Chapter 49: Planning a Shop 2
Shu Tong stood up and grinned, "Thank you, Madam Gui." Then he wiped the refreshing and hot towel on his face. He didn't expect that he, Shu Tong, would have a day to be served by someone. It felt so good!
Xianggui was thanked and stood aside awkwardly. When she heard the bedroom door open, she hurried to serve her young master. She was so busy that her feet were running fast.
Shu Tong said to her back, "Madam, she is quite hardworking!"
Cheng Yingzhen agreed and nodded with a smile: "Not bad!"
In early March, the sun was shining, the spring breeze was blowing, everything was growing, and the weather was gradually getting warmer. Su Ruojin changed her heavy coat for a thin padded coat, came out of the room, walked in front of Cheng Yingzhen, moved a small stool and sat down, and asked her mother to comb her bun. After a while, the beautiful double bun with delicate pearl flowers was ready.
A chubby little girl looked like she had walked out of a painting, with delicate eyebrows and eyes and a chubby face. Cheng Yingzhen couldn't help but pinch her. She was so adorable.
Seeing Madam Su pinching, Yang Si Niang also came over to pinch, "Wow, so much meat!"
Su Ruojin was so angry that she slapped her hands, "You have more meat than me."
Yang Si Niang was fatter than Su Ruojin, and of course she had more flesh on her face. The two young ladies played and joked and went to Yang's house hand in hand.
Su Sanlang called anxiously from behind: "Sister, Sister Rong, wait for me..."
After a while, the yard was completely quiet. Cheng Yingzhen smiled and shook her head, looking at the cradle beside her. "By next year, you will also pursue the third brother, right?"
The spring breeze blows and the garden is filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Before she even reached the main hall, she heard her daughter calling out, "Mom, I've got Ah Jin over here!"
The little girl was chirping happily all day long. Madam Yang shook her head happily until her daughter threw herself into her arms. Then she looked at her and said, "After the New Year, she will be seven years old. Can you act like a little lady?"
"Hehe..." Yang Birong snuggled straight into her mother's fragrant arms. She was filled with the scent of her mother, and she felt even happier.
Su Ruojin called out politely, "Hello, Madam!"
Madam Yang raised her head and said, "I heard from Arong that you want to find a woman who is a martial artist?"
She nodded: "Madam?"
"No women, but there is a young lady of twelve or thirteen who knows some martial arts. I'm afraid she's too young and not good enough to handle your affairs."
What I said to Arong yesterday about the woman from the martial arts family was just that. If we really invite her back, it would be a waste of her talent. In fact, Su Ruojin wanted to find a girl who had some martial arts skills to keep her company when she went out, so that she wouldn't have to worry.
What Madam Yang said was exactly what she wanted. "I wonder where she is now?"
"She is at my mother's house, Zhengguo Mansion."
Under normal circumstances, Madam Yang would not say much to a child, but after having contact with the Su family and knowing that Su Erniang was the head of the family, she told her the origin of the little girl who was good at martial arts.
"Three years ago, my brother was on a tour. On the way, he encountered a fight between a caravan escort and bandits. One escort died, and his family came to collect the body to get the caravan's compensation money. One of the escorts' parents and brothers held the money in their hands and didn't give it to the escort's wife and daughter. The wife remarried on the spot, leaving behind an orphaned daughter. My brother felt sorry for her and took her back to the capital and raised her in the Duke's Mansion as a little maid. This girl has a weird temper and refuses to talk to people. She practices boxing in the yard morning and night. The maids and women in the yard don't like her. So when I heard Rong'er say that you wanted to find someone who knows boxing and kung fu, I thought of her. I don't know if you still want her after I've said so much?"
Su Ruojin nodded, "Madam, what you mean is that she doesn't have a body contract and is a free person, right?"
The young lady was indeed very smart and could tell what was going on right away. No wonder she could be the head of the family at such a young age. Then she looked at her own daughter, who was standing beside her legs, confused and understanding nothing, and she laughed to herself.
"If you want her, I'll go to my parents' house and bring her here for you to see. If you two are destined to be together, I'll consider her as your hired one."
"Okay." Su Ruojin said, "Then I'll trouble Madam to go there."
While Su Ruojin was waiting for Madam Yang to return to her parents' home and bring back the little girl who knew how to fight, she was also waiting to see what was happening with Hua Ping. Seeing her playing in the alley every day, her mind had actually already been focused on these two things.
Shu Tong ran out every day to secretly inquire about the family's situation, but there was no movement for several days. Until the morning of March 16, when he left the breakfast stall to inquire about the shop again, the alley was surrounded by people inside and outside. He squeezed in to take a look, and oh my goodness, the roof of the shop of more than ten square meters that the second lady had taken a fancy to had been burnt, leaving only the empty shell of the four walls.
Looking at the backyard again, it was also on fire, and it was black with smoke. The things inside were also burnt and charred. It was a mess and unbearable to look at.
Shutong: ...
He was dumbfounded. How could he still buy this? He stood there for a moment, then suddenly turned around and squeezed out of the crowd, running home. As soon as he reached the gate, he shouted, "Second Madam... Second Madam..."
Su Ruojin was playing hopscotch with Su Sanlang in the corridor. When she heard the shout, she hurried down the corridor steps and said, "Uncle Shutong, what's going on?"
Shu Tong ran so fast that he was out of breath and couldn't speak. "Qi... Qi's house caught fire and it was burnt to a terrible extent. That Hua brother is not good at his job. We can't buy this shop."
Burned? That person looked so smart, and he did this to her?
Su Ruojin refused to give up. She lifted up her skirt and ran towards Xiqiao Lane. Shu Tong immediately chased after her.
The master and servant ran out of breath. When they arrived at the Qi family courtyard, an old Taoist holding a whisk was standing in front of the Jiao courtyard, shaking his head and saying, "House on fire, house on fire, people on fire, people on fire, house on people… Unlucky people live in unlucky places, unlucky places live in unlucky people, blessed places live in blessed people, blessed people live in blessed places…" He kept chanting, "House on fire, house on fire, people on fire, people on house on people… Unlucky people live in unlucky places, unlucky places live in unlucky people, blessed places live in blessed places…"
The onlookers couldn't help but interrupt the old Taoist priest, "Master, you are so mysterious, can you please speak clearly? Can the Qi family still live here?"
"This is not a place like Qi!"
The three brothers of the Qi family had their hair and beards burnt by the smoke. After hearing what the old Taoist said, they stopped being unreasonable. The eldest brother Qi asked, "Then according to the Taoist, our Qi family..."
The old Taoist priest swung his whisk, which hit the faces of the three brothers of the Qi family, and they all took a step back.
The old Taoist priest was completely unaware and raised his head slightly, "Master Qi... you should live near the South City Gate, so that you can rely on your luck..."
Su Ruojin's eyebrows almost flew into a line when she heard this. Hua was really powerful. This was clearly cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron! She no longer had the heart to listen to the old Taoist priest's nonsense.
Her mind was now full of how to renovate this shop with a front yard and a backyard. She thought of many ways. In the end, she was most concerned about one thing: would three hundred taels be enough to buy the shop and renovate it?
"Hey... Hey..." Shu Tong called out in a low voice a few times before pulling the little master back to his senses, "It's burnt like this and there are still people who want to buy it."
Uh...someone is trying to steal her shop? Su Ruojin immediately came back to her senses, "Who?"
Shu Tong pointed at several middle-aged men standing next to the old Taoist priest and said, "It's burned like this, but there are still people who want it." He couldn't understand.
Su Ruojin snorted, "Have you ever heard of a fire burning a prosperous place?"
Shu Tong: ...There is such a saying? He really had never heard of it.
"Then...what if they snatch it away?"
Su Ruojin looked calmly at the people surrounding the Taoist priest. These guys might not really want to buy it, but they did want to get a bargain. If this Taoist priest was really found by Hua Ping, then the final owner of this courtyard would definitely be her, Su Ruojin.
(End of this chapter)
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