Jiang Xiaocai wailed all the way, charging into the Prime Minister's residence like a cannonball out of control. His piercing cries instantly shattered the previously tranquil atmosphere of the residence, startling everyone inside. At that moment, Nianli and Su Qingyao sat in their elegant boudoir, their table covered with a variety of rouge boxes. They were intently discussing the shades of new rouge, trying to blend a unique color that would set the trend in Beijing. Suddenly, hearing her son's heartbroken cries, Nianli dropped the rouge brush she was fiddling with with a "clack," and she jumped from her chair in shock.
"Xiaocai? What happened to you? Who bullied you?" Nian Li was extremely anxious. She rushed to her son's side in two steps and hugged him tightly. Seeing her son crying so hard, his face covered with tears and snot, Nian Li felt as if her heart was being tugged by an invisible hand, and it hurt so much.
Jiang Xiaocai threw himself into his mother's warm embrace, as if he had found an outlet to vent his emotions. He cried even harder, sobbing, "Mom... I... I lost all the money... and... I also lost your bracelet..."
Su Qingyao raised her eyebrows slightly, gently put down the rouge box she was examining, a hint of curiosity and teasing flashed in her eyes, and said, "What are you up to again? Did you try to imitate your grandmother's storytelling again and get cheated?"
"It's not...it's...it's business..." Jiang Xiaocai tried hard to calm down his emotions, and in a crying voice, he told the whole story in detail.
After hearing this, Nian Li felt angry and distressed. She raised her hand and pretended to hit him, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to do it. She said helplessly, "You! You look exactly like your great-uncle! Last time you were selling rouge and it caused a big uproar, and now you're selling candy again. Tell me, are you going to sell arms next time?"
Su Qingyao smiled disapprovingly and said, "I think it's quite good. If you cultivate a business acumen from a young age, you might become a great person in the future. Remember when your grandmother wrote storybooks, her manuscripts were stolen by booksellers. That was much worse than your situation."
As they were talking, they heard the sound of steady footsteps. Su Jinli, leaning on a cane, slowly walked in, followed by Jiang Yan. The old couple, worried about the commotion, came over to see what was going on.
"What's wrong?" Su Jinli saw her grandson crying so sadly, and her originally kind face was full of heartache. She quickly walked to a chair nearby and sat down, gently pulling Jiang Xiaocai to her side.
As soon as Jiang Xiaocai saw his grandmother, he felt as if he had found his backbone in the darkness. The grievances in his heart flooded out again like a flood that had broken through a dam, and he cried even harder: "Grandma... I... I originally wanted to monopolize the sugar industry and make a big splash... but in the end I was cheated so badly... Now not only have I lost everything, but I'm also in debt... Wuuwuwu..."
Su Jinli listened quietly. Instead of getting angry, she showed a relieved smile and said, "Oh? Monopolizing the sugar industry? That's quite an ambition. My Xiaocai is really creative."
Jiang Yan stroked his beard, his eyes full of admiration as he nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you have the same courage and determination that I had when I took the imperial examination. That's the way to do business. I need to think about it carefully."
Su Jinli patted Jiang Xiaocai's back gently and said in a gentle but firm tone, "Xiaocai, how can business be smooth sailing without losses? When your grandmother first started writing storybooks, her first book was defrauded by a bookseller. Not only did she not receive a penny in royalties, but even her painstakingly written manuscript was withheld by that unscrupulous bookseller."
When Jiang Xiaocai heard this, a hint of surprise flashed across his red and swollen eyes. He couldn't help but ask, "Really, Grandma? You must have been very sad at that time, right?"
"Of course it's true, child." Su Jinli looked at her grandson lovingly, nodded, and continued, "Then I thought about it carefully. Should I just admit defeat? Of course not! I gritted my teeth and opened a bookstore. With my own efforts, I not only earned back the royalties that were cheated away before, but also got to know your grandfather because of the bookstore's business. Now, I even earned a top scholar and brought him home." As she spoke, she turned to look at Jiang Yan, her eyes full of tenderness and love.
Jiang Yan blushed slightly when Su Jinli looked at him like that, and said with a smile, "That's right, your grandmother's ability is not comparable to that of ordinary people."
Su Jinli turned her gaze back to Jiang Xiaocai and continued earnestly, "Doing business is like eating candy. You often have to taste the bitterness first before you can savor the sweetness afterwards. The reason you lost money this time is because you didn't know enough about this business, so you were cheated. But from another perspective, you learned a lesson from this experience, and that's a kind of gain."
Jiang Xiaocai nodded, not quite understanding, but his worry remained undimmed. He cried, "But grandma, not only have I lost all my money, I also owe a huge debt... What should I do?"
"If you owe a debt, then find a way to pay it back." Su Jinli patted his shoulder gently, her eyes firm as she spoke. "Look at your great-uncle," she pointed at the young Marquis Su next to her. "When he was young, he gambled away all the family fortune. His situation was much worse than yours now. But look at him now. Isn't he doing well and living a fulfilling life?"
Upon hearing this, Young Marquis Su's eyes widened and he said in dissatisfaction, "Sister! Why are you bringing up all sorts of issues and exposing my past?"
Su Qingyao couldn't help but curl her lips and said, "Come on, Xiaocai, it's just a loss of some money, don't be so dejected. What your grandmother encountered back then was much more exciting than this, and she managed to get through it and even built a big career."
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