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Watching Mr. Sun, immersed in joy, the steward of the Sun household took Sun Cai’s words to heart.
He asked, “I heard that the mansion in the outskirts has been abandoned for a long time, considered ownerless. How did you find out about that place?”
Sun Cai had already anticipated suspicion and had prepared an explanation.
“I secretly followed one of the employees from Auspicious Grain Store to find it. I was quite far away at the time, so I only overheard that much.”
The steward still felt something was amiss and advised, “Please, sir, be cautious. Auspicious Grain Store and our establishment both deal in grain, and their prices are much lower than ours. Once this information spreads, we’ll lose our advantage.”
“Furthermore, we have plenty of our own grain in stock, so it’s not advisable to purchase more right now.”
Hearing the steward’s words, Mr. Sun felt like he was being opposed, but he was determined to buy the grain.
Since the steward couldn’t convince him otherwise, he reluctantly remained silent.
To prevent any potential problems in the future, Mr. Sun immediately led a large group of people to the mansion that Sun Cai had mentioned.
Under Liang Hui’s arrangements, the mansion had already been cleaned and organized in advance.
When Mr. Sun arrived, the mansion’s main gate was tightly closed.
Bang, bang, bang!!!
The gate was knocked on, and from inside came the sound of approaching footsteps. After a brief pause, someone opened the door.
The one opening the door was a shrewd-looking middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man took a glance at Mr. Sun, a portly figure blocking the entrance, and then peered outside where several people were pushing carts loaded with goods.
Once he understood why Mr. Sun and his group had come, the middle-aged man immediately refused them and even began to close the door.
Mr. Sun, with his small eyes widened, hurriedly positioned his ample frame right in the middle of the door, preventing the man from closing it.
Annoyed, he said, “Why can Auspicious Grain Store buy the grain but I can’t?”
The man stopped his action and asked in surprise, “Were you sent by Auspicious Grain Store?”
Mr. Sun noticed the change in attitude and realized that it was because he mentioned Auspicious Grain Store, indicating a good relationship between this man and the store. Reluctantly, he had to use Auspicious Grain Store’s influence.
“Yes, we were introduced by Auspicious Grain Store to purchase grain.”
The man who had opened the door appeared conflicted for a moment and deliberately muttered, “But I haven’t heard about it from anyone.”
“Never mind, come in.”
Mr. Sun confidently entered, and the man led him to inspect the grain.
Seeing the same quality of grain as Auspicious Grain Store had, Mr. Sun nodded in satisfaction and made a grand offer, saying, “I want all the grain in this mansion!”
The steward who had come with him quickly interjected, “Sir, we shouldn’t—”
While the steward was speaking, the man raised his voice and said, “No, you can’t take it all. What will Auspicious Grain Store do if they run out of grain?”
Mr. Sun’s attention, which had been momentarily diverted by the steward, was successfully drawn back to the man.
He had never despised it more when people tried to prevent him from doing something!
Furthermore, the fact that Auspicious Grain Store was running out of grain worked perfectly for him. He could monopolize the market.
After a couple of rounds of negotiations and tussles, Mr. Sun eventually got his way, convincing the man to sell him all the grain in the mansion.
The amount of grain in the mansion was more than twice what Mr. Sun and his group had purchased the last time. With the intention of causing Auspicious Grain Store to run out of grain, Mr. Sun, with a sweeping gesture, acquired all of it.
The steward, anxious and frustrated, couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. In fact, he didn’t have a chance to speak, as the man interrupted him every time he tried.
In the end, Mr. Sun paid a sum of 203,000 taels of silver, and it was only because the man took pity on him for buying so much that he granted him a discount.