He often pestered Shen Qingtang to invent some new games.
Shen Qingtang was happy to accept this.
She knew that the He family wielded considerable power in the town, and that cultivating a good relationship with He Chenfeng would greatly help her establish herself and build her own influence in the town.
That day, He Chenfeng came to play games with Shen Qingtang again, and happened to run into Jiang Yuwen who was also having dinner at the restaurant.
Jiang Yuwen's eyes flashed with displeasure when she saw He Chenfeng being so close to Shen Qingtang.
But she quickly covered it up. She walked up to Shen Qingtang and said with a smile, "Miss Shen Qingtang, I didn't expect your restaurant to be doing so well."
Shen Qingtang responded with a smile, "Thanks to Miss Jiang."
The two were polite to each other on the surface, but their eyes were full of probing and confrontation.
He Chenfeng, oblivious to the undercurrents between the two, was still enthusiastically asking Shen Qingtang how to play a new jigsaw puzzle.
Shen Qingtang's business empire expanded rapidly in the small town.
She not only opened a restaurant and a general store, but also established a unique cosmetics shop and a clothing shop.
Using modern aesthetics and formulas, she created rouge and face powder with novel colors and unique fragrances. Her clothing designs were fashionable and well-tailored, quickly becoming popular throughout the town and even attracting customers from surrounding counties.
Pei Wuwang secretly assisted Shen Qingtang, relying on his keen insight.
They discovered that many girls in the town were sold to wealthy families as maids because of poverty or their parents' preference for sons, and some even suffered abuse.
He told Shen Qingtang about it, and Shen Qingtang was furious and immediately decided to help.
She joined forces with Pei Wuwang to rescue the girls who were being persecuted, providing them with food and lodging.
They also had them help out at their restaurants and shops, and were paid wages on time every month.
“You don’t need to be afraid anymore. Here, you can support yourselves with your own hands.”
Shen Qingtang spoke to the girls, her eyes full of sincerity.
The girls were deeply moved and expressed their willingness to serve Shen Qingtang.
In order to enable these girls to become truly independent, Shen Qingtang also decided to establish a free school specifically for girls.
She not only taught them to read and write for free, but also provided them with food and lodging, and even gave each schoolgirl a small amount of pocket money every day.
"As long as you study hard, you will definitely become useful people in the future," Shen Qingtang said to the girls on the first day of school.
This news caused a huge uproar in the small town.
In this era, most girls could only stay at home to take care of their husbands and raise their children, and rarely had the opportunity to read and write, let alone go to school for free and receive money.
"Shen Qingtang is truly kind-hearted!"
"I never expected that she, an outsider, would be so considerate of us poor children!"
"I want my daughter to go to school too!"
People praised Shen Qingtang highly and sent their daughters to school.
Just as Shen Qingtang was busy with the school's affairs, she suddenly felt a familiar warm current surge through her body.
My understanding of how to use space became clearer.
She had a vague feeling that she might have the chance to travel back to the modern era again.
What's even stranger is that she found this feeling only appeared when she was with Pei Nian'an.
Moreover, it seems that the two people need to be "in sync".
"Could it be that Nian'an and I are destined for each other?" Shen Qingtang looked at Pei Nian'an's innocent smile, her heart filled with doubt.
To verify her guess, Shen Qingtang couldn't help but touch Pei Nian'an's hair.
A thought suddenly popped into my head: if I could go back to the modern era, I would definitely take him to get a paternity test.
As soon as the idea came to her, she felt the energy in the space become more active and easier to use.
Shen Qingtang seized this opportunity and accelerated the pace of establishing the school.
She cultivated a group of loyal girls, appointing them as teachers and administrators at the school, which made the school a resounding success.
Soon, Shen Qingtang's school had a huge impact on the Jiang family's private school.
The Jiang family's private school was expensive and often exploited its students, making it unaffordable for many from poor families.
Shen Qingtang's school was not only free, but also provided room and board and pocket money, and the teaching quality was very high.
More and more people are choosing to send their children to Shen Qingtang's school, and the number of students at Jiang Family Private School is decreasing, resulting in a sharp decline in income.
Jiang Yuwen was very confused and angry. She didn't know who was targeting the Jiang family behind the scenes, and could only watch helplessly as her family's private school gradually declined.
She could never forget Pei Wuwang, feeling that he had an extraordinary temperament and was definitely not an ordinary person.
So she found the head constable and subtly inquired about Pei Wuwang's identity.
Having received a bribe from Jiang Yuwen, the head constable told her the truth: "Miss Jiang, to be honest, he is actually an exiled criminal. He committed a serious crime and was exiled here."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwen showed no disdain whatsoever; instead, her eyes lit up, and she became even more certain that Pei Wuwang was no ordinary person.
“Exiled prisoners?” Jiang Yuwen’s lips curled into a meaningful smile. “Interesting. The more challenging the people are, the more challenging they are.”
She looked in Pei Wuwang's direction, her eyes filled with a determined light.
She was determined to win Pei Wuwang's heart and make him hers.
After learning Pei Wuwang's true identity, Jiang Yuwen not only did not back down, but found it even more challenging. She quickly found out about Pei Wuwang's family situation.
Knowing that the Pei family was his weakness, he began to deliberately try to please them.
Every day, she would send people to deliver various expensive tonics and exquisite pastries to Madam Pei.
She even personally visited Madam Pei to chat and keep her company, calling her "Grandma" more sweetly than her own granddaughter.
Madam Pei has always been fond of taking advantage of small things.
Seeing that Jiang Yuwen was so rich and sensible, he suddenly felt superior again. He ate and drank well every day and followed Jiang Yuwen to various occasions, which greatly satisfied his vanity.
Seeing how much Jiang Yuwen valued the Pei family, Pei's father and Madam Qin felt more confident.
They used to be ostracized in town, but now that they have the Jiang family as a powerful backer, no one dares to provoke them anymore.
Pei Yuru felt that she was about to marry into a wealthy family, so she dressed up in a flamboyant manner every day and walked with a swagger.
Uncle Pei's family was not to be outdone.
Every day, Madam Qin would take her sickly son, Pei Mingjie, and grandson, Jindan, to visit the Jiang family, trying every means to please Jiang Yuwen, and boasting everywhere about how much the Jiang family's young lady valued their family.
Pei Jindan, in particular, used to be completely subdued by Shen Qingtang on the island, but now that he sees his family members getting their way thanks to Jiang Yuwen, he feels much more assertive.
That day, Pei Jindan ran into Pei Nian'an in town and immediately put on an air of superiority.
Pointing at Pei Nian'an's nose, he cursed, "Pei Nian'an, you little bastard! Look how lucky I am now, how good Miss Jiang is to our family! And you? What future can you have following your unlucky aunt?"
Pei Nian'an's eyes reddened from the scolding, and she said aggrievedly, "Shut up."
Just then, Shen Qingtang happened to pass by and overheard Pei Jindan's words.
Her eyes turned cold, and she strode over. Before Pei Jindan could react, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
"Smack!"
This slap used internal force, causing blood to immediately flow from Pei Jindan's mouth.
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