In just two days, the news of the Qi family's affair spread throughout Shenjia Village.

It is said that when Master Qi learned the truth about Shen Qingyao's substitution marriage, he was heartbroken to discover that she had poisoned her own sister to succeed. So he sent Shen Qingyao to the family temple to cultivate.

Master Qi said that the reason the Qi family did not divorce Shen Qingyao was because she had already given birth to a child.

As accomplices in this matter, the eldest uncle's family forced Shen Qingyao to get them into the job, but now that the matter has been exposed, they have been kicked out in disgrace.

Before being kicked out, they were searched, leaving them penniless.

It is said that Master Qi went to the Qian family in the prefectural city that very day to apologize.

Shen Qingyu listened to all of this as a story.

Shen Qingyao should be thankful that the naive woman back then wasn't her.

Otherwise, the grass on Shen Qingyao's grave would probably be a meter deep.

Shen Qingyu was in a good mood.

Because bean sprouts are so good at regulating the stomach and intestines, they are in short supply and the price has risen to 100 coins per catty.

Guiyunlou has become a popular spot for many wealthy families in the city, and business has improved by more than 20%.

The bean sprout business now brings in more than 20 taels of silver a day. One jin of soybeans can produce 12 jin of bean sprouts. More than 200 jin of bean sprouts are transported to the prefectural city every day. After deducting the cost of hiring people and buying soybeans, the business can earn more than 20 taels of silver a day.

For this income, Shen Qingyu only needs to contribute: spiritual spring water.

Because of its unique flavor and the fact that there are no other places selling braised dishes, the business is booming. In the prefectural city and the dockside shops, the daily income is about forty taels of silver.

Shen Qingyu's daily task was to put various ground medicinal powders into a fine cotton bag, throw it into the pot, boil the braising liquid, and then take it back when the braising liquid needed to be added.

Xiao Taohua and Liu Cuixi were busy cleaning the ingredients for the braised dishes and preparing the braised meat.

In comparison, glutinous rice is nothing special nowadays, just a local specialty, and it can still bring in a profit of about three taels of silver a day.

After a month, the profit was nearly two thousand taels of silver!

What if it's a year...?

Many officials and wealthy families in the capital might not have such an income.

Not to mention the newly opened Lai Fook Kee Dim Sum Shop, the shareholder dividends it can offer are also substantial.

With such incredible income in a rural area, how could life not be good?

Having money means wanting to improve one's life, such as building a house.

The blue brick and tile houses were once again being built in a grand and spectacular manner.

This time, however, Shen Qingyu delegated everything to others.

The people we hired to work at home only did the jobs that were originally assigned and didn't get involved in the house repairs.

Two more women were hired from the village to cook, while the men worked on building the house under the guidance of the old bricklayer.

These people were specially selected by the village headman, whom Shen Qingyu asked to help vet. In return, she gave the village headman two catties of pork belly and a bolt of dark blue fine cotton cloth.

Furthermore, Shen Qingyu entrusted the village head with the task: "From now on, whenever I need to hire someone, please make sure they are of good character, have clean hands, and are efficient in their work."

The village head gained trust, reaped benefits, and won favors from the villagers, so of course he was willing.

So they happily helped, choosing efficient and clean men and women from the village to assist them.

Shen Qingyu was responsible for monitoring the progress and purchasing various ingredients in town.

The uncle and aunt, whose house has a skylight, were extremely anxious as they listened to the bustling construction activity taking place here!

They have nothing now.

The house is about to collapse, and there's no rice left to cook.

I'd lose face if I went out; I'd be too ashamed to hold my head up.

My uncle and aunt wanted to come and do some work, but they had offended Shen Qingyu badly...

That morning, Liu Cuixi had just walked from her home to Shen Qingyu's doorstep when she saw a man peeking into the yard from outside.

"Who is it!" Liu Cuixi shouted.

The man was startled, turned around and saw Liu Cuixi, and immediately stepped forward to ingratiate himself: "Are you Changshou's wife? I'm your eldest cousin! Don't you recognize me?"

Upon closer inspection, Liu Cuixi recognized him as her uncle's son, Shen Yusong.

She went to work at the Qi family mansion with her uncle and aunt, but now they've all been sent back.

What are you doing here?

Liu Cuixi hadn't forgotten that this family had harmed Shen Qingyu in the first place.

Shen Yusong chuckled dryly, "We're almost starving at home. I just saw that things were bustling here, so I came to see if I could find something to do."

"You were doing just fine in town, why did you come here as a bricklayer?" Liu Cuixi deliberately poked at his sore spot.

Shen Yusong, however, was shameless: "That's because my parents made a mistake, and I was also sent back! The merchants in town are all afraid that the Qi family will come after them, so they won't hire me."

Liu Cuixi asked in surprise, "So you mean you're innocent?"

Shen Yusong spread his hands, looking completely innocent: "Of course! I don't know anything about this!"

Seeing that Liu Cuixi's expression softened, Shen Yusong quickly seized the opportunity: "Changshou's wife, could you ask Brother Tietou for me if I could also do some work? I will definitely put in my best effort! I will absolutely not slack off."

Liu Cuixi looked him up and down and said, "I can ask Qingyu for you."

Shen Yusong immediately clasped his hands together in a gesture of deep gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much! Thank you so much..."

When Liu Cuixi entered the courtyard and found Shen Qingyu, Shen Qingyu, whose body had been treated with spiritual spring water, had exceptional hearing and had already heard everything.

“I won’t let him into my yard.”

Liu Cuixi's eyes widened, her face full of gossip: "What? He lied? Did he harm you back then too?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!