Although I've lost a lot of weight recently, it's impossible for me to suddenly become fat. I just look much thinner visually, but I still have some fat on my body.

This adorable action made Mrs. Sun burst into laughter, thinking that the girl was incredibly cute.

After chatting with Mrs. Sun for a couple of minutes, Cheng Xuewei continued to talk to He Jiuniang about business matters.

"It's decided then. Don't argue with me. I'm lucky to be able to cooperate with you. I feel like I've earned so much money lately. Besides, since your family has given up the estate, I should give up the ox!"

Cheng Xuewei slammed her hand on the table, giving He Jiuniang no chance to refuse.

After thinking for a while, Mrs. Sun asked, "Xuewei, do you mean you'll pay for the cow?"

Cheng Xuewei nodded: "Yes, Auntie. Your family has provided two such good estates for raising cattle. If I don't do anything, how can I feel at ease making money with Sister Jiu Niang? I can afford to buy these hundreds of cattle. I'll feel at ease when I'm making money after I buy them!"

He Jiuniang's original idea was that her family would pay for the estate, since it was a gift from Prince Chen and her family hadn't spent much money on it. They also couldn't take advantage of Cheng Xuewei, and the money for buying the cattle would be split in half.

To everyone's surprise, Cheng Xuewei firmly disagreed, saying that she didn't want to take advantage of their family either. The two large estates were of extraordinary value, far exceeding the value of a few hundred cattle. Therefore, she would be responsible for paying for the cattle.

People who truly cooperate are like this: no matter what they do, they always put the other party first, try their best not to let the other party suffer losses, and also protect their own interests. Only such cooperation can last.

Seeing Cheng Xuewei's outrageous extravagance, casually buying hundreds of cattle, Sun couldn't help but click her tongue in disbelief. The gap between the rich and poor was truly enormous!

A cow costs at least thirty taels of silver. Back in their hometown of Changzhou, their whole family had to scrimp and save for four or five years to afford one. But Cheng Xuewei asked to buy hundreds of cows right off the bat, and said she didn't care about the money.

Even though his family is making money now and their wealth is gradually increasing, she would still feel a pang of heartache if they suddenly had to spend several thousand taels of silver to buy cattle.

Moreover, buying a cow doesn't mean you can just stop spending money; you have to hire someone to take care of it, and the feed and other fodder also cost money, so the costs are huge.

"But it seems that my family still benefited from your situation!"

Sun Shi thought the same as He Jiu Niang. She didn't spend any money on the two estates, so she wasn't too bothered. But Cheng Xue Wei knew perfectly well what was going on and took the initiative to explain, "Auntie, I'm the one who took advantage of your family. Your two estates were bestowed by Prince Chen. They cover a large area and are not far from the city, making them convenient to visit. They are worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, while I only spent a few thousand taels to buy cattle. It's really nothing."

"Besides, this estate was bought with my brother-in-law's life. How can I, an outsider with no relation to him, just sit back and enjoy its fruits?"

This statement hit the nail on the head: those two houses were free, but Lu Baichuan risked his life for them.

Upon thinking about it, Sun's smile froze. She looked at He Jiuniang's face and said, "Then how about we take care of the cow's food, water, and sanitation?"

"No!" Before He Jiuniang could speak, Cheng Xuewei continued, "We have to split the subsequent expenses for raising cattle in half. We're talking about the house and buying cattle right now, don't mix it up with other things."

She always had a sense of justice and would never try to take advantage of others.

She knew perfectly well that no matter how much money she and her family had, they were just merchants. Especially since she was a divorced merchant's wife, she could handle minor squabbles well and simply pay to avoid trouble. But if she got involved with officials, she would have absolutely no chance to fight back.

But now she has the Lu family as an ally. The fact that Lu Baichuan has such a nice house and estate in the prefectural city shows that he is very favored by Prince Chen. In this way, no matter what happens in the future, Lu Baichuan will protect her. If he can't protect her, she can ask Prince Chen for help. In any case, it is much more convenient for her than for a mere merchant's wife.

She can now easily find a lucrative position by spending a little money, so why would she dare to be greedy for more?

He Jiuniang knew exactly what Cheng Xuewei was thinking, and in the end, she agreed.

In business, this is the kind of person I like best—someone who knows when to advance and retreat, and who understands boundaries. Even now, He Jiuniang is still grateful to her.

When the two first started working together, neither of them knew that Lu Baichuan would return, nor that he would be so successful. Their collaboration was always based on mutual consultation and there were never any conflicts.

Later, when Lu Baichuan returned, Cheng Xuewei became more enthusiastic, but her ultimate goal was simply to continue cooperating with him. She stayed true to her duties and did her job well, which made people feel very comfortable.

With such a partner, He Jiuniang has much less to worry about. In that case, shouldn't we do more business with her?

He Jiuniang kept this matter in mind and prepared to make some more grand plans.

While they were having a lively discussion about their careers, Lu Baichuan was playing with his son and their little monkey.

Although he was supposed to be keeping her company, Lu Baichuan simply sat to the side, silent and still, lost in thought.

After playing for a while, Gou'er handed the little monkey to Erniu to take to get water, and then sat down next to Lu Baichuan like a little adult, asking, "Daddy, did you upset Mommy?"

Lu Baichuan snapped out of his daze: "How did you know?"

"Your mother isn't paying attention to you! Your grandmother isn't really talking to you either. Did you do something to upset your mother?"

He put his hands on his hips, looking like he was going to support his mother.

Lu Baichuan was speechless. He hadn't even appeased those two yet, and now another one had arrived...

"Father did make Mother angry, but Father didn't do it on purpose. He was just looking for an opportunity to apologize to her."

He reached out and patted his son's head, asking, "Can you help Daddy?"

The dog thought about it seriously for a moment and asked, "How do you want me to help you?"

"That's easy. Just go back to your room after dark and don't come out unnecessarily. Father will explain it to Mother separately."

Dog: ...

He was seriously thinking about how to help his parents reconcile, but his father thought he was in the way.

What he didn't know was that Lu Baichuan was genuinely answering his son's question very seriously.

Since he's the one who angered her, he can't send He Jiuniang to his room anymore. Instead, he has to take the initiative to go to her and make things clear then.

If his son suddenly comes over while he's talking, wouldn't he be very embarrassed?

"So, can you do it?"

Lu Baichuan had no idea that his son was exceptionally intelligent, and he treated him like any other child.

The dog moved away from him, snorting, "Hmph!"