Shen Yun's sharp eyes, like lightning, fixed on his wife, wondering what was going on in her head.
Su Xiaoqi, feeling uncomfortable under her stare, softened her posture, hooked onto his arm, and leaned in to ask charmingly, "Where did it come from?"
Could it be that this esteemed gentleman had already turned to the dark side and was solely focused on making money?
"It's from Huang Yuanxiang. Hahaha, Sister Xiaoqi, it's such a shame neither of us was there to witness it."
Du Yiyi, a whip hanging from her waist, walked in. Upon seeing Su Xiaoqi, she shook her head with regret.
Su Xiaoqi was even more puzzled.
This was a silver note for ten thousand taels.
Huang Yuanxiang had made enemies with them; how could he possibly be willing to part with such a large sum of money for him?
Facing Su Xiaoqi's almost tangible gaze, Shen Yun answered forthrightly:
"He realized his mistakes and it's an apology to you and me."
Su Xiaoqi gave him a glare, "You don't even believe that yourself, why would I?"
I'd believe in your evil if I believed that.
She declared with conviction, "Do you know why bad people are bad people?
It's because they themselves don't believe what they're doing is bad.
Or, in their hearts, there's no distinction between good and bad, only selfish and altruistic thoughts.
Anything that benefits them is worth doing."
Anything that doesn't bring benefits is naturally not worth doing.
To simply give away ten thousand taels of silver, even if Huang Yuanxiang had shit in his brain, he wouldn't necessarily do it.
Su Xiaoqi didn't believe it and looked at Du Yiyi, signaling with her eyes not to keep her in suspense.
What she wanted to know now was.
"Sister Xiaoqi, this silver note was indeed willingly given by that fellow named Huang, and he personally handed it to Brother Shen."
"But why?"
Su Xiaoqi believed this, because Shen Yun would never do anything that would ruin his future for the sake of money.
"I heard from my father's subordinates that Brother Shen went to the alley where that fellow Huang lived and had a casual chat.
That fellow Huang then knelt down, crying profusely, saying he was wrong, and then took out the silver note from his embrace to admit his fault."
Su Xiaoqi choked. Well, that story sounded like it was told, but it also sounded like it wasn't told at all.
She could only look at Shen Yun and ask directly, "What leverage do you have on him?"
Su Xiaoqi didn't believe it was still about his affair with Zhao Haihua.
Using the same leverage twice was not Shen Yun's style.
Shen Yun stated briefly, "He was also involved in the matter of Tongchuan County."
Su Xiaoqi became agitated, "What? Then we can't accept this silver note."
This was the people's wealth and the farmers' livelihood. As the saying goes, a gentleman loves wealth and obtains it righteously.
"It is the people's wealth and the farmers' livelihood when it's in his hands, but I believe that when it's in my wife's hands, it will be handled properly." Shen Yun's words had a hidden meaning, yet they strongly convinced Su Xiaoqi.
She accepted it.
And planned how to use it.
She would donate five thousand taels in Shen Yun's name to the Yizhou Prefectural Office and transport hundreds of thousands of piculs of grain to Tongchuan County to give to the disaster-stricken people.
The remaining five thousand taels would be used to buy a manor.
"Sister Xiaoqi, you are so kind. My father has been worried about money and grain for the past two days.
My mother is also anxious and is even considering using the grain from her dowry shops to support my father," Du Yiyi mumbled.
Because of the poor harvest last year, the grain production this year was also not very high.
Therefore, many people dared not sell grain as freely as before, resulting in them being unable to buy large quantities of grain even with money in hand.
At this time, Su Xiaoqi's offering of hundreds of thousands of piculs of grain, such a massive amount, was truly impressive.
Su Xiaoqi lowered her head, thinking that she was actually getting a bargain.
After all, her spatial ability allowed her to grow crops quickly, which was essentially a risk-free venture.
However, it would be even better if she could level up again.
But on these few occasions, although she had close contact with Shen Yun, she had not leveled up again.
She surmised that her accumulated blessings were not yet sufficient.
She hoped that by giving out so much grain and money this time, she could accumulate more and thus level up again.
On the eighteenth of August, Chen Jinniang arrived, and her son Chen Jia'an went to pick her up.
Chen Jia'an had also come for the imperial examinations this time.
However, since he came with his fellow classmates, he did not travel with Shen Yun.
Su Xiaoqi had already made plans.
She asked Uncle Li to drive the mule cart from the manor to pick up Chen Jinniang, and they all gathered at a restaurant for a meal to welcome her.
After the meal, Shen Yun and Chen Jia'an went about their own business.
Su Xiaoqi then took Chen Jinniang back to the manor she had bought.
She explained in detail her plan for opening a pastry shop to Chen Jinniang.
"Franchise chain? I didn't quite understand. What is a franchise chain?" Chen Jinniang felt that what Su Xiaoqi said was very impressive, but she couldn't quite understand it.
Su Xiaoqi had to re-explain.
She even used their cooperation as an analogy.
Only then did Chen Jinniang understand.
However, she was still worried that after they learned the recipes for the pastries from the shop, they would kick them out and go solo.
"It doesn't matter, anyway, when we accept their franchise, we will charge a franchise fee.
If they are willing to work with us, then this franchise fee will be returned to them with interest after ten years of service.
But if they feel they have learned a superficial skill and are unwilling to cooperate further, then that's fine, they can still sell pastries.
However, they cannot use the 'Chen Jin Ji' brand anymore, nor can they enjoy the new pastry recipes we will be launching."
Having known Su Xiaoqi for so long, Chen Jinniang had a fair understanding of her character. Hearing her say this, she knew that this matter would not result in a loss.
She was relieved.
Then she remembered to ask if this manor was also bought by her.
Su Xiaoqi nodded, telling her that this time was the best opportunity to buy a manor.
If she had money on hand, she should invest quickly.
Chen Jinniang trusted her words the most. After hearing them, she hurried back to sort out her family's finances.
After calculating, she found she had as much as five thousand taels.
She suddenly felt full of confidence and enthusiastically told Su Xiaoqi.
"Alright, I'll have the real estate agent inquire about it first, and then we'll buy one."
Chen Jinniang stated that she didn't understand anything about manor affairs and entrusted everything to her.
As they were talking, they took a mule cart together to the pastry shop in the northern part of the city.
Chen Jinniang was primarily here for their training.
Here she saw the two young maids who had been sent to Mianzhou City two days ago.
They were fourteen or fifteen years old, quick with their hands, smart, and very agile.
After learning from her for two days, they had basically mastered making mooncakes.
They were sent back before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The pastry shop in the prefectural city then had a continuous supply of mooncakes.
It was this wave of business that, within just two days, created a booming business for the newly opened pastry shop, with daily sales of a thousand taels.
After deducting labor and materials, the net profit was sixteen hundred taels.
Since it was a partnership of four people, within these two days, each of them received four hundred taels.
Du Yiyi was also straightforward. Seeing them arrive, she promptly settled the accounts and handed over their respective earnings.
"These sixteen hundred taels are the profits before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Here, these six hundred taels are for the two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but business has declined somewhat now, so you must be mentally prepared," Du Yiyi said.
"It's already very good," Su Xiaoqi praised sincerely.
If nothing else, the money in the prefectural city was indeed easier to earn than in Mianzhou City.
In just four days, the net profit was over two thousand taels.
Although there was the bonus of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the level of profit was astonishing enough to make one gasp.
She believed that if this continued, in just a month or two, the cost of her manor would be recouped.