Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 597 What is the Use of Building a Big Ship?

On a hillside outside Shanglin Prefecture, Madam Bai stood quietly on a large protruding rock.

In the distance, in a huge shed, a group of engineers were busy working.

Dog Face stood beside Madam Bai, his little face full of confusion.

"My lady, what are they doing?"

"shipbuilding."

"Huh? What kind of ship are you building? It's so big?"

"Build a big ship."

Dog Face became even more confused and looked up at Mrs. Bai's calm expression.

"My Lady, what are they building such a big ship for?"

Mrs. Bai didn't say anything, but turned and walked towards the carriage parked on the side of the hill.

"Let's go and take a look at the city."

Dog Face stuck out his tongue and had to hurry to catch up.

The black carriage started and headed down the hillside towards Shanglin Prefecture.

Mrs. Bai's carriage stopped in a small woods outside Shanglin Prefecture.

The old man driving the cart was still sitting on the shaft, while Mrs. Bai entered the city gate and walked slowly on the street.

Behind her was the dog-faced man on one side and the woman with her face covered by a black scarf on the other.

The three of them looked at the people coming and going on the street, as well as the shops lined up on both sides of the street.

Shouts and hawking sounds came one after another.

Everyone who walked past them had a rosy complexion, with a look of calmness, joy, or satisfaction on their faces.

The woman in the black scarf moved closer to Madam Bai.

"My lady, they seem very satisfied."

Mrs. Bai remained calm: "It's all pretend."

Dog Face muttered softly: "It doesn't look like he's pretending..."

The three of them continued to move forward. Along the way, various vendors were busy bargaining with people and greeting passers-by enthusiastically.

Mrs. Bai stopped in front of a small stall and bent down to pick up a silver hairpin.

The stall owner was an old man in his fifties, and he immediately put on a smile.

"Oh, this lady has excellent taste. This is an exquisite silver hairpin made by a master craftsman. It is the only one of its kind in the entire clan."

Mrs. Bai asked calmly, "How much?"

"I'm a fair trader, I won't ask for much from you, just three ounces of silver, take it."

Dog Face shouted from the side: "Three taels? Why don't you go and grab it? Hurry up and tell me the real price."

"Hey, since you've spoken, will you give me 10% or 20%?"

The three people standing in front of his stall shook their heads.

The wrinkles on the old man's face were all piled together.

"Two hundred wen, no less. I'll sell it to you at a loss."

"Can you lose money?"

"Hey, this is your first business today, so it's a good deal for you."

Madam Bai stared at the old man and said, "Fifty cents, not a cent more."

The old man looked miserable: "My lady, you look so rich, why are you bargaining so hard?"

Mrs. Bai put down the silver hairpin, turned around and left.

"Hey, Madam, it's a deal, it's a deal. This first deal can't fail. I've already lost everything..."

Mrs. Bai did not turn around, but just stopped.

The woman in the black scarf quickly took out a piece of silver from her waist, squeezed it and threw it to Gou Lian.

Dog-faced man took the silver, handed it to the old man, and took the silver hairpin.

The three of them continued to stroll forward.

The woman in the black scarf whispered, "My Lady, fifty cents. This hairpin must be fake."

"I know it's fake, it's not worth five cents."

"Then you still..."

Mrs. Bai smiled and said, "Since I've made the offer, I can't go back on my word. Even though I know I've been cheated, I still deserve it."

"My lady, you are so kind."

"We are all poor people, why bother?"

As they were talking, suddenly a young boy walked quickly past.

When he passed Mrs. Bai, his body tilted and bumped into Mrs. Bai's shoulder.

Mrs. Bai didn't move, but the woman in the black scarf reached out and grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him to the side.

The boy opened his mouth and cried out in pain, but his whole body could not move.

The woman in the black scarf took back the brocade bag from the boy's hand with a sneer on her face.

Dog Face yelled, "Thief, you deserve to die."

The woman in the black scarf raised two fingers and was about to poke the boy's heart.

"Forget it, life has forced us to do this, let him go."

The woman in the black scarf had no choice but to let go, and the boy's stiff body suddenly relaxed, and he staggered away with a look of horror on his face.

"My lady, he has some strength in him, he doesn't look hungry."

“If you’re not living in poverty, who would want to be a thief?”

"But..."

"No buts."

The woman in the black scarf didn't dare to say anything more.

The three continued to move forward, passing through the bustling streets. In front of them was a tall gatehouse with many people coming in and out, appearing to be very busy.

They stood not far away and watched quietly.

A huge horizontal plaque was hung on the lintel with four large golden characters written on it: Qingfeng Silver Industry.

The woman in the black scarf laughed and said, "I've never seen such a bustling silver shop. Is there a run on it?"

Mrs. Bai shook her head. "It doesn't look like a bank run. Everyone went in with things and came out empty-handed. It's storage."

"Oh, yeah. I heard this bank pays interest on deposits. That's pretty weird. I wonder how they make money?"

The woman in black scarf asked with a frown.

"Strange things must have a reason, go in and take a look."

After Mrs. Bai finished speaking, she walked towards the gate of the silver shop.

Two people, one big and one small, hurried to catch up.

The hall of the silver shop was very busy. There were dozens of clerks in front of the high counter, receiving people who came to deposit money.

As soon as the three of them entered the door, a sweet-looking woman came to greet them.

"Hello, what business do you want to conduct?"

Mrs. Bai didn't say anything, and the woman in the black scarf asked.

"What are your businesses?"

"Oh, we at Qingfeng Silver have three businesses: deposit, loan, and pawn. What would you like to do?"

The woman's smile was very gentle and warm.

The woman in the black scarf had no answer, so she turned to look at Mrs. Bai.

"We're going to borrow money."

"Okay, come this way, please."

The sweet woman led the three people to a door in the hall.

Inside is a very elegant quiet room with brown-red tables and chairs, which are heavy and elegant.

The sweet woman was busy making tea and pouring water for the three people.

"Please wait a moment. Someone will be there to receive you."

After finishing her work, the sweet woman turned and walked out of the room.

The woman in the black scarf asked quietly, "My Lady, what do we want to borrow?"

Mrs. Bai remained calm: "I'm just curious, let me ask about the situation first."

Not long after, someone walked in from outside.

The man who came was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a long beard, wearing a long robe, and a gentle and elegant appearance.

As soon as he entered the door, he put on a smile and bowed.

"Welcome to Qingfeng Silver. How much would you like to borrow?"

Mrs. Bai asked calmly, "How much can I borrow?"

"Oh, as long as you have enough collateral, you can borrow as much as you want."

"Collateral?"

"Yes, including large fixed assets and valuable movable assets."

Mrs. Bai frowned and asked, "What if there is no collateral?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Of course, if you have an official endorsement, you can borrow money."

"nor."

"Oh, that's a shame. Without these, we can't complete the lending business."

The middle-aged man had a disappointed expression on his face.