To be honest, it was just a casual remark to Su Yujin back then.

He simply felt she was getting bored staying in the backyard all the time, and worried she might be too embarrassed to go out because of his status, so he just found an excuse to let her go for a walk.

Later, he completely forgot about it.

Unexpectedly, Su Yujin remembered everything clearly and had even prepared all these things quite properly.

This way, once he brought these things back, he would definitely be able to make Father, Mother, Zǔmǔ, as well as Wàizǔfù and Wàizǔmǔ very happy.

Could she consider it a favor?

He Yanxiu nodded approvingly, “Well done.”

He then gestured for Xing’an to bring out the silver notes, took them himself, and handed them to Su Yujin. “The silver I gave you earlier probably wasn’t enough to buy all this.”

“It’s alright, I added a little,” Su Yujin said with a smile as she accepted the silver notes. “Second Master is usually very generous, often giving me pocket money. This is just a small token of my appreciation.”

The items were indeed over a hundred taels more than the silver He Yanxiu had given her before. As Su Yujin said, she didn’t mind, simply adding some herself as a token of respect to He Yanxiu.

After all, she received many rewards from him, and it was only right to repay him.

It would also leave a good impression on the Second Master, so she could receive more in the future.

Right now, she had exchanged a hundred taels of silver for two hundred taels, hadn’t she?

Being generous to the Second Master would ensure he was even more generous to her!

Su Yujin felt she needed to remember this principle.

“Thank you, Second Master.” Su Yujin thanked him again, saw He Yanxiu onto the carriage, and watched it gradually disappear into the distance.

After standing at the street corner for a while, Su Yujin went home to rest briefly, changed into a pair of more comfortable shoes, and then took Ai Cao out for a walk. She wanted to inspect her businesses!

First, she went to Su’s Shop.

Because of Qingkui, everyone at Su’s Shop already knew that Su Yujin had returned from Hedong Prefecture. When they saw her come into the shop, they all put down what they were doing and surrounded Su Yujin, talking to her.

“It’s been more than half a year since you left, Miss. We’ve all been very worried about you. But we also know you’ve been thinking about the shop. Let me tell you about the situation there first.”

Shuangye hurriedly reported on the shop’s situation over the past six months. “Business has been booming. It’s just that when the weather got hot, I took the liberty of removing the mutton soup and replacing it with cold noodles in chili oil. I also added Sichuan peppercorn chicken shreds to the noodles according to Mama Liu’s recipe, and they all sold very well.”

“The money is still given to Mama Liu every day. I guess Mama Liu has converted it into banknotes and kept them for you. I’ve carefully calculated that the net profit each month over the past six months has been more than two hundred taels of silver.”

“This is the account book for the past six months. I’ve recorded every expense and daily profit. Would you like to take a look?”

Su Yujin took the account book and flipped through it briefly.

The handwriting could not be called elegant, but it was fair and just. Every stroke was remembered clearly, and the final balance was the same amount of silver that Liu Mama had given her yesterday.

Shuangye was meticulous in her work, and the shop was well-organized. After inspecting it, Su Yujin nodded in satisfaction, “Not bad.”

After a moment, she exclaimed, “Eh?” “I don’t remember you being able to write before?”

Shuangye was from a farming family, the eldest sister. She had only offered to sell herself to support her family when they were truly destitute.

Given her family’s circumstances, Shuangye should have been illiterate, and Su Yujin didn’t recall Shuangye being literate when she first bought her.

To be precise, Su’s shop had never kept accounts before, because Shuangye had a good memory and was meticulous in her work, so Su Yujin trusted her completely and didn’t want to add to their burden.

Shuangye blushed slightly, then said, “I learned it after Miss and Second Master went out. I don’t know many characters; at most, I can only keep accounts. After learning to read and write and simple accounting methods, I felt that although our Su’s shop is not big, everything should still have some rules and be done properly. If we forget about money matters at any time, having the accounts here will avoid back-and-forth disputes. It’s good for Miss and for us servants too.”

This was to avoid everyone retreating and yielding to one another later on. Though no one minded the matter of money itself, everyone would still feel a bit uncomfortable inside, and over time, it would instead become easy for resentment to build up.

Seeing that Shuangye’s consideration was so thorough, Su Yujin nodded repeatedly, “That’s right. It’s kind of you to think of everything so completely. By the way, did you learn to read?”

Learning to read was the most troublesome for beginners, requiring a lot of patient instruction. Especially since Shuangye was an adult, her learning ability was not as good as that of a young child, making it even more difficult for her.

Seeing Su Yujin’s question, Shuangye blushed even more, too embarrassed to lift her head.

Xue Rong and the others giggled, leaving Su Yujin somewhat bewildered. “What…is something wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just that Sister Shuangye always goes out after finishing her work in the afternoon, and when she comes back, she’s beaming. Those who know her know she’s gone to learn to read, but those who don’t might think she’s found a gold ingot.”

Seeing Jin Gui’s wink, Su Yujin immediately understood what she meant.

Men should marry when they’re of age, and women should marry when they’re of age. Shuangye was already fifteen years old this year. According to the local marriage customs, fifteen or sixteen was the age for marriage proposals. Shuangye was the eldest daughter in her family, so she was more mature than her peers, and it’s normal for her to have these thoughts.

Su Yujin pressed her lips together and laughed. “Where is he from? Is he a reliable person? If there’s a chance, bring him for me to have a look?”

“Miss, please stop teasing this servant. There’s no such thing,” Shuangye hurriedly explained. “This servant belongs to Miss. In the future, naturally, everything must wait for Miss to decide.”

“I already said before that although I bought all of you, it was mainly to help me do business. It’s not like those great noble households that worry about so many things. And it’s not just you — if any of you meet someone you truly love, bring him for me to see. If he’s suitable, I’ll make the decision for you. When the time comes, this place will serve as your niángjiā, and I’ll prepare your dowry grandly and send you off in style.”

They were all hardworking people, and Su Yujin did not want to mistreat them in this matter.

Su Yujin joked, “But there’s one thing I need to make clear beforehand: after the marriage, you’ll still have to work at Su’s shop. You can’t just get married and be run off to someone else; I won’t stand for that.”

“Don’t even mention being run off to someone else; even if you chase us away, Miss, we won’t leave,” Shuangye said, less shy after Su Yujin’s words. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, Miss, but it’s still nothing serious, and I don’t want to be nosy and cause trouble. We’ll talk to you properly when it’s truly a happy occasion.”   　

Although his words contained hints, these kinds of things needed to be discussed openly.

There was no reason to hide anything.   

(End of Chapter)

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