"Alright, I'll give you that favor. Remember to pick a few young girls for me. Okay, brothers, go home. I'm tired."
Xu Jiahao's breath reeked of alcohol. He yawned and prepared to go back to sleep.
Wanhualou was owned by the Meng family, who were the wealthiest merchants in Jiangnan County. They paid a large portion of the taxes every year and secretly gave their father a lot of money as tribute.
Xu Jiahao would naturally give him face.
Otherwise, where would he get the money for food, drink, and entertainment?
It's all thanks to the Meng family.
The highest-ranking members all left, and naturally, the remaining followers followed suit.
Meng Yu breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, they had stopped it.
If this girl really threw the stone at the magistrate's son's head, he would probably lose his life.
"From now on, you two sisters should not come to these alleys at night. You must take the main road and not the side roads. If you do go out at night, remember to bring your servants with you for safety."
After finishing his sentence, Meng Yu left without waiting for her reply.
The alley was rather dark, and he even thought Yan Xia and La Mei were sisters.
"Mother, let's go back quickly."
La Mei was a little frightened. Yan Xia glanced back at the boy and then took her daughter back to the inn.
The next morning, the two got up early, had a simple breakfast at the inn, and then went to find Deng Qiuzhi.
The address he left was his friend's, saying that if anything happened to the land, he could go to him.
Yan Xia arrived at the house according to the address.
"Knock knock knock—"
She picked up the door knocker and knocked.
Soon, an old servant opened the door.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Excuse me, I am a good friend of Deng Qiuzhi. When he left Shuangqiao Town, he gave me your host's address. May I ask your host if he could tell me your current address? I have something important to discuss with him."
Yan Xia handed him a piece of paper with the address written on it; Deng's handwriting was on it.
If he were a friend of his, he would definitely recognize him.
"Alright, then please wait outside while I go find the master."
"Yes, of course."
The door closed, and Yan Xia and her daughter stood at the door, waiting for less than twenty minutes.
The door opened again.
“My husband said he would like to invite you in to sit down and have some hot tea. If you are busy, you can take the address and go look for the person first.”
After saying that, he handed over two pieces of paper, one of which was given to him by Yan Xia, and the other was new.
An address was written on it, which should be Deng Qiuzhi's new home; the ink on the paper wasn't completely dry yet.
"No need to be so polite. Please thank your master for me. We really have something important to discuss with Brother Deng, so we won't go in. We'll be leaving now. Goodbye."
He said he was inviting her in for a seat, but it was just a polite gesture. They didn't know each other, so there was no need for her to sit down. Yan Xia thanked him and left with her daughter.
She does have that much insight.
Following the address on the paper, Yan Xia crossed two streets.
My steps stopped in a secluded alley.
The alley is very narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
The first house at the entrance of the alley is Brother Deng's house.
"Brother Deng, knock knock knock—"
There wasn't even a door knocker; you had to knock with your hand.
After several calls and knocks, someone finally opened the door.
"Coming, coming! Oh, who are you?"
The woman who opened the door was an unfamiliar old woman. She was probably not Brother Deng's wife, given the significant age difference. She was dressed in dark silk and had a large, carved gold bracelet on her wrist, making her even less like a servant.
According to Deng Qiuzhi, his wife's family is from Jiangnan.
The old woman in front of him must be his mother-in-law, or perhaps his own mother. However, the two do not look alike. Brother Deng has a round face, thick lips, and a kind and auspicious appearance. The old woman in front of him has three-white eyes, thin lips that are almost invisible, and high cheekbones, making her look fierce and mean.
"Hello, Auntie, I'm a good friend of Brother Deng. I need to talk to him about something. Is he home?"
"Oh, who are you? What do you want with my son-in-law?"
The old woman's expression suddenly changed.
She stared at Yan Xia with her eyes, as if Yan Xia and Deng Qiuzhi had some shady relationship.
Yan Xia's upturned lips slowly lowered.
His gaze turned colder.
"Manager Yan? What brings you here? Please come in quickly."
Deng Qiuzhi's appearance broke the deadlock. He came out of the main room, pushed aside his mother-in-law, and welcomed Yan Xia and her daughter inside.
He didn't even give his mother-in-law a second glance.
Yan Xia sensed something was wrong. It seemed something had happened at Deng Qiuzhi's house. Who would treat their mother-in-law like that?
"Brother Deng, have I come at the wrong time? How about we schedule another day to talk?"
Yan Xia said.
"No need, this is my home, it's not her place to boss people around. Come in and sit down. Xinbao, make a cup of tea for Manager Yan and her daughter, use fresh tea! And get a plate of pastries, the kind I just bought yesterday."
Deng Qiuzhi's new home was rather cramped, seemingly only having one entrance.
The courtyard didn't look very big, it was muddy, there was a well to the right of the gate, and clothes were drying to the left. You couldn't even see a tree.
Yan Xia sat in the main room, and the servants of the Deng family brought her and La Mei two cups of tea, along with the usual milk pastry.
She picked up a piece and took a bite.
Some are too sweet, the inside and outside are the same, there is no obvious sense of layering, and it is dry and crumbly when you bite into it.
Yan Xia frowned slightly.
She doesn't like things that are too sweet.
"Manager Yan, you flatter me. The pastries here are not even a fraction as good as those in your shop. Please bear with them and try them. You came all this way to see me, is there something wrong? Is there a problem with the land? Or did the tenant I introduced try to cheat me?"
Sitting opposite Yan Xia, Deng Qiuzhi could clearly see her expression and knew that she didn't like the pastry.
He looked much older after a few months apart.
A few gray hairs had sprouted on his head, even though he was only a few years older than Yan Xia.
"No, that's not true. The land is excellent. I came here specifically to see you. I want to cooperate with you."
Yan Xia put down the half-piece of milk pastry in her hand and took a sip of tea to clear her throat.
"Cooperation? Cooperate on what?"
Deng Qiuzhi's heart pounded; his intuition told him that the woman before him would be the benefactor of his life.
"I'm unfamiliar with this place and people, so opening a branch shop rashly might attract envious people. Besides, I don't have the time to travel back and forth between the two counties. My daughter-in-law is about to give birth, and I'm too busy. Why don't you open the shop here? I'll supply you with goods regularly, and you can buy them from me at cost price. Of course, the selling price must be the same as my shop. Are you willing?"
Deng Qiuzhi's breathing became rapid.
"really?"
"Yes, it really is."
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Deng Qiuzhi immediately stood up. He was overjoyed and paced back and forth, his hands trembling slightly.
Heaven knows how surprised he was. When he first came to Jiangnan County, he thought that he could buy a house and two shops and settle down here by doing his old business. But the houses here are extremely expensive. The slightly better ones are not available to him at all. As soon as they are put on the market, they are bought by people with connections. There is nothing he can do. He can't live at his wife's parents' house.
I can only afford a small, run-down house for now.
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