These days, Su Qingluan has been busy delivering "charcoal gift packs" and cotton gloves modified and made by Yang to each household during the day, and suddenly her time has become more fulfilling.

On this day, an "uninvited guest" arrived at the Su family's door. Although Su Qingluan did not recognize the visitor's face, the exquisite workmanship of the suit, the material far beyond the reach of ordinary people, and the familiar style made Su Qingluan understand that the person in front of her was from the Xie Mansion.

The boy was still wearing a short, cross-collared robe, but it was thicker than he had imagined. The collar and cuffs were sewn with a layer of fluffy cotton, making it look very warm.

Su Qingluan secretly envied him: Even the Xie Mansion in Lefeng County, where the young master Xie Zian was supposed to "reflect on his mistakes," must have at least a hundred servants. If each person had a set of cotton-padded clothes like this, the amount of cotton used would be quite considerable!

What's even more enviable is that these people may have more than one set of cotton-padded clothes. And the Su family has to calculate when buying some cotton to make cotton gloves.

After all, this era was not like the modern era with abundant materials and convenient transportation, so cotton was naturally limited.

Most of it was used when making cotton clothes, and the remaining part was used to make gloves, which in a sense was a stopgap measure.

But Su Qingluan also knew that she couldn't just take other people's cotton, so she could only feel a little envious in her heart and secretly made up her mind to put buying cotton on her plan list for next year.

The servant only felt that the look that the Su family lady opposite was giving him—or, more precisely, her clothes—was a little strange. He didn't take it too seriously, but simply smiled and bowed, "Madam Su, Steward Xie invites you to move to the Xie Mansion."

Su Qingluan raised her eyebrows: Judging from the tone of his words, this batch of 100 sets of jam should be selling well.

Su Qingluan had a plan in mind. She went back to the room and informed Yang, who was designing a new pattern, then turned around and got on the carriage of the Xie Mansion.

After the recent hardship of the donkey cart, Su Qingluan sat in this spacious carriage with a hand warmer, caressing the carriage seat carefully wrapped in layers of soft cloth and cotton. She couldn't help but sigh: thinking back to when she had just traveled through time and rode this carriage for the first time, she thought, "So what if the ancients had money? They could still play bumper cars even without asphalt roads and rubber tires."

She never thought that only a few months had passed. There is no harm without comparison. Although she still understands rationally that this carriage is far inferior to modern cars, compared with the donkey cart that is leaky and rigid, it is already a super luxurious treatment!

Well, there aren't many cars or roads these days anyway. It's already a rare opportunity to ride in a carriage like this, so why would I need a bicycle? Su Qingluan consoled herself like this.

While I was daydreaming, the carriage stopped.

Judging from the sounds outside, although the carriage did not go through the main gate, it was also not the back door that Su Qingluan had come here through as a simple "cook" several times before. It should be the side door that ordinary people in the Xie Mansion had to pass through when entering and leaving.

And this time when Su Qingluan entered Xie Mansion, no one asked her to get off the car first.

When the carriage outside stopped, Su Qingluan lifted the curtain and saw that the servant who had been driving the carriage had already lay down under the carriage very obediently, making himself a good "human stepping stone".

Su Qingluan's mouth twitched when she saw this. She swiftly supported the car board with one hand and jumped down from the other end. She looked back at the "pedal" on the ground and said, "What are you doing lying there? Let's go!"

The servant was stunned when he heard this, and quickly got up from the ground and led the way.

Aunt Zhang has already returned to the capital. This time, Su Qingluan only has to face the steward Xie Deshun, who smiles like Maitreya Buddha.

Of course, no matter how kindly the Maitreya steward smiled, Su Qingluan did not forget that he was plotting against her and her family. If it were not for Mu Xingzhi's men secretly protecting her, she would have been in trouble!

However, from a business perspective, Su Qingluan did not intend to make the situation too awkward - of course, the most fundamental reason was that although she had the basic personal safety guarantee from Mu Xingzhi, she did not have the confidence to use a feather as a token of authority to directly confront a wealthy family like the Xie Mansion.

"Thank you, Steward, it's been a long time since we last met. You still look very energetic and radiant!" Su Qingluan, as the younger and more vulnerable partner, was the first to speak up and greet him. However, because she had not systematically studied ancient etiquette, and because she felt a little unhappy, her gesture seemed a bit perfunctory to Xie Deshun.

Upon hearing this, Xie Deshun immediately smiled and bowed cordially, "Thank you for Madam Su's kind words. I haven't seen you for a while, and you've become even more radiant!"

In fact, Xie Deshun didn't want to be so attentive and smile, but he really couldn't figure out who was protecting Su Qingluan behind her.

More importantly, it was Xie Xuanfan's attitude...

Several thoughts flashed through his mind at once, and Xie Deshun smiled even more kindly: "Ah, Madam Su, please go into the front hall and sit for a while. I'll have someone prepare some tea and snacks."

As he spoke, he instructed a maid to lead the way and another to prepare tea and snacks.

Su Qingluan did not beat around the bush and calmly did what the other party said, just to see what kind of show Manager Xie was going to perform today.

The two of them chatted, drank tea and enjoyed snacks. Su Qingluan seemed to be there just to chat and eat. She didn't say anything else at all, just talked about all kinds of food from all over the world.

Originally, Xie Deshun thought that Su Qingluan was just a little yellow-haired girl. Although she was a little smart and could guess the purpose of his inviting her this time, he couldn't help but ask her. However, he never expected that the other party could sit on the stool better than himself.

The tea had already been brewed twice, and it seemed that this idle chatter was still a distant prospect. Finally, Xie Deshun could no longer hold back and asked, "Madam Su, do you understand why I asked you to come here this time?"

Su Qingluan sneered in her heart, but on the surface she looked innocent and pure: "I don't know, the weather has been getting colder recently, and our village is busy preparing firewood for the winter, so we don't have the energy to think about other places!"

Xie Deshun was met with a cold shoulder, feeling somewhat unwilling to accept it. However, after several attempts at circumvention, Su Qingluan still refused to fall for him. He had no choice but to say, "Madam Su, aren't you worried at all about the sales of your jam in the capital?"

"I'm not worried." Su Qingluan said confidently, "If the jam doesn't sell well, I'm afraid Manager Xie will be furious, turning from a kindly Maitreya Buddha into a wrathful Vajra."

Xie Deshun was embarrassed when he heard this: "Madam Su, that's not the case. I have my own difficulties too..."

"I understand," Su Qingluan nodded. "So even though I worked overtime late into the night, didn't I lead the workers to finish making the jam?"

Xie Deshun's mouth twitched: "Madam Su has worked hard."

"It's not hard work, it's just a hard life," Su Qingluan sighed and put down her teacup. "I was thinking, the 'Su Ji' fruit jam in the capital is in short supply and the price is 20 taels of gold a bottle, and I can only get the previous price. Isn't it unfair for Butler Xie?"