Divorced woman with child travels through time

Chapter 355 Becoming Bigger and Stronger

It wasn't until Wang Erniu, beaming with a smile, thoughtfully served her a chicken and ginseng soup and massaged her lower back that Chen Wenfang stopped wailing...

Wang Erniu and his wife took a nap in the morning, and it wasn't until almost noon that they took their three children to the banquet.

Ouyang Junyan is the current Prefect of Quanzhou. Although he is in charge of administration, there are subordinate agencies under him: the Maritime Trade Office, the Supervising Maritime Trade Office, and the Transport Office. The Maritime Trade Office was a special agency established by the Song Dynasty government in Quanzhou to manage foreign trade, responsible for ship registration, customs duty collection, cargo inspection, and trade supervision. The Supervising Maritime Trade Office was the superior agency of the Maritime Trade Office, responsible for supervising and guiding its work. The Transport Office was responsible for the transfer of goods and local financial management. In short, the Maritime Trade Office was in charge of registration, the Transport Office was in charge of transportation, and the Supervising Maritime Trade Office was in charge of supervision.

With these complex relationships involved, it was fortunate that Madam Jiang's brother, Jiang Mingxin, was the largest maritime trader and managed all the departments well, so that everyone could make money together and Ouyang Junyan's situation was not so difficult.

The former prefect was said to be a high-ranking official who was dismissed for corruption. Now the mansion is decorated like a nouveau riche's home. In addition, Ouyang Junyan dislikes gold and silver decorations, so after all those things were removed and returned to the people, the mansion became somewhat out of place.

"Greetings, Madam Jiang! Madam Jiang is such a kind person!" Chen Wenfang led the children to Jiang Mingyue, who had a smile on her face, and bowed.

"Hello, Madam Jiang! How is Madam Jiang?" The children imitated them, speaking in their childish voices.

"Madam Chen, you've come all this way, you must be tired. No need for such formalities!" Jiang Mingyue actually stepped forward, took her hand, and personally helped her up.

Chen Wenfang stood up. Jiang Mingyue always preferred quiet, so she didn't have many people at this banquet. Besides Ouyang Jin, who was winking and making faces at her, there were two personal maids, a few servants, and a tall, handsome man in luxurious clothes. His features were somewhat similar to hers, so he must be her legendary brother, Jiang Mingxin, the famous merchant of the Song Dynasty.

When Chen Wenfang presented her homemade spicy river shrimp, along with her stock of beef jerky and homemade high-proof liquor, Jiang Mingyue quickly introduced Jiang Mingxin to Chen Wenfang.

"I've heard so much about you, Madam Chen!" Jiang Mingxin was indeed very beautiful, with a face like jade, eyes like peach blossoms, and extremely fair skin. Like Madam Jiang, she had a very pretty smile.

"Not at all, I have to thank Young Master Jiang for all these years. I never imagined that the tea recipe could sell for so much money," Chen Wenfang said modestly. The man's smile was so bright that she was a little embarrassed to look at him.

Wang Erniu naturally noticed this charming man and instinctively looked over.

Jiang Mingxin smiled frankly and said, "Madam Chen, I'm sorry, I'm too good-looking. I've startled you. Take a look, and you'll get used to it in a while."

Seeing his open and honest demeanor, Chen Wenfang smiled and looked at him directly.

Wang Erniu had good hearing, and he relaxed when he heard this.

Seeing that she was willing to face him, Jiang Mingxin patted the wine jar next to him and said solemnly, "I'll be frank. The reason I came to see Madam Chen is for the wine you brewed."

Chen Wenfang naturally understood his meaning. All along, it was the Jiang family that took the lead. Otherwise, she, a mere woman, would probably have been buried somewhere long ago.

"Young Master Jiang, please speak."

Jiang Mingxin liked her sincere attitude and smiled. "You used to sell the prescriptions to me and make some money from them. As the saying goes, it's easy to get a thousand pieces of gold, but hard to find a good prescription. I understand that you did this to avoid trouble, but all the benefits were mine. I have always felt guilty about it."

“Young Master Jiang, you are overthinking it.” Chen Wenfang looked at Jiang Mingxin. “If it weren’t for Madam’s kindness, how would I have the capital to open a workshop? It is also because of Madam that I trust you.”

“Madam Chen is too modest.” Jiang Mingxin took out the contract he had already prepared and said, “If you give me the brewing technique this time, I will give you 10% of the gross profit of all Jiang Family Winery. As you probably know, Quanzhou is a famous trading city. There are countless people doing business here who are eager to fight and win, so naturally they consume the best things, let alone fine wine. You are doing me a favor. Here is the contract. Please take a look. If there are no problems, you can sign it.”

"That won't do. To be honest, my technique is nothing special." Chen Wenfang refused repeatedly. Although she didn't know how big the Jiang family's winery was, she knew very well how big the Jiang family's business was.

“Madam Chen is too modest. We’ve been working together for so long, I know your character well. Besides!” Jiang Mingxin broke the clay seal, and a rich aroma of wine instantly filled the entire main hall. “With such fine wine, we’re guaranteed to make a profit.”

Jiang Mingxin was overjoyed. He put down the wine, pointed slightly with his jade-like finger, and the two young men he had brought with him immediately understood and stepped forward to fill the wine jug. The maid Caixiu also stepped forward to set out the wine cups.

Perhaps sensing her hesitation, Jiang Mingxin said meaningfully, "Don't worry, Madam Chen, we are like-minded people."

Madam Jiang also looked at her and smiled.

"This wine has a unique fragrance; it must be quite good!" Ouyang Junyan turned around and praised, "You have a wonderful wife."

Wang Erniu smiled slightly, "Yes, it's my good fortune."

Chen Wenfang was a little uneasy. Why did everyone seem to tacitly approve of her signing this? Was it really appropriate for her to earn so much money?

Just as she was about to say something to Wang Erniu, he secretly squeezed her hand, nodded, and indicated that he agreed to sign.

What are these people trying to say? Chen Wenfang took the contract; the terms were simple and all favorable to her, so she had no reason not to sign it.

Chen Wenfang wrote her name with a flourish of her pen.

"Haha, with Madam Chen's help, we're sure to grow bigger and stronger, and reach even greater heights! How wonderful!"

Chen Wenfang thought to himself, "Shouldn't we be expanding and strengthening our business to create even greater glories?"

While the adults were talking, Ouyang Jin took several children to play around. Although he was already an adult, as an only child, he really liked his little brother Chen Xuanyu because Chen Xuanyu had actually given him a small crossbow.

Because Ouyang Jin was weak since childhood, he had never even touched a sword or spear. It was only after Chen Wenfang introduced him to two adults that he was able to eat meat and sleep well every day and grow taller. However, he was already old enough that it was a bit late to start practicing those things. This crossbow was so easy to use that Ouyang Jin loved it and took the three children to the back to practice archery.

"Show me what you've got first? Is this thing really as amazing as you say?" Ouyang Jin was skeptical, which perfectly matched the temperament of his name.

“Look at him! He’s one of the best among us!” Chen Xuanyu said, pushing Xiao Hao forward.

Xiao Hao felt a little shy after hearing this, but he still stood up.