Seeing that she agreed, Lu Baichuan placed a stack of silver notes on the table and said very politely, "Thank you for your trouble, Miss."
After saying that, he got up to leave, but Wei Yu hurriedly called out to him, "You're leaving already? How am I supposed to contact you if I hear anything?"
Lu Baichuan replied, "Yes, I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning. You don't need to contact me, young lady. I'll come back for more information in three months."
He still needs to return to Nantai, and his identity and location cannot be revealed, so he can only retrieve it himself.
Wei Yu's eyes lit up: "Since Brother Sun isn't leaving until early tomorrow morning, why don't you stay for a simple meal? Yu'er is happy to serve you..."
“Miss Wei,” Lu Baichuan interrupted her, “Thank you for the invitation, Miss Wei, but I am already married and cannot stay any longer. Please forgive me.”
After saying that, he strode away, leaving Wei Yu standing there in a daze.
When did he come to have a family background? How could someone like him have a wife?
What kind of woman is worthy of him?
Is he not revealing his location because he doesn't want her to know where his wife is?
"Brother Sun!"
She hurriedly chased after him, forcing a smile and suppressing her heartache as she asked, "When did you get married?"
Lu Baichuan had already reached the door when he saw her chasing after him. He felt it was better to make things clear once and for all, so he said, "Three years ago."
The two first met two years ago, so he got married before he met her.
No wonder he always kept his distance from her. Even when he came to a place like Fengyun Tower on business, he never really immersed himself in it and always left as soon as he finished his business.
She had always thought he was clueless about romance, and that his attempts to befriend her had been ignored. It seemed she had misunderstood.
But nowadays, even married men can easily find themselves visiting brothels. Yet Brother Sun could refuse a woman for her sake; that woman is truly lucky.
"I understand, Brother Sun. Until we meet again."
She gave him a reasonably decent smile as she watched him leave, and then tears streamed down her face.
Mrs. Gu appeared before her at some point, sighed, and said, "He's married now, so you should give up on him, right?"
Wei Yu gently shook her head: "No, I admire him even more."
Gu's mother: ...
The drought in Changzhou was scorching, while it started raining in Jingzhou. The Lu family's house was not yet finished, and the heavy rain had been falling for two days, so the family was stuck in a thatched hut and couldn't go anywhere.
"Luckily, my third sister-in-law bought tarpaulin, otherwise our thatched hut wouldn't have been able to hold up!"
Yu sighed, and You, who was next to her, sneezed.
It is now late autumn, and the temperature drops with every shower, but the Lu family still doesn't have warm clothes.
"The weather up north is colder than in the south. This rain is making me shiver."
Zhang Yong threw a piece of firewood into the fire, hoping it would make it a little warmer.
When it rained yesterday, a group of people were so happy they almost cried. If it rained like that in Changzhou, their lives wouldn't be so difficult.
It was only the second day, and they couldn't stand the cold anymore. They just wanted to wait for the rain to stop so they could buy cotton-padded coats.
Sun sighed and said, "Sure enough, the poorer you are, the more trouble you have. We already spend money like water every day, and now we have to spend money to buy cotton clothes. How much money will that cost!"
Many refugees from the south came to Jingzhou, and they certainly didn't prepare cotton-padded coats. This year's cotton-padded coats must be exceptionally expensive.
With so many people in my family, just thinking about it makes my wallet ache.
Everyone was speechless for a moment. There were indeed too many expenses at home, and they were really feeling bad. They hadn't been able to help much all day, and had only added to the burden.
Just when everyone was feeling dejected, He Jiuniang said, "Even our family, which is considered wealthy, thinks it's expensive, let alone ordinary people. I think we can do this business."
"Do business? How do you do it?"
Zhang Song's eyes lit up instantly. He remembered that his third sister-in-law had said before that she wanted the two brothers to manage the business, so this was a good opportunity.
Others also became interested. They had been digging for medicinal herbs and had indeed made some money, but the Lu family was spending a lot every day and was still struggling to make ends meet. However, if they started another business, their situation might improve a lot.
"Since we know that warm clothing sells well, let's specialize in selling warm products. And as long as they're a little cheaper than regular stores, business will definitely be good!"
He Jiuniang already had a plan in mind. Cotton was very expensive in those days, and not everyone could afford it. Most people used animal hides to keep warm, but there weren't many animal hides here, and the better ones were very expensive.
"We sell feather comforters and feather clothing!"
Yes, it's feathers, not down!
Down is very expensive to produce, so it's more suitable for noble families. For ordinary people, feathers are a more practical choice.
"What feather clothing or feather blankets? You're not thinking of using feathers instead of cotton to fill your clothes, are you?"
Mrs. Sun frowned, feeling that this was not a good idea.
How much fur would that take? And those furs smell awful, would anyone buy them?
"That's right! It's about stuffing clothes with feathers. Although it's not as good as cotton, it's still much better than not having any clothes at all."
He Jiuniang smiled, and before anyone could ask any questions, she shared her thoughts.
First, the men would go to restaurants to collect feathers from chickens, ducks, and geese. These places slaughtered many poultry every day, and the feathers were usually thrown away. They would pay money to buy them, and the restaurants would definitely be willing to sell.
Secondly, the women were responsible for washing all the feathers at home until they were odorless, and then drying them to stuff the feathers.
Finally, the men would take the finished products out to sell.
"That's a great idea! Let the two of us brothers handle the feather collection!"
Zhang Song volunteered to help. Collecting feathers was a dirty job, and since the Zhang brothers were often taken care of by the Lu family, they should be the ones to do it.
He Jiuniang originally wanted to hand this matter over to the Zhang brothers, but she simply thought that since they had done business before, they would be more adaptable.
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you two brothers-in-law. You're both more eloquent, so try to negotiate a lower price."
Zhang Song readily agreed: "Okay, okay!"
The eldest and second eldest Lu brothers looked at each other, bewildered: "What about us?"
"You? Of course you're building houses at home. Do you expect your father and me to take care of all the household chores?"
Sun started cursing again, and Lu Laoda immediately stopped talking. Ever since Qian Tieshu discovered their weakness, his mother had been extremely rude and hostile towards them, especially towards him.
Lu Lao Er gave a dry "yes" and then fell silent again.
"that……"
Old Lu suddenly spoke, glanced at Sun Shi, but didn't know how to continue. He smacked his lips twice and rubbed his hands together.
"Spit it out!"
Sun disliked Lu Laotou's hesitant manner the most, thinking he looked like an old woman.
The younger generation didn't dare interrupt when the two elders were talking. Old Man Lu felt it wasn't too shameful, so he said, "Little Yang has come to me again to tattle. He says the Qian family has given up on causing trouble, and he can't stay here any longer. He still wants us to find him some work to do..."
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