And the reason she had not married in all these years
also had a great deal to do with that man.
Because she had once been bound to such a man, whenever she met any man now, she would think back to that man without meaning to.
And in the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire now, never mind finding someone like that man; even a tenth of him
was hard to find.
After all, that man had become the dream lover of countless young women.
In her own circle alone, nine women in ten were taken with that man.
That included women already married, and their husbands were not jealous of it in the least.
For these men too admired that man's excellence from the bottom of their hearts.
There was no getting around it.
For this reason too, Jiang Shasha naturally could not find a man she could truly accept.
Seeing his daughter like this, he naturally knew what she was thinking.
Father Jiang could only sigh, and said nothing more.
Then, naturally, came going over the accounts.
"We made a bit less this time, but at least we didn't lose. When we get back this time and pay the drivers' and workers' wages for the month, there'll be enough to buy another transport truck. The way things are going now, within three years we'll be able to trade up to a T3-grade interstellar transport ship at least!" Father Jiang counted over the accounts, reckoning up the days ahead.
And just then there were a lot of people running about outside the truck.
The Jiang father and daughter were drawn too, and climbed down from the truck.
He caught hold of an old acquaintance and asked, "Old Jin, what are you running for?"
"Old Jiang! Great news. Today one of the Northern Resource Extraction Group's top people has come to inspect our resource planet. They say she's looking for some partners to build an interstellar transport fleet of the Northern Resource Extraction Group's own. And the picks will come first from the transport convoys that have worked with the Northern Resource Extraction Group before." When Old Jin had said this, he ran straight on ahead.
One of the Northern Resource Extraction Group's top people was putting together a partner fleet?
At this news, the eyes of both Father Jiang and Jiang Shasha lit up.
The fastest way for a person to come by wealth is to lean against a great tree.
In the last ten years, the Jiang family, with no connections and no backer, had only been able to build up bit by bit on its own efforts.
After all, for someone to be willing to back you, you first need ability and some family fortune.
If you were penniless, who would want to back you?
And now here was such a chance before them.
Not only could they get into the transport-ship trade at the lowest cost; they could find a backer too.
Both Father Jiang and Jiang Shasha knew very well that for them it was simply a chance in a thousand years.
If they missed it this time, who knew when such a chance would come again?
"Shasha, come on! Whatever happens, let's go and see." Father Jiang at once took his daughter by the hand, left the convoy with his workers, and went off with the crowd toward an important hall in the distance.
That hall was where the loading site's important business was usually handled.
Only there could so many people gather, and all the heavy business be dealt with.
When someone from above came to inspect, it was usually in this hall too.
For the surface of the planet outside was not pleasant; there was blowing sand everywhere, and at worst there were even sandstorms or tornadoes.
So, as a rule, no one cared to walk about outside in such foul conditions.
As they hurried along,
Jiang Shasha saw a shuttle on the landing pad behind the hall; by its shape alone, one could tell it was no ordinary shuttle.
Down on her luck as Jiang Shasha was now, she had been a student at the Northstar Starship Military Academy in her day; she might not have been outstanding, but she still had something of an eye.
She looked hard through the blowing sand, studying the shuttle carefully.
Suddenly she saw a blazon on the shuttle's body.
Her pupils changed slightly.
Her steps faltered just then too.
Seeing his daughter not following behind, Father Jiang at once turned back, caught Jiang Shasha's hand and ran on.
"What are you standing there gaping for? We seldom get a chance to see such a big figure. When we get there, we'll push to the front and find a way to slip them our card. They may not take any notice of us. But what if they do? That'll be the day the Jiang family soars!" Father Jiang's voice was full of excitement, as if he were really about to hit the jackpot!
But Jiang Shasha kept her head down just then, and said with a troubled look, "But… but the blazon on that shuttle is the Li family's crest."
"The Li family? Which Li family? The state we're in now, why do you care what Li family it is, or Zhang, or Song?" Father Jiang said crossly.
"The Li family of the Northern Goose Group," Jiang Shasha said crossly.
When he heard it was that Li family, Father Jiang stopped short too.
He hesitated a moment, but still said, "This… it may… not be any of those Lis. After all, the Li family has so many people at the top; it can't be such a coincidence. And now the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's top ranks are bound to include those few families; if we want to climb, we can't avoid dealing with them. Unless we leave the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire. We… we'd still better go and see; we may be able to catch this chance," Father Jiang said in a low voice.
Jiang Shasha said nothing.
Looked at coolly, her father was beyond doubt right.
They were in business now; naturally they had to seize every chance there might be.
But it still sat ill with her.
It was a feeling she could not explain or put into words.
"All right, hurry up and keep up." Father Jiang pulled his daughter along, pushing forward.
All Jiang Shasha could do just then was pray silently that the one she met here would not be a Li she knew.
For among the Lis, Li Wei had known her back then and would recognize her; after all, Li Wei had been Zhao Chen's good friend at the time.
No one knew better than Li Wei what had happened between her and Zhao Chen.
And Li Yaqi seemed to know something of it too, but because of the difference in their standing, and what came afterward, Li Yaqi probably would not remember a small figure like her.
Very soon the two of them reached the hall.
Jiang Shasha saw a woman in the middle of the hall with people gathered around her like stars around the moon.
The woman was dressed as a lady of high rank, in splendid clothes, with fair skin; she looked like a young girl.
Had she still been of noble standing, Jiang Shasha thought, perhaps she too would have looked like this now.
So she thought to herself, and at the same time she let out her breath: this was not a Li she knew.
So naturally no one would expose who she was here.
Mind you, ever since that affair, what the Jiang family feared most was people learning who Jiang Shasha was.
For that, Jiang Shasha had even changed her name.
Her father still called her Shasha,
but in fact, to the outside world, Jiang Shasha went by the name Jiang Sha.
And unless someone paid special attention, no one would think of this old bit of gossip about the Owl Dragon Emperor from so long ago.
But to return to the matter.
Around this Li family lady were a good many bodyguards.
And the top person in charge here was keeping her company beside her, all smiles.
From this alone it could be seen that this Li family lady was of no ordinary standing.
"Madam, everyone on this list is one of the private transport-truck partners who've done well here. They'd all be very glad to work with us. I promise, any one of the people on this list can become a partner of the Li family and add bricks and tiles to the Li family's house!" the person in charge here said eagerly.
On the electronic display before him were the names of some partners who handled surface transport:
the Flying Sand Transport Convoy, the Big Brother Transport Convoy, the Young Zhang Transport Convoy, and so on.
For these convoys to be picked out by this top person in charge and set straight before this Li family lady, apart from having some strength of their own,
if anyone present believed there were no back-room dealings in it at all,
they would be alone.
And this lot, who had scrambled through the marketplace for years, were naturally not willing to let this chance go either.
So they had gathered here.
"Madam, I'm with the Swift-Foot Transport Convoy. Our convoy's transport record has been very good so far. We mean to go into interstellar trade transport in future too. If you're willing to work with us, we'll take the smallest share; please consider us, Madam."
"Our convoy will take one-tenth of the partnership! We'll take only one-tenth of the profits and give all the rest to the Li family. We can even sign a permanent partnership with the Li family; we'll serve the Li family loyally forever!"
"We don't want any shares at all; we'll supply the labor! We're willing to run this interstellar transport fleet for the Li family; just give us a chance to make a living."
Everyone present was trying every way they could to catch this Li family lady's eye, even ready to sign themselves into "bondage".
For they knew very well that the gains in front of them were small.
If they could really get the Li family as a backer, then even a sesame seed's worth of profit falling from the Li family would be enough to stuff them full and keep them rich and grand for life.
The lady looked at the noisy crowd around her and knit her brows slightly.
At this the person in charge flew into a rage at the security guards around them: "What are you all good for? How did you let these people come pouring in? Get them out, quick! If they disturb the Madam, can you take the blame for it!"
At the order of the person in charge, the security guards around at once swung their batons and drove all these people out.
But even with batons landing on them, these people kept shouting.
Even after all of them had been driven out of the hall, they still did not leave.
They waited anxiously outside the hall's floor-to-ceiling windows; for fear the Li family lady could not hear them, they took to holding up signs with the names of their outfits written on them.
"Too bad; I didn't get in." Father Jiang held his arm.
"Father, is your arm all right?" Jiang Shasha looked at her father, her heart aching.
She had just seen her father's arm take a hard blow.
Jiang Shasha's feelings were very mixed; she was angry and furious, and yet ashamed.
And she knew this scene very well, in truth.
Ten years before, when she had still been the Jiang family's eldest young lady,
when the Jiang family meant to expand and take on partners below them, those at the bottom had all behaved just like this.
To work with the Jiang family, they would offer all kinds of favorable terms, even pay some small prices.
Some sent gifts in private, sent women, sent rare treasures.
By comparison, what was happening here was nothing.
And whether they were picked in the end was like winning the lottery.
After all, there were a great many resource planets like this one; they might be only one choice among thousands.
So Jiang Shasha did not think she would have such good luck.
Inside the hall,
the Li family lady did not even look at the list the person in charge had given her; instead she said, "Give me every transport order you've taken here this year."
At these words, the person in charge was dumbfounded.
"This… there are a great many transport orders; reading them all would be very tiring."
The Li family lady looked at the person in charge and said coldly, "What, my word doesn't count now?"
"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I'll see to it right away, I'll see to it right away." The person in charge went at once to handle it.
He dared not go against this lady's wishes in the least.
For this lady's standing really was no ordinary one; if he offended this lady,
never mind himself, even the backer behind him could not save him, and might even have him put to death on the spot.
For this Li family lady was no ordinary lady.
She was the wife of Li Wei, the present head of the Li family, and was known as Madam Miao.
And as everyone knew, after Madam Miao married into the Li family, she began handling some of the Li family's business affairs.
And Madam Miao had shown no small gift for it; during that time she had even been praised by Li Yaqi.
It was after that that Li Yaqi felt easy handing all the Li family's affairs over to Li Wei and his wife.
Li Yaqi had told her younger brother then that he could discuss every important matter with his wife.
And if he and his wife disagreed, he was to listen to his wife.
When Li Wei heard this, he was dumbfounded himself; he thought his sister must have misspoken. How could she be siding with an outsider?
Was his wife Li Yaqi's sister, or was he her brother?
Li Yaqi had only tossed back one sentence: In business I look only at ability and gift; the Li family's affairs belong to whoever is ablest. And you, Li Wei, have some ability now, but at this, three of you aren't a match for your wife.
After this verdict, Li Wei was hurt and sad for a long while.
He even refused to accept it, and quietly matched himself against his wife in several business ventures.
And the result, without exception, was that every time he came away beaten.
After that he was fully won over by his wife; the wife he had married turned out to be a great figure in business too.
He might not have the gift for it himself, but he had the gift of choosing a wife.
And wasn't his wife's success the same as his own?
Li Wei took a very broad view of this; anyway, he and his wife were one and the same.
So there was no need to be so petty about it.
And after that, Madam Miao's standing in the Li family rose with the tide.
By now she was even second only to Li Yaqi.
Li Yaqi no longer meddled in the Li family's affairs now; she had withdrawn from them entirely and thrown herself heart and soul into her work with the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Li Yaqi was even serving now as the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire's Imperial Minister of Commerce.
Naturally she had little energy left to see to the Li family's affairs.
And once Madam Miao had shown what she could do, the Li family trusted Madam Miao all the more.
So, naturally, Madam Miao's standing rose above Li Wei's.
Li Wei instead became the Li family's number three.
But to return to the matter.
At Madam Miao's demand, a new data file very soon appeared before Madam Miao.
Madam Miao opened it and plugged in a device she had brought with her, and very soon the data was sorted into categories.
Then several names could be seen rising to the top.
The person in charge beside her was dumbfounded when he saw these names.
He was the person in charge here; he naturally knew what each of these names stood for.
And some of these names were convoys on the list he had submitted just now, and some were not.
Now Madam Miao began going over these few convoys in detail, and struck them off one by one,
until at last only one name was left:
the Jiang Family Convoy.
"This Jiang Family Convoy is rather interesting." Madam Miao looked at this Jiang Family Convoy with some interest.
The person in charge beside her cut in at once: "Madam, this Jiang Family Convoy hasn't got much to it. So far, the Jiang Family Convoy has only ten transport trucks; here it's a small trader at most. Its holdings all together don't even rank in the upper middle among these people."
"I have eyes. Can't I see for myself?" Madam Miao threw out these words without warning.
They frightened the person in charge into pulling in his head, and he did not dare say another word.
And Madam Miao went on just then, "Have the people in charge of this Jiang Family Convoy brought here. I want to see them."
"Yes." The person in charge dared not try any more little schemes now; he could tell that this Li family lady was already displeased with him.
If he stirred up any more trouble, he would probably lose his post.
Then he would just have to give up on those few fellows; at worst he would hand back the things they had sent him, and that would be that.
So long as he kept his post, why worry about lining his pockets?
Thinking this, he soon had someone call the people in charge of the Jiang Family Convoy.
The Jiang father and daughter, who had been waiting outside, heard that the Li family lady inside wanted to see them.
Looks of disbelief came over the faces of Father Jiang and Jiang Shasha alike; they had never imagined that now, of all times,
that Li family lady would want to meet the people of their Jiang Family Convoy.
This drew everyone else's notice too, and they all cast looks of jealousy and envy at them.
Father Jiang hastily beat a few times at his dust-covered clothes, then pulled his daughter along and went in, delighted.
Very soon the two of them were brought before the Li family lady.
The Li family lady sat on a sofa, drinking something or other.
"Hurry and pay your respects to the lady," the person in charge said beside them.
Father Jiang stepped forward at once to bow, and said with an awkward smile, "I'm Jiang Xiong, in charge of the Jiang Family Convoy; I pay my respects to you, Madam."
"Jiang Sha, of the Jiang family, pays her respects to the Madam," Jiang Shasha said beside him with her head lowered, very respectfully.
"I'm rather interested in your Jiang Family Convoy. I've looked at the transport orders you've taken here, and some of your records. You first appeared here five years ago. At that time you registered a transport-convoy slot here, then bought your first transport truck, and began running transport from then on. Then, in the second year, your convoy had a second transport truck. In the third year, you had a third and a fourth. And now your convoy has ten transport trucks. Your growth may not look very fast, but you haven't worked with anyone; you did all of this yourselves. And your share of profit looks small. But on average it has grown at 3% every month. Basically you've managed growth of over 40% a year. Over these five years, your profit has grown more than fivefold from five years ago. To build a small convoy from nothing and keep such a steady rate of growth over five years shows you have plans and arrangements, and that you're never greedy. The orders you take are matched to what you can carry. I'm curious: who's in charge of running your convoy?" Madam Miao looked at the two of them with interest.
Father Jiang looked back without thinking at Jiang Shasha behind him.
Jiang Shasha kept her head down and said nothing.
"Raise your head." From that tiny movement Madam Miao saw that Jiang Shasha was out of the ordinary, and told her so.
Jiang Shasha did not raise her head.
The person in charge beside them at once scolded her: "The Madam told you to raise your head; didn't you hear!"
Hearing herself scolded, Jiang Shasha knew too that such rudeness might hurt her family.
So she could only raise her head obediently.
Looking at Jiang Shasha before her, a strange look flickered in Madam Miao's eyes.
Then she paused and said, "Our Li family is willing to invest in your Jiang family. You'll need to build a transport fleet of thirty interstellar transports within three months. The Li family will bear the costs; you'll handle the running of it. Any problem with that?"
At these words from Madam Miao, Father Jiang and Jiang Shasha were both dumbfounded.
In Father Jiang's clouded eyes were disbelief, and tears of excitement.
Just then Madam Miao stood up and walked toward the landing pad behind the hall.
"See me out. Someone will be in touch with you about the contracts for the partnership later." Madam Miao stopped and looked at Jiang Shasha.