RPAGF Chapter 333 Is it so great to act cool?
Chapter 333 Is it so great to act cool?
This seems... a bit presumptuous.
Why should I, Lin Ping, reveal my true identity to you? Even if I already have a wife at home, what does it have to do with you?
You're just here to pick up your medicine, why are you thinking about so many other things?
Girls' thought processes are a mystery to the world, and Lin Ping, being a straight man, probably will never understand them in his lifetime.
At this moment, he needs an assist, and a powerful one at that.
"Cough cough!" Zhou Yecheng coughed violently, even biting his tongue and spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm.
"Father, what's wrong?" Zhou Xiyin was so frightened that she was completely disoriented. Although she was usually a bit willful, she cared about her father and was even willing to sacrifice her own happiness for him.
"I'm afraid I don't have much time left. Help me up. I want to take one last look at the family business I built with my own hands." Zhou Yecheng was acting like a theatrical genius, his eyes filled with a dying look, and even his gaze had become somewhat dim.
Zhou Xiyin was so anxious that she burst into tears. She lost her composure for a moment, but then she quickly remembered that the divine doctor was right in front of her. She pleaded, "Young Master Lin, please save my father."
Would Lin Ping not see through Zhou Yecheng's tricks?
He nodded reluctantly, then tapped his chest haphazardly a few times like a charlatan, muttering incantations under his breath.
The other person readily stood up, and seemed much more energetic.
"I'm afraid Mr. Zhou's illness is..." Lin Ping shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself, "I'm afraid he doesn't need treatment at all! He's not sick at all!"
Zhou Xiyin's heart was in her throat, afraid of hearing some ominous words, and she even blurted out, "I'll go to Xuanji Hall right now to brew medicine for my father!"
If you had said so earlier, would we have had to put on this show?
It's very shameful for two grown men to lie to a young girl; it will hurt them deeply.
Lin Ping has already prepared today's dose of medicinal soup for Zhou Yecheng, but there is something more intriguing to do now.
Zhou Yecheng had been in business for many years, mainly dealing in the highly profitable salt industry. How could he possibly have no savings, or even be heavily in debt? Even if he couldn't buy salt during this period, he shouldn't be without capital.
There are likely two reasons for this. First, purchasing salt requires bribing officials at various levels, significantly reducing profits and even leading to losses. Second, Zhou Yecheng is a spendthrift, and the money he earns is simply not enough to cover his expenses.
The first scenario can be disregarded. Even though bribing officials would cost a lot of money, there would definitely be a profit to be made; otherwise, why would they lose money just to gain publicity? Therefore, Lin Ping suspects the second possibility.
"Mr. Lin, why is the Zhou family in such a predicament? It can't be because they can't buy salt, can it?" Lin Ping asked bluntly.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yecheng was taken aback. He naturally understood Lin Ping's surprise. After thinking for a long time, he decided to tell the truth. He sighed and shook his head, saying, "To be honest, Young Master Lin, this is all my own fault. In order to expand my business, I actually spent 20,000 taels of silver to buy a weaving workshop."
After hearing this, Lin Ping was not surprised at all, and even felt that Lin Yezheng was doing the right thing.
After all, the salt business is too singular and is easily affected by the natural environment and the policies of the imperial court, making it easy to decline. Only by developing the industry in all aspects can it truly grow bigger and stronger.
It's just that Zhou Yezheng realized this too late, and in the end, he only got himself into trouble.
Lin Ping had already guessed what would happen next: the weaving workshop lost money and had no choice but to ask Jin Manlou for help, which was why they were being led by the nose.
"In order to quickly recoup their costs, the weaving workshop bought a lot of silk and wove a lot of cloth, but..." Zhou Yecheng became more and more heartbroken as he spoke, almost bursting into tears. "In the end, when they were dyeing the cloth, a sudden gust of evil wind blew up, and the cloth of different colors stuck together, making it impossible to sell."
Zhou Yecheng kept shaking his head. He had spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy this batch of silk, and the subsequent dyeing and labor costs amounted to nearly 20,000 taels. He thought he could make a fortune, but it all went down the drain. No wonder Zhou Yecheng, who was already old, almost burst into tears.
This made the situation of the Zhou family even worse. If Lin Ping hadn't stepped in to help, the mansion would probably have had to be sold off.
Zhou Xiyin, who once had no worries about food and clothing, was forced to sleep on the streets with Zhou Yecheng, and was even chased to the ends of the earth by creditors.
"Oh? Have all the fabrics been dyed the same color?" Lin Ping asked, his expression remaining calm.
For him, 20,000 taels of silver was nothing, and the stained cloth was not beyond repair.
For example, bleaching with a strong oxidizing agent and then re-dyeing, although it will waste some dye, is still better than ruining all the fabrics.
Zhou Yecheng nodded dejectedly, clearly reminded of something painful.
"Has Mr. Lin tried to re-wash these fabrics?" Lin Ping continued to ask.
Rinsing and bleaching are routine operations in weaving workshops, and Lin Ping is afraid that Zhou Yecheng, being new to the industry, may not know much about them.
"We've tried everything we could, even soaking it in wood ash water for a whole day and night, but it still didn't bleach it," Zhou Yecheng continued, his voice filled with sorrow, utterly bewildered by Lin Ping's question.
I, Lin Ping, am not a idle person. Every word I say is useful. How could I not come up with a practical solution after arguing with you for so long?
Using wood ash to wash fabrics is indeed a common method, since wood ash contains a lot of alkaline substances that can wash away some substances.
However, wood ash contains many impurities and has a low concentration. It is not a strong alkali, nor is it a strong oxidizing agent. Therefore, its rinsing effect is far inferior to that of soda ash or sodium hypochlorite.
Unfortunately, these two substances are not widely available in the Wu Kingdom, and Lin Ping cannot produce them in the short term, so he must find another way.
"If Mr. Lin doesn't mind, I'd like to visit your weaving workshop tomorrow at noon to check on things," Lin Ping said with a smile, his surprise obvious.
"Does the miracle doctor have a solution?" Zhou Yecheng's eyes shone with excitement, and the gloom on his face vanished, replaced by a clear blue sky.
Although he hadn't had much contact with Lin Ping, he knew how capable Lin Ping was. Whenever Lin Ping spoke, it meant he was at least 80% certain of success.
"It's just a chance, there's no guarantee of success," Lin Ping said with a chuckle, not daring to make any promises lest he fail in his attempt to show off.
As for why Lin Ping would spare no effort to help the Zhou family, it was obviously out of guilt. That's right, he was about to deceive Zhou Xiyin's feelings in order to achieve his own ulterior motives.
As it was getting late, Lin Ping waved goodbye and left.
"Yinyin, hurry up and send the divine doctor away, why don't we just send him to Xuanji Hall!" Zhou Yecheng said excitedly, not wanting to miss any opportunity to bring the two together.
Zhou Xiyin was obedient, following Lin Ping closely, but she didn't say a word, seemingly harboring a lot of dissatisfaction.
"Miss Zhou, is this how you give someone away? It's like I owe you money," Lin Ping said sarcastically.
"Hmph! So what if you have good medical skills? So what if you're rich? So what if you're smart? So what if you're handsome?" Zhou Xiyin angrily launched into a tirade, giving Lin Ping no chance to retort, and finally added a harsh remark, "I, Zhou Xiyin, don't care about you at all!"