The next morning, Gu Nanjiao walked around the county town for a long time, looking for shops to rent so she could start a small business.

After wandering around for a while, I returned empty-handed.

Arriving at the stall, Lu's mother and younger sister sat there listlessly, looking bored.

The weather was scorching hot, and no one wanted to come out to dry their oil, so business was naturally much worse. Even though their stalls offered cold drinks, most people were unwilling to brave the blazing sun to buy them.

Drinking a cold drink feels refreshing for a moment, but you'll still be covered in sweat when you get back.

While Lu's mother sighed with worry, Gu Nanjiao remained calm. That's how business is; there are peak and off-peak seasons, which is perfectly normal.

She plans to open a shop selling food and cold drinks. She also plans to hire people to copy more flyers and distribute them to densely populated areas such as colleges and farmers' markets.

The label reads: Advance booking is available, same-day booking, next-day delivery, free delivery within 5 kilometers.

Once things are up and running, branches will open one after another. One every five kilometers, one every ten kilometers, all her shops—just thinking about it makes me happy.

Thinking about it is one thing, but reality is another, and putting it into practice is not so easy.

Gu Nanjiao and Lu Xiaomei didn't want to be bored and just sit at their stall, so they decided to go for a stroll.

Lu's mother couldn't bear to spend a day's stall fee, so she continued to guard the stall. If someone came to buy something, wouldn't she be able to recoup the day's stall fee?

She turned around, picked up an oil-paper umbrella, and handed it to Gu Nanjiao: "It's so hot, aren't you afraid of getting sunburned? Take the umbrella with you, girls shouldn't get tanned."

"Okay, Mother!" Gu Nanjiao and Lu Xiaomei said in unison, took the umbrellas, and left the stall.

"Sister-in-law, where should we go?" Lu Xiaomei wiped the sweat from her forehead hastily, her voice a little dry. She regretted coming out with her sister-in-law. It was too hot; her back was already soaked with sweat.

Gu Nanjiao was also very hot, so she quickly comforted Lu Xiaomei: "Let's go to Jiaoniang Pavilion, it's cool there. I want to make you some clothes and take your measurements."

When Lu Xiaomei heard that she was going to get new clothes, her eyes lit up. She didn't care about the heat anymore and kept urging, "Then sister-in-law, let's go quickly."

Inside the Beauty Pavilion, four buckets of ice were placed in each of the four corners, providing a cool and comfortable atmosphere. Gu Qingyan and Wen Zhang were each engrossed in reading a book, while Lü Siniang was busy calculating on her abacus.

With the autumn exams approaching, Mr. Gu was frantically studying and working very hard.

When Gu Nanjiao arrived with Lu Xiaomei, the peaceful and harmonious scene was shattered.

Father Gu looked up at Gu Nanjiao, then lowered his head again: "You've come. It's so hot today, don't you feel hot?"

Gu Nanjiao pouted, pretending to be angry: "Hmph, doesn't Father welcome me?"

Mr. Gu quickly got up, put down the book in his hand, and nervously came to Gu Nanjiao: "My good daughter, what are you saying? Father was just worried about you coming here in this heat."

"Haha, Dad, I heard from Fourth Aunt that she's been studying very hard lately, and she doesn't want to miss her classes at the academy. She's always reading until late at night. Dad, you need to take care of yourself and don't overwork yourself."

"Father understands!" Gu's father was somewhat moved and quickly pulled out a chair for Gu Nanjiao to sit down.

Gu Nanjiao waved her hand: "Dad, you go ahead with your work, I'm going to talk to Aunt Si for a bit."

Seeing Wen Zhang sitting upright with a book in his hand, Lu Xiaomei walked over, tilted her head, and asked, "What book are you reading?"

The article, read without blinking, uttered two concise words: "Mencius".

Lu Xiaomei blinked her eyes: "Mencius, why does that sound so familiar?" Lu Xiaomei tapped her head with her finger and thought for a while, then suddenly exclaimed: "Is 'being able to do something without learning' what Mencius was talking about?"

Wen Zhang finally looked up, glanced at the boisterous Lu Xiaomei, and asked, "Have you been to school?"

"No, I only heard my older brother read it aloud a few times, and that's all I know." Lu Xiaomei lowered her head shyly.

Once, when Lu Xiaomei heard Lu Yanzhao read Mencius, she was very interested and asked what Mencius was. Lu Yanzhao explained it to her very seriously, and Lu Xiaomei remembered the words "can do without learning".

The article nodded and continued reading.

Lu Xiaomei found the article a bit dull, just like her brother, who couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

So Lu Xiaomei started showing off about Lu Yanzhao: "My brother passed the imperial examination at the age of eight, isn't that amazing! By the way, how old are you? Have you passed the imperial examination yet?"

The author paused in turning the pages of his book. He was eight years old and hadn't yet passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examinations. However, he had heard from his teacher that those who passed before the age of ten were child prodigies. He wasn't a child prodigy, so there was nothing to envy.

"No!" After saying that, Wen Zhang continued reading his book.

Lu Xiaomei felt bored. She wanted to talk to Wenzhang more, but he wouldn't even say a word to her. He was even worse than her brother.

Just as Lu Xiaomei was about to leave, Wen Zhang looked up at her, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

Hey, this little brat is hilarious!

Lu Xiaomei is a year older than Wen Zhang. Recently, she's been eating and drinking well, and she's half a head taller than him, which makes her feel very superior. Naturally, she thinks of Wen Zhang as a little kid.

"Ask whatever you want."

The article pursed its lips and asked, "Has your brother passed the imperial examination and become a scholar? How does he study every day?"

Despite saying I wasn't envious, I couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

Lu Xiaomei became interested and came over to the article, chattering away, and began to tell the story of Lu Yanzhao's glorious past.

Gu Nanjiao tugged at Lü Siniang's sleeve. Lü Siniang gave her a meaningful look and continued working on the abacus.

"How about this hidden gem I'm giving you? Do you like it?"

"Oh dear, what kind of secret treasure did you give me? It's such a blunder." Gu Nanjiao complained softly to Lü Siniang, her face slightly flushed.

Lu Siniang paused, stopping her abacus work, and approached Gu Nanjiao with a gossipy look: "What big misunderstanding? Could it be that you two got together because of this? Or did Lu Yanzhao steal your secret weapon and study it on his own?"

"It didn't work, it didn't work. He found out as soon as I opened it. I was so embarrassed, I wanted to find a hole to hide in," Gu Nanjiao said awkwardly, covering her face.

Lu Yanzhao did indeed take the booklet, but whether he studied it on his own is unknown.

Lu Siniang sighed in disappointment, "You two are really clueless!"

Gu Nanjiao quickly changed the subject, asking, "Where did you rent the shop before? Did you know anyone there?"

Lu Siniang glanced at Gu's father, who was engrossed in his book, and asked Gu Nanjiao in a low voice, "You want to rent a shop to start a business?"

"Yes! I have some money now, so I want to start a food business. Setting up a stall isn't a long-term solution."

Lu Siniang nodded in agreement: "It's good to have a shop to settle down with, so you don't have to work in the wind and rain. I know some brokers, I'll go ask them tomorrow if there are any shops for rent."

Upon hearing this, Gu Nanjiao immediately grabbed Lü Siniang's arm and flattered her, "Fourth Aunt, oh no, Fourth Sister... Mother, you're so good, you're my best stepmother. I love you!"

Lu Siniang got goosebumps all over and waved her hand at Gu Nanjiao with a look of disgust: "Go away, I still need to check the accounts, don't be so mushy!"

Before leaving, Gu Nanjiao took Lu Xiaomei's measurements and asked Lü Siniang to make two sets of clothes for her.

He then took two hundred taels of silver from Bai's money shop and handed it to Gu's father.

"Dad, buy some good food to nourish yourself, don't overwork yourself."

Gu Qingyan's eyes widened like saucers, and he asked incredulously, "Where did you get so much money?!"