Fu Zihan chose the same eyebrow shape as Yu Xiaolian.
Yu Xiaolian brought over a chair for her, letting Fu Zihan sit down. Fu Zihan’s eyebrows were light and sparse, so Yu Xiaolian first took out an eyebrow pencil to draw the shape, then used an eyebrow razor to scrape off the excess stray hairs. After adding color with the eyebrow pencil, she brushed them to make the color of the eyebrows appear just right.
Fu Zihan used to have her eyebrows done with threads by the nanny at home, but she found it painful and always avoided it whenever possible.
In the past, she only endured the pain to have her eyebrows done before more formal banquets.
At first, seeing Yu Xiaolian take out a blade, she was truly startled, as she had never seen someone use a knife to shape eyebrows.
When Yu Xiaolian handed a small mirror to Fu Zihan, she was dumbfounded.
It wasn’t because the eyebrows were beautiful; she hardly had a chance to look at them carefully.
Who is that beauty in the mirror?
Fu Zihan was stunned by how clear the mirror reflected her!
Oh my, she didn’t know she was this good-looking!
This mirror is amazing, so clear that it even shows individual strands of hair.
Oh dear, they say Yu Yanran is the first beauty of the Capital, but she doesn’t see it that way. She thinks she’s much prettier than Yu Yanran.
Fu Zihan silly smiled into the mirror, and Yu Xiaolian didn’t rush her.
After Fu Zihan had smiled enough, she inspected her face from every angle, then began to examine her eyebrows.
After inspecting, Fu Zihan gave Yu Xiaolian a big thumbs-up, praising her eyebrow-shaping skills for being not only painless but also aesthetically pleasing.
Actually, it was Yu Xiaolian’s first time shaping eyebrows for someone—no, the first time doing it on a living person. Before, she had sometimes filled in for their department’s posthumous appearance arranger when they took leave.
Just earlier, Fu Zihan was enamored with the face cream and eyebrow pencil, but now, her favorite is this small mirror.
She couldn’t bear to part with it.
But after hearing Yu Xiaolian mention the price, it was like a bucket of cold water poured over her enthusiastic heart.
"Two hundred taels?" Fu Zihan’s shoulders slumped. Her monthly allowance was only twenty-five taels, and she usually spent it all by the day after receiving it, never saving anything.
But she really liked this mirror; not only did it clearly reflect her image, but the other side had a cute little rabbit on the leather surface, which she adored at first sight.
No way, she decided to save money.
She wanted to buy this foldable, rabbit-embellished, clear-reflecting small mirror.
Fu Zihan immediately took out all the Silver Coin she had, twenty taels of silver, intending to give Yu Xiaolian a deposit.
She asked Yu Xiaolian to hold onto the mirror for her.
As for other things, she could do without them for now. She only wanted this small mirror, and thought if she acted all coddling to her grandaunt upon returning, she might be able to bring her beloved mirror home tomorrow.
Yu Xiaolian had only casually handed over the mirror for Fu Zihan to check if she was satisfied with the eyebrow shape.
Who knew Fu Zihan would no longer want the soap or the eyebrow pencil and just give her twenty taels to reserve the small mirror for her, ensuring it wouldn’t be sold to anyone else.
Yu Xiaolian only fetched one of these small mirrors because glass mirrors are considered luxuries in ancient times. She worried it might get taken by someone amidst the crowd in the store.
After taking the twenty taels as a deposit, she noted Fu Zihan’s name in the notebook.
Once Fu Zihan left, as Yu Xiaolian was putting away the eyebrow razor, she suddenly realized.
Isn’t she Fu Yi’s granddaughter?
The eyebrow razor accidentally nicked her finger, but Yu Xiaolian ignored it, frowning as she wrapped a tissue around her finger.
After the brief interaction, Yu Xiaolian found Fu Zihan to be very simple and amiable, without the arrogance and airs of an upper-class lady.
Perhaps it was her carefree nature that led Jun Yian to choose her as the Empress.
After closing both shops in the evening and having dinner with the family, Yu Xiaolian gathered everyone in the backyard of the grocery store.
She reiterated the strategies for accounting with braised meat, a topic she had covered repeatedly.
Braised meat costs forty wen per jin, with one jin being sixteen liang, and half a jin is eight liang.
So, half a jin is twenty wen.
Four liang is ten wen, and two liang is five wen.
Yu Changhe raised his hand, "I can’t figure out three liang, five liang, and seven liang!"
"Two liang is five wen, one liang is two wen and five li, so three liang is seven wen and five li. When customers don’t have other items to round up, you can waive five li.
But if you do, you have to explain it to them clearly, letting them know you’re giving them a discount, not making a calculation error.
Like at lunchtime today, you mentioned that order—two jin and three liang of braised meat plus two jin and eight liang of ribs.
First, calculate the braised meat as two jin for eighty wen, then three liang is seven wen and five li. The ribs are ninety wen for two jin, and twenty-two wen and five li for eight liang—this adds up to exactly two hundred wen."
Yu Xiaolian believed she explained it in detail, but Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou still looked bewildered, confused once more.
Sun Fengshou looked at Yu Xiaolian, "Don’t look at me; I can’t do math.
Whenever I do math, my head spins. At least your father had two years of schooling; teach him until he gets it.
I’m not learning this; I’ll just work!"
Yu Changhe also pulled a long face, "Daughter, can we not learn this? You catch on quickly; why don’t you just do it!"
Yu Xiaolian put on a stern face, no.
They can’t expect her to do everything; she can’t even relax when reading a novel, as her father’s voice would yank her out of the storyline.
Doesn’t the store fall apart without her? Will she never get married in her entire life?
She didn’t even get to fall in love in her last life, and now, would they have her become an older leftover woman in this one?
Becoming an older leftover woman would result in a fine, and she wouldn’t accept that.
Mrs. Sun coughed and glared at Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou, "You two better listen to your daughter. It’s been half a month, and still no progress.
See how carefully she explains? Even if you place a pig here, that pig would have learned by now; you two are even dumber than a pig!"
Yu Xiaolian looked at Mrs. Sun as if she were a savior, "Mom, have you learned it?"
Mrs. Sun’s expression froze, her face showing a hint of embarrassment.
She hadn’t learned it either.
She hadn’t been listening seriously from the start.
"Mom’s not cut out for learning; you should teach your father and uncle. Mom’s a bit tired and going inside to lie down for a while."
Mrs. Sun held her stomach and retreated.
Yu Xiaolian looked to the heavens speechlessly.
Why does everyone act as if they’re facing dire beasts when it comes to learning?
Is learning really that terrifying?
Isn’t it a good thing to enrich oneself and become more capable?
Why are her family members so unwilling to improve, lacking any motivation?
She couldn’t believe it; if half a month isn’t enough, she’ll teach them for six months.
She would teach them daily; even if they’re slow to get math, they should be able to memorize it by rote.
Don’t move, you two; wait here. I’m going to fetch paper and pens to give you some problems.
Yu Changhe and Sun Fengshou exchanged glances and sighed together.
Why did they support her opening a shop back then? Wouldn’t it have been just as nice to return to the countryside and till a patch of land?
Now they have no freedom at night, constantly being forced to learn math.
Yu Changhe felt he had improved significantly; he used to call his daughter for calculations more than ten times a day, and now it’s only occasionally.
His daughter sets too high a standard and is too strict, always wanting to let go and relax by reading a novel. Are those novels really that fascinating?