Chapter 42 Dongsheng and Xiamei

West Street, West City.

Xikelai Grocery.

Kyoto was a prosperous capital, with the east side of the city mostly inhabited by the rich and powerful, the north side was the imperial city, and the south and west sides of the city were where ordinary people lived.

Xikelai Grocery Store is located on the main street in the west of the city. The store is busy with customers coming and going every day, and business is very good.

"Miss!"

Lu Lingyun's carriage drove in low-key from the backyard of Xikelai Grocery Store. As soon as she landed, the girl wearing sleeves, an apron and dressed in a business suit rushed up excitedly.

It was Zhiran, the trusted maidservant that Lu Lingyun had sent out.

"Are you adapting to the life outside?" Lu Lingjun was very happy when he saw Zhiran.

"Everything is fine with me except that I can't see the young lady." Zhiran said excitedly.

Lu Lingyun saw that her face was rosy, she was full of energy, her eyes were bright, and her temperament had changed a lot since she was in the mansion.

More capable, more energetic, and more stable, Lu Lingjun couldn't help but feel extremely satisfied.

This is the butler she has devoted herself to cultivating.

In this life, she no longer had to pave the way for Li Wenxun and consume herself as feed for his growth as she did in her previous life. Instead, she married into a marquis's mansion and entered a rich and vast new world.

In a place like this, she no longer has to sacrifice herself and struggle to move upwards. She can just stretch her body to absorb plenty of sunlight and strengthen herself.

Internally, she took root in the mansion and firmly controlled it. Externally, she could use all resources to expand her own livelihood.

Everything that can be hers must be hers.

Today, Lu Lingyun owns three shops: a restaurant, a satin fabric store, and this Xikelai grocery store.

The monthly revenue of each of these three shops is more than three hundred taels, which is almost one thousand taels a month.

In addition, she also had five farms with more than twenty tenant farmers, and the annual output was about three thousand taels.

These are all deposits from Lu Lingyun’s private treasury and do not belong to the Marquis’s Mansion.

"Miss, this time we used all our available money to buy charcoal. We bought 10,000 carts of charcoal at one time, a total of 9,170 taels of silver, which filled four warehouses. All of them are here."

Zhiran excitedly reported the accounts to Lu Lingyun. It was almost November now, and the weather was getting colder. The price of charcoal was rising rapidly. Fortunately, Lu Lingyun had asked her to purchase it early, so a cart of charcoal used to cost less than one tael of silver, but now the price had risen to one and a half taels.

"very good."

Lu Lingyun inspected the four warehouses.

Half a piece of red gauze and a yard of silk are tied to the ox's head as a substitute for charcoal.

In the cold winter months, a cart of charcoal normally costs two taels of silver. But this winter, the highest price of charcoal has soared to five taels of silver per cart, and it is difficult to get one. She has stockpiled these 10,000 carts of charcoal, and she has definitely made a fortune this year.

Lu Lingyun looked through the account book, checked the figures, and instructed Zhiran to carry out moisture-proof and fire-proof work in the warehouse.

However, she didn't need to say much, Zhiran had thought of every detail. The piles of charcoal in the warehouse were neatly arranged, and fire and moisture-proof measures had been taken.

"You have really made great progress, little girl." Lu Lingjun pinched Zhiran's face with great satisfaction.

Being praised, Zhiran's pretty face turned red, and her eyes were full of pride. "Of course, I can't let the young lady down."

"I will have to reward you well during the Chinese New Year this year."

Zhiran was very happy. It was enough for her to be praised by Lu Lingyun. At this moment, her eyes turned and she thought of something. "By the way, Miss, I want to introduce someone to you."

"Who is it?"

"Dongsheng! Xiamei! Come out!" Zhiran shouted towards the front yard.

Before long, a thin young man of about thirteen or fourteen came out with an eight-year-old girl.

Both of them were very young and skinny, but they looked energetic. They were wearing coarse clothes and had bright eyes.

"Miss, do they look familiar to you?" Zhiran asked mysteriously.

"Now that you mention it, he looks somewhat familiar." Lu Lingyun looked at the two of them, and they were also looking at Lu Lingyun, with gratitude surging in their eyes.

“I’ve seen them somewhere.”

"It was the brother and sister who sold themselves to bury their mother that you met on the day you returned home!" Zhiran said.

Lu Lingjun suddenly remembered that when she was coming back with Cheng Yunshuo that day, she gave him some money on the way.

“So it’s you.”

"Thank you, Miss Benefactor."

"Thank you, Miss Benefactor."

The two half-grown children knelt down in front of Lu Lingyun with a thud.

"Miss, what a coincidence, I met them when I went to buy charcoal for you. It was the charcoal seller that Dongsheng arranged for me. I bargained for them. Normally, a cart of charcoal would cost one or two silver coins, but he bargained for me for almost one dollar. They might have done it."

Lu Lingyun smiled and said, "You two should get up quickly."

Dongsheng pulled Xia Mei to stand up, and Zhiran continued, "By the way, Miss, it was Dongsheng who asked me to follow the Luo family a few days ago. He followed the Luo family's servants all the way to that place in the suburbs."

"It's you!" Lu Lingyun was surprised to hear this. She looked at Dongsheng, who was only 13 or 14 years old, with great surprise and said, "You did a great job."

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss. It's nothing." Dongsheng said calmly, not showing much excitement. He was calm and reserved, a rare characteristic of his young age.

Lu Lingyun was even more satisfied with him.

Her eyes fell on the little girl next to Dongsheng, "Your name is Xia Mei?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How old are you?"

"Eight years old." Xia Mei was not very old and spoke a little timidly, but her eyes were clear and she looked at Lu Lingjun without any avoidance.

Lu Lingyun reached out and touched her head. "I want to take you away. Are you willing to go back to the mansion with me and work by my side?"

When she said this, Zhiran and Dongsheng beside her were both surprised.

Especially for Zhiran, it would be such a great thing for her to go back and work for her master.

Xia Mei looked at her brother, and Dong Sheng nodded seriously to her.

Lu Lingyun is the wife of the prince of the marquis's mansion, and his sister is just an orphan. Both of their parents are gone, and it is somewhat inconvenient for him to take care of a sister. If Sister Xia can follow Lu Lingyun, it will definitely be a great fortune for her.

From now on, her lowest status would be that of a maid in the Marquis's mansion. Whether she continued to work in the Marquis's mansion or asked Lu Lingyun to find her a good husband after she left the mansion, this was treatment that they would never be able to get in their entire lives.

At her brother's signal, Xia Mei hesitated for a moment and said, "I do."

"Very good." Lu Lingjun smiled. She accepted Xia Mei and kept her by her side.

Lu Lingyun gave Dongsheng some more reward money and asked him to continue to keep an eye on the Luo family for her. Dongsheng agreed immediately.

This time is different from the previous times. He will be more dedicated in doing things for Lu Lingyun because his sister is by Lu Lingyun's side. The two siblings can be considered Lu Lingyun's real people.

Lu Lingyun walked around the grocery store again, gave some instructions for other things, and then left with his people.