Niu Tan was walking around the market streets looking for something new to eat for breakfast. He had been having fun trying all the different foods in this city.
As someone obsessed with research he had not been much of a foodie in his past life. In fact, he had not done much of anything for fun back then.
He absolutely loved the research he was doing but now that he had already died once, he wanted to spend some time enjoying life and all the little things it has to offer.
Just as he was about to enter a restaurant that he hadn’t been to before, a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of him and blocked his way.
This scared Niu Tan a little and he was ready to take a fighting stance but the man in front of him spoke, “Mr. Niu Tan, our master would like to invite you to have breakfast with him.”
Hearing that, Niu Tan relaxed a bit. So, it was just the Yan family showing off its power and letting him know that they had always had their eyes on him. Intimidation before negotiation, a smart move Niu Tan approved.
He followed the man who he assumed was some elite guard of the Yan family to a luxurious restaurant. He hadn’t been to this one either but that was due to a lack of funds.
Walking up the stairs, he was led into a private room where Yan Qi was sitting with a robust middle-aged man who was probably the Yan family head.
Yan Qi stood up and greeted him, “Hello brother Niu. Welcome. This is my uncle and the family head of the Yan merchant family.”
Niu Tan greeted back, “Brother Yan. Hello Master Yan. I’m Niu Tan. It’s nice to meet you.”
Yan Mo was already analyzing every move Niu tan made. He took notice of the strangely formal but unfamiliar way of greeting. He was trying to remember if it matched any place or organization he knew.
Niu Tan on the other hand was cursing himself in his mind for the awkward greeting. He still had to adapt to the ancient style of speaking.
“Ah! Welcome, Mr. Niu Tan. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Yan Mo nodded.
Niu Tan went ahead and sat down opposite Yan Mo. And as he was about to order something, Yan Mo spoke.
“I heard you like to taste different delicacies so I ordered the specialty of this place on your behalf. They make great pork buns here. You must try it.”
Taking initiative and asserting his absolute control. Not bad at all. Niu Tan praised inwardly while giving a humble and awkward smile as if his embarrassing secret was out.
“Thank you for that. I just love to explore new things.” He scratched his head a little. The acting should be convincing enough. He was deliberately letting the other party know that he was acting.
“Pour some tea for our guest nephew.” Yan Mo ordered Yan Qi and then looked back at Niu Tan.
“While the food arrives why don’t we talk some business? Could Mr. Niu Tan let me know how you came across that blueprint?” Yan Mo asked.
So he wants to know if I drew it or if I have some mysterious background. Let’s play with it then.
Niu Tan smiled, “I drew the blueprint that was handed to you. As for the source, I am not at liberty to reveal it at the moment. If our cooperation works out, I’ll naturally let you know more.”
Creating a mysterious background was in his favor right now. It would provide him with a modicum of security from the Yan family. The Yan family head from what he has observed so far seems to be a cautious type.
So a mysterious force he knows nothing about should restrict Yan Mo from doing anything stupid for a good while. Niu Tan just had to sell the heck out of that non-existent background.
Even if by some stroke of insane luck they happen to find out the original identity of his body as Jiang Fan, they would have a hard time relating the useless trash who was beaten to death with who he was now. So the mysterious background would still hold up.
Yan Mo nodded and put on a serious face, “As expected, Mr. Niu Tan seems to have some unknown background. What kind of cooperation are you seeking?”
Niu Tan cautiously looked toward the door, indicating the necessity of secrecy. Yan Mo nodded at Niu Tan and knocked on the wall behind him twice. After a few seconds of rustling sounds, there was a knock from the other side.
Yan Mo then looked back at Niu Tan, “It’s safe.”
“I’ll be candid with you. This ship blueprint is nothing to us. We can bring out similar things without any effort. It is more of a test for you. It was fate that I met Yan Qi in the place where I was to begin my mission so I passed on this opportunity to your family.”
Niu Tan had to try very hard not to laugh looking at Yan Qi’s surprised face at his bullshit.
“Now whether you want to take on this test or you just want to buy the blueprint is up to you to decide.” He took a sip of the tea for a dramatic end to his story.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Yan Mo was silent for a while before he asked, “Can you tell us what this test is?”
Niu Tan shook his head, “I am not at liberty to share that information either. As a smart businessman, I’m sure you already have some guesses.”
Yan Mo did have a few guesses. It could be anything from trustworthiness, efficiency, or political strength.
He asked, “How would the price differ if we were to take the test compared with if we were to just buy the blueprint?”
Yan Mo even thought that this was a test itself.
Niu Tan nodded, “If you were to take the test, you would only have to pay us 2% of the profits you earn using the ships monthly. If you want to buy it, a million gold taels will suffice.”
Although a million gold taels were a large sum, compared to the profits the ships could bring, it was nothing. But Yan Mo’s business sense was telling him that he would be stupid to choose that option.
He asked again, “What if we fail in the said test?”
“If you fail then you get to keep the blueprints for the originally agreed amount of 2% profit share but you will lose any contact with us.” Niu Tan answered with a straight face in a grave tone.
He put it in such a way that losing cooperation with his nonexistent organization was already a great punishment for failing. This just created more intrigue for the uncle and nephew of the Yan family.
“As someone who has shared a drink with Yan Qi, I’m giving you a friendly reminder, if you take the test don’t fail on purpose. Trust me, they will find out. And you don’t want them to find out.” Niu Tan’s face turned a little pale.
If he could, he would pat himself on the back for great acting. Both the uncle and nephew opposite him were spooked. One just was way too obvious than the other.
“And what if we pass?” Yan Qi spoke up this time.
“Then you will have a chance to become the strongest family not just in Qian kingdom but also in all the neighboring countries.” Niu Tan answered. There was a stunned silence in the room until someone knocked on the door.
Niu Tan picked up the fresh pork buns that had just been delivered and took a bite while observing his opponents.
Yan Mo went silent and seriously started to consider everything. On one side was a mysterious organization he knew nothing about and on the other hand were the ship blueprints that could make his family so rich, the royal vault would look small in comparison.
Logic and reason told him that there was no way that Niu Tan could casually give out such a blueprint for such a paltry sum if he didn’t have an immensely powerful organization behind his back.
But his heart was afraid to get into business with someone with unknown motives. He weighed the pros and cons over and over.
No matter how he weighed them, taking the test seemed to be the best option. At most he would lose contact with this mysterious organization and only have to pay a 2% share of the profit.
Niu Tan, who had finished the whole plate of buns then broke him out of his thoughts, “What have you decided Master Yan?”
Yan Mo chuckled, “You have been knitting this intricate web from the start, so you should already know I choose to take the test.”
Yan Qi looked a bit confused about his uncle’s statement but he kept quiet.
“Wise choice. I can now gladly tell you that you have passed the first test, which with your intelligence you should have already anticipated.” Niu Tan said in a praising tone.
“Thank you. I had some inklings. Now can you tell me what the test is?” Yan Mo asked impatiently.
“We want to create a secret consortium. An organization created with the combination of a handful of selected merchant families. You will lead this consortium and represent us. The test now is for you to form this secret consortium with the recommended merchant families.” Niu Tan answered.
This revelation was like a bomb that dropped on Yan Mo’s mind. This mysterious organization seems to be very ambitious.
Niu Tan added with a gentle smile, “During this period I am to aid you through the process while you aid me in my mission. Don’t worry it isn’t breaking any rules and I am quite capable.”
Yan Mo quickly found something to focus on to calm his turbulent heart, “May I know what mission do you have?”
Niu Tan nodded, “Yes it isn’t a secret. I even told Yan Qi about it. I have to start a school and pass on all the knowledge that we have accumulated. The kind of knowledge that helped create that blueprint.”
This was yet another revelation that shook the minds and hearts of the Yan family duo. What kind of organization was this?
As if he had read their minds, Niu Tan answered the question in their heart with what he said next.
“Since we are already cooperating, it wouldn’t hurt to tell you that our organization is only interested in accumulating and sharing knowledge. We only want to make ordinary people’s lives better. Fame and fortune aren’t things we consider.”
Yan Qi couldn’t help but ask, “Why the consortium then?” Yan Mo tried stopping his nephew but he had already asked it.
“For various reasons, we can’t come out in public yet and we need a strong organization that can aid in our endeavors. So we just decided to create one.” Niu Tan answered nonchalantly.
It was the truth. That was what Niu Tan wanted to do. He wanted to create a strong backer for his school that would keep it safe, running, and fully funded long after his death.
“Which families do we have to work with for creating the consortium?” Yan Mo asked the question that mattered the most right now.
“We won’t make things too difficult for you. We have shortlisted 6 families and you can choose any 3 of them to work with.” Niu Tan gave a sly smile.
From that smile, Yan Mo knew he would have to reconcile with some rivals very soon. The more he learned about this organization, the more he wanted to pass this test.
His instincts were screaming at him that this was a chance that would never come for the Yan family if he missed it now.
Niu Tan asked for paper, a pen, and ink. He then completed the blueprint right in front of them and wrote eight family names on the new paper.
“You can send someone to fetch me tomorrow and we can sign an agreement. You can also tell me your decision for the partner families at that time.” Niu Tan said as he got up to leave.
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“What do you think?” Yan Mo asked as he sipped on his tea.
Yan Qi thought for a while before answering, “That organization is too mysterious. They even want to share their entire knowledge by opening a school. If what he said is true, the things that the students of this school could produce in the future are going to be pure gold.”
“Yes, you saw right through the matter. Even if we disregard the mysterious organization, just this school is a chance we simply cannot miss. Of course, it is assuming that what he said about sharing knowledge is true.” Yan Mo agreed.
“Have you thought about which families we will work with for the consortium?” Yan Qi asked curiously.
“Yeah the moment I laid eyes on the list I had already decided on it. Tell me, how should we go about creating this secret consortium?” Yan Mo wanted to test this smart nephew of his.
“Since they emphasized the test thing with the ship so much, I think using this ship’s blueprints as grounds for cooperation with the other three families would be best. The profits would decrease in the short term but in long term, we would be swimming in gold.” Yan Qi analyzed.
Yan Mo laughed joyfully, “Finally another good seed in the family! The Yan family still has a good future ahead.”