Zhou Quan nodded and hummed in agreement, "Yes, I understand. I'll listen to you about everything in our family."

"Are you hungry?" Li Mai asked, flipping her wrist to reveal two boiled eggs. She handed him one and ate the other herself.

The water was so dry that he choked, so Li Mai had to use her mind to take him into the space. They each drank half a bowl of spiritual spring water and finally felt better. The two of them then left the space and continued on their journey.

Actually, if it weren't for the fear of feeling uncomfortable in her stomach due to the emptiness, Li Mai had initially planned to go in and drink a bowl of spiritual spring water.

At 1:00 PM, the two returned home.

The journey there was slow because the road was difficult to travel. Last time, Li Mai was in a sedan chair and didn't remember the way, so the two of them took the wrong turn several times before finally reaching Lijia Village. This time, however, they knew the way and walked faster.

Actually, it only takes half an hour to walk from Zhoujiacun to Lijiacun.

Zhao hadn't taken her afternoon nap yet. When she saw them return, she said, "The food I left for you two is in the steamer."

The two went back to eat, and told Zhao to go back and rest for a while. Everyone had been busy and tired lately, so they should take advantage of any time they could to rest.

After dinner, the couple went back to their room to rest for a while. In the afternoon, Zhou Quan went out to arrange some things, while Li Mai stayed behind and accompanied Zhu Zhu to read and watch the little koi fish.

The next day, Li Mai and Zhou Quan set off at dawn and were taken to town by Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lin in an oxcart.

They arrived in town around 9:00 AM.

Zhou Quan then instructed his father that if the disaster relief funds allocated by the government ran out and the villagers had no money for the New Year, he should suggest that the clan chief have them donate some of the money they had agreed to donate based on the blessings of their ancestors. It didn't have to be much; just two taels of silver per family would be enough for everyone to get through the winter and the New Year.

Giving too much at once can foster bad habits in some people who don't want to work.

Old Man Zhou agreed.

When Li Mai left in the morning, she called Zhao Shi to the west room where Zhao Shi used to live. She pointed to a wooden box on the ground, opened it, and found two jars inside. Inside the jars were small porcelain pots. This was the money she had left for the family to use when needed.

One jar contained silver ingots, and the other contained copper coins. Zhao would naturally decide for himself whether to use them for important or minor purposes.

Li Mai left five hundred taels of silver for her family, which she felt was enough for their needs, even if they wanted to donate money.

Zhou nodded in agreement, and after Li Mai and Zhou Quan left, she locked the west room where they had stayed.

This room is now their family's vault.

Li Mai and Zhou Quan went to Jin Yu Ge, where Madam Yu was already waiting for them.

The carriage is ready. One carriage, two horses, one pulling the carriage and the other following beside it. The two horses will take turns pulling the carriage in the morning and afternoon, not for any other reason than to be fast and not need to rest. The fisherwoman is rich.

The fisherwoman was accompanied by another young man, Zhou Quan, who was driving the carriage. The two of them sat on either side of the carriage shaft to drive.

Li Mai and Mrs. Fisherman rested in the carriage, some sitting and some lying down.

They set off from Qingshi Town and headed north, their first stop being Shangbei Town and their second stop being Xiabei Town.

Shangbei Town is north of Qingshi Town, about a day's journey away. By the time they arrived, it was already dark.

The fisherwoman led them directly to a small courtyard to stay.

Although it's called a small courtyard, it's actually a multi-courtyard house. Zhou Quan and Li Mai, the young couple, lived in the east multi-courtyard house, Madam Yu lived in the main courtyard house, and the young people lived in the west multi-courtyard house.

After spending a day together, they learned that the young man's name was Yan Yu, and that he was an orphan rescued by the fisherwoman after her family had an accident.

After that, Yan Yu became her bodyguard, and he followed her wherever she went.

Li Mai had also wondered in her heart whether the two of them could have that kind of relationship, but after spending a day together, she felt that it was unlikely.

Yan Yu is a very cheerful person, and she chatted happily with Zhou Quan along the way.

Hearing his cheerful laughter, Mrs. Yu didn't react much and continued chatting with Li Mai about the shop they were going to.

Yan Yu is twenty-two this year, while Madam Yu is already thirty-three. I suppose I'm overthinking it.

When the couple rested that evening, Li Mai also mentioned this question to Zhou Quan.

Zhou Quan shook his head and said it probably wasn't.

Yan Yu called Guan Yu's wife "elder sister".

The night passed peacefully, and the next day, Madam Yu took Li Mai to see the Golden Jade Pavilion.

After reading it, Li Mai roughly figured out some problems.

One issue is the lighting inside the store. The store isn't very new, and the ceiling isn't very high, so once you go in, it immediately gives you a very oppressive feeling.

Hearing Mrs. Fisherman mention the store's sales figures for last month, she knew that there weren't many repeat customers. The environment was so oppressive that customers always felt a sense of unease after entering, and nobody wanted to come back a second time unless the store's products were so cheap that people could ignore that oppressive feeling.

But Li Mai knew that Jin Yu Ge's jewelry wasn't actually the cheapest in the industry.

The second issue concerns the sales clerks. The two assistants and the shopkeeper standing behind the counter, while each with their own distinct features, didn't have the kind of kind and pleasing appearance. Li Mai felt that unless these sales clerks were exceptionally skilled with their tongues, able to sell jewelry to anyone who walked in, their appearance wouldn't create a better first impression than someone with a kind face, especially since they were dealing with women.

Although Li Mai might have guessed that the Fisherwoman's shop used such distinctive-looking people to make customers remember them, she felt that while making a good impression was important, the most important thing was that Jin Yu Ge sold jewelry, and the quality, texture, and style of the jewelry were what kept customers coming back.

Having a general idea of ​​the store's problems, Li Mai pretended to be a customer and, while Zhou Quan selected styles, observed the store's business for an hour. After returning to her residence, Li Mai began writing down the store's problems and several suggestions for improvement.

Whether or not things will ultimately change depends on Mrs. Fisherman.

In the afternoon, Madam Yu returned with Yan Yu.

The four people settled down in the hall. Zhou Quan and Yan Yu sat on one side, quietly drinking tea, while Li Mai and Madam Yu began to discuss the problems in the shop.

After Li Mai first pointed out the problems she had observed, she then went on to explain her ideas on how to change them.

The methods of change can be mainly divided into two types: major changes requiring major investment and minor changes requiring minor investment.

Li Mai explained in detail to Mrs. Fisherman the specific methods for changing the scale of investment.

Mrs. Fisherman listened quietly the whole time.

A major investment naturally means changing shops, and this shop is actually not suitable for the glittering name "Jin Yu Ge".

Li Mai believes that this name should be associated with a high-end, classy, ​​and upscale storefront, but such a storefront also comes with high costs.

Small investments mean...