Shopkeeper Zhou told Xu Qinyu, "It's not that the boss is difficult to deal with, but the situation at this family is a little different..."
Generally speaking, families that can own dozens of acres of land are not short of money. They are either gentry, wealthy merchants, or some aristocratic families or eunuchs. Xu Qinyu originally thought that it was because such families were not short of money and the land was difficult to buy, so they were unwilling to sell.
It was not until Manager Zhou told her about the boss's situation that she understood why.
It’s not that I don’t want to, but the boss’s situation is too special.
The host's surname is Ying and his name is Shuchang. The Ying family is not a big family. They have lived in the southwest for generations and have accumulated some property. The old lady of the Ying family gave birth to three sons and a daughter. She was partial to the eldest and daughter. The second son was not loved by his father or mother. Mr. Ying passed away many years ago. When the old man passed away, Mrs. Ying did not like the second son of the Ying family and divided the family property on the pretext of something. She did not even give the second son any property, but gave him a few taels of silver.
At that time, the second son of the Ying family had just gotten married. It would be a lie to say that he was not sad when he was pushed out of the Ying family gate along with his new wife.
He didn't understand why they had the same mother and he was obviously the old lady's biological son, so why didn't the old lady love him at all? He was obviously very filial and always gave in to his elder brothers, third brothers and youngest sister, so why did they want to divide the family property just after their father passed away?
Later, Ying Lao Er gritted his teeth and made his way out with his wife. He accumulated a lot of family property and became a wealthy man.
As for the old lady, in the past ten years or so, she has almost squandered all the family fortune accumulated by the old man, leaving only a dilapidated house and two small shops.
Ying Lao Er not only bought a huge and beautiful five-story house, but also owned two three-story shops with attics in Raozhou City, several perfume and rouge and powder shops, and hundreds of acres of land.
Ying Laoer's perfume shop was opened because his wife was good at making perfume.
Even his wife knew something about rouge and powder, and the rouge and powder she mixed was very delicate.
At the beginning, Ying Laoer and his wife used the few taels of silver to rent an old courtyard to live in. They used the remaining silver to buy raw materials for perfumery and made some solid ointments. Ying Laoer then carried the ointment on his shoulder and went from street to street selling the ointment.
At the beginning, they sold cheap ointments on the streets, ten cents a box. The ingredients were mostly mountain flowers and plants, one or two cheap spices, and ointments, but the fragrance was very pleasant. They could be placed in the cupboard to fumigate clothes on weekdays, or they could be placed with the lid open in the living room or room as incense, and the fragrance could last for more than a month.
So after accumulating the first batch of customers and making some money, Ying Laoer's wife began to mix incense that was actually more expensive.
During this period, Ying Lao's second daughter, Ying Shuchang, was born.
After Ying Shuchang was born, Ying Laoer's business became better and better. When Ying Shuchang was two or three years old, their family had bought their own small courtyard. In addition to making incense, Ying Laoer's wife also started to make some rouge and powder.
The perfume and rouge and powder made by his wife are very good.
In this way, Ying Laoer's business grew bigger and bigger. He opened a perfume shop and also sold rouge and powder.
Gradually, they accumulated a huge fortune, and Ying Lao Er even became a clerk.
But unfortunately, two years ago, Ying Laoer and his wife encountered bandits when they were out, and both the couple were killed by the bandits. Only Ying Shuchang was left in Ying Laoer's family.
Ying Shuchang was only seventeen years old at that time, and two years later she would be nineteen.
She is quite capable. She was heartbroken when her parents passed away, but even so, she managed the family business left to her by her parents in an orderly manner.
But an orphan girl, guarding such a huge family business, would surely be remembered by others.
Outsiders still want to get their hands on the family property left to Ying Shuchang by Ying Lao Er. It's nothing more than some poor people thinking that marrying Ying Shuchang is equivalent to marrying the Ying family's huge family property, which they can spend as they please.
So during that period, many matchmakers came to propose marriage, but Ying Shuchang rejected them all, saying that she had to observe mourning for her parents for three years and hoped that matchmakers would not come.
But those poor families were not willing to miss such an opportunity, so they naturally continued to ask matchmakers to come to their homes and praise their sons to the skies. Ying Shuchang also said coldly that she had no plans to arrange a marriage within three years, so if they continued to come, don't blame her for being rude.
As a result, the matchmaker was too embarrassed to come to the door again, but some families didn't even have the nerve to do it, so the woman in charge went to the door to lobby in person. She also felt that her son was handsome and that Ying Shuchang would be moved as long as she saw him.
Ying Shuchang also turned hostile and asked the servants in her house to beat the man out.
Later, no one continued to propose marriage to the Ying family, but Ying Shuchang's relatives could no longer sit still.
At the beginning, it was only Old Lady Ying who came to the house and cried bitterly, saying that Ying Shuchang was the only one left in the second son's family, and she was very pitiful. She asked the family members to take care of her together in the future to prevent her from being bullied by outsiders.
Ying Shuchang just dealt with it indifferently at that time. She knew very well that the other members of the Ying family came to them just to get the family business left by their parents.
Later, the old lady even wanted to move into Ying Laoer's large house with five courtyards with her whole family, but was rejected by Ying Shuchang.
Two years passed like this, and the old lady was too lazy to pretend anymore. She bribed the head of the Ying family and, with the head of the family's witness, adopted the son of the third son of Ying to the second branch of the family. Now the whole family has moved into the big house that the second son of Ying left to his daughter.
Shopkeeper Zhou said this and sighed, "This is the current situation of the Ying family."
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but ask, "Is Ying Lao Er really Madam Ying's biological child? Why is she treating the second wife like this?"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly paused.
Isn't Ying Lao Er just like her father? Her father is the second master of the Dechang Marquis's mansion. He is also the second in line, with an older brother and a younger brother. The Dechang Marquis and his wife don't like her father. When the daughter of the third wife was about to be exiled with him, they even pushed the original body out.
As far as Xu Qinyu is concerned, her original father had a very good personality, easy-going and steady. He used to be very filial to his parents, but he was not liked by the old couple.
Not all parents love every one of their children, and many parents can easily be biased.
Moreover, the second son of the Ying family and his wife suffered misfortune and left behind so much property. Money is very tempting. The other two branches of the Ying family have fallen into such a state in recent years. Naturally, they also want to take over the property left by the second son to Ying Shuchang. So in the end, they shamelessly forcibly adopted the child to the second branch.
Ying Shuchang was only a seventeen-year-old girl, and would be only nineteen in two years. Even though there were some servants in the family, the old lady would bring in other clan members and the clan leader, and no matter how powerful she was, it would be useless.
And even if Ying Lao Er separated the family, he would still take her to visit the old lady during the holidays. It was just a separation, not a complete severance of relations. The old lady was still alive, and they were still a family. The child was adopted in the presence of other clan leaders and clan members. There was no point in going to the government. The adopted son had been included in the family tree, which meant that he was already the child of the second wife and the younger brother of Ying Shuchang. Not only was it recognized by law, but it could not be changed in terms of human ethics.
Shopkeeper Zhou sighed, "This happened not long ago. The piece of land at the foot of the mountain that you mentioned, Miss Xu, was left to Ying Shuchang by Ying Lao Er. But Ying Shuchang is already in a state of panic and has no time to care about these things. Besides, this girl has been through so much. I'm afraid she won't agree if we rashly go to her and ask her to sell the land."
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but sigh in her heart. This girl's experience was not much better than the original body. The original body was directly pushed out as a shield by her grandmother, and this girl was also bullied by her grandmother, uncle and uncle.
Moreover, the younger brother adopted by Ying Shuchang from the third house is a two-year-old baby, who is also the biological son of Ying Lao San and his wife. They love this child very much. Now that they have moved into the Ying family house, they are not worried that Ying Shuchang will take her anger out on their youngest son.
No matter how much Ying Shuchang hated this family and her adopted brother, she would never take her anger out on a two-year-old baby who knew nothing.
Xu Qinyu asked, "Can Ying Shuchang come out now?" She was also worried that the other members of the Ying family would move into the mansion and keep Ying Shuchang under control, not even being able to leave the house.
Shopkeeper Zhou said, "She can still get out. Although all the shameless people in the Ying family have moved into the house of Ying Lao Er, the Ying family's incense and rouge and powder shops need to be taken care of. The most important thing is that she needs to go to the workshop to personally monitor the formulas of these incense and rouge and powder, otherwise they will lose a lot of money every day. So they can only let Ying Shuchang go. And I heard that the old lady and the people from the first and third rooms are trying to force the formulas of incense and rouge and powder, but the formulas are only known to Ying Niang, so they are helpless."
In fact, the formula is the most valuable. Even if Ying Lao Er left behind these shops, houses and fields, they are not as valuable as these formulas. Only by holding the formula can you make money.
He felt that the rest of the Ying family was being excessive, but surprisingly, many people felt that Old Lady Ying had done nothing wrong. A girl had to marry, so was such a large family fortune going to be given as a dowry to someone outside the family? It must be left to someone with the same family name. They also felt that Ying Shuchang should also hand over the formula, otherwise, if the formula was given as a dowry, it would only benefit others.
In the end, people think that girls cannot carry on the family line. Even if they are from outside the family, they should leave all the family property to their cousins. Only men can carry on the family line so that a family will not be destroyed.
When Xu Qinyu heard this, she felt disgusted. There were still many people who had such thoughts even in later generations, both men and women. It was really disgusting.
She also felt more and more that this girl was similar to her, but at least she still had her original parents and younger brother, who were all still alive, and her life was getting better and better.
After listening to what Manager Zhou said, Xu Qinyu thanked him and went back to her room with her fourth brother.
Back in the room, Xu Qinyu said, "Fourth brother, although the Ying family is in this situation now, I still want to meet Ying Shuchang."
Pei Weixuan nodded, "We should meet her and ask her. In her current situation, she needs to break down before she can build up. Instead of wasting time in the Ying family, it is better for her to take the formula and leave. Those people in the Ying family have squandered all the family property left by Mr. Ying, and now they can't keep the family property left by Mr. Ying. If Ying Shuchang stays in the Ying family, she will only waste herself."
Xu Qinyu also felt the same way, because now that the child had been adopted, the matter was done and it would only be a waste of her energy if she stayed in the Ying family.
If it really comes to a fight to the death, no matter what happens to the Ying family, Ying Shuchang will not be in any good situation either.
As long as she has the formula in her hands, Ying Shuchang still has the dominant position.
Pei Weixuan went to the vicinity of Ying's house that day to inquire and learned that Ying Shuchang would go to the workshop every morning, so the next morning, after breakfast, he and Yu Niang went to the workshop to wait for Ying Shuchang.
Although the Ying family's incense and rouge and powder workshops both hired female craftsmen, the most important formula was still in the hands of Ying Shuchang. She was responsible for the most important process, which did not take much time. But without this process, neither incense nor rouge and powder could be made.
The two waited in front of the workshop for a while, and then they saw a very thin girl walking towards them.
The girl had delicate features, but she looked bad. Her face and lips were pale with a bluish tint. She was extremely thin, and her clothes looked loose on her. She was accompanied by two maids. One of them was also very thin, with a sad face, while the other was of strong build, and was staring at the thin girl with her eyes rolling around.
Xu Qinyu knew that this thin girl should be Ying Shuchang. Her mental state at the moment seemed a little malnourished. Come to think of it, her parents had an accident suddenly. Although they left her a lot of family property, everyone was still staring at her and coveting the things her parents left her. Now that the Ying family had done this kind of thing again, it would be strange if she could eat and drink well.
Seeing Ying Shuchang approaching, Xu Qinyu stepped forward and called out, "Madam Ying."
When Ying Shuchang heard someone calling her, her eyes were cold and her face was a little numb.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Xu Qinyu called out "Madam Ying" again.
Ying Shuchang still ignored her, but her eyes fell on her.
The burly woman behind Ying Shuchang immediately asked, "Who are you? What do you want to do by calling our lady?"
Xu Qinyu could see that this old woman was probably not Ying Shuchang's person, the thin old woman was, and this stout old woman was probably from Old Lady Ying's side.
Xu Qinyu said coldly: "I am a friend of Madam Ying, and I came here specially to see her."
The stout old woman snorted coldly, "How come I didn't know that my wife has a friend like you?"
Ying Shuchang finally reacted and said calmly, "What do you want from me?"
Ever since her parents passed away, except for Aunt Zhang, everyone else who came to her had bad intentions. She no longer had any hope. What's more, she didn't even know the beautiful young lady in front of her, so naturally she thought she was contacting her with ulterior motives.
Because just when that disgusting family forced their third wife's child to be adopted by her as her younger brother, they moved into the old house and asked her for the recipe. During this period, many outsiders who were doing business wanted to buy incense and rouge and powder from her. Knowing that she hated the old lady's family, they thought she might as well sell the recipe to them and make a lot of money, but she did not agree.
During this month, she didn't know what to do. She even thought about fighting to the death with the old lady and the others. She didn't want to live anymore and wanted to go down to accompany her parents. It would be better to kill these people as well.
Pei Weixuan noticed that Ying Shuchang was not in good condition, so he whispered something in Xu Qinyu's ear.
Xu Qinyu's heart trembled, and she said softly, "Madam Ying, I have something to ask you."
Ying Shuchang wanted to ask her coldly whether she also wanted to buy the formula from her like everyone else.
But looking at the young lady in front of her with fair skin and a gentle smile on her face, she didn't say anything. She just pursed her lips and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."
Xu Qinyu glanced at the two maids beside Ying Shuchang and said, "I want to talk to Madam Ying alone."
Ying Shuchang turned around and said gently to the equally thin old woman, "Madam Zhang, please step aside for a moment. I have something to say to this young lady." Then she said coldly to the other stout old woman, "Madam Zhao, please step aside as well."
Mrs. Zhao snorted, "Who knows if this young lady will do anything to you, Madam Ying. I will definitely have to stay by her side."
Ying Shuchang sneered, "You think I can't cure you, right? The old lady just wants my formula. If I ask her to beat you to death before giving me the formula, what do you think she'll do?"
Only then did Mrs. Zhao's expression change. She snorted and followed Aunt Zhang to the side.
After the two maids left, Ying Shuchang looked at Xu Qinyu. "I don't seem to know you. What do you want from me? If you want to buy the formula for my incense and rouge and powder, forget it. I won't sell them to you."
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "We really don't know each other, and I'm not Madam Ying's best friend. But just because I'm not her friend now doesn't mean I won't be in the future. I didn't come here today to buy Madam Ying's recipe."
Ying Shuchang didn't believe her at all.
She had seen too many people who approached her gently at first but finally revealed their true faces.
But before she could say anything, the handsome man beside the beautiful young lady suddenly said, "The incense you mix in your workshop smells like agarwood, spikenard, green wood, chicken tongue, and white sandalwood..." He listed a total of fifteen spices before continuing, "This incense should be more suitable for fumigating clothes. It can make the fragrance on clothes linger for a long time."
He even described the most critical spices in the recipe and roughly what kind of processing they needed to go through.
This is also the most critical part of Ying Shuchang's formula.
These spices are quite expensive, so the incense they make is also very valuable. This is why everyone is so obsessed with these recipes of Ying Shuchang, because they are really profitable.
In fact, Pei Weixuan could only smell the flavor at the moment, but the specific proportions of the recipe must be slowly mixed out.
But it was not a difficult task for him. He just wanted to tell Ying Shuchang that he and Yu Niang did not come for the recipe in her hand.
Ying Shuchang's face changed. She didn't know how the two people in front of her knew the recipe of her incense, and even knew the key.
Xu Qinyu hurriedly said, "Don't worry, Madam Ying. We really aren't here for your recipe. This is my husband, and he also knows some creams, rouge, and powder recipes. We just want to tell Madam Ying that we're not here for your recipe."
Ying Shuchang glanced at the two of them with a complicated expression and asked, "Then why did you come to me?"
Xu Qinyu said, "We came here today just to ask for the dozens of acres of land that my wife had at the foot of the mountain outside the city. My name is Xu Qinyu, and I'm from Yuanbao Town. I opened a restaurant there called Xu's Restaurant. Since I made some money, I'm planning to open a restaurant in Raozhou City..."
She told Ying Shuchang her identity and that she was planning to open a restaurant outside the city, but the location was right at the foot of the mountain. She heard that the land was hers, so she came to her and asked her if she could sell it to her. She also expressed her willingness to pay double the price to buy the dozens of acres of land.
Ying Shuchang didn't expect that they came for the dozens of acres of land at the foot of the mountain.
She had also heard of Xu Qinyu's reputation. Before her father got into trouble, he went to Yuanbao Town. At that time, he happened to have some things to do in Yuanbao Town. He had dinner at Xu's Restaurant and specially packed some food for her. It was the most delicious meal she had ever eaten.
She also thought that if she had the chance in the future, she would go to Yuanbao Town again and have a meal at Xu Ji Restaurant in person.
But a month later, something happened to her father and mother. She no longer had the energy to think about anything. She had no appetite and couldn't eat anything. However, she still had to force herself to deal with many things. She had experienced a lot in the past two years. She felt lifeless and had lost a lot of weight.
She also knew a little about Xu Qinyu. She knew about the restaurant she opened and heard that she opened a winery with Madam Lu. She was indeed not short of money and would not covet her recipe. She must have really wanted to open a big restaurant in Raozhou City, so she bought the land from her.
She couldn't earn that much from her perfumes and rouge and powder in a year, only tens of thousands of taels of silver. Even so, it was enough to make many people and other members of the Ying family jealous.
Ying Shuchang thought about it and agreed. She said, "There is no need for Madam Xu to offer double the price. Just go with the normal price. If you want those fields, just tell me and I will sell them to you. But you also know my current situation. I'm afraid it will be troublesome to sell these properties. Maybe those jackals and tigers will find you. They are all ruffians and not easy to deal with." Otherwise, she would not have forcibly adopted the third wife's child and let him live in her house.
She knew very well that the deeds to the fields, houses and shops her father left her were still in her hands. That was because the old lady's family had just moved in. As time went on, they would find a way to take all the deeds away.
She did think about dying with everyone in the Ying family.
She has a bad temper. Daddy once said that she has a bad temper and it is easy for her to get into a dead end when encountering problems.
Now she couldn't deal with these things. The only thing she could think of was that the old lady and the others would not get away with it. Since they treated her like this, they might as well die together.
Xu Qinyu actually knew that even though the family property left to her by Ying Shuchang's parents was still in her hands, it would be very troublesome for her to deal with it privately, otherwise she should have sold all the family property long ago.
But even if Ying Shuchang sold all the family property, she would not be able to go anywhere, because as a girl, it would be very dangerous for her to go anywhere with such a large amount of banknotes. But if she continued to stay in the Ying family, even if she sold all the family property, she would not be able to keep the banknotes.
Neither side had a good solution, which led Ying Shuchang into this situation.
Xu Qinyu thought about what her fourth brother had just told her, that Ying Shuchang had some deathly aura about her, and probably didn't want to live anymore and wanted to die with the Ying family.
Why should she be bullied and not want to live? Of course she should live well and see if those people will get retribution in the future, or find ways to make those people suffer. In the end, she shouldn't think about dying together.
Xu Qinyu said gently, "As for the farm matter, why don't you go to the Bafang Inn after Madam Ying is done with her work, and I can discuss it with Madam Ying in detail."
Ying Shuchang hesitated, but finally nodded in agreement.
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