What are you talking about?
Looking at the physical distance between the two of them, Lin Yan was somewhat puzzled.
She had only been away from home for three days, but they acted as if they had known each other for a long time.
Sensing the doubt in her words, Xie Muqing immediately distanced herself from Yang Jiayi.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to find an explanation, he was interrupted by two childish voices.
"Big sister! Father! Mother! You're finally home!"
Before she could even think for a few moments, two small figures came running out of the house with tiny, "tap-tap-tap" steps.
Lin Muyan went to help move things, and Lin Yu immediately hugged her leg tightly and wouldn't let go.
The two little ones were well-fed and chubby, and even when she left home for a few days, they didn't seem to lose any weight.
This shows that Yang Jiayi has taken good care of them these past few days.
Looking at her little sister's big, bright eyes, Lin Yan couldn't help but touch the top of her soft hair.
"Your older sister bought you some snacks from the county town, go and eat them!"
"Yay, big sister is so nice!"
Lin Yu was young, and those two incidents did not leave any shadow on her; she remained as clever and sweet-talking as ever.
After acting cute with her older sister, she ran over to her parents and begged them for a hug.
After all that commotion, Lin Yan had long forgotten what she wanted to ask earlier. She took a thick bundle from the carriage and handed it to Xie Muqing.
"Here are the pens, ink, and paper I bought for you in the county town. I don't know much about them, but I bought them because they sell well in the store. Try them out and see how they are. If they are good, I'll buy more next time. If they are not good, I'll buy better ones next time."
"Thank you, my wife..."
Xie Muqing accepted the package with both hands with utmost solemnity. The package was very heavy, which showed how important it was!
Paper and ink are not cheap these days, so you can imagine how valuable such a large bundle must be.
She knew perfectly well that he couldn't pass the imperial examinations, yet she was still willing to spend a lot of money to buy these things for him, simply to satisfy his interests.
In an instant, Xie Muqing's heart was deeply touched, and despite it being winter, he felt a burning heat throughout his body...
His eyes instantly welled up with tears, and he stared uncontrollably at the woman in front of him, unable to hide the emotion welling up in his eyes.
Seeing Xie Muqing's tearful expression, Lin Yan belatedly realized that he must have misunderstood.
She scratched her head, feeling embarrassed and wanting to dig her feet into the ground!
Actually, these papers were damaged by insects or rats because they had been piled up for too long, which is why the bookstore was having a promotion and selling them cheaply.
She bought some food because she needed to keep accounts at the hot pot restaurant, and seeing that it was so cheap, she couldn't resist buying a lot at once.
The writing brushes and ink were also bought at the cheapest price; the two large bundles only cost a little over half an ounce of silver.
Half was given to Xie Rui and his brother, and the other half was taken back, intending for Xie Muqing to teach his younger brother and sister to write.
Lin Yan opened her mouth to explain, but seeing how he was holding the bag so preciously, she could only helplessly let the mistake continue.
Hopefully, Xie Muqing won't discover the problem with these papers when he uses them...
In the following days, Lin Yan became busy again.
She slightly renovated the old house to use as a workshop for cultivating fungi such as enoki mushrooms and oyster mushrooms.
I also bought a millstone to grind soybeans to make tofu, bean curd sheets, dried bean curd sticks and other bean products.
The rabbits she had raised before had given birth to many offspring, and the chicks were growing up, so she bought many more chicks.
Of course, she wouldn't sell these things to steal other people's business; she only used them to supply her own hot pot restaurant.
The hot pot broth is a secret recipe. Apart from the oil refining, which she specially hired Aunt Wang to do, Lin Yan did all the other steps herself.
There are about thirty women in the village who are capable of working.
In order to ensure that they could all earn money, Lin Yan had them work in the morning and afternoon, with each person earning 20 coins for half a day.
This way, their free time won't interfere with their household chores.
In this way, the initial investment in purchasing ingredients can be greatly reduced, and the net profit of hot pot restaurants can be increased significantly.
Considering that she needed to travel frequently, Lin Yan asked her parents to manage these employees, paying them one and a half taels of silver per month.
She originally only intended for her parents to enjoy a comfortable life, but neither of them were lazy people.
Especially these days, seeing that everyone in the village has a job and they are becoming increasingly depressed, she made this decision.
Sure enough, their mood visibly improved after she made this request.
"Daughter, no need to pay us. Your parents are providing for you now, so why would we need to pay you wages? Just make sure we have something to do!"
“Father, Mother, although there is a manager in the hot pot restaurant, I still have to go and check on things frequently. As a result, I can't keep an eye on the workshop in real time. Without someone to supervise, they are bound to slack off. I don't trust anyone else, so I have to entrust this arduous task to you, Father and Mother.”
"Don't worry, my daughter! Your mother and I will definitely take our responsibilities seriously!"
Now that the walls around their home are quite high, and with Yang Jiayi, who knows martial arts, Lin Zhenghong and his wife have no worries about their two children's safety at home.
After dealing with these matters, Lin Yan instructed Yang Jiayi to take good care of his family before riding Zhu Yue to the prefectural city.
These days, even when she was in the county town, she couldn't find out any news about Baihualou.
Thinking of those poor women, she felt inexplicably uneasy.
Although she burned their indentures and distributed the jewelry to them, they had spent years in the brothel and probably wouldn't know how to survive after leaving.
Furthermore, she didn't know if a new madam would take over the Hundred Flowers Brothel after the old madam died...
When Lin Yan arrived in the city, she went to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion immediately.
Unbeknownst to her, the person who had been secretly observing her ever since she entered the city had quietly reported her whereabouts to the authorities…
The doors of Baihua Tower were tightly shut. Lin Yan frowned and led Zhu Yue to knock on the door.
After a long while, the door opened from the inside out, and a deathly pale face suddenly appeared in front of her!
Lin Yan was startled and took two steps back, clutching her heart...
With the help of a donkey cart along the way, Xie Li began to visit Wang Shi in town more often, taking her children with her. She would also help out at the shop when it was busy.
As a result, she and Ye Jun had more contact and interaction.
However, Xie Li had no other feelings for Ye Jun, after all, she was not only a few years older than him, but also divorced and had a child.
She felt unworthy of Ye Jun, who was young and single, and always treated him like a younger brother.
Because of Xie Li's appearance, the hot pot restaurant's business has improved considerably.
Although she always helped out in the backyard whenever she came to the hot pot restaurant, she was inevitably noticed by people with ulterior motives when she entered and left the store.
Therefore, the danger that followed was gradually approaching her...
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