“Why?”
Tang Dongdong’s eyes dimmed. “Are you afraid of the Zhou family?”
“I don’t even know where the Zhou family is,” Jin Feng shook his head again.
“Am I not good-looking enough?”
“You are very beautiful, and I also admire your knowledge and eloquence.”
“Then why?” Tang Dongdong asked.
“We’ve only met twice, and you want to marry me. I think it’s too fast.”
Jin Feng gave a perfunctory reply.
Tang Dongdong had looks and ability. In the modern world, she would be a proper career woman.
Such a person could be a business partner, but not suitable to take home as a wife.
“You married Sister Xiaorou the first time you met her. Isn’t that even faster?” Tang Dongdong retorted.
“That was unavoidable. Not marrying Xiaorou would have been tax evasion, and you know the consequences of that.”
Speaking of this, Jin Feng felt somewhat relieved.
The bridal procession was terrifying, like guessing a mystery box.
Fortunately, there was Guan Xiaorou in the group, otherwise he would have had to choose a wife from a group of dark, unattractive girls.
Given Jin Feng’s character, he could never force a woman to her death. In this era, there was no concept of divorce, so he would have had to accept it reluctantly.
“My first marriage was out of necessity. Luckily, I met Xiaorou, which was a blessing from heaven.
With Xiaorou, I am already content, so I have no plans to take a concubine for now. Even if I did, I would want to genuinely like a girl, not make a deal for profit.”
“Sister Xiaorou, you found a good man.”
Tang Dongdong’s momentum deflated, her posture slumping as if she had shrunk. She turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” Jin Feng called after her.
“Since you have no intention of cooperating, why should I stay here? The weeds in the field still need hoeing.”
“I only said I won’t marry you. Who said we can’t cooperate?”
In the modern world, big companies have countless shareholders.
Many family businesses, however, end up in chaos, becoming the laughingstock of the nation.
“If you don’t marry me, will you still support me?”
“As long as it makes money, I’ll support it. But I must have absolute control.”
“Absolute control? What does that mean?”
Tang Dongdong asked curiously.
“It means in our cooperation, I have the final say,” Jin Feng said.
“You have the final say?” Tang Dongdong thought for a moment. “That’s fine, but you can’t stop me from getting revenge on the Zhou family.”
“How do you plan to get revenge?” Jin Feng said. “If it involves hiring assassins, forget it. I don’t want to be executed.”
“I don’t want that either,” Tang Dongdong said. “My revenge is simple. I’ll take the Zhou family’s business! Our spinning wheels are faster, and our products will be cheaper than theirs. Stealing their business won’t be hard.”
“That could work,” Jin Feng nodded.
“You… you agree?”
Tang Dongdong was momentarily stunned. “The Zhou family is wealthy. Aren’t you afraid?”
“I’m not planning to challenge them now, so what’s there to fear?” Jin Feng asked. “You’re not either, right?”
“Of course not,” Tang Dongdong quickly waved her hand.
Her original plan was to bide her time, build strength in the shadows, and then strike a fatal blow against the Zhou family.
“Then it’s settled,” Jin Feng said with a smile. “Happy cooperation.”
Hatred is a powerful force.
Jin Feng believed that with this motivation, Tang Dongdong would pour her heart into developing the workshop.
As for the Zhou family, he would let things take their course.
Small workshops were everywhere. If they didn’t grow, the Zhou family, the top cloth merchant in the county town, wouldn’t even glance at Jin Feng.
Rivals are enemies. If the workshop grew to rival the Zhou family, even without Tang Dongdong, conflict would be inevitable.
Since it was unavoidable, what was the harm in agreeing with Tang Dongdong?
“Happy… cooperation!”
Tang Dongdong echoed Jin Feng, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Then she turned to Guan Xiaorou. “Sister Xiaorou, can I stay at your place for a while?”
“Of course you can.”
Guan Xiaorou said with regret, “Husband, I still think you should marry Dongdong. She’s such a great girl, beautiful, literate, and far better than me in every way…”
“Let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Jin Feng waved his hand, pushing Guan Xiaorou out of the shop.
When barns are full, people observe etiquette. The rich and noble talk about propriety because they are well-fed.
For ordinary folk, many families lived in a single mud-brick house, with men, women, young, and old all sleeping together, with little regard for decorum.
From that day, the village women noticed a new girl at Jin Feng’s house, taking turns with Guan Xiaorou spinning thread, working late into the night.
Fortunately, the women’s curiosity about the spinning wheel had faded, and no one complained. Instead, they grew curious about Tang Dongdong’s identity.
When they learned she was just staying at Jin Feng’s house and not married to him, the women looked at Jin Feng with contempt.
In this era, in the countryside, taking a concubine was not shameful. It was a sign of capability and responsibility.
Marrying one wife was a must, but marrying two or three and supporting them was a true achievement.
Xiaoyu’s father, the head of Xihewan Village, had four wives, the youngest barely older than Xiaoyu.
He was a renowned philanthropist in the nearby villages.
In the eyes of the village women, Jin Feng’s actions made him less of a man.
For days, Jin Feng faced scornful looks and disdain wherever he went, leaving him frustrated. He decided to stay home and build another spinning wheel for Tang Dongdong.
…
Forty miles west of Xihewan Village was a mountain gully, situated at the border of Jinchuan County and another county. It had long been a lawless area, a hub for bandits to trade and gather.
The narrow gully housed not only taverns, brothels, and gambling dens but also blacksmiths, carpenters, pharmacies, and even a small livestock market, resembling a bustling bazaar.
However, the people frequenting this market were far from virtuous.
At the entrance of an unmarked gambling den, a burly man dragged Xie Guang and threw him to the ground.
As Xie Guang got up, his bald companion was also tossed out.
“Spit, filthy lowlifes!”
The bald man spat at the gambling den’s entrance, rubbing his stomach. “Xie Guang, go buy me some buns.”
“Third Boss, I’m out of money…”
Xie Guang said with a bitter face.
“Didn’t I see you keep a few coppers?”
“I lost them all…”
“Useless fool!”
The bald man kicked Xie Guang. “Then get lost. I’m heading back to the mountains.”
“Third Boss, don’t rush off.”
Xie Guang grabbed him. “Have you forgotten? That Jin Feng from my village, he’s got at least twenty taels of silver.”
