The New Year is following the funeral, and it is destined to be a rather dull one.
Using her illness as an excuse, Shen Ning drove away all her relatives with ulterior motives. They used to gang up on her, but now they want to reconnect? There's no such thing as a free lunch.
However, Shen Ning made a mistake in his previous life.
Just as they thought, no matter how fierce the argument was, the family relationship could not be severed. If they could repair it, they would still have to keep in touch in the future.
Shen Ning wasn't thinking about associating with these people herself, but rather about leaving a way out for Shen Yu. As the future master of the Shen family, he needed relatives to support him in order to survive.
Shen Ning also thought that "one should leave room for maneuver in the future." After all, the Gao family and the Jiang family were relatives. Later, when Shen Yu wanted to get closer to them, Shen Ning did not stop him. He even secretly helped them twice so that they would remember Shen Yu's kindness.
And then what? But what then?
What does all this have to do with her? And what did she gain from it?
She's already banished Shen Yu to some remote corner, so why would she care about relatives anymore?
Having gotten rid of her annoying relatives, Shen Ning finally had some peace and quiet. Now, Green Plum and Purple Yan take care of her three meals a day, and even the medicinal dishes are made to taste delicious, making Shen Ning feel comfortable and relaxed.
Although Shen Ning enjoyed the peace and quiet, she did not indulge in laziness and spent her days in the warm pavilion, with papers covering the table.
Green Plum brought in the medicinal meal, looked around, and had nowhere to put it.
"What are you doing, Miss?"
Shen Ning just put down his pen and put the paper aside to dry: "Write something."
Green Plum carefully examined the writing and exclaimed, "Miss, your handwriting is truly beautiful."
Shen Ning chuckled: "Don't you think these words would look even better if they were made of gold?"
Green Plum's eyes lit up: "Hehe, this servant is a common person, and I like common things."
Shen Ning walked over, collected a few sheets of paper, and made room for Shen Ning at the table.
While arranging the items, Green Plum asked curiously, "Miss, what is written here? I can't understand the content at all."
Shen Ning carefully folded the pages one by one according to the page numbers: "I don't have any special skills, all I know is how to make some money, so I need to make more money so that I can support you and Zi Yan in the future."
Green Plum: ...What a simple and unadorned statement, what a beautiful promise.
Will you make some money?
This young lady truly doesn't know what it means to be "short on money." If she and Ziyan weren't poor, they wouldn't have been sold off. Even after being sold off, they were still poor. They were forced to learn a whole set of skills, yet they remained poor.
Although they later met Qin Zhuo, who gave them a lot of money, they liked to tinker with strange and unusual things, and the money was never enough to cover their expenses, so they were still poor in the end.
The small sum of money they recently received was a thank-you gift from Miss Shen.
Now Miss Shen is saying she'll earn money to support them, sob sob, how can there be such a wonderful young lady?! She's practically a fairy, a goddess!
Green Plum picked up the medicinal meal, scooped up a spoonful, blew on it a few times, and carefully brought it to Chen Ning's lips: "Young Miss, ah~~~~"
Shen Ning was amused by her: "What are you doing?"
Green Plum said with a serious face: "Young Miss's hands are for grabbing money, and her brain is for making money. There's no need for you to do such a small thing as eating yourself. From now on, I will serve you."
Shen Ning put down the paper, wanting to take it and eat it herself, but Lü Mei wouldn't let her, determined to feed her.
Shen Ning was both amused and exasperated, and had no choice but to accept the feeding.
"I don't want to be turned into a lazy good-for-nothing by you. After I finish writing this, I want to ask you to be my apprentice and teach me some skills."
Green Plum: "Why is Miss learning those crooked and evil ways of ours?"
Shen Ning: ...Where would someone admit to practicing crooked or heretical methods?
"After much thought, I've decided to expand my trade routes and continue my money-making venture. I might have to travel around with caravans in the future, so I want to learn some skills for self-defense. However, it might be too late for me to learn martial arts at my age, so I'll learn some more unexpected techniques."
"Making money and traveling the world?" Green Plum grabbed her hand, her eyes brightening. "Miss, please take me and Ziyan with you. We will protect you and do anything for you."
Shen Ning remained silent: "Have you forgotten who your master is?"
Green Plum winked knowingly: "That's just a matter of a word from Miss. Loyalty to the master and loyalty to the mistress are the same."
Shen Ning couldn't stand this: "Don't talk nonsense."
What mistress? That's a pipe dream.
Green Plum's main approach to this was to give a perfunctory response. Miss Shen hadn't realized the seriousness of the matter yet. She had been targeted by someone like Qin Zhuo; how could she possibly escape?
Shen Ning was a studious student, and under the dual charm of money and personality, Lü Mei and Zi Yan naturally taught her wholeheartedly. Even if Shen Ning only learned a little bit, they would praise her to the skies, which would always make Shen Ning glare at them.
With a funeral recently held at home, the New Year celebrations were naturally a bit quiet. Shen Ning didn't create any festive atmosphere. Instead, he gave everyone double their monthly allowance and added New Year's bonuses, allowing those who could go home to celebrate the New Year, while those who couldn't stay at the mansion to have a New Year's Eve dinner together.
Although it was simpler than in previous years and less lively, the host family was understanding of what was happening, and since they still received money, no one was unhappy.
Of course, only the Shen family's residence was deserted; the outside world remained as lively as ever.
Tonight, fireworks will be set off in all directions in Beijing, with dazzling fireworks soaring into the sky and illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime.
The Shen family's residence was relatively close to the palace, and the fireworks displays inside the palace could be clearly seen from the Shen family's attic.
Shen Ning had some fruits and snacks brought upstairs, and everyone gathered around the stove, drinking tea and watching fireworks, enjoying the New Year together.
There weren't many people, including Liu Ying, Yu Zhu, Mo Lin, Mo Xue'er, Lü Mei, and Zi Yan, but they were all around the same age. They sat together chatting and didn't feel sleepy at all.
Shen Ning looked at Mo Lin, who was sitting quietly drinking tea in a corner. This taciturn person had been talking less and less lately.
There weren't many people, but he always managed to be overlooked.
Noticing her gaze, Mo Lin looked up, his cold, hard features seeming to soften a bit: "Young Miss."
Shen Ning walked over and sat down next to him in a very natural and generous manner: "You've worked hard these past few days. If there's anything you need, just let me know. I won't hesitate to agree to anything I can."
Mo Lin tugged at the corners of his lips, as if he wanted to laugh, but his cheeks were stiff. He hadn't laughed for a long time and was really not used to it, so he had to give up in the end.
"It's not hard work, Miss has already given me more than enough."
She saved his and Xue'er's lives, gave them a place to live, and never looked down on Xue'er, always pampering her and granting her every request.
He had already received too much kindness from her and dared not ask for more. His only wish now was to become stronger so that he could stay by her side and prevent anyone from hurting her.
Shen Ning understood what he meant. A debt of gratitude is too heavy, and people will always feel unworthy of it, unable to repay it, so how dare they ask for more?
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