228, Visit the Manor (2 Updates)
Xiaoyuan nodded and made a mental note of the matter.
Then she brought up something else, “That old beggar disappeared a few days ago. I had Dong Sheng search for him, but he couldn’t find him. We don’t know if something happened to him or if he went somewhere else.”
“…” Xie Zhinuan made no comment on this.
The old beggar was just a recipient of her random act of kindness, nothing more.
“If he can’t be found, let it be. The world is so big, he might have gone somewhere else!”
After thinking for a moment, Xiaoyuan nodded in agreement, “Yes, I’ll listen to you, Master.”
She then took out a pouch and handed it to Xie Zhinuan solemnly, “This is the silver we earned last month. After deducting various expenses, there’s still sixty-two tael left, which I’ve converted to silver!”
To Xiaoyuan, the sixty-something tael in a month was already a great amount.
Xie Zhinuan took the pouch and handed twelve tael to Xiaoyuan, “This is yours!”
“…”
Xiaoyuan was stunned.
It took her a while to speak, “Did you not say, Master, that we would only calculate the profit after you had earned back the silver used to buy the shop?”
Xie Zhinuan smiled, “I will no longer manage that shop from now on. Earning a few dozen tael a month, it won’t take me a year to earn back the silver for the shop. We should look to the long term. Take this silver and you can properly arrange your dowry. By the way, when do you and Dong Sheng plan to get married?”
“…” Xiaoyuan blushed, accepted the silver, and carefully put it away, “Our parents and Dong Sheng’s have already agreed on a date. We’ll hold the wedding on the fifth day of the tenth month. After we’re married, we’ll live in the shop to keep an eye on things. And about that well, Master, don’t worry, we cover it with a big stone every night!”
Xiaoyuan was reliable in her duties, which put Xie Zhinuan at ease.
She thought, when Xiaoyuan gets married, she would attend the wedding banquet and give her the Xiaohe Village house as a dowry. After all, as master and disciple, she should provide Xiaoyuan with a wedding gift.
“Then I’ll come for the wedding feast!”
“Really?”
“Absolutely!”
Xie Zhinuan then suggested to Xiaoyuan that they could sell other items in the shop, such as dried radishes, pickled radishes, spicy radishes, chili, etc. As long as it’s edible, with a bit of ingenuity, they could always come up with clever ideas.
Taking advantage of the fact that it was not yet dark, Xie Zhinuan took Xiaoyuan, who rarely came to the town, for a walk outside.
Although Xiaoyuan had money, she didn’t want to buy anything. Xie Zhinuan didn’t force her either.
When they got back home, however, Xie Zhinuan packed several pieces of cloth for her and prepared some dried radishes, teaching her how to mix them.
“Don’t expect to make much money off this. If you can sell it, make some money; if not, it’s still good for your own consumption. The shop is in your hands now, you can run it however you like. Just don’t run the meat shop out of business, everything else is up to you!”
Xiaoyuan nodded, “Master, rest assured, I will make sure that the meat shop’s business does well and continues to thrive!”
“I believe in you!”
Xie Zhinuan instructed Xiaoyuan to go to bed early.
The next day, after sending her off early in the morning, she headed to the manor.
At this time of year, the rice had already been harvested and dried. The head of the manor, a man in his fifties, showed surprise at Xie Zhinuan’s arrival, but quickly greeted the new owner, “Old Zhu meets the landlord!”
Xie Zhinuan nodded slightly and entered the main gate with Shitou.
The three of them had already run inside and were scampering about.
“How much grain do we have this year?” Xie Zhinuan asked.
Old Zhu promptly replied, “We get more than three hundred jin per mu, and with one hundred and fifty mu of fields, we have about fifty thousand jin. As for the farmers, the old landlord used to give thirty jin per mu. How much would you like to give, landlord?”
Chapter 229