Su Shunci raised his head when he heard the voice, with a look of surprise on his face.
"Big sister is here, please sit down." He then instructed the maid Jinyun, "Bring tea quickly, and ask for the new purple bamboo shoots that came in this year."
The two sisters sat down on one side, and Su Shunci said happily, "Big sister, a few days ago, my third cousin helped me contact a brocade merchant in Sichuan Prefecture. Our business has been very good these days."
"I estimate that I can give dividends to Big Sister next month."
Because they were a partnership, Su Shunci was more careful and cautious than before, fearing that she would lose Su Qingyu's money and disappoint her.
The thought of earning money through her own efforts and sharing profits with her elder sister filled Su Shunci with energy. These past few days, she'd been busy checking accounts and selecting goods, often staying up late. She felt a little tired, but her spirits were exceptionally high.
Su Qingyu frowned at her, "How busy have you been? Why do you have dark circles under your eyes?"
"You're so young, be careful not to overwork yourself and become a little old lady."
Su Shunci laughed out loud at Su Qingyu's teasing. "Big sister, you're just scaring me. No matter how hard I endure, I won't turn into an old lady."
While speaking, he yawned.
Su Qingyu looked at her distressedly and said, "Tell your subordinates to do the work at hand. If there are not enough people, just spend money to find more."
Su Shunci knew she was worried, so she nodded and said comfortingly, "I know. I'll take a good rest after these busy days."
"You've been away these days. Didn't your grandmother and father say anything to you?" Su Qingyu asked again, always worried that Su Shunci's family would find out and make things difficult for her.
Su Shunci smiled playfully and said, "I told them that I would use my connections to see if I could open a silk shop."
"Big sister, don't you understand Grandma? If I say this, even if I don't go home for three days and three nights, she won't come looking for me."
Thinking of the things in the mansion, Su Shunci smiled and said, "If big sister comes back in a few months, I'm afraid that only the courtyard wall will be left."
Su Qingyu was startled for a moment, then laughed out loud, "You mean, the mansion has been relying on selling things to make ends meet?"
Su Shunci curled her lips. "That's right. Grandmother and Father sold especially much. I didn't see Second Aunt selling anything, so I guess she made quite a bit of money. Third Uncle and Third Aunt weren't well-off, so I followed my eldest sister's instructions and gave them some privately."
"Even so, the family's food, clothing, and other expenses haven't been reduced at all. A few days ago, a distant relative from Grandmother's family sent an invitation, and Grandmother actually sent someone to send two hundred taels of silver."
"I just want to see how much they can sell and how many years they can keep going like this."
Su Qingyu thought of the letter Su Shunci had sent her last time and said coldly, "They haven't reduced their expenses. They're probably still waiting for mother to return home so that they can support them as before."
Su Shunci's expression turned cold when she heard this. "She's just daydreaming. It's a beautiful thought."
The little girl has learned a lot of swear words since she started doing business outside.
"Grandmother is still waiting for Su Xiangling to marry into a wealthy family. The family is already in such a difficult situation, but Su Xiangling still has all her clothes and jewelry." Su Shunci got angry when she mentioned this. The whole family was confused.
When Su Qingyu heard her mention Su Xiangling, she asked, "Is she still so close to the Crown Prince these days?"
Su Shunci nodded, "She showed me the invitation this morning, saying that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince invited her to his villa in a few days."
Su Qingyu smiled. It seemed that Su Xiangling was determined to get the throne.
Then she got down to business. "Ah Ci, I'll send you some silver in a couple of days. Use it to buy some cheap cotton cloth. When the cotton comes back from Mother's place, find someone to make you some cotton clothes."
Although Su Shunci didn't understand the reason, she still said, "I understand. Do you have any requirements for the cotton cloth?"
Su Qingyu said, "The cheaper the better. Contact a few brocade merchants you're familiar with. You can buy the old fabrics that are piled up in their warehouses. They'll be happy to sell them to you at a discount."
In my previous life, it was a cold winter. Not only the north was affected, but the south of the Yangtze River, which was always as warm as spring, was also much colder than before, so cotton cloth and cotton clothes immediately became hot commodities.
The wealthy families were fine; their servants worked overtime for a few days and finally made thick cotton-padded jackets. But the poor suffered, as they could not afford the high prices of cotton or charcoal and had to endure the hardship.
So she asked Su Shunci to buy some cheap cotton cloth and make cotton jackets for sale.
Furthermore, Shen Zhixiu was the Second Minister of the Cabinet, and the Lin family and his mother were merchants. Disaster relief might soon fall on them. This batch of cotton-padded clothes would be inexpensive and highly effective for disaster relief, potentially saving many lives.
After returning to the Shen family, Su Qingyu went straight into the study and began to calculate the cash in her hand.
It would cost 500,000 taels of silver to buy cotton, but the money to buy cotton cloth for Su Shunci was not much, only 18,000 taels would be enough.
After much calculation, she found that she could only get three hundred thousand taels of silver in cash, and that included the gold Shen Zhixiu gave her when he betrothed her. Secretly, she didn't want to touch the gold in the betrothal gift.
Su Qingyu held an abacus in one hand and a pen in the other, frowning as she pondered. Was she going to sell off her property too?
Seeing that she had been calculating for nearly an hour and her expression was getting worse, Zhenzhu began to advise, "Madam, why don't you borrow some from our third cousin?"
Su Qingyu shook her head. "Forget it. It's harvest time now. I won't hold my third cousin back any longer."
Pearl's eyes rolled and she came up with another idea.
"Why don't you ask the Third Master? Isn't there still money in our courtyard's account?"
Su Qingyu hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "Forget it. The total amount of silver in the West Courtyard account is less than 100,000 taels. Besides, this silver is for my mother, and it's not good to give my in-laws' money to my parents. Even if the Third Master has no objection, it won't be good if other people in the mansion find out."
Pearl was confused and asked, "Didn't Madam always say that husband and wife are one? Why is she saying that now?"
Su Qingyu had a headache from calculating the accounts, so she simply put down her pen and started talking to Zhenzhu.
"These are two different things. Although husband and wife are one, sometimes we have to find a balance."
"Some things can be done casually, but some things cannot be messed up at all. You have to strike a good balance here."
Just like when my mother got married, she mixed her dowry with the money in the mansion, and things got out of control.
She was the same, she couldn't take the Shen family's and Shen Zhixiu's money as hers. She could give her private money to her mother, but not Shen Zhixiu's.
Pearl seemed to understand, muttering, "I thought Madam and the Third Master had already made no distinction between you and me."
Su Qingyu shook her head and was about to tease Zhenzhu when she heard Feicui's voice coming from outside.
"Third Master, why didn't you go in?"
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