Qingjiang County, West Market.
Xu Mingwei held the reins and walked slowly, his lips curved in a smile that showed he understood worldly affairs.
On the bluestone road, the horse's hoofbeats were scattered like a water clock. All around was bustling activity, with the shouting of wine shops, the clanging of brass scales in front of rouge shops, and the crisp sound of broken silver hitting plates in tea houses.
"Father was absolutely right."
"The world bustles, all for profit's sake. The world rushes about, all for profit's gain."
"With many people comes many needs, and various trades naturally arise."
"This West Market is full of vendors and small shops, but all their profits combined might exceed those of the major shops in the East Market."
Soon after, Xu Mingwei arrived at Cloud Come Inn where Xu Mingyuan was temporarily staying.
Just as he reached the inn entrance, he saw Xu Mingyuan, Zhou Ming, Zhao Dalong, and others walking out.
Xu Mingwei suddenly called out.
Xu Mingyuan, who was instructing Zhou Ming, was slightly startled. He turned to look, and his face immediately broke into a smile. "Big brother."
The group quickly walked over.
"Big brother, what brings you here?"
"Eldest young master." Zhou Ming and the others bowed in greeting.
Xu Mingwei nodded and smiled, "Yesterday I went into the mountains and had some harvest. I came to sell pelts. Father said the money from selling the pelts should go to you."
"I figured you're more familiar with Qingjiang County, so I came to find you first."
"You came to the right person. These past few years in the county seat, I've accumulated some connections." Xu Mingyuan laughed heartily. "If you go directly to a pawnshop or other places, you won't get a good price."
"Master Zhou, you all proceed according to our earlier discussion. I'll accompany my big brother to handle some business first."
"Very well, second young master."
Zhou Ming left directly with Zhao Dalong and the others.
Xu Mingyuan said, "Big brother, let's talk as we walk. What good pelts did you hunt this time?"
"Is it azure wolf, or leopard, or another silver fox?"
"See for yourself." Xu Mingwei opened his bundle to let Xu Mingyuan look.
"This color, a fierce tiger?!"
"The fur quality is quite good. Is it undamaged? With it bulging like this, it must be more than one pelt, right?"
"Two pelts, one male and one female, a married couple. The male tiger was half a zhang tall and weighed over a thousand catties. The female was slightly smaller but still more robust than ordinary tigers." Xu Mingwei explained in detail. "They also had a cub. I brought it back home as a companion for Xueji."
"Uh, using a tiger cub as a companion?" Xu Mingyuan was slightly shocked. Ordinary people wouldn't have such courage.
After all, once it grew up, ordinary martial artists couldn't handle it at all.
If one wasn't careful, even first-rate martial artists could be seriously injured.
"Father allowed it, saying Xueji raising it would be no problem."
"Alright, what Father says should be correct."
Xu Mingyuan pondered briefly and stopped dwelling on the issue.
His mind was nimble. In just an instant, he came up with a pitch that could raise the price of these two pelts.
The two brothers arrived at the East Market and entered an antique-styled tea house.
This tea house was called Moon Rinsing Pavilion, with three floors.
The first floor was a hall with eight immortals tables everywhere. In the center was a storytelling platform where storytellers performed daily, telling tales of heroes, famous generals, and strange anecdotes.
On the tables were mostly large piles of snacks like melon seeds and peanuts.
The serving boys would occasionally shout "Coming!" in sharp, pinched voices.
The second floor had private rooms.
The deposit for a single private room was enough for one person to listen in the first floor hall for nearly half a month.
As for the third floor, reservations had to be made in advance.
"A tea house?" Xu Mingyuan looked puzzled. "We're selling here?"
"Big brother, this Moon Rinsing Pavilion is the most famous tea house in the East Market. Its owner is surnamed Chang, named Chang Haowen, twenty years old."
"I've heard he has quite a background. The tea house is just one of the businesses he operates. I met him by chance."
At this moment, a server quickly approached and called out, "You two, sit anywhere. What would you like?"
"I'm looking for Young Master Chang."
The young server was stunned, then immediately ran to the counter and said something to a middle-aged man.
That middle-aged man glanced this way, then walked over with a smile and cupped his fists. "So it's Young Master Xu. My young master was just mentioning you the other day."
Xu Mingyuan returned the courtesy. "Manager He, is Young Master Chang here today?"
"He's in a private room on the second floor. I'll take you there."
Arriving at the second floor, there was a knock. "Young master, Young Master Xu has arrived."
"Xu Mingyuan?" A magnetic voice came from inside. "Let him in."
"Please, both of you." Manager He opened the door, invited the two inside, then returned downstairs to the counter to continue his work.
The interior was quite spacious, with several chairs made of goose-yellow pear wood arranged around a tea table.
A young man wearing a jade-inlaid silver crown and dressed in gorgeous robes woven from red-gold cloud brocade sat lazily.
His face was like jade, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his lips always holding a somewhat careless smile.
Beside him, a young maiden of sixteen gently waved a jade fan, attending to him.
"Brother Xu has come. Sit casually."
"Oh? Today you brought someone with you."
Chang Haowen turned his head slightly. Seeing two people, he was somewhat surprised. After observing them, he noticed their brows and expressions were somewhat similar and smiled faintly. "Is this your elder brother or perhaps a cousin?"
Xu Mingyuan sat down very casually and also beckoned Xu Mingwei to sit, then introduced, "This is my big brother, blood-related, named Xu Mingwei."
"Wei, meaning tall and lofty."
"The southern mountains tower high, the male fox rests peacefully."
Chang Haowen commented appreciatively, "It has the imagery of mountains' magnificence and soaring ambition. A good name."
"Young Master Chang is too kind."
When Xu Mingwei clasped his hands in salute, his spine was straight as a pine tree reaching toward the sun, his bearing composed, with not a trace of flattery in his eyes, nor any arrogance.
Chang Haowen nodded slightly and looked at Xu Mingyuan. "You didn't come to find me today just to taste tea and chat idly, did you?"
"Naturally I came to strengthen our connection, and incidentally handle a matter or two."
Chang Haowen chuckled. "Speak then."
"Young Master Chang, take a look at these two pelts and give us your assessment."
Xu Mingyuan took out two tiger pelts from the bundle. He and Xu Mingwei spread them out.
Chang Haowen's face showed no unusual expression as he examined them carefully.
"Not bad, these are also variant tigers. I estimate even first-rate martial artists would find it dangerous to take them down head-on, and these two tiger pelts are completely intact."
He pondered briefly, his eyes flickering, and continued, "Either they were struck in the eyes or throat and killed instantly, or they were beaten with fists and directly killed."
"Whichever method, the one who killed these tigers is quite formidable."
"Young Master Chang's eye is as sharp as ever." Xu Mingyuan praised with a smile. "But there's something even more remarkable."
"Oh? What is it?"
"These two tiger pelts, one male and one female, belonged to a tiger couple."
"To protect their cub, they fought desperately and died from exhaustion."
"Indeed extraordinary..." Chang Haowen's expression remained calm. He glanced at Xu Mingyuan and smiled. "Brother Xu, are you telling me this because you intend to sell this to me?"
"What does Young Master Chang think they're worth?"
"As simply two variant tiger pelts, they're worth a thousand taels. Add this story, and they're worth twelve hundred taels."
"Young Master Chang doesn't believe what I said?"
Seeing his expression, Xu Mingyuan smiled faintly.
"Merchants pursue profit. Praising goods to the heavens is nothing unusual."
"What if I can prove it's true? Would Young Master Chang be willing to purchase them for twelve hundred taels?"
Chang Haowen smiled slightly, unconcerned. "If you can prove it, spending over a thousand taels is nothing."
"But how?"
"That's simple. Young Master Chang thinks what I said was just a story, so the mention of a cub should be pure fiction."
"But unfortunately, this tiger couple's cub is currently being raised at my home. Young Master Chang only needs to send someone to my home to take a look. If there is a cub, then naturally the story is fact."
Hearing this, Chang Haowen was slightly stunned. "Your family wants to raise a variant tiger cub?"
"Even if raised from infancy, when its claws and fangs gleam coldly, it will eventually reveal its wild nature. At the slightest carelessness, it will tear out the keeper's throat. Even if it's not a demon tiger, taming it requires beast-taming skills, which approaches the methods of immortal cultivators."
Xu Mingyuan lowered his eyes and smiled faintly. "We'll deal with future matters in the future. If it truly shows signs of harming people, my family naturally won't keep such a menace."
Seeing his confidence, Chang Haowen was seventy to eighty percent convinced.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Brother Xu, you're a merchant. You once told me that although merchants pursue profit, they must also make integrity the foundation of their standing."
"Naturally I trust your character, so verification won't be necessary."
"If your Xu family can truly tame it in the future, just invite me to see it."
"Haha, then many thanks, Young Master Chang. But as for a viewing, that will require quite a wait. Right now it's just a small ball of white fluff."