"Xiaoyan, what...what brings you here?"
Qiu Dafu looked at his own niece, his voice choked with emotion, unable to speak.
If there is an afterlife, he will definitely take good care of the three children left behind by his eldest brother.
The second uncle in front of me had messy hair, a scruffy beard, and was covered in scars all over his body.
Perhaps it was because I saw Qiu Yan today, but her eyes alone shone with light.
Qiu Yan felt a pang of sadness upon seeing this. "Second Uncle, I've come to see you."
Jiang Liu stood at a distance from the prison gate, silently observing the man.
His messy hair covered most of his face, revealing only his sharply defined jawline. He had a well-proportioned figure, was tall, but somewhat thin.
Qiu Dafu brushed aside his disheveled hair, revealing a face covered in grime. He looked at Jiang Liu and asked, "Who is she? Xiao Yan, were you sold by that wicked woman?"
The woman exuded an air of wealth and status; she clearly came from a distinguished family. Could she be the buyer?
Qiu Yan shook her head, feeling a little down. "No, Second Uncle, don't worry, she's the magistrate's wife. I'm only able to see you today thanks to her."
"How did you manage to strike up a conversation with the magistrate's wife? Did that wicked woman beat you up?"
"It was a coincidence. The three of us moved to the old house, so she won't do anything to us now."
“We’ve moved out… Xiaoyan, you’re still a child, you’re still a child yourself… Take good care of Axu and Ling’er…”
When the fifteen-minute mark was up, the jailer stepped forward and urged her to go home, saying, "It's time, young lady, you should go home now."
Qiu Dafu waved to Qiu Yan, "Let's go, Xiao Yan. You must take good care of yourselves while your second uncle is away."
Qiu Yan nodded and waved to Qiu Dafu, "Yes, Second Uncle, I'll find a way to get you out of here."
Will he be able to get out? "Xiaoyan, don't worry about your second uncle. He's fine. Just do your own thing and don't take any risks for him."
Qiu Dafu forced a smile, his lips barely twitching.
"Don't worry, Second Uncle."
As she spoke, Qiu Yan walked out of the prison step by step.
Once outside the prison, she asked the guards when her second uncle would be released.
Unexpectedly, the jailer told her that Qiu Dafu had committed a serious crime of disobedience and would be executed in the autumn!
Normally, death row inmates are not allowed to visit each other. If it weren't for Jiang Liu, Qiu Yan would not have been able to see Qiu Dafu this time.
Qiu Yan lost her balance and nearly fell.
A single sentence from the jailer extinguished her desire to wander around, filling her with anxiety.
Jiang Liu was right next to her, so she naturally heard what the jailer said, and her heart sank.
The crime of filial impiety has always been severely punished; it's not something she can get out of prison by pleading with her family members.
However, she did have a solution.
"Qiu Yan, if you get your stepmother to recant her testimony, it will definitely save your second uncle's life."
Qiu Yan had also thought about this, but it was somewhat difficult.
“Yang is vicious and cunning. If we want her to recant her testimony…” Qiu Yan’s eyes flickered slightly. Thinking of Yang’s misunderstanding of her last time, she had an idea.
“Vicious and cunning? Tell her to come to the county office. I’ll deal with that vicious old woman for you. Don’t worry, with me here, your second uncle will be fine.” Jiang Liu patted his chest and assured him.
"In that case, thank you very much, Sister Jiang." Qiu Yan's previously gloomy mood was suddenly brightened by Jiang Liu's words.
"You saved me once, so it's only right that I save your second uncle."
After discussing it for a while, Jiang Liu felt a little tired and went back to rest.
Qiu Yan returned to Xingyue Tower alone.
When Cuizhu noticed that her mistress hadn't come along, she inquired and learned that she had gone home first, so she quickly left.
The Star Moon Pavilion is no longer as busy as before.
By the time the shop closed, all the other wild game at Xingyuelou had already been sold out, and even most of the wild boar that Li Zheng had hunted the day before had been eaten, far exceeding their expectations.
Zhou Zifang grinned from ear to ear as he worked on his abacus.
Their Xingyuelou restaurant made more than ten taels of silver today, and this is only half price.
You should know that before, their Xingyue Tower sometimes didn't even earn a single penny a day.
If you earn twenty taels of silver a day, that's six hundred taels a month.
Zhou Zifang showed the profits to Qiu Yan, who then asked him to calculate the figures again after deducting labor, food, and shop rent.
The shop was bought by Zhou Zifang himself, so it doesn't need to be counted.
As for manpower, we hired Qiu Dayu today. With Qiu Yan and Li Zheng helping out, it's obvious that we're overwhelmed and have missed a lot of cooking time.
We need to hire at least three more workers, three kitchen helpers, one purchasing agent, one accountant, and one dishwasher...
Qiu Yan suggested to Zhou Zifang that they should stop hiring workers and just buy them directly.
With the indenture in hand, there's no need to worry about them leaving.
Zhou Zifang had considered this possibility before, but his business had been bad, and he only had a little over a hundred taels of silver to his name. He also had to support Lin Shu and Qin Wu, so he was really poor.
If he buys all the workers, and business is bad, he can't afford to feed so many people.
But now that Xingyuelou's business is improving, he accepted the offer.
The costs of vegetables, meat, and labor should account for about 50% of the monthly net income, which, at 600 taels, is 300 taels.
Zhou Zifang handed the calculated amount to Qiu Yan, who took it and looked at it carefully.
"This is just your own estimate. The final figure will have to wait until after a month. If the business is run well, it will definitely be higher. Today we didn't have enough ingredients and not much meat, so the customers at the back tables won't have any to eat. In my opinion, the income should at least double again."
Even more, Xingyuelou hasn't seriously promoted it yet.
Zhou Zifang felt even more confident after Qiu Yan's words.
Since there was no wild game available for the time being, Zhou Zifang removed the names of these dishes and instructed Lin Shu to go and collect some wild game first thing tomorrow morning.
Xingyuelou serves two types of meat: home-cooked meat and wild game.
If there's no wild game, we can use ordinary livestock and poultry, which will be slightly cheaper.
A good cook can make delicious food with any ingredients.
After Qiu Yan and the other two left, Song Jiao had nowhere to stay, so Zhou Zifang arranged for her to stay in a side room of the restaurant.
Because she always wore a veil, Zhou Zifang and the other two did not see her true face, but they did know that she was disfigured.
Song Jiao was very fortunate that Zhou Zifang and his two servants did not deliberately distance themselves from her because of her ugly appearance.
Qiu Dayu also wanted to live in Xingyue Tower, but Qiu Yan wouldn't let him.
Song Jiao lives here alone with a man, and there's bound to be gossip.
Qiu Yan took Qiu Dayu directly to her aunt, intending to let him share a room with Zhao An and Zhao Yang to sleep.
At Qiu Yumei's house, because it was getting late, Zhao San and his two sons had already returned home.
When Qiu Yumei learned that Qiu Dayu had found a good job, she was happy for him.
"This is all thanks to Xiaoyan..." Qiu Dayu recounted how Qiu Yan sold herbs, bought the pipa player, and had an unusual relationship with Xingyue Tower, which drew praise from Qiu Yumei, but more than anything, she felt sorry for her.
Thirteen-year-old Zhao An and ten-year-old Zhao Yang were not very familiar with Qiu Yan, but they were quite familiar with Qiu Dayu.
My uncle comes to their house for meals every few days; they can't be unfamiliar with each other.
They tilted their heads back and listened intently to Qiu Dayu's incessant chatter.
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