23. Keep this money.
◎"Don't calculate everything so meticulously."◎
On the other side, on her way back to the Shen residence, Shen Suqin made a detour to the Su residence.
After leaving the Su residence, the head of the Su family fell ill and has since closed his doors to visitors, refusing to see anyone.
Shen Suqin had promised Jiang Yao that they would go back and have dinner together. When they passed a pastry shop, she hesitated for a moment but still went in.
The store was doing very well; several customers were browsing.
She casually ordered from a waiter, "Hey buddy, pick out two of your best items to take away."
The waiter was busy, but upon hearing this, he responded with two "Yes, yes" sounds, "Miss, please wait a moment."
Shen Suqin nodded, took two steps back, and stood aside to wait.
"I heard that Madam Pei is going to hold a grand celebration this time, and has invited half of the noble ladies in the capital," a maid whispered.
"If you ask me, celebrating a birthday is secondary; it's probably more about finding a spouse for Young Master Pei."
"Young Master Pei is back?" The tone was one of surprise and delight.
"I'm back now."
Shen Suqin overheard it casually and didn't take it to heart.
Back at the Shen residence, a meal was already laid out on the table: a stewed meat dish and three vegetarian dishes. Jiang Yao and Shen Jinghe were both waiting for her.
"Why don't you eat first?" She placed the pastries on the table.
"I promised to wait for you," Jiang Yao said.
Shen Jinghe set out chopsticks for her, saying, "I wanted to discuss the wedding with you. You're always out and about, leaving early and returning late."
"You can handle the wedding arrangements as you see fit."
"That won't do. She started embroidering your wedding dress two years ago. She's really taking it seriously."
"Embroider for me?"
Jiang Yao laughed and said, "If I don't embroider it for you, who else will I embroider it for? It's almost finished. I secretly measured the size using your old clothes, and I've made several alterations. It's just a matter of finishing the last bit."
Shen Suqin remained silent.
She thought no one cared about wedding attire, so she just told Ju Tao to pick one out of the store and didn't plan to put in much effort.
Shen Jinghe added, "The General's Mansion also sent over a set, but she thought it wasn't formal enough, and I think so too, so we don't plan to have you wear that out."
Shen Suqin didn't know that.
When did he send it?
"It was sent along with the betrothal gifts and placed in the east wing room."
Shen Suqin nodded, "You can make the decision."
"We also need to prepare some jewelry. We've saved up some over the years, so it should be enough," Jiang Yao instructed Shen Jinghe. "Go and get it for us."
"Why."
Shen Jinghe got up and soon came out carrying a small bundle, which he opened and placed on the table.
Shen Suqin looked down and saw a gold phoenix hairpin the size of half a palm, two hairpins, a hair ornament, and a pair of earrings, all made of gold.
Jiang Yao picked up the phoenix hairpin and held it up to Shen Suqin's temple, saying, "It suits you."
Shen Suqin raised her hand and touched it.
She knew that Jiang Yao and Shen Jinghe hadn't relied on the Shen family for their livelihood all these years, and that most of Shen Jinghe's salary had been sent back to the south. She wondered how they had managed to save up for this set of gold jewelry.
"Do you like it?" Jiang Yao asked tenderly.
Shen Suqin nodded. "I like it."
After saying that, she took out a stack of silver notes from her bosom, "Keep this money."
Shen Jing and Leng Leng were stunned when she stuffed money into their hands, and they didn't react for a moment.
Jiang Yao snatched the money away and shoved it back at Shen Suqin, her voice trembling slightly: "Why are you giving us money? It's not like we're asking you to buy things, or telling you not to buy anything." As she spoke, her eyes reddened, and the grievances she had held back for days burst forth. "I know you don't acknowledge us, but no matter what, you are still my daughter. I want to be good to you and spend money on you."
“We didn’t intentionally send you to the countryside. She said she would kill you if we didn’t send you away.”
"I didn't know that the things sent to the countryside never reached you. All these years, how did you even grow up? How come you only just started to grow up?"
Jiang Yao became more and more heartbroken as she spoke, and eventually choked up.
Shen Suqin was at a loss. She felt she should hug her, but she didn't know how, and didn't even know how to extend her arms.
"Alright," Shen Jinghe said, noticing her distress, "Our daughter must be hungry, stop crying."
Jiang Yao stopped sobbing, lowered her head and wrapped up the gold jewelry, whispering to Shen Jinghe, "I'll put it away, you serve the rice."
"good."
After Jiang Yao left, Shen Suqin hesitated for a moment and then took out the silver notes again. "Don't be angry. I've actually wanted to give them to you for a long time."
She handed it to Shen Jinghe.
"I'm in business, I have money on hand, you can keep it and spend it, don't be stingy."
Shen Jinghe didn't take the money, and said in a low voice, "You can take the money and spend it, we don't lack money. But... can you not be so calculating with us about everything? It will make her feel bad."
In his view, if Shen Suqin wasn't trying to support herself, why would she bother to show her face in public and do business? Besides, it must be incredibly difficult for a weak woman to do business; it would probably only be a small-scale operation.
"If you need help with that business, just ask. If you can't make money, just tell me. I won't let you go hungry again."
Shen Suqin looked down at the silver notes in her hand, feeling for the first time that money was burning her hands.
After a while, Jiang Yao returned. There were no more tear stains on her face, so she must have cleaned herself up.
"Hurry up and eat," she forced a smile, "it'll get cold if you don't eat now."
Shen Suqin picked up her chopsticks and put a piece of meat into her bowl.
Jiang Yao paused, her eyes reddening again.
Shen Suqin quickly diverted her attention and asked Shen Jinghe, "What do you plan to do about the position of Attendant-in-Waiting of Xuanhe Hall?"
Since the day he fell out with Shi Yunzhu, Shen Jinghe had not been able to leave the mansion, and naturally, he had not gone to his post.
The position of Xuanhe Hall Attendant was a nominal post given by the court after he married a princess; it had no real power whatsoever.
During his years in office, he seemed to be under torture.
“I want to resign, but…” Shen Jinghe replied.
As long as he and Shi Yunzhu remain husband and wife, he cannot resign from this official position.
“I understand.” Shen Suqin nodded.
It seems that when discussing cooperation with the Crown Prince, one more condition needs to be added.
The meal lasted quite a while, and when Shen Suqiu came looking for them, she unexpectedly bumped into them having dinner.
"Qiu'er is here. Have you eaten?" Jiang Yao was the first to speak.
Her feud with the princess never involved Shen Suqiu, so she was always quite amiable whenever they met, after all, she was also Shen Jinghe's child.
"I've already eaten," Shen Suqiu said indifferently. "I've come to find my little sister."
“She hasn’t finished eating yet. Come sit down and wait for her,” Shen Jinghe said.
"Um."
Shen Suqiu sat down opposite the three of them, sitting there blankly, neither speaking nor touching her chopsticks.
Jiang Yao got up and served her a bowl of soup, saying, "It's chilly at night, have some soup to warm yourself up."
Shen Suqiu smiled, took it, and took a couple of sips.
After a short while, Shen Suqin put down her chopsticks and said, "I'm full. Let's go outside and talk."
As she spoke, she stood up and gestured for Shen Suqiu to follow.
Jiang Yao remembered something, grabbed a piece of pastry from the table and handed it to Shen Suqiu, saying, "Zhao Zhao bought this this afternoon, have a taste."
Shen Suqiu accepted it, opened her palm, looked down and said "okay", then followed Shen Suqin out of the courtyard and to the gate.
The courtyard was secluded and instead of the palace lanterns provided by the mansion, there were two paper lanterns made by Chen Jinghe and Jiang Yao themselves. They were round, not very bright, but very cozy.
In the dim light, Shen Suqin asked directly, "What do you want with me?"
“In a few days, Aunt Pei will be holding her birthday banquet. She specifically asked you to attend,” Shen Suqiu said.
“I’m not going.” Shen Suqin crossed her arms. “She’s your aunt, not mine. What would I do there?”
"I've already agreed on your behalf."
"What's it to me?"
"If you don't want the people in the capital to say that your mother failed in her teaching, I advise you to go and show your face."
Shen Suqin looked up at her. "You certainly know how to consider my feelings," she said, walking over and circling around her. "Let me guess what traps await me? Drugging me? Stealing and framing me?"
"Curious? Then go see for yourself."
Shen Suqin smiled, "I'll take this provocation."
"That's good. I'll be waiting for you at the Pei residence then."
Shen Suqin nodded. "Is there anything else? If not, I'll be going now. Oh, by the way, if you're going to throw away those pastries, throw them far away so she doesn't see them."
Shen Suqiu's fingers, which were holding the pastry, twitched slightly. She felt that her palms were a little sticky and uncomfortable.
As Shen Suqin's figure was about to disappear into the darkness, she added, "Don't even think about Jinyunfang. It's not something you can afford to mess with."
Shen Suqin stopped in her tracks, turned around, and carefully observed the expression on her face. After a long while, she said, "Whether I can afford to touch her or not, we'll have to wait until I do."
You'll regret this.
"I'm the kind of person who never regrets anything."
The next day, Shen Suqin was checking the accounts at Xingyuan Restaurant, with Ju Tao standing beside her.
Ju Tao has been extremely busy these past few days.
“We’ve already invested over 40 million taels of silver,” she said. “Jinyunfang should start ordering goods from the Su family in a couple of days.”
They are secretly buying up large quantities of fabric from Jinyunfang and getting Jinyunfang to sign pre-orders.
"Yes, Su Yubai has claimed illness and is refusing visitors. What about other channels? Have they been taken care of?"
"Not yet, I will visit them one by one today."
"Don't be too soft-hearted; if necessary, bring up the crown prince."
"Has Sister Qin decided to help the Crown Prince?"
Shen Suqin shook her head, "Not yet, but if I'm going to use someone, I'll use them to the end. I never like to suffer losses."
After saying this, she suddenly stopped. That person... is he alright?
He'll probably attend the banquet at the Prime Minister's residence.
Thinking of this, she said to Ju Tao, "I'm going to the Prime Minister's residence in a few days to attend Madam Pei's birthday banquet. Could you pick out a gift from the storeroom for me, but not something too expensive?"
"Yes." Ju Tao took the ledger from her hand. "The manager downstairs heard that we're not selling the restaurant anymore, so he specially increased your profit share by 10%. Do you think we should refuse them?"
"No need, I have a use for the money."
Her cooperation model with Xingyuan Restaurant has always been a profit-sharing system, which means that she hands over the management of the restaurant to the manager, takes 60%, and the manager and the staff take 40%. If the business is good, everyone makes money together; if the business is not good, the manager or staff will be replaced.
Over the years, the restaurant has grown larger and larger, and she has gradually gained a group of loyal followers.
Previously, when they heard that she was going to sell the restaurant, everyone was extremely unwilling. Because they knew that without Shen Suqin, the restaurant might not be able to do well.
With an additional 100,000 taels of silver in monthly expenses, I have to put in more effort to find ways to make money.
She sat slumped in her chair, her fingers tapping absently on the table.
"Ju Tao, what's the situation in the northern border region where the Black Flag Army is stationed?" she asked.
"Which aspect is Sister Qin asking about?"
"Conditions, living conditions."
Ju Tao thought for a moment, "Jinzhou is barren, with nine out of ten houses empty, almost like wasteland. Especially the eastern part bordering the Shatuo is all yellow sand, where nothing can grow. The western part borders Liangzhou, which is better. Liangzhou has fertile land and is relatively prosperous, but it is controlled by Lei Sheng, so the Black Flag Army can't benefit from it at all."
"Hmm, that does have some potential."
"Is Sister Qin not planning to come out of seclusion?"
"I haven't decided yet. We'll see how things go. If things get really turbulent, I'll have to leave."
"Where is the general?"
Shen Suqin remained silent for a while, then changed the subject, asking, "How's the batch of grain sent to the north going?"
"They said it was delivered."
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