Ruan Jialin was speechless after being criticized by Miao Wan and could only grumble in anger in his heart.
Did I, the fat black scholar, eat your rice?
Why can’t scholars be dark and fat?
Why can’t black fat people be depressed? !
After being angry for a long time, Ruan Jialin looked at Miao Wan's big belly and didn't dare to say anything.
He was definitely not a coward, he was just worried that if his cousin, a scholar as eloquent as himself, got angry and interfered with the unborn nephew and niece, she would have to deal with him.
He is like a good man who doesn't fight with a woman, that's it.
Miao Wan watched with subtle eyes as Ruan Jialin gulped down a bowl of soy milk with the one he hadn't eaten, along with three fried dough sticks. Although his face was dark and nothing could be seen, one could sense that he was convincing himself in his heart.
By the time Aunt Geng brought the meal to Miao Wan and her mother-in-law and they had all been cleaned up, Ruan Jialin had calmed down and started talking to Miao Wan about things inside the pass with a smile.
Miao Wan thought silently, with this appetite, if he isn't fat, who would be?
"My parents are in charge of the capital, and the Imperial Concubine and the Saint are also there to guide the city's development. Qianjinlou's products are being snapped up by the wealthy and powerful right now. I'm sure my father will have had the silver returned before the New Year."
"He went south to Hedong Road and Henan Road. I have connections left by Boss Liu. I was imprisoned five times, but I also made a lot of connections. I sold most of the goods at a good price. In addition to the goods that Xining Town originally used as payment, the total profit was 40%, a total of 120,000 taels of silver. I will send you the account books shortly."
"The Jiangnan Road was the easiest. I went directly to Suzhou Prefecture and found the Qin family, the Ruan family's family acquaintances, and your second cousin's wife's family. They both bought the goods, and that wasn't enough. I also made a profit of 70,000 taels."
"Also, the two families are planning to form a caravan together and come out to take a look. Someone from Hedong Road and Henan Road has also contacted me."
…
As Ruan Jialin was talking, he looked up and felt that Miao Wan was distracted. He put down the teacup heavily to wake Miao Wan up, and picked up another piece of dessert. "Did you listen to me?"
Miao Wan nodded quickly, "I've heard enough, I've heard enough."
Ruan Jialin: “…”
Miao Wan coughed lightly a few times, "I heard it, I heard it... But, cousin, how come your appetite has become so good? Being too fat is not good for your health."
Ruan Jialin was a little sad and angry. "Then I must have starved in the cell. Can't I eat more delicious food when I get out? And I have to deal with all those merchants and officials along the way, drinking and feasting. It's not easy for me to gain such a good figure, okay?"
After saying this, his eyes wandered a little.
The main reason was that he always felt something was wrong when he didn't hold something in his hands while reading the storybook. In addition, he was always afraid that he would be locked up and starve at any time, so he would subconsciously eat more.
It takes 21 days to form a habit. Ruan Jialin has been going back and forth for more than four months and has become accustomed to having something to eat in his hands at all times. Is this difficult to understand?
Miao Wan quickly said that it was understandable, "But you definitely can't do this. You have to do business, and you can't ruin your health.
So, I'll talk to Ah Yao and have her arrange for a guard to give you lessons. You can learn some martial arts and you won't get fat no matter how much you eat."
Ruan Jialin shook his head violently. "Forget it, forget it. I'm a scholar... or at least a Confucian businessman. Have you ever seen a Confucian businessman who knows martial arts?"
Miao Wan said lightly, "Oh, cousin, don't you want to be as still as a mountain when being kicked by your cousin's wife, and still be able to rush over and rub your wife's feet with a calm smile?"
Ruan Jialin took a deep breath. Needless to say, the picture came to mind, the same picture he was craving.
"This... ahem, how about I just exercise a bit? At least when I go out to do business in the future, I won't burden others." Ruan Jialin found a very high-sounding excuse for himself.
"It just so happens that those Kunlun slaves also need to learn martial arts. As the team leader, I can supervise them. Yeah, that makes sense."
Miao Wan held back her laughter and praised Ruan Jialin, telling him that he could find a reason himself.
The main thing is that there is no fat person in the family. In the future, Ruan Jialin will be the main person for external social activities. In her previous life, Sister Chenxi’s husband had cirrhosis of the liver due to too many social activities, and he had three highs at a young age.
This is indeed not conducive to increasing the service life of employees. Miao Shiren will never ignore the physical and mental health of employees.
It's not just the Kunlun slaves who need to learn. Miao Wan waved her hand and said, "Why don't all the guys take turns learning martial arts? Ask the Cheng family's guards to be counted as field duty. When Ayao is free, the ladies at home will also have to practice."
This way, whenever she goes out in the future, she will have bodyguards with her, which is a standard feature of wealthy people. But she is a woman and she can't travel with a lot of men.
Ruan Jialin always felt that something was wrong. Why did he suddenly talk about learning martial arts?
But Miao Wan directly talked to him about business, changing the subject. "I was originally worried about who to ask to run the logistics center in Jiangnan Road. Now it seems that both the Qin family and the Li family are suitable. When the time comes, the three counties of Jiangnan can be jointly managed by the two families. Cousin, you can just be the one to oversee it."
Ruan Jialin put his training aside and immediately perked up. "That's not a problem, but the Qin family isn't doing well in the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, and the Li family can't even get into the Chamber of Commerce. I'm afraid they won't be able to convince the public."
Ruan Jialin didn't know how much money the logistics center made, but after he came back, he heard from his wife that his cousin had stayed in the county town for several months, and she knew how popular the logistics center in Xiping County was, even to the point of Xining Town Commercial Street.
Some outside customers said that it was mostly because the research institute was placing more and more orders with the commercial street, and everyone was making a lot of money, so Miao Wan must be making more.
Ruan Jialin isn't worried about not making money, he's only worried about making too much. "If it's just our goods, it's fine. Others will at most try to squeeze us out. But if the logistics center takes off and affects other people's interests, the Qin and Li families may not be able to cope."
Miao Wan has also been worried about this.
She had a vague idea that if it was in the northwest, it would be fine, but if it went outside the northwest, it would definitely be more appropriate to start with the court.
However, the regent's faction is now in charge of the national treasury, and the saint has no say at all.
She asked Cheng Shao, the Cheng family is now powerless, the regent has the military power and cannot be easily moved.
But now she is no longer weak, because her father-in-law is back!
When her father-in-law recovers from his illness, he will definitely have a way. This is the father she has chosen as her husband since she came to the Northwest. This local leader will definitely be able to take her to the sky.
"Don't worry about this for now. After our goods enter the customs, there will definitely be a group of merchants coming after the New Year. Cousin, don't rush to enter the customs at that time. Please help screen them. We will decide on a group of merchants who have friendly cooperation with the northwest. Let the northwest goods and goods from inside the customs flow first, and then we can discuss the other things slowly."
Ruan Jialin nodded. He had been traveling outside for more than a year and understood a lot more about what Miao Wan wanted to do.
Sometimes she may not be motivated by pure profit, but as long as the entire Northwest is revitalized, money will always flow in and everyone will have a good life.
In the past, the rich became richer and richer, while the poor could not save a few coins throughout the year. In fact, the merchants could only make very limited money.
The more he understood the key to this, the more Ruan Jialin admired his cousin. She loved money, but she also truly worked for the people, just like their Ruan family.
If the Ruan family had not accumulated virtue and done good deeds, it would have been impossible for Awan to have the fortuitous experience of being visited by her great-grandfather in her dream.
Ruan Jialin thought so and told Miao Wan the same thing.
"Ah, this..." Miao Wan held her stomach and felt a little guilty. Now, the only ones who truly believed in her were the Ruan family, right?
In fact, even my uncle didn't really believe it. After all, Dayue had never heard of happy water and pizza.
As for Qiao Ruichen, Miao Wan didn't know whether she had the habit of talking in her sleep. Anyway, when the couple became close, many secrets could not be hidden. She was a bit desperate, because he couldn't change his wife anyway.
However, seeing that her second cousin was so touched by her trick and had the determination to die for his friend, Miao Wan felt a little guilty.
But compared to making money, this little guilt is not a big deal at all.
She wanted to talk to Gu Shuyao about the year-end competition, so she stood up, holding her belly. "Your Fu Ge'er and Lu Ge'er are playing in the snow in the side yard. You haven't seen your nieces in a while, right? Why don't you go see them? We can save these little brats from causing trouble."
Ruan Jialin was very skeptical. He didn't think the child was naughty, but it was snowing heavily outside. How could the child still be naughty?
It turns out that they can't go up to the sky, but they can go down to the earth.
"Ruan Yuanfu!!" When Ruan Jialin arrived at the side yard, he saw clearly what the kids were doing, was stunned, and shouted loudly.
Ruan Yuanfu was frightened by the familiar shout, and subconsciously patted the snow off the snowman twice before turning his butt to look back.
"Dad!" Fu Ge'er was very happy. He threw away the snow in his hand and ran towards Ruan Jialin.
There was also one who couldn't run anymore, but he also shouted happily, "Dad! Dad! Dad!"
Why can't you run?
Because Lu Ge'er was the base of the snowman, they were patting snow on Lu Ge'er, and it seemed that the snow had already reached his chest.
If Lu Ge'er had not been dressed very warmly and had not worn a scarf that left only his eyes exposed, he might have caught a cold.
Taotao looked doubtfully at the fat black man who strode over with a small basin of snow in his hand, and then said, "Dad?"
Ruan Jialin's forehead veins bulged, and he pinched Taotao's cheek angrily, "I'm your second uncle!"
Taotao said "oh", squatted down calmly, scooped up some snow with his hands and continued to pat Lu Ge'er's neck, "Uncle, let's make a snowman!"
Ruan Jialin quickly stopped Taotao from trying to get something stuck on Lu Ge'er's face. "Just build a snowman with snow. Lu Ge'er, why are you in the snow? Come out!"
Lu Ge'er didn't get snow on his face, nor did he feel cold. He shook his head and refused, "I won't. Snow alone can't make a pile. Pile me first. Wow, wow, wow, it's all mine!"
Ruan Jialin gritted his teeth and grabbed the child. He slapped him a few times, especially on the butt. "If you get sick from the cold and still cry, I'll give you plenty of bitter medicine soup!"
"Second uncle is so bad!" Taotao pouted and was a little unhappy. She said she would go first, but her cousin refused, and now there is no snowman.
Lu Ge'er also twisted his body. He was really dressed very thickly, like a ball. He didn't feel any pain when he was hit. He just giggled, "Daddy is bad! Daddy is not cold, Daddy is not cold."
Ruan Jialin was too lazy to say more to them, "Your father isn't cold, but he thinks you are! In short, I won't allow you to do that. If you act naughty again, I'll have your mother come over, strip you of your clothes and beat you. I'll see if you're cold!"
He looked around for a long time and didn't see any adult looking after the child, so his face looked a little unhappy.
If we only leave three children here, who will be responsible if something goes wrong?
Taotao saw her uncle looking left and right, and she was very smart. She also took after her aunt and was a gossip.
She came close to Ruan Jialin and muttered softly, "Aunt Geng brought my aunt, and went to find my grandmother, and cried because of the bleeding. Aya brought the braised eggs and hairy eggs, and diapers. We are good and have meat to eat."
Ruan Jialin didn't quite understand, but Aya came back soon. Seeing Ruan Jialin, she quickly bowed and said, "Second cousin."
After Aya finished speaking with a tired look on her face, Ruan Jialin finally realized how naughty a group of children could be.
Two old women and two young ladies were watching over them. There were eight little rascals in total from the Ruan and Zhang families plus Taotao, plus one Qiao Rui.
Donkey Egg and his friends are old now, and their family members have reminded them to keep genders separate, so they don’t come to play anymore (they don’t bring Qiao Rui and the little carrot heads to play anymore).
We were originally just watching the snow under the eaves, but I don't know who started it first, but we started having a snowball fight.
Qiao Rui was the oldest and originally thought that she was there to see the children and had no intention of playing.
But snowball fights have nothing to do with age. When a snowball hits your head, everyone wants to fight back.
As a result, while playing, Tiezhu hit her in the face with a snowball. When Qiao Rui opened her mouth, she spat out a tooth with blood on it. She was so scared that she burst into tears.
One of the maids took her to find Geng, while the other went to catch Tiezhu, who had run away out of fear.
The two remaining young ladies watched over the children and told them not to run around, wanting to get them into the house. However, the children had been frightened by Qiao Rui just now, so they went into the house obediently.
As soon as he entered the house and got on the kang, Ludan wet his pants, and Tiedan next to him was also wet. Anyway, they had to change their clothes.
There was no other way, as the young lady couldn't carry both of them, so Aya went along.
She thought that she would just leave for a while. There were people guarding the second gate and the side courtyard gate, so she didn't have to worry about the children running away.
So she told the remaining three little kids to wait patiently and she would serve them fried chicken legs and delicious drinks later.
After putting down the iron egg and the braised egg, Aya went to the kitchen first and asked someone to make ginger and sugar water and send it to the side yard, and then she hurried back.
In just a cup of tea, the three little kids were able to make snowmen out of people. If they didn't already have a snow nest, they would probably have only buried their feet.
In short, Ruan Jialin pointed at his two sons and a niece, not knowing what to say, "You are so capable, you are really so capable!"
Taotao put his hands on his hips and said proudly, "Taotao, you're the best!"
Lu Ge'er was not convinced, "I am the best!"
Fu Ge'er is the oldest and feels like he is going to be beaten. He thinks that he can please his father so that he can get less beatings when he returns home and also be a little modest.
He hugged Ruan Jialin and said, "Dad, you are the fattest!"
Taotao and Lu Ge'er: "..." Nothing wrong.
Aya almost laughed out loud, and quickly lowered her head to go out and bring in ginger sugar water.
Tiedan and Ludan were also sent over after changing their clothes. The group of little guys didn't care whether they would be beaten later, and the scene became lively again.
The commotion was so intense that Ruan Jialin's head ached.
Looking back, Ruan Jialin couldn't help but follow Miao Wan again and had lunch in the afternoon.
He also mentioned to her, "These little brats are really too noisy. Isn't it time to send them to school?"
"The kindergarten has been established, but there are no teachers." Miao Wan looked at the little kids who lowered their heads to eat and raised their heads to gossip.
"Besides, it's almost the end of the year, and there are a lot of people around. It's okay if they make a fuss at home, but if they go out and are not watched carefully, what if they get caught by bad guys?"
When talking about taking them away, Miao Wan even acted like a devil to scare the kids, which earned her a lot of laughter.
Geng suddenly had an idea. "Why don't we just keep it the same as before in the old house and let me teach them?"
With a nanny taking care of her, Geng didn't have to stay with Miao Wan every day like before. She felt a little at a loss for what to do in the past two days since Miao Wan came back.
Now is the perfect time for Taotao and Qiao Rui to learn the etiquette and rules that women in this world should learn. Apart from anything else, the four maids she brought with her are all good hands.
Miao Wan also knew that it was difficult to deal with the people from the garrison and the people brought by her mother-in-law.
This is good, as you don’t have to be bound by any constraints, but you must learn it, at least so that you can know it when you install it later.
"Then you make the arrangements, mother. Everything is up to you." Miao Wan said to Geng with a smile.
Although the Ruan family didn't have any daughters, nor did the Zhang family, Geng had no problem teaching a few three or five-year-old children. He didn't say anything, "It's great to have Madam discipline us."
So, in just half a day, the west courtyard was turned into a preschool class.
The tent that Miao Wan had originally planned and the toys that she wanted to put in the tent could all be arranged.
Geng and several maids were busy as hell. The little ones in the tent were all happy to go to school in front of the sandpit, carousel and seesaw.
Without Miao Wan's help, Geng quickly arranged the rule of two quarters of an hour of study and two quarters of an hour of play. At the end of the day, the children were quite enthusiastic in class, and not a single one shouted that they wanted to skip school and go home.
Miao Wan seemed to be thinking about something. Although her mother-in-law seemed to have a good temper, she was also a very principled person. She had thought that her mother-in-law would be the type to spoil her children, but she didn't expect that she could actually control these little brats.
She felt that the kindergarten principal would be found after the new year.
She told Qiao Ruichen about this later, "This way, Mom will have something to do, and Xiao Rui can follow along. Besides letting Mom teach her personally, she can also be Mom's teaching assistant."
Qiao Ruichen smiled gently, "Mom has always been a decisive person. She had no choice but to take care of you during those two years in the northwest. She was worried about your health. Now that she has something to do, she will be happier."
"Is Dad feeling better now? Should I go and pay my respects to him? I haven't seen him since he came back." Miao Wan leaned on Qiao Ruichen and let him rub her legs.
Being pregnant with twins is really different from being pregnant with just one. The last time she was pregnant, when it was almost six months, her belly was not very big and she was still able to move around very well.
But now her belly is so big that it looks like she is going to give birth in a month or two. Although she can eat and drink now, the base of her tail hurts terribly and her legs are starting to swell.
If Qiao Ruichen hadn't massaged her every day, she would always feel unstable at night, dizzy, and have pain in her legs.
Qiao Ruichen gently massaged her stiff and slightly swollen calves. "Let's have a doctor check it out tomorrow. It shouldn't be a big deal. I'm just worried you might have passed on the disease. You can't take medicine right now. Is there something urgent you want to tell Dad?"
Miao Wan nodded. "It's about the Silk Road, and the matter of the logistics center within the borders. I think it might not be feasible for us to do it on our own within the borders. We still need to raise a big banner."
Qiao Ruichen couldn't help but smile when he heard this. If it were someone else, they would definitely say that they would be loyal to the court and work for the court, but his wife was more honest.
This is probably the unique character of the hometown of my daughter-in-law and Madam Cheng. Sometimes Qiao Ruichen really wants to know what his daughter-in-law's life was like before.
But he didn't know how to ask, for fear of alarming God and sending his wife back to where she was supposed to live.
Just thinking about this, Qiao Ruichen couldn't help but imagine, maybe his wife has a childhood sweetheart? With such a bright personality, she must have many friends? Maybe she also has someone she likes?
The more Qiao Ruichen thought about it, the more sad he felt, and he couldn't help but put a little more strength in his hands.
"Ouch, you're going to heaven! It hurts, it hurts!" Miao Wan's leg tendons were pinched, and she felt numbness in her legs. Her body softened and she lay back.
She was so angry that she kicked Qiao Ruichen, who struggled like a little turtle for a long time and couldn't turn over. Qiao Ruichen held back his laughter and didn't dare to hide. He quickly helped his wife up.
"Tell me, did you do this on purpose?" Miao Wan glared at him. She saw his expression clearly. She didn't know what this man was jealous of again. "If you have anything to ask me, just ask directly."
Qiao Ruichen hesitated for a moment, smiled bitterly and shook his head, "It's my fault, I don't have anything to ask."
If his wife didn't say anything, he shouldn't have asked, so as to avoid ending up like Cheng Zijian, who asked and then secretly went out to get drunk alone, which would have been asking for trouble.
Miao Wan snorted, "If you don't serve your wife well, she will punish you."
Qiao Ruichen nodded obediently, "Okay, wife, how do you decide on the punishment?"
Miao Wan rolled her eyes, smiled, and touched the corner of her lips with the tip of her tongue, her hand moving very quickly——
"Hiss...Awan!" Qiao Ruichen's tone changed after his central control muscles were controlled. He pressed her hand with a hoarse voice, "You, don't move."
Miao Wan leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Husband, I want to—"
Qiao Ruichen's breathing became disordered for a moment, and there was a struggle between his conscience and his desires in his mind. It was normal for pregnant women to have stronger needs than usual. He had heard about this when he was studying the fire avoidance booklet.
But my wife is pregnant with twins after all. What if something goes wrong?
Otherwise, he would just satisfy his wife...
"- You sleep alone tonight!" Miao Wan hesitated, and said the second half of the sentence like a devil's whisper. After that, she hummed and pushed Qiao Ruichen away.
"You, go to the study and reflect on yourself."
When Qiao Ruichen was kicked out of the house, his face was still full of confusion, and he didn't ask, what was there to reflect on?
Miao Wan saw through the crack in the window that Qiao Ruichen looked as aggrieved as a big dog. He strolled outside the door for a long time before turning back every few steps as he went to the study. She couldn't help but lower her head and touch her belly, smiling very gently.
In fact, with Gu Shuyao always encouraging her, she probably knew why Qiao Ruichen was inexplicably jealous and hesitant to speak sometimes.
This is her home, where she has parents, children... and an obedient man. Most importantly, she has endless money. Rich woman Miao has nothing to ask for. Even if you ask her to go back, she doesn't want to go back.
She just had bad intentions and didn't want to say it actively. After all, Qiao Ruichen hadn't explained about his childhood sweetheart, so why should she say it actively?
Who wouldn’t be jealous?
We must never indulge men in this bad habit. To be honest, Qiao Bailao must be the first to speak.
Miao Wan originally thought that Qiao Ruichen would definitely take the bait quickly, but before he could figure it out, her father-in-law gave her a big surprise.
The author has something to say:
I went for a scraping treatment, and my back was purple and black. My head was no longer swollen, and my thoughts became clearer.
I've been reading all the comments, so the plot isn't going to be complicated. The battles and such are mainly described from the side. I don't think I'm very good at writing war scenes, so the main focus is on the interesting aspects of making money, raising children, and family matters.
I have finished writing two-thirds of the second volume, and the third volume is about to start in Beijing~
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