Yotan felt a headache when he heard this. Didn't he know that this was a troublesome matter? But what can he do
When Xiao Tianjian rescued people and stole treasures, he had been worried. He thought that Xiao was smart and would not leave traces. Who would have thought that the fat man who was rescued was so stupid that he secretly ran home to find relatives and friends, but was killed by Wood? The people caught him and confessed Xiao. I don't know who told Wood about Xiao's departure on his ship. As a result, the other party regarded him as Xiao's accomplice and thought that Xiao stole the magic crystal in order to avenge him.
Wood Auction House has been pursuing the idea of his fleet and store in the past two years, and he knows it. I heard that the backers behind the other party are new aristocrats who have only made their fortune in recent years. They are quite powerful in Ito. They are jealous of the huge profits of those old aristocratic families doing maritime business. They also want to learn how to make a profit, and they are impatient to slowly accumulate strength. They set their sights on other people's fleets, and they have already embezzled all the property of two Camecca maritime merchants. Wood had secretly laid a trap for him before, planning to devour him step by step. The last time the ship's cargo was damaged, he suffered the loss because of his negligence.
Originally, if Wood was really pushing too hard, he would have given up Manado's shops and goods, and at most two or three ships, to buy more time, and wait for the payment from elsewhere to get through. Although he would suffer heavy losses, as long as he avoided Wood Auction House and worked hard for a few years as the accountant said, he would still have a chance to recover. Even if he could not recover, he would not go bankrupt.
Xiao's compensation of 7,500 gold coins for him did help him a lot and prevented him from sacrificing more than half of his family property. However, Xiao's subsequent treasure theft inadvertently caused him to fall into a greater predicament. Now, Wood has seized his ship and cargo. Not only is he demanding in exchange for two medium-sized ships and twenty experienced boatmen, but he also wants him to return the water magic crystal that was stolen by Xiao that day, and pay for another one of equal value. level.
He already owed Xiao Tianjian 7,500 gold coins, and Xiao's principle had always been to never add new debts until old debts were settled. It was hard for him to open his mouth again, and now that Xiao was gone, how was he going to deal with Wood's greed?
Thinking of this, Youtan couldn't help but feel a little bit of complaint towards his friend Xiao Tianjian: If you want to save people, you can save them. Why do you want to steal other people's magic crystals? Since it was stolen, why not make things cleaner? Now you can leave as soon as you want, and a large group of people like me will be dragged down by you.
But he quickly rejected his own thoughts: It was you who accidentally fell into someone else's trap. Xiao Cai spent a lot of money for no reason. He stole the magic crystal just to vent his anger. How could you? Can you blame him
His mind was in chaos and he didn't know what to do? He was worried that there would be something wrong with the seized ship and cargo, which would force him to pay compensation to the orderer, but he did not want to let Wood extort him, and he was even more afraid of offending the powerful aristocrats in East, which would make it more difficult to do business in the future. I can’t think of anything to do with the time.
"Boss?" Seeing Yutan's delay in answering, the accountant had no choice but to take the initiative and ask, "Have you not thought about it yet?"
Yutan raised his head in annoyance, but happened to see two capable subordinates exchanging glances. He immediately understood that they had just pretended to be quarreling on purpose to remind him, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry in his heart, but soon, his anger subsided. After all, both subordinates were thinking about him and he shouldn't blame them. So he asked: "If you have any good ideas, please tell me."
Both the deputy and the accountant were silent. After a while, the former tentatively said: "I think... let's go to the orderer first, tell him the matter honestly, and ask him to postpone the delivery date for how many days? Then we go to the port office. , complain about what Wood has done! They are just an auction house, why should they seize our ship?"
"That's useless!" Before Yutan could express his opinion, the accountant vetoed the proposal. "Letting the orderers know about this is tantamount to telling everyone that our fleet is incompetent and cannot guarantee the safety of the goods! And how could East's port office not help their own people, but speak for us foreign businessmen?! Not to mention that there are nobles behind Wood! Besides, East's bureaucrats are dragging their feet, even if they really We need to handle this matter fairly. We don’t know when the verdict will be handed down, and we simply can’t afford to delay it!”
"Then what do you think we should do?" The deputy was really a little angry this time. "Twice the compensation, twice the compensation! If something happens to the ship, the loss will be even greater. Also, if Wood really does what he says in the letter, If those nobles ban us from going ashore to do business, we will never be able to stand up!"
The accountant stopped talking. He didn't have any good ideas, but he suddenly had an idea: "Speaking of which, the orderer this time seemed to be introduced by an old customer, right? The contract he asked us to sign required compensation. Why is it so similar to what Wood said back then? It’s also twice as much, and most of the things carried on the ship are glass products and porcelain..."
The three men looked at each other, all secretly frightened. If the accountant's guess is true, then even if they try their best to exchange for the seized ship, as long as the people on Wood's side do something with the goods on the ship, or directly embezzle it, and only return the empty ship to them, Then they will have to face the orderer's claim. By then, not to mention the years of hard work to restore the family business, I am afraid they will not even be able to save a ship.
What a vicious plan! In this way, Wood and the powerful people behind him would not only lose nothing, but also earn back Yutan's entire fleet, plus a valuable magic crystal. As for the Yutan family and his men, they can only repeat the mistakes of the two maritime merchants in the past.
Yutan gritted his teeth and finally made a decision: "Let's count all the money we have on hand and ask where the magic crystal is. As for their original piece... I went to find Ming Na. At that time, Xiao gave the thing to the child. I Go and ask her to come. Also, ask Luer and the others who went to sea with Xiao, which way Xiao went at that time, and send a clipper to chase him! He only left for two days, and he didn't take anyone with him, so he won't go far. Yes, maybe it’s still too late.”
"Is this okay?" The accountant was a little skeptical. "Didn't you say that he would never lend money to someone who has not paid back the money?"
"What's wrong now?" The deputy curled his lips, "He was the cause of this incident, and we are all implicated by him!"
"Okay, stop talking, let's let it be settled. As long as Xiao comes forward, the orderer should relent, and the nobles of Yidong don't dare to go too far." Youtan sighed slightly. He has been in this business for decades. He started from scratch and earned his current fortune by his own strength. Unexpectedly, he would one day rely on the power of powerful people to resolve business disputes. He couldn't help but feel a little bitter in his heart.
"Who's outside?!" the accountant suddenly said, and then he rushed over and opened the door. The person standing outside the door was Corbin. He frowned: "Is that you? What are you doing here?!" Yutan and the other two looked over warily.
Corbin hurriedly bowed to Yutan and said: "Boss, I'm here to see you today. The butler brought me here just now. Because there were guests suddenly, the butler went to greet the guests, so he asked the villain to wait outside the door. Xiao People definitely didn’t do anything bad.”
Yutan narrowed his eyes: "If the housekeeper asks you to wait outside the door, he will ask you to stand ten meters away from the door. This is the norm. You are standing in front of the door, are you really not doing anything? "
Corbin raised his head and saw the three people in front of him looking at him with suspicion. He knew in his heart that he had to give a satisfactory answer, otherwise, he, a little person, would be torn apart at any time. He gritted his teeth and knelt on the ground: "Boss, I have something important to tell you. It's about the noble gentleman who is a good friend of yours."
"Oh?" Youtan was a little surprised, but he quickly understood, "By the way, you were on the boat at the time. You know where he went, right? Tell me quickly!"
The three of them looked directly at Corbin with eager eyes. The latter shuddered, hesitated, and then said: "The boss doesn't need to look for him anymore. He...he went to another world and will never come back!"
"What?!" Yutan stood up suddenly, and the chair under him was knocked over to the ground by his movement, making a loud noise.
==================I am the dividing line that turns the scene back ==================
After Ming Na returned to the room, she had been in a cheerful mood. When Sibylla left for something, she closed the door, cut her finger with the silver table knife she used to eat cakes, and the blood flowed out and dripped onto the storage ring, reading: According to the spell taught by grandpa, a big hole appeared out of thin air next to the ring, revealing what was inside.
The storage space for the ring is very large, twice as big as Ming Na's current room, and it contains a lot of miscellaneous things. Originally Xiao Tianjian had sorted it out, but before he chose the most needed items and put them into the bracelet, he made it a little messy. At a glance, Ming Na could only tell what was closest to her.
She knew that this cave had a time limit, so she didn't think much about it at the moment. She hurriedly took out her satchel, change of clothes, and coin bag. Thinking of Corbin's incident, she took two more bags of gold coins, thinking that although she didn't know The amount of money he owed, but two bags of gold coins should be enough, right
Near the entrance of the cave was the rope hook she used to climb the boat that day. It was wet and smelled of sea water. Ming Na quickly grabbed it and was about to take it back to dry it in the sun and return it to others. She stuffed the magic lamp back and took it back. I bought some pastries and a travel journal to relieve my boredom. At this time, it was almost time to close the cave entrance, so Mingna took the time to find a bunch of colorful shell necklaces and a blackstone pipe, intending to give them to Yutan and his daughter as a thank-you gift for staying here.
At this moment, the door of the room was suddenly opened, and Sibylla rushed in: "Mingna, let's go out and play!" Unexpectedly, she saw a big hole opening in the space in front of Mingna, and there were several huge pieces of glittering things inside. Crystal, she couldn't help but be stunned.
Mingna was startled and a little nervous. Fortunately, the cave entrance was closed at this time. She gathered the things she had put aside and said to Sibylla with a smile: "It's not that your father won't let you." Are you going out? How come you can go out to play again?"
Sibylla ignored her question and rushed over to catch her, asking repeatedly: "What was that just now? Crystal? Or gem? Why does it glow?"
Ming Na's scalp felt numb for a while, thinking that the other party had seen it anyway, so she had no choice but to reply: "It's a magic crystal. Grandpa gave it to me."
"So beautiful..." Sibylla stared directly at Minna, "You have so many, just give me one. I like crystals the most. Among my toys and jewelry, you can take whichever you like."
"No." Ming Na frowned and refused, "Those are magic crystals, not ordinary crystals. You don't know magic. It would be too wasteful to give them to you."
Sibylla was angry: "What do you mean? You have been living and eating in our house for free for several days. Can't I just ask you for a crystal? What's the big deal? I have so many crystals!"
Ming Na was very unhappy, but she still didn't forget what her grandfather taught her about being polite in other people's homes. She picked up the colorful shell necklace she just picked out and said, "I really can't give it to you. Just accept this. It's for you." The gift is also very beautiful.”
Sibylla took the necklace and threw it to the ground: "I don't want such cheap things!"
Ming Na hurriedly picked up the necklace and took a closer look. There were already two shells on it with broken corners. She couldn't help but get angry: "If you don't want it, don't want it. Why throw it away?! I picked these up one by one from the beach and then I strung it into a necklace by myself. I originally planned to give it to my cousin. Because you are my friend, I gave it to you. Why did you break it?!"
"You still have the nerve to say that I am your friend, and you actually give me things that are given to others? You hate it!" Sibyllah lost her temper and casually grabbed the clothes and coins that Ming Na had taken out before and threw them at her. fall.
Mingna was hiding and yelling: "What are you doing?!" The dispute between the two was heard outside the door, attracting the nanny and maid, who stopped the two quarrelsome children. Yutan got the news and hurried over. .
As soon as he entered the door, he saw clothes, shoes, socks and money all over the floor. He recognized that one of the dresses was worn by Ming Na. After hearing a few whispers from the person next to him, he roughly guessed the cause of the matter and turned to his daughter. With a straight face: "Sibylla! How did daddy teach you? When did you learn to be so rude?! Why don't you apologize to Mingna!"
Sibylla never expected that her father, who had always loved her, would actually scold her, and her eyes turned red: "She is stingy! I just want a piece of crystal. She has so many, why can't she give it to me?" He glanced at the shell necklace and said, "You still treat me with that kind of bargain."
Ming Na hurriedly said: "I have already said that those are magic crystals that ordinary people cannot use and cannot be given to you. I made this necklace myself and it is different from what is sold outside."
"Anyway, you're just annoying!" Sibylla made a face at her and acted coquettishly towards her father. Unexpectedly, Yutan didn't buy it at all: "Okay, Sibylla, this matter is originally your fault! Magic crystal is very How can you give away valuable things to others casually? Apologize!"
Sibylla was surprised and aggrieved. She glanced at Minna again, then cried and pushed her father away and ran out. The nanny and two maids hurriedly followed.
Yutan sighed and said to Minna: "Does your body hurt? That child Sibylla was spoiled by me and was so rude. Let me apologize to you on her behalf."
Ming Na hurriedly waved her hands: "No, actually there is something wrong with me. I shouldn't have quarreled with her..." She glanced at the pipe broken in half on the ground with some sadness: "Unfortunately, I originally planned to give that to you. It’s for a gift…” It looks like I’m going to cut my finger again.
Yu Tan put the pipe away with a smile: "Just in time, I want to find a piece of ink stone to make some gadgets. Let's use this to modify it. Thank you." After a pause, he said again: "What did you just say? That's right, there seems to be no difference between magic crystal and crystal on the outside, but in fact the value is more than ten times different. How can it be used as a toy for Sibylla?" As soon as he said the words, he suddenly felt something in his heart, but he quickly put that thought aside Pressed down. Wood will definitely find someone to test it. It's impossible to get past it by pretending to be an ordinary crystal.
Minna didn't know what he was thinking, but she was slightly embarrassed and said: "I'm sorry, Uncle Yutan, actually... grandpa took away all the ordinary crystals... the rest are magic crystals... if they are other less valuable ones It doesn’t matter if you give it to Sibylla, but that piece of water magic crystal was given to me by grandpa, and I don’t want to give it to anyone else. The other ones... grandpa said they were for dad, so I can’t touch them.”
You Tan heard Xiao Tianjian say something about his two sons, and he probably understood his intention, but it was unusual to put so many valuable things on his children. His eyes glanced at the ring on Ming Na's hand, and the He temporarily bandaged the bloody wound with a handkerchief and asked slightly nervously: "Isn't this... ring your grandfather's? Why is it here with you?"
Ming Na was also very nervous: "This...it's because grandpa went on an adventure and it was inconvenient to bring this with him, so he took away my storage bracelet and gave this to me..." She began to sweat, and felt that this excuse was valid. Not very clever.
Yutan's heart darkened, and he remembered what Corbin said just now. He knew what he was saying, and he reluctantly raised a smile and said, "Then you have to keep it well and return it to your grandpa when he comes back. You can play here for two days without any worries." The boat will be arranged soon.”
Ming Na smiled sweetly and said, "Thank you, Uncle Yutan." After seeing the other person out of the room, she turned around and packed up the items on the floor, putting everything she needed into her small satchel.
As for Yutan, as soon as he walked out of the door, his face darkened. He walked back to the study in a daze, ignoring the three people in the room, and sat down on the chair. He seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
Xiao left and went to another world. Although he didn't know what that meant, but according to Corbin, there was a 10% chance that he would not be able to come back. What should he do? !
His body was cold and his heart was even colder. Without Xiao, he had no one to rely on. If he doesn't agree to Wood's request, he will have to pay double the money to the orderer, causing heavy losses, and he will probably not be able to do business in East in the future; if he agrees, he will have to find a way to meet all the other party's conditions, even if he loses everything , even if he betrays a friend, but even if he does this, he may still have to pay double the money to the orderer. There is a dead end in front of him.
What should he do
He is old and not as energetic as he was when he was young. If he goes bankrupt this time, he doesn't know if he can earn another piece of the family business. It doesn't matter if he himself suffers, what about Sibylla? The poor little baby has never suffered at all since she was born. He has been away from home for many years and cannot accompany her to grow up. I already feel sorry for her. How can he ask her to suffer with him
The accountant waited for a long time and saw that Yutan was just in a daze, so he asked seriously: "Boss? Do you... have the exact news?" Corbin next to him also looked nervous.
Yutan raised his head and looked at Corbin: "I really don't know whether to thank you or hate you..." It broke his illusion, but made him fall so hard.
Corbin lowered his head and did not dare to speak. No matter what, as long as the boss could overcome the current difficulties, he would get a large reward. Not only would all the debts be paid off, but his mother and sister would also be able to live a good life.
The accountant and deputy's eyes lit up: "So..."
Yutan sighed: "Just... follow your plan..."
He closed his eyes in pain.
(Is this chapter too complicated? Can you understand it? I tried to write it as clearly and detailedly as possible...)