Since ancient times, wealth has been a powerful motivator.

Besides, the person in front of me is genuinely greedy.

Chen Yuan had witnessed Gu An'an's attitude of "go ahead and use money to humiliate me."

The fact that a scholar who had passed the imperial examination was offering free lessons was truly touching to Gu An'an.

After all, he was the same Sun Hanzhou who dared to defy the Emperor back then. What wouldn't he do?

Chen Yuan remained silent, but Gu An'an chuckled softly upon hearing this, "There's never been such a thing as a free lunch in this world. My little shop isn't a treasure trove, and my residence isn't a place of auspicious feng shui. What is this scholar Sun so persistent about?"

Her voice wasn't very loud, but it made Sun Hanzhou tremble all over.

Even the most outspoken person is at a loss for words at this moment.

Just looking into Gu An'an's eyes, he couldn't help but look away, as if even a second glance would reveal his true nature.

"So it's inconvenient to say, huh?" Gu An'an chuckled. "Then what you've done is truly a disservice to the Confucian classics you've read."

When it comes to labeling people, Gu An'an is quite adept at it, and with just a few words, she left Sun Hanzhou speechless and at a loss for words.

She naturally had no interest in listening to Sun Hanzhou's explanation. "I hope that Scholar Sun will stop pestering us, otherwise we, a widow and her orphan, will have no choice but to take action."

Sun Hanzhou was stunned for a moment when he heard this. It took him a while to come back to his senses, only to find that Manager Gu had already gone far away.

"This scholar Sun is indeed a talented person, but it's a pity that he's too obsessed with matters of the heart."

"Love is a personal matter, like drinking water. If it doesn't harm others but harms oneself, it will only cause trouble for oneself. However, he doesn't seem to regret it."

"Does Manager Gu know what happened?"

Gu An'an smiled and said, "I have other things to attend to. Please make yourself at home, young general."

"I have nothing to do."

This attitude made Gu An'an frown subconsciously. She smiled at Chen Yuan and went into the shop.

The shop next door, belonging to Su San Niang, was decorated with bright red silk, creating a festive atmosphere.

As Gu An'an passed by, she stopped and chuckled, "It's quite lively here, Third Sister."

Su San Niang replied calmly, "It's alright."

"It's quite a lively affair, like a wedding procession. I wonder which young master is so lucky to be able to propose to Third Sister?"

These words immediately made Su San Niang's expression change. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Ah, this place is decorated so festively, I thought you, Third Sister, were going to remarry after all this time." After saying that, Gu An'an gently wiped her face. "Look at my mouth, I really deserve a beating. Third Sister isn't old at all."

Throughout history and across cultures, age has always been extremely detrimental to women.

Su San Niang was no exception.

Her fair face flushed red. "Gu An'an!"

"I misspoke, Third Sister, please don't take it to heart. I just thought you were desperate to get married because you were trying to set me up with all your swindling and deception."

Gu An'an looked puzzled. "If it's not you, Third Sister, getting married, why is the place decorated so festively?"

Looking at that hypocritical face, Su Sanniang snorted coldly, "You'll find out when the time comes."

She wanted to see if Gu An'an's business could continue operating after her own brothel opened, given that it was located next to a brothel.

She'd like to see if Gu An'an would still be able to laugh then.

Don't blame her for being ruthless; that's just how the world has always been. To survive, you have to be ruthless to others, and even more ruthless to yourself.

Watching Gu An'an disappear from sight, Su San Niang also went back inside, saying, "Hurry up, I'm opening for business the day after tomorrow."

the day after tomorrow.

Looking at the unhurried man, Liu Jiuniang felt like she was the one who was worrying more than the emperor. "Xiao Gu, what do we do?"

"Let's wait and see, we'll talk about it when it opens."

"But the customers in the store said that if this really opens, then..."

Gu An'an handed over a cup of tea. "Even shops that have opened will close. Look, even a country can only exist for a hundred or two hundred years. Why can't shops go out of business? Don't worry. Tomorrow, tell the customers that we'll also offer a 20% discount on the day the shop next door opens, and we'll even give them a free plate of peanuts."

Don't call her stingy; she's always been very generous to her guests.

Liu Jiuniang was both amused and exasperated by these words. "Alright, I'll tell everyone later."

She turned around and couldn't help but say, "It's your shop, so I can't say anything, but with all this fuss, how can we possibly make any money?"

"Of course, otherwise how would I pay you?" Gu An'an muttered. "I'm a businesswoman, not a living saint."

Seeing this, Liu Jiuniang couldn't help but laugh, "Aren't you a Bodhisattva? If you're not, then I really don't know what a Bodhisattva looks like."

Perhaps the flattery was too overwhelming, because Chen Yuan left not long after.

Liu Jiuniang went to the door to check and made sure the person was far away before returning. "Did we neglect him just now?"

Gu An'an glanced at it and said, "This is a restaurant, not a tea house for chatting and relieving boredom."

What is he doing following me?

Gu An'an didn't think she had that much to say to Chen Yuan.

"It's all thanks to their help."

Xiao You spoke up quietly from the side, "Actually, I could also stop that Li Laosan."

This earned her a reproachful glare from Liu Jiuniang, who said, "Go away."

She was talking to Gu An'an about serious matters, so why is this child coming over and talking nonsense?

"Xiao Gu, you..."

"Manager Gu, please allow me to explain in detail."

Fearing that Gu An'an would kick him out, Sun Hanzhou quickly spoke up, "I heard that your son has left the academy and is studying at home. I am not very talented, but I do have some knowledge of literature. I really..."

“Why bother with such high-sounding words, Scholar Sun? I know exactly what you’re up to.” Gu An’an bluntly exposed the scholar’s ​​intentions. “Even if it’s for the sake of my family, I can’t let short-term gains harm them, can I?”

Sun Hanzhou's face flushed again, "Manager Gu, please..."

Gu An'an interrupted him, "Ninth Sister, you've had a long day, you should go back first. I'll take care of the rest."

Knowing that Gu An'an had something to say to this scholar Sun, Liu Jiuniang told Xiao You and Xiao Wu to leave.

As they reached the door, a sense of unease crept in. "If he misbehaves, just call for help."

This is the busiest street in Anping County. If you shout, people from the shops across the street will come over to see what's going on.

Gu An'an smiled and agreed, but Sun Hanzhou's expression was not so good. How could he have become a bad person in this person's eyes?

"Is Scholar Sun trying to defend himself? You clearly have no feelings for me, yet you're being misunderstood like this. It's truly an injustice." Gu An'an wiped the table with a rag, the soft Songjiang cotton cloth stained with grease. "But dare you say you have no feelings for my daughter?"

She tossed the rag in front of Sun Hanzhou, "Did I wrong you?"