Xu Zhi stayed in her room for half a day and began to feel restless. If the shop in Tongzhou couldn't be opened, things would be difficult to proceed. Moreover, if things in Tongzhou weren't handled well, she might even be deliberately bullied in some places later on.
Doing business is not easy, especially for non-locals. It's even harder to open a shop in an unfamiliar place. In Liaodong, she relied on her father, and in the capital, she relied on the Marquis's mansion. Xu Zhi's business was not exactly smooth sailing, but at least no one openly came to make any moves against her. But when she arrived in Tongzhou, it was as if she had been hit on the head with a stick, which made her wake up instantly.
Xu Zhi couldn't sit still, so she went to Shen Mingwan's room. Shen Mingwan wasn't feeling well because of the cold weather. The room was a bit warm, so Lin Mama had stewed some pear soup for her. When she saw Xu Zhi coming over, she served her a bowl.
Xu Zhi stirred the pear soup in the bowl with a spoon, and Shen Mingwan asked her if something was bothering her. Xu Zhi then told her about what happened in Tongzhou.
Hearing Xu Zhi's concerns, Shen Mingwan nodded and said, "I think your idea of buying a house is great. Take advantage of the moment and buy it now. With your own house, what business can't you do? Besides, if the two of us open a shop now, we'll be helping the Emperor open a shop. Do you think the Emperor will just stand by and watch us two young ladies be bullied like this?"
Xu Zhi sighed and said, "Sister Mingwan, that's true in theory, but in reality, people at different levels really do try to hold us back in small ways. What can we do? Don't we have to bow our heads? I made this excuse so that I could buy a more suitable house, but we can't just buy a house wherever we go, can we? Buying a house is just a last resort. The money we would have spent on a house would be enough for us to do many things."
Shen Mingwan rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "How about we open a branch in Wuzhou? Wuzhou is my uncle's hometown. Surely no one will be so blind as to bully us there?"
Xu Zhi gently shook her head and said, "Sister Mingwan, you still don't understand what I mean. What we need to do is open branches in places that are unfamiliar to us and where we don't know anyone. Daliang is so big, we can't just open a store in a place where we know people. It will be difficult to do, but what we need to do is overcome these difficulties."
Shen Mingwan hadn't expected Xu Zhi to think this way, and now she felt she should re-evaluate her partner.
Xu Zhi scooped up a spoonful of pear soup and put it in her mouth. The pear soup was a bit sweet, and Xu Zhi frowned slightly. She wasn't a big fan of sweets; she found it too cloying.
Putting down her spoon, Xu Zhi saw that Shen Mingwan seemed lost in thought and said, "Sister Mingwan, I've saved up some money now. I'm thinking of using this money to try opening an orphanage. My brother told me that only through practice can we know where we're not doing well and where we have shortcomings. Since we don't have anything else to do right now, why don't we set some rules first?"
Shen Mingwan said with great interest, "Okay, Xiao Jiu, I'll get the pen and ink now. Let's set up the rules first."
Shen Mingwan held the pen, and Xu Zhi carefully recalled the rules that Xu Rao and Xu Di had set for the Hexi Orphanage when they were in Hexi. She wrote them down one by one, and in no time, she had filled a whole page.
Looking at the paper filled with delicate calligraphy, Shen Mingwan exclaimed in surprise, "There are so many rules!"
Xu Zhi sighed and said, "There's more to come. The orphanage we've established isn't just about giving the elderly and children food. We need to teach them how to make a living, and most importantly, we need to teach them the mindset to do so. Many children lose their support at a young age and end up hanging out on the streets with others. Over time, they'll think that doing nothing and just following others around as a hoodlum is actually a pretty good thing. We need to change their mindset."
Recalling what she had heard from Xu Rao and Xu Di, Xu Zhi told Shen Mingwan, making Shen Mingwan's eyes light up more and more.
Time flies when you have something to do.
Granny Lin led the people over to clear the table for dinner. Seeing Shen Mingwan's excited expression, she smiled and said, "Our young lady hasn't been this happy in a long time."
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingwan took Lin Mama's hand and said with a smile, "Mama, I'm happy because I know how to do my job, and I now know how meaningful it is to do what I'm doing."
Lin Mama said reproachfully, "Mama, no matter what you two are doing now, I just want you to eat properly. The people on our estate raise their own sheep, and we slaughtered one early this morning. I told the kitchen to make roasted mutton and stewed mutton soup for you."
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingwan asked, "Did you make any flatbread?"
Granny Lin said, "It's done. The dough was prepared early this morning, and it's already cooked."
Shen Mingwan said happily to Xu Zhi, "You have to eat flatbread with mutton soup. It's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, soft and chewy."
Xu Zhi nodded and said, "I do like to eat mutton offal. When it's cooked in a big pot of soup, one bite might be mutton blood, and another bite might be mutton tripe. But everyone says that mutton offal is not presentable."
Shen Mingwan laughed and said, "Who said that? Every part of a lamb is delicious. I also like to eat lamb offal. I heard that there are even lamb hot pot restaurants in Beijing."
Xu Zhi said with a smile, "When we go to the capital, I'll treat you to braised mutton. It's a dish that was just developed."
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