Chapter 129 Junior Sister
Su Ruojin rolled her eyes, "Second Uncle Shi, are you relying on me?"
Shi Er:......
It’s definitely not my fault, but does it count as sucking up to someone powerful?
Whether it was out of instinct or talent, Shi Er struggled out of the quagmire of historians, but as Su Ruojin commented on him, his business aptitude was average. If forced by the environment, his aptitude could still improve.
Now, with a kind and smart little boss like Su Erniang, Shi Er suddenly relaxed and stopped using his brain. He habitually asked the little boss what to do.
Although he was in his thirties, he looked at her like a child, with a flattering face. Su Ruojin shook her head and said, "Second Uncle Shi, you have to make your own living. The same goes for business. You have to use your own brain."
"I...you...also said that I have an average business sense. Can we split the profits like the Lu family did? I will be responsible for the effort and you will give me some advice?"
"You don't even want the chance to get the money on your own?" Su Ruojin felt strange.
In front of Su Ruojin, Shi Er never said anything empty words: "I... I don't have that ability."
Su Ruojin didn't think highly of Shi Er's business ability, so she let his wife learn the breakfast-making skills without asking for money. She also asked Mother Dong to tell her a story, in which she wanted the couple to run the business well and make a living. Unexpectedly, Shi Er was self-aware and insisted on clinging to the Su family.
Although this support was obtained with the help of the young prince and Lord Fan, it is still a support!
Finally, Su Ruojin agreed that the Shi family could use the Su's brand name, which would be considered a franchise store of the Su family, with a 30% to 70% profit split, with the Su family making 30% and the Shi family making 70%.
After the discussion, Su Ruojin thought about it and realized that Shi Er’s qualifications were just like that, but what about the child?
So I asked, "How old is your oldest child?"
Shi Er quickly said, "It's already sixteen."
"Can you read and do the math?"
Shi Er shook his head. He couldn't even afford to eat, so how could he have the money to learn these things?
"How many children do you have?"
"My wife was pregnant with five or six babies, but only three boys survived. The second one is twelve this year, and the third one is seven years old."
The ancients had no contraceptive measures. The ages of the children varied greatly. It seemed that one of them died young. The living children were all boys. Could they be girls... Su Ruojin felt a tingling sensation on her scalp as she thought of something. She looked at Shi Er with an unfriendly look.
Shi Er seemed to understand the look in the young lady's eyes and quickly assured her, "Some of them died in my wife's belly, and some died before the full month. I have never drowned a baby girl like others have."
Su Ruojin snorted coldly, "It's best to tell the truth. If I knew that you favor boys over girls and hurt girls, I would not cooperate with you."
"No, no..."
Shi Er was of course as son-biased as his fellow servants, but he did not feel guilty. Two of his babies were indeed miscarried in the womb, and another was a girl. However, it was not Shi Er and his wife who caused her death, but his mother, Shi Zhang, who stole the child and drowned him during the confinement period. His wife cried so much for him that she almost went blind.
Since she was joining the group, Su Ruojin asked Shu Tongshu to take her out of the city to Wenshan Street to see the unpresentable courtyard that Shi Er mentioned, and see how to set up a breakfast stall. She also made some snacks and brought them to the academy for her brother. Cheng Yingzhen also asked her daughter to bring some clothes to change, "bring back the dirty ones."
Su Ruojin agreed to bring clothes, but she would not bring back dirty clothes even if there were servants at home. One of the reasons for letting Su Dalang go to Dongshan Academy was to let him take care of himself.
Su Dalang was going to pursue a career in officialdom. There are ups and downs in officialdom, and life is full of ups and downs. Once he falls into adversity, if he loses his servants, he won't even be able to take care of himself, so how can he have a chance to make a comeback?
Su Ruojin agreed verbally, but thought in her heart that she would never bring it back.
The spring breeze in February is as sharp as a pair of scissors. Shu Tong drove a mule cart to take his young master to Wenshan Street in Dongshan. Shi Er and his third son followed in the cart. The three boys were all thin and dark. When they saw Su Ruojin, they either nodded shyly or stared at her curiously.
Mao Ya glared at the youngest boy and said, "Don't look around."
Seven-year-old Shi Sanlang Shi Baoxiang grinned and said, "The young lady is pretty."
Su Ruojin: ...
In order to see what the three sons of the Shi family were like, she asked Shi Er to bring them along. Unexpectedly, Shi Xiaosan turned out to be a naughty child, and his playful nature really displeased her.
The eldest son of the Shi family lowered his head, and although he didn't show anything, Su Ruojin could sense that the child had a gloomy aura, like a troubled teenager hiding in the wall and peeping, which made her scared.
The most normal one was probably the second son of the Shi family. He neither lowered his head nor looked around unruly like Shi Xiaosan. Occasionally when he met Su Ruojin's gaze, he smiled slightly, very calmly. Not bad.
She originally wanted to chat with the three children of the Shi family, but they were not as comfortable as Shi Er, and she suddenly lost interest in dealing with them.
After more than an hour, we finally arrived at Wenshan Street in Dongshan. March was just a few days away. At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and it was warm and fragrant. A group of people walked on the narrow street.
There were people coming and going, some carrying loads on their shoulders, some carrying baskets...all kinds of vendors were hawking their wares among the crowd, it was quite lively.
The shops on both sides are of different heights. Except for a two-story restaurant which is decent, the storefronts of other shops are not big, but they are clean, probably because they do business with students from the academy.
It took more than half a minute to reach the end of the street, where I saw the small courtyard rented by Shi Er. It had three rooms, and if it weren't for the dilapidated wall, it couldn't be called a small courtyard at all.
At this moment, Su Ruojin understood that Shi Er was not asking her for advice, but for money. It would cost a lot of silver to renovate these three broken rooms, and this was just the most basic repair.
In the Shi family, except for Shi Er who was dressed decently, both Shi Er's wife and his three sons were malnourished and looked haggard. It was obvious that they were struggling in poverty. How could they have the money to do this?
Su Ruojin asked: "How much is the rent for the courtyard?"
"Three hundred coins."
The price is OK, but...
Su Ruojin frowned tightly. She didn't want to rent, she wanted to buy.
"Have you met the landlord?"
Shi Er nodded. "I have seen him. He is from the village below. I heard that this yard belonged to his grandfather. Later, his family fell into poverty and they moved to the countryside. They rented out this small yard and lived on the rent they collected."
Su Ruojin wanted to meet someone. "Go find the realtor and bring the landlord over. I want to meet him and talk to him about repairing the house." She actually wanted to buy the house, but she didn't show it.
"Oh, great!" The young boss took action and Shi Er didn't need to worry about anything. He was very happy and jumped up and down to find the dealer.
Shi Baoxiang had never seen his father so smiling and so amiable, he had never been out with his father and he never knew that his father had two faces.
He lowered his head and sneered. What's the use of a girl looking like a fairy? She is still being fooled by her father.
Shi Baogui pursed his lips slightly. Ever since he left home and followed his father all the way, he found that his father seemed like a different person. He was no longer the man who spoke harshly to them at home.
Only Shi Baoxiang seemed to have noticed nothing. He was laughing foolishly all the way, following Su Ruojin with a smile on his face. If Mao Ya hadn't stopped him, he would have been able to get close to the young lady. The young lady smelled so good!
Shu Tong endured the three children from Shi Er's family all the way, and kept blaming the young lady in his heart why she brought them out. They were like three flies, so disgusting.
The three boys from the Shi family really made him uncomfortable. Su Ruojin also regretted it. He really didn't have any hope for the Shi family's franchise store, but since he had agreed, he would try his best!
After the bumpy ride, I was already hungry.
Su Ruojin asked Uncle Shu Tong to find a place to eat. Shu Tong looked around as he walked. After all, the shops on this street were located near the academy and were quite clean. So he found a medium-sized restaurant and was about to go in.
Shuangrui appeared from nowhere like a magic trick, and bowed with both hands, very politely, "Young lady..."
Su Ruojin's stern face suddenly brightened up, and she asked with a smile, "Shuang Guanshi, why are you here?"
The young master found the traces of the Liaoxia people and came here to inquire about the situation. Hua Ping was also there, but at this time, he had quietly hidden away.
He pointed to the second-floor restaurant across the street and said, "The weather is nice today. My son is here to visit a friend and is having dinner upstairs. When he saw the second lady, he asked you to come over and eat with him."
Su Ruojin wanted to refuse, but when she thought about having dinner with the three boys from the Shi family, she felt a little uncomfortable. It was not that she disliked poor people or anything, it was just that these three boys gave her a bad feeling and she didn't really want to have dinner with them.
So he went with the flow, nodded in agreement, and asked Shutong to take the three boys to eat in the restaurant, "Pick some good food."
Shu Tong nodded, "I know what's going on."
Shuangrui smiled at Shutong and took Su Ruojin and his servant away.
Shi Xiaosan wanted to follow him, but was stopped by the guards behind Shuangrui who pointed their knives at him and glared at him. He took a few steps back in fear.
No one knew where the two guards came from, and Shi Xiaosan was so scared that his face turned pale.
The two older ones were so frightened that they ran towards the wall.
Shu Tong remained expressionless, but sneered inwardly, thinking that it was a waste of his sympathy for Shi Er. He reluctantly took the three of them to the restaurant to eat.
On the second floor, Su Ruojin sat opposite the young prince.
There is no harm without comparison. Su Ruojin never thought that one day, she would feel close to Zhao Lan when she saw him. "What a coincidence, little prince!"
What a coincidence.
Zhao Lan still looked like a second-generation rich kid, "What are you doing here?" He asked as if you were not staying in your room, why did you come out?
Su Ruojin: ...Little Prince, do you really deserve a beating?
She ignored the second-generation rich man's tone and said with a smile, "I want to buy a shop to sell breakfast, so that I can take care of my eldest brother here."
"Who is your eldest brother?"
Suddenly someone spoke. Su Ruojin was startled and turned to look at the door. A young man came in, flicking the water vapor on his hands.
Probably went to change clothes.
Su Ruojin looked towards Zhao Lan.
"The youngest teacher in Dongshan Academy is also surnamed Su, Su Xiangheng."
Oh, Shuangrui just said that the young prince came to meet friends.
"Hello, Mr. Su." Su Ruojin stood up, turned around, and bowed: "My eldest brother is Su Anzhi."
Su Xiangheng's inquiring eyes immediately understood: "So you are the daughter of Doctor Su from the Imperial College."
"It is my father."
It turned out to be Zi Jin’s junior sister.
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