Hearing Anle say this, Anning was not frightened but laughed, and breathed a sigh of relief. The way she held the prayer beads in her hand became more casual.

She assumed Anle was joking with her and didn't take it seriously at all.

It doesn't seem to be anything too valuable. This thing worth a hundred taels of silver is indeed affordable for her family's current financial situation, and it's not too scary.

My younger sister usually gives her mother a hundred taels of silver.

"This looks shiny and much prettier than Cousin Zhiyi's string of beads. I think it's worth at least eighty taels of silver." Anning smiled and chatted casually, yet still gave a price quote in a very professional manner.

Anle's lips twitched, and she shrugged. Oh well, her silly sister doesn't know its value, so she decided not to scare her and just treat it as a worthless trinket.

That way, her silly sister can accept this thing and wear it with more peace of mind.

I won't explain, mainly because I'm afraid her delicate heart can't handle it.

"This thing is worth a lot of money. Aren't you short of money right now? Don't give it to us. You should hurry up and sell it to make money." An Ning didn't intend to take it, even though she usually liked to ask for small gifts.

But she really couldn't accept such an expensive gift.

Her family wasn't one of those wealthy and powerful families; as long as she had enough to eat and drink, she was already content.

She could accept a small gift worth a few taels of silver if it came unexpectedly, but she knew how to handle a gift as expensive as this.

"Tsk tsk, Fourth Sister, when did you become so sensible?"

With a slap, Anning pressed Anle's head down and rubbed it hard twice.

"When have I, your fourth sister, ever been so ignorant? Huh? Only you would do something so extravagant, giving us such valuable things so generously."

Just give me a few trinkets worth a few taels of silver, and don't flaunt things like this in front of me again.

Anle tilted her head to the side, dodging Anning's continued claws that were rubbing her head, and pouted.

"This is all you've accomplished in this life. If you don't want to wear it, then keep it. It was originally intended to be a gift for you later, but I've already laid it out with you and am giving it to you ahead of time. Keep it safe."

When Anle buys small gifts for us, she never tells us to keep them safe.

The gift was truly valuable, which is why she said that extra word.

I didn't deliberately mention how valuable it was to them; as I said before, I was afraid their delicate hearts couldn't handle it.

Anyway, they would definitely keep this thing safe in their hands. They would even keep a small trinket worth a few taels of silver safe, let alone something worth eighty taels of silver in their eyes.

After hearing Anle talk about doing jade business, Anjing's expression remained calm, and she even ate absentmindedly.

"Little sister, do you really have to go into the jade business? Can't we do some other small business?" Although their family was a small, poor farming family.

Although they didn't have much of a concept of gemstones, they knew that these were very valuable items.

These are things that only prestigious and powerful families would handle; how could someone like them easily get their hands on them?

Just thinking about it makes her heart pound and she feel uneasy.

"Big sister, don't be so timid. Although the jade business is valuable and has high costs, it's not like you can't do it. Since I've chosen this path, I'm confident I can do it well." Anle didn't know what to say to reassure them, so she could only keep them company.

Just as Anle had said at the dinner table, a few days later the government issued a notice that all the merchants in the original commercial street could only choose one item to sell, but the right to operate the business would not belong to them, but to the government.

They were only qualified to enter the commercial street as laborers, to work for their employers.

Of course, the host family was also the government.

As for the location and type of work, that will be decided by drawing lots for now.

If you have any opinions, you can raise them with the government and report them to the higher authorities. The government can then reassign or adjust your job position.

However, time is limited. Once the scope of work is established, the job must be transferred before starting work, and no further transfers are allowed after starting work.

This is clearly stated in the issued regulations.

"Mother, I want to continue this dessert business. What should we make?" An Ding asked Qiao Qiu Niang.

Their family owns a shop on the commercial street.

Today, the commercial street has been officially renamed Linghe Commercial Street by the government and is no longer regarded as a town, but only as a small area street.

The original shop owners on the commercial street faced a range of choices they had never encountered before, and they had no idea what industries were involved in this commercial street.

Everyone just followed the crowd and decided their jobs by drawing lots. Since they didn't understand the rules and had no opinions to offer, they all obeyed the government's arrangements and did whatever job they were assigned.

Regarding industries, the government provided a very limited range of choices, which were all vague and ambiguous. They didn't specify what the products to be sold were; they only allowed five categories: daily necessities, jewelry, clothing, fruits and vegetables, and food and beverages.

After some hesitation, An Ding chose the food and beverage category.

The family members also gathered together to discuss this matter. Since An Mancang was not present, the only one who could vote was Qiao Qiuniang.

Although Anle was in charge, she surprisingly didn't make the decision on this matter, but instead asked Qiao Qiuniang to discuss it with her family and make a decision.

An Ning pursed her lips and gently bit them.

"The government says they've made arrangements, but can they really make those arrangements? If we report it up to higher authorities and they don't make any arrangements, then we're just wasting our time here."

An Yi didn't think the idea was unreliable.

"I think the government is always quite reliable when it comes to doing things. If you submit a report, it will definitely be approved. Let's make desserts."

Didn't my little sister sell the secret recipe to the government? They'll probably open a dessert shop or something, and we can go back to our old business.

We've done what we needed to do, submitted the report, and now we just wait for further instructions.

An Ning muttered a complaint under her breath.

"I don't know how other businesses operate. With so many merchants, do they all just follow orders?"

An Yi raised an eyebrow.

"What else can we do but go against the government? Besides, the regulations issued by the government are quite beneficial to the people."

Moreover, I've seen quite a few of these merchants take the money and run, all happy as can be, with no intention of ever coming back. How many of them will actually stay?