to support her: “Mother!”
Yu Yi angrily shook off Hanyao’s hand and was about to fall. Hanzhong and Hanren quickly rushed forward to support Yu Yi and help her sit down: “Mother!” “Mother!”
Xu Hanyao saw his mother being supported by Hanzhong and Hanren, feeling both embarrassed and angry.
Yu Yi closed her eyes, waiting for the dizziness to pass. To create a “crisis” that would unite her three sons, she had planned this entire affair. Catching Zhang Quan had exhausted her, and she had been experiencing frequent dizzy spells. She feared she wouldn’t last much longer and needed to complete this task quickly.
She opened her eyes, sat up straight, and stared at Hanyao forcefully: “This is the Xu family, not Hanzhong’s or Hanyao’s family. The current difficulties are the Xu family’s. If you continue with this attitude, the family’s heart will be scattered. I would rather give the Xu family to only one son than agree to divide the family!”
Xu Hanyao looked at his mother in shock: “Mother, are you going to cast me out?
“From the current situation, his mother seemed to favor Hanzhong, saying she would give the family to one son, clearly not him.
Yu Yi slowly shook her head, saying painfully, “Hanyao, why are you so stubborn?” Her words were meant to wake Hanyao up and make him understand that he was also part of the Xu family and should not always think of his personal interests. She didn’t expect him to misunderstand that she would let one son inherit the family business.
Though physically weak, her mind remained clear. In a short moment, Yu Yi had a plan. She said firmly, “Here’s what we’ll do. All three of you will search for raw silk. Whoever can find three hundred jin of top-quality raw silk or an equivalent weight of silk cocoons in a short time will inherit the entire Xu family.”
The Xu brothers looked at each other, surprised. Their mother had always talked about keeping the family united, so why was she suddenly saying she would give the family to one person? But beyond surprise, they all felt a hint of joy.
Yu Yi continued: “But I have requirements. First, each jin of silk must be found by you personally. You cannot send others to search or ask about the silk’s source and then purchase it yourself. Second, Hanzhong and Hanyao must first arrange the shop, pacifying all customers who want to return or exchange goods.”
If you two affect the Xu family’s reputation while searching for silk, you lose!”
Xu Hanyao looked at Xu Hanzhong, saw him nod in agreement, and then agreed as well. After all, Hanren had fewer people under his command and fewer connections in the silk business, so finding silk would be extremely difficult for him. His mother’s two requirements were not excessive.
However, besides the Xu family, there was only one other large weaving workshop in Yongqing City. Because of the Xu family’s recent mishap, they hoped to suppress the Xu family and naturally would not sell silk to them. The small weaving workshops around Yongqing City were also unfamiliar to Xu Hanren, so he could only use a clumsy method of searching village by village.
After several days of running around, he had indeed gotten to know many silkworm farmers and learned a lot about silkworm raising. Farmers would raise several batches of silkworms in a year, but at this moment, they were in an awkward period where spring silkworms had already spun their cocoons, while summer silkworms had not yet done so. Once silkworms spin their cocoons, they must be sold before they emerge as moths, so at this time, they would have to wait at least half a month before any cocoon production.
Xu Hanren would inquire and purchase wherever there were weaving workshops, but most of these small workshops were mainly weaving cloth. Even if they occasionally had raw silk, they might not be willing to sell everything to him. Xu Hanren had no choice but to raise prices, and after running around for many days, he had only collected a dozen catties, which was far from the three hundred catties goal.
On this day, he returned to the mansion exhausted after dark. Yin Yiniang came out to meet him: “Hanren, you’ve been leaving early and returning late these past few days. Wouldn’t it be better to let Abao and the others scout around first, and then you go once they find something?”
Xu Hanren shook his head: “Mother, the madam said we cannot rely on others. If I let Abao and the others scout first, my elder and second brothers have many more people under them. I would have no chance of winning.”
Yin Yiniang spoke with some resentment: “The madam proposed this competition, clearly favoring her biological son. They’ve been in the silk business for so long – wouldn’t they know better about where to collect silk? They’ll definitely collect three hundred catties of raw silk before you!”
Xu Hanren had doubts, but the madam’s words from that day still rang in his ears.
She had said, “If you are determined, opportunities will always exist. But if you give up after a small setback, even if opportunities are right in front of you, you might not see them.”
Xu Hanren decided to continue trusting the madam. After all, what did he have to lose even if he lost this time? He might as well try his best, so that when opportunity comes, he could see it.
Yin Yiniang said angrily, “I’ve never seen you speaking up for the other side like this, Hanren. You are kind-hearted, but don’t you know that the eldest young master has never treated you like a real brother? Now that you finally have a chance to get ahead of them, you’re still talking about what should or shouldn’t be done…” She complained for a long time. Seeing that Hanren was just silently eating, she urged again, “You must wake up early tomorrow and go to Li Town before the eldest young master! Don’t waste the good intentions of your mother and sister, understand?”
Xu Hanren nodded, but in his heart he had already decided not to go to Li Town tomorrow. How awkward would it be if he ran into his elder brother?
Later that evening, a maidservant came out of Yin Yiniang’s courtyard and, after looking around, stepped into the courtyard where Xu Hanchao and his wife lived. Arriving at the hall, she saw Xu Hanchao sitting inside and softly called out, “Second Young Master.”
