Chapter 57: The Boss

The streets were bustling with people and the cries of hawkers were endless. In the bustling market, the sounds of cars, horses, and people merged into one.

The carriage slowly stopped outside the jewelry shop. Zi Su and Aunt Zhang got off the carriage and turned around to help Jiang Qingning and her sister get off.

"Sister, go check out the shop first. Zi Su and I still have things to do!"

Jiang Qingxi cheered and quickly headed towards the snack stand with Zi Su, clearly looking like a greedy little cat.

Jiang Qingning sighed helplessly and shouted through the veil: "Be careful!"

Nanny Zhang raised her hand to support Jiang Qingning, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Miss. The second young lady is now fully recovered. Of course, she needs to run around. With Zisu by her side, she will be fine."

"I know everything Mammy said, but as for my younger sister, forget it. I won't talk about these things anymore. Anyway, the two of them won't do anything stupid."

Jiang Qingning shook his head. Jiang Qingxi was now a person without any identification documents in the capital.

If Jingzhao Prefecture was not headed by an upright person like Cheng Yan, she would have already arranged identity and household registration for Jiang Qingxi.

But it happened to be Chengyan, and he had helped them many times, so he couldn't deliberately make things difficult for others. This would really be bad for Chengyan.

"Don't worry too much, Miss. Let's check the account books first. You've finally managed to get out of this situation these past few days."

Nanny Zhang thought of something interesting and couldn't help but tease Jiang Qingning.

Jiang Qingning sighed helplessly and walked into the shop. Over the past month, someone from Ning Pavilion had come to propose marriage to her every day.

Sometimes one family came in a day, and sometimes three or four matchmakers came in a day to propose marriage. Later, she got tired of it and simply stayed indoors, only asking the servants to go out early in the morning to buy vegetables and meat.

As a result... those people even blocked the back door.

After Jiang Qingning checked, she found out that part of the reason was because she survived a great disaster and her reputation as a blessed person spread, so she specifically asked a matchmaker to find a marriage for her children.

Others were attracted by the wealth behind her and Li Lingbi's mansion, and one family came to her on their own initiative, followed by a continuous stream of others.

"Has the head manager come to check the accounts? He's a few days late this month. Please go upstairs with Sister Zhang first. I'll get the account books right away!"

When the shopkeeper saw the badge hanging on Jiang Qingning's waist, he immediately handed all the guests over to the waiter. He quickly ran to Jiang Qingning and greeted him.

"We've been delayed these past few days. We need to hurry up. Our wife has the next one after she finishes checking."

Nanny Zhang, who was also wearing a short veil hat, walked up to Jiang Qingning and gave instructions to the shopkeeper.

The latter responded quickly and asked the waiter to invite the person up first.

An hour later, Jiang Qingning finished checking the accounts and went downstairs. He walked up to the shopkeeper and said coldly:

"Business this month is much worse. We'll start selling pearl jewelry next month. The ladies in the palace will bring them."

Jiang Qingning left these words and turned to walk out of the store. The shopkeeper immediately sent him out with a happy face, and then quickly ordered someone to buy the pearls.

The girl in the pink dress stopped the shopkeeper and asked curiously, "Shopkeeper Liu, who was that lady just now? Why do you respect her so much?"

There was a flash of impatience in Manager Liu's eyes, but when he saw the person coming, he immediately smiled.

"So it's Miss Jiang San. I haven't seen you these past few days. I just received a batch of jewel hairpins yesterday. The pink gems are perfect for your beauty!"

Jiang Ruyi nodded with satisfaction and followed him to the counter: "Yes, they are indeed very beautiful hairpins. Please pack them all for me."

"By the way, you haven't told me who that person was just now?"

Jiang Ruyi was worried and couldn't help asking.

Shopkeeper Liu's eyebrows turned and he said with a smile, "This shows that you are Yueyue's old customer, so I told you quietly. The person just now was our big boss. He comes to check the accounts every month and remits the total ledger every six months. The boss will send someone to collect it personally."

"Boss?" Jiang Ruyi murmured, then spoke excitedly, "Then she must be very rich? Does she rely on her husband's family?"

Shopkeeper Liu quickly waved his hands and said, "You're mistaken! Our boss started doing business eight years ago, and now all the shops along this entire East Street are our boss's private property!"

"Whether it's a shop you own or rent, the owner or a trusted nanny will check the monthly harvest."

"As for our Dong family, she naturally married and divorced. Luckily, Dong family left early on with such a short-sighted man, otherwise, the whole family would definitely be vampires!"

Jiang Ruyi's eyes flashed with envy: "I wonder who that man is. He is so ignorant that he can even divorce such a powerful lady. He must be a cheap man with enough concubines."

Jiang Ruyi came back to her senses and looked at Shopkeeper Liu, asking with a gleam in her eyes, "I have a few shops I'd like to sell. I wonder if your boss is interested?"

"If Manager Liu succeeds in this matchmaking, all the jewelry for the female members of our Jiang family can be purchased from you in the future."

A flash of disdain passed through Manager Liu's eyes. He sneered in his heart, but a full smile was on his face.

"Don't worry, Miss Jiang. I will definitely inform the shopkeeper on your behalf. I just don't know which shops in which territories you want to sell?"

…

Jiang Qingning sat in the private room on the second floor of Fumanzhai, with piles of account books in front of her. She frowned as she checked the accounts, and the shopkeeper quietly raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face.

He couldn't see Jiang Qingning's expression through the screen, but he could feel the overwhelming pressure.

"Manager Cui, this month's profit is nearly a hundred taels less than last month, and there's an extra hole in the kitchen expenses. Could it be that this rat is eating silver?"

Jiang Qingning threw the account book on the table, sneered, and turned to question Manager Cui who was standing behind the screen.

Shopkeeper Cui knelt down almost immediately.

He said sadly, "Boss, please spare me. A few days ago, something happened at the home of Chef Zhang, the chef in charge of the kitchen. His son is a gambling addict and mortgaged his house, but he still got lent money at high interest rates..."

Jiang Qingning frowned: "What does this have to do with Fu Man Zhai? Could it be that Fu Man Zhai has fallen to the point where it does good deeds to gain a good reputation?"

Shopkeeper Cui's face was filled with misery. Thinking about this matter was more painful than swallowing ten thousand needles.

"Of course not. It's just that Chef Zhang had evil intentions. He embezzled all the money I gave him to buy kitchen ingredients and utensils that day, and even used it to pay off his son's loan sharking debt."

"As a result, many dishes were unavailable the next day, and customers left disappointed, resulting in a significant loss of revenue."

Jiang Qingning's eyes were filled with coldness: "Where are the father and son?"

There is no such thing as a business where someone takes her money and then does not work for her.

Shopkeeper Cui quickly responded, "I detained this man, and he's been locked up in the utility room."

"It's just that it's extremely filthy there. Please wait here for a moment, Master. I'll send someone to bring them over right away."

Jiang Qingning sat calmly in the No. 1 box drinking tea, while Aunt Zhang knelt beside her and raised her hand to grind ink for her.

"How is the boss going to deal with this person?"

"If you violate my taboo, I will chop off the hand that held it. Since ancient times, it is unreasonable to let others take advantage of you for free."

Jiang Qingning spoke in a long tone, with a cold expression that made people feel intimidated.

"Yes, the Chamber of Commerce has always followed this principle. However, Chef Zhang is a veteran of Fu Man Zhai. If you were to cut off his hand, his cooking skills would be lost, which is not worth it."

Nanny Zhang sighed and expressed her concerns.

"Mammy, you're confused. He dared to steal money from Fu Man Zhai today, and he'll dare to pass off inferior goods as good ones tomorrow. He's tasted the sweetness once, and he'll never forget it."

"I want him to remember forever the consequences of offending my Shangguan Chamber of Commerce."

Jiang Qingning had a sarcastic look on his face, with murderous intent evident in his eyes.

The top-floor private rooms of Fumanzhai are divided into eight superior rooms: Tian, ​​Shi, Di, Li, Ren, He, Zheng and Xing.

The No. 1 box was never used by the public, and the other seven were immediately snatched away by the dignitaries from all over the capital as soon as they were released, and then booked for the entire year.

Time-sized box.

The man was wearing a light yellow brocade robe, his face was fair, and his eyebrows were stretched out like a crescent moon, as if hiding the spring breeze.

There is always a gentle smile on his lips, just like the warm March sun.

But when he saw the person in front of him, he shook his head.

"Chengyuan, look at you, you're wearing your official robes even when you go out to drink. Not only does it really spoil the fun, it also makes people feel disgusted."