After finishing their meal at Wang Youbao’s place, An Jing and Xiao Changyi went back home.
Then, An Jing and Xiao Changyi began to discuss the matter of buying property to open a rice store.
Since Sixteen Town was too small, it obviously made more sense to go directly to the county to open the store.
"My dear, tomorrow we shall go to the county to find a property agent to buy a store, and then, we’ll look for a labor broker to hire some long-term workers for our rice store," An Jing said.
Brokers here work as middlemen in all kinds of businesses. Those who deal in property are called property brokers; those who trade in people, contracting long-term workers, servants, etc., for large households, are known as labor brokers.
"Hmm," Xiao Changyi had no objections.
"As for the shopkeeper..." An Jing felt a headache coming on. She wanted to find a shopkeeper they could trust to manage the rice store, but she really didn’t feel at ease employing someone they didn’t know.
It seemed that among the people they knew, there was no one capable of being the shopkeeper.
You see, a shopkeeper needed not only management skills but also the ability to read and keep accounts, even operate an abacus to calculate the books, manage the rice store’s cash box, and take responsibility for the store’s cash flow.
Xiao Changyi’s slim fingers with distinct knuckles lifted and touched An Jing’s furrowed brows. While he smoothed her frown, he said, "I already have a candidate."
An Jing immediately asked, "Who?"
Changyi said, "Meng Lanqing."
An Jing paused and then asked, "Is this person male or female? And what is their relationship to Meng Zhuqing?" Their names were only one character different; since he knew them both, they should be related.
Xiao Changyi didn’t keep it secret: "Male, Meng Zhuqing’s elder brother."
"Why would you choose him to be our rice store’s shopkeeper?" An Jing was genuinely curious about this.
She knew that, all along, her husband had actually been unwilling to meet with Meng Zhuqing and the others. The last time the Crown Prince visited, her husband was so disgusted, he really just wanted to live an ordinary and simple life with her.
Xiao Changyi said indifferently, "Since we can’t chase them away, why not put them to work?"
An Jing was silent for a moment before saying, "So, is Meng Lanqing like Meng Zhuqing, always lurking around us?"
An Jing was silent again for a while before asking, "Can we really not chase them away?"
An Jing was silent a little longer before asking in puzzlement, "Why are they so loyal to you?"
Xiao Changyi explained, "They are sons of General Meng Zhan. Back then when General Meng Zhan was falsely accused of treason, the old man ordered the execution of General Meng Zhan’s Nine Clans. I disobeyed the order, safeguarded General Meng Zhan’s Nine Clans first, then ascertained the truth and vindicated him. After General Meng Zhan died in battle, he asked them on his deathbed to serve me as slaves and be loyal to me."
In Xiyun Kingdom, everyone knew that the Meng family served with utmost loyalty and valor. An Jing never would have guessed that Meng Zhuqing and the others were the sons of General Meng Zhan.
To think that the sons of such a distinguished general would be slaves to others...
An Jing sighed and said, "General Meng Zhan wanted them to repay the great debt of honor they owe you."
Xiao Changyi remained silent.
Sighing again, An Jing said, "Then let’s have Meng Lanqing be the shopkeeper."
Xiao Changyi softly agreed, "Hmm."
The next day, An Jing and Xiao Changyi had breakfast, then set out for the county.
Even with a cart drawn by oxen, the trip to the county still took four hours, which is four hours in modern terms. An Jing truly found it slow.
So, on the way to the county, An Jing asked Xiao Changyi, "My dear, should we buy a horse? A horse-drawn carriage is much faster than a cart pulled by oxen."
The thing is, horses are expensive. Even an ordinary horse would cost eighty or ninety taels of silver, which could buy her a lot of oxen.