The Eighth Day of Finding a Wife
As soon as she said that, Miss Ning, who had been standing beside Ye Meishen, quickly stepped away from Lu Ling.
The other young ladies all lifted their handkerchiefs to cover their noses, eyeing Lu Ling’s hands with some fear.
Lu Ling couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. She said at once, “As expected of the prefect’s daughter; your information is truly impressive.”
“Something happens out front, and you know about it from the back. In that case, you must also know that today’s March summary meeting was hosted by Miss Ning and me.”
Ye Meishen took a slow sip of tea, her expression composed. “Naturally. Ning, please take a seat.”
She emptied her teacup and gave up her seat voluntarily.
Ning Cailan was already so uncomfortable sitting at the head of the table that she had no choice but to shift the pressure onto Lu Ling. “Miss Lu, since everyone here is acquainted, let’s cut straight to the point.”
“As for the performance of Haicheng’s major shops, personnel transfers, the business environment, and the second-half bonuses, all of it needs to be settled before June.”
“The ladies have all sent people to wait for your report, so they can take it back and relay it to their households.”
Sure enough, when she finished, a row of older maids could be seen standing along both sides; every single one of them was a close attendant of the ladies in those households.
Lu Ling took the main seat on the left. Without another word, she told the shopkeeper to bring out the tools.
The Qingyu Pavilion shopkeeper and servers began setting up a blackboard, along with a stack of charts and drawings; these were all various graphs and projections of future business and economic trends.
These were all basic materials.
Lu Ling first introduced the financial situation of the major buildings over the past three months. As expected, Qingzhu Tower was far ahead of the rest, outstripping the others by more than tenfold.
Naturally, it held the top spot.
The second-place contender, trailing by a factor of five, was the Ye family’s Shangqing Tower. Like Qingzhu Tower, it provided food, drink, and entertainment, but it lacked Qingzhu Tower’s tailor-made service.
Many official ladies and wealthy wives liked this kind of one-on-one service.
And because Qingzhu Tower protected its guests’ privacy and preferences, it also attracted many business gatherings, becoming a place for traveling merchants in Haicheng to rest and gather intelligence.
Lu Ling was the one providing this platform, so Qingzhu Tower’s performance and bonuses would only continue to siphon spending from the upper crust of Haicheng.
No matter how hard Shangqing Tower tried to imitate it, it could never copy the essence.
Even in the lower-end market, Lu Ling was willing to discount aggressively; she set up temple fair shopping festivals, and whether it was daily necessities or restaurants, she dared to run promotions for fifteen days out of every month. She offered memberships and bundled in many free gifts.
There were also group purchases for multiple people. Family cards, couple cards, sisters’ cards, brothers’ cards; anything you could think of, they had it.
It let even ordinary households, even poorer families, afford to spend; everyone who bought felt they weren’t losing out.
In short, volume was everything.
The Lu family even did business on the thinnest margins, and those tiny-margin businesses still brought in three million taels in pure profit every year.
As for Shangqing Tower, even if it wanted to imitate them, it couldn’t bring itself to lose money on purpose.
In fact, it simply couldn’t afford to lose.
It was just that some people only knew how to add when doing business; they knew discounts and freebies, but they had no understanding of subtraction, let alone multiplication or division. That was why the profit they made could never match the Lu family’s.
As a former business major in her past life, Lu Ling naturally understood how to cover every angle. She even had a slogan: so long as it made money, even if the customer was a beggar, they were still God.
Of course, she never did anything illegal.
“These are this March’s figures. The profit is roughly sixty percent of last year’s first-half total, so it’s fallen quite a bit.” Lu Ling swapped out the charts one by one on the blackboard, then tapped one of the forecast tables with an iron ruler to remind everyone, “This year’s profit will probably drop by thirty percent, and it will mainly affect spending on metal-related and mineral-related goods.”
“Finally, I need to inform everyone of something in particular: the tax due at year’s end, along with the shipping tax, may be about ten percent higher than in previous years.”
At that, the managing maids exchanged glances, all of them looking worried.
Because the matter everyone was most concerned about had arrived.
Ning Cailan’s eyes flashed, and she seized the opening. “I heard that the three islands of the Chenxiang Escort Agency have been temporarily sealed off by the Imperial Court. Is that true?”
“Could that be the reason the shipping tax has gone up by ten percent compared with previous years?”
“Miss Lu should know that even if ten percent split among each household doesn’t seem like much, altogether it’s at least one million taels. The amount is clearly no small matter.”
As soon as she said that, the sky-high compensation had Ye Meishen staring straight at Lu Ling, wanting to catch even the slightest trace of panic on her face.
Unfortunately, ever since the year she met her, this woman had seemed to have no expression other than fiery, spirited arrogance and cold indifference.
Sure enough, Lu Ling didn’t treat it as a problem at all. Instead, she said lightly, “Not one million, but one million two hundred and thirty thousand taels.”
One, two, three; it was practically an amount designed from the start.
The expressions of the young ladies present were all wonderfully varied. It was more than they had imagined they would have to pay.
“And the Ye family will pay twenty percent more than in previous years; the Lu family, thirty percent. The rest is what all of you sisters will share. I’ve calculated it; it comes to about five taels more than the seven-tael tax you paid in previous years.”
At that, the managing maids, who had been feeling pressure just moments ago, all let out a breath of relief.
Thankfully, it was only a mere five taels. This would be easy to report back.
“As expected of Miss Lu. With you as the helmswoman of our Haicheng business and commerce guild, it truly is our great fortune.”
“We’ll report back to the ladies and say that the island sealing carries no risk whatsoever, and there’s no need to bear any risk either.”
“If Miss Lu has any difficulties, please let us know; we will pass it on to the ladies.”
The instant she said that, the set of words Ning Cailan had prepared to make things difficult for Lu Ling suddenly got stuck in her throat.
She had thought everyone would seize the chance to make trouble. After all, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; with the islands sealed, it was the perfect opportunity to knock Lu Ling down a peg.
She never expected Lu Ling to take the lion’s share of the compensation herself, which instead won everyone over.
Unwilling to be countered so quickly, Ning Cailan immediately reminded them, “But sisters, don’t forget: the length of the island sealing is still unknown. Today Miss Lu can proactively shoulder the compensation, but what about later?”
“Until the Imperial Court lifts the seal, the losses cannot be underestimated.”
“Does Miss Lu intend to bear the compensation alone? Unfortunately, business isn’t done that way. Even if you’re willing to pay yourself into ruin, what about the goods? If things are shut down for a day, the loss to the contracting party is far from insignificant.”
“It could even ruin the reputation of our Haicheng business and commerce guild.”
“When doing business, you have to think long-term.”
As she spoke, the young ladies present indeed exchanged glances again, becoming somewhat uneasy. Right—nothing was wrong this year, but what about next year?
What if they ended up not making money and instead lost everything?
Haicheng wasn’t only full of local merchants; there were also merchants from inland areas.
By then, the hidden losses would be impossible to estimate.
Just as everyone’s unease was stirred up again, Ning Cailan couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased.
Ye Meishen said nothing. She merely frowned at Lu Ling. “What else does Miss Lu have to say?”
Lu Ling was still as unhurried as ever. “Didn’t Miss Ning say that we should look long-term?”
“The seal won’t last many days; there’s no need to worry.”
Her calm demeanor left Ning Cailan baffled. Why was she so certain? Did this woman not feel afraid at all?
This time, it was the prefect himself who had personally ordered the island sealing.
Did she really think that, as a mere merchant, she could shake official authority?
Even though Ning Cailan knew that was impossible, when it came to Lu Ling, she found herself becoming strangely uncertain for the first time in a long while.
“How can you be sure the islands will be reopened soon? What’s your reason? Give everyone an explanation.”
It seemed that unless she got a clear answer, Miss Ning would not let it go.
Lu Ling knew very well that Ning Cailan also wanted to beat her once, but unfortunately, her mind should not have been used for crooked schemes like monopolizing commerce and making everyone else unable to earn money.
Anyone without a win-win mindset was short-sighted.
She had little interest in explaining further. “People from the north will be sending someone over soon. As for when, I imagine the authorities will know first.”
“Miss Ning and Miss Ye, aren’t you people from the authorities?”
There was something pointed in her words, and the young ladies present began to think it over more carefully, starting to doubt Ning Cailan’s claims.
At the very least, when Ning Cailan spoke again, fewer people were willing to believe her.
“What do you mean, the north? Could Miss Lu be clearer?” Ning Cailan pressed step by step, trying to squeeze information out of her.
But Lu Ling no longer had the patience to deal with her. Instead, she said, “Wait. This summary meeting is concluded here.”
She picked up the gavel, tapped it against the golden gong in the corner, and declared the meeting over.
“Wait, you still haven’t given a definite explanation. Aren’t the sisters curious?” Ning Cailan blocked everyone’s way.
“You’re really just going to let her leave like this?”
The young ladies and managing maids, however, only looked puzzled. “Miss Ning, have you forgotten that all explanatory rights at any summary meeting belong to Miss Lu?”
“Today is only March’s meeting; it’s not a business conference yet.”
“Even if Miss Lu wants to say something, it shouldn’t be today. We’ll just wait for Miss Lu to set a time and come back to Qingyu Pavilion.”
It was obvious that everyone had silently accepted the rule of “explanatory rights” and did not want to take on any more risk.
They were different from the Ye family; in the officials’ eyes, their businesses were all small matters, but to them, this was their entire dowry, even the pension they would rely on in the future.
And Lu Ling was so capable. Why shouldn’t they choose to believe her, instead of someone who kept stirring up panic?
So Ning Cailan did not realize that what people distrusted more than Lu Ling’s ability was a person who couldn’t even control her own emotions.
Unfortunately, Ning Cailan still didn’t know where she had lost today. She had clearly brought out strong evidence, yet she still couldn’t beat Lu Ling.
Ye Meishen understood, though.
With Lu Ling, what these people were investing in was more than commercial credit; it was Lu Ling herself.
Not simply the bonuses.
Because Lu Ling herself represented their profits.
“Ning Auntie, let’s go. We’re heading back.” Ye Meishen wasn’t as entangled as Ning Cailan and rose to leave at once.
No matter what, Ning Cailan couldn’t understand why she was so willing to go back.
It wasn’t until Ye Meishen said, “Father went to the yamen first thing this morning to receive an honored guest, and after that there were no further instructions. It seems this matter should be dropped.”
At that, Ning Cailan’s face was full of shock.
What? My lord gave up that quickly?
What on earth happened?
Could it be that Lu Ling truly had heaven-reaching abilities?
Author’s note:
This is my first time writing a romance story. If there’s anything I didn’t write well, please forgive me.
Cuties who point out where the writing falls short will get a red packet!