Chapter 54 The couple are very busy
The next morning, Xie Yuduo was going to the shop again. The two of them had been together all night, and when they were about to leave, they both felt reluctant to part.
He tightened his belt in front of the bed and leaned over to kiss the person in the quilt.
"You should sleep a little longer."
Chen Qi shook her head, her black hair scattered on the pillow.
"I've been resting for the past few days, so I have to show up today and go to the back to pay my respects to my grandmother."
"Then you should put on more clothes and be careful about the wind."
"Okay, I understand."
"I'll be back with you at noon."
"good!"
Seeing the person in the bed was excited, he couldn't help but kiss him again, with a smile between his handsome eyebrows.
Ever since Chen Qi fell ill, Yu Jing was sent to live in her grandmother's room. When she saw her sister-in-law today, she was naturally particularly affectionate and threw herself into her arms.
"Sister-in-law, are you better now? I've been thinking about you for days, and I can finally see you!"
Chen Qi smiled and pinched her little face.
"I'm fine now, don't worry. After dinner, I'll take you back to the East Courtyard, okay?"
"Okay! I've wanted to go back for a long time. In fact, I've secretly gone there a few times, but my brother always won't let me into the house to see you, saying that he's afraid I'll make a fuss."
Seeing her aggrieved look, Chen Qi smiled and comforted her.
"Look at how unreasonable he is! If I had asked you to come see me earlier, maybe this illness would have been cured long ago!"
"Really?"
When Yu Jing heard this, her eyes lit up and her little face turned red.
"Of course it's true!"
Chen Qi also laughed.
After breakfast, Old Lady Wu sent Yujing back first and kept Chenqi to talk. Seeing that she looked in good spirits, she felt a little comforted, but she was still in a bad mood.
"This time, Ming'er's wife suffered a terrible tragedy. She watched as her five- or six-month-old baby died. I felt very sad. After thinking about it for a few days, I couldn't say who to blame. Ultimately, it was just fate."
Old Mrs. Wu has been chanting scriptures these days. She looks older, with white hair on her temples. She is obviously someone who has experienced the ups and downs of life for many years, but at this moment there are tears in her eyes.
"Qi'er, you're a good child. I heard that it was thanks to you that day, otherwise, another life would have been lost in vain. This illness has also made you suffer."
The old lady trembled and held Shen Qi's hand.
"However, seeing that Ming'er and his wife have no hope of having children in the future, and our family is not the kind of people who will easily divorce and remarry. As an old woman, I am counting all my hopes on you and Duo'er!"
Chen Qi responded softly, feeling guilty when she thought about what they had planned last night.
In the blink of an eye, it was February. The winter snow melted, all things sprouted, and the sun rose higher day by day.
Sun has not recovered from her serious illness, and Second Aunt is also worried. The burden of being the head of the Xie family mansion falls on Shen Qi alone.
There is a shop in front and a house in the back, both sides have to be taken care of.
Seeing the heavy workload, Chen Qi considered it carefully for a few days.
The first thing is the food supply.
As the shop's business grew, merchants and customers came from all directions frequently. All the tea, food, and banquets for the guests were supplied by the kitchen and then sent to the front.
Although there are more people in the kitchen, they still have to take care of the three meals a day of the master of the house and the servants at the same time, which is very inconvenient and causes chaos in the busy schedule.
Chen Qi divided the kitchen staff into two groups, one group was dedicated to supplying meals and tea to the front shop, and the other group was still in charge of taking care of the food in the backyard. This made it convenient for the front and back yards, and the kitchen servants had less work to do, so they could focus on providing food and services, which was very effective.
The second is traveling by carriage or horse.
There are two horses in the stable at home, which are mostly used by the two masters, Xie Yuming and Xie Yuduo, to ride when they go out. There are also two carriages for the women and children in the Xie family's backyard to travel around.
The two big horses in the stable are now taken care of and fed by Uncle Chai, the man from Aunt Li's family. He also raises chickens and ducks and grows ginger and onions.
The back door of the Xie family's house faces the street, making it convenient for buying vegetables and meat on weekdays. Raising the chickens at home doesn't save much money, but it does occupy a small piece of land for the garden. This was probably the idea of the second aunt when she was in charge.
Chen Qi gave orders, ordering people to remove the chicken and duck cages and vegetable plots beside the garden, reorganize the old stables, and build a shed at the back door to park carriages and store horse gear.
When Chen Qi learned that Uncle Chai could drive a rickshaw, she raised his monthly salary and allowed him to take on the job of driving a rickshaw for his master.
From then on, if anyone in the Xie family wanted to go out, they would ask Uncle Chai to harness the cart and lead the horses, and then go out through the back door and onto the street. They would no longer have to go back and forth looking for a cart or someone, wasting time and effort.
Chen Qi was busy here, and Xie Yuduo was also very busy in the front.
Last year, his herbal medicine shop's revenue more than doubled compared to the previous year, but it still fell short of his expectations.
In the business world, he always has a plan in mind.
There must be something wrong here.
He had a rough idea of what was going on, and because his elder brother was busy, he asked Manager Tang to come to the study to inquire about the matter.
Uncle Tang was over forty years old, short and stocky, with pale skin and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He answered the second master's questions calmly.
"Second Master, you don't know. Our shop is the oldest in the county. Our customers are all the major medical clinics and established pharmacies in the city. Even the more famous medical clinics and pharmacies in the neighboring county come here to buy herbs. Because they are all regular customers of the older generation, if it's a large-scale business, most of them will sign the documents first, take the herbs, and come back to pay for the goods next year."
Seeing that the young man in front of him had no reaction, he added another sentence.
"This has been a tradition since the generation of the eldest and second masters."
This was indeed a common practice, so how could Xie Yuduo not know it? However, he pretended to be hearing it for the first time.
"Oh, I see. Then when will the payment for last year's goods arrive?"
Manager Tang pondered for a moment.
"Uh...if it's early, it will be settled in March or April. If it's late, I'm afraid...I'm afraid we'll have to wait until June."
In fact, almost all overdue payments for goods will not be received until June.
What's more, there are many cases where the settlement is not completed until around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
"How much silver can these be worth?"
"In previous years, it was less, less than a thousand taels. Last year, business was good, so it was about... over two thousand."
Xie Yuduo sneered in his heart.
If more than two thousand taels of silver were lent out for usury, according to the interest rate, the profit in half a year would be two to three hundred taels, which is equivalent to the annual net profit of a small shop in the city.
Has the Xie family's money been delayed by various merchants for so long?
He had a guess in his mind, but he remained calm on the surface. He just said he understood and sent Manager Tang back to the shop to work.
After a while, he called Xiaowuer over.
"Second Master, what's going on?"
"Change your clothes and come out with me later."
"Where are we going?"
"Go to the clinic."
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