Chapter 419: Formula
Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Formula
Bai Jingwen waited until the third son left before taking a sip of tea and saying, "We’ve received quite a few visits from these officials on our journey here. Have someone send a gift to Lord Xu later; it will make up for our lack of hospitality."
Mrs. Bai agreed. After all, they were just ordinary merchants, adhering to the principle of not offending anyone—harmony brings wealth.
"Seeing you take such good care of Suihe, we are relieved, but we don’t plan on staying here permanently," Bai Jingwen continued. "We will keep moving forward. Our true destination is Quangang."
The family had just sat down and dismissed all the servants, so there was nothing they couldn’t speak about freely.
Bai Suihe asked, "Father, are you also involved in maritime shipping?"
Bai Jingwen now saw this legitimate daughter in a whole new light. She used to be so frail and delicate. Originally, he had thought that by marrying her off to the Gu family’s third son, she wouldn’t have to manage the household and the backyard affairs would be relatively peaceful. This way, she would at least avoid being bullied her whole life. Once she outlived her mother-in-law, she could take charge, or if all else failed, her children could back her up when they grew older. To his surprise, she had quietly wrapped the Gu family’s third son around her little finger. He had certainly underestimated her.
Now, he had barely started speaking, yet she had already guessed some of his moves. A hint of admiration naturally filled his eyes. If she were a son, even if she couldn’t expand their trade routes, her insight alone would be enough to preserve the family wealth.
"I’m running a few ships in partnership with others," Bai Jingwen said. He saw no need to hide anything from his own family. "But that’s not the only reason I chose that place.
"The current Emperor hasn’t enacted a maritime ban, but there’s no telling what the next ruler will do. Until the political situation is clear, I need to be there to keep a close eye on things.
"As for relocating the family, I’ve inspected the area. The climate and overall conditions are very suitable for living. Furthermore, it’s a place of little strategic military value. We can avoid quite a few conflicts by settling there."
"Coastal areas inevitably face many natural disasters." Gu Kaiyuan was somewhat worried. He had also thought about moving to the coast before, but it wouldn’t be an ideal place to live during typhoon season.
Even though Bai Suihe wanted to find an island as a fallback plan, he inwardly disapproved. However, there were a few large islands overseas. If worse came to worst, they could figure out a way to secure one of those, as larger islands were more resilient against risks.
"That’s nothing," Bai Jingwen said, brimming with confidence. "A bit of a typhoon won’t be a major issue as long as we choose a good location and build sturdy houses."
Bai Suihe blinked. She actually knew the recipe for cement. Her maiden family had helped her so much; it was about time she pitched in. However, she intended to save this for a private chat later with her mother and her two younger brothers. Her father didn’t just have the three of them as his children, and Bai Suihe knew she wasn’t a bleeding heart.
Gu Kaiyuan was deeply interested in maritime shipping. He was already preparing to build ships himself, so now that he knew his father-in-law was involved in this trade, he naturally sought his earnest advice.
Before arriving, Bai Jingwen already knew that this lad had changed his household registration to become an uxorilocal son-in-law of the Bai family. Although it was done privately between them, he was inwardly quite pleased. He had practically gained another son for free, and one who was wholeheartedly biased toward the Bai family. Seeing the younger man’s eagerness to learn, Bai Jingwen patiently explained things to him.
Upon learning that his son-in-law was recruiting craftsmen and preparing to build his own ships, Bai Jingwen’s interest was immediately piqued. The father-in-law and son-in-law moved their discussion to the study. When Bai Jingwen saw the blueprints, he instantly felt that the ships they previously had were little more than child’s play.
Once the two men left, Mrs. Bai immediately grabbed her daughter’s hands, showering her with affectionate concern.
Seeing that there were no outsiders present, Bai Suihe asked, "Mother, have you finished liquidating your properties?"
"I’ve liquidated more than half of them," Mrs. Bai replied. "The remaining portion couldn’t be dealt with on such short notice, so I left some people behind to manage it.
"It’s the same for your father. After all, there are simply too many properties; it’s impossible to handle them all at once."
Most of the liquidated assets were agricultural estates and land, while a large portion of the storefronts was kept. After all, they were merchants, and business remained their primary focus. Shangjing was the hub of power and nobility; businesses there were guaranteed to turn a profit. He couldn’t bear to part with them entirely. The bulk of their family wealth had already been brought along. Even if a true upheaval occurred, it wouldn’t strike a fatal blow to their foundation.
Knowing her daughter wouldn’t ask this without a reason, she asked, "Is something wrong?"
Bai Suihe quickly waved her hand. "Nothing is wrong. It’s just that I have a recipe here. Mother, just claim it was part of your dowry or that you found it yourself."
Mrs. Bai was puzzled. "What kind of recipe?"
Under the guise of returning to her room, Bai Suihe retrieved the cement recipe she had previously copied out from her spatial dimension. "I have a formula for a building material here. Houses built with it will be much sturdier. You and Jiannan can go test it out first. If it works, we can build some houses for ourselves.
"These houses can withstand typhoons. You and Jiannan can figure out how to put it to use."
Mrs. Bai instantly understood her daughter’s intentions. She gently patted Suihe’s hands. As expected, it was her own children who were the most considerate, always keeping their mother in mind.
Bai Jiannan gave his eldest sister a thumbs-up. Being guarded against their father was the right move. After all, they weren’t his only children; he also had a few favored concubine-born sons. According to the Bai family’s rules, the legitimate sons were entitled to ninety percent of the family estate. Although their father wouldn’t violate the clan rules, he had certainly subsidized the others quite a bit over the years.
"But this is very valuable." Bai Jiannan wasn’t ignorant. He didn’t ask about the recipe’s origins, but he knew they couldn’t just take it. "You and Kaiyuan should open a shop yourselves. We’ll just buy the materials from you when the time comes."
Even among blood siblings, financial matters needed to be strictly separated. His sister was now a married woman; it wouldn’t be right for her to keep funneling good things back to her maiden family.
"This is my own property. If I’m giving it to you, just take it," Bai Suihe said, shoving the recipe directly into his hands. "This is just a part of the dowry Mother gave me before. Now, it’s merely returning to its rightful owner."
These words were meant for Mrs. Bai’s ears—meaning it had absolutely nothing to do with the Bai family at large. Even if it did, the future profits from this recipe would solely belong to the three siblings.
Mrs. Bai said, "You should still discuss this with Kaiyuan first."
"He already knows," Bai Suihe said. She had plenty of excellent recipes. "If you don’t believe me, you can ask him privately later."
Hearing this, Mrs. Bai finally allowed her son to accept the item. "Ask Kaiyuan about it later.
"If he really does know, then we still can’t just take this for ourselves. Once the business is up and running, you three siblings will split the profits equally."
Even so, they were still taking advantage of her daughter. As for whether the recipe was truly as incredible as she claimed? Mrs. Bai didn’t even question it.
"Alright, I’ll hold onto it for now," Bai Jiannan said, tucking the item into his robes. "I’ll go call Jianbei back in, and we can all have a proper chat."
Meanwhile, Bai Jianbei, who was plucking leaves in the backyard, sneezed several times in a row. This drew the mockery of a few concubine-born younger brothers who were strolling nearby. He shot them a fierce glare. Seeing them quickly behave, he resumed walking in circles around the tree.