Chapter 45: The Sun Family Goes to Beijing

We weren't planning on making much money in the first few days of opening; we just wanted to make back our initial investment in food and build some reputation in the area. The meal coupons we gave out were valid for seven days, so even if we didn't make much money in those seven days, at least we could let most people know about this new restaurant.

The shop was busy, and Second Brother was escorted to his exam by Madam Xu and Grandma Zhen. Even though the others were concerned, they were all busy with their own tasks.

The restaurant business was good, and people often asked runners to buy meals. Since Wang Da and Liu Si each took care of their own stalls, it was not convenient to find a runner the next day if someone ordered meals the day before. Some people would only deliver the meals after paying a higher price. They wanted to find a dedicated runner, but they couldn't find a reliable one at the moment.

Baozhu even wanted to start a special delivery service, recruit some errand runners to do the delivery, and then sign contracts with major restaurants in Beijing. This way, it would be convenient for the restaurants to find errand runners, and these idle errand runners would not have to ask around and could just wait for someone to send them.

Baozhu would take a cut of the profits, even if it was only a penny per order. Bianjing was so large, with so many restaurants and eateries, she could make quite a bit of money in a day. However, if you wanted to do this business, you had to have the capital and convince people that you had the ability. For now, you could only plan ahead and make plans later when you had more money.

Perhaps it was because he had the experience of a major examination, or perhaps it was because his second brother felt more relaxed after the autumn examination. He no longer just clung to books to study, but instead surveyed all parts of Bianliang on his own and actually experienced the lives of many ordinary people. He no longer cared so much about gains and losses, and his heart was much calmer.

Being trapped in that field was too depressing, and after several days of exams, I was exhausted both physically and mentally. After the exams were over, I just came back and slept for two days without knowing when to go out.

After a break, he went to the street to play chess with others. Although he didn't take the stakes, he just played to learn from others. But after a while, the old chess players would drive him away when they saw him. The second brother went to help out in the restaurant again. Baozhu also paid him a salary every day. With one more person in the restaurant, Jiang Shi felt much more relaxed.

Erlang was handsome, and many aunts and young ladies liked to come in, buy a drink or order two side dishes, and then take the opportunity to chat with him, mostly asking about his age and whether he was married.

Baozhu was gloating and laughed for a while. The result of her laughter was that her second brother refused to come again.

Before she could finish her laugh, her mother came looking for her at night. "Your aunt proposed a marriage with our family again this year. What do you think?"

To reassure Madam Xu, Aunt Zhen said that she had only known that Uncle Dong would be promoted one rank after the new year, but many people had been implicated in the court incident that year and had been dismissed, so the Ministry of Personnel had promoted him to two ranks, and he would be able to get the appointment documents soon.

Having lived two lifetimes, Baozhu had no idea what she was thinking, but she had always made up her mind and it was difficult for her to change it easily. Now the Tong family thought this was a good match, and her cousin and aunt from the Dong family treated her well, so she felt that there was nothing to refuse.

"Your aunt said that Hengzhi has passed the examination now. Even if he doesn't pass the spring examination, he has been recommended by someone. Even if he can't stay in Bianjing, he can go south to serve as a minor official. The Dong family is simple, and with your aunt around, you will definitely not be bullied in the future."

In this dynasty, marriages were often arranged by parents and matchmakers, rarely consulting their children's opinions. The Zhen family, through which she had been subtly influenced since childhood, valued their children's opinions, a rare occurrence. Her parents rarely pressed for more on matters of marriage. As Baozhu had anticipated, even if they thought it was a good match, they wouldn't just agree to it without asking for her opinion.

"What do you think, mother?"

Madam Xu laughed, "You're such a clueless girl. It's clearly your own business, yet you insist on asking me what I think. I can only tell you that your father and grandmother and I all think this is a good match. Your cousin is gentle and well-behaved, but you have a more volatile personality. I'm just afraid you might bully him."

"Mother always laughs at me." Baozhu remembered something and asked, "Mother said last time that she would ask Sister Xiu, but I wonder what she would say?"

Madam Xu laughed and said, "A Xiu feels that it's too high for her to marry. I'll ask Da Lang to go and get it himself."

"She's used to being cautious. If I say too much, I'm afraid she'll panic. We, Yu Xiu, will be like the Sun family was to us. The fate of their marriage still depends on the two of them. If outsiders talk too much, even if a marriage is established at the time, their lives will still be in turmoil in the future."

All parents hope that their children can live a happy life. Saving Ah Xiu was just a way of saving someone's life, and the Zhen family had no intention of seeking any reward.

The Zhen family cherished the elderly and the young. Even though they had considerable wealth in Suzhou, they had always hired people for labor and rarely traded them. They judged people by their own standards, believing that they were all born by their mothers. If they had seen orphans struggling to make a living on the street, they would never have bought them and treated them as mere servants, such as Ah Zhong.

The mother and daughter had just chatted when Ah Xiu and the eldest brother came in one after another from outside.

Madam Xu smiled and said, "There are lights on in the embroidery workshop. Ah Xiu has been taking advantage of the lights and warmth to learn embroidery these past few days. She comes home later than usual every day. Your eldest brother waits for her every day, but he's afraid Ah Xiu won't like it, so he follows her from a distance. Ah Xiu didn't know at first and thought she was being followed by a criminal. She was fine, but she was almost scared to death by your eldest brother."

Ah Xiu came in and went out again, and Da Lang followed her out. Bao Zhu did not want to eavesdrop, but Bao Rong and Er Lang had just come back from outside and saw the two of them talking outside, so they stopped in their tracks.

"I'll be back earlier starting tomorrow, so you don't have to follow me."

Dalang looked a little dejected. "The security in Beijing has been bad lately, and some roads are bumpy and haven't been repaired..."

Before he could say anything else, Ah Xiu took out a lamp from the house and lit it up. It was very bright. "If you are sincere, bring the lamp with you next time you come."

Da Lang just stopped laughing, then came to his senses and followed Ah Xiu into the courtyard, "Why are you giving me a light? I'm really not afraid of ghosts——"

Baorong and Erlang looked at each other, and were about to enter the courtyard when they heard a barely perceptible sigh from behind. Master Pei folded his arms and shook his head.

"How long have I been away from the Patrol Office? How can the security be so bad at night?"

Ah Xiu has now saved some money. She is diligent and willing to learn, and can now embroider some handkerchief patterns to make money. Her original silk flower business is still there. Baozhu showed her the way. After she made money from this business, she wanted to share it with Baozhu, but Baozhu naturally refused to take it.

So Ah Xiu would pick out the finest silk and velvet flowers every month for her, and now most of the ones in Baozhu's box were Ah Xiu's gifts. There was also a bamboo vase next to the mirror on the table, with a bunch of lotus flowers, lotus leaves, and lotus pods in it that were so realistic that they could be mistaken for real ones. This was also Ah Xiu's work.

Before the Zhen family could go back to the Dong family, Aunt Zhen hurried over to look for Madam Xu. She hadn't slept all night, her eyes were dark blue and her face was pale. She was not a very decisive person to begin with, and now she was even more panicked.

"The Sun family has been transferred to Bianjing, and is now the head of the Ministry of Personnel. I felt it was wrong that the Ministry of Personnel withheld the appointment documents, so I asked your uncle to inquire, but he said that there have been many things to do recently and it was normal to withhold them for a few days. Yesterday, he came back and said that the government would fine him six months' salary and suspend him from work for self-reflection. I went out and asked around, and then I found out that the Sun family had returned."

"Back when they were far away in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, if the Sun family dared to mess around, your words still carried some weight. But now that you've been promoted to Bianjing, you're a powerful official in charge of promotions, dismissals, and demotions. Who would be willing to intercede for you?"

It was only said that he was suspended, but it was unknown how long it would last. Aunt Zhen explained the whole story and held Madam Xu's hand tightly. "I heard that Master Sun brought his nephew to Bianjing and he is now studying at the Imperial College. Now that he has come to our house, I think he will not let Baozhu go. Hurry and tell Baozhu to close the restaurant for a few days."

Baozhu didn't know what had happened yet. She just felt that the shop was very strange today. The diners who came in were all unfamiliar. When a man with flowers and jade in his hair walked in at last, Baozhu thought she had seen it wrong and was shocked. But the next moment her face was very calm again, and she told the woman who washed the dishes to go home for the day.

"I thought you were hiding, but I didn't expect you to be so bold as to come to Bianjing to do business."

The man tapped the counter lightly with the fan in his hand. Dalang had come out from breakfast early and stood beside Baozhu, his fists clenched tightly and breathing like a cow through his nose.

Sun Shian looked at Baozhu's increasingly pretty face after not seeing her for two years, and he felt itchy in his heart. If he had obeyed him, he might have been tired of her long ago. But this girl dared to run away, which made him remember her for two years.

"If you are obedient, our previous marriage will remain valid, and all past grudges will be wiped out. I will also let your aunt and her family go. How do you say that?"

Although he didn't know what exactly happened, he half guessed that it was that the Sun family was transferred to Bian Jing to serve as an official. Since he was a new official, he certainly didn't want to cause trouble at this critical juncture.

From his words, it seemed that he was looking for trouble with his uncle and aunt, but she didn't know whether the trouble was caused by that Lord Sun or the Mr. Sun in front of her. There were so many people crowded in the small restaurant, and Baozhu naturally didn't want her efforts to go to waste.

"The official is now trying to use his power to oppress others. I wonder if the gentleman who came to the mansion today knows about this." Baozhu was not clear about the officialdom, but if an official oppressed the people, it would be troublesome if the situation got out of hand.

Baozhu was just trying to trick him, but she didn't expect that Mr. Sun's face darkened, and he left after saying something harsh.

Knowing that business was going to fail today, he simply locked the shop door and hurried home with his eldest brother. As he left, he glared at the hired thugs outside, feeling disdainful of them for trying this again.

When I came back and listened to Madam Xu's story, I learned that the Sun family had been promoted to Bian Jing. Now, at a time of turmoil in the court, the Sun family had been promoted to the Ministry of Personnel, in charge of promotions and demotions. I wonder how many people would like to curry favor with them.

Even the Dong family was helpless against the Sun family, let alone an ordinary family like the Zhen family.

Zhen's father came back early today. The shopkeeper just said that the customer complained that the food was bland and that he didn't need to go again. He didn't even want to listen to his words of defense.

I thought life was getting easier, but now I realize the sword hanging over my head has never been removed.

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The author has something to say: [Hahaha] [Hahaha] [Hahaha] Thank you for your guidance~

This chapter is posted late, I will give you a little red envelope~[猫头][猫头]