Su Xiaoqi looked up at Shen Yun as he shared the news he had received earlier that day.
"Just as you expected, Su Dafu has been arrested."
After tricking Huang Yuanxiang into writing a promissory note and fleeing a good distance, Su Xiaoqi still felt worried.
She feared Huang Yuanxiang had deceived her.
Now that Su Dafu had been re-arrested and thrown back into prison, it meant things had worked out. A heavy stone had finally been lifted from her heart.
"Understood." Shen Yun had his own sources of information.
He wasn't a bookworm who ignored everything outside his studies.
"As for Huang Yuanxiang, my dear, you needn't worry. He still believes that person was a man."
While he had kept his promise and arrested Su Dafu, he hadn't forgotten the person he was looking for.
He was currently sending people out to investigate who had visited the mountainside of Xishan Lake that day.
Coincidentally, quite a few people had indeed visited that day.
And most of them were from their county school.
This made it impossible to investigate.
In any case, Huang Yuanxiang was now overwhelmed with his own troubles, hardly able to concentrate on his studies. His recent essays were repeatedly criticized by his teachers.
Later, he even took a day off.
Fearing that person might suddenly show up at his door to cause trouble, he took the initiative to inquire about Su Dafu's character.
"Pfft." Hearing Shen Yun, who rarely discussed gossip from the county school, Su Xiaoqi couldn't help but chuckle.
Shen Yun seized the opportunity to straighten her body and playfully nudged her nose with his.
Unexpectedly, Su Xiaoqi's nose tickled from his touch. With her hands still held by him, she playfully rubbed his face.
Shen Yun smiled and deliberately lowered his head, presenting his lips to her.
Then, Su Xiaoqi realized she had kissed Shen Yun.
A wave of dizziness washed over her, and Shen Yun scooped her up in his arms.
Su Xiaoqi, suspended in mid-air, was startled and about to cry out.
However, before the sound could escape, Shen Yun swallowed it in his throat.
The oil lamp flickered in the wind, illuminating the intertwined couple. Before long, the lamp went out, but their shadows remained.
Before the tenth of June, Su Xiaoqi had purchased all the necessary items for the ridge-raising ceremony and banquet.
She had also finalized the franchise agreement for the pastry shop with Chen Jinniang.
Chen Jinniang, holding the cooperation document written by Su Xiaoqi, went to find Li Sipíng, the owner of Li Ji Pastry Shop in the north of the city, with a tentative approach.
After a brief discussion, they immediately hit it off.
Things went surprisingly smoothly.
"Signed?" Su Xiaoqi looked at the document Chen Jinniang handed her.
It bore the official red seal of the Mianzhou city government.
Her heart finally settled back into her chest.
In just one day, she had secured one franchise and successfully negotiated for a three percent profit share.
Su Xiaoqi raised an eyebrow. She remembered that when she wrote the document, she feared this new method might be difficult to promote.
At that time, she had discussed a two percent profit share with Chen Jinniang.
But not only had she secured the deal, she had also obtained an additional one percent.
This clearly indicated that the model was excellent, and it was also due to Chen Jinniang's capabilities.
Chen Jinniang didn't take all the credit. She pointed to the long queue still waiting outside the shop and said,
"As soon as I mentioned providing them with pastry recipes, he was intrigued.
Without saying anything else, he directly asked me what conditions were needed."
So, Chen Jinniang went with the flow.
She even tentatively asked for an extra one percent profit.
To her surprise, he agreed without a word.
She felt that even if she had asked for five percent, the other party would have agreed.
It was all because the pastry recipes in Su Xiaoqi's possession were simply too enticing.
They were the kind that were hard to find even with a lantern.
After hearing Chen Jinniang's words, Su Xiaoqi gained confidence, but she insisted on a maximum of three percent profit.
It was a good thing to make money together.
Chen Jinniang smiled, fully agreeing with Su Xiaoqi's sentiment.
In fact, she had only thought of it and had no real intention of doing so.
Knowing her character, Su Xiaoqi patted her hand to show her understanding.
She then also arranged for Zhao Xiaozhu to take a day off.
Hearing that their house was completed, Chen Jinniang immediately offered to attend the celebration.
However, Su Xiaoqi politely declined.
"Little sister is taking leave. Now that you've finished your work, don't let it delay your business."
You can't always have your brother An come to look after the shop. He has to take his exams this autumn.
Although she refused the person, she couldn't refuse the gift.
Knowing that the ridge-raising ceremony and banquet in Zhao Family Village required two-grain flour steamed buns, Chen Jinniang directly patted her chest and took on the task.
She said that since the banquet was tomorrow, she would start proofing and kneading the dough tonight, making two hundred of them.
She would have them sent over with the mule cart early tomorrow morning.
Su Xiaoqi had no choice but to agree.
On the tenth of June, about a month after construction began, the Shen family's courtyard was completed.
Su Xiaoqi stood in front of the gate, looking at the new courtyard. It covered an area of one and a half mu, equivalent to nearly a thousand square meters.
However, due to Shen Yun's last-minute modifications, there were only six rooms, with a building area of less than two hundred square meters.
The rest was just an empty courtyard.
There wasn't even a tree.
It wasn't much to speak of.
But this was probably what Shen Yun wanted for his low-profile approach.
To make the new house more lively, Shen Yun and Su Xiaoqi discussed holding the banquet in the new house's courtyard.
Just like last time, men and women from the village, as long as they were home, came to help.
Zhao Liushun and Zhao Xiaozhu also came.
In addition to their own purchased congratulatory gifts, they also brought two hundred two-grain flour steamed buns that Chen Jinniang had entrusted them to deliver.
However, no one knew that these were from the renowned Chen Jin Ji, sent to Su Xiaoqi. The villagers assumed she had bought them herself in the city.
Some people secretly remarked that she was indeed the eldest daughter of the Su family, possessing great wealth.
"I think this eldest daughter of the Su family is not only rich but also lucky.
Since Shen Xiaoge married her, her life has gotten better day by day."
Who could disagree? the villagers thought to themselves.
Look at them, having recently achieved official success, and already coming up with so many ways to make money.
"If you ask me, this courtyard was built too early.
With such a knack for making money, they'll probably move to the city and live..."
The villagers casually made a few remarks, expressing a bit of envy, and then the topic moved on.
Someone sharp-eyed spotted someone in the crowd and exclaimed dramatically, "Hey, aren't you the old bachelor? You're so crippled you can barely walk, and you still want to come and eat."
"Mind your own business. We're all Zhao family. Why should you come and I can't?" Zhao Guanggun arrived, leaning on a cane.
He had no other motive than to come and freeload a meal.
Everyone bustled around, and by noon, ten dishes had been prepared.
Before they started eating, the village elder, Zhao Baoren, stepped forward to preside over the ridge-raising ceremony.
First was the sacrifice.
Shen Yun pasted couplets written on red paper onto the roof beams and doors and windows. The upper couplet read: Azure Dragon Supports Jade Pillar, the lower couplet: White Tiger Carries Golden Beam.
The horizontal scroll proclaimed: Auspicious Ridge-Raising.
Zhao Liushun helped Shen Yun set up an altar in front of the main door, placed offerings, and led Shen Yun to light incense, kowtow, and then formally begin the ridge-raising.
Fifteen builders stepped forward together to lift the main beam of the central house.
Once the final tiles were to be laid tomorrow, the house would be completely built.
What followed was the moment everyone eagerly awaited – the meal.
Everyone took out their own bowls and chopsticks from home and began eating heartily.
As they were eating, an extremely exaggerated voice announced, "Lord Huang has arrived."
Su Xiaoqi, sitting in the middle of the courtyard, saw the two people standing at the entrance of the courtyard at a glance.