usatvline Chapter 26, Wasted Daily Life in the Southern Song Dynasty
Chapter 26, Wasted Daily Life in the Southern Song Dynasty
Lin Zhou is now calculating the goods not by the piece, but by the day. According to his own calculations, he carries several lines of goods.
If he carries nothing, he can dart back and forth like the Flash, but when he weighs around 100 pounds, the cooldown time increases to six hours.
When the weight is increased to 500 jin, the cooling time jumps to one day. Above that, it's 1500 jin, and the cooling time is approximately three days and a half.
However, this cooldown time is only calculated when moving from one side to the other. There are no restrictions when moving from one side to the other, so he will only be trapped in this spacetime, not in his own loss of control.
This time, he brought the most stuff he had ever brought. Just hauling it all back had exhausted him half to death. If it weren't for the Imperial City Guard stationed at his lodgings, he wouldn't have been able to bring all this stuff back by himself.
After spending half a day sorting things with Brother Ying in the shop, we finally got everything organized. Brother Ying seemed even more excited than Lin Zhou, chattering incessantly as he circled the fully stocked shelves.
"Master, master, is this something to eat? It looks delicious..."
Lin Zhou grabbed a handful of loose preserved plums and placed them in her hand. She ate one, and her mouth watered so much that a line of saliva came out from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes and nose wrinkled together, but she still couldn't bear to let go, holding the sweet and sour, salty plums and eating them one by one.
"Master, master, this..."
"This isn't for eating!" Lin Zhou neatly arranged the soap. "Don't eat everything, you can't eat this."
"Oh..." Eagle was clearly a little disappointed, but her disappointment only lasted for a moment. At this moment, her gaze was already fixed on those fancy porcelain bottles.
"that……"
"That's floral water." Lin Zhou took a deep breath. "You can't drink it!"
Despite saying that, he still took a bottle and handed it to Brother Ying. As soon as Brother Ying pulled out the stopper, a strange fragrance wafted out.
She exclaimed "Wow!" and started sucking away from the bottle.
Seeing her like this, Lin Zhou didn't say anything. After all, children are like this, especially Ying Ge, who is still a little girl. She has no resistance to this kind of thing. So let her play. She has suffered enough in her short twelve years.
However, this stuff, though called floral water, is actually perfume. There are similar scented powders and perfumes here, but most of them are made by steaming flowers and then steeping them in water; the scent doesn't last long and they're very expensive. Lin Zhou's stuff, according to the plan, is intended to be used to open the back gates of the upper class.
After all, he's a street vendor, so at least until the new plan comes out, his most important task right now is to be a good street vendor.
"Alright." After arranging the strange items, Lin Zhou went up and patted Eagle on the head: "You'll get poisoned if you keep smelling them."
"Master, this smells amazing! Is this really for me?"
"Take it and play with it."
"Thank you, sir!"
As the two were chatting idly, a man strolled in through the door, smiling broadly as he said, "Brother Lin, long time no see! Oh, you've been out buying goods?"
The visitor was none other than Cao Wenda. Upon entering the room, he was dazzled by the sheer variety of goods. He went to the shelves and carefully examined the merchandise, his desire growing even stronger.
He was experienced and had come from a background as a head manager. Although he was now doing the work of Qin Hui's black gloves, he was still a businessman at heart. With just a glance, he understood that everything here, including the sour plums that made people cry when they were put in their mouths, was a bridge to establish connections with the upper class.
After all, everyone knows that the fastest way to enter the upper world is to access the inner quarters of those big shots.
However, Lin Zhou was too mysterious. His own spies had no idea when he left the city, and even the maids planted by his side were completely unaware. The only thing they knew was that when he returned, he had already harnessed a donkey and brought back a large cart of goods.
If this could allow them to seize control of the supply of goods behind him, that would be a wonderful thing.
"Brother Lin, your medicine is very effective, and the Emperor has praised you highly. The Ministry of Revenue is also strongly advocating for commending such a promising young man as you." Old Cao suppressed his greed and smiled as he took out a thousand strings of cash from his pocket and placed it on Lin Zhou's counter: "This is the Emperor's reward; the money for the medicine will be paid later."
"No problem."
Lin Zhou picked up the paper money and glanced at it. He didn't say anything, but if it was Zhao Gou's reward, it definitely couldn't be only a thousand strings of cash. Professor Wang had said that although Zhao Gou might be a bit crazy, he was a man who cared a lot about his reputation. For an ordinary person like Lin Zhou to solve his urgent problem, his reward must be more than that.
The only possibility is that someone skimmed off the lion's share of his rewards...
But what could he say? To put it bluntly, a thousand strings of cash was no small sum. People had invested a lot in him, and he was currently powerless and helpless. Fight for it? He'd have to fight for it with his head down.
However, he couldn't show that he was completely indifferent, so he winked and leaned forward to ask, "Brother Cao, about getting me a minor official position, Dangdang..."
This wasn't Lin Zhou's task; it was something he'd gleaned from reading novels. The protagonist usually had to first get a position like a county magistrate, then develop industrialization and modernization there, and finally use tanks to storm the Iron Pagoda.
If I actually manage to get a position here, I can go back and tell them I've been given an official post. I'll see how they react then. Anyway, I have an external brain, so I don't have to be afraid of anything.
"Oh dear, brother. This matter... is not easy to handle." Cao Wenda sighed, his face showing hesitation. "These days, to become an official, one needs to obtain official rank and title. Where can merchants like you and me, who have no official rank and title, obtain an official position?"
Lin Zhou gently pushed the thousand strings of cash in front of Cao Wenda: "Brother Cao, please help me out."
"There's really no way around it." Cao Wenda, a greedy man, actually pushed the thousand strings of cash back: "The imperial court also has its rules."
Seeing the troubled look on his face, Lin Zhou sighed, then cleverly changed the subject: "Brother Cao, has the plague subsided?"
"It hasn't completely subsided yet, but my brother's method of epidemic prevention is indeed effective. Although there are still many counties affected by the plague, it has stopped spreading. Those who were seriously ill have recovered one after another after taking my brother's medicine. That's why the Emperor is so pleased."
"That's good, that's good..."
Seeing his expression, Cao Wenda patted him on the shoulder: "Brother, you should just stay a peaceful merchant and not think about becoming an official. Being an official isn't easy. When do you plan to open this shop?"
"It'll be in the next couple of days. I hope Brother Cao can come and support us."
Just as the two were chatting, a fair-skinned young man suddenly walked in through the door, leading a few people into Lin Zhou's shop.
Cao Wenda's expression changed, and he lowered his voice, saying, "The Jurchens... Brother, be careful. These people are extremely rude."
"How can you tell they're Jurchens?" Lin Zhou looked at the group from afar, but they all looked like Han Chinese...
"Have you ever seen anyone in Lin'an dressed so flamboyantly? Only the Jurchens would dress like this nowadays."