Chapter 189 A Beautiful Life and a Villain's Scheme

On the way back, Rongzhen secretly glanced at the person walking side by side with her.

Jingshu stopped and asked her, "What do you want to say?"

Rongzhen hummed, scratching her cheek. "Nothing. The past is the past. What's most important is the present and the future. Do you understand?"

She didn't understand what had happened to him in the past that made it so difficult for him to let go that it triggered toxins in his body. She could only comfort him vaguely in this way, hoping that he could see things more clearly, let it go, and try to focus on the future.

Jingshu turned sideways and stared at her for a few breaths. "I understand. Where is the shop you checked this morning? Did you encounter any trouble? What are you planning to do?"

He wanted to change the subject, so Rongzhen stopped talking and took him to see the shop.

She hadn't encountered any trouble yet, but if he was willing to accompany her for a walk and show his face, it would probably save her a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Jingshu followed her to the end of the intersection without any objection, and watched her enthusiastically planning the shop, thinking about where to put what goods, which goods might sell better, what the monthly profit would be, etc. These were all trivial and complicated things, but she was busy and contented.

After she finished her speech, Jingshu suddenly asked, "Is the money you have running out?"

Rong Zhen was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "How is that possible? Not to mention the bag of gold and silver you gave me, Master Huang alone gave me five thousand taels. As long as I don't squander it, I can never spend it all in this lifetime."

Jing Shu looked puzzled. Since he had plenty of money, why was he so busy trying to earn a tiny profit?

Rong Zhen knew that he came from a wealthy family. As a young master who was once innocent, he probably lived a life of luxury and knew little about the lives of ordinary people.

In fact, she did this just to give herself a reasonable source of income. Otherwise, she couldn't just tell others that she had five thousand taels and could have enough food and drink without working. Believe it or not, as soon as she said it, the money was gone, and she was gone too.

Another reason was that she also wanted to find a job for herself and couldn't really live on those few thousand taels for the rest of her life.

People who do not work and remain idle for too long will eventually become useless.

Rongzhen explained these things simply to Jingshu. Regardless of whether he could understand them or not, Song's Grocery Store opened at the end of the street within two days.

She put most of the things she brought back from Taolin County on display, and unexpectedly filled up the small shop.

In order to ensure the supply of goods, she also hung a receiving sign at the door, indicating that she was purchasing various grains, mountain products, handicrafts, needlework, handkerchiefs, etc. from the countryside. They could be bartered for things in the shop, or sold for silver at a preferential price.

According to Rongzhen's current plan, she intends to purchase things from the countryside and sell them to the county town, and then purchase goods from the county town and sell them back to the town, making a profit from the difference.

She felt that this trading model should have a good market and be profitable. After all, not everyone has both a horse and a donkey like her family, which can support her to travel back and forth between the county and the town at will.

This way, she could have a proper job to earn some pocket money, and it would also be convenient for her to go out and have some fun occasionally, so that she wouldn't be trapped in one town and have nowhere to go.

Seeing that she was very busy, Jingshu felt that he should not disturb her too much. He only went to the shop twice when she needed him.

One time, when they were opening a shop and moving goods, he went with Rongzhen to lend a hand and help carry a few bags of rice.

The water girl was extremely surprised to see him and asked Rong Zhen privately, "Is he really your brother? He looks like the son of a wealthy family, fair-skinned and handsome. Is he married?"

Rong Zhen was even more surprised than she was at the time. She simply ignored the last question and gave a thumbs-up admiringly, "Auntie, you have a really good eye. My brother used to be a young master. I didn't expect you to see that."

"Then why do you come to live in our small town?" The water seller was curious and gossiped.

Rong Zhen looked melancholy. "It's because our family has fallen on hard times in recent years that I've ended up wandering around... Oh, look at what I'm saying. My brother has been grieving over this. Please don't mention this to him."

When the water-selling woman heard the word "jianghu", her expression changed, and her gossipy thoughts subsided instantly.

Is the gossip of the Jianghu people really good gossip? The common people would rather secretly whisper about those noble families than casually gossip about the Jianghu people.

Because the former is at least high up and far away from them, so it won't be a big deal if they can't hear it.

As for the latter, one of the customers around them might be a gangster. If the news gets to the ears of the person concerned, will they be in any good?

Because of this, the water-selling woman became much more polite and distant towards Rongzhen, but this was exactly what Rongzhen wanted. Otherwise, if she continued to be friendly with her, this woman might even want to introduce them to someone.

It is more comfortable to keep enough social distance between each other.

There are no secrets among neighbors. Ever since Rongzhen spread the news through the water-selling woman that her brother was a gangster and had a good family background and high standards, some people who had recently been targeting the brother and sister automatically gave up some of their ideas.

But this does not include Mrs. Du next door, who had been thinking about it for a long time. After being scolded by Aunt Li next door that day, she calmed down temporarily. She did not give up the delusion that had arisen in her mind, but hid in the dark and watched.

Recently, she saw that the new brother and sister not only hired two servants to serve them after they moved into the mansion, but also opened a grocery store at the end of the street. Their business seemed to be booming, and her eyes became red.

These are the daughter-in-law and son-in-law she was looking for!

Maybe God heard her daily prayers and sent a perfect daughter-in-law and son-in-law to her Du family.

The Song family has a house and a shop, and they come from a good family. The elder brother can make friends with people in the underworld and use them as support, and the younger sister can manage the household and make a living. In the future, when the two families merge with the Du family, she will no longer have to worry about her children's difficult future. It's a beautiful thought.

Aunt Li happened to overhear her wishful mumbling and said, "I think you're just wishful thinking, old woman. You're just arranging everything on your own, without even considering whether the Song brothers and sisters are willing to let an outsider like you take charge of their lifelong affairs."

"So what? I'm older than them, and they don't have any elders. A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. I am half their elder, and it is my duty to help them arrange their lifelong events!" Mrs. Du was not afraid of her little thoughts being discovered, and she quarreled with Aunt Li with confidence.

When Rongzhen came back that night and heard that the two of them had quarreled, she didn't care.

Because these two people are like this every day. When things are going well, they are as close as if they were close friends regardless of age difference. When things are going badly, they can quarrel and fight like this, but they will definitely make up after a couple of days. If outsiders get involved, they will easily be in trouble.

She didn't take it to heart, but she didn't mind that others took her to heart, and the next day they took the opportunity at noon to go and bring her lunch.

At that time, Mrs. Bai happened to rush home after finishing her meal. Jingshu took over the job of delivering food to Rongzhen. He walked to the shop at the end of the cross street with the food basket and saw Mrs. Du coming to show her courtesy with a bowl of tofu mixed with green onions.

All I heard was Mrs. Du blocking the door of the shop, eloquently describing a bowl of ordinary cold tofu as a delicacy made by her family with great effort, and she was trying her best to get Rongzhen to taste it.

How could Rongzhen possibly eat such food with unknown ingredients, so she naturally refused.

As a result, Mrs. Du seemed to not understand what people said. Even though she said she didn't want to eat anymore, she still stayed in front of the shop and refused to leave.

It was not until Jingshu appeared with a food basket that Mrs. Du changed her target and handed him the bowl of tofu that had been left for a long time with shining eyes.

Jingshu ignored her and walked straight to Rongzhen. He handed her the food box and told her about Sister-in-law Qingbai's temporary leave. Then he turned around, took out a dagger, and looked at Mrs. Du: "What did you just say to me?"

Mrs. Du looked at the gleaming blade and stepped back awkwardly. "It's okay, it's okay. I just wanted to say that our tofu is delicious. You two should come and try it when you have time."

Jingshu took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped the dagger. "Now that we've finished talking, can we go now?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll leave right away!" Mrs. Du bullied the weak and feared the strong, so she turned around and ran faster than a rabbit.

The strangers finally left. Jingshu put away the dagger and handkerchief and disapprovedly advised Rongzhen, "This kind of person loves to push their luck. You shouldn't be so soft on her."

Rong Zhen ate her stir-fried Chinese toon sprouts without arguing. She told her Aunt Li about how she had warned her to be careful of Mrs. Du. "I originally let her go to see what her motives were. Now it seems she's up to something big."

Otherwise, with the temper shown by Mrs. Du, she had already been so humiliated, but she still had the nerve to approach him. No one would believe that she had no ulterior motive.

"Then what do you think she is trying to do?" Jingshu asked across the counter, casually helping her tidy up the messy account books and abacus.

Rong Zhen swallowed a mouthful of food and tilted his head to think for a moment, "If nothing unexpected happens, it must be wealth."

With her current status, there is nothing else she can plan for.

Jingshu finished tidying up the counter and then began to tidy up the shelves. While working, he did not forget to express his opinion on the matter: "That shouldn't be risky. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall."

She is just an ordinary person. Even if she has evil intentions, she can defeat them with force. It is not worth her putting herself in danger.

Rong Zhen raised her eyebrows and deliberately argued: "But I am a woman, not a gentleman." How should Jun explain it?

"You know that's not what I meant."

"All right."

Rongzhen understood, but life always needs some adjustment. The shop business had just been sorted out, and she had the free time. She would not lose anything by playing with the other party.

Since Jingshu doesn't agree, she won't play.

Therefore, the next few times that Mrs. Du brought tofu to Rong Zhen's house, she was turned away and said that she did not like tofu.

Mrs. Du didn't really want to give her tofu to eat, so she didn't care whether she liked to eat tofu or not. It was okay if she didn't like it. After she married into her family, she wouldn't eat it secretly and waste food.

Because of this, she became even more satisfied with Rongzhen, her future daughter-in-law, and couldn't help but speed up her planning.

After she came to deliver tofu several times in a row, a rumor gradually began to spread at the end of the street, saying that Miss Song from the newly opened Song's Grocery Store was the fiancé of the eldest son of the Du's Tofu Shop, so Mrs. Du came here so diligently, delivering things to Miss Song every day.

Otherwise, how can we explain why Mrs. Du, who was so stingy and calculative, suddenly became so generous?

The rumors were so convincing that people who heard them couldn't help but believe them.

When Rongzhen heard this, she roughly knew what the other party was trying to do.

He wanted to force the woman to marry in order to preserve her reputation by spreading rumors!

Mrs. Du's behavior is really not decent, just like Lai Hama lying on the foot. The poison may not kill people, but it can make people feel disgusted.

Unfortunately, she had misjudged the person this time. Rongzhen would let her know that once you mess with some people, the matter will not be over until you pay a heavy price.

That night, Rongzhen asked Jingshu during dinner if he was free because she wanted to ask him a small favor.

Jingshu speculated, "Is it to quell the rumors?"

That's true, but he guessed Rongzhen's plan wrong. A simple denial would not make her calm down, and it would only make things worse. It would be better to do something big.

"If you have time, please help me check the eldest son of the Du family." Rong Zhen said casually, but someone paused while eating. He couldn't swallow the steamed bun in his mouth. After a long silence, he nodded in agreement.

"good."

The Du family is just a common people. The eldest son of the Du family hangs out outside all day long, so it is not difficult to investigate him.

Jingshu only followed him privately for a day and was able to investigate it clearly.