Qiu Yun hesitated for a moment: "Let me think about it."
Qiu Wen said, "Then Second Sister, please think it over carefully. I still need to recuperate, so I can't send you out."
It means to see the guests off.
Qiu Yun felt a little confused; these words made her uncomfortable, but she didn't lose her temper and went back.
Looking at Qiu Yun's expression, Qiu Wen knew she would agree.
She was indeed a nobody in the Qiu family, but one thing was true: she was, after all, the eldest daughter of the Qiu family. If the Qiu family wanted to maintain a good reputation, they couldn't let anything come out of her mouth.
It's likely that Mr. and Mrs. Qiu regretted their marriage to her, otherwise they wouldn't have ignored her completely.
Sure enough, Qiu Yun came over two days later and agreed to her request. Qiu Wen asked Qiu Yun to transfer the land deed of the estate and shop, and the matter was handled very quickly.
Then, just as Qiu Wen recovered from her illness, the Qiu family spread the word that they had consulted a fortune teller who said that the eldest daughter of the Qiu family should not marry too early, otherwise it would be bad for both her husband's family and her own family.
To be on the safe side, Mrs. Qiu held a banquet. At the banquet, Qiu Wen was indeed as rumored, not quite clear-headed. In addition, Qiu Wen did not cause a scene, so even if others did not believe it, they had no choice but to believe it.
After the banquet, Qiu Wen moved out of the Qiu residence and went to the estate, accompanied by a maid named Luo Xue.
Qiu Wen looked at the land deed of the estate. It was a very remote place, and the land wasn't considered good. However, it was quite large, with a fishing village nearby and not far from the sea.
Qiu Wen then had an idea.
After moving out of the Qiu family mansion, she was much freer, but she didn't have many people around her. She went to the maid's place and selected two households of servants.
She doesn't need many people for the time being, and the money she got from Qiu Yun is limited, so she can't be reckless.
After tidying up the estate, Qiu Wen started to go out. In recent years, the status of women in the Qing Dynasty has improved slightly, but it is still not very convenient for unmarried women to go out. Fortunately, Qiu Wen was slow to develop and small in stature. The key point is that because she was not valued, even a young lady like her did not have pierced ears.
This made it convenient for her to disguise herself as a man. Unlike the gentle and refined women of this era, she was modern and open-minded. Even if it were snowing, there would be nothing wrong with her demeanor when she disguised herself as a man.
After Qiu Wen finished her disguise, she began gathering information.
After gathering the information, Qiu Wen was somewhat confused. This Qing Dynasty was definitely not the Qing Dynasty she knew. Cangzhou belonged to Tianjin Wei, and news of the railway construction in Jinghai County had also come from here.
There were also cement roads, newspapers, Wu's Department Store, and the fact that the imperial examinations no longer tested the eight-legged essay. She was not illiterate, nor was she ignorant of history. Historically, the Qing Dynasty was almost closed off from the world at this time, so how could those imported goods be so abundant?
Qiu Wen was shocked, and after the shock subsided, she began to speculate. The fact that they had even developed a steam train meant that, regardless of who this fellow villager was, the Qing Dynasty was developing in a positive direction, which was also beneficial to her.
Although the Qing Dynasty still followed the traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, the status of merchants had improved considerably, and the distinction between the four classes was no longer so clear.
After making numerous inquiries, Qiu Wen had several people she suspected. One of them was the current Empress, since the Emperor only had her as his woman. Another was the current Emperor himself, or perhaps both.
No matter how Qiu Wen speculated, she had no way to prove it.
The most important thing now is how to make money. The shop Qiu Yun gave her is a small bookstore in a bad location, so it doesn't make much profit. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given it to her.
Combining what she had learned with the information about the shop, Qiu Wen suddenly had an idea.
Qiu Wen inspected the shop. The shopkeeper was educated, quite old, and seemed honest. However, when she checked the accounts, they were incorrect. After further investigation, Qiu Wen decided to dismiss the shopkeeper.
Without reporting it to the authorities or demanding compensation, the shopkeeper presented the evidence and, being sensible, left the bookstore and returned to his rural hometown.
"Miss, why are you suddenly closing the shop?"
Qiu Wen said, "The shop's location isn't too bad. I heard there used to be an academy here, but it moved away, and business gradually declined. Scholars can't possibly travel far to buy a book. Let's close the shop for a while. I've inquired around here, and the location is pretty good. There are quite a few wealthy families living around. If possible, we can open a shop selling all sorts of miscellaneous books, mainly storybooks and picture books."
Qiu Wen's thoughts naturally went beyond these, but at this stage she had limited funds. If possible, she wanted to get a set of printing equipment so she could sign and print books herself.
“Miss, miscellaneous books don’t sell well. Wealthy families think they’re not proper books and that they can easily corrupt people’s character. Generally, those who are willing to spend money to buy them are the ones who secretly buy them behind their families’ backs. And these are still a minority. Miss, I’m afraid…” You’ll lose a lot of money.
Qiu Wen was well aware of what Luo Xue was talking about, but she wasn't just selling miscellaneous books and novels; she also wanted to sell exam question analysis, test papers, and the like. Qiu Wen had discovered that no one else had noticed this area yet, and it was a promising market. However, she wasn't planning to do that for the time being, since she didn't have any connections.
First, open the shop and start selling storybooks.
The storybooks Qiu Wen wanted to sell weren't ordinary storybooks; she had read quite a few modern online novels, covering a wide range of themes. There used to be a joke online that reading online novels could help you kick your drug addiction, which was an exaggeration, but it's undeniable that these kinds of books are indeed addictive.
"You'll see when the time comes. Besides, the shop is free anyway, and the money is from my second sister's kindness. Even if we lose money, it's not a big deal, right?"
After thinking about it, Luo Xue realized that it made sense.
So I said nothing more.
Qiu Wen acted swiftly and quickly transformed the shop. Bookstores, especially those where Qiu Wen planned to sell storybooks, primarily catered to women. Of course, Qiu Wen didn't intend to overlook the men's market either, but she would take it one step at a time, and could always open another shop later if necessary.
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