After he finished speaking, he sighed, “It’s a pity that my way of making money is extremely profitable. It only requires a small initial investment, and then the wealth will pour in endlessly. Forget it, why am I telling you all this? I’m going out for a walk, you just stay at home.”

“Big brother, big brother, wait a moment.”

The little money-grubber’s eyes were already starting to shine with a golden light.

He hurriedly called out, grabbing William Harris’s sleeve. “Big brother, let’s talk some more, let’s talk some more… To be honest, if it’s just a few strings of coins, I can grit my teeth and scrape it together. But if we have to alarm mother, I’m just worried that if we lose everything, she’ll definitely be angry. Then it’ll surely get to father, and I really can’t handle that.”

You’d go and tell father?

William Harris sneered, but his face changed to a different expression.

“If you really can come up with it, I guarantee you’ll make a huge profit.

How about this, we brothers can work together, and I’ll give you a ten percent cut… Honestly, if you weren’t my brother, I wouldn’t bother with you at all. No matter what you’ve done before, as the saying goes, you can’t write two ‘Yang’ characters with one stroke—we’re family in the end. Those few strings of coins, you’ll be able to get back ten or even a hundred times the profit in the future. Think about it carefully, doesn’t that make sense?”

Ryan Harris was clever, but after all, he was just a thirteen-year-old child.

Hearing William Harris say this, he couldn’t help but get excited.

“Is there really money to be made?”

“Of course, why would I lie to you?”

William Harris spoke so persuasively that Ryan Harris was completely swept away.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, took out a few strings of copper coins from the pouch at his waist, and said in a low voice, “I only have five hundred coins on me, but there’s still some savings at home. Big brother, this is all I have, you mustn’t trick me.”

“Of course, of course, why would I trick you?”

William Harris put his arm around Ryan Harris’s neck and began to whisper.

At this moment, Emily walked in from outside. Seeing the two brothers with their arms around each other, her little face immediately fell, looking quite unhappy.

However, Ryan Harris was in no mood to care about Emily’s attitude right now.

“Big brother, I’ll go get the money now. I’ll definitely be back before dark.”

“Go on, go on, the sooner the better.”

Chapter 10: The Big Business (Part 2)

William Harris watched Ryan Harris leave before withdrawing his gaze and walking over to Emily.

“What’s wrong, Emily? You look unhappy. Did someone bully you?”

“Brother Sizi shouldn’t be nice to Second Young Master. Yesterday he bullied mother and Emily, how can Brother Sizi treat him like this?”

Emily pouted, her face full of ‘I’m not happy’.

William Harris laughed, squatted down and tried to hug her, but Emily dodged away and ran straight to the flowerbed. William Harris shook his head, walked over to the flowerbed, and picked up Emily. This time, Emily didn’t try to escape.

“Don’t be upset, Emily. Brother Sizi is just using Erlang, that’s why he’s being nice to him.

Brother Sizi loves Emily the most. Once I’m done using Erlang, I’ll definitely find a way to deal with him and help Emily get revenge, okay?”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Only then did a smile appear on Emily’s face. “Brother Sizi, you must avenge Emily.”

“Got it.”

Seeing Emily happy, William Harris finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Where’s aunt?”

“Mother is making a fire, preparing dinner for Brother Sizi.”

“That’s perfect, I have something I want to ask aunt about.”

As he spoke, William Harris walked into his bedroom, picked up a stack of papers from the bedside table, took Emily’s little hand, and headed straight for the kitchen.

He asked The Harris Family if there were any craftsmen in the village. The Harris Family told him that Old Grant at the village entrance was the best craftsman around. After hearing this, William Harris took Emily and left the house. By now, it was already afternoon. The sunlight slanted across the village path, with no one in sight along the way. The whole village was quiet, filled with a kind of intoxicating tranquility.

Old Grant lived at the village entrance and was a blacksmith.

He looked to be just over fifty, with a dark, shiny face, and spoke with a strong, booming voice.

“What are you making all this stuff for, Dalang?”

Old Grant looked at the drawings William Harris handed him, a puzzled expression on his face.

I hate being called ‘Dalang’!

William Harris forced a smile. “Uncle Hu, please don’t call me Dalang, just call me Sizi.”

“How could I? Dalang is the eldest son of the county constable, it’s only right to address you respectfully. What’s wrong with that? Besides, you calling me Uncle Hu is too much for an old man like me. Why not just call me Old Grant like everyone else in the village?”

“How could I?”

“Why not!”

Old Grant was stubborn too, and the two of them argued for a while over how to address each other.

In the Tang Dynasty, society was still highly hierarchical.

The Yang family wasn’t exactly a noble house, but after all, Yang Chenglie had been the county constable for over a decade and was well respected in Changping. Old Grant was just a craftsman—how could he bear the title of ‘Uncle’? If word got out, people would just laugh.

In the end, the two finally reached an agreement: William Harris would call him Old Grant, and Old Grant would call William Harris ‘Sizi’.