Chapter 72

Listen, listen, listen.

"Good!" The grain merchants responded one after another. Due to matters on their minds, they dispersed early.

After parting ways with Liu Xian and the others, Brother Zhang returned to the inn where he was staying and said to his assistant, "Have you been to the house of the manager of Zhou's grain store?"

"I drank at his wedding two years ago," the assistant whispered, "What does the boss mean?"

"Go to his house once," Brother Zhang pulled out a stack of banknotes from his boot and said, "See if we can get our grain sold."

"Do we need to give him a gift?" the assistant asked with wide eyes.

"Rubbish," Brother Zhang sighed, "It's only the first day, and so many people have already come. There will be even more tomorrow. Who to sell to and who not to sell to will be even more complicated. We should spend a bit more and secure the deal early."

"Yes." The assistant took the money and left. Half an hour later, he returned with the money, "He didn't go home, he stayed at the store."

"Then go knock on the store door," Brother Zhang, who was already in bed, scolded, "Why are you so stubborn?"

"Forget it," the assistant said gloomily, "Do you think I didn't go? But no matter how I knocked, no one answered. I even ran into several other merchants..."

"Are they also giving gifts?"

"Yes," the assistant nodded gloomily.

"Ah," Brother Zhang sighed, "None of them are fools. It looks like things won't be easy tomorrow..."

That night, Brother Zhang lay awake all night, tossing and turning. When it finally started to get light, he got up, washed his face hastily, ate something, and headed straight for Zhou's grain store.

He thought he had come early enough, but when he arrived at the grain store, he saw that several other merchants had already arrived.

"Good morning, everyone," Brother Zhang forced a dry smile, "It's quite cold this early morning."

"Good morning, sir," the others also forced a smile, "We don't know when they'll open, so we might as well go in and warm up."

"Just call out," Brother Zhang said, "We're not here to buy grain, so why should we follow their rules?"

"We called, but no one answered," the others smiled bitterly, "It's as if we're begging them to buy our grain!"

"That's right," someone said resentfully, "They've always been the ones begging us, how did it become us begging them?"

"Hehe," Brother Zhang laughed, "Who makes us greedy for high prices?"

"Ah, you can't eat a fat man in one bite, why make it so hard?" the person said angrily, "If they keep stalling, I won't sell and will go home for the New Year!"

"Right!" the others echoed.

Brother Zhang nodded, but in his heart, he sneered, "Who would really leave? You all just hope others will leave!"

The merchants waited outside the store, their words not matching their hearts. More and more grain merchants arrived, and by the time it was the hour of the Rabbit, the shutters still hadn't been taken down. The merchants angrily pounded on the shutters and shouted, "Open the door, open the door!" This drew the attention of passersby.

Finally, amidst the deafening pounding, a shutter was removed, revealing Manager Han's sleepy face. He bowed to the merchants and apologized, "I didn't expect you to come so early, I'm truly sorry!"

"You only heard us after all this pounding!"

"Ah, I sleep like a dead pig, I wouldn't hear a cannon going off next to my ear," the manager said as he removed the shutters and let the merchants into the store, "You must be frozen, come in and warm up."

To judge who is strong and who is weak, it's not about who has the loudest voice or the most anger, but about how they react to lame excuses. The merchants, who silently accepted this, clearly weren't in a strong position...

The merchants filed into the store, filling the front hall. The manager quickly made tea and asked after their well-being.

After a few polite exchanges, a short-tempered merchant finally spoke up, "Manager Han, have you asked your boss? What did he say?!"

"Ah, don't mention it, I was scolded by my boss," the manager said with a gloomy face, "But I deserved it. I didn't trust you all and came up with this 'wide net' idea. I thought half of you would come, but you all came, showing your loyalty and enthusiasm!"

"Did Zhou Yang's letter come from you?" many people immediately became suspicious.

"Of course not, but my boss only asked me to find a few loyal and enthusiastic merchants, not to make it known to everyone," Manager Han sighed, "I've given my boss a big problem. You are all friends and benefactors, and it's not right to not buy from any of you. So my boss needs to carefully consider whether to buy in the order of arrival, or a part from each, or to buy all at once, even if it means selling everything to buy the grain."

"Of course, buy all of it," someone immediately said, "That way, no one is offended."

"If we buy all of it, we can't pay three coins per stone. Even if my boss sells everything, he doesn't have that much money," Manager Han spread his hands and said honestly, "Please wait one more day. Tomorrow, I promise to give you a definite answer."

"Why do we have to wait until tomorrow!" the merchants were unhappy, "Staying at the dock for one more day means paying for the dock, labor, and grain loss. Who will cover these costs?"

"Because the county office only allows visits to the prison in the afternoon," Manager Han smiled bitterly, "This time, I will definitely get a clear answer!"

The merchants looked at each other, wondering if they had to wait another day.

At this moment, some civilians came to buy grain. They saw the store was full of people and asked cautiously, "Manager Han, are you open for business?"

"Open, open," Manager Han bowed, "I'm sorry, but the few clerks are out delivering messages, and the one who stayed behind lost his mother two days ago. Sigh, I'm the only one left to manage."

"Sell what grain? Solve this problem first," the merchants said unhappily, "Let them buy from other stores!"

"Well, okay..." Manager Han had to apologize to the customer, "Go to Qian's grain store, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Okay..." The customer, being a regular, couldn't say much and left empty-handed.

Manager Han had just sat down to continue talking with the merchants when another customer came in, and he had to get up to greet them. Before he could finish, another customer came in, and it was a continuous stream, making it impossible to discuss anything.

Finally, the merchants couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Put up the shutters! Closing for a day or two won't kill anyone."

"Okay," Manager Han agreed and immediately put up the shutters and hung a "Closed for the day" sign. He then turned and asked, "What do you suggest? I can talk to my boss..."

"You need to act decisively. The more people who come, the harder it is to handle," a merchant suggested, "Quickly accept our grain, apologize to the others, and compensate them for transportation costs. This will resolve the issue." "Right, this time it's because you were eager to help your boss, but in the future, be more cautious!"

"That's a good idea..." Manager Han's eyes lit up, but then he frowned, "But some people came earlier than you, they just haven't arrived yet."

"Who's to blame for their laziness?" The merchants, seeing him soften, immediately pressed forward, "Write the contract!"

"I'm not the boss, how can I write a contract?" Manager Han, surrounded by the merchants, looked helpless.

"How can you be so stubborn!" The merchants gave him advice, "Draft a preliminary document with us, and you can use it to explain to the later arrivals. Then have your boss sign it in the afternoon, and it will be settled."

"That's not a problem," Manager Han smiled bitterly, "But without the boss's signature, no one will take it seriously."

"That's easy," the merchants said, "You can pay us a deposit."

"This..." Manager Han was hesitant, "I can't make such decisions on my own!"

"You're really stubborn," the merchants scolded, "We can give you a discount, one hundred coins per stone. That way, your boss will think you're good at business, and no one can say anything!"

"This..." Manager Han looked at the merchants, "But the counter only has a little loose change. The money for buying grain is in the bank, and it requires the boss's seal to withdraw."

"It's just to keep them quiet, any amount will do," the merchants had no bottom line, only wanting to quickly sign the document.

"Alright, please write down your names and how much grain you want to sell..." Manager Han, unable to resist the pressure, went to the counter to write the contract. After each contract was written, a merchant signed and sealed it, and then Manager Han handed over a stack of banknotes from the counter.

The stack of banknotes was old and worn, worth only about one hundred coins, but the merchants didn't mind and immediately wrote receipts, putting the money in their pockets, feeling much more at ease.

Over a dozen merchants signed contracts, which took a considerable amount of time. Just as two contracts were written, a loud pounding on the door was heard from outside.

"Not open today!" a merchant answered for Manager Han, "Please come back tomorrow."

"We're not here to buy rice, we're here to sell rice," it was clear that the people outside were also grain merchants, and there were more of them than inside. "Open the door quickly, don't think we don't know what you're doing inside!"

"That's right, friends inside, share the wealth, don't be greedy!" the people outside shouted, "Besides, we should follow the order of arrival. We arrived yesterday morning!"

The people inside looked at each other, unsure whether to open or not, as it would bring more complications.

"Pay no attention to the outside!" Brother Zhang, who had a clear plan, said, "Help Manager Han finish the contracts quickly!"

The merchants quickly found a brush, and five or six of them helped write the contracts...

After waiting for a while outside, seeing no movement inside, the people outside realized they were planning to finalize the deal before opening. Various feelings of being deceived, harmed, and humiliated filled their hearts. Someone shouted,

"We can't let them get away with it! Break the door down!"

"Right, it's too much, break the door down!" Some young and strong men started kicking and pushing the shutters.

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