106: Chapter 106 Arranged Marriage (Revised)

Jinhuai Prefecture, Chen Family Trading Firm.

After receiving the 80,000 dan of grain transported by the Pei Family, the Chen Family transported the grain to various rice shops.

The six-month blockade of the trade route had kept grain prices in Jinhuai Prefecture high, and now it had even reached sixty-five wen per jin.

It was not that there were no substitutes in Jinhuai Prefecture.

Exotic beasts and spirit fish could also be consumed as food. However, these items were not affordable for ordinary people.

Besides that, the rise in grain prices had also caused the prices of other goods to rise in tandem.

Thus, grain remained the most cost-effective option.

No matter the world, selling goods always requires marketing.

Just like how small vendors hawk their wares, those with louder voices naturally have better business.

Not to mention 80,000 dan of grain.

If a Family of four is taken as an example, if they are a bit frugal, three jin of grain a day is enough. In a month, that is only ninety jin of grain.

Calculated this way, 80,000 dan of grain is enough for 400,000 people to eat for a month.

Although there are over a million people in Jinhuai Prefecture, the Southern Street where the Chen Family is located only has a population of 200,000.

Usually, a household buys grain for about a month at a time.

Therefore, to sell these 80,000 dan of grain quickly.

The Chen Family must attract people from outside the Southern Street to buy grain.

Marketing is naturally essential.

As one of the four great families of Jinhuai Prefecture, the Chen Family's marketing methods were naturally not bad.

However, they did not use the method of hawking.

Instead, they used word-of-mouth.

Through word-of-mouth, the news that the Chen Family was selling grain at sixty wen per jin quickly spread from the Southern Street of Jinhuai Prefecture.

"I heard the Chen Family's rice shop has a huge discount, the price of grain has dropped by a full five wen per jin."

"No way, the grain in the major trading firms' rice shops is in short supply. At this time, it would be a huge blessing if grain prices didn't rise. The Chen Family is actually lowering prices to sell at this time, could there be a trap?"

"When I first heard the news, I didn't quite believe it either. Just a moment ago, my second uncle bought thirty jin of rice at the Chen Family's rice shop. It is indeed sixty wen per jin, a full five wen lower than yesterday. If we don't hurry, the Chen Family's rice shop will be sold out."

"Then let's go quickly, don't delay here. This time, I'm going to buy a hundred jin and wait for the price to rise."

...

As the people of Southern Street bought low-priced grain, people in other streets of Jinhuai Prefecture also responded one after another.

For a time, the Southern Street was overcrowded.

The Chen Family's rice shop was packed tightly.

This was only because ten Chen Family shops were selling simultaneously; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to keep up with the sales.

In just one afternoon, the Chen Family sold 10,000 dan of grain.

"According to this trend, at most five days, this 80,000 dan of grain will be sold out." Chen Yuansi sighed as he watched this grain-buying frenzy.

"Who says otherwise? The impact of the Calamity of Demons is too great. It's not just Jinhuai Prefecture experiencing this situation, surrounding prefectural cities are similar. However, once these 80,000 dan of grain are completely sold, the grain prices in Jinhuai Prefecture will no longer be able to maintain a high level." He Yucheng said.

"It doesn't matter. I had anticipated this. The Qian and Lü families are still buying grain in Wuyang County. When they return to the prefecture city with the grain, their expressions will surely be very interesting." Chen Yuansi laughed, not caring at all.

"Hahaha, that is true. This time, they finally suffered a setback. However, this matter should also be credited to Brother Yuanba. If it weren't for him, the Pei Family wouldn't have been so decisive." He Yucheng said.

"Alright, let's not talk about it..." Chen Yuansi frowned, recalling the scene where he was checkmated by Pei Qingyun.

...

Three days passed in a flash.

The people's desire to buy grain was even stronger than the Chen Family had imagined.

In three days, the 80,000 dan of grain were sold out.

This was two days faster than the original plan.

While the Chen Family was making a fortune, the Pei Family also received the final payment from the Chen Family.

For 80,000 dan of grain, it totaled 280,000 taels. Excluding the deposit paid earlier, the Chen Family still had to pay 140,000 taels.

On this point, the Chen Family did not renege on their debt.

However, such a large sum, if placed in the Pei Family's treasury, would be no different from waste paper.

At this moment, Pei Qingyun also remembered the agreement with Chen Yuanba.

The Pei Family did not lack ordinary Cultivation resources.

But the potions and Medicinal Pill used for Cultivation had always been what the Pei Family needed.

Under Pei Qingyun's arrangement, he quickly contacted Chen Yuanba in Wuyang County.

Chen Yuanba did not break his word and fulfilled the original agreement.

Half a day later, Pei Qingyun received a letter and a token from Chen Yuanba.

The token was a white medallion. Pei Qingyun examined it carefully but did not find anything unusual about it.

So, he opened the letter.

The letter emphasized that if he wanted to buy Cultivation resources like the divine power transformation potion, he should take the token he gave and find Xu Jianyin at the Mingyuan Trading Firm.

"Mingyuan Trading Firm, Xu Jianyin." Pei Qingyun muttered.

Looking back at Pei Qingyun's eighty-plus years of life, he knew a thing or two about the various forces in the prefecture city.

Naturally, he had heard of the Mingyuan Trading Firm.

In Jinhuai Prefecture, the largest trading firm was actually not the four major trading firms controlled by the Qian, Chen, He, and Lü families, but the Mingyuan Trading Firm.

In a Jinhuai Prefecture controlled by the four great families, the Mingyuan Trading Firm could still be number one; the power behind it was self-evident.

Many interested parties speculated about the origins of the Mingyuan Trading Firm. Some said that behind the Mingyuan Trading Firm was a prefectural Family.

Others said that behind the Mingyuan Trading Firm was a certain royal Family of the Great Jing. In short, there were all kinds of rumors, but they all proved one point.

The origin of the Mingyuan Trading Firm was very mysterious.

However, the items possessed by the Mingyuan Trading Firm were worthy of its mysterious status.

Even the Meridian Opening Pill used by the Grandmaster of Meridians for Cultivation was sold by the Mingyuan Trading Firm.

This point alone was enough to make ordinary second-rate families fearful.

Like the four major second-rate families of Jinhuai Prefecture, none of them had a single meridian-opening Martial Artist, so naturally, they had no use for the Meridian Opening Pill.

As for Cultivation resources below the Meridian Opening, the Mingyuan Trading Firm had even more.

Pei Qingyun had once visited the Mingyuan Trading Firm, but at that time he only had the qualification to enter the first floor.

The items sold on the first floor of the Mingyuan Trading Firm were all things needed for Foundation Establishment and the Divine Strength Realm.

Besides that, there were some Cultivation Technique in this first floor. However, they were all below the yellow-rank intermediate grade, and except for some unranked families, the great families basically looked down on them.

As for the second floor of the Mingyuan Trading Firm, Pei Qingyun's martial arts cultivation at that time did not have the qualification to go up.

As for the person named Xu Jianyin, Pei Qingyun had never heard of him.

The Mingyuan Trading Firm was located on the central street of Jinhuai Prefecture, occupying a four-story pavilion.

According to the route in his memory, Pei Qingyun took a carriage and spent about two quarters of an hour to reach here.

But it must be said that the Mingyuan Trading Firm was truly luxurious and grand. The pavilion had four floors, all supported by vermilion lacquered pillars, with colors bright and steady, displaying grandeur and nobility. On the pillars were carved lifelike Auspicious Beasts and Dragons, their bared fangs and brandished claws seeming to possess the beauty of dynamic motion. The Dragon scales were carved with intricate detail.

Under the sunlight, they flickered with a metallic luster.

Even though Pei Qingyun had seen countless luxurious buildings in his past life, he couldn't help but sigh when he saw the Mingyuan Trading Firm's pavilion.

"Truly extravagant!"

Unlike ordinary trading firms, the Mingyuan Trading Firm did not do business with the same enthusiasm as other firms. They would not introduce anything to customers, but let customers purchase based on their own desires.

But the first floor did not have what he wanted, so he had to go directly to find Xu Jianyin.

Through the front desk on the first floor, Pei Qingyun learned that Xu Jianyin was actually the second-floor manager of the Mingyuan Trading Firm.

This surprised him a little.

Before long, a middle-aged man with a thin figure and spirited eyes walked down from the second floor.

The middle-aged man wore a deep purple brocade robe, with exquisite cloud patterns embroidered in silver thread, revealing luxury in its low-key nature. On his lower body, he wore black straight-leg trousers, with the cuffs slightly tightened, and on his feet, he wore a pair of black cloud-head shoes, which gave off a sense of majesty.

Seeing Pei Qingyun's aged face, a flash of surprise crossed Xu Jianyin's eyes.

On the surface, he remained calm as he came before Pei Qingyun and said, "I am Xu Jianyin, please show me the token, customer."

Pei Qingyun didn't say much and immediately showed the white token sent by Chen Yuanba.

After taking the token, Xu Jianyin took a rough look and returned it to Pei Qingyun.

"Customer, follow me." Xu Jianyin said.

Following that, Pei Qingyun followed Xu Jianyin to the second floor of the pavilion.

The exterior of the pavilion was trapezoidal, so the higher up, the smaller the space. The area of the second floor was probably only two-thirds of the first floor.

But the items on this floor were far from comparable to the first floor. Just by taking a glance, Pei Qingyun felt his heart itching.

If he could pack up this second floor and take it back, the Pei Family would have no reason not to prosper.

But this was just a thought.

Just from the Xu Jianyin in front of him, Pei Qingyun could feel a dangerous aura.

As the second-floor manager, Xu Jianyin was very likely a Six Viscera Grandmaster.

The items in the Mingyuan Trading Firm were all clearly marked with prices. Below where the items were placed, there would be a label.

Unlike other trading firms where one had to ask for the price, on this point alone, the Mingyuan Trading Firm was unique.

After a simple sweep, Pei Qingyun found what he wanted.

The divine power transformation potion and the Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill.

Among them, the divine power transformation potion was priced at 10,000 taels per portion.

According to the memory of his predecessor, this price was already considered cheap. Like a bottom-tier Family like the Pei Family, because they had no purchasing channels, the money spent on buying divine power transformation potions was often much higher.

Before Pei Qingyun Transmigrated, the annual net profit of the Pei Family's industries was about 100,000 taels.

But in reality, the surplus money left on the annual books was only about 10,000 taels.

Theoretically, the Pei Family would have to save for more than a decade for ten portions of divine power transformation potion.

The actual time spent was even longer than that.

Not to mention that the Pei Family might not even be able to buy it.

The monopoly on resources not only occurred among the bottom-tier people, but this phenomenon also existed among the great families.

Besides the divine power transformation potion, Pei Qingyun also planned to buy more Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill.

The Pei Family already had three Five-Viscera Martial Artists. In addition, the Pei Family had three Elders who had reached Divine Power Perfection, but only two had met the conditions for Divine Power transformation.

And Pei Qingyun remembered that there were still eight portions of divine power transformation potion in the Family treasury.

Thinking of this, Pei Qingyun directly bought twelve portions.

In addition, the Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill was also very effective for the Cultivation of Five-Viscera Martial Artists.

Except for him, Pei Tianrong and Pei Tianlin were still stuck in the Early Stage of the Five Viscera Realm, so it was a good thing to appropriately speed up the progress.

The Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill was cheaper, at 4,000 taels per pill, and Pei Qingyun bought four bottles at once.

With this, the 280,000 taels earned from the sale were exhausted.

After coming out of the Mingyuan Trading Firm, Pei Qingyun took a carriage back to Wenxianglai Restaurant.

With these items, the Pei Family's strength would further increase.

The next day, Pei Qingyun summoned Pei Tianlin, who was still staying in Jinhuai Prefecture.

At the same time, he also handed over the divine power transformation potion and Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill he bought from the Mingyuan Trading Firm to Pei Tianlin.

Learning that the items in his hands were so valuable, Pei Tianlin's heart jumped into his throat.

If it were 280,000 taels of silver notes, he could still look at it calmly. But these items, he could not ignore.

To be blunt, any third-rate Family would be tempted by this.

With this, the rise of the Pei Family could go further.

...

Wuyang County.

The development of the Pei Family was flourishing.

Pei Family grounds.

Pei Tianrong was handling daily affairs in the study.

Suddenly, a hurried knock sounded outside the door. Pei Tianrong did not raise his head, but casually said, "Uncle Fu, put lunch aside for now, I will eat it later."

However.

After waiting for a long time, Pei Tianrong didn't hear any sound, so he raised his head.

It was only then that Pei Tianrong realized the person who came in was not Uncle Fu, but Pei Tianlin.

"Tianlin, didn't you write in your letter two days ago that you wanted to stay in Jinhuai City for a few more days? Why did you suddenly come back?" A flash of surprise crossed Pei Tianrong's eyes.

"Jinhuai doesn't have anything fun, it's not as comfortable as being at home. These are what the Old Ancestor asked me to give you." Pei Tianlin spread his hands and handed a parcel covered in black cloth to Pei Tianrong.

Pei Tianrong asked curiously, "What is inside?"

Pei Tianlin smiled and did not explain, "You'll know when you open it, there's a surprise."

Under Pei Tianlin's gaze, Pei Tianrong opened the parcel.

When he saw the divine power transformation potion and the four small porcelain bottles, his eyes lit up immediately.

He no longer needed the divine power transformation potion. But its importance to the Pei Family was self-evident.

Besides that, he was more curious about the things in the four small porcelain bottles.

When he opened one of the bottles, a rich, fresh fragrance wafted out.

Smelling the fragrance, Pei Tianrong's body instinctively developed a craving to devour it.

"What is inside this?" Pei Tianrong asked.

Pei Tianlin smiled and explained, "Five Qi Organ Strengthening Pill."

Hearing this, a flash of amazement crossed Pei Tianrong's face, "No wonder this pill fragrance is so strong, it truly deserves to be one of the best auxiliary Medicinal Pill for Five-Viscera Martial Artists."

He never imagined that the Old Ancestor would have such a harvest just by going to the prefecture city.

Next, the two chatted for a while. Without realizing it, they began talking about Pei Sili.

"Tianlin, did you see Sili when you were in the prefecture city? That kid hasn't been back for half a year. In another half month, he will be sixteen. I was thinking, it's time to arrange a marriage for him."