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After finishing the call with Prince Banan, Zhang Qiu hurried back to the house to share the good news that Uncle Agari was still alive with Lucia. Upon hearing this, Lucia jumped up in excitement, leaving Jiang Xue confused beside her. Zhang Qiu asked Lucia to tell Jiang Xue the story of Uncle Agari and then set off alone towards the Red-Light District. When hanging up, Prince Banan emphasized twice for Zhang Qiu to contact him as soon as possible, clearly anxious.
The Black Stocking Woman and Liu Xinru expressed surprise at Zhang Qiu's arrival, warmly pulling him into a back room while asking why Jiang Xue hadn’t come along. Liu Xinru offered an apple to Zhang Qiu, who took one and held it in his hand. The Black Stocking Woman leaned against the door and smiled, "Brother, can you stay here for dinner today?"
"Sure, I can," Zhang Qiu replied with a smile.
"Great! I'll make something delicious for you at noon," the Black Stocking Woman said joyfully. "I'll go buy a roast duck."
"Wait, there's no need to trouble yourself; I'm here to discuss something important with you."
The Black Stocking Woman paused her steps and looked intently at Zhang Qiu. "Then let’s talk first; after we finish, I can still go buy the roast duck since it’s not far—just a quick trip."
She sat down in the chair opposite Zhang Qiu and said, "Xinru, you go out for a bit."
"No need!" Zhang Qiu stopped Liu Xinru from leaving. "Stay here and listen; it's good news."
The Black Stocking Woman followed Zhang Qiu's gaze, trying to discern something from his expression, but it was in vain. Zhang Qiu organized his thoughts in his mind and decided to start with two questions.
"Sister, do you want to earn a lot of money?"
"Of course! Who doesn’t want to make money?" The Black Stocking Woman answered without hesitation.
"If there were an opportunity that would be particularly tough but could earn a lot of money, would you choose to do it?"
"You’re thinking about that previous matter again," the Black Stocking Woman laughed and shook her head. "I can't work at your place; it wouldn’t be appropriate."
"Sister, why not? Working at Zhang Qiu's place would be better than doing this..." Liu Xinru abruptly stopped herself and rephrased, "Wouldn’t it be better than what you're doing now?"
Before the Black Stocking Woman could respond, Zhang Qiu spoke first: "Sister, this time it's about something else."
"Then let me hear it."
Zhang Qiu noticed that when he mentioned another matter, the Black Stocking Woman showed no interest at all. However, he believed that once he told her it was related to tea, she would make the right choice.
"Sister, when I was in Africa, I became very good friends with a prince. After returning home, when I came to see you, I sent him the tea you gifted me. He praised it highly and expressed his desire to purchase it in bulk. I had mentioned you and your hometown's tea to the prince before, so you were the first person he thought of. How does that sound? Isn't it tempting?"
To Zhang Qiu's surprise, the Black Stocking Woman did not show much interest and laughed, "Even if he is a prince, how much can one person drink?"
"Not just one person! My mistake for not being clear; he wants to purchase in bulk and promote it nationwide. Sister, just imagine how vast that market could be."
Finally, a look of interest appeared on the Black Stocking Woman's face, which Zhang Qiu had hoped to see. From her attitude towards tea and the appreciation that naturally shone in her eyes, it was evident how she felt about tea. If anything could make the Black Stocking Woman give up her current gray business, it would be tea; it was the most suitable business for her.
However, the joy on her face quickly turned into sorrow. Zhang Qiu looked at her in confusion and asked, "Sister, what do you mean? Are you unwilling?"
"Of course I want to! I've been with tea since I was born; I have a special connection with it. I would love for my hometown's tea to cross oceans to reach distant shores. But your prince friend wants to purchase in bulk, and I need capital for that kind of collaboration. I have neither money nor people; how can I do business with your friend?" The Black Stocking Woman lowered her head and sighed in frustration.
Zhang Qiu could see that she cared about this business opportunity and immediately offered to help her financially. A glimmer of hope flashed in the Black Stocking Woman's eyes but quickly faded as she said, "I'm glad you want to help me, but that's a lot of money; I can't use yours."
"Sister, this business won't lose money. As soon as the prince places an order, we can make a huge profit."
"No, I still can't use your money; the amount is just too large. We're not even related..." The Black Stocking Woman trailed off and glanced at Liu Xinru.
Liu Xinru blushed suddenly; she knew exactly what her sister was thinking and playfully said, "Oh come on, Sister! Even if we're not related by blood, you still call me sister! Just agree to it."
"I think Xinru has a point." Zhang Qiu cast an appreciative glance at Liu Xinru; he knew she also wanted her sister to leave her current job. Seeing that the Black Stocking Woman was still hesitating, Zhang Qiu further persuaded her: "Sister, how about this? Consider this money as my investment; you can strengthen and expand your company and give me dividends. Isn't that great? I'm also very interested in this African market!"
"Sister, just agree!" Liu Xinru chimed in from the side.
"Well..." the Black Stocking Woman raised her head, seeming to gather a lot of determination, and said through gritted teeth, "Alright then."
"That's settled!" Zhang Qiu excitedly waved his hand. "I'll contact Prince Banan right away, and you two can communicate directly to finalize this matter today."
"Wait a moment."
"What’s wrong?"
Zhang Qiu and Liu Xinru both looked at the Black Stocking Woman. The Black Stocking Woman said, "I’m not sure about anything here yet. It wouldn’t be good to contact him like this. Shouldn’t I first reach out to the people back home who grow tea leaves and establish a connection before talking to your prince friend?"
The Black Stocking Woman had a point; this matter indeed could not be rushed. Zhang Qiu replied, "Then how about this: contact your family now. As for manpower, that can be easily resolved. I can pull some people from my club to help out until things stabilize."
"Sister, I have an idea regarding manpower," Liu Xinru said.
"You have an idea? Let’s hear it."
"There are so many people on this street; couldn’t we involve them in the tea business with you?"
As soon as Liu Xinru's suggestion was made, it was immediately dismissed by the Black Stocking Woman. She said, "Xinru, you don’t understand. In this line of work, unless they’re past their prime and can no longer get business, they won’t switch to something else."
Zhang Qiu also rejected Liu Xinru's suggestion. One reason was the validity of the Black Stocking Woman's words. The other reason was that these people were all associated with Sister Hua. They had just discussed cooperation with Sister Hua, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to poach her people shortly after that. Of course, once the Black Stocking Woman's tea business grew larger, there were indeed people from this street who approached her wanting to join in. At that time, the Hall Society had a good relationship with Sister Hua, and there were many areas of win-win cooperation, so the Black Stocking Woman agreed to some of their requests. However, it wasn’t long before those people returned to their original trades.
The Black Stocking Woman accepted Zhang Qiu's suggestion to send help and immediately contacted her hometown. While she spoke in some terms that Zhang Qiu didn’t understand, he quietly waited, knowing from the smile at the corner of her mouth that things were moving in a positive direction.
While the Black Stocking Woman was on the phone, Zhang Qiu received another call from Prince Banan. Once connected, Prince Banan asked, "Zhang Qiu, it's been an hour; how is your discussion going?"
"Prince Banan, I'm at my friend's house right now."
"That's great! I believe she will definitely agree to collaborate with me; I have that confidence."
"That's right, she agreed."
"Then let's talk about it. You know, providing vitamins to the people is a big deal, and I want to finalize this as soon as possible."
Zhang Qiu put down the phone and asked for the opinion of the Black Stocking Woman. The Black Stocking Woman felt a bit nervous, but Zhang Qiu and Liu Xinru comforted her. In the end, Zhang Qiu acted as the translator while Prince Banan communicated with the Black Stocking Woman over the phone. Prince Banan got straight to the point, directly asking about the quantity of tea leaves and the shipping time, to which the Black Stocking Woman responded according to her situation.
The progress was smoother than expected. Although the Black Stocking Woman's company had not yet been established, she had already received her first large order. When the Black Stocking Woman mentioned signing a contract, Prince Banan said, "We can sign it later; what's most important is that you send the goods over and I will transfer the money. You are Zhang Qiu's friend, so I trust Zhang Qiu."
The Black Stocking Woman repeatedly assured him that she would send high-quality tea leaves to Africa and would never substitute inferior products. Prince Banan was eager about the package of tea leaves sent by Zhang Qiu and added, "Of course I like high-quality tea leaves; if you could also send me some special ones, that would be even better."
"Special ones?" The Black Stocking Woman did not understand what Prince Banan meant.
Zhang Qiu explained to the Black Stocking Woman that special tea leaves referred to those from her limited production. The Black Stocking Woman immediately assured him that there would be no problem at all. Seeing her agreement, Prince Banan laughed heartily on the phone. After chatting a bit more with Prince Banan, Zhang Qiu hung up. Prince Banan thanked Zhang Qiu for solving a problem for him, while Zhang Qiu expressed gratitude to Prince Banan for bringing her a big business opportunity.
After hanging up, Zhang Qiu noticed tears streaming down the corners of the Black Stocking Woman's eyes and felt flustered for a moment. The Black Stocking Woman cried as she said, "Zhang Qiu, thank you! I don't know what kind of blessings I must have earned in my past life to meet such a good person like you..." By the end, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Since starting in this line of work, the Black Stocking Woman had never thought about escaping it, let alone doing what she loved most—running a tea business.
Liu Xinru hugged her sister tightly as tears flowed uncontrollably while thanking Zhang Qiu through her sobs. By the end of her crying fit, Liu Xinru even said, "Zhang Qiu, if you don't mind, I would also like to be your girlfriend and stay by your side for life to help and take care of you."
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