Chapter 576: The Past

Chapter 576 -577: The Past

The arrival of Mrs. Bai and her group, coupled with having a helmsman familiar with these waters, prompted Gu Kaiyuan to decide on a trial voyage during this high tide.

Holding her child, Bai Suihe watched the ship sail into the distance before she followed Mrs. Bai back with a hint of disappointment.

“Alright, we still have to follow the necessary rules,” Mrs. Bai said. She knew exactly what her daughter was thinking. Maintaining a sense of reverence for the sea, Mrs. Bai felt that the rules passed down by fishermen for thousands of years held a certain degree of wisdom.

Bai Suihe didn’t argue with her. Besides, just because she couldn’t board the ship this time didn’t mean she couldn’t go on the next voyage.

The local customs here were far too strict. For a person’s first time boarding a ship, one had to not only check their Chinese zodiac but also their exact birth time and date. The fortune-teller even used all of this information to determine the exact time of departure.

“Sister,” Bai Jiannan said, holding his little niece. “Your shipyard is still under construction. What’s the plan? How big of a fleet are you trying to build?”

“I’m not sure yet. It depends on the demand,” Bai Suihe answered directly. “Why? Are you looking to support your sister’s business? If you want ships, I can give you a discount.”

“I won’t bother with all that,” Bai Jiannan said. “When the time comes, I’ll just ask for a share from your side and ride your coattails.

“Father told me in private that since we’re expanding so aggressively to seize the initiative, the imperial court will likely make a move soon.”

“What news did Father get?” Bai Suihe asked.

As a seasoned veteran of the business world, and considering the status of the Bai Family, he undoubtedly had his own reliable sources of information.

“The imperial court is going to open the maritime trade routes,” Bai Jiannan said, seeing that it was just their family around.

Bai Suihe was puzzled. The imperial court was opening maritime trade? There was no such thing in Gu Kaiyuan’s previous life, or else he would have mentioned it.

“The seas are far from peaceful. Shouldn’t the court dispatch troops to suppress the unrest first?”

“The imperial court is planning to establish a navy,” Bai Jiannan said, looking at the coastline ahead. “However, they’re still arguing over the matter.

“The court is currently divided into several factions, each with their own vested interests.

“Some advocate for it, while others oppose it.”

“What kind of people are advocating for it?” she asked, wondering if they were truly that visionary.

“Heh, those who advocate for it are simply doing so to oppose the other side.”

“Why would they oppose it?”

Bai Jiannan shot her a look. He used to think his sister was quite shrewd, but why did she seem a bit slow on the uptake this time around?

“Those who oppose it already hold shares in these maritime merchant fleets. Naturally, they don’t want the imperial court taking a slice of the pie.”

Bai Suihe slapped her forehead. How could she not have thought of that? It seemed that not being able to go out to sea had temporarily clouded her mind.

“That makes sense. If the imperial court gets involved, everyone’s profits will be diluted.

“Who won the argument in the end?”

“How should I know? Father refuses to hand over those contacts to me,” Bai Jiannan said, his tone dripping with resentment. “I don’t know what the point of him hiding them is. Don’t tell me he wants to give them to those sons born to his concubines.”

Those concubine-born sons were a mixed bag. After receiving their share of the family assets, some became rich overnight and started tossing their money around and squandering it wildly. Others were more conservative, neither buying fields nor land. Who knew what they planned to do by just hoarding the silver they received? With such shortsightedness, it was only a matter of time before they ate through their fortunes.

“Your father is just reluctant to give up his power,” Mrs. Bai said, knowing Bai Jingwen all too well. “Don’t worry. What’s yours is yours, and no one can take it away.

“Besides, he’s right to withhold those connections from you for now. Sometimes, his old reputation still carries weight.

“If anything major were to happen, he would definitely inform you. Right now, you should focus on developing your own businesses and expanding your own networks. What you hold in your own hands is what truly belongs to you.”

Mrs. Bai had her own hidden thoughts. She actually knew all about the network of connections in Bai Jingwen’s hands. Dealing with those nobles not only required maintaining a subservient posture but also offering frequent tributes. If Bai Jingwen was reluctant to let go, then it was best he held onto it indefinitely.

It was truly tough on him to endure all that just for a laughable shred of power and pride.

“But at the end of the day, he’s still holding me by the throat,” Bai Jiannan muttered. The taste of being the Family Head was too sweet, and he wanted more control.

“That’s the only joy your father has left,” Mrs. Bai teased. “Since the family assets have already been divided among you, just treat him as your intelligence chief. Is there anything you want to know that he wouldn’t tell you?”

Bai Suihe chimed in in agreement. “Mother has a point. Just treat him as your most trustworthy employee. He’s our biological father; he would never try to scam us.”

Bai Jiannan was now the Family Head of the Bai Family. Even for the sake of the Bai Family, Bai Jingwen had to take him into consideration.

“I know all that,” Bai Jiannan said. “It’s just that whenever I think about having to share these resources with others, I still feel a bit uneasy.”

“Oh, you. In this regard, you’re not as good as your father,” Mrs. Bai said earnestly. “Why do you think he’s clinging to this last bit of power? Perhaps he’s trying to sound an alarm for you.

“How long have you been the Family Head? Yet you already want more, and your ego is starting to swell. This is quite dangerous.”

Bai Suihe glanced at Mrs. Bai, thinking that if she wanted to lecture her son, she could have at least done it in private. How were they supposed to get along as siblings in the future with this kind of awkwardness?

Mrs. Bai, however, didn’t think of it that way. She felt that since they were all family, there was no issue of losing face. “You can’t lose sight of yourself just because people outside sing your praises.

“Everything you have now was given to you by your father, along with the formulas provided by your sister. It was by relying on these two things that you were able to establish a firm foothold so quickly.

“Believe it or not, anyone else with such a starting point could have done just as well.”

Bai Jiannan’s face stiffened. “Mother, you’ve been having people watch me.”

“Do I even need to send people to watch you?” Mrs. Bai countered. “I see your changes every single day. Those people surrounding you are probably inflating your ego with all sorts of flowery flattery, right?

“Your father was exactly the same back in the day. I was already married to him then, and he was even older than you are now. Yet, it was the same story—the moment he became the Family Head, it went straight to his head.

“At the time, the moment your grandmother noticed the signs, she forced him to kneel in front of the ancestral hall. He knelt for three days and three nights before she finally asked if he had reflected on his mistakes.

“Your grandmother didn’t explain a single thing to him then. Naturally, without any guidance, your father endured three days of brutal punishment without even knowing what he had done wrong.”

Hearing this untold embarrassing story, Bai Jiannan’s previous discomfort vanished completely. Instead, he perked up his ears. So his father had been just like him in his youth. He wondered who had been worse.

“What happened next?” Bai Suihe asked, playing along tactfully. She could tell that Mrs. Bai was using this to teach her son a lesson.

“Later, your father stubbornly refused to repent. After he was let out, he continued to mix with his bad crowd, spending his days drinking and womanizing. That was also when he brought back his first concubine.”

Bai Suihe stepped forward and held Mrs. Bai’s hand. Her mother might not care now and could brush it off lightly as a joke, but back then, it must have hurt her deeply.