Victor Fan spent the entire night searching for Victor Wu, but to no avail. He had no clue where Victor Wu had gone. Mobilizing all the servants in the residence, they scoured every corner inside and out, yet Victor Wu was nowhere to be found.
The next morning, at breakfast, Victor Wu reappeared. Victor Fan hurriedly instructed the servants to bring more wine and dishes. He was preparing to go out again to purchase rice, a task he often handled personally despite the long distance.
To ensure the quality of the rice, Victor Fan always inspected the local markets himself before sending others to buy. He never accepted inferior rice—first, it wouldn't keep for long; second, poor quality would tarnish the reputation of his rice shop.
This time, floods had struck the south, and Lord Charles urgently needed large quantities of rice for disaster relief. He allocated special funds to purchase rice at a low price. Victor Fan handed over the old stock he'd bought cheaply and hoarded, while continuing to store the new rice.
Victor Fan understood the situation clearly. The funds meant for local officials had been largely withheld by Henry Luo. Victor knew but kept silent. Small rice shops had started to complain, realizing Henry Luo intended to pocket the money rather than pay out.
The destination was three days from Dingtown, a small basin with decent rice yields and higher prices than elsewhere. Many rice merchants refused to go, preferring to buy low-quality rice elsewhere to maximize profits.
But as a businessman, Victor Fan was perceptive. While monitoring the market, he had already devised a plan. Few went there to buy rice anymore, and the locals, wanting to sell, faced hefty taxes if they tried to take it elsewhere—making it nearly impossible to profit.
The locals were anxious, eager for someone to buy their rice. Victor Fan played along, passing through several times without buying, claiming the prices were too high.
Over time, fewer people were willing to go there—the prices were simply too high. If transported over long distances and sold at higher prices, other rice shops would suppress them, and no one would buy. If sold cheaply, the costs couldn't be recovered.
Victor Fan kept waiting, knowing the right moment would come. Occasionally, he sent people disguised as vendors to the rice-buying area. Whenever they met another rice merchant, they'd complain about the high prices and say the locals were unwilling to lower them.
This strategy completely discouraged merchants from coming, and eventually, no rice merchants were willing to make the trip—especially given the difficult mountain roads.
Everything was within Victor Fan's calculations, but now, with the sudden disaster, his plans could be carried out even sooner.
Everything Victor Fan did before was just groundwork. The rice he sold was top quality and priced the same as other shops. Over time, people in Dingtown naturally preferred to buy from him, so in just a few months, his sales soared, and he became the largest rice shop owner.
Victor Fan wanted the rice from the small basin for another reason: the quality was excellent, but transporting it was extremely troublesome due to the mountain paths.
Victor Fan's trip to Yefu City to purchase ore was genuine—he was preparing for the next phase of his plan.
Before leaving, he had his servant notify Charles Yuan that he would be away on business for five days and would catch up with him after returning.
Victor Fan had long since mapped out a series of plans in his mind, just waiting for the right moment. The people he stationed along the mountain roads were all trusted aides who had followed him for years—he trusted them completely. He balanced authority and kindness, so they were utterly loyal to him.
Three days later, Victor Fan arrived on the mountain path leading to the small basin. The trickiest part was a mountain stream that had to be crossed, where the water reached up to one's knees.
If cattle or horses carrying rice slipped, the rice could get wet and easily spoil—another major drawback. Yet Victor Fan felt nothing but joy inside.
At the entrance to the basin, Victor Fan exchanged glances with a few fruit vendors, who then followed him to a teahouse. After a brief conversation, Victor Fan entered the small basin.
He summoned the local village chief and went door to door, gathering all the farmers to announce he would buy all their rice.
"Oh, sir, thank heavens! With floods in the south, those rice merchants are buying bad rice everywhere, and we've suffered for it."
Before Victor Fan could speak, the village chief offered to sell the rice at a much lower price, but Victor Fan refused, responding earnestly.
"Everyone, though I am a merchant, I am also a scholar and understand your hardships. The rice price will remain as before, not a penny less. But I have two requests, and I hope you can agree to them."
Victor Fan spoke courteously, and the villagers erupted in cheers, calling Julian Potter a great benefactor.
Victor Fan's first request was that, from now on, local rice could only be sold to him at a fixed price, which he would never go back on. The second was that he would provide money and tools so that, outside of busy farming seasons, the villagers could help repair the mountain road to Dingtown. Once the repairs were done, all tools would belong to the farmers.
These two measures won unanimous praise from the villagers, who treated Victor Fan as a savior. That night, they held a grand banquet in his honor.
After he returned, word spread. Many peers secretly mocked Julian Potter as a fool, but the common folk praised him as a great benefactor.
The day after his return, Victor Fan hosted a grand banquet for Charles Yuan and his family. Charles Yuan worried that Victor Fan's actions—repairing roads for free and buying rice at high prices—were not what a businessman should do, and tried to persuade him otherwise.
"Master Cao, I have my own reasons. I won't tarnish the Cao family's name before becoming your son-in-law."
These words put Charles Yuan at ease. He clapped Victor Fan on the shoulder, calling him 'son-in-law' repeatedly.
At that moment, the second part of Victor Fan's plan arrived the very next day.
The next day, Henry Luo came to see Victor Fan, venting his frustrations.
After buying rice in Dingtown, Henry Luo ran into financial troubles and hadn't paid many rice shops. Now, several shops were demanding payment.
Victor Fan just smiled and said little. After arriving, he simply gifted Henry Luo's wife and concubines some silk and other small items, nothing extravagant.
"Well then, Julian Potter, help the official out. I've just received some excellent rice. You can negotiate with these shops to compensate them with good rice, based on the quality they provided. How about it?"
Henry Luo nodded eagerly. Victor Fan's approach wasn't to directly bribe him, but rather to let Henry Luo come seeking a favor. The debt was now one of gratitude, and Victor Fan had many strategies for this—but this time, fortune favored him.
Goods transported from elsewhere into Dingtown had to be taxed, but after this, the local tax officers turned a blind eye to Victor Fan's shipments—sometimes collecting less, sometimes nothing, and never inspecting.
Victor Fan was to marry in a month, joining the Cao family. Charles Yuan worried Victor Fan might object, but he had no issue. However, Master Cao's two sons were furious, determined to kick Victor Fan out.
No matter their objections, Master Cao's mind was made up. His earlier worries proved unfounded. Over the past month, Victor Fan's rice business expanded again, taking over closed shops and rebranding them as Potter & Co.
The two sons, being close to Henry Luo, asked him to intervene, but Henry Luo kept praising Victor Fan, leaving them empty-handed.
This time, Henry Luo made money and gained a reputation. He claimed he bought the excellent rice with Victor Fan, but in truth, he spent nothing. He skimmed off rice from Victor Fan to compensate the shops, sold it at high prices in flood-stricken southern regions, and pocketed all the funds originally allocated.
Such a large bribe made Henry Luo fully side with Victor Fan. He frequently invited Victor Fan to his home, rather than the other way around.
The rice shop merchants were grateful to Henry Luo, while the smaller shops that closed were deeply thankful to Victor Fan for his timely help.
"Sigh, these people get sold and still count money for others, even praising them."
Reading this, I couldn't help but sigh. Beside me, the Soulreaver Blade chuckled.
"Things aren't so simple, Ethan Zhang. Haven't you heard his story? He gave away his fortune three times, you know."
At night, Victor Fan returned to his room. He didn't say anything, but knew full well that the beauty had been handled, and not just once—most likely by Victor Wu. He didn't ask further and treated Victor Wu kindly.
That night, Victor Fan did not sleep. He pretended to be asleep, and soon enough, there was movement in the room.