"They’re considering opening the land..."
Having known An Jing and Xiao Changyi for so long, Wang Youbao had some understanding of what kind of people they were. He knew that once An Jing and Xiao Changyi made up their minds about something, even if he exhausted himself trying to persuade them, it would be in vain.
So, he gave up on trying to dissuade them and with a light sigh, he said, "Since you don’t want to do this business, then how about you let me do it?" He truly believed it was a good business opportunity, and he didn’t want to miss out on it.
"Sure," An Jing agreed readily. "It just so happens that I drew up a detailed diagram of the grain rice last night. I was planning to find an opportunity to give the blueprint to Xiao Lan so she could get someone to make her own Stepping Dehusking Machine by herself. Now I’ll give it to you, and when the time comes, help her make one too."
Wang Youbao had only asked tentatively and did not expect An Jing to actually agree. Seeing that An Jing truly agreed, and so straightforwardly at that, he could hardly believe it. "You’re really willing to let me do it? You can make a lot of Silver Coin from it!"
An Jing laughed gently. "Money can’t be brought into life or taken out of death, so why earn so much? We just need enough to get by."
She was truly content with her current life, so grounded and happy.
If it could always be , she would be very willing.
As for whether she had a lot of money or lived in a luxurious mansion, she didn’t care.
And originally, the purpose of making spoiled tofu was just to buy cattle, so that her husband wouldn’t have to work so hard. She hadn’t planned on using fermented tofu to make a lot of money.
Now, things are fine as they are.
Wang Youbao greatly admired An Jing’s open-mindedness and nonchalance, feeling inferior, he said, "I can’t do it. Without money, I don’t feel secure."
"Alas," Wang Youbao sighed again before confessing more honestly, "Everyone already looks down on me because of my status as a Commons Son. If I don’t have some money, they will look down on me even more."
An Jing suddenly became serious. "Youbao, people will only respect you if you respect yourself first! If you don’t respect yourself, how can you expect others to respect you?" She had long noticed that her friend was very insecure.
Wang Youbao was struck dumb.
After a moment, he came back to his senses, and said with an embarrassed smile, "I am ashamed, I have never respected myself. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have even been aware of this issue."
An Jing immediately responded, "Then starting from today, you must start respecting yourself and stand up straight!"
Wang Youbao was jolted once more before murmuring hesitantly, "I’ll try."
An Jing knew that it wasn’t an overnight matter for Wang Youbao, who had felt inferior for so many years, to suddenly stop. Therefore, she didn’t say anything more but went into the inner room and brought out the blueprints of the grain rice and Stepping Dehusking Machine to Wang Youbao.
Wang Youbao, while taking the blueprints, asked, "Should we make a written agreement that, after deducting costs, we split the profit fifty-fifty?"
If it were anyone else, in business it’s best to make as much money as possible, and Wang Youbao would definitely propose a sixty-forty split, with sixty percent for him and forty for them; but since they were his friends, that’s why he proposed splitting it fifty-fifty.
An Jing, who didn’t care at all, said, "There’s no need for a written agreement, nor for splitting it. It’s just a few diagrams; I’m giving them to you. You just have to give me one grain rice when the time comes. I want to give it to someone." That person, of course, was Shi Xiaolan.
Although An Jing said there was no need to split it, there was no way Wang Youbao could take such a big advantage of his friends. He didn’t say much on the surface, but in his heart, he had already decided to split the profits fifty-fifty with An Jing.