Tang Shunyan shook his head when the shopkeeper asked a question and picked up the tea the shopkeeper had poured. Earlier in the brothel, he had not dared to drink tea, but now he was thirsty after half a day.
As he took a sip of tea, he hadn’t yet swallowed when he heard the bold declaration from Meng Zhaojun!
They really took him for a fool, and he couldn’t help but spit out the tea in his mouth.
Fortunately, there was no one sitting opposite him, and the shopkeeper was only standing next to Meng Zhao, pouring tea for her while she was sitting right beside him.
Seeing him spurt out his tea, she couldn’t help but laugh at him!
"Tang Shunyan, are you serious?"
Tang Shunyan took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, facing Meng Zhaojun’s attitude of taking advantage and still complaining, he stared speechlessly!
"Are you glaring at me? Trying to see if your eyes are bigger than mine?"
Meng Zhaojun had grown accustomed to this man’s indulgence and patience. The only man who would indulge her whims was Tang Shunyan; not even her father or brothers could.
This led Meng Zhao to take an inch in front of Tang Shunyan and run wild with the thought of doing whatever she pleased.
She didn’t care about making the little boy angry; she would just tease him further.
As for arguing with a young lady, Tang Shunyan was really not good at it—not that his tongue wasn’t sharp, but the teacher had taught that only a woman and a villain were difficult to raise.
Better to offend a villain than to offend a woman.
Regarding the teacher’s words, Tang Shunyan felt there was some truth to them; he could be willful at home, show a strong character in front of his family, and the elder females would also accommodate him.
But facing Meng Zhaojun, this woman was the only one who made his head ache, not knowing how to deal with her next move or what new trick she might pull.
Tang Shunyan’s lack of response meant that Meng Zhao didn’t pursue the matter further, for her focus wasn’t solely on teasing Tang Shunyan—this was the Silver Tower.
Meng Zhaojun glanced at the shopkeeper who was still standing aside, waiting for Tang Shunyan to respond, looking at a loss.
She knew that doing so was putting the servants in a difficult position, but with the presence of the boss, whether Tang Shunyan agreed or not, she was determined to get her gift today.
In her bosom, she still had several silver notes that hadn’t warmed up. Maybe back in the Capital City, these several taels wouldn’t buy much fine jewelry, but this place was not the Capital. It’s not to say the jewelry here was worse than in the Capital, it’s just that the consumer perspective was different.
And another thing, she had brought the small boss here—perhaps with only a cost price, several taels of silver could indeed buy a fine piece of jewelry.
Would she miss such a good opportunity and foolishly wait to buy overpriced items when she returned to the Capital City?
Meng Zhaojun knew very well that when she returned to the Capital City, she might have to show off her jewelry in front of relatives and friends. If she didn’t have decent jewelry, her cousins might look down on her.
Growing up, for the titles of scholarly lady and noble lady she aspired to, she needed good jewelry to complement her, and to have good jewelry, she must have financial backing.
Meng Zhaojun knew that going to the Capital City meant she would have to find other ways to make money. She couldn’t provide designs to the factory here anymore, and whether the factory closed down or not, she might no longer receive dividends.
With only a little monthly salary from her mother, she couldn’t even think of buying things. Gifting was necessary to get things done, and without money, nothing worked.
Meng Zhaojun was very aware that although her maternal grandfather’s family was wealthy and scholarly, her mother had married out, and could only help with her father’s career advancement.
Her father, the upright official from a farmer family, hadn’t saved much money over the years. After returning to the Capital City, they would need to give gifts, and their standard of living would largely depend on her father’s future position.
Depending solely on her father’s modest salary, it would be impossible to support their high expenses, fortunately, her mother had a dowry in the Capital City.
The businesses from her mother’s dowry had profits every year, and every year they were handed over to her mother. Thus, it seemed, her mother was somewhat capable in managing businesses.
Meng Zhaojun hadn’t thought yet about what she wanted to do in the future, but first, of course, she had to learn what a Lady should.
As for whether she could open her own shop and earn money outside someday, she was too young at the moment, lacking more capital, without the control of the Golden Finger, and uncertain of how glorious her future path would be.
The first thing Meng Zhao thought of was marrying into a wealthy family or to a man of noble status.