After breakfast, everyone drank another cup of tea and then dispersed. Yuan Zhixi accompanied her sister-in-law Ma Jingling and walked towards her yard for a while before the two of them parted ways.
When Yuan Zhixi returned to her courtyard, she saw Mei Xuanqi waiting for her. She didn't know why he had come to see her, but she still bowed and greeted him, "Husband."
Mei Xuanqi nodded and said straight to the point, "Go to mother and reject the matter."
Yuan Zhixi lowered her head and said nothing. She had a few brief words with her sister-in-law. She didn't know what her sister-in-law would do. If she refused first, she would not be able to handle it if her sister-in-law had any ideas.
Seeing that she was silent for a long time, Mei Xuanqi frowned and said, "Why, you are not happy?
If you really want half of your monthly allowance, wouldn't it be the same if you took it from me later?"
Yuan Zhixi was really stunned at this. She didn't expect that Mei Xuanqi would be willing to give her half of his monthly salary in private. This was a fine idea. With the money in her hands, she could do whatever she wanted.
Should she just reply to the old lady like this? She could imagine how disappointed Mrs. Mei would be.
But could she really believe what Mei Xuanqi said? If she coaxed her into refusing him today, he might turn against her in a few days.
So Yuan Zhixi lowered her head and whispered, "After all, going to the old lady's side is a clear way out."
Mei Xuanqi understood as soon as he heard it. He didn't believe it at all and was afraid that he would agree today but not give it when the time came.
At this moment, he felt that he should not have come here at all.
He didn't know why, but when he saw Yuan Zhixi secretly glance at him and then lowered her head to pretend to drink tea, he felt a little... he couldn't put it into words.
After hearing her answer, I thought she might want the monthly allowance, so I gave it to her. There was no need to make a scene in front of the old lady.
But unexpectedly, Yuan Zhixi didn't believe him at all.
He was about to leave, "Then you can go to the old lady's side," but then he looked at Yuan Zhixi, who was standing in front of him with her head bowed, and remembered that the old lady had said today that she had called several shopkeepers to send gifts to Weng Hui in a grand manner, with everyone knowing. He didn't know what his wife felt after hearing this, so he decided to give up and take a step back.
Mei Xuanqi asked again: "Then what do you want?"
When Yuan Zhixi heard this, she thought that they could talk again. If she had to get something now, it would be worth at least three thousand taels of silver a year.
There are only a few shops on Zhengyang Street. If I buy them all at once, wouldn’t that be a bit too much?
But originally there were three thousand taels a year, and the old lady is in good health now, so it should be no problem for her to earn it for ten years. Thirty thousand taels, if it is thirty thousand taels of silver, then it is not too much to take those shops.
Yuan Zhixi gritted her teeth and opened her mouth.
Mei Xuanqi was so angry when he heard it. This was not just a lion opening its mouth wide, this was a lion, this was a heavenly dog swallowing the moon.
Is this woman so heartless? I was kind and wanted to give her things and money to satisfy her, but she was so cruel.
Then he thought, was he afraid? Afraid that he would side with Weng Hui in the future, so he wanted to get what he could now?
It's not that he can't give her those shops. They are some private properties given to him by his father after he came of age. They are not public shops. He can make the decision himself if he really wants them.
Mei Xuanqi thought for a moment and said, "I'm handing these shops over to you now. All the income will belong to you. Whether you can make more than three thousand taels a year depends on your ability. I'll give you the management rights for ten years, but if you don't manage them well and suffer losses or even no profits for six consecutive months, then I will have to take back the management rights of these shops."
Yuan Zhixi's mind raced. If she took a few hundred taels a month from the old lady, or even a lump sum of three thousand taels, she would have to start a new business. She would have to choose a location, rent a shop, renovate it, buy the necessary furniture, hire a manager, a bookkeeper, and stock the goods. It would take an average of three months to get the business off the ground. All that upfront was investment.
If the annual profit of his shops on Zhengyang Street was more than 3,000 taels, he would save a lot of worries, and he would have income from the beginning. After all, these stores were established, which was better than running a new one.
Yuan Zhixi said, "I need to first look at the accounts of these shops for the past three years."
Mei Xuanqi sent someone to pass on the message, and soon the accounts of these shops were all brought over by the accountant. The accountant called a few servants and carried a box of account books from the carriage to the yard. He bowed to Mei Xuanqi and said, "Second Master, here are the accounts of these shops for the past three years."
Mei Xuanqi looked at Yuan Zhixi and said, "Do you want to see it now or should I come back later?"
Yuan Zhixi thought, let's just do it in one go, so she said to Mei Xuanqi, "Please sit for a while and wait for me."
Mei Xuanqi hadn't heard a soft word from his daughter-in-law for a long time. Now, after hearing her gentle voice, he sat here waiting for her.
Yuan Zhixi didn't originally want to check the accounts to find a loophole or something, but just wanted to know the profits of these shops in recent years, so she quickly opened a piece of paper and roughly wrote down the profits of each shop in recent years, and then added them up in her mind. From the situation reflected in the account book, the annual profit of these shops was more than three thousand taels.
She thought for a moment and said to Mei Xuanqi, "Husband, do you think we should sign a business contract?" She asked softly, but the pen and ink were already in hand.
Mei Xuanqi glanced at her, his temper completely gone. The business contract they signed officially handed over the eight prosperous shops on Zhengyang Street to Yuan Zhixi for ten years, with all profits going to her. However, if a shop wasn't profitable for six months, he would take it back, and so on for the rest.
When Yuan Zhixi went to the old lady to report, she directly showed her the business contract with Mei Xuanqi. Old lady Mei also helped her to change two places, asked her to add two sentences, and filled a loophole.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
