"Didn't you choose this yourself? Sign it."

He had already written the divorce papers; the ink was still wet.

He stood by the table, scraped off the excess ink from the brush in his hand, and handed it to Wang Shufang.

"I won't sign! I won't sign! My husband, I was wrong. I'll go back to Shuangqiao Town, I'll go back! We've been so loving for so many years, how could you be so heartless for that vixen? You don't care if I'm alright, but we still have our child! What about Zhong'er? He's not married yet. If he has divorced parents, who would marry him?!"

His tearful plea did not move Deng Qiuzhi, and he handed the brush forward again.

"You have no choice. It's either a divorce or a letter of separation. You choose. I'll give you the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. I've had enough of this kind of life."

Deng Qiuzhi's voice was so cold it seemed to freeze. He shoved the calligraphy brush into Wang Shufang's hand, then plopped down in a chair and began to sip his tea.

That cup of tea from before has gone cold.

But it couldn't compare to the coldness in his heart.

"I, I—"

Wang Shufang's voice trembled; she didn't know what to do.

"Fine, I'll sign. But all you're giving me is a house? Why? My daughter bore you children, and all I get in return is a run-down house? And why do you take 50 taels but only give my daughter 30? It has to be split evenly! And sell the shop and the house together, and split everything equally!"

Wang Chenshi's eyes darted around.

So what if we get a divorce? Anyway, my son-in-law isn't going to give me any money. I might as well make more money. Then I can use that money to buy my son a small house in town and hire a few maids to serve him. Besides, my grandson is all grown up. What's there to be afraid of? If he passes the imperial examinations and becomes a scholar or a provincial graduate, I'm sure I'll get some benefits too.

"Splitting it equally? Fine, the shop and the house were bought at roughly the same price. But your daughter has a lot of jewelry, three pairs of gold bracelets alone! There are countless jade bracelets and gold hairpins, all bought with my Deng family's money! We gave your family fifty taels as a bride price, but as for the dowry, it seems there are only two quilts, right? Your daughter didn't bring anything with her. Since you want to split it equally, fine, sell the jewelry along with the house and shop, and split it equally!"

Deng Qiuzhi was, after all, a businessman.

How could he be subdued by a peasant woman? His wife didn't understand accounting at all. If he hadn't persuaded her to learn to read, Wang Shufang would still be illiterate and would never have bothered with the household accounts.

She knew nothing about how much silver the shops and fields had sold for, or how much the shops and houses in Jiangnan County had cost. She only knew how to spend money and go shopping. Therefore, Wang Shufang did not know that there was not much silver left in the family. That's why she helped her mother pressure her, and she did not believe her even when her mother said that there was no money.

Deng Qiuzhi chuckled self-deprecatingly; she probably thought he had secretly saved up some money.

With just a few words, Wang Chenshi was so frightened that she immediately persuaded her daughter to sign the document.

After receiving the divorce papers, Deng Qiuzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

He had never felt so relaxed.

"Xinbao, pack our things, we're leaving soon!"

"It's Master—"

With the divorce papers in hand, once I have the money, I can spend some more money to find connections at the county government office to remove Wang Shufang from the household registration, and that will be the end of it.

It was past noon.

The master and servant were already in the backyard of the shop.

There was only one storage room, which Xinbao cleaned up and made barely habitable.

"I'm sorry to trouble you, Xinbao. Once I start working with Manager Yan, we'll definitely be able to turn things around in less than a month!"

Deng Qiuzhi was full of fighting spirit, and there was no trace of his previous dejection.

"Master, you can definitely do it! Master has always praised you for being smart since you were little. You will definitely be even more amazing than Master!"

"Haha, you rascal, I'm not going to say anything more. I need to hurry to the city gate. It's almost time. I can't keep Manager Yan waiting for too long. You just stay here and watch the shop."

After saying this, Deng Qiuzhi headed towards the city gate.

Not long after they arrived, Yan Xia and her daughter also arrived.

"I'm so sorry that the trouble at home made you laugh. Don't worry, it's all resolved. I just got a divorce from her, and it won't interfere with our cooperation."

When Yan Xia returned to the inn that morning, she did consider terminating the cooperation.

It's truly incomprehensible that Brother Deng's wife's family is so unreasonable.

If you cooperate with this kind of person, trouble is bound to happen sooner or later.

After all, the influence of pillow talk is too powerful.

I never expected Brother Deng to be so quick; they've already divorced?

Wow, she likes it!

"Okay, then let's go to your shop."

Yan Xia's collaboration with Deng Qiuzhi wasn't because he had acquaintances in Jiangnan County, but because she planned to expand her business through franchise stores. If it were a directly operated store, no one could save her if trouble arose.

What if the local gentry and tyrants covet her pastry shop's secret recipe? If she doesn't give it to them, the shop can't stay open; if she does, it's even more impossible.

If she were to join, her main base would still be in Shuangqiao Town. Anyone wanting to cause trouble would have to get past Magistrate Lu first.

Not only Deng Qiuzhi, but once the reputation of the Jiangnan County branch is established, she will cast a wide net.

Find more partners.

Then it won't be a free partnership; we'll have to pay a franchise fee!

If a branch gets into trouble, that's not her problem; the franchisee has to handle it themselves.

The more people share this pie, the more unshakeable it becomes, since anyone who touches it has already done so.

It affected the interests of a group of people.

There will always be a few franchisees who have powerful backers.

"Brother Deng, after your shop opens, it will probably attract a lot of people. If anyone wants to cooperate with you, remember to introduce me. I want to expand production. However, they have to pay a franchise fee, and the purchase price can only be 4 strings of cash."

Yan Xia had given him prior notice.

To prevent him from letting something slip.

Knowing he had gotten a great deal, Deng Qiuzhi was even more grateful to Yan Xia.

After the three arrived at the shop, Yan Xia took out a piece of paper, pulled out a charcoal pencil, and drew a rectification plan, asking Deng Qiuzhi to revise the overall layout of the shop.

I ignored the rest.

After signing the contract, Deng Qiuzhi handed Yan Xia 45 taels of silver.

The agreement stipulated daily delivery, and the pastries could only be sold for a maximum of two days. If they were not sold out after two days, they had to be removed from the shelf.

Although pastries can be stored for about half a month, freshly baked ones taste different from those that have been stored for several days. In addition, delivery takes half a day.

Therefore, Yan Xia specifically wrote a rule that if anyone is found selling pastries that have gone bad, it will be dealt with accordingly.

Terminate the cooperation immediately!

That evening, Deng Qiuzhi hosted a dinner for Yan Xia and her daughter at the most popular restaurant in Jiangnan County.

It only cost 4 taels of silver.

Because Yan Xia noticed Deng Qiuzhi's predicament, he ordered almost all vegetarian dishes.

Otherwise, he could have eaten at least ten taels of silver and left.

"When I return to Shuangqiao Town, I will buy two more horse-drawn carriages and hire two people to deliver goods to you in shifts, ensuring that your shop has new goods to sell every day. The payment will be as stated in the contract, and I will collect the money every 10 days. It just so happens that you introduced me to a partner. Also, your shop will officially open on May 1st, so hurry up and make some improvements to the shop to avoid being caught off guard. I will not be responsible for anything else."