Back to Basics: Pedicab Ride ( Part 2 )

A sudden thought came to Mu Linfeng's mind, "Could it be that Tianchuan Meiko deliberately lost track of Zheng Lianxiang and came to the Feng Mansion to talk to Mr. Feng?" The more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely. Based on Tianchuan Meiko's words just now, she must have known where Zheng Lianxiang was. What Mu Linfeng most wanted to know now was what exactly Tianchuan Meiko and Mr. Feng had agreed upon.

Mu Linfeng's thoughts were interrupted by Kong Wu's voice. He heard Kong Wu say to Mr. Feng, "Sir, Mu has already brought his goods. You should go and take a look."

Mr. Feng's face looked heavy, as if he had something on his mind. Hearing Kong Wu's words, he quickly said, "I have something to do. Mu is your sworn brother and he wouldn't cheat us. Sorry for the inconvenience." He then called the butler and hurriedly left.

Mu Linfeng was even more puzzled by Mr. Feng's expression. He said to Kong Wu, "Could you please check the goods? If everything is alright, give the money to my brothers who transported them. I suddenly remembered something urgent." He then left in a hurry, leaving Kong Wu with a head full of question marks.

Mu Linfeng left the Feng Mansion and headed for his own home. If he guessed correctly, Tianchuan Meiko should be at the Mu Mansion now, picking up Zheng Lianxiang.

Mu Linfeng arrived at his home from time to time and asked his brothers, "Has anyone special come?"

The person replied, "No."

Mu Linfeng began to wonder, "Could I be wrong?" He then asked, "Where is Mr. Wu?"

The man said, "Second Master will go to the shop after lunch to arrange it. Once ten rickshaws are produced, the shop will begin its trial operation."

At this moment, Mu Lingfeng had no interest in these things. He nodded and walked into Chen Yuanyuan's room in the back hall. Upon entering, he found that Chen Yuanyuan was not there either.

Mu Lingfeng quickly asked someone if Zheng Lianxiang was still in the mansion. The man replied, "She is still here, Madam is in her room."

Mu Lingfeng asked the man to take him to the door of Zheng Lianxiang's room. He knocked on the door and went in. He saw Chen Yuanyuan and Zheng Lianxiang chatting happily. When Mu Lingfeng entered the room, they both looked at him without speaking, as if he had become superfluous at this moment.

Mu Lingfeng quickly laughed and said, "You can say whatever you want, as if I don't exist." Mu Lingfeng had originally wanted to ask Zheng Lianxiang some questions about Tian Chuanmei, but with Chen Yuanyuan there, he couldn't ask. If he let Chen Yuanyuan out now, she would surely have some wild thoughts.

Mu Lingfeng had to leave the room first, full of doubts. More and more things confused him. Where did Tian Chuanmei go to pick up her cousin? What was the problem between Tian Chuanmei and Lord Feng behind the scenes? Mu Lingfeng had a feeling that there might be some conspiracy involved, but it was just a hunch.

Mu Lingfeng looked at his watch and saw that it was just after 4 pm. He quickly called a friend and went to the shop to see how Wu Xing was doing. After leaving the house, Mu Lingfeng rented a sedan and headed towards the shop. Along the way, he asked the sedan driver, "How much silver can you earn by carrying a sedan for a month?"

The driver replied, "If business is good, you can earn around a few taels of silver in a month." Mu Lingfeng asked again, "So if I pay you for a whole year, that's sixteen taels, right?" The driver said, "That's right, but the account isn't that simple. At least two people are needed to carry a sedan."

Mu Linfeng asked again, "If there was someone who could rent you a sedan chair to carry for a monthly fee of four liang of silver, would you be willing to do it?" The sedan chair carrier laughed and said, "If there really was such a sedan chair, I wouldn't mind paying five liang of silver a month."

Mu Linfeng asked the same question to the sedan chair carrier behind him, and he was also willing to pay five liang of silver. However, they both did not believe that there was such a sedan chair. Soon, the sedan chair arrived at the shop that Wu Xing had bought, and Mu Linfeng got off the sedan chair. He saw a few brothers cleaning up the shop, while Wu Xing was balancing the books at the counter.

Mu Linfeng saw that there was a Liyun Pavilion opposite the shop, a Kelaikan restaurant on the left, and a Shangxin restaurant on the right. Although it was only a little after four in the afternoon, the entire street was bustling with business.

Wu Xing saw Mu Linfeng standing at the door and quickly walked over, saying, "Brother Feng." Mu Linfeng carefully looked at the surroundings of the shop and asked Wu Xing, "Are you planning to put rickshaws in the shop?"

Wu Xing said, "Brother Feng, are you planning to do something else?"

Mu Linfeng laughed and said, "I estimate that there should be no problem with the rickshaw market. Just now I asked a few sedan chair carriers and they were willing to rent them out for up to five liang of silver per month."

Wu Xing said, "But we need a place to put the vehicles."

Mu Linfeng said, "It would be a waste to rent the shop just to store the vehicles. We can use the yard of the Mu family. Let's continue with the shop renovations, and I'll think about doing other businesses. Starting tomorrow, you should produce rickshaws vigorously and let our brothers test them on the streets. This way, we can advertise for free and let our brothers support themselves."

Wu Xing nodded and said, "Okay, it's decided. But as for how to use these two shops, Feng Ge, you need to decide as soon as possible. We can't just leave them empty after spending money to buy them."

Mu Lingfeng also nodded, starting to ponder what kind of business to run in these two shops.

Mu Lingfeng walked around the shops and inquired about the surrounding environment before returning to Mu Residence. He was waiting to see if Tian Chuanmei would come to pick up Zheng Lianxiang, and also considering what else would be suitable to develop besides rickshaws.

Mu Lingfeng sat in the lobby until sunset, but Tian Chuanmei still hadn't come to pick up Zheng Lianxiang, and he didn't think of any other business to do. At this moment, Wu Xing and a group of his brothers returned from the shops, and Chen Yuanyuan and Zheng Lianxiang also walked into the lobby.

Mu Lingfeng saw Chen Yuanyuan and suddenly remembered an idea he had when he was intimate with her that night - making bras. However, the risk was still quite high at this moment. Women in this era only wore bellybands, which had become a habit. If they were asked to wear bras, they would certainly not accept it right away.

Chen Yuanyuan saw that Mu Lingfeng's face was full of worries and asked quickly, "Mu...Big Brother Mu, what's bothering you?" Mu Lingfeng looked up at Chen Yuanyuan, shook his head, and didn't say anything.

Zheng Lianxiang suddenly said to Chen Yuanyuan, "Sister Yuanyuan, your clothes are wrinkled." As she spoke, she reached out and helped Chen Yuanyuan flatten the wrinkles in her clothes from behind.

Mu Lingfeng suddenly had an idea and thought, "Wrinkled clothes? Right, there are only clothes racks in this era, not clothes liners. I wonder how the sales would be if we made some clothes liners?" But Mu Lingfeng then thought, "No, it's still not good enough. If we just sell clothes liners in these two shops, it would be too monotonous. Besides, the production of clothes liners is too simple, and anyone could learn it."

Mu Lingfeng thought and thought but still didn't come up with any good ideas, so he decided to temporarily put it aside. After dinner, Mu Lingfeng secretly instructed Wu Xing to prepare a room for himself, and Zheng Lianxiang would stay here. He was afraid that if he stayed with Chen Yuanyuan again, Zheng Lianxiang would look at him differently.

When Chen Yuanyuan learned that Mu Linfeng was going to sleep alone tonight, she didn't say anything and continued to chat and laugh with Zheng Lianxiang, as if she didn't care at all.

Mu Linfeng tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, and his thoughts were more scattered than ever before. Just then, he heard a noise on the roof and was startled: "Could someone be sneaking into the Mu residence at night?" He put on his clothes, held a long fan in his hand, and quietly left his room, tiptoeing through the hallway and into the garden. He hid behind a rockery and saw a shadow moving on the roof by the moonlight. The shadow was moving quickly and Mu Linfeng could tell at a glance that it was a woman, and he suspected it was Tianchuan Meiko. He thought, "Why is she sneaking around to meet Zheng Lianxiang? Does she have some other motive?"

As Mu Linfeng pondered this, he saw another figure leap onto the roof from the garden. By the light, he recognized the person as Su Duxiu, who said, "Who are you? How dare you come to the Mu residence and cause trouble."

The woman in black didn't say a word. She drew a long knife from her waist, and Mu Linfeng confirmed that she was indeed Tianchuan Meiko. He saw her stab directly at Su Duxiu's chest with the knife, but Su Duxiu didn't dodge. He simply stretched out his right hand and firmly clamped the knife with two fingers.