Chapter 186 - What To Do if You’re the Villain and the Heroine Likes You

After leaving the Academy of Virtue, He Yunxiao decided to take a walk and went to a nearby printing workshop. It was already ten o’clock at night, and most workshops were closed by this time. He was, however, fortunate to find a few small ones still open. He went into a few of them, but they weren’t suitable for printing silver bills, so he skipped past them. Printing silver bills is different from printing regular books as it requires higher standards and specific anti-counterfeiting technology. Not every workshop could handle it. Perhaps Du Meimei's "luck enhancement" was working its magic, as He Yunxiao finally found a printing factory that helped the bank to print silver bills. Holding ten thousand silver bills he had "borrowed" from the Antidote girl, He Yunxiao walked into the workshop. Without hesitation, he spoke to the person he saw, "Take me to see your boss." The worker was taken aback. Without a second thought, He Yunxiao pulled out ten taels of silver bills and handed them to the worker. "Hurry up and ask your boss to come out. If you don't move, I will add another ten taels. I will keep adding until you move." Well, money makes the world go round. The worker was surprisingly honest and didn't try to trick He Yunxiao. After he realized what was happening, he immediately brought the boss to see He Yunxiao. Without wasting time, He Yunxiao laid out his requirements. Knowing it wasn't realistic to have the workshop create a complete set of "silver bills" for him, he said, "Change the current silver bill template with the phrase 'silver bill' to 'gold and silver voucher,' and replace the name of the bank with 'Daqi Bank.' Also, change the pattern design for me. As for the volume of each denomination, follow the proportions according to the bank's requests. I need a total of one hundred thousand taels worth of gold and silver vouchers by tomorrow morning. Do you understand?" The boss hesitated at the urgent request. However, after He Yunxiao placed two hundred taels worth of silver bills on the table, the request no longer seemed urgent, and the boss assured He Yunxiao that it would be completed on time. Without further ado, while it was still early, He Yunxiao found a shop that made stamps and had them rush to create a seal for "Daqi Bank" overnight, which he intended to use for stamping the vouchers the next day. Conventional currency requires both the bank's and the Ministry of Revenue's seals to be valid. However, this was not a silver bill but a voucher, which was a loophole. Otherwise, waiting for the Ministry of Revenue's approval might mean not being able to redeem Sister Jiang for the rest of the year. … At dawn, He Yunxiao hurriedly picked a few pretty and clever maidservants from the Marquis's mansion to accompany him to the "Daqi Bank." These maidservants were He Yunxiao's first batch of employees. The so-called Daqi Bank was currently just an ordinary shop on the Northward Commercial Street. It was so ordinary that it didn't even have a sign with the words "Daqi Bank." First, He Yunxiao left the maidservants at the shop and then went to pick up the Daqi Bank seal created overnight and the one hundred thousand taels worth of vouchers. The official name of these vouchers was "Daqi Bank gold and silver vouchers." Even though the vouchers were not entirely legitimate, their name sounded quite official. It gave people a sense of trust and reliability, even if they didn't fully understand what the "bank" and "gold and silver vouchers" were. Placed after "Daqi," it made people feel that it was trustworthy and legitimate. After commanding the maidservants to clean the shop and ensuring the vouchers were stamped to prevent counterfeiting, He Yunxiao went to order a sign for the bank. Then, estimating that it was almost time, he went to Deer Antler Academy to trade the handkerchief with the Antidote girl. … He planned to meet the Antidote girl at Deer Antler Academy because, in addition to the handkerchief exchange, he had another matter to attend to – seeking Du Meimei's help. After some contemplation, he realized that when he personally went to Northward Commercial Street yesterday in Yinjing as the "Number One Prodigal Son," seeking partnerships with the merchants, he had visited around forty to fifty business establishments. Although there were about four to five potential cooperations, only four were willing to collaborate. These four businesses were not ordinary; they all had backgrounds similar to Bright Radiance Porcelain and were supported by "prodigal sons." Excluding these specific connections, it seemed that he hadn't made any progress in his business dealings yesterday. Every time he entered a shop, the owner either feared him or tried to please him. There was no room for a proper negotiation. Businesses with connections were, after all, a minority. Wouldn't Daqi Bank have trouble doing business with the vast majority of merchants in the future? This type of voucher would only be meaningful if it was widely used, becoming the mainstream. Otherwise, it would be futile. After much thought, He Yunxiao decided to appoint a "proxy" to manage Daqi Bank publicly in his place. Upon careful consideration, he found that Du Yinyin was the most suitable candidate. Du Meimei had experience as a courtesan, was adept at handling interpersonal relationships, naturally had a cool and reserved demeanor, was smart and articulate, and had an aura that kept people at a distance, making her the best person to supervise employees and manage finances. He Yunxiao was well-versed in assessing the closeness of relationships, as he would need to forge good relationships with people in the future. Both Du Yinyin and the Antidote girl were at Deer Antler Academy, and Du Yinyin was closer while the Antidote girl was more distant, so he decided to see Du Yinyin first. However, to see Du Yinyin, he couldn't disregard Ziruo, as Du Yinyin was currently "sojourning" and temporarily staying at the Fan residence. … Standing at the door of the study in the Fan residence, He Yunxiao hesitated if he should knock on the door. Upon careful consideration, he realized that even though it had been only a day since he last saw Ziruo, it felt like a long time had passed. In the end, he knocked on the door. The response from the other side was silence. The silence lasted so long that if He Yunxiao couldn't hear the breathing and heartbeat from inside the study, he would think Ziruo wasn't there today. "Come in." Hearing the voice, He Yunxiao felt relieved. As he entered, he saw Ziruo as usual, sitting by the window, reading and writing. Seeing Ziruo's peaceful appearance, the annoyance he felt about the bank’s opening seemed to vanish. A knowing smile formed on He Yunxiao's lips. "Ziruo." Ziruo, completely engrossed in her writing, didn't even look up. "Who are you, and do you have business with Ziruo?" He Yunxiao:? Upon confirming Ziruo's high goodwill level of 101, He Yunxiao couldn't help but wryly smile. It seemed that Ziruo was intentionally giving him a hard time. Having such high goodwill, He Yunxiao remained unfazed. Moving the chair belonging to him, which was always by the desk, next to Ziruo, He Yunxiao sat down next to her. Without saying a word, he simply leaned on her and watched her write. As Ziruo was writing, she suddenly stopped. She straightened her posture, turned her head, and looked at He Yunxiao. "You still remembered to come." Seeing Ziruo pouting, He Yunxiao couldn't help but smile wryly. "It's only been a day." Ziruo said, "A day isn't short." He Yunxiao comforted her, "Alright, I'll come to see Ziruo every day from now on." "No need. It's too troublesome for you, Sir He." He Yunxiao reached out to embrace her waist, and in a friendly tone, said, "It's not troublesome at all. I think about our Ziruo every day." Symbolically struggling for a bit, Ziruo eventually let He Yunxiao embrace her. "Someone will come." "Ziruo, don't worry. I have good hearing. If someone comes, we'll pretend to read." "As you wish." After embracing her for a while, He Yunxiao finally revealed the reason for his visit. "Ziruo, I'd like to borrow someone from you." "Who?" "Du Yinyin." Chapter 187: The Grand Opening Tl: Soothsayer.io