Shu Yu counted the silver notes three times in a row. After confirming that there were no errors, he slumped into his chair, his smile growing wider and wider.

After a while, she said to Ying Xi, "Go and call Brother Da Niu over."

"yes."

Da Niu was checking the goods in the warehouse. It was a cold day, and he wasn't wearing many clothes. He had clearly run there, and there was some sweat on his forehead.

"Ayu, what's up?" Da Niu sat down, poured himself a cup of tea, and gulped it down.

Shu Yu smiled and waited until he finished drinking and caught his breath before handing him the ledger. "Take a look?"

Da Niu was taken aback. There were several ledgers on the table, and they were all quite thick. Naturally, Da Niu couldn't possibly look at them all. Seeing Shu Yu's expression, he paused, picked up the top one, flipped to the last page, and then saw the total amount in the ledger.

"Wow!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise. "So many?"

Shu Yu nodded. "Business is good this year. I wasn't home at the end of last year, so I didn't do the accounting or distribute the profits. Now we'll distribute the dividends from the past two years together, and you can take them home in a bit."

Da Niu chuckled and said, "Actually, there's no rush."

"That's not how it works. Originally, after I came back and checked the accounts in the middle of the year, the money should have been distributed. But at that time, the Changjin Mansion's shops had just opened, and we also needed to set up a caravan and expand the workshops. The passion fruit shops in the capital hadn't been settled yet. So we simply waited until the end of the year. In just half a month, it will be the New Year. With a sum of money in hand, we can buy whatever we want."

As Shu Yu spoke, she wrote on the paper again, “Although we have a lot of money in the account now, I have to go to the capital after the New Year to open a shop there. This was our initial plan, so we need to set aside some funds for this cost.”

Da Niu nodded. He knew that Shu Yu had a three-year plan to open a shop in the capital within three years.

It just so happens that Yunzheng will be participating in the imperial examination after the New Year. If he can become the top scholar, we can take advantage of his popularity to promote him. It's the perfect opportunity.

However, Da Niu was still a little worried, "There are passion fruit shops in the capital, I'm afraid they might..."

“We’ve already given them three years’ advance notice to start selling. It’s impossible for us to never open a shop in the capital just because they want to sell melon seeds. How can such a huge city be managed with only one passion fruit shop? Besides, we sell more than just melon seeds; we also sell sunflower oil and instant noodles. For the people of the capital, these are probably the two things they need most.”

Besides, when she first partnered with the passion fruit shop, she said she wouldn't sign an exclusive sales agreement.

Three years later, when competitors finally emerged, the passion fruit shop had already gained an advantage.

Upon hearing this, Da Niu knew that Shu Yu had something to say. "Opening a shop in the capital must cost a lot of money. I heard that shops in slightly better locations there are very expensive. We need to save more money."

"Hmm." Shu Yu's reserved price was ten thousand taels. She had noticed this when she went to the capital last time. Larger and better double-story shops were priced at around three or four thousand taels.

If it's the most central location, it might need to be added a little higher.

This amount of ten thousand taels is definitely enough to cover the costs of purchasing goods, hiring staff, repairs, and other miscellaneous expenses.

"In addition, both the managers and the staff have been very diligent and hardworking in the past two years. At the end of the year, we will prepare a bonus for them so that they can have a good New Year."