By the dusk of the third day of the porridge distribution, those arrogant highborn young masters had all run off, leaving not a single one behind. In the end, those who were willing to stay, and had developed calluses on their hands, numbered only twenty-eight.
"Congratulations, everyone. You have passed the first trial. Next is the second trial. This trial tests your talent for business. Here are twenty-eight portions of starting capital. Ten taels of silver for each person. You will use these ten taels of silver as capital to do business. Five days from now, I will personally come to inspect the results. At that time, whoever has earned the most money will be the winner of this trial. Of course, I have also set a few rules. First, you can only use the ten taels of starting capital. You are not allowed to borrow any external money or leverage any connections. Everything depends entirely on your own ability. Second, breaking the law or regulations is strictly forbidden. No swindling, cheating, or abducting. The Shu family only does honest business and disdains underhanded methods. Third, while I look at the results, I value the process even more. Any violation of the rules will result in immediate disqualification, no matter how much money is made. Does everyone understand?"
"Understood."
The next morning, in the East City Market, a voice was already calling out over the crowd.
"Come take a look at these radiant premium brocades!"
Stalls in the East City Market are worth their weight in gold. How could one be secured with just a few taels of silver? That cloth merchant is a distant relative of the Wang family, the crown prince's maternal clan. As for that batch of brocades, it was supplied by a fabric store owned by the crown princess's family. He is blatantly cheating.
However, I didn't expose him right away. A game of cat and mouse is only fun when played slowly.
Further down the market, another of my candidates stood with his hands behind his back, watching the stalls and buying nothing at all.
"This Lin Zikuan seems to be a mere bookworm," my father said. "It is fine to have him do scholarly work, but asking him to do business is simply too much for him."
"Father, don't be impatient. In business, the greatest taboo is acting on impulse and blindly following trends. His willingness to spend time observing and understanding the market precisely shows that he is a cautious and steady person. This is far better than Chen Mo, who relies on cheating to take shortcuts."
Over the next two days, nothing seemed to move. Then a servant came in with a sealed letter.
"Miss, this was delivered from the seventh prince's estate. He said it must be handed to you personally."
I read it and set it down. Li Chong is about to face disaster. His two dear brothers have obtained evidence of him planting his own people with the intent to lay hands on my Shu family's wealth. Even if they do not report this matter to the emperor, it will be more than enough to use as blackmail to bite off a massive piece of flesh from Li Chong. At this moment, Li Chong must be utterly overwhelmed and unable even to fend for himself. Naturally, he won't have the time to meddle in Chen Mo's trivial business anymore.
He is now like a kite with a severed string, and he does not even know it. He was still standing behind his brocades, laughing at the man he had already lost to.
"How can someone who only reads books know how to do business? Even so, he still wants to marry the Shu family's young lady. Let's see how much higher you can fly."
On the fourth day, in the East Market of the city, Lin Zikuan set out a small table, a brush, and a stack of coarse paper, and began writing letters for other people.
"Writing letters for others. How much money can that possibly make? Forget five days. Even in fifty days, he won't make back that ten taels of capital. What a bookworm. He completely wasted this opportunity."
"Some people are just born to be poor. Even if you give him mountains of gold and silver, he wouldn't know how to use them. He's only fit to deal with ink, paper, and inkstone, and will amount to nothing his whole life."
"What a pity. This boy has a decent character, but he is just too rigid. He doesn't know how to adapt. Setting up a stall to write letters for others. How can he achieve anything with that? For this second round, I'm afraid he is going to end up at the very bottom."
"Father, you are all mistaken. This is actually true wisdom."
"Ji'er, what do you mean by that?"
"Father, look here." I nodded toward the line already forming at his little table. As the shopkeeper beside us said, most of the people coming and going in the East Market are peddlers and laborers, or farmers from the countryside coming to the city to sell their goods. Most of these people are illiterate. Whether they want to write a letter home to assure their families of their safety, or sign some sort of contract or agreement, they can only ask others for help.
"He didn't blindly follow the crowd to engage in those seemingly bustling businesses. Instead, he chose the method he is best at and requires the least investment, to meet the needs of these people. This is called carving out a unique path. It is also called offering what others cannot. This is the highest realm of doing business."
"But even if you are right, he can't make much money this way. He certainly won't win against Chen Mo. Over the past few days, Chen Mo's profits have multiplied several times."
"Father, who says doing business is solely about making money? Sometimes winning people's hearts is more important than earning money."
And by then the ground had already shifted under Chen Mo's feet. The crown prince's faction was suppressed by the joint forces of the third and fifth princes. Lin Zikuan treated everyone with honesty, while the brocade Chen Mo sold had issues. How could they still care about a small pawn like him? Chen Mo lost all the money he had earned and even ended up heavily in debt. He fell hard from the clouds back into the mud.
At dusk on the fifth day, in the market at the east of the city, the accounts were read out.
"A grand total of three hundred and twenty copper coins." He didn't even make back a fraction of the ten taels of capital.
"Today I declare the winner of the second round is Lin Zikuan."
"Miss Shu, I object. He made less than a single tael of silver. I made a full fifteen taels. On what grounds does he win?"
"Yes, we object. This is unfair."
"You only see how much money he made, but you don't see what he has won over these five days. Why don't you go ask them right now. If they had a major business deal, would they rather hand it to you, or would they rather hand it to him? This trustworthy Master Lin. The foundation of our Shu family's business does not rely on opportunistic tricks, nor does it rely on temporary profits. It relies on the word integrity. This is the exact business talent my Shu family needs most."
"Well said."
"As for those who cheat and make profits through dishonest means, not only will they be disqualified immediately, but our Shu family will also place you on our permanent blacklist. The doors of the Shu family will never be open to people like you."
He knew he was completely finished. Not only did he lose the competition, he also offended the Shu family. Moreover, he became an abandoned pawn of the crown prince.
This show, having reached this point, should come to an end.
"Father, let's go home and prepare the questions for the third round."
The result of the second round of integrity caused a sensation in the capital. No one expected that I would choose a scholar whose accounts were in the red. Even less did they expect me to say those words, that integrity is the foundation, and the hearts of the people are gold.
The support of the people is my first line of defense against the crown prince. The Shu family has reached an unprecedented level of wealth and strength. This is exactly the effect I wanted.
"Ji'er, I'm getting old. The future of the Shu family depends on you now. I can rest easy, leaving the management of the household affairs to you."
I knew that from now on, I would carry the painstaking efforts of generations of the Shu family on my shoulders, as well as the lives of all of us.