50 Cheating
"But you have to remember, this is the last time!"
In the blink of an eye, two months have passed since the Yao Shun incident.
Yao Shun was fined one hundred taels of silver. Because he could not come up with such a large sum of money, his shop was sealed by the government and used to pay off the debt. He was also beaten with ten sticks. It was said that he returned to his hometown in disgrace.
His cousin Yao Si was rewarded for his report and was fined ten taels of silver and allowed to go home.
Afterwards, Li He asked Song Jinyi why she didn't go directly to the government office? Instead, she went to Manager Yao's shop and made such a scene. Wasn't that unnecessary?
Song Jinyi was fiddling with some fruit. She smiled but didn't answer, and asked her to guess.
Seeing that Li He was racking her brains to no avail, Xu Ruolan walked over and said, "My answer may not be the same as your sister Jinyi's. I think this way: if we go directly to the government office to handle it.
Those who were watching the fun were all insignificant passers-by. They watched and then left. They might not be able to suppress the negative comments about Tianshuipu.
Manager Yao's teahouse and our sweet water shop are on the same street. The tea drinkers in the teahouse might have been our regular customers in the past. If they knew the truth, they would tell the surrounding tea drinkers one by one, and ten by ten.
Then the customers we lost will come back.”
Sometimes the truth is not that important. What matters is who you want to see the truth.
Song Jinyi nodded, confirming Xu Ruolan's answer, and the two smiled at each other in tacit understanding.
She took an apple slice and handed it to Xu Ruolan, saying with a smile, "No one knows me better than Sister Ruolan."
After listening to Xu Ruolan's explanation, Li He showed an expression of sudden enlightenment and kept praising Song Jinyi for her ability. It was unknown where she heard the flattery from, but she kept talking non-stop.
Xu Ruolan, who was standing by, covered her mouth and laughed, and cursed, "Where did this flatterer come from?"
Song Jinyi didn't know whether she really understood or was pretending to understand, but she really enjoyed Li He's praise. After all, she also thought she was very capable.
So she kept a piece of the apple for herself and gave most of the remaining apple to Li He.
Xu Ruolan asked if she wouldn't leave some for Xie Wuyang?
"No, it's because he doesn't know how to say something nice." As he spoke, he pinched Li He's chubby face and said, "Look at our Li He, she's so cute, she should eat more."
This is called "the sweet talker gets the apple."
At the same time, Xie Wuyang outside sneezed.
The maid beside him silently took out a fine dark purple brocade crane cloak and presented it to him with both hands, but she did not dare to step forward to put it on him.
Because a short-sighted maid saw his handsome appearance and the piles of gold and jade here, she became greedy for wealth and moved him restlessly while he was changing clothes.
A slender hand touched Xie Wuyang's chest, and the next moment she heard a cold voice say, "I hate it most when people touch me!", then threw her aside and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
Then it becomes nutrients for the lotus flowers in the pond.
Xie Wuyang took the cloak and put it on, looked at the maid and asked where Hun Namu was.
The maid whimpered helplessly twice, and when she saw him frowning, she gestured with her hands anxiously.
The attendant next to him came over and said, "In order to keep it secret, Lord Hunnamu specially found a mute girl."
Xie Wuyang glanced at the attendant expressionlessly, then walked towards the West Garden, saying as he walked, "Tell Hun Namu to come see me."
A moment later.
After Xie Wuyang finished showering, he walked out of the bathroom with wet hair. The water droplets on his hair dripped onto the precious wool blanket.
Hunnamu, who had been waiting outside for a long time, bowed and saluted.
Xie Wuyang walked past him barefoot and asked about Yao Si.
Hunnamu said: "As you instructed, I gouged out his eyes and threw him to the wolves. I went to see him the next day and found only half a skeleton.
Even if he were discovered, people would only think he was attacked by wolves, and they would not be able to tell that he was killed."
Xie Wuyang nodded slightly to show his satisfaction, and said, "There is one more thing. I want you to investigate Song Jinyi in person."
******
Song Jinyi was calculating on the abacus at the counter when she suddenly felt a chill. She looked out the window on the side of the counter.
I don't know when it started snowing outside the window. Tiny snowflakes floated lightly in the air, and a thin layer of white accumulated on the ground, like a layer of milky white sugar crust on a dessert.
The six-petaled flower, each petal is like flying jade; the trees in the thousands of trees are all covered with jade. In a moment, the powder accumulates, and in an instant, it turns into salt. [1]
She reached out to catch a snowflake and murmured softly, "It's snowing."
The snowflakes melted instantly in her warm palms. She lowered her head to continue the unfinished accounts in her hands. The cold wind blew in from the square windows, making Song Jinyi's hands red and hot.
But she still didn't stop.
Song Jinyi was concentrating on turning the dial, muttering softly, and making marks on the account book with her hands.
After a long while, she finished the calculation and held her forehead in distress. "It's not enough. No matter how I calculate it, it's not enough."
The three-month bet has expired.
She had made a three-month bet with Song Zhangye, but now it seemed that she was too naive.
If she did something else based on the income she had when she left Shengjing, she could at least make up more than half of it. As for the remaining half... she could think of a way to make up for it.
It’s just a pity that Yao Shun interfered and forced her to close the store for a month with no income, and she could barely make up for the loss of the previous month in one month.
What should she take with her to keep her appointment with Song Zhangye?
Song Zhangye is not a good man. If she does not pass the final deadline of the bet, he will definitely send someone to capture her and take her back.
She actually thought about deserting the battlefield, taking the little money she had saved and running away from Yunzhou...
However, she looked at every brick and tile, every table and chair in the store, all of which were carefully selected and arranged by her.
He watched Xu Ruolan and Li He packing tea leaves in the shop, chatting and laughing. Xie Wuyang sat on a chair by the door, carefully wiping the teacups.
These are all her companions, how can she just leave?
Forget it, she put the pen aside. As the saying goes: There is always a way when you reach the mountain.
She'll go and wade into this muddy water to see what happens.
The snow fell in Yunzhou City for a day and a night, and finally stopped in the early morning of the next day.
Song Mansion.
Song Jinyi, wearing a half-worn orange jacket and a lotus pink silk skirt, sat in the front hall and took two sips of the Song family's finest pre-rain Longjing tea.
After taking a sip, her eyes lit up. This was indeed many times better than the tea she bought. It would be great if she could pack it up and take it home.
After a while, the housekeeper came in and said, "The master went out to discuss business this morning. I think he will be back in half an incense stick of time. Miss, is there anything you want to talk to the master about?"
Song Jinyi said, "It's about the bet."
The butler was also there that day, so he naturally knew what the bet Song Jinyi was talking about. He quietly observed Song Jinyi's expression and saw that she looked very calm.
He secretly wondered in his heart, "Didn't they say that business was not doing well? Why doesn't she look worried at all? Could the news be wrong?"
As Song Jinyi stepped into the gate of the Song Mansion with her left foot, the news was transmitted to the backyard with her right foot.
Shen Lingyu was trimming the leaves of a pot of gardenia. She used a pair of scissors to cut off the extra branches and leaves, and asked without turning her head: "Sister Yi is back?"
Next to Shen Lingyu stood her personal maid Geng Niang.
Geng Niang replied, "You've been sitting in the front hall for so long. You haven't come back for once, and now that you've come back, you haven't even come to the backyard to pay your respects. Humph! How rude!"
Shen Lingyu said indifferently: "After all, I am not her biological mother, so it is unavoidable for her to be estranged from me. But do you know why she came back this time?"
Geng Niang first flattered, "It's only because you, our Madam, are kindhearted that you don't bother with this little girl. Otherwise, if her reputation of disrespecting the mistress gets out, how will she ever get married?"
She leaned closer and whispered, “I heard from the people in front that they came here to fulfill the bet with the master.
I inquired about his shop a few days ago. He was bullied and couldn't even open his shop. I think he can't solve the problem now, so he came back to show his weakness to the master."
Shen Lingyu pinched a gardenia with her long fingers, put it in her nose and sniffed it gently, with a faint smile on her lips.
lobby.
After Song Zhangye came back, he asked a few small questions and then got down to business, asking about the bet. "Have you earned a thousand taels since you came here?"
Song Zhangye had been in business for decades and had many connections in various circles. He knew the owners of several tea houses and had heard about Song Jinyi from them.
She also knew what had happened recently at Song's Sweet Water Shop. Unless she had supernatural powers, she would never be able to come up with the one thousand taels.
Song Jinyi said calmly, "No."
This unconventional answer stunned Song Zhangye, and he couldn't guess what she was thinking for a moment.
Song Zhangye narrowed his eyes and observed her. For a moment, his thoughts turned in a thousand circles, and in the end he could only think: Could it be that she is here to show weakness?
If that's the case, it would be meaningless.
Then, Song Zhangye shook his head. He actually had unusual expectations for a child. Song Jinyi was a girl and had never left home before.
Now, after just a few months of being out in the wild, he thinks he has become very capable.
It would be good to curb her sharpness and ask her to come back and do what she should do, such as the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, obeying her husband after marriage, and supporting her husband and raising children.
Song Zhangye said, "You admit defeat now, which can be regarded as cutting your losses in time."
Song Jinyi tilted her head and looked at Song Zhangye. She felt helpless because her father thought she was giving up after she had only said one sentence.
She said somewhat shamelessly: "Although I didn't earn a thousand taels, I don't feel like I lost."
Song Zhangye's deep gaze pressed on her, and silent pressure spread over her. He could not tolerate others going back on their words.
Song Jinyi said seriously, "Of course I accepted my bet. If it weren't for the treacherous frame-up, I would have been able to complete it. My father is very powerful, so I'm sure he must have heard something about it."
Seeing that Song Zhangye didn't refute her, she continued, "Thinking about it carefully later, it was indeed as my father said. I was too frivolous and too young. I didn't think things through, so I failed to complete the bet on time."
Song Zhangye took the teacup and took a sip. "The bet between you and me is about the outcome, not the process. You yourself admit that you are too young and impulsive, and you can't handle many things carefully. So what I said to you at the beginning..."
Although Song Jinyi didn't want to listen to his lecture, but at this moment, she was under the eaves and waited patiently for him to finish, then continued: "So, father, I want to change the bet."
Seeing that Song Zhangye didn't interrupt her, and his eyes indicated that she should continue, Song Jinyi took a deep breath and continued, "I want to change the bet and extend it for another six months."
Song Jinyi keenly sensed the chill in Song Zhangye's expression as he finished speaking. She met his gaze fearlessly, "But I will raise the bet to five thousand taels. And with this one included, the total will be six thousand taels."
Song Zhangye was silent for a moment and asked her, why do you think I will agree to you?
"Father certainly wouldn't be short of these six thousand taels, but I think it wasn't easy for him to start his business in the beginning, and he hopes someone can help him through the setbacks he encountered.
"My father has been running this business for many years, and even if I can't protect my daughter from the elements, I only hope you can be lenient with her just this once, and give me a chance to prove myself." Song Jinyi squeezed back tears, trying to act like she was weeping.
"Okay, I agree to change the bet."
Song Jinyi immediately raised her head, tears that she had barely squeezed out welling up in her eyes, and she looked at Song Zhangye excitedly.
"But you have to remember, this is the last time!"
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