Book 19 Chapter 9

Collaboration

-Is it really a ghost?

"There's one more thing I need to ask you."

Before Zhang Wuyang could celebrate the signing, the Ministry of Labor spoke up again.

"Please do."

Zhang Wuyang politely replied that he was ready to listen to anything.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"When you say those children… do you mean the two children who are the survivors of the Blue Dragon Silver Field?"

Nosabu nodded only once.

"In the world you and I are sharing right now, the only children are those two. There are no other children, are there?"

"I'm ashamed to say, but I was so preoccupied with the handover of the marks when I arrived that I didn't think about it. I thought about sending them off with a couple of escorts to wherever they wanted to go, but… I've lost all my connections, I've lost all my family, so where do I turn?"

"Tsk, tsk, you never know."

Mr. Nosabu replied, cuttingly.

"Yes?"

"You may not have lost your family business, and even if you did, what does it matter, you can rebuild it?"

His tone was light and nonchalant, like someone trying to decide what to have for dinner tonight.

"Rebuild? How is that possible, when something as simple as……."

"It's simple, unless your mind makes it difficult. Why did you want white so badly?"

"That's because, as Mr. Nosa said, we needed a symbol as a stepping stone for the great development of the Zhongyang mark."

"That's a fifty-point answer."

"Yes?"

Zhang Wuyang hadn't yet fully realized the implications of the Ministry of Labor's words.

"Would you be willing to expand your business?"

Zhang Wuyang felt a strange sense of déjà vu as she remembered the words she had heard not long ago from someone with long hair.

"If you have a plan B, I'll refrain from listening."

Straightening his posture, Zhang Wuyang asked, feeling that he was encountering a wave of fate that most people would only encounter once or twice in a lifetime.

"If it's an abdomen, didn't you already tell me?"

Mr. Nosabu said, a little coldly.

"Yes?"

Zhang Wuyang sounded silly again.

"If you're this dull, how are you going to grow your business? I'll tell you again, why don't you Zhongyang Marksmen step up to the plate and help rebuild the burnt-out Qinglong Silver Pavilion?"

"Get into the battlefield business… is that what you're saying?"

Zhang Wuyang's eyes widened at the unexpected suggestion.

"Sure. This might be a godsend."

"That's a bit……."

Zhang Wuyang involuntarily shuddered. It was a big adventure with too many risks. In any era, over-expansion of a business was always fraught with risk. If he made a mistake, even the foundation could collapse. It was understandable for Zhang Wuyang to tuck his tail, but he was no longer Bi Ryuyeon's master if he withdrew to this extent.

"Don't you realize that the reason why Zhongyuan Beacon could be called the best beacon in the world is because they had their own Zhongyuan Battlefield, where they were able to octopus their way into so many businesses?"

It's the kind of reality check I can't imagine coming from a hermit living in the mountains. Where does he get all that information?

"You're so right! It's true. The Zhongyuan Empire was built on the backs of the enormous funds coming from the Zhongyuan Battlefield."

"You can't have two tigers on the same mountain. The field of Zhongyuan needs only one tiger. Even if you want to make the Zhongyang Bureau the best in the world, the Zhongyuan Bureau is a mountain and a wall that must be overcome. To do that, you'll need to have some backing."

What seemed like a dream three years ago was becoming more and more real.

"From now on, if you want to establish a new battlefield and break into the market, you won't be able to catch up with those who are ahead of you in a thousand years. But if you join forces with the Blue Dragon Silver Mills, it's a different story. You'll become a major shareholder and benefactor of the Blue Dragon Silver Mills. Your former customers will be grateful to you for recovering their money that was burned to ashes. In return, the vast network of connections that we have will be restored, and our reputation will be enhanced, attracting even more customers."

"I see."

Only now did I understand the meaning of what the labor ministry had said earlier. Just as Baek Mu-hoo was a symbol, the two children were also symbols for the cause of rebuilding the Qinglong Silver Market. Now we had a symbol, and it was definitely feasible.

Nosabu's story didn't end there. Surprisingly, the self-proclaimed recluse was surprisingly open to the disaster.

"There are two main obstacles to rebuilding the Qinglong Silver Pavilion."

"Two things… well, two things……."

Zhang Wuyang pressed down on her desire to take notes and pressed all her nerves to her ears to make sure she didn't miss a single character.

"One is to restore the lost books. If we want to bring back the old customers of the Blue Dragon Silversmith, we must return the silver they deposited with us. At first, you'll feel like you're losing money, and you'll be under a lot of pressure, but in the long run, that credit will be invaluable. No customer will trust their money back to a silversmith who has stolen their money. There's no need to use the name Blue Dragon Silversmith for that."

Nosabu waited a moment while Zhang Wuyang's mind sorted out the story before speaking again.

"Compared to this first problem, the second one is light. However, it may not be as easy as it sounds, for the second is a simple matter of money. Therefore, if the finances of the Zhongyang Mark Bureau are strong, this matter will be easily solved. As you know, in order to reopen, we must first build up a reserve. Only then will we be able to fulfill customers' withdrawal requests in a timely manner. If this is not in place, we will not be granted permission. Of course, the Qinglong Silver Factory is already a licensed silver factory registered with the Guan, but the Guan will want to audit it, since it was burned to the ground once. So we'll need to raise a certain amount of duchon, and then we'll need to ask our customers for a little patience. If there's a rush to withdraw deposits before the money is collected, how will we be able to afford it?"

"You might not be able to get by with just a minimal payment reserve."

It was something that Zhang Wuyang could have imagined, but how did this old man know such intimate details that most businessmen didn't?

"But don't worry too much. I'm sure Sichuan and the county will help. They wouldn't want to see one of their biggest sources of revenue blown away."

Despite his godlike appearance, Nao Bu was able to penetrate the secular history of Rubella. Zhang Wuyang couldn't help but be impressed by his superior knowledge, and at that point, he was already more than a little tempted.

"You will be their guardian. Once the officials and customers know that the Zhongyang Marking Bureau is actively working to rebuild the Qinglong Silver Pavilion, they will feel comfortable supporting you."

The more he listened, the more enticing the story became. Zhang Wuyang saw a grandiose dream unfolding before his eyes, one that he had never dared to dream in his life.

"Then we'll need to restore the burned books as soon as possible. But how do we restore them, when they've long since turned to black ash and scattered into the air?"

"Don't worry. If he's a smart man, he'll have left extra ledgers behind. The last time I heard, it was he himself who let those children escape. There's no way he wouldn't have entrusted the future to his son. The child carries within him the seeds of hope his father left behind. It is up to you to germinate and nurture that seed."

Zhang Wuyang's mouth grew as big as Ham Zibak's.

"In that case, the Qinglong Silver Clan will rise from the ashes, and the Zhongyang Clan will have the final stepping stone to become the First Clan of the Heavens. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?"

He would also get his lost pension back, but he didn't need to tell her all that boring stuff. Three's a crowd and three's a charm, but Nozabu considered himself a man who knew the virtues of concealment.

Zhang Wuyang jumped out of his seat and suddenly bowed to Nosabu.

"Accept the bow of this ugly ubu, Nosabu!"

"You didn't do this to get something like me."

Zhang Wuyang didn't stop bowing, and then let out a sigh.

"Kudos to you, Mr. Nosa! Today is the day of the great reform, and it is indeed a noble trick! It is indeed a one in a thousand chance to make a deal where both parties win, and thanks to you, Mr. Nosa, the Zhongyang Mark Bureau has a tiger with wings!"

It's a much more contextualized phrase than "tiger with wings." The tiger was a white tiger, white as snow.