Chapter 408: Blocked
Chapter 408: Chapter 408: Blocked
Returning to the small fishing village from yesterday and seeing those dilapidated little wooden boats drifting on the sea, Bai Suihe worried that a violent wave would flip them over.
"They rely on these little boats to go out to sea?" Bai Suihe had only seen such boats since yesterday. She thought it was unlikely; with the wisdom of her people, how could they not have come up with a better solution for facing the ocean?
"There are larger ships," Gu Kaiyuan said. "I heard they aren’t here, though. You have to go over to the port.
"However, those large ships belong to wealthy merchants and official families. Ordinary commoners simply can’t afford them."
Commercial monopolies existed everywhere, especially along the coast. The ocean was a grand avenue to wealth, and there was no way the rich and powerful would let it slip by.
"Does that mean even if we went to the port, we wouldn’t be able to buy anything?" Bai Suihe asked. Though the reality was cruel, it was laid bare before them.
Gu Kaiyuan pondered for a moment. "It’s not that we couldn’t buy anything. They have different pricing structures there, and you can buy some deep-sea goods. However, you’d only get what others have already picked through. Only the leftovers flow into the market."
Bai Suihe understood. The good stuff had to be sent up the hierarchy. In this border town, apart from those few prominent families, no one else was worthy of it. She understood why they didn’t choose to go there. If it were her, she wouldn’t want someone else’s leftovers either.
Here in the small fishing village, they received warm hospitality and were offered the very best goods. Not to mention anything else, the emotional value alone made the trip worthwhile.
Just then, the small fishing boats returned. As soon as they docked and heard that the couple was here to buy seafood, the fishermen enthusiastically hurried over with their baskets. Moreover, the items displayed in the baskets were the best and freshest catches from this trip out to sea.
As long as something caught her eye, Bai Suihe bought it all without haggling down the prices. Because of her actions, the fishing village nearly emptied out all their most prized goods. Bai Suihe collected several carts full of dried seafood alone to take back to the city.
After staying here for several days, Gu Kaiyuan bought a few more shops and courtyards before calling it quits. Due to the previous incident with the small courtyard, Gu Kaiyuan felt uneasy. He took Gu Xingyang for a walk around these new courtyards to ensure there were no other hidden secrets before heading to the next town.
After trailing behind Chen Dafu like this for over half a month, they were finally discovered. On this day, as soon as they entered the city, they saw Chen Dafu and his men blocking them at the city gates.
"Third Son of the Gu Family, you’ve been following me all the way. Haven’t you picked up enough bargains?" Chen Dafu’s heart was nearly twisted with jealousy. He was toiling away in the front while these two were quietly making a fortune in the back. To put it nicely, he was being loyal to His Majesty. In reality, he felt like Gu Kaiyuan’s vanguard.
"Mr. Chen, what a coincidence!" Knowing they had been caught red-handed, Gu Kaiyuan wasn’t embarrassed. He lifted the carriage curtain, jumped down, set up the stepping stool, and helped Bai Suihe down before greeting him. "I, the commoner Gu Kaiyuan, along with my family, greet the imperial envoy."
"What a coincidence indeed." So much of a coincidence that they had followed him the entire way. However, this was not the place to talk. Pointing to a nearby teahouse, he said, "Let’s go over there to talk."
Gu Kaiyuan naturally had no objections. Even if he did, he could only hold it in. After all, the other party was an official, while he was just a commoner.
Arriving at the teahouse, Gu Kaiyuan asked the Shopkeeper to open a separate private room to settle Bai Suihe and their daughter. Only then did he follow Chen Dafu to the room next door.
"You’re quite capable, kid. You’ve got a bit of a mind for business."
"You flatter me, Mr. Chen." Facing Chen Dafu’s passive-aggressiveness, Gu Kaiyuan didn’t mind. If it had been anyone else, he would have had to reconsider whether he could continue following them.
However, despite Chen Dafu’s tendency to bicker over every little detail, he was a relatively upright person. As long as you didn’t break the law, he wouldn’t do anything to you.
"Thanks to Mr. Chen’s blessings, our young couple has finally managed to acquire a small amount of property here."
Chen Dafu knew this couple had been tailing him to pick up bargains. At first, he was indeed a bit displeased, but that was quickly followed by admiration—and envy.
That old geezer Gu Baijiang really didn’t have much of a character, but the third son he raised was quite presentable—unlike his own rascals back home, who were all thick-skulled blockheads. If you didn’t pull their strings, they wouldn’t know which way to walk.
He had originally wanted to leave one of them here in Lingnan, but they were all afraid of losing out. As soon as the Holy Decree was issued, they couldn’t wait to immediately return to the capital.
But those little rascals didn’t think about it. With such a large family relying solely on his meager salary, how could they have a wealthy life? If they wanted to live well, they had to stand on their own two feet and fight for their own futures. He wanted to leave them here for their own good. Yet, those short-sighted fools had no idea what they were missing out on.
Just look at Gu Kaiyuan, secretly following behind him. Who knew how many hidden gems he had already scooped up?
"Third Son of the Gu Family, you’ve got a good eye now. What? Are you planning to become a merchant in the future?"
"Sigh, we aren’t like you, Mr. Chen, possessing grand strategies and ambitions. Someone like me, who excels in neither scholarly pursuits nor martial arts, can only do a little business to make a living. It’s just that this place is only so big. By sheer coincidence, we bumped into you, Mr. Chen. It’s simply fate between us."
He would never admit that they were intentionally following Chen Dafu. Some things were better left mutually understood without being spoken aloud. He wasn’t willing to owe Chen Dafu another favor. Lingnan was a massive place, and he was now a free man. Mr. Chen had no right to interfere with them.
As expected, Chen Dafu was choked up by his words. This third son was truly a member of the Gu Family. He was the most cunning of them all; even at a time like this, he still refused to speak a single soft word. Relying on him to pick up so many bargains, yet still unwilling to acknowledge the favor—Chen Dafu really couldn’t say anything to refute him. After all, he hadn’t given the man any practical help along the way.
Taking a deep breath, he said, "I didn’t expect you to be this kind of Gu Kaiyuan. You aren’t going to keep following behind me, are you?"
"Mr. Chen, what do you mean by that?" Gu Kaiyuan widened his eyes. "Are there places in Lingnan that you can go, but I cannot?"
"Of course not." Chen Dafu had His Majesty’s people following him. Perhaps one of them was hiding outside, eavesdropping at this very moment. Naturally, he wasn’t that arrogant. He was out here running errands for the Emperor; this wasn’t anyone’s fiefdom.
"We both know exactly what’s going on. You’ve been tailing me this whole time and have bought so much land. Enough is enough. You should stop while you’re ahead."
At the same time, he was somewhat envious. Just how highly did the Bai Family regard this son-in-law? How much money had they given him to allow him to squander it like this? During this process, he had also asked someone to buy two small manors for him. However, that was already the limit of his family’s financial strength; he couldn’t afford to take out any more money. At this moment, he felt a bit of resentment toward the rich.
Gu Kaiyuan asked, "Mr. Chen, aside from purging the officialdom here, do you also have to meddle in such trivial matters?"