"You Ran, why did you come along?" Madam Li hurriedly got up, grabbed You Ran, and placed the hand warmer in her hands.
After discussing it with his family, Li Haoran decided to divorce Zhou Yingying. Li's wife wanted to tell Li Youran the news, but seeing that Tian's wife and Tian Alang were both present, and knowing that family scandals shouldn't be aired in public, she swallowed her words.
Li Youran held the hand warmer tightly in both hands. Seeing that Li Niangzi looked like she wanted to say something but hesitated, he understood what she was thinking, so he reached out and patted Li Niangzi's hand.
"We'll talk about it later," Li Youran said, then inquired about the wonton shop's business these past few days.
Chicken soup wontons are a refined food, and the customer base is not like that of steamed bun shops; they are mostly people with more disposable income.
As the year draws to a close and the weather gets colder, it's not worth making a special trip just to eat a bowl of wontons, so fewer people are eating chicken soup wontons anymore.
"Everyone who has tried our chicken soup wontons says that they are extremely delicious."
After Li Niangzi finished speaking, she looked at the deserted street outside and sighed helplessly.
"Business is tough for everyone these days, except for New Year's goods which sell well during the Lunar New Year."
Li Niangzi's words reminded Li Youran that she might as well take advantage of the year-end to start a small business.
"Mother, why don't we also sell some in-demand items like couplets and silk flowers?"
"It's good, but these things aren't cheap to buy, so we can't make much money anyway."
“We can hire someone to write the couplets, and we can make the silk flowers ourselves,” Li Youran continued. “We can also sell the couplets and hair ornaments to other small vendors, so we can earn more money.”
Li Youran had already figured out what to do next. First, she would order paper for writing couplets, and then she would go to the academy to find students to write couplets. The wages would be calculated based on how many couplets were written and the quality of the handwriting.
Silk flowers are even simpler to make. Buy silk fabric, order fine wire from a blacksmith, make a few patterns, and then find a trustworthy woman to make them. The more labor you do, the more you earn.
As the saying goes, "Don't let the good stuff go to outsiders." Li Youran turned around and asked Tian Alang if he would like to write a couplet.
"This child doesn't..."
“No problem.” Before Aunt Tian could finish speaking, Tian Alang interrupted her, saying, “I’ll also help the family earn some money for household expenses so we can have a good New Year.”
"Alright, I'll bring it to you once the paper for writing the couplets arrives."
Li Youran was a woman of action; after saying that, she went to order the paper.
A pair of couplets sells for anywhere from three to five cents in the market, depending mainly on the quality of the paper and the quality of the handwriting.
A good pair of couplets costs one coin, while two pairs of inferior ones cost one coin.
The high cost of paper alone dampened Li Youran's spirits, who had been preparing for a major undertaking. It was all her fault for being careless; paper was extremely expensive in ancient times.
I simply bought a hundred pairs of each type of paper so that Tian Alang could write on them all by himself.
On her way back, Li Youran passed by Tang Lei's blacksmith shop and ordered a thousand pieces of iron wire for making silk flowers from Uncle Tang.
Uncle Tang refused to accept Li Youran's money, so she pretended to be angry.
“Uncle Tang, if you don’t accept my money, it means you don’t want to do business with me. In that case, I’ll have to find someone else.”
"Why are you so stubborn, child..." Uncle Tang helplessly accepted Li Youran's money, shook his head and smiled bitterly, thinking that his silly son was just as stubborn.
After finishing these two tasks, Li Youran went to the cloth shop again. While buying silk fabric, she was attracted by a piece of light purple cotton cloth.
Just as Li Youran was about to reach out to touch it, her hand bumped into another hand.
"I'm sorry," Li Youran hurriedly withdrew her hand and said to the young lady.
"You flatter me, young lady," Zhao Lanshan said with a smile. "The fact that we both like the same piece of fabric means that we have the same taste and similar interests, and that we are destined to be together."
Zhao Lanshan recognized Li Youran as the girl who sold chicken soup wontons, but Li Youran did not recognize Zhao Lanshan.
"Miss Li~" Liu Zhiyuan was passing by in his carriage when he happened to see Li Youran in the cloth shop. He rushed into the shop and called out excitedly.
Upon hearing Liu Zhiyuan's shout, Zhao Lanshan and Li Youran both turned around and looked over.
"Young Master Liu," Li Youran thought to himself. It's quite a coincidence that I keep running into Liu Zhiyuan these past few days.
"Young Master Liu," Zhao Lanshan greeted.
Zhao Lanshan's expression remained calm, as dignified and polite as usual, but in reality, she was experiencing a myriad of emotions.
When Liu Zhiyuan looked at Li Youran, the light in his eyes was something she had never seen before.
When she was with Liu Zhiyuan, he was always gentle and refined, and had never been so agitated and rude.
“Miss Zhao is here too, what a coincidence!” Liu Zhiyuan said, then looked at Li Youran and continued, “The cooked food I bought from Miss Li last time was very well received by the whole family. The New Year is coming soon, so I want to buy more cooked food to eat during the New Year.”
"Thank you for patronizing my business, Young Master Liu." Liu Zhiyuan said, and naturally it was another big deal. Li Youran's eyes almost crinkled with laughter.
Zhao Lanshan was surprised. How could a woman laugh like that in front of a man? It was really impolite.
"I should thank you, your cooked food is so delicious." Liu Zhiyuan said, then looked at the piece of cloth behind Li Youran and said, "Shopkeeper, wrap this piece of cloth up."
“Liu…”
"Miss Li, please don't be so polite. I might need your help in the future." Liu Zhiyuan interrupted before Li Youran could finish speaking.
Actually, what Li Youran wanted to say was that Miss Zhao had taken a liking to this piece of cloth first.
"Miss Zhao, do you have any fabric you like? I'll pay for it too." Although Liu Zhiyuan had no romantic feelings for Zhao Lanshan, he felt he had to show some appreciation since he had eaten her meal.
"I wonder if they still have this fabric. I really like it," Zhao Lanshan said softly.
"I'm sorry, young lady, this is the last bolt of fabric. Since you both recognize it, how about I cut it in half for you?" the shopkeeper suggested.
“If you cut it in half, you can’t make a complete outfit,” Liu Zhiyuan said. “Do you have any other new items here?”
"Yes, we have even better fabric here, and it's more expensive." The shopkeeper hurriedly went to fetch two bolts of fabric that looked to be of a higher grade.
"That's enough." Zhao Lanshan shook her head and smiled slightly, "This servant will take her leave now."
"Take care, Miss Zhao," Liu Zhiyuan nodded.
Li Youran felt that there was something strange between Liu Zhiyuan and Zhao Lanshan. They clearly knew each other, but they were also very unfamiliar with each other.
“Miss Li, it’s not easy for you to carry all these things. I’ll take you back on my way!” Liu Zhiyuan said, and took Li Youran’s things without further ado.
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