It's difficult to find a wife

  Zhen Mingshu turned his head to face Zhang Shi and said: "E, you misunderstood me! I absolutely did not mean to take you as a concubine! With my Zhen Mingshu's virtue and ability, being able to marry you as my wife is already the good fortune I accumulated in my past life. How could I dare to eat from the bowl while eyeing the pot? Please, E, be clear-sighted."

  Zhang didn't come to see him either, just lowering his head and remaining silent.

  Sun Langzhong smiled and said: "It's best if you can think so. Before the matchmaker comes to propose, don't bother coming again before the betrothal gift is given. As for this betrothal gift, you should think carefully about how much dowry my precious daughter is worth. You should have a number in mind. If I'm not satisfied, then it's not meant to be. Please find another good match."

  Zhenming bitterly sought help, looking at Zhang's family with a glance, seeing her relying on her father to take charge of everything, and no longer expecting her to show mercy, so she could only say a few more words in self-defense before turning around and leaving.

  After seeing him out, a hint of apology flashed in Zhang's eyes, then disappeared. She stood up, turned around and bowed to Sun Lang with a slight bow.

  "Thanks, Uncle."

  "Haha, hurry up and get up. I think this kid is quite clever, but how did he make such a mistake in this matter? Maybe he was too eager to marry you into the family and forgot the necessary etiquette, which allowed me to pick up a good daughter for nothing. I think he really didn't mean to take you as his concubine, he's just too impatient. Actually, it's not surprising, given your situation. Don't worry, if he can't satisfy me, I won't let him marry you in this lifetime. Marrying a wife is not like buying vegetables at the market, where you can buy with silver coins. Without sincerity, how can it work?"

  Zhang's family heard and covered her mouth with a smile.

  Sun Langzhong stroked his beard and smiled as he asked, "Are you thinking of having me come up with some difficult questions to give him a hard time, or just going through the motions?"

  "Daughter is completely dependent on her father's decision."

  "Haha... Alright, I'll make the decision for you. Actually, I also want to see what other tricks this kid has up his sleeve. It's a good opportunity to give him a hard time, otherwise he won't know how difficult it is to marry you."

  ……

  Ten thousand taels of white silver.

  Zhen Ming was shocked and stood with his mouth agape for a long time after learning the amount of the gift from Sun Langzhong.

  This amount of money can already buy ten decent big houses in Luoyang.

  He didn't know that Sun Lang Zhong was originally asking for a high price, and marrying off his daughter was like doing business. If the price is too low, the other party will think that the girl is not precious enough. It's best to ask for a high price and then lower it, so as not to make the other party look down on one's own daughter, nor make them feel that she is too expensive to be out of reach. In short, both parties must save face as the best outcome.

  What Sun Lang didn't expect was that he gritted his teeth and agreed.

  It suddenly occurred to him that this person was basically an idiot when it came to social norms and human relationships, so he could only remind him indirectly: "Don't force yourself, if you're having trouble, I'll consider reducing some of the conditions since you truly want to marry Ah Hua as your wife."

  "No need, this goose is worth it, give me a month's time." Zhen Ming said with a bitter smile.

  Sun Lang was also left shaking his head and sighing.

  In the next dozen or so days, Zhen Ming went to find Gao Shi-lian, the owner of Changsun Yizhuang, and his daughter Changsun Bei'er, had a meal at their home, and handed over a design drawing of a loom to them. He proposed that Changsun Yizhuang pay 3,000 taels of silver as a patent buyout in exchange for technical equity participation, and he would provide lifelong technical consulting services to Changsun Yizhuang.

  Gao Shi Lian was a connoisseur, and as soon as he saw the design drawings, his eyes lit up. When he learned that this loom could weave various patterns and softer fabrics, and save the embroiderer a lot of tedious work, allowing Zhang Sun Bei Er to focus on designing clothing styles and patterns, without hesitation, he immediately had someone fetch 3,000 taels of silver from the account house and handed it over to Zhen Ming Ku, and listed him as a high-ranking VIP of the Zhang Sun Clothing Store.

  Zhen Ming bitterly spent the three thousand two silver coins to buy Zhang's pastry shop, which had been confiscated and sealed by the government. Under his operation, it was back on track within a month, and he also opened two more branches in the west and east of the city.

  Fei Long's fellow villagers were all recruited by Zhang's bakery after a strict training, and officially became employees of Zhang's Dim Sum House.

  The fate of the three shops was bitter, and all the pastries they operated became unique. Not only were the prices divided into high, medium, and low grades, but the consumer groups served also gradually differentiated into layers.

  The Dim Sum House in the west of the city, caters to those wealthy families in the west, with picky tastes, no repeated flavors, and large sales volume, but exorbitant prices, yet still in short supply every day. Just to meet the demand for this one store's dim sum, Zhenming had to recruit no less than thirty people and set up two production workshops nearby.

  Fortunately, Luoyang lacks everything except cheap labor.

  Chengnan's Dianxin Workshop is for some low-end customers, and all the recruits are rough men, personally managed by Zhenming Ku.

  The store's operation is through delivery, at 7 o'clock in the morning, it is delivered from the workshop to three stores on time. The store staff only needs to be responsible for sales and account settlement. With the first store trained personnel, others also got started quickly, in less than half a month, Zhenming Su became a seasoned shopkeeper.

  ……

  After the store was on track, Zhen Ming began to think about other ways to make money.

  Because he needs to print some literature, books and drawings from his mobile phone, he often buys printing paper. These papers are not only expensive but also of poor quality. He has long wanted to find an opportunity to promote the new papermaking technology and make a contribution to the development of Chinese civilization.

  He printed some technical papers on papermaking, found the materials according to the method above, and tried to make a sample by himself. Although it was far from the quality of 21st-century paper, it was better than the paper quality of this era by more than one or two times.

  When he arrived at the largest stationery store in Luoyang, the owner almost drooled with praise, saying it was the first time he had seen such good paper. What happened next was no surprise: the method of making Xuan paper was bought out by the biggest paper-making family in Luoyang for 5,000 taels.

  When he brought the five thousand taels of silver and the deeds to the three pastry shops in front of Sun Langzhong, both Sun Langzhong and Zhang Shi were frightened, thinking that he had done something illegal and had come from an unknown origin.

  He had to guarantee that the silver was absolutely clean, and only then did Sun Lang slightly put his mind at ease. He took down the deed of the pastry shop and bought several houses around the Sun's Medical Clinic with the five thousand taels of silver, expanding it into an inpatient department and a pharmacy. He also bought dozens of acres of good land outside the city to plant medicinal herbs, and from some low-grade brothels in Luoyang, he bought several slave girls, teaching them nursing knowledge and training them to become professional nurses.

  ……

  The gift has been accepted, but there is no feeling of relief from the bitter fate.

  Sun Langzhong's second question put him in a dilemma.

  "Poetic talent?"