Men's desires have always been strong, especially since they have never been relieved in the past twenty-seven years.

He actually wants the woman he likes right now.

But Gu An'an wouldn't give it to him, and Jiang Yong'an had no choice.

He looked like a pitiful little wretch, cautiously asking Gu An'an for her opinion, "Just think of it as feeling sorry for me, okay?"

"Get down." Gu An'an refused.

She's not in her safe period right now, what if she accidentally gets pregnant?

In ancient times, contraceptive methods were scarce, and there were hardly any condoms here. Moreover, in this kind of medical and sanitary environment, childbirth was like going to the gates of hell for women. Gu An'an liked children, but she did not have a strong desire to have them.

She naturally refused Jiang Yong'an's request.

"Lie down over there, I'll help you."

The first two words were like hailstones, shattering Jiang Yong'an's very soul.

These words, however, were like a spring breeze blowing across the earth, softening even the man's heart.

Actually, she still felt sorry for herself, and this was enough. "There's no need to go to so much trouble."

Jiang Yong'an took a hairpin off her head. "Give this to me. Seeing it reminds me of you."

Seeing an object reminds me of someone.

Gu An'an thought Jiang Yong'an was a really interesting person.

"Jiang Yong'an, live well, and I'll marry you later."

The man chuckled upon hearing this, "Alright, I'll be waiting to marry into your Gu family."

...

The trip to Jiangjia Village felt like a dream. After returning to the county town, Gu An'an looked at herself in the mirror, her face flushed with happiness, and thought that she might really be in love.

It was just a long-distance relationship, and she didn't even know what Jiang Yong'an did for a living.

But what does it matter?

The hairpin that was usually used was missing, but Jiang Mingyi noticed something was wrong.

"That hairpin, it was probably dropped by accident when we went to Jiangjia Village. It's nothing serious, it's not worth much."

Jiang Mingyi nodded upon hearing this. "Did the talks with Uncle Li and Aunt Li go smoothly?"

He's been busy with his studies lately and rarely helps out at the shop, only mentioning it briefly in front of Pearl.

"It's alright. Uncle Li and Aunt Li are both kind people, so you can trust them to handle things. However, I have some new ideas, and I'll go talk to Magistrate Du about them later."

Gu An'an's new ideas resurfaced because of her trip to Jiangjia Village.

She wanted to be a doll.

It's not actually that complicated; it just requires two things—

Cotton and embroiderers.

Cotton, especially high-quality cotton, is used as stuffing after the cotton fibers are fluffed.

The embroiderers acted as machines on the assembly line, sewing these dolls together.

Magistrate Du was surprised by Gu An'an's idea and hesitated slightly, "Will this sell?"

"Actually, whether there is a market or not depends entirely on how you promote it. Look at Taibai Restaurant, it wasn't a big restaurant to begin with, but under Young Master Lin's management, it has become the top restaurant in the Great Ye Dynasty. That's all thanks to its promotion."

"That's true. The Sammo Hung Stunt Team was quite popular a couple of years ago, partly because they had people helping with the publicity. But isn't it a bit too expensive for us to do this?"

"It's alright. We do grow cotton here. The cotton wadding I bought before wasn't worth much. Why don't we make a batch to try it out? That way, we don't need to turn Wenxiang Xiaozhu into an inn. We can continue to use it as a needlework shop."

"What, Manager Gu, do you think Fragrant Abode is still yours for the taking?"

Zhao Qianqian, who arrived late, spoke up, her gaze towards Gu An'an carrying a hint of coldness, "It was agreed that the highest bidder wins. Manager Gu can't possibly bribe Magistrate Du to get his favor, can he?"

Magistrate Du is not a corrupt official, so this statement is not entirely appropriate.

Gu An'an said with a smile, "Miss Zhao is making a false accusation. Since it is an auction, the highest bidder wins, so naturally it is whoever pays the most money."

"Magistrate Du agreed too?"

Magistrate Du felt overwhelmed. He had rushed to Anzhou Prefecture, having just returned the previous night, and was summoned by Gu An'an early this morning. His mind was still foggy, but hearing Zhao Qianqian's words finally cleared his head somewhat.

“If you two have no objections, then I naturally have no objections either. However, Miss Zhao, there’s something I’ve said before: Anping County doesn’t allow brothels or taverns. So, Madam Gu originally wanted to turn Wenxiang Xiaozhu into an inn. I wonder what your plans are, Miss Zhao?”

"Don't worry, Manager Gu, we won't steal your business from you if you run a restaurant."

Gu An'an recalled her university days, when there were many snack shops on the food street. Any shop that didn't taste good would quickly go out of business, no matter how big it was.

Miss Zhao's family is wealthy and powerful, so she doesn't have to worry about funding, but it's no use if the food isn't good.

Gu An'an did not point out the reasoning behind this.

People were willing to spend money, which also helped the Anping County government alleviate its financial problems.

That's good, a very good thing.

Soon, under the supervision of Magistrate Du, Anping County's first auction meeting for large and small items began.

The low price was two hundred, while Zhao Qianqian had previously offered one thousand taels of silver and even took out the silver notes.

Gu An'an glanced at it and took out a stack of silver notes. "Eight thousand taels."

"Eight thousand taels?" Zhao Qianqian's expression changed instantly. "Didn't you say you were going to bid five thousand taels?"

“Oh, Miss Zhao knows about this.” Gu An’an said with a hint of smugness. “But I knew Miss Zhao would have made arrangements, so I prepared extra money. I wonder if Miss Zhao thought of that?”

Looking at the smug-looking man, Magistrate Du wondered if he was seeing things.

It's rather rare to see Madam Gu so impatient.

Zhao Qianqian looked at the smug person and a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes. Sure enough, poor people are short-sighted. Do they think that adding three thousand taels of silver can scare her?

"Ten thousand taels."

A large denomination banknote was slapped on the table, and Gu An'an's eyelids twitched. "Ten thousand taels!"

However, there was a hint of pain on his face.

Ten thousand taels is no small sum.

"What, can't you get it out?"

Gu An'an sighed, "It's not that I don't have any, but I'm not as wealthy as Miss Zhao, who can just add two thousand taels in a flash. How about this, I'll offer ten thousand and one taels as a sign of respect."

When Magistrate Du, who was drinking tea to relieve his predicament, heard this, he spat out his tea.

This amount of 10,001 taels is truly respectful.

Zhao Qianqian's eyelids twitched violently upon hearing this. "Magistrate Du!"

Magistrate Du dared not offend this "generous maiden." "Actually, it's fine for Madam Gu to offer a price, but why don't Miss Zhao offer 10,002 taels to beat her?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qianqian glared at him fiercely. Did she think she was such a shallow person?

Thirty thousand taels!

She threw the banknotes out, even throwing them directly to the ground.

Looking at the silver notes flying around, Gu An'an couldn't help but admire Master Zhao, who was indeed the richest man in Anping County. His daughter could easily produce 30,000 taels of silver notes.

You should know that 30,000 taels could buy the entire street!