Chapter 1215: Transaction

Chapter 1215: Transaction

Since Mingzhu had ordered many newspapers, she ended up distributing a copy each to the eunuchs and palace maids. Even the consorts of the various palaces were not left out. This could be considered the cheapest gift she had ever given anyone.

The Mother Consorts of the four princes didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when they received the gift from the princess. To think their sons had exchanged so much pocket money for a newspaper priced at five copper coins. Fortunately, that was just a trivial sum to them.

Mingzhu had already been convinced by the Empress not to compete with Little An and the others. However, because it was a holiday in the palace today and Mingzhu had been busy with the distribution of The Lily Times, she didn’t get a chance to tell them.

It was inconvenient for Wensu to leave the palace, so he could only move around in the palace and among the imperial family members to strive to get more sponsors.

Little An and the others failed to get Qi Haoran to cough up the money, so they could only go out and continue to think of ways. Unfortunately, Little Treasure and Little Bear weren’t around. Otherwise, they could have borrowed money from the two older brothers.

Tiger Head went back to his room and retrieved a box, then carried it and met up with Little An and Little Lion. After putting their money together, the trio suddenly realized that they had very little money.

Tiger Head shouted, “How is that possible? We receive money from the factory every quarter. Where’s the money?”

While there were already others in Great Qi who could make music boxes, their music boxes were still the most exquisite and pleasant to the ears, so business was not bad. Coupled with the export deal signed with the foreign merchants a long time ago, they earned a considerable sum of money every quarter.

However, the banknotes in Tiger Head’s box were negligible. There was quite a lot of small bits of silver, the total value was not high. There were only about ten silver ingots in the entire box.

Tiger Head suddenly realized how broke he was!

Little Lion opened his box and said disdainfully, “You’re really forgetful. That money has long been borrowed by Big Brother and the others.”

Tiger Head tilted his head and thought for a moment before remembering. He pouted and said, “Big Brother and the others took everything? They didn’t leave any for us?”

“Of course not, considering how poor they are.” Little An waved his hand indifferently. “We might as well think of a way ourselves.”

After looking at the money in his box and then at the money in Little An and Little Lion’s box, Tiger Head decisively turned around and ran back to get the account book. “Something doesn’t add up. I clearly have way more money than this.”

Tiger Head’s account book was in a mess, and he only recorded the larger income sources and large-item expenditures. While the smaller sums weren’t recorded, he did note down the total monthly expenditure.

Mu Yangling had requested this of each of them. Ever since the children could write and count at the age of five, she had asked them to record their income and expenditures themselves.

Ever since they started receiving an income from the music box and the aqua farm, Mu Yangling would help them check the accounts from time to time to prevent them from using the money to do bad things and to prevent them from getting fooled by their subordinates.

Little Lion and Little An noted their incomes and expenditures in detail and were fairly neat. While it wasn’t clear at a glance, there wasn’t much of a problem.

However, up until now, apart from Tiger Head himself, only Little Lion and Little An could make sense of Tiger Head’s account book. Even Mu Yangling could only sigh and give up after staring at Tiger Head’s account book for a long time.

Her son’s handwriting was alright, but the way he recorded things really left much to be desired.

There was once when Qi Haoran wanted to help his sons get a clear picture of their assets. Because Tiger Head was the most honest, he decided to check his account book first. In the end, he gave up on the idea as soon as he opened the book.

It couldn’t be helped. The account book was too messy and he really could not understand it, let alone calculate the income and expenditures.

The adults couldn’t understand it, but Tiger Head, who was in charge of the accounts, could easily understand it. He opened his account book and started calculating the large expenditures with an abacus. Little An and Little Lion went over to take a look.

The aqua farm in Guangzhou was still in operation. Now, not only were they breeding pearls, but they were also breeding sea fish, big lobsters, big crabs, and so on. The profits were higher, but they only received a dividend from the aqua farm at year end. The money earned from the past few years had been used to invest in sea trade.

Tiger Head narrowed his eyes and started searching for the dividends sent over during the new year. Considering they didn’t invest any more money into the sea trade this year, logically speaking, there should be plenty of money left.

As if knowing what Tiger Head was thinking, Little An casually pointed and said, “Didn’t you spend 2,500 taels to buy Scarlet?”

“That was bought before the New Year!” Tiger Head shouted.

“Yes, you did buy it before the new year, but that was using borrowed money.” Little Lion snorted. “Didn’t you return the money to Mother during the new year?”

Only then did Tiger Head realize the reason for his lack of money. Now that he’d confirmed his money wasn’t missing for no reason, Tiger Head heaved a sigh of relief and closed the account book in satisfaction. Scratching his head, he said with a smile, “So I really only have so little money.”

Tiger Head looked at the two of them in embarrassment. “Then you two can fork out a little more.”

Little An and Little Lion shrugged. “We don’t have much money left either.”

While Tiger Head spent his money on a horse, Little Lion and Little An felt that it was useless to leave their money idle. Thus, they simply handed their money to Butler Xia and tasked him to invest in businesses with their money.

Little Lion rolled his eyes and said, “If you’re willing to give Scarlet to me, I’ll give you 3,000 taels. Heck, I’ll even be willing to part with 4,000 taels.”

Tiger Head snorted. “No way!”

Little An rolled his eyes and said in a low voice, “Actually, there’s no need to give up the horse entirely. If you’re willing to share Scarlet with the two of us, we’re willing to share our money with you.”

“That’s a good idea. We won’t snatch it from you. Just let Scarlet acknowledge the three of us as its master.”

Tiger Head wasn’t easy to fool. He asked, “Then who will ride it when we go out? There’s only one Scarlet.”

Little Lion said excitedly, “Isn’t that simple? Let’s take turns according to our age. I’ll go first, then you, and then Brother Little An.”

Stunned, Tiger Head immediately shouted, “Aren’t I the younger one?”

“You were born before me,” Little Lion argued.

Tiger Head was displeased. “Despite the fact that we’ve already switched places, you’re not calling me ‘Older Brother’ now.”

Little An’s gaze shifted between the two before he suggested, “Why don’t we go from the oldest to the youngest?”

“So who’s older? Me or Tiger Head?” Little Lion asked him.

Little An looked at his two friends and finally decided to be fair. “Little Lion, unless you call Tiger Head ‘Older Brother’, you’ll be considered the older twin.”

Little Lion pouted and contemplated for a while, feeling conflicted. In the end, he said reluctantly, “Forget it, I’m older. I’ll let Tiger Head be the younger brother.”

Tiger Head jumped up, placed his hands on his waist, and shouted, “Even then, I’m at a disadvantage! Not only do I have to call you ‘Older Brother’, I’ll be the last one in line. I can’t accept this!”

“Eh, that’s right, now that it’s from the oldest to the youngest.” Little Lion touched his head and finally looked at Little An. He suggested in a low voice, “How about youngest to oldest then?”

Little An rolled his eyes and said, “No matter the order, you’ll be the second in line. I really don’t know what you’re fighting for.” Little An waved his hand indifferently. “Alright, it’s decided. Tiger Head will be the first to ride. You’ll go next, and I’ll go last.”

Only then did the three little friends reconcile.

By the time Qi Haoran found out, Little An and Little Lion had already asked Butler Xia for an advance payment and distributed the money to Tiger Head.

Now that Tiger Head’s box was filled with money in an instant, he was in such high spirits that he laughed for the entire night. Knowing that they didn’t need to get sponsors and could buy enough newspapers to smash people to death with their capital, Qi Haoran looked at Tiger Head with sympathy.

He stroked Tiger Head’s head and sighed. “Silly boy, why did you let Scarlet go? That’s an Akhal-Teke horse!”

Tiger Head was unconvinced. “How am I silly? Scarlet is still mine. I didn’t give it away.” Tiger Head shouted, “Not only that, but I now also have a lot more money.”

However, how could an Akhal-Teke horse that solely belonged to him be the same as an Akhal-Teke horse that he shared with others?

Qi Haoran felt that if it were him, he wouldn’t give in even if he was beaten to death, let alone for the sake of money. He went back to the study and retrieved a book, then said to Tiger Head, “Son, today, Daddy will teach you the meaning of the saying ‘One should never be corrupted by wealth, changed by poverty and bent by force’.”

Now, it was Little An and Little Lion’s turn to be unhappy. “Fourth Uncle (Daddy), we didn’t entice Tiger Head with money. This was a fair transaction!”

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