Chapter 9,
She wants to buy a house?
I'm afraid I can't do it for the time being.
But this medicinal material is only worth the price.
I just asked a few small pharmacies along the way, and the prices they offered were not as high as Huichuntang, so... this is the highest price these herbs can be sold for. Su Guoer knows it well.
After thinking about it, she decided to sell it because she really needed money to open a restaurant.
When she came, she looked at the money she had deposited in the public account of the mansion. Including the interest, there were 30 gold pieces, as well as some jewelry, cloth, makeup boxes, gold leaves and other items.
These were all rewards from the old lady. If she really took them out to exchange, she could get some silver money. However, she didn't plan to use these things until the last moment. As a girl, she should keep some money for herself to wear. This is called decorating the appearance.
So Su Guoer spoke up and decided to keep a wild ginseng for herself, and then sold the other medicinal herbs. She got a total of 155 taels of gold. She kept the gold and deposited it in a money shop nearby. She exchanged it for a deed and kept it in her hand. She could use this deed to buy the house when she sold it in the future.
She didn't stay outside for too long. After watching the kaleidoscope at the Zhouqiao Night Market, she returned home under the cover of night.
Thinking that she had to go to the kitchen early tomorrow to prepare meals for the prince, she washed up and went to bed early.
The next morning, Xiang Lian, who was by the old lady's side, personally brought her a bag of gold leaves, saying that it was a reward from the old lady for the meal she made yesterday, which the old lady was very satisfied with.
Holding the heavy gold bag in her hand, Su Guoer felt warm in her heart again.
Perhaps knowing she was leaving, the old lady gave her half as much gold leaf as usual. She could easily feel the weight in her hand; she estimated it to be around five taels.
Su Guoer had no way to repay the prince, and just wanted to spend more time preparing meals for the prince to entertain his friends at noon so as not to embarrass him. So she came to the big kitchen in the mansion early in the morning to select ingredients for the meal.
I’m worried that if I go too late, the fresh dishes will be gone.
However, when she arrived at the big kitchen in the mansion, she realized that she had thought too much. It was worthy of being the big kitchen, responsible for the meals of 367 masters and servants in the mansion. So the plump fresh sea bass, river crabs, puffer fish, etc. alone filled several large baskets, not to mention the fresh fruits and vegetables. There was a dazzling array of everything, and there were also bags of high-quality white rice piled up in the warehouse.
The housekeeper gave her the key to the warehouse and let her use it as she pleased.
Su Guoer took a mandarin fish, a grass carp, some fresh crabs, a live chicken, a goose, and a whole basket of various seasonal vegetables. She called two maids to carry them away.
When we arrived at the kitchen, there were people waiting there already, but they had just finished breakfast and were cleaning up the tables.
"Look, this, Sister Guoer, you came early, and our kitchen hasn't been cleaned up yet," said a round-faced fat mother who was a manager of the big kitchen. Her surname was Liu.
"It's okay, Aunt Liu, I'll just wait here for a while," she was a little early to begin with.
Mother Liu smiled and directed the maids to wash the dishes, clean the pots, and even the kitchen floor was cleaned by a little maid. Mother Liu took every opportunity to direct everyone not to be lazy while chatting with Su Guoer.
"Sister Guo'er is getting more and more beautiful. At first glance, I thought she was the third daughter of the mansion. But then I thought, wasn't the third daughter of the mansion sent back to the farm in the countryside a long time ago? Why would she still be staying in the Duke's Mansion?"
"I took another look. Oh, isn't this Miss Guo'er? Mother Song and I were just talking about this the other day. Miss Guo'er looked beautiful when she first came to the Duke's Mansion. Now that she's grown up, she's become even more beautiful. She's just like those princesses and noble ladies I saw at the flower viewing banquet outside. She's so pretty! She can even be compared to Xi Shi!"
Su Guoer smiled, knowing that it was just a polite remark and she didn't take it seriously. She just said, "I can't compare with the princesses and noble ladies. Mom, please don't make fun of me."
Mother Liu came closer and said, "What I said is true. You are really beautiful, but... I heard that you are going out of the house?"
Bianjing City is small, and the Duke's Mansion is even smaller. Knowing that she couldn't hide it from them, she replied, "I want to leave the mansion. It's good to have a good citizen identity and do some small business outside."
Mother Liu agreed again, "That's right. The market outside is very lively nowadays, selling all kinds of things. If you really have a skill and start a business, you can make a lot of money, more than you can make as a maid, and it will sound good to others!"
"But sister? I have something extra to say here that you want to hear?"
Knowing that this person was carefree and had no bad intentions, Su Guoer let her speak.
Mother Liu: "Have you ever made a promise to a good family?"
Su Guoer blushed at these words: "Never..."
Madam Liu was delighted and quickly took Su Guoer's hand and said earnestly, "That's perfect. I have a cousin named Lu Ping'an who is now a yamen runner in the Dali Temple. He gets five taels of silver a month! And if he's valued by the higher-ups, I heard he'll be promoted to the position of yamen runner chief soon! He has a bright future ahead of him."
"Besides, he has a handsome appearance, thick eyebrows and big eyes. Although I can't say he is handsome, looking around, there is not a single one among the many yamen runners who is as good-looking as him. I wonder if you would like to meet him?" Madam Liu winked at Su Guoer and assured her, "It's just a look. It doesn't matter if you don't like him. After all, he is on duty at the Dali Temple and occasionally patrols with his brothers. If you encounter any problems outside, you can always go to him. It never hurts to have more acquaintances in this Bianjing City."
These words made it impossible for Su Guoer to refuse, and she was indeed a little tempted.
She was an orphan with no one to rely on in the city of Bianjing. Maybe she could make her life smoother if she made more friends with noble people.
She had this idea a long time ago, but she had never found a suitable candidate. To be honest, since she came to Bian Jing, the only people she knew were those in the Duke's Mansion.
There are few people outside who know it.
Moreover, although she has never thought about it, according to secular ethics, a girl will eventually get married, so it is not too early to meet someone now.
A yamen runner at the Dali Temple received five taels of silver per month. Even if she didn't open a restaurant, five taels of silver would be more than enough for her to live on in Bianjing. After deducting the one tael of silver she would spend every month, she could still save four taels...
However, she spoke and revealed the key point: "Does he have a house?"
She was tired of talking about the high cost of land in Bianjing. If Lu Ping'an only had five taels of silver per month and no house, he would have to live in the cramped Anpingfang. It was said that it was crowded and damp, and most of Bianjing's merchants, coachmen, matchmakers and other low-class people gathered there.
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