78 You have a new order

◎Shopkeeper Song, I'm here to give you a great gift.◎

In April, green buds sprouted from the dry branches, like green rabbit ears, standing upright on the branches. People on the street took off their heavy jackets and changed into thin shirts.

Song Jinyi's gaze moved from the window back to the letter in her hand. She was sitting behind the counter, slowly opening the letter.

“I am at peace in my humble abode, and I can let go of my distant thoughts.

Ah Jin, how are you today?

I have been in Chuzhou for a month. I have carefully inspected and developed five franchise stores. Now they are almost under control. I think I can go back in a few days.

Sincerely, Xu Ruolan.

She closed the letter and thought: A month has passed without me noticing.

Li He finished her work in the shop and leaned over. She put her arms on the counter, resting her head on them. She asked, "Is this a letter from Sister Ruolan? When will they be back?"

Song Jinyi replied, "Soon."

While the two were talking, four or five people came into the store. At first glance, it looked like a crowd, which made them both look up.

The man in the lead, Song Jinyi, looked very familiar - he was the housekeeper of the Song Mansion.

Her expression changed immediately and she looked coldly at the person in front of her.

The Song Mansion had sent someone to her place, so it had to be bad news. Either her stepmother was causing trouble again, or her biased father was causing trouble again.

She turned her head to observe her surroundings. It was broad daylight in the downtown area. If a commotion broke out, it would not only be bad for her but also for the Song family.

She stood behind the counter and said nothing.

Li He didn't know the relationship between Song Jinyi and them. He turned his head and looked at her several times. Seeing that she was not as enthusiastic as usual, he did not move.

Before Butler Song could utter the word "Miss," Song Jinyi frowned and interrupted, "What would you like to drink?"

The housekeeper was slightly startled, but then realized: the young lady didn't want others to know about her relationship with the Song family.

Once involved with the Song family, Song Jinyi could not escape the Song family's label no matter how hard she tried. Outsiders who were not aware of the situation would only think that everything she had was because of the Song family and would erase her personal efforts.

The butler shook his head in amusement, thinking that this was a very ridiculous and immature idea.

Blood ties are like branches and vines, which are not so easy to cut or sort out.

For example, what would she choose after what he was about to say? Would she continue to have ties with the Song family, or would she be determined to completely break off ties with them?

The housekeeper changed his tone and said, "Manager Song, I'm here to give you a big gift."

******

On the other side, Zhou Changchun, the head manager of Zui Liuxia, rushed back from Shengjing, exhausted.

Zhou Changchun looked haggard, his face covered with fine lines and fatigue, his eyes drooping, his steps unsteady, as if if he were given a bed, he would fall asleep in the next second.

He forced himself to stay awake and walked straight to the tea room on the top floor of Zui Liuxia.

The waiter, who had good sense, quickly opened the door for him. Inside the room sat two managers of Zui Liuxia - Manager Wu and Manager Zhang.

In the middle of the tea room stood a pearwood tea table. Steward Wu handed over the tea he had brewed long ago, asked about her well-being, and then said, "You've come back to Yunzhou after a long journey. You should at least go back home and rest. Why are you coming here?"

"If there is nothing, I naturally won't come here."

He ignored the teacup offered by Wu Guanshi and walked straight to the couch, leaning back. "What's going on with that sweet water shop in Shuchengfang?"

Manager Wu smiled awkwardly and placed the teacup back on the tea table. "He's just a small customer, not something you should worry about."

Zhou Changchun was obviously dissatisfied with this answer. He frowned and said in a voice without emotion: "Retail investors? You've been living in the building for more than ten years. You're an old hand here.

Before I left, because I trusted you, I gave you the right to manage Zui Liuxia. You can mobilize nearly two taels of silver to buy her recipe.

Now, as I've walked all the way from the city gate here, I've seen no less than three tea shops with the name Cha Yuan on them. When I asked, they said they were all over the four streets, east, west, south, and north. Are these the retail merchants you're talking about?"

Although his expression was calm, Manager Wu, having known him for over a decade, could still detect the suppressed anger in his words. She hurriedly explained, "I once came to her house to ask for the recipe, but she was insatiable."

"How much did she ask for?"

"Three thousand taels!"

After hearing this, Zhou Changchun was silent for a while.

Instead, Zhang Guanshi, who was watching the show nearby, suddenly said, "So what if it's three thousand taels? Can't I, Zui Liuxia, come up with it?"

"If Sister Wu had the courage to make the decision back then, it would be us, Zui Liuxia, who are making a fortune now." As she spoke, she walked gracefully to the side of Zhou Changchun's bed.

"Why are you joining in the fun?" Manager Wu glared at her fiercely.

Faced with Manager Wu's undisguised anger, Manager Zhang laughed wantonly.

Manager Wu said, "That milk tea is just for the sake of novelty. After a while, everyone will get tired of it. How can it be compared to the mellow and non-greasy taste of real tea? Besides, Zui Liu Xia has been in business for over a decade. How can the reputation and regular customers be compared to Tea Fate?"

It's not our place to worry, it's the street vendors selling tea drinks who should be worried."

Manager Zhang covered his mouth with his hands and laughed, "Sister Wu is old, and her hearing and eyesight are not as sharp as before. Maybe this 'retail investor' couldn't compete with Zui Liuxia before, but that's not necessarily the case now."

I heard that today, the Song family, the richest family in Yunzhou, placed a large order with Chayuan for a thousand cups, saying that they wanted to reward all the female workers and managers of their embroidery shop.

At this point, she pretended to be surprised and asked, "Sister Wu, don't you know?"

Even Manager Wu, who had experienced many ups and downs, couldn't help but take a breath when he heard it. A thousand cups was not something to worry about, but the order placed by the Song family had a different meaning.

"It's really strange. Although the Song family is the richest family in Yunzhou, they have always kept a low profile. But now they are... overly high-profile."

“…”

Just as Zhang and Wu were bickering with each other.

Zhou Changchun slammed his hand on the table and said coldly, "Alright, both of you shut up!" He rubbed his brow and spoke after a while, "Do you think anyone can get this order of 1,000 cups? Don't you think about the last name of the owner of Chayuan?"

Manager Wu had dealt with her before, and she vaguely remembered... the owner of the tea garden was also surnamed Song.

Last name Song!

"Could it be that... they are a family?!"

The two of them then stopped their efforts. Since blood ties were involved in the business world, it became a family affair. No matter how jealous they were as outsiders, they couldn't interfere.

Zhou Changchun only said a few "Forget it!" He did not want to talk about this anymore, and changed the subject: "When I went to Shengjing, Sanniang's body... was no longer complete, so I couldn't bring her back.

I didn't want her to suffer the pain of having her ashes scattered, so I found a beautiful place over there and buried her there. I remember he had a younger sister, Li. Where is she now?

When Manager Wu heard the shopkeeper mention Chun Sanniang, a strange look appeared on her face. She said, "This Chun Sanniang has caused us so much trouble. She has made Zui Liuxia the biggest joke in Yunzhou."

Zhou Changchun's expression turned grim. He repeated in a cold voice, "Where is her sister now?"

Manager Wu reluctantly replied, "Tea."

"Find a way to get her back. She's Sanniang's only sister, and all of Sanniang's crafts...are hers. Zui Liuxia needs her."

Manager Wu muttered quietly, "How could she come back? She's already accepted the thief as her sister."

Not long after, there was a knock on the door, announcing that a distinguished person was visiting and wanted to see the manager alone.

Zhou Changchun waved his hand and asked Manager Zhang and Manager Wu to go down first.

As Wu Guanshi walked out, he glanced back and saw the person coming in. She was wearing a crimson cloak, a wide robe that completely covered her. But Wu Guanshi had a keen eye and saw that the cloak was printed with a floral pattern and the material was soft, giving off a faint luster even in the dark.

It is the finest silk. It comes from either a prominent family or a wealthy family. It has a great background!

When the box door closed again, the woman in black robe took off her hat with her slender hands, revealing a beautiful face.

Zhou Changchun was shocked when he saw the other person's face clearly. He stood up to greet her and said respectfully, "Mrs. Song, I am sorry for not coming here to welcome you."

******

Accompanied by a "boom" sound, a lightning like a silver snake streaked across the sky, and a sudden rainstorm came. The rain curtain was like a mesh, and bean-sized raindrops hit the pedestrians. In a moment, their clothes were soaked.

The wooden window creaked in the wind. Song Jinyi turned her gaze from the window frame back into the living room. She couldn't help but wonder, "Xie Wuyang went out to buy some donkey meat hotpot. Why hasn't he come back in so long?"

She turned around and saw that there were only two or three tables of customers left in the restaurant. Li He could handle it all by herself, so she went to the back room to get two umbrellas.

The moment she took the umbrella, she felt as if her wrist was pierced by dozens of silver needles. The oil-paper umbrella fell to the ground. She held her right wrist, hunched her body, and trembled slightly all over.

It took her a long time to move her right wrist. She smiled bitterly. She usually boiled the ingredients according to the number of customers, so at least there would not be too much and no waste.

Today, Butler Song brought an order for a thousand cups.

She took it, and ended up having to boil ten more barrels. When she was done, her hands were so numb they didn't feel like her own, but she earned nearly two hundred taels, so it was worth it!

However, Song Zhangye was not such a kind person. What exactly did he want to do? Song Jinyi was still confused for a while.

The crackling sound of the rain outside pulled her back to her thoughts. She held the umbrella with her left hand and tucked the other under her arm.

He said a few more words to Li He and left.

After walking only a few dozen steps, I heard hurried footsteps behind me, accompanied by the sound of splashing water.

She didn't want to get wet by the rain, so she quickly dodged to the side. When she looked carefully, she saw that it was someone from the yamen, wearing the same dark blue official uniform, walking hurriedly, as if they had something urgent to do.

Even on such a rainy day, there were still many people holding oil-paper umbrellas and following the direction where the constable disappeared to watch the excitement.

She had no intention of staying and just wanted to find Xie Wuyang as soon as possible.

The gossiping voices of passersby jogging past her drifted into her ears.

"What happened up ahead?"

"I heard someone died."

"Ah! Who is it?"

"I don't know. I heard from others that I had seen this person in Chayuan."

"Bang——" the umbrella in Song Jinyi's hand fell to the ground uncontrollably.

【Author’s words】

Ask for a collection [poor]