Madam Luo looked at Xiao Yunying and said, "You go ahead and do your work. Don't worry about this."

Xiao Yunying didn't stand on ceremony, said goodbye and went straight to the teahouse.

As I passed Huiweilou, I glanced inside and at the windows of the private rooms on the third floor to confirm that Chen Yuancheng was not there.

The teahouse had an elegant but ordinary interior. As soon as she entered, a waiter came to greet her.

The shopkeeper, who was standing behind the counter, glanced at her and quickly came out: "Are you Miss Xiao? I am the shopkeeper, Sun Wenchang."

The shopkeeper thought to himself that this girl looked very much like the portrait that Brother Ling Qi had brought, so he shouldn't be mistaken.

Xiao Yunying nodded: "Manager Sun, Yuancheng mentioned me to you, didn't he?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Young Master Chen had already instructed us that this teahouse has now changed hands, and Miss Xiao is the rightful owner."

"I've come to see how business is here."

She looked around the lobby; twelve tables surrounded a high platform where a storyteller was telling stories.

All nine tables had guests, ranging from five or six people to two, but all of them were men; not a single woman could be seen.

Xiao Yunying lifted her foot and walked upstairs: "How's business lately? Have any women come in for tea?"

The shopkeeper followed behind her on the right, introducing the shop's layout.

Xiao Yunying listened and looked around carefully before coming down.

I went to the counter and looked through the ledger. The teahouse's income was decent, but just so-so.

The shopkeeper took out a few sheets of paper from the locked money box under the counter and handed them over: "These are what our young master instructed me to give to the young lady."

Xiao Yunying took it and looked at it: "A contract of servitude?"

The shopkeeper said, "These are the indentures of the six pastry chefs in the kitchen."

Xiao Yunying accepted the money without hesitation and then inquired about their monthly allowance and other matters.

She closed the ledger: "I'm going to renovate the teahouse in a while. When it reopens, there will be a lot of new and exciting snacks and drinks. Write a document and post it outside."

The shopkeeper responded, and Xiao Yunying thought for a moment, figuring there was nothing else, then said goodbye and left the teahouse.

With nothing else to do, Xiao Yunying returned to Jinxiu Pavilion and saw that only Luo Sheng and Zuo Lanzhi were standing in the corner of the shop. She guessed that Madam Luo must have gone upstairs with Cheng Yue to try on clothes or take measurements.

She didn't want to get involved in their affairs, so she walked to the counter and idly fiddled with the abacus to pass the time.

The shop assistants all knew her, and they weren't worried when they saw her go to the counter; they were all busy attending to customers.

When Luo Sheng saw Xiao Yunying return, he ignored Zuo Lanzhi, who was holding a dress and asking him if it looked good, and walked over.

"Are you done with your work?"

Xiao Yunying looked up at him and said, "I'm done with my work. I'm just going to check on the teahouse so I can finalize the renovation plans. There's nothing else."

Luo Sheng said, "If you need any help, you can tell me."

Xiao Yunying replied politely, "Thank you. I'll let you know if there's anything I can help you with."

Zuo Lanzhi, who followed along, couldn't sense Xiao Yunying's politeness and aloofness. She only felt a tightness in her chest because Luo Sheng had taken the initiative to speak to her.

"Is Miss Xiao going to do business in public?"

A waiter led the two over to settle the bill, and Xiao Yunying put down her abacus and walked to the counter where purses and handkerchiefs were displayed, looking at the embroidery patterns of these small items.

Seeing that she was ignoring her, Zuo Lanzhi said urgently, "I'm talking to you."

Xiao Yunying then looked up: "Were you talking to me? I'm sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't hear you."

This was in Cheng Yue's shop, and there were many customers around. Xiao Yunying didn't want to argue with her, so she could only pretend not to hear and let it pass.

Seeing that Zuo Lanzhi still wanted to speak, she figured he wouldn't say anything nice, so she struck up a conversation with Luo Sheng.

Didn't you choose a few sets of casual clothes?

Luo Sheng gestured for her to look at several sets of neatly folded casual clothes next to the counter: "I chose two sets and had them custom-made according to the patterns you gave me."

Seeing that the two sets of casual clothes were dark green and navy blue respectively, Xiao Yunying said with satisfaction, "That's more like it. You're so young, you should wear brighter colors. Wearing black all day is too monotonous."

Luo Sheng's eyes flashed: "Your tone sounds like that of an elder to me."

Xiao Yunying didn't think much of it and couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "I guess it's because I'm used to taking care of the children on a daily basis, so I unconsciously used a caring tone."

Seeing her smile, Luo Sheng inexplicably calmed the irritation he had just felt because of Zuo Lanzhi: "Let's go to the jewelry shop later."

Xiao Yunying picked up a purse: "You want to buy jewelry?"

"I'll buy it for you."

Xiao Yunying was stunned for a moment, then looked at Luo Sheng: "Buy it for me?"

Luo Yong looked at the wooden hairpin she was using to hold her hair up: "You don't have enough jewelry. Ever since I came back, you've been using this wooden hairpin to hold your hair up. I'll buy you more so you can wear different ones in the future."

Xiao Yunying touched the wooden hairpin on the back of her head and was about to speak when Zuo Lanzhi suddenly said, "Brother Luo Sheng doesn't understand. Miss Xiao's wooden hairpin looks ordinary, but it is actually made of precious sandalwood and peach blossom jade. It is quite valuable. It seems that Miss Xiao is someone who is willing to spend money to dress herself up and will not treat herself poorly."

Xiao Yunying was getting impatient; this Zuo Lanzhi was as annoying as a fly.

She put down the purse in her hand: "Miss Zuo's eyesight is a bit poor. She only recognizes that the wood is sandalwood, but she doesn't recognize that what is inlaid on it is not peach blossom jade, but pink diamonds from overseas."

Zuo Lanzhi said in disbelief, "What? This is a pink diamond?"

No wonder the pink is so translucent.

She wasn't quite sure if it was peach blossom jade, but diamonds are so precious and rare that she had only ever seen the transparent kind and had no idea that there were pink ones.

"Diamonds are so rare, where did you get them from?!"

Xiao Yunying gave a fake smile: "This has nothing to do with Miss Zuo."

Zuo Lanzhi was speechless with anger: "You...!"

At this moment, Madam Luo came down from the second floor: "What are you talking about?"

Xiao Yunying's smile became more sincere: "We're talking about jewelry. Has Madam Luo decided on a design yet?"

Madam Luo glanced at the three of them, and just by looking at their expressions, she knew roughly what had happened: "It's settled. It's still early. If Yunying wants to buy jewelry, we'll go to a jewelry shop."

Xiao Yunying waved her hand: "No need. I'm always running around, going up and down mountains. One wooden hairpin is enough. I don't need so many ornaments. If Madam Luo wants to go shopping, Luo Sheng can take you. I have to go back now."

"Since you're not going, let's go back. Lanzhi, have you made your choice?"

Facing Madam Luo, Zuo Lanzhi dared not put on a stern face and said softly, "Lanzhi has made her choice."

She looked down on the ordinary ready-made clothes in the shop and only chose the best fabric to have two sets of everyday clothes custom-made. In addition, she found the purses and handkerchiefs cute and picked out quite a few to take back with her.

Granny Chang and Yinzhu went to settle the bill, while Xiao Yunying and the others came out first and got into the carriage to wait.

Before leaving, Xiao Yunying gave Cheng Yue a wink, and Cheng Yue nodded knowingly. Only then did she happily get into her carriage.