Gu Jiangyue was momentarily stunned. The black - clothed man called her "lady"? But the black - clothed man hadn't told her in advance that they were playing the role of a couple. The next second, Gu Jiangyue calmed down. Maybe the black - clothed man was just improvising, or it would make their act more believable.
However, Xie Jiuan didn't think so. He just found it amusing when Xie Chengrui mistook them for a couple and wanted to tease Gu Jiangyue.
"Hey, you two!" Kinoshita seemed a bit dissatisfied. Just as she was about to scold them, Xie Chengrui stopped her in time.
"I was rude."
Xie Chengrui gritted his teeth and forced out these words, suppressing his impatience. The veins on his forehead were throbbing.
Xie Chengrui hated it when someone talked to him in such a condescending way. But now he really needed the grain, so he couldn't say anything more and could only apologize silently.
He took on the task of disaster relief to redeem his reputation. If the emperor found out about this, not only would he fail to redeem his reputation, but the emperor might even target him more.
Xie Jiuan was quite happy seeing Xie Chengrui's frustrated and helpless look. A perfect smile curled up on his lips.
The nearby grain stores couldn't provide that much grain at once, so Xie Chengrui had to meet their demands and couldn't afford to anger them.
Xie Jiuan knew this from the start. Xie Chengrui had hurt Gu Jiangyue, and he was determined to make Xie Chengrui suffer in return. He knew exactly how far he could go. He wouldn't make Xie Chengrui completely give up the cooperation, but he also wouldn't let Xie Chengrui feel at ease.
Xie Jiuan didn't get up to leave, indicating that he wasn't angry enough to abandon the cooperation. But he didn't even spare a glance at Xie Chengrui.
Xie Chengrui clenched his fist tightly under his sleeve. With a forced smile on his face, he said,
"I heard that Boss An has some grain. I'm in need, so I've come here today. I hope we won't let some trifles ruin our business."
Xie Chengrui didn't hear Xie Jiuan say anything else. He just saw the figure behind the gauze curtain nod casually. Just as he was about to ask the price, Gu Jiangyue, who had been mostly silent, spoke up.
If Gu Jiangyue hadn't spoken, Xie Chengrui might have thought she was mute.
Gu Jiangyue had drunk the medicine prepared by Ji Yunsheng, which had changed her original voice. Her voice was extremely hoarse. No one would associate this voice with Gu Jiangyue, the gentle and dignified young lady of the Gu family.
"Thirty - five coins per jin."
Gu Jiangyue's hoarse voice was icy cold. Even Xie Chengrui, who had the most contact with Gu Jiangyue in the past, didn't recognize who was behind the curtain because he was completely shocked by the price.
"Thirty - five coins!? Is Lady An joking with me?"
Xie Chengrui exclaimed in surprise. One could buy the best grain for fifteen coins now, not to mention that for disaster relief, just edible grain would do.
Xie Jiuan turned to look at Gu Jiangyue. Through the layers of black veils, he could see her bright and charming eyes at a glance. He was always shocked by the prices Gu Jiangyue quoted.
Although Xie Jiuan also thought the price was a bit high, he always doted on Gu Jiangyue. So what if it was high? It was clearly that Xie Chengrui was poor. Xie Jiuan blinked without any guilt.
Xie Jiuan didn't give Gu Jiangyue a chance to speak. Instead, he said without hesitation,
"My lady is too kind. Considering your urgent need, it should be forty coins per jin."
Xie Chengrui jumped to his feet. Looking at the two people sitting calmly in front of him without any sign of panic, he felt they were extremely bad and a perfect match. They were truly made for each other.
Seeing that Xie Chengrui was getting a bit anxious, Xie Jiuan didn't bother to be polite anymore. He crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly to look at Xie Chengrui.
"I'm afraid it will take you a lot of time to gather enough grain from other grain stores, and you may not even be able to get enough. Why not spend some money to solve the problem?"
What a good way of "spending money to solve the problem"! Xie Chengrui's face twitched with anger at Xie Jiuan's words, but Xie Jiuan was right. He had wasted a lot of time since the grain was robbed.
Xie Chengrui originally wanted to retrieve the grain, but no matter how hard he investigated, he couldn't find any clues. Those people had done a very clean job without leaving any loopholes.
Xie Chengrui thought they would use the grain to threaten him and extort some money. But after waiting for several days without any news, he decided to buy some grain to make up for the shortage.
Xie Chengrui punched the table hard with his fist, but then he sat back down. His eyes looking at Xie Jiuan and Gu Jiangyue were dark and unfathomable.
"I need five thousand liang... Can you give me a better price?"
"Sure."
Hearing Xie Chengrui's words, there was a hint of a smile in Gu Jiangyue's hoarse voice.
Xie Chengrui's dim eyes lit up again. Just when he thought Gu Jiangyue would lower the price significantly, her next words dashed his hopes.
"Since you've asked, I'm not an unreasonable person. How about thirty - four coins per jin?"
Gu Jiangyue looked at Xie Chengrui with a smile. She suddenly felt the shoulder of the black - clothed man beside her trembling slightly. She turned to look at him and heard him chuckling.
Xie Jiuan found it even more amusing when he saw Gu Jiangyue looking at him blankly. Xie Chengrui was too proud to easily ask for a discount. Now that he finally did, Gu Jiangyue only lowered the price by one coin, which was clearly an insult to Xie Chengrui.
Xie Jiuan looked at Gu Jiangyue and gave her an approving look. She was really his smart and reliable wife.
Gu Jiangyue frowned slightly. She looked at Xie Jiuan seriously and then held out her finger to calculate carefully for him.
"One coin less per jin means five thousand coins less for five thousand jin. It's already a good deal."
Xie Jiuan nodded with a smile.
Xie Chengrui watched the two people behind the gauze curtain talking to each other and had no idea what they were saying. But he didn't have time to wait. He gently tapped the table with his knuckles.
"Thirty - two coins per jin. If it's okay, I can buy an extra thousand liang, a total of six thousand liang."
"Thirty - four coins."
Gu Jiangyue's voice was still cold and firm because she knew that no matter whether she lowered the price or not, Xie Chengrui would definitely buy an extra thousand liang.
The fact that Xie Chengrui took on the task of disaster relief showed that he wasn't just aiming to complete the task but to exceed it, so that the common people would praise him.
Gu Jiangyue didn't respond anymore. Instead, she reached out and grabbed the black - clothed man beside her, pulling him up as if they were about to leave.