After a series of unexpected events, they acquired the shop for eighty taels of silver.
But Gu An'an wasn't so happy.
Previously, I had planned to keep Jiang Mingzhu out of the city in the spring to avoid the male lead, that arrogant and domineering man.
As a result, the musk caused Long Aotian to run into him.
Now, through a shop, he has somehow become involved with the female lead.
Gu An'an is already mentally very strong for not being depressed.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Jiang Mingzhu keenly sensed something and asked in a soft voice, her expression showing a hint of caution.
Gu An'an realized what was happening and said, "It's nothing, I'm just too happy. Let's change the locks and clean up first, then see what we need to get."
Thinking about those things is useless. If there really were some ironclad rule for crossing over, how could I possibly struggle out of the cage?
If not, then she's just overthinking.
It's better to be optimistic in life and to focus on living well in the present.
We'll see what happens if we actually encounter it in the future.
Besides, does she not even have the confidence to teach these children well?
Gu An'an quickly composed herself, "There's so much to do."
The shop originally sold cosmetics, but the proprietress who rented the shop was robbed and raped, and died violently outside the city. It caused quite a stir at the time, and with this murder case, the shop became even more "inauspicious."
After the original proprietress had an accident, the shop was never rented out again, and some of the cosmetics were left there.
Upon opening the door, a whiff of perfume mixed with dust wafted out.
Jiang Mingzhu choked and took several steps back, squinting and waving her slender fingers.
Gu An'an covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, frowning as she looked at the moldy antique shelf.
This display shelf should have been filled with cosmetics and jewelry, but it seems someone has been here and taken things.
The rouge scattered on the ground stuck to the surface. Gu An'an picked at it, almost cutting her fingernails in the process.
Alright, I need to boil two basins of hot water and do a thorough cleaning.
However, the shopkeepers on the left and right saw people enter and came over to check.
Upon seeing Gu An'an, they exchanged pleasantries.
On the left is a needlework shop selling embroidery, and on the right is a candle shop.
The proprietress of the needlework shop, Su San Niang, was a well-known embroiderer in Anping County. She not only sold embroidery products, but also went door-to-door to teach needlework to young ladies. It was said that she came from Suzhou Prefecture and was extremely skilled in Suzhou embroidery.
"Girl, what kind of business are you planning to start?"
Gu An'an laughed, "Just doing some small business, making some food."
Although Su San Niang had seen Gu An An yesterday, she was still stunned when she heard these words.
Food.
There was a small food stall sandwiched between the needlework shop and the incense and candle shop, which looked rather strange.
Actually, Su San Niang originally thought that the location of this cosmetics shop was not good. The fragrance of your cosmetics is completely masked by the smell of incense and candles, and the smell will also be mixed. How can the business be good?
Not only did business suffer, but he also lost his life.
But now they're trying to start a food business, isn't that even more...
A smoky, chaotic mess?
Su San Niang is a clean person and doesn't even bother to hide her emotions.
“I cook in the yard, so the smoke and fumes aren’t as strong and shouldn’t affect your business.”
Su San Niang felt a little embarrassed that her little secret had been guessed.
"That's not what I meant. I was just a little surprised. You go ahead and do your business. I'll come back to patronize your shop later." As she left the dusty shop, Su Sanniang couldn't help but glance at Jiang Mingzhu one more time.
It's quite rare to find such a beautiful and refined young woman in this small county town.
Fortunately, most of the customers in my embroidery shop are young women; otherwise, if a local tyrant came along and saw the beauty of these young women, he might have tried to abduct them and take them home.
Jiang Mingzhu felt uncomfortable being stared at, and only after the person had walked away did she whisper, "Mother, I don't really like this woman."
That look in his eyes seemed to be assessing his own worth.
That's a bit too blatant.
"If you don't like her, just ignore her, it's okay. Here's what we'll do, Zhu'er, go to Lin's Cloth Shop and buy some cotton cloth, get lots of scraps, we'll clean up first, and then we'll go find a carpenter to make tables and chairs later."
Gu An'an had originally planned to tell Jiang Mingzhu to go find a carpenter, but then she thought it wouldn't be safe for a daughter to go to find a stranger, so it would be better to go to the cloth shop there.
Jiang Mingzhu readily agreed, "I'll go right away."
Gu An'an watched the people leave and went to the small courtyard at the back to fetch water.
There is a well in the yard. It's not so cold now, so the well water is cool but not frozen.
Gu An'an splashed water directly out, letting the dust settle down, and only then did she feel that the air wasn't so polluted.
While waiting for Jiang Mingzhu to return with cotton cloth and scraps of cloth, Gu An'an made a simple mop, first gathering all the spider webs on the high places, and then began to clean up the sewage and garbage that had accumulated on the ground.
By the time they had managed to get it to look somewhat decent, it was already noon.
"Let's go get something to eat first, and then we'll go find the carpenter this afternoon and have him make some tables, chairs, and shelves."
Jiang Mingzhu worked alongside them, and her usually spotless face, like a flawless piece of white jade, became covered in dust. She wiped it off with the back of her hand, turning herself into a little cat covered in dirt.
Seeing this, Gu An'an couldn't help but laugh. "Look where this little kitten came from. Do you want some dried fish?"
The clothes were made of Songjiang cotton, and they were incredibly soft.
However, the girl was somewhat sensitive and felt itchy on her face.
"Mom, I can do it myself."
Seeing her blushing face, Gu An'an couldn't help but tease, "Are you embarrassed, young lady?"
Jiang Mingzhu blushed even more.
"I'm going to wash my face."
Watching the people running towards the backyard, Gu An'an laughed out loud. The joy of raising a child is real joy.
Babies in swaddling clothes don't understand adults' troubles. They cry when they're hungry or wet, and they don't care if the adults are sleeping soundly.
Older children are much easier to manage.
These children are especially starved for love; if you treat them with sincerity, they will reciprocate with the same sincerity.
She's such a little angel.
The little angel went with Gu An'an to eat a bowl of noodles. After the meal, the mother and daughter went to the most famous carpenter in the city, Tan, to reserve several tables and made their requests one by one. Gu An'an and Tan negotiated for a while before leaving.
When we returned to Jiangjia Village by horse-drawn carriage, we could see the people standing there from afar.
It's Uncle Li.
Uncle Li had previously looked down on Gu An'an because of her poor treatment of the children, but after being persuaded by his wife, he realized that Gu An'an had truly reformed and his attitude towards her improved.
When Gu An'an saw Uncle Li, her first thought was that something must have happened to the two little ones at home, and Aunt Li was busy taking care of them and couldn't leave for the time being, so she asked Uncle Li to come and wait.
He quickly pulled on the reins, "Uncle Li, is it...?"
"You have guests at your home, you should go back and check on them."
guest?
Gu An'an was dumbfounded. Judging from Uncle Li's appearance, he probably wasn't a member of her family.
And who is this guest?
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