The clothing store that had just opened closed again after only half a day, and all the clothes were ruined. Qin Xiaozhou almost lost her composure. She was nothing like the confident person she had been earlier. Her energy seemed to have been drained in an instant, and her shoulders slumped.
He gently patted Lu Yan's head and said, "Go and pack up, close the shop and go home."
Zhao Fang pulled her daughter aside and said, "Let your sister-in-law rest and don't bother her."
The group closed the shop door and returned to Yifanfengshunlou. After a quick meal, Qin Xiaozhou had no time to wallow in sentimentality. Inside the room, she and Lu Yunfeng began to check the shop's accounts. Building an embroidered tower was no easy task; it would take a long time and cost a lot of money, and it couldn't be completed in a short period of time.
However, she still had a plan in mind: to build a two-story house with a front and back yard. It didn't need to be too big; the house would occupy about 100 square meters, and the front and back yards would each be about 100 square meters. That would be about half an acre of land.
Lu Yunfeng handed the shop's final accounts to Qin Xiaozhou with a solemn expression. "Currently, we only have 1,357 taels of silver. There's no problem building the embroidery tower, but we need to recruit workers to operate and turn around the business, hire embroiderers, and purchase fabrics and threads. Yifanfengshunlou alone can't support it."
Qin Xiaozhou held the pen, staring at the ledger. The clothing store had collapsed halfway through its operation, and it would take at least a month to recover. It would be better to reopen the embroidery shop after it was completed, but that would take at least three months, by which time it would be the end of summer. "What about the accounts with Chen Haiping's braised meat shop?"
“That won’t work either. The income is considerable, but it’s just a drop in the bucket when it comes to expenses.” Lu Yunfeng shook his head, remained silent for a while, and then said, “I’ll go hunting in the mountains. If I could catch another tiger…”
"No!" Qin Xiaozhou interrupted him. "People won't always be so lucky, and they won't always be on a winning streak. Things in the mountains are unpredictable, so we should go there less often in the future. There's always a way."
Lu Yunfeng was displeased. "Are we going to find someone to cooperate with again? And then let someone else take a share of the profits?"
As the head of the family, he was unable to provide the strongest support. The sense of powerlessness made him furious, but he forced himself to endure it. His father had taught him since childhood that only incompetent men would lash out at the women in their families. Yet, he couldn't help but feel pain. The changes of the past two years had almost crushed him. Qin Xiaozhou had finally come along, but it turned out she had come to suffer with him.
Qin Xiaozhou was surprised by his overreaction. "It's just a win-win cooperation. How can you call it taking a share of the pie?"
Before the two could reach a conclusion, a yamen runner arrived, saying he was on the orders of the county magistrate to deliver land deeds to Qin Xiaozhou. Qin Xiaozhou took them and saw that the land, stretching from the riverbank west of the county town all the way to Xishan, covered fifty acres and was all in her name.
Fifty acres is no small amount of land; it can accommodate not only a large embroidered pavilion but also a small town.
Qin Xiaozhou completely lost his composure, and his hands trembled slightly. "Brother official, how come you approved such a large piece of land? How much does it cost?"
The document only mentions the size and location of the land, but not a single word about money.
The constable was perceptive and knew that Manager Qin was favored by the county magistrate. He said in a friendly tone, "Manager, there's no need to worry. The county magistrate said that the western suburbs are desolate and it would be a waste to leave them undeveloped. He will give you three taels of silver per mu. However, the county magistrate wants to hold an embroidery competition in Fenggu County with your embroidery workshop and recruit famous embroidery masters from the surrounding area. Manager, you'd better build a bigger workshop."
this--
How big would it have to be to occupy such a large piece of land?
One thing after another pushed her forward.
Before Qin Xiaozhou could panic, the yamen runners led the couple to mark the land, accompanied by the clerk and three other yamen runners. A large tract of wasteland on the western outskirts of the county town was officially placed under Qin Xiaozhou's name.
Inside the Smooth Sailing Building, Li Yang was in the backyard, somewhat reserved in front of Zhao Fang, chopping wood in the yard. "My mother was worried about not having enough manpower, so she asked me to come and help for a couple of days. I never expected something like this to happen."
Li Yang went to the store in the afternoon and heard about what happened at the clothing store in the morning. He was in a dilemma and angry. Before he left at noon, his mother had repeatedly told him to find a job for his sister-in-law in the Lu family. Now that the Lu family had such a thing, how could he have the nerve to ask for help?
Zhao Fang and Lu Yu carefully cleaned the clothes that had been ruined in the shop by the well. "Your mother is so thoughtful. This shop needs to burn a lot of firewood every day. In the past, Da Yun would chop it at night, but these days Er Yun has been coming to the shop every few days to chop it for half a day. Otherwise, we really can't keep up."
Li Yang smiled shyly, "Now that all the fields at home have been planted, I'll chop firewood from now on. Your family has fruit trees, chickens, ducks, and geese, and now you're building a house, so Eryun is busy too."
On a May afternoon, the sun was blazing, and the stuffiness was unbearable.
Lu Yu brought over a bowl of chilled fruit tea made with well water. "Drink it, don't get heatstroke."
The girl lowered her head, unable to hide the shyness on her face. "The shop leaves a few pieces of cake every day. Take them home tonight and let your younger siblings try them."
"Oh, good, good, you're so kind." Li Yang agreed repeatedly, gulping down a large mouthful of tea, and worked even harder with his hands.
Qin Xiaozhou and Lu Yunfeng didn't return until evening, their clothes soaked with sweat. The sun was getting increasingly scorching, and being outdoors during the day was incredibly painful. Zhao Fang quickly brought them tea, her heart aching for them. "How is it? Has the foundation been finalized? From now on, you'll need to bring water when you go out during the day; it's unbearable to be thirsty."
Lu Yunfeng washed his face by the well. "Everything is planned out. Tomorrow I'll go find someone to buy timber and bluestone."
Another huge expense. He never expected that after more than half a year, he would be living a life of not making ends meet again. However, Lu Yunfeng did not intend to tell his mother about these things, as it would only add to her worries.
Zhao Fang then mentioned Li Yang, "He came this afternoon, chopped firewood for two hours, and then went back. It seems the marriage is imminent."
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