Chapter 78 – An Invitation from the Chamber of Commerce
At the Chamber of Commerce banquet, they can bring family members.
After much consideration, Wei Cheng decided to take his wife there.
Xiao-Liu was born as a maidservant of a rich family, and with her by his wife’s side, Wei Cheng didn’t have to worry about his wife being bullied at the banquet. What’s more, his wife usually assists in the management of the workshop. With his wife’s current knowledge, it is no problem to deal with those housewives’ behaviors.
Wei Cheng and Zhou Yuan were wearing the same style of clothing, dark pattern brocade that was low-key but luxurious, and the material of the clothes was still imperial city brocade.
The Chamber of Commerce is very large, and the banquets of the Chamber of Commerce are all held in the building they own.
After they arrive, they will be received by servants of the Chamber of Commerce,
Wei Cheng repeatedly urged his wife, “Wife, don’t be afraid of offending others, and don’t be polite when you meet someone who doesn’t have good eyesight. If you have anything you want or something you have to do then let Xiao-Liu come to me.”
Wei Cheng asked the two maidservants to follow behind his wife, just as a precaution.
Zhou Yuan was dressed in light brocade, with a gentle and light demeanor. He smiled helplessly, “Since yesterday, you have been nagging me- Xiao-Liu has already told me the rules of banquet etiquette. I can handle it.”
Although he has never participated in the banquets of famous families, he has dealt with a lot of things. Besides going to the grocery store to discuss cooperations with merchants he has read a lot of stories about the back house and he understands a lot and can handle things.
Wei Cheng followed Wei Hu, and the two went to the front yard, while Zhou Yuan followed Xiao-Liu and Qiaoxi to the back yard.
Every time the Chamber of Commerce hosts a banquet, in addition to the famous figures invited by the Chamber of Commerce, merchants who are not invited will try their best to get an invitation letter.
For the banquet of the Chamber of Commerce, not only the famous figures in Nanshan County but also many famous nobles and scholars will be invited. This is also because the status of the merchants has improved.
Scholars came to the banquet because they wanted to show off at the banquet and have a chance to show off their reputation. If they took this opportunity to be appreciated by high-ranking and wealthy families, they might get a good marriage.
In short, when gathering at a banquet, everyone comes to make a profit.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“This new official merchant has no background. He is a man from the countryside. His background is not from farming and studying. What kind of luck did this person have to become an official merchant!”
“You don’t understand that. Baizhen Lou and the North-South Supply Line are both the property of this official merchant. If he truly doesn’t have a foundation, how can he gain a firm foothold in the inner county? There must be a backer behind him.”
“That’s right, a countryman manages to become an official merchant, so he must have extraordinary skills to be appreciated by the big shots.”
“What kind of extraordinary ability is it? What does he have that is worthy of your praise? Isn’t he just a countryman?” A noblewoman looked down upon them with a jealous face.
“Hey, you look down on people so much. If you have the ability, your family can become an official merchant. I think the gold hairpin with pearls on your head is a new model of Baizhen Lou. If you dislike them so much, then don’t go to Baizhen Lou to buy any of their products.”
“It’s just Baizhen Lou and I have plenty of money. I buy what I like. It has nothing to do with you. I don’t think you can afford it.”
“What can’t I afford? If you didn’t rush to buy it before me, then I would be the one wearing the hairpin right now- I was late and couldn’t buy it, if it was not for that, how could it be your turn to buy it? I think you have been slandering others, obviously because of jealousy.”
“I’m jealous! You are the one who is jealous. Your family has recently acquired a few concubines, which cost a lot, how could you still have money to afford jewelry?”
“You…”
“Okay.” Another noblewoman hurriedly smoothed things over, “Don’t quarrel, you are both ladies and if you continue to quarrel, you would only be making other people laugh. Don’t be rude. Sitting in the pavilion not far away is Madam Min. Ladies and gentlemen, it would be a great embarrassment if they noticed that we were noisy at the banquet and drove us away.”
The two quarreling noblewomen noticed that their struggle attracted many female relatives to watch and discuss their actions, so they didn’t dare to say anymore.
As for Madam Min’s group of noble ladies, they noticed that the two noblewomen were noisy, and they felt that it was unnecessary to give these noblewomen who couldn’t even show propriety in a public setting any attention.
They were talking about Wei Cheng’s affairs. Wei Cheng married a ger to be his husband, and he was also a ger who was from the countryside. After thinking about it a few times, they felt that Wei Cheng’s husband from the countryside, was not worthy of their attention.
Mrs. Cui smiled and said, “A ger from the country, that man named Wei Cheng is so capable, sooner or later he will marry a rich lady from a high family and she will come in to be the head of the house.”
Mrs. Cao said, “Today’s banquet, I don’t know if Boss Wei will bring his husband to attend this event?”
“If he brings a country husband to such an important banquet, then Wei Cheng will lose face as an official merchant, and he will not let his husband attend.” Mrs. Cui said firmly.
Madam Cao covered her mouth and smiled, “Mrs. Lin and I learned of something.”
Mrs. Lin didn’t think it was very important information, and said softly, “You can’t talk about this too much but I heard that Wei Cheng dotes on his husband very much, and his husband is involved in the property under his name.”
Madam Min shook the fan in her hand and said, “What’s there to discuss about this matter, no matter how good a man’s fame, fortune, status, and relationship are, who doesn’t have three wives and four concubines? Whether they will come or not, we will know later.”
This made sense, and the ladies changed the subject.
After a while, the maidservant came to report, and the ladies looked at the person who came. He was dressed in a low-key luxurious brocade, with gentle and handsome eyes, and a dignified manner without losing the nobility of his family.
The maid brought Zhou Yuan over to see the wife of the president of the Chamber of Commerce.
Zhou Yuan was taught by Xiao-Liu at home, and he greeted the wives of several aristocratic families politely.
The wives of several aristocratic families were all elders, and he greeted them first out of respect for the elders, otherwise, as an official merchant, they would actually be able to find fault in him if he only nodded to greet others.
The wives of several aristocratic families were surprised at Zhou Yuan’s bearing, he didn’t look like a country boy at all. They were all women of status so they greeted him warmly with gentle smiles on their faces, but they slandered him in their hearts.
The wives of several aristocratic families asked Zhou Yuan to sit for a while and then arranged for maids to lead him to where he was supposed to sit.
“There will be an opera banquet later, Wei Fulang, you have never been to the Chamber of Commerce, take a good look at it, we will see you later.”
“Ladies, excuse me first.”
Zhou Yuan visited the backyard for a while under the guidance of the maid. He didn’t know the ladies who came to the banquet, so he found a pavilion to sit at.
Without other people around, the three master and servants group were happy and at ease, enjoying the scenery of the backyard while drinking tea and eating snacks.
Min Yueting is from the Min family and as President Min’s daughter, she will attend.
Min Yueting invited her friend Wen Lanzhi, and the post was delivered to Wei’s house so the Wei family also came. The problem is that Madam Wei came with the mother and daughter of the Wang family, which made Min Yueting’s teeth itch.
“Okay, I am not angry, so you don’t get to be angry.” Wen Lanzhi gently persuaded her.
“Your mother-in-law is stepping on your face, and even more on the Wen family’s face.” Min Yueting said angrily.
“I’ve seen it all.” She can’t change it, so why make things difficult for herself, her mother-in-law’s behavior caused her to be hired by Wang’s family, and the only person who could change it used the imperial examination as an excuse to escape.
Min Yueting raised her voice, “You want to compromise?!”
“No.” Wen Lanzhi shook her head, “The moment Miss Wang enters the door, I will choose to make peace.” Wen Lanzhi said this with a gloomy expression, “My parents asked me to talk to my husband, if he really chooses to take a concubine then I would rather choose to be divorced than to work with others.”
When she married at a young age, she chose to marry into the Wei family because of the low family background of the Wei family, a family of farming and studying, and because the Wei family style did not take in concubines, and Wei Jihui moved her sincerely.
She would talk to her husband, but she had to wait for him to finish the imperial examination. She didn’t want to affect his performance.
Wen Lanzhi has a skilled and generous temperament, but in some aspects, she would rather be broken than give away what was hers.
Min Yueting felt sorry for her about her friend’s affairs. Her friend had only married Wei Jihui since Wen Jihui of that time had her in his heart. It didn’t help if she troubled Wei Jihui. If a person changes his mind, there will be a next time.
Her family also persuaded her to marry into the Lin family. She didn’t like Lin Beiyu who was idle all day long.
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