Ye Caiping smiled and said, "Okay, let's divide it up now. The furniture shop's total revenue for the four months from November to February is two."

"According to the shareholding, I get 2.3 taels, my eldest brother and Uncle Shuantou each get 4708 taels and 6 taels. My second brother gets 1648 taels, and Uncle Lizheng and my second uncle each get 941 taels and 7 taels."

As she spoke, Ye Caiping took out a stack of silver notes and distributed them to them according to their value, giving them silver coins for any odd amounts.

Ye Daquan, Ye Lizheng, and the others accepted the money, all beaming with gratitude as they looked at Ye Caiping.

Ye Caiping then asked, "By the way, Uncle Village Head, when will the bridge be open to traffic?"

Ye Lizheng said, "I had someone calculate it some time ago, and March 8th, March 12th, or March 19th are all auspicious days."

Ye Caiping smiled and said, "Then let's make it March 8th! Every day earlier is better, to make things easier for everyone."

Ye Lizheng said, "Then I'll talk to the magistrate about it later."

The bridge is a major event, and we need to report it to our superiors.

Ye Caiping said, "I can send a servant. Let's discuss the village's affairs. Because of the three workshops, the village's population has increased. It will be even more lively after the bridge is built. I've thought about it, how about we set up an inn in the village?"

"I want to expand the glass workshop and the hot and sour soup workshop. I plan to develop seasonings such as braising spices. Then there will be even more people coming to pick up goods."

The reason she initially only made spicy soup was because she was afraid that if she expanded her business, it would attract envy.

Now she has no more scruples and can go all out.

Ye Caiping said, "Let's pool our money to build a big inn, do some catering, and also provide accommodation. If we make money, the whole village will share it."

Ye Lizheng's eyes lit up: "That's great! How do you want to do it?"

Ye Caiping said, “Our village has more than 110 households. Each household can start by contributing four or five taels of silver, and the money will be distributed every six months. Of course, if you don’t want to participate, you don’t have to. But if you don’t participate, you won’t get any money.”

Ye Daquan and the others nodded in agreement.

After discussing it for a while, the group dispersed.

After a while, Zhao Fan came in and paid the bill for the spicy soup over the past few months:

“During this period, the workshop did not add any other merchants, and the monthly income was 1,090 taels. This is from November to February, totaling 4,360 taels.”

Ye Caiping smiled and said, "Okay. By the way, I heard that your wedding date with Xiaoyan has been set."

Zhao Fan blushed and chuckled sheepishly, "Yes, it's May 16th, hehe."

After Zhao Fan left, the manager of the glass workshop came to settle accounts.

The glass workshop had only been operating for a short time. The first batch of glass was produced last November, all for the Marquis of Dingguo's residence. Orders were not accepted until December.

In December alone, the orders she received from the capital city yielded a net profit of over ten thousand taels of silver after deducting costs.

In January and February, other states, being more astute, had already heard the news and started ordering various glass products.

The net profit from just these two months' orders has reached over 40,000 taels.

Ye Caiping nodded. It truly was a business with no competitors. This was just the beginning; many state governments didn't even know glass existed yet. Once word spread, business would be even better.

At this moment, Duanwu walked in: "Madam, this is a letter from Master to you."

Ye Caiping put down the ledger, happily took it, and after reading it, handed him a stack of silver notes: "This is half of the glass workshop's share. Give it to Zhiyan."

Duanwu took it and left.

Before noon, he returned and handed the stack of silver notes back to Ye Caiping: "Master said that all the money in the house is under the management of Madam, and there is no need to give it to him anymore."

Ye Caiping raised her lips: "Alright, then I'll have to go through the trouble."

Duanwu said, "Also, all the household account books have been delivered. I don't know where to put them?"

Those account books were all the property belonging to Shen Zhiyan from the Marquis of Dingguo's mansion, including accounts for some estates, shops, and merchant ships.

Ye Caiping said, "Just send it to my study."

After Duanwu left, Old Hong, who had built the bridge, walked in with a smile: "Madam Ye is finally back. The bridge is now complete, and I'm about to leave as well."

Ye Caiping said, "It's all thanks to Elder Hong. By the way, does Elder Hong have any work to do?"

Old Hong said, "I haven't received any work yet."

Ye Caiping said, "That's perfect. There are bridges across this river at long intervals. I'd like to ask Mr. Hong to build two more large bridges to make things easier for the villagers around here."

Old Hong smiled and said, "This old man couldn't be happier. Madam Ye is so kind!"

As he spoke, he bowed to her with his hands clasped in greeting.

Ye Caiping smiled and returned the greeting.

After Old Master Hong left, Ye Caiping stretched and left the main hall, walking to the main courtyard.

Jin'er, Huan'er, and Manman, the three girls, were playing with the dog, giggling and having a great time.

Grandma Ye sat to one side sewing shoe soles, while Grandpa Ye smoked a water pipe not far away.

Looking at the heartwarming scene before her, Ye Caiping smiled gently. This kind of life is truly wonderful.

"Oh, Caiping, you're here!" At that moment, Granny Zhao rushed in from outside. "Perfect timing, I have some big news to tell you."

Ye Caiping was somewhat speechless. As she walked inside, she said, "The big news you're talking about, is it about Li Zhiyuan selling Zhang Shuiniang?"

Granny Zhao looked shocked: "How did you know?"

Ye Caiping smiled gently: "Anyway, I just know."

"Who is it?" Granny Zhao's eyes widened. The news had actually reached Ye Caiping's ears before she could.

The Ye Jin'er sisters, who were not far away, exclaimed in surprise, and even stopped teasing the dog: "Grandma Zhao, is what you said really true?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Zhao immediately perked up: "Of course. We sold them before the Lunar New Year."

Ye Caiping walked over to Grandma Ye, pulled up a small stool and sat down, listening to their chatter.

......

After lunch, Ye Li was holding a village meeting under the banyan tree, talking about opening a guesthouse.

The villagers listened with a mixture of understanding and confusion.

Ye Lizheng shouted, "What I mean is, each of us will contribute five taels of silver to start an inn together, and we'll split the profits. Anyone who wants to participate can sign up, and of course, those who don't want to can too. Cai Ping is trying to get us to make money together."

The villagers were initially confused, some even reluctant to part with the five taels of silver, but upon hearing the words "picking apples," their eyes lit up, as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

"We'll all participate!"

In their eyes, Ye Caiping was a money-making expert; whatever she did was profitable.

Because of the three workshops nearby, almost every household in the village has one person working in one of them, earning at least one or two taels of income each month.

Taking out five taels is not a difficult task.

The villagers eagerly signed up one by one.

When Wei heard that Ye Caiping was going to open an inn in the village again, her face darkened.

While sweeping the floor, he threw things around and cursed, "What kind of mess is this? If you want to run an inn, just get your own brothers involved, or at most the village head and my second uncle. Why drag the whole village into it? How much money will we even get then?"

Wei Xiaojuan also felt that Ye Caiping was too heartless; she was simply throwing money away!

Despite their anger, they were powerless to do anything to Ye Caiping.