You Tan Yan had a headache when he heard this, how could he not know that this was a troublesome matter? But what could he do?

When Xiao Tianjian rescued people and stole treasures, he had been worried, thinking that Xiao was clever and would not leave traces, but where did he think that the fat man who was rescued was so stupid, and he secretly ran home to find relatives and friends, but he was caught by Wood's people, and Xiao was confessed. I don't know who told Wood the news that Xiao left on his ship, but the other party thought that he was Xiao's accomplice, and thought that Xiao had stolen the magic crystal in revenge for him.

Wood Auction House has been fighting the idea of his fleet and shop for the past two years, and he knows it. I heard that the backer behind the other party is a new aristocrat who has only made a fortune in recent years, and he is quite powerful in Ito, and he sees that those old aristocratic families are very profitable in the maritime business, and they also want to learn to make a profit, and they are impatient to slowly accumulate strength, so they have set their eyes on other people's fleets, and there are already two Kameccan maritime merchants who have been embezzled all their property by them. Wood had secretly set a trap on him before, intending to devour him step by step. The last time the cargo of the sea ship was damaged, he suffered a loss because he was not aware of it for a while.

Originally, if Wood had pressed too hard, he would have given up Manador's shop and goods, and at most two or three boats, and would have bought him more time, and he would have been able to survive when the money elsewhere arrived. In that case, although he will lose a lot, as long as he avoids the Wood auction house, as the accountant said for a few years of hard work, there is still a chance to recover, and if he can't, he won't go bankrupt.

Xiao's compensation for the 7,500 gold coins for him did him a great favor and prevented him from sacrificing more than half of his family property, but later Xiao's theft of treasures inadvertently caused him to fall into a greater predicament. Now, Wood withheld his ship and cargo, and demanded not only two medium-sea ships and twenty experienced boatmen, but also the return of the water-based magic hedron that day that Xiao had stolen, and an additional one of the same rank.

He already owes Xiao Tianjian 7,500 gold coins, and Xiao Tianjian's principle has always been that the old accounts are not settled, and no new accounts will be added, so it is not easy for him to speak again, and now that Xiao is not here, how can he deal with Wood's greed?

Thinking of this, You Tan couldn't help but have a trace of complaint in his heart about Xiao Tianjian's friend: If you want to save people, you can save people, why do you want to steal other people's magic crystals? If you stole it, why not make things cleaner? Now you can go, my whole crowd is dragged down by you.

But he quickly spit on his own thoughts: It was you who accidentally fell into someone else's trap, Xiao Cai spent a lot of money for no reason, stealing the magic crystal was just to vent his anger, how can you blame him?

His mind was in a mess and he didn't know what to do. He was worried that something would go wrong with the seized ship and cargo, and he would have to lose money to the orderer, but he didn't want to let Wood blackmail, and he was even more afraid of offending the nobles in power in East, and the business would be more difficult to do in the future, and he couldn't think of any way for a while.

"Boss?" Seeing that You Tan didn't answer for a long time, the accountant had to take the initiative to ask, "Haven't you thought about it yet?" ”

You Tan raised his head in annoyance, but just saw two powerful subordinates looking at each other, and immediately understood that they were deliberately pretending to quarrel just now to remind themselves, and he couldn't help but feel a little angry, but soon, his anger disappeared again. At the end of the day, both subordinates were thinking about him, and he shouldn't blame them. So he asked, "What do you have to do, tell me?" ”

The deputy and the accountant were silent, and after a while, the former tentatively said, "I see...... Let's go to the orderer first, tell him honestly, and ask him to postpone the delivery date for a few days? Then we went to the port authority and complained about what Wood had done! They're just an auction house, so why should they detain our boats? ”

"That's useless!" Without waiting for Yutan to express his opinion, the accountant rejected the proposal first, "Letting the orderer know about this is tantamount to telling everyone that our fleet is incompetent and cannot guarantee the safety of the cargo!" And how is it possible that the port office in East, instead of helping their own people, speaks for us, foreign merchants?! Not to mention that Wood has aristocrats behind him! Besides, East's bureaucrats are procrastinating, even if they really deal with this matter fairly, when the verdict is down, we don't know when it will be, and we can't afford to delay it at all! ”

"So what do you say you should do?" The deputy was really a little angry this time, "Double the compensation, twice the compensation!" If something happens to the ship, the damage is even greater. And if Wood really did as the letter said, and let those nobles order us forbidden to go ashore to do business, we would never think of turning over! ”

The accountant stopped talking, and he didn't have any good solutions, but he suddenly had a thought: "Speaking of which, the orderer this time seems to have been introduced by an old customer, right?" How did the contract he asked us to sign, and how did the reparations look like Wood's? It's twice as much, and the ships are mostly glassware and porcelain......"

The three men looked at each other, all secretly frightened. If the accountant's guess is true, then, even if they do their best to get back the detained ship, as long as the people on Wood's side do something with the goods on board, or just embezzle them and return them empty, then they will only have to face the claims of the orderer, and at that time, let alone the hard work of several years to restore the family business, I am afraid they will not be able to keep even a ship.

What a poisonous scheme! In this way, Wood and the magnates behind him will not only lose nothing, but also earn back Yutan's entire fleet for nothing, plus a valuable magic crystal. And the Yutan family and his men can only repeat the mistakes of the two maritime merchants in the past.

Yu Tan gritted his teeth, and finally made a decision: "Settle all the money we have on hand, and then inquire where there are magic crystals, as for their original ...... I went to Minna, and when Xiao had given something to the child, I went to ask her for it. Also, go and ask Ruhr, who went to sea with Xiao, which way Xiao was going at that time, and send a clipper to chase them! He only walked for two days, and he didn't bring anyone, so he wouldn't go far, maybe it would be too late. ”

"Is that okay?" The accountant was a little skeptical, "Didn't you say he would never lend money to someone who hadn't paid it back?" ”

"How is it the same now?" The deputy pouted, "He caused this incident at all, and we were all affected by him!" ”

"Okay, don't talk about it, that's it. As long as Xiao came forward, the orderer should be relieved, and the nobles of Ito would not dare to go too far. Yutan sighed slightly. He has been doing this business for decades, starting from scratch and earning today's family business with his own strength, but he didn't expect that he would also rely on the powerful to solve business disputes one day, and he couldn't help but feel a trace of bitterness in his heart.

"Who's out there?!" The accountant suddenly spoke, and then rushed over to open the door, only to see that there was Corbin standing outside the door. He frowned: "It's you?" What are you doing here?! Yutan and the others both looked at each other vigilantly.

Corbin hurriedly bowed to Youtan and said, "Boss, the villain is here to see you today, just now the housekeeper brought me over, because suddenly there were guests, the housekeeper went to greet the guests, so let the villain wait outside the door." The villain did absolutely nothing bad. ”

You Tan narrowed his eyes: "If the butler tells you to wait outside the door, he will let you stand ten meters away from the door, this is the custom." Are you standing in front of the door, really not doing anything? ”

Corbin looked up and saw that the three people in front of him were all looking at him with suspicion, and knew in his heart that he had to give a satisfactory answer, otherwise, his little person would be torn apart at any time. He gritted his teeth and fell to his knees: "Boss, the villain has something important to tell you, it is about the noble lord who is good friends with you. ”

"Oh?" Yutan was a little surprised, but soon understood, "By the way, you were on the ship at the time, you know where he went, right?" Say it! ”

The three of them looked directly at Corbin with eager eyes, and the latter shivered and hesitated for a moment before saying, "The boss doesn't need to look for him anymore, he ...... He went to another world and will not come back at all! ”

"What?!" Yutan jerked to his feet, and the chair beneath him was knocked to the ground with a loud noise.

==================I'm the dividing line ================== that turns the scene back back

When Minna returned to her room, she was in a good mood, and when Sibylla had something to do, she closed the door, cut her finger with the silver knife she used to eat pastries, and bleed, dripping it onto the storage ring, and reciting the spell that her grandfather had taught, and a large hole appeared next to the ring, revealing the contents of it.

The ring's storage space is very large, twice as large as Minna's current room, and it contains a lot of miscellaneous things. Originally, Xiao Tianjian had sorted it out, but before he made a mess in order to select the most needed items and put them in the bracelet. Minna could only tell what was closest to her.

She knew that there was a time limit for this hole, so she didn't think much about it at the moment, and hurriedly took out her satchel, change of clothes, and change bag, and remembered Corbyn's matter, and took two more bags of gold coins, thinking to herself, although she didn't know how much money he owed, two bags of gold coins should be enough, right?

Near the entrance of the cave, there was also the rope hook she used to climb the boat that day, it was wet and smelled of seawater, Minna hurriedly pulled it, ready to turn back and take it back to dry and return it, and then stuffed the magic lamp back, and took some pastries and a travelogue to relieve boredom. At this time, it was almost time for the entrance to the cave to close, so Minna seized the time to find another string of colorful shell necklaces and a black stone pipe, which she planned to give to Yutan's father and daughter as a thank you gift for their stay.

At this moment, the door was suddenly opened, and Sibylla rushed in: "Minna, let's go out and play!" She couldn't help but be stunned when she saw a big hole open in the space in front of Minna, and there were several huge crystals shining inside.

Minna was startled and a little nervous, but luckily the hole was closed, so she took the things on the bed and put them aside, and said to Sibylla with a smile, "Didn't you say that your father wouldn't let you go out?" How can you go out and play again? ”

Sibylla ignored her question, first pounced on her and grabbed her, and asked repeatedly, "What was that just now?" Crystals? Or a gem? Why does it glow? ”

Minna's scalp tingled for a while, thinking that the other party had seen it anyway, so she had to reply, "It's the magic crystal, grandpa gave it to me." ”

"It's so pretty...... Sibylla stared at Minna, "you have so many, just give me one, I like crystals the most, my toys and jewelry, you can take whichever you like." ”

"Nope." Minna frowned and refused, "Those are magic crystals, not ordinary crystals, and you don't know magic, it's too wasteful to give them to you." ”

Sibylla got angry: "What do you mean by that? You've been living in our house for nothing, can't you ask for a piece of crystal? What's the big deal? I've got so many crystals! ”

Minna was very unhappy, but she still didn't forget her grandfather's words of being polite in other people's homes, picked up the colorful shell necklace she had just picked out and said, "I really can't give it to you, you can accept this, it's a gift for you, and it's also beautiful." ”

Sibylla snatched the necklace and threw it on the ground: "I don't want such a cheap thing!" ”

Minna hurriedly picked up the necklace, and when she looked closely, there were already two shells on it that had broken the corners, and she couldn't help but get angry: "If you don't want it, don't want it, why throw it away?!" I picked it up one by one from the beach and strung it into a necklace with my own hands, and I was going to give it to my cousin, because you are my friend, so I will take it out and give it to you. Why did you break it?! ”

"You're embarrassed to say I'm your friend, and you actually send me away with things you give to others? You hate it! Sibylla was so coquettish that she grabbed Minna's clothes and coins and threw them at her.

Minna shouted while hiding, "What are you doing?!" The sound of the dispute between the two spread out of the door, attracting the nanny and the maid, who stopped the two children who turned their faces, and Yutan got the news and hurried over.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw clothes, shoes, socks and money all over the floor, recognized that one of the dresses was worn by Minna, and then listened to the whispered report of the person next to him, and roughly guessed the cause of the incident, so he made a face at his daughter: "Sibyla! How did Dad teach you? When did you learn to be so rude?! Don't apologize to Minna yet! ”

Sibilara never expected that his father, who had always loved him, would scold him, and his eyes were red: "It's her stinginess!" I just want a crystal, she has so many pieces, why can't she give it to me? Glancing at the shell necklace, "Deal with me with that bargain." ”

Minna hurriedly said: "I said a long time ago, those are magic crystals, ordinary people can't use them, they can't be given to you." This necklace is made by myself, and it is different from what is sold outside. ”

"You just hate it anyway!" Sibylla grimaced at her, and coquettishly told her father, but Yutan didn't buy it at all: "Okay, Sibylla, this matter is your fault!" Magic crystals are very valuable things, how can you give them away casually? Apologize! ”

Sibylla was surprised and aggrieved, glanced at Minna again, and then cried and pushed her father away and ran out. The nanny hurriedly followed with two maids.

You Tan sighed and said to Minna, "Does it hurt in your body?" Sibylla is spoiled by me, and she is so rude, and I apologize to you for her. ”

Minna waved her hand hurriedly: "No, in fact, I have something wrong, I shouldn't have quarreled with her......" She glanced at the pipe on the ground that was broken in half with some sadness: "It's a pity, I was going to give that ...... as a gift to you" It seems that I am going to cut my finger again.

Yu Tan smiled and put the pipe away: "It's just right, I want to find a piece of ink stone to make some gadgets, just use this to change it, thank you." After a pause, he said, "You were actually right just now, the magic crystal seems to be no different from the crystal in appearance, but the difference in value is actually more than ten times." How can you give Sibylla a toy? As soon as he said this, his heart suddenly moved, but he quickly suppressed the thought. Wood will definitely find someone to test it, and it is impossible to mix it up with ordinary crystals.

Minna didn't know what he was thinking, but said slightly embarrassed, "I'm sorry, Uncle Yutan, actually...... Grandpa took all the normal crystals with him...... The rest are magic crystals...... If it's something else that isn't too valuable, it's okay to give it to Sibylla, but that piece of water magic crystal was given to me by my grandfather, and I don't want to give it to anyone else. Those others...... Grandpa said it was for Dad, and I couldn't move. ”

You Tan heard Xiao Tianjian say something about his two sons, and probably understood his intentions, but it was really unusual to put so many valuable things on the children, his eyes swept over the ring on Minna's hand, as well as the blood-stained wound that was temporarily bandaged with a handkerchief, and asked a little nervously: "This...... Isn't the ring your grandfather's? Why are you here? ”

Minna was also nervous: "This ...... It was because grandpa was on an adventure and it was inconvenient to take this with him, so he took my storage bracelet and gave this to me......" She began to sweat and felt that this excuse was really not very clever.

You Tan's heart darkened, remembering what Corbin said just now, he knew it in his heart, and reluctantly raised a smile and said: "Then you have to take good care of it, and when your grandfather comes back, you will return it to him." You can play here for two days with peace of mind, and the boat will be arranged soon. ”

Minna smiled sweetly, "Thank you, Uncle Yutan." After sending the other person out of the room, he turned around and packed up the items on the floor and put everything he needed into his small satchel.

As for Yu Tan, as soon as he walked out of the door, his face became gloomy, and he walked back to the study in a daze, ignoring the three people in the room, and sat on the chair, as if he was ten years old in an instant.

Xiao is gone, to another world, although I don't know what that means, but according to Corbyn, nine times out of ten, he will not come back. So what is he going to do?!

He had chills in his body, and even colder in his heart. Without Xiao, he had no one to rely on. If he did not accede to Wood's demand, he would have to pay double the amount to the orderer, and he would probably not be able to do business in Easter in the future; If he agrees, he must find a way to meet all the conditions of the other party, even if he is bankrupt, even if he betrays his friends, but even if he really does this, he may still have to pay double the money to the orderer, and there is a dead end in front of him.

What should he do?

He is old, he is not as energetic as when he was young, and if he goes bankrupt this time, he doesn't know if he can earn another family business and come back. It doesn't matter if he suffers himself, what about Sibylla? Poor little baby, she has not suffered a little since she was born, she has been away for many years, she can't grow up with her, she is already sorry for her, how can she be asked to suffer with herself?

The accountant waited for a long time, and when he saw that You Tan was just in a daze, he asked seriously: "Boss?" Isn't it...... Got the exact news? Corbyn, who was next to him, was also nervous.

Yutan looked up at Corbyn: "I really don't know if I should thank you or hate you......" shattered his illusion, but made him fall so hard.

Corbin lowered his head and did not dare to speak, no matter what, as long as the boss can get through the current difficulties, he will get a big reward, not only will he be able to pay off all his debts, but his mother and sister will be able to live a good life.

The accountant and the deputy were eye-catching: "...... so to speak"

Yu Tan sighed: "That's it...... Do what you have planned......"

He closed his eyes in agony.

(Could this chapter be too complicated?) Can you see it? I've tried to be as clear and detailed as possible...... ）