Chapter 67 Chapter 67 I hope you will be safe and bright as the moon
Baorong had only mentioned it briefly, yet he still remembered it. He was returning to Bianjing in two days, so he had to go and pay his respects. He looked so eager, and Baozhu couldn't refuse. She hired a carriage and went with him to Hanshan Temple.
The temple overlooks the canal. At this time of year, the wind is dry and the scenery isn't particularly beautiful. Baozhu sighs, "I'd better come in spring."
In February and March, willows sway and peach blossoms begin to bloom, and the scenery is beautiful everywhere in Gusu City.
Pei Yanqing glanced at her sideways, but in his heart he felt that the scenery was very beautiful.
"Then we'll come back in February or March next year."
Baozhu laughed at him for being silly.
Pei Yanqing came to Hanshan Temple to ask for love and marriage. He shook the stick box lightly and a stick fell to the ground. He picked up the stick with great piety. Baozhu pointed him to ask the temple priest to interpret the stick.
The temple keeper first said that this was a very good fortune, then looked at him and said that marriage was imminent. Only then did Pei Yanqing give him the money with satisfaction.
When he returned to Beijing this time, Pei Yanqing was determined to find a way to transfer. Although the emperor was always kind, serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. If he made a mistake, he might lose his life. The lot inexplicably made him feel at ease.
After praying for divination, they went to visit Hanshan Temple together. Baozhu was tired from walking around, so she squatted by the water to look at the lotus leaves.
Seeing the person squatting by the pool playing in the water, Pei Yanqing also squatted next to her and quietly asked her what she had just asked for.
"It won't work if I tell you. After all, you've already heard what you wanted to hear—"
Baozhu didn't say what she wanted, but on the way back she smiled and gave him a red rope for his safety.
But a red rope made this man angry. Now he has offended countless people in his job. Many people want him dead, but there are probably few who hope he is safe.
Pei Yanqing just felt his heart swelling. He lost his father and mother at a young age, and had been wandering around in ridicule when he was young. His grandmother taught him mostly about studying and dealing with things, so it was inevitable that he was unfamiliar with others. Over the years, whether he was studying or working as an official, he had many partners, but Baozhu was the only one he confided in.
Anyone who sees her can't help but get close to her.
To Pei Yanqing, she is as bright as the moon, and he is as tiny as dust. Once he has seen the moonlight, he will naturally yearn for the bright moon.
The shadows of the trees were swaying, Baozhu was helping him tie the red rope, Pei Yanqing laughed to herself without even raising her head, obviously she was used to his occasional daydreaming.
What the aunts in the alley said was true. If the young talents in Jiangnan had seen Baozhu, they would definitely let her choose.
But now, the bright moon is his, and the precious pearl is his too.
The only profitable business was silk, salt, tea and fragrance. Since Ah Xiu became pregnant, she was not in good health and had to stop her silk business.
Many families in the Jiangnan countryside raised silkworms and wove silk, a lucrative business. Having been exposed to the art at the Zhen family, Ah Xiu became interested in this trade while learning Suzhou embroidery. Besides learning embroidery, she also collected silk from rural weavers and sold it to traveling merchants when they arrived.
At the beginning, when she was not suffering so much, she collected a batch of silk and made a lot of money from selling it. The weavers also knew that she was fair in her price for silk, and her reputation grew a little. From then on, they sent their silk to her to sell.
Since she was really unwell, there was no way to sell those silks. Dalang was careless and every time he asked for the price, he was asked to lower it very low. There was still a lot of silk left in the warehouse. The silks would lose their luster over time and had to be sold as soon as possible. This was the time when merchant ships from the north and the south were traveling frequently.
"Don't worry about the sales of this silk. Mother knows a few merchants traveling between Bianjing and Suzhou. This silk is just a drop in the bucket for those big merchants. Ask Mother to make the connection. When the time comes, just collect the silk and sell it directly to the merchants."
Madam Xu also nodded. It would be a waste not to do this business. Ah Xiu had a keen eye and could tell the quality of the material just by touching it. The silks and satins collected by traveling merchants were not necessarily better than hers.
Baozhu suddenly remembered something.
"Embroidery is very hard on the eyes. Sister Xiu just gave birth to a child. If her eyes are injured, it will be difficult to recover. The embroidery skills I learned before are enough. I suggest that we clean up the small shop and open a clothing store. Then we can hire neighbors or people we know who can make clothes to help."
"Not only making clothes, but also mending clothes. You can take any work you want to the shop to save yourself from having to go to the clothing store to buy new clothes. Although the profit from mending clothes is less, there are many people doing it. Ordinary people's clothes are piled with patches. Sister Xiu is very skillful. Even when mending clothes, she can embroider a flower. This is what makes her different from others."
Since the clothes are not torn, mending them will last for three years, which is much more cost-effective than buying a new set of clothes.
"When I recover, I can go learn embroidery if I want to."
Ah Xiu quickly shook her head, "Originally I just wanted to make some money, but now that you've figured out this way to make money for me, I don't have time to learn embroidery."
But my body has not recovered yet, and it is not good to work hard during the confinement period. I will pick up the business after I am out of confinement. If I have a shop, it will be easier to collect silk then.
There is no need to rent a shop separately. There are plenty of empty rooms in the house. If you feel it is inconvenient to do business in the house, the Zhen family's restaurant is big anyway. You can separate it into a small shop and open a door to the house at the back.
Now that the family has hired someone, the eldest brother has some free time. The restaurant has reopened, and wedding candies and eggs are placed in the restaurant, and two are given to every customer. The hired guys also came on the first day of work.
My eldest brother is now more motivated in his business than before. There are only him and one other waiter in the restaurant. Although it is a bit busy, he is full of energy every day and is determined to earn another store on his own.
When the day of departure arrived, the Zhen family boarded the ship from the ferry. It would take them at most one month, or at most two months, to reach Bian Jing.
Neighbors also came to the Zhen family early in the morning to say goodbye. They all knew that they were leaving today and didn't know how many years they would see each other again. Everyone's words made Mrs. Xu's eyes tear up.
The eldest brother drove the person to the ferry. He didn't say a word along the way. He only turned around and wiped his eyes after sending the person on the boat.
The weather on the way back was getting colder day by day. The boat passed through valleys and crossed plains. The further north we went, the more bleak the autumn wind became. The journey was smooth sailing and I was thinking that at this speed we would reach Bianjing in more than a month.
But the further north they went, the more frightened they became. They heard that there would be floods again this year, and many villages and towns on both sides of the Yellow River would be submerged. When they heard about the floods, they were like ants on a hot pan, asking people everywhere to find out what the situation was like over there with their second brother. Most of the merchants who came and went only wanted to know which business would be the most profitable after the flood. They didn't even know which direction the flood control office was heading, let alone know anything about a small flood control official.
Madam Xu was so anxious that blisters appeared on her lips. When she saw someone new on the boat, she went to ask about it. She only heard that there was a lot of rain this year and the Yellow River flooded for a while, but she had never heard of anyone drowning.
The Zhen family members were thinking about the flood and felt unable to sleep or eat all the way. They had been going smoothly all the way and thought they were going fast, but when they heard the news of the flood, they felt uneasy.
The ship arrived in Bian Jing in mid-September.
He didn't even have time to rest when he got home, but just went out to inquire about the flood situation this year and whether any officials had been punished.
Zhen's father went out to prepare a banquet today and has not returned yet, so Madam Xu had to ask around. Fortunately, a neighbor knew the situation and told Madam Xu not to worry. The river channel had been dredged before the heavy rain and the river embankment had been reinforced. Although some towns were flooded this year, no officials had been punished.
After hearing this, Madam Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief. The family members were all disheveled. After taking a bath and changing clothes, they had no time to rest and went back to their own business.
Madam Xu hurried to the warehouse to see if anything had happened, Baozhu went to the store, and Baorong also went to Madam Yu with Suzhou local specialties. She had been a little lazy in the past few days, and Madam Yu said she would test her as soon as she came back.
As for Pei Yanqing, he changed his clothes and rushed to the imperial palace as soon as he came back.
Comparing the dishes served at this time last year, Jiang Shi decided to add fried crab with rice cakes and asked Zhen's father to teach him how to make it.
Baozhu came back and saw that the store was in order, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Shi acted like a manager, welcoming guests, serving tea and water, collecting money and making change without missing a beat, doing his job smoothly. Seeing him like this, Baozhu no longer had any concerns.
Nothing happened in the store, but there was something Jiang Shi really couldn't solve, so he went to ask Zhen's father for help.
He had been suffering for a long time, and when he saw Baozhu, it was like a life-saving straw. "I had always thought the shopkeeper's work was steady and proper, but when I started working for the shop, I realized how difficult it was. Not to mention the daily shopping, even the trivial matters in the shop were exhausting."
There were worms in the food, a dish that was too salty or too bland, or a naughty child breaking a bowl. All sorts of things happened all the time. Jiang Shi pointed to the top of his head and said, "Look at the top of my head. I've even got a few white hairs."
It has been even more stressful since the crabs came on the market. Even though he asked Zhen's father for advice, he still had to pick out empty-shell crabs several times, which made him dizzy and angry.
Jiang Shi took out the account book and compared it with Baozhu. The calculations made him dizzy. However, he would not tell these things to Baozhu, otherwise the shopkeeper would look down on him. If he thought he was unreliable in the future, he would suffer a great loss.
"The accounts for the four months from May to August are all here." The accounts for September will not be settled until the end of the month.
After deducting the capital, the total income in these four months was more than 400 strings of cash. Baozhu was quite surprised to hear this amount of money. Spring is the peak season, so this number is normal. In summer, people are too lazy to even go out, so how can they still make a lot of money?
"It rained heavily this summer. Although it didn't have much impact on Bianjing, the prices of grain and vegetables have gone up a bit. Everyone is afraid of another flood this year. Money will be worthless, and you won't be able to buy food even if you have money. Look, only the new dishes and rice have increased in price in our restaurant, and the rest of the prices haven't changed. That's why so many people come to eat here, and they all say that our restaurant is conscientious."
Baozhu nodded. If she were in Beijing, she wouldn't raise prices so easily if prices didn't fluctuate significantly. After all, the restaurant was small, and most of the customers were ordinary people. If she blindly raised prices just to make money, her reputation would be ruined, and it would be difficult to keep customers coming back. If she really wanted to raise prices, she could wait until food and vegetable prices skyrocketed like they did during the floods two years ago. Why rush to make a quick buck?
Baozhu praised Jiang Shi and said that she would give him an extra month's salary at the end of the month, and increase it by two strings of cash every month starting next month.
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