Chapter 2404: Reorganizing the Family Business (I)

For the Australians to suddenly wade into this muddy water, they must possess some powerful killer move. It was like when the Australians had come to Guangzhou selling paper years ago—within a year, they had crushed the local paper industry completely. In quality and price alike, no product on the market could compete with Australian Paper.

Who knew what unique advantages this Australian Cloth might hold?

"Then I'll venture my humble opinion. First, this cloth here—it resembles Songjiang fine cloth, but isn't as exquisite as top-grade Songjiang. It looks somewhat loose and insufficiently thick. This piece is rather strange: the surface feels like cotton, but when bent, it lacks cotton's softness—it's stiff, almost like linen. I suspect the cotton was blended with something else during spinning. This one is ordinary hemp cloth, inferior even to medium-grade hemp. The surface is particularly fuzzy, and the weaving craftsmanship looks comparable to farm cloth—noticeably below what you'd find from market workshops." Chen Lin evaluated the samples one by one.

Wu Yijun stroked his beard and nodded approvingly. "As expected from a weaving family—I couldn't spot any of these subtleties." Chen Lin was related through his mother's side, and their silk workshop had enjoyed some local renown. Wu Yijun pointed to the yarn samples nearby. "Now examine this yarn."

Chen Lin picked up the yarn, twisted it between his fingers, then pulled apart the fibers one by one, testing several times before speaking: "This yarn is fine yet strong—a top product. Ordinary spinning women couldn't produce this. It would take someone with at least ten years of skilled practice to spin yarn of this quality."

At this time, many textile workshops integrated spinning and weaving. Cotton yarn trade was relatively limited, so Chen Lin offered only a cursory assessment.

Wu Yijun nodded with satisfaction. "Would you be interested in manufacturing such goods?"

Chen Lin was confused. "Are there skilled craftsmen available for hire?"

Wu Yijun smiled. "No, no. This is machine-made." He explained his proposal: he wanted Chen Lin to return home, reopen the textile workshop, and convert it to cotton spinning. The Short-hairs had even better machines that could spin even finer yarn. If Chen Lin was willing, Wu Yijun would invest as a shareholder and help him obtain equipment and technology from the Short-hairs. Chen Lin's village sat at the border of Nanhai County and Sihui, with the North River flowing through the area. Water resources were abundant, and traveling downstream could reach Guangzhou—water transport was convenient.

"...Judging by the Australians' intentions, they want to massively expand cotton spinning in Guangdong—and rightly so. Think of how much clothing, sails, and bedding the South Seas expeditions will need! This is truly a heaven-sent opportunity!"

Chen Lin, however, couldn't share his cousin-uncle's excitement. His family had worked silk for generations and never touched cotton spinning. The old saying held true: "Different trades are like mountains apart." Sericulture and cotton cultivation were completely different industries. The merchants who handled them were different; the barriers to entry were different. Craftsmen couldn't simply switch specialties on a whim.

If they couldn't produce, they couldn't deliver. What good was even the biggest opportunity?

His cousin-uncle's idea seemed somewhat fanciful. But Chen Lin couldn't say so directly, so he replied: "This is a significant matter. I must return home and discuss it with my clan relatives before making any decision."

"In that case, go home first and settle household affairs. I saw in the newspaper that the countryside has been pacified—the bandits and rogue soldiers in Northern Guangdong have retreated. Travel should be reasonably safe. After you return, focus on reorganizing the family business. Come back to Guangzhou to discuss things with me in due time. After such upheaval, I imagine there'll be many expenses. I've already had my accountant prepare one hundred silver dollars—take it home to use."

"How could I possibly..." Though Chen Lin was moved, he understood that money without cause wasn't easily accepted. Besides, Wu Yijun was merely his cousin-uncle—taking him in during the crisis had already been a tremendous kindness. To suddenly receive one hundred yuan now required careful consideration. He declined repeatedly, insisting it was too much.

"Don't refuse, nephew. I'm not giving this money for free. Reorganizing the family business will inevitably involve expenses—consider it a loan. If you're willing to partner with me in the future, this money counts as my share capital. If not, return it when you're back on your feet."

With matters framed so plainly, Chen Lin could hardly refuse. Still, he insisted on writing an IOU.

Wu Yijun saw the hesitation in his nephew's heart. This nephew had read some Confucian texts and was somewhat "blockheaded." But that was also good—though an upright gentleman might sometimes be pedantic in business, he could be trusted.

The next day, Chen Lin boarded a boat at Li Family Wharf under his cousin-uncle's arrangement. The vessel was a Tanka sampan that the Wu family hired year-round. The boatman had visited the Chen family before and needed no special instructions—just "Go to Master Chen's Nansha Village," and he knew the way.

The journey proved exactly as his cousin-uncle had said: the countryside was pacified. Villages along the way had all established Baojia according to Australian requirements, building watchtowers and checkpoints. Village braves patrolled and stood sentry day and night, more vigilant than before. Thinking back, the previous government had made a great show of these same measures to "prepare against the Short-hairs." Now these "Short-hairs" had taken everything over and were using it themselves.

Traveling without incident, they reached Nansha Village in just three days. Place names containing "Nansha" were countless throughout the Pearl River Delta. Chen Lin's Nansha Village sat on exactly such a piece of sandy land deposited by the river.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Chen family ancestors had migrated here from Shaoguan with their entire clan, settling on this wasteland that was then still a river beach. Over more than two centuries, they worked hard to cultivate and accumulate wealth, expanding their influence as their sons passed imperial examinations, gradually becoming the foremost surname in Nansha Village.

Stepping onto the land he had been away from so long, gazing at the distant village houses and fields, Chen Lin felt his heart grow heavy. He had fled in such haste. Now over a year had passed, and he didn't know how the clansmen and fellow villagers fared. He knew only that the village and family business had suffered severe damage.

He had only recently received the letter from home. The author was an elder of his clan who had escaped the disaster when Nansha Village was sacked by the marauding soldiers. The old man had struggled to find someone to carry the letter to him.

From that letter, he formally learned of his father's death. On the night of the escape, he had witnessed his father struck by an arrow and falling from a bridge into the river. He hadn't held much hope. Yet when he learned his father had truly perished, grief overwhelmed Chen Lin—he had lost his mother young, and his father had raised the siblings single-handedly.

The Chen family possessed a substantial estate. In this village alone, there were thirteen branch households. With so many branches, naturally some were wealthy and some poor. Fortunately, the clan property accumulated over many years had grown to a considerable sum; even the poorest families could obtain a stable income and not suffer from cold or hunger.

Chen Lin's branch didn't own many fields or fish ponds. But because silkworm farmers abounded in the area, starting with his grandfather, they had established a silk hong in the village to purchase villagers' silkworm cocoons and raw silk for weaving into silk fabrics. Their products had earned a modest reputation and could always be sold in Guangzhou.

His family's workshop had begun to develop a division of labor: boiling rooms, reeling rooms, weaving rooms, and calendering rooms. They could even dye their own fabrics. These workrooms were managed separately by his father's cousins and nephews, while his father coordinated operations across all departments.

The soldier chaos had swept through the entire village. The marauders looted the stock clean and ruined much of the stored raw silk. In their retreat, they set fire to the houses. Thanks to villagers' desperate firefighting efforts, most buildings and equipment were saved. But his father had died, and the craftsmen and laborers had either perished or scattered. The silk workshop could no longer operate.

The letter had urged him to return as soon as possible to "reorganize the family business" and mentioned that hearts within the clan were currently in disorder.

Who knew what kind of mess awaited him to clean up? The thought left Chen Lin faintly discouraged.

"Ninth Uncle, we've arrived!" Returning to the village with him was Chen Qing. Though only two or three years younger than Chen Lin, by generational ranking he counted as Chen Lin's nephew. Their collateral branches had distinctions of status, and Chen Qing's family was very poor—he had followed Chen Lin since age ten. They called each other uncle and nephew, but in practice they were master and servant.

The village looked better than he had imagined. Though many houses remained unrepaired and broken walls stood everywhere, quite a few temporary structures had been built. Many people had apparently returned, and figures moved busily in the fields beyond the village.

Walking a short distance, he heard a woman's voice: "Brother Alin! Aqing! You're back!"

That familiar voice—he knew without looking it was Chen Yue, the daughter of Chen Lin's Second Uncle.

To speak honestly, Chen Lin held little respect for this Second Uncle. The man spent his days eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. Were it not for his status as a son of the Nansha Chen Clan, with the clan settling matters on his behalf, he would probably have been beaten to death several times over. Second Aunt had endured more than ten years of marriage before she finally couldn't stand his absurdity. She brought her maiden family's brothers to confront Second Uncle and forced him to write a divorce letter. The two parties separated. The Chen clan leader and elders had only pretended not to notice, unwilling to defend Second Uncle's cause.

Though the man was utterly worthless, he had fathered a clever, beautiful, and intelligent daughter. The clan elders, fearing this dissolute father might pawn or sell the girl to creditors and disgrace the family name, adopted her to Chen Lin's father. Legally speaking, Chen Yue was now his full sister.

What Chen Lin had worried about most was this sister. He feared she had been harmed during the chaos—the elder who wrote to him had only mentioned vaguely that girls from various families had been violated; some had taken their own lives, others had gone missing. Seeing Chen Yue's expression now, lively and bright, she appeared safe and sound. His heart settled considerably.

She was, after all, his only remaining family.

Chen Yue told him the house had been demolished by the marauding soldiers. Not burned—the soldiers had heard this was the home of a silk workshop owner and decided treasures must be buried inside. After robbing the valuables, they had torn down walls and dug everywhere, even prying off roof tiles, leaving the Chen residence in ruins.

"...I hid at Flower Sister-in-law's home and escaped the worst of it. Now I'm partnering with her—we do handwork together to exchange for rice, getting by half-hungry most days..."

Sister-in-law Guihua was surnamed Zheng, wife of a loom worker who had worked at the Chen family silk workshop. After her husband died, she took odd jobs at the workshop to make ends meet. She was considered dutiful and reliable—this reassured Chen Lin.

(End of Chapter)