Before closing the shop for the winter, Su Qingluan had privately asked Liu Yunniang if she would be willing to take over her position if she was no longer the shopkeeper and was only responsible for providing new recipes and then getting dividends.
At that time, Liu Yunniang thought Su Qingluan was just saying it casually, so she didn't take it to heart.
But Su Qingluan herself had thought it through very clearly - whether she was going to the capital with Mu Xingzhi in the future, or looking further ahead and traveling all over the world, apart from anything else, she couldn't just hand over the "Su Ji" business casually.
After all, the reason why I established "Su Ji" was to enable more folks, including the villagers, to make money and live a good life.
But now it seems that if I don’t consider a retreat for "Su Ji" in advance, it won’t be long before Su Ji will be unable to continue operating.
However, she does not intend to tie her life to this career, so although she cannot quit all at once, she can proceed step by step.
So since there is no heavy snow blocking the mountain this year, and Mu Xingzhi is in good health and doesn't need to be taken care of day and night, Su Qingluan naturally doesn't have to stay at home all day and can go out for a walk.
So she took this opportunity to pick a day to go to Liu Yun's parents' home and again brought up the matter of asking her to succeed her as the manager of "Su Ji".
Su Qingluan's initial excuse was that she wanted to travel and didn't want to be tied down by a single business. While this was true, it also sounded like a worker, drained of their soul by long hours, tired of their job and crying out, "Life isn't just about the immediate, but also about poetry and the distant future."
This reason sounds willful and irresponsible, and it is no wonder that Liu Yunniang did not take Su Qingluan's suggestion to heart at all.
But this time, Su Qingluan finally had a "legitimate reason".
"I heard that uncle had done my husband a favor. I can't possibly refuse to grant his wish when he's about to pass away. It wouldn't be right or reasonable." Su Qingluan tried to recall the waterless cake that had been accidentally over-steamed and turned into a "honeycomb sponge" yesterday, and a frown appeared on her face. "But Xingzhi is in poor health, and I'm worried about him having to travel all this way alone..."
Su Qingluan stopped talking halfway through her words - this level was already the limit of her performance of "wanting to say something but stopping".
"But there must be a time for you to visit your relatives, right? Will you never come back after visiting your relatives? Mr. Mu has lived in Huaxi Village for so long, and he must have gotten used to the life here?" Liu Yunniang grabbed Su Qingluan's hand without saying anything.
"The name of this shop is 'Su Ji', Su from 'Su Qingluan'. You will always be the owner. I can take over the shop for a while, but I'm just taking over your management for a while," Liu Yunniang said, giving Su Qingluan a firm hand squeeze. "I'll wait for you to come back."
Su Qingluan smiled bitterly inwardly. She knew that if she left like this, she would most likely be a widow when she returned. Furthermore, she couldn't decide when she would lose her husband.
Although the purpose of "entrusting the orphan to someone else" was not fully achieved in the end, "Su Ji" finally had a temporary place to stay. Moreover, the matters at the Liangzhou City branch had also been settled. Su Qingluan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
As for her own family, there was nothing particularly worth worrying about - after all, the aspects that she was really worried about had already been explained to her when she got married.
What's more, her younger brother and sister are becoming more sensible day by day, and are also learning the knowledge they need. Su Qingluan believes that in a few years, they will be able to gradually support the family.
Su Qingluan knew that Liu Yunniang was not only loyal but also a social butterfly. Coupled with her early experience traveling with her parents, she was well-connected to all walks of life. She felt safe entrusting Su Ji to such a person.
What's more, she didn't just let it go completely. After all, she still had to control the pace of the new product launch plan every year.
Su Qingluan gradually finished explaining everything she needed to, and Mu Xingzhi was also "recuperating" step by step. Although Su Qingluan didn't ask in detail, she understood that everyone was waiting for the same opportunity.
And that timing was most likely related to the old emperor's deteriorating health.
Originally, Su Qingluan thought that Mu Xingzhi was already in his twenties and was not the eldest son. In fact, when it came to the order of generations, he could even be ranked seventh - and that was without counting the princess.
From this it seems that the old emperor is at least over 60 years old.
Of course, the name or life span of the emperor of this dynasty is not like what Su Qingluan had in her previous life. The detailed information of the national leaders can be easily viewed with just a click of the mouse.
In this era, everything about the royal family was kept secret.
However, it is true that the old emperor is very old. After all, Su Qingluan once heard Mu Xingzhi say by chance that his eldest brother is already over 30 years old, and this "eldest son" has at least one older sister and an older brother who died young.
Su Qingluan had originally thought that winter was the hardest for the elderly. This wasn't even about whether they were well-off or financially prosperous, but rather the fact that winter temperatures dropped. Jingzhou wasn't a tropical or subtropical region with year-round spring weather. Whenever the weather got cold, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were at their peak.
So Su Qingluan always believed that they should be ready to set off at least by the beginning of spring.
Unexpectedly, the old emperor was surprisingly strong. After the Qingming Festival, when summer gradually began to return to the earth, Mu Xingzhi finally recovered from his "illness" and prepared to "return home to visit relatives."
Of course, during this period, the "letters from home" never stopped. One of them even advised Mu Xingzhi that "uncle's health has improved. If you can't bear it, don't travel by boat. Focus on recuperation."
Of course, Mu Xingzhi also acted out his own thoughts, going back and forth from replying to letters to "recuperating". If Su Qingluan had not known the inside story, she would have believed that there really was such an "uncle" in Xunyang County who was eagerly looking forward to his nephew, whom he had not seen for many years, coming to see him for the last time in his life, but was worried that his nephew was too sick to withstand the hardship of the journey.
Finally, in this late spring and early summer, Mu Xingzhi's "uncle" who was far away in Xunyang County finally "knew that he was incurable" and sent him a letter for the last time.
This time he was no longer polite, nor did he refuse. Every word he said was filled with deep longing, which moved everyone who read it - of course, this did not include Su Qingluan.
But the arrival of this letter also indicated that it was time for them to set off for the capital.
Su Qingluan took a deep breath: What is coming will eventually come.
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