Chapter 141: Brewing Wine

On the Qinhuai River, in a dimly lit small pleasure boat, its lanterns somewhat extinguished, Xi Junyu looked around. Wu Qilong smiled, took a rice pot from the side, and set it down. Xi Junyu then went over, served himself some rice, sat at a nearby table, and poured a dish into his bowl.

“It's always like this after a lively event,” Wu Qilong said, picking up a handful of greens and crunching them loudly as the flickering lamplight danced. “The table is covered with food, scattered everywhere, but who knows who actually got a full meal.”

“At least no one starves,” Xi Junyu replied indifferently.

“I always feel hungry…” Wu Qilong mused. “Once, I really envied Ning Liheng. Not long ago, we had dinner, and he was invited, along with Manager Liao and Manager Luo… He just kept eating. He was truly eating.”

“Those who aren't deeply involved can naturally eat their fill,” Xi Junyu retorted.

“True,” Wu Qilong conceded.

After the brief exchange, the two men sat eating. Though the food appeared to be leftovers, it had indeed been meticulously prepared by a renowned chef and still tasted quite good. The sounds of chewing filled the cabin as the boat gently swayed on the water. After a while, Wu Qilong finally put down his chopsticks and drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

“Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the night after that—everything will come to a head,” Wu Qilong began. “At this point, no news is good news, Brother Xi. There shouldn't be any changes, right?”

“No,” Xi Junyu shook his head. “Chen Er has confessed that the assassination was orchestrated by someone else. The immediate crisis is averted, and there are no longer obstacles to obtaining the Imperial Merchant status. Everyone is pleased; while they aren’t completely swept away by it, they clearly understand that securing the Imperial Merchant title will resolve all of the First Branch's issues. From now on, there's no turning back. At this point… with their backs against the wall, they have no choice but to push forward with the current momentum. Any real change is impossible.”

“That's excellent news,” Wu Qilong said, pouring himself a cup of wine, smiling, and downing it in one gulp. “My side is also fully prepared. Simply put, my father has merely asked Lord Dong to arrange the order of things that night. Heh, our Wu family's weavers have always surpassed the Su family's, so a head start is all we need. The rest can be left to the various officials of the Bureau of Textile Manufacture…”

After saying this, he smiled. Only when Xi Junyu finished eating and put down his chopsticks did Wu Qilong shake his head. “In two days, Su Tan'er will essentially have no chance of taking over the Su family. With their internal strife, that bunch of incompetents will only squander the family fortune. There's no future for them there. Are you truly not coming to join my Wu family?”

Xi Junyu glanced at him. “You know what I intend to do.”

“We've known each other for years,” Wu Qilong sighed. “I invited you to join my Wu family years ago, and you refused because of Su Tan'er; I understood. Now, you're doing this for a woman who has become someone else’s wife. Tsk, you're truly persistent…” He then looked at Xi Junyu’s expression and smiled again. “Alright, I know they haven't consummated their marriage yet. After the Imperial Merchant status is decided, you can certainly manipulate some managers to target Ning Liheng, ensuring they never have the chance to consummate it. Su Tan'er, having seen years of her efforts go up in smoke, will surely need to vent her frustrations. But in the end, this will be very difficult, Xi Junyu. Once the Su family collapses, given Su Tan'er's nature, she will surely grit her teeth and try to rebuild. If you help her from behind, perhaps in a few years, or even a decade or two, she'll be indebted to you, and you might be together. But it will be truly difficult…”

Wu Qilong paused. Xi Junyu then spoke calmly, “By that time, the Wu family will have become an Imperial Merchant, and the moment will be right for you to pursue becoming the foremost textile merchant in the realm. As for the Su family, it took them decades to build their current scale; once the Old Master dies and they collapse, they won't recover for decades. We will no longer be rivals, and naturally, I will no longer pose any threat to you.”

“I've never cared about such threats; it's simply a pity,” Wu Qilong frowned. “Here in Jiangning, my second brother, Xue Yan, you, and I—none of us compare to Su Tan'er. Frankly, in just a few years, she latched onto one thing and pushed it relentlessly to this point. This is the true path of business, and she is indeed formidable; none of us are her equal. When it comes to business, among the younger generation, besides Su Tan'er, only Puyang Yi of the Puyang family and Tang Xu of the Tang family make me feel truly inadequate. But she is, after all, a woman. Although I might not be able to accomplish what she has if placed in her position, she ultimately has limitations and many unnecessary complications.”

Wu Qilong took a breath. “Honestly, I never intended to specifically target the Su family. If not for the current situation, with both my family and the Xue family eyeing the Imperial Merchant title, then if Su Tan'er had prepared well, whatever she earned would be hers, with no one competing for it. But when she was ready to make her move, everyone else also had their eyes on it. One could only say her timing was unfortunate. Once you're in the game, it's all about deception and strategy. But I never intended to specifically target anyone; it's just business. My Wu family is already the top cloth merchant in Jiangning, Brother Xi. Jiangning is merely a pond; you could have ventured into the ocean. Do you truly want to remain in this pond?”

Xi Junyu smiled. “It's just about getting things done; there aren't so many grand principles.”

“That's true,” Wu Qilong said, shaking his head with a smile. “I know your thinking: life is just about doing things, and if you want to do something, you do it. But… it's just a woman. One day, when you reach a higher position, you might find these matters quite boring. Or perhaps in a few years, you'll find this woman unremarkable, and that initial feeling will be gone. You'll regret it. Do you know, I married at eighteen, and she died three years later? I swore I'd never touch another woman, but then one day, a year later, I suddenly realized I couldn't remember what she looked like when I thought of her. I took two concubines… women are all the same.”

“People are all like this,” Wu Qilong continued. “As men of our generation, we should accomplish great things. Women can't achieve anything significant, and they're all the same. Let go of Su Tan'er, and you'll find many others just like her. You know, many women like to preen and pose, whether it's genuine or feigned. If it happens once, I'll never give them a second thought. These are minor issues, but on this matter, let me give you a saying: 'Unrequited love is useless; if your heart is not with me, then I shall cease.'”

“You've said a lot of nonsense today.”

“Heh, I know you might not listen, but as long as there’s a chance, I must speak,” Wu Qilong chuckled. “Because in three days, this matter will be resolved. Are you truly planning to linger by her side for ten or twenty years just because they haven't consummated their marriage? Take one step forward, and you'll see the ocean; just one step. Your next ten or twenty years will be entirely different. Regarding this Su family affair, it's good if it succeeds, but even if the Imperial Merchant title were given to the Su family, I wouldn't have taken it to heart; my Wu family would still be the Wu family. If you and I work together, our influence will certainly not be limited to Jiangning alone.”

Wu Qilong smiled. “Ultimately, how this matter proceeds is for you to decide.”

The more capable one is, the firmer their will. Xi Junyu was not someone who failed to consider things; convincing him would certainly be difficult, but Wu Qilong still had to speak when the moment called for it. After Wu Qilong finished, Xi Junyu's expression remained calm, and only after a long silence did he finally speak.

“In these final two or three days, let's not create any complications,” Xi Junyu said. “Su Tan'er is not simple; she might have a hidden move. She has been preparing for the annual cloth tribute for over two years, pulling funds from various regions. Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver have already been invested. When the Imperial Merchant status is announced and all her hopes are dashed, it's hard to say what she might do.”

“Heh heh, Brother Xi, are you suggesting she'd dump goods at reduced prices?” Wu Qilong laughed gleefully. “I'd wish she would do that! If she breaks the rules, everyone will gang up on her, and the Su family would collapse even faster. Your family's Old Master wouldn't let her do that, and neither would Su Zhongkan or Su Yunfang. If she did, she'd be dragging the entire Su family down into madness.”

He shook his head, his voice rising with happiness and confidence. “As for whom I'm currently wary of: Su Tan'er and Manager Liao have done their utmost to elevate the Su family's reputation to this level. Su Yu is the most formidable individual; he single-handedly propped up the Su family and established its position as one of the three textile giants in Jiangning. Afterwards, his appearance might barely turn the tide, but he's old, and the Su family won't last much longer. Of course, that’s for the future. He has now let go, and his influence is limited. As for the rest, who else is there? Could it possibly be Brother Ning, who has been appointed in a crisis, is drawing everyone's attention, and will miraculously save the day?”

Xi Junyu narrowed his eyes, a weary look on his face. Honestly, he didn't particularly like hearing that name. An incompetent man, yet he married Su Tan'er, and now the Su family had even put him forward to temporarily manage affairs. An incapable man who had taken what could have been his. “Don't be arrogant,” Xi Junyu scoffed. “He is Jiangning's foremost scholar, brilliant in poetry. You are involved in shady dealings; be careful he doesn't denounce you with his words later.”

“Haha, you have a point, a point,” Wu Qilong said, slapping the table and laughing, then slightly composing himself. “He's not a fool, either. Observing his demeanor, he's actually far more sensible than the other Su family members. Although his actions these past few days have been clumsy, they weren't excessively reckless, which shows he put thought into it and tried to learn. It's just that given the Su family's dire situation, he's bound to be anxious. If it were peacetime, letting him take charge for a while wouldn't lead to major mistakes. But right now… he's a mere scholar facing such a situation, and his opponents are not on the same level. What can a slightly clever novice do? This matter, from beginning to end, is not something he can be involved in. One can only say… his timing is unfortunate.”

“After this, I imagine he'll understand a great deal,” Xi Junyu mused, reflecting on Ning Yi's actions of late. He then calmly shook his head and turned to leave. “As long as there are no other issues, thank you for your hospitality.”

“A great favor needs no thanks; you should repay it tenfold,” Wu Qilong joked, then waved his hand. “Think about what I said: the ocean lies ahead; a pond isn't worth it. The Wu family's gates are always open to you. Oh, and that line… 'Unrequited love is useless…'”

“If your heart is not with me, then I shall cease,” Xi Junyu repeated, his departing figure fading into the darkness by the boat's rail. “It would be best if we didn't have meetings like this again.”

“This matter is settled; there shouldn't be any more changes,” Wu Qilong replied. Only when the faint figure vanished with the receding boat did he sigh, push aside the bowls and chopsticks in front of him, stand up, and turn to leave. “What a pity…”

His words were a low, murmured sigh. Regardless, Xi Junyu was a talent he had always wanted to recruit. When he took over the Wu family in the future, he would need his own team. While it was certainly gratifying for the Wu family to secure the Imperial Merchant title now, allowing some plans to be accelerated and adding icing to the cake, even if they didn't get it, the Wu family would still remain the Wu family. He was still young, with many opportunities for expansion ahead. Only talent like Xi Junyu was truly rare and invaluable. What he genuinely valued was the future, not these immediate gains.

However, since such advantages were available, there was no harm in seizing them. Standing by the boat's rail, he recalled the Su family's month-long disarray, the hidden panic within their desperate actions, the anxious scrambling of Old Master Su—who was once said to have single-handedly brought the Su family to the pinnacle in Jiangning—and the gloating, idiotic smiles on the faces of the Xue family across the way. He couldn't help but shake his head and smile again.

How laughable.

The light on the river dimmed further, and the small pleasure boat sailed onward through the ripples.

Dawn broke, then faded again into darkness. This was the twenty-fourth of August. When dawn arrived once more, it was the morning of the twenty-fifth. Ning Yi overslept and missed the morning meeting. That evening, the Bureau of Textile Manufacture would host the annual general meeting for textile merchants. As autumn was the harvest season, such general gatherings were held once a year in various trades.