"What do you want me to do?!" Xie Qi shouted, waving his hand, "This won't work and that won't work, they're originally better off than us, one's an official and the other's rich. I don't go near them, am I supposed to treat them as enemies now?!"

  Last time in the house making a fuss about going to find Wang's family, she had already learned from her mother about her father's life experience.

  She can't accept it. Obviously, the master of this house is her father, why did he become the second son-in-law? Her father was an adopted son, just as her mother said, and would not inherit any property in the future, but only held the title of eldest son of the Xie family. The second room had money on hand, and the third room had already become a government official's wife, and both Xie Wei and Xie Juan were stronger than her, making her feel like she was shorter than them when standing in front of them.

  Xie Wei is nothing much, at least she has a capable father, Xie Wan is an orphan with no parents, what makes her better than her?

  These days, whenever she sees her, she feels uncomfortable at heart. She didn't really want to fawn on them, it was just a careless remark made in a fit of anger. To ask her to fawn on Xie Wan would be worse than asking her to die!

  Ruan heard her words and immediately lost heart.

  Xie Qigong was relatively good to Xie Hong, except for the matter of dividing the family property. The main house provided everything they needed without stinting on them. Unfortunately, Xie Hong was not good at studying and although he had some brains, he didn't have any extra money to start a business.

  Now that the eldest son Xie Huai is already 15 years old, in a year or two, he will have to talk about marriage, and then it will be Xie Tong and Xie Qi's turn. Although the wedding expenses will be borne by Gong Zhong, as parents, they cannot not spend a single penny, can they? Especially for Xie Qi, the dowry of a daughter is the most important thing. Gong Zhong only has an expenditure of 2,000 taels of silver, if she marries into an ordinary family, it's fine, but Xie Qi is used to living a life of luxury and will not be willing to go to a humble home to suffer, will she?

  She couldn't help but let out a long sigh at this thought.

  Xie Qi was still wiping away tears, “...Everyone says the Xie family is wealthy, but I don't even have enough money to buy new clothes. Now they're blaming me for this and that. Tomorrow we're going to the Ren estate to celebrate a birthday, so I might as well wear tattered clothes! After all, it's not just my face that will be lost!”

  Ruan's eyebrows furrowed even more tightly. The Ren family's wealth was no less than the Xie family, and they had relatives in the capital who were officials, so what did she have to be unwilling about Ruan Qi being close to Ren San? If in the future she really married him, maybe she could even pull her natal family up a bit. In the end, wasn't it just that people who were poor had short ambitions and were afraid of getting their noses rubbed in the dirt?

  She thought for a moment and then said: "Are you so sure that Ren San Gongzi has you in his heart?" What a big child! You only know how to be infatuated with him.

  "Of course!" Xie Qi wiped away her tears, raised her chin and said: "Every year on my birthday he gives me gifts, if he didn't like me, would he do that?!"

  Ruan's wife gave her a sideways glance, disapprovingly turning away. Ren San not only sent birthday gifts to her, but also never missed the birthdays of the brothers and sisters in the mansion. However, he couldn't bear to pour cold water on his daughter's enthusiasm. Qi Jie was born with a strong personality, she would never give up on her goals, who knows, maybe with this stubbornness, Ren San would eventually surrender under her skirt.

  "After some thought, he said: 'If you can really get the Ren family to propose a marriage between us, then I'll take care of your dowry!'"

  "Really?!"

  Xie Qi jumped up, his eyes filled with unbelievable excitement.

  "Nature is truth!"

  Ruan's face was solemn, and she stood up. Apart from the silver in the public notice, Wang's family usually valued Xie Hong the most. They would have to secretly add some money here. If it's still not enough, they can ask their maternal family for help later. Her father had been a catcher for his whole life and never moved house, so with this marriage with the Ren family, at least becoming a catching head wouldn't be a problem in the future.

  What if Wang had already taken over the second house's property by then?

  Her face relaxed again at this thought.

  The next day, Wang brought two daughters-in-law, as well as Wei Jie, Yun Ge and Qi Jie, all dressed up, preparing to head to Nanyuan County.

  Xie Huai, Xie Tong and Xie Lang all had to prepare for the imperial examination, so they stayed in the mansion. Xie Hong was also busy replacing Xie Qigong to collect accounts in Hejian Prefecture, and had no time to leave.

  Xie Qi wore a brand new silver-red embroidered jade orchid patterned jacket and trousers, with a silver-white slanting willow patterned long gown draped over her. Her hair was styled in double buns, and she had on a pair of crimson earrings. She looked very happy, with a flying color dancing on her eyebrows. Seeing Xie Wan arrive, she pointed to Xie Yu and said: "Third sister is also here."

  Xie Wan saw them off at the second gate. Xie Yun glanced around and saw her standing alone under the hanging flower gate, so she said regretfully: "I heard that the Ren family invited a troupe of actors, today they want to perform a big show for a whole day and night, if third sister can go with us it would be great, being alone at home is so boring."

  He is now familiar with Xie Lian and has gradually become familiar with Xie Wu as well.

  In fact, Xie Yun twenty years later was not as kind and simple as he is now. As Xie Rong rose through the ranks, he too was groomed to be the successor of the Xie family, entering the Six Ministries as a junior official, and even went so far as to bring down his own mentor, Liu Yangli, compiler of the Hanlin Academy, in order to protect the interests of the family. Although Liu Yangli did indeed have crimes of flattery and sycophancy, the fact that Xie Yun, as Liu's disciple, could personally come forward to accuse him cannot help but reveal that he too has a ruthless side, typical of the Xie family.

  Xie Wan was indifferent to him, and besides, she would inevitably have a fight with Xie Rong in the future, so she didn't plan to get too close to him. So she simply said: "Third brother can also take care of it for me."

  Xie Yun shook her head and sighed, flipping her cloak behind her, and got into the carriage with an air of elegance.

  Eyes gazing at the three horse carriages that had just left the gate, Xie Wan turned back into the house and stayed for a moment before changing her clothes, putting on a cloak, and calling Yu Xue and Yu Fang to come to the front yard. She loudly called out: "Luo Guan Shi! Brother has an urgent book that was left in Huangshi Town, he's in a hurry, you follow me back to find it!"

  Luo Sheng emerged at her call, wearing a raincoat and wooden clogs, following her out of the courtyard.

  Two heads suddenly popped out from under the eaves and took a look around before quickly withdrawing again.

  The horse carriage went out from the west corner gate and headed straight to the east direction where Huangshi Town was located. However, after reaching the city gate, it circled around once and re-entered through the north city gate. Once on the main street, the speed of the carriage slowed down significantly, and it deliberately headed towards bustling and prosperous areas, as well as places with many shops.

  After almost circling the entire county town, the horse carriage headed towards Lizihutong in the south of the city.

  "In the carriage, Luo Guan held up a map of Qinghe County and said: 'This Rongji Silk Store is located in the most prosperous area of our county. In the past, it was also because of its excellent location that Madam didn't want to rent it out. Last year's income was 280 taels, the year before was 250 taels, but this year so far there has only been an income of 200 taels.'"

  Xie Wan looked at the account book in her hand, and her finger stopped at the position of September. Since September, the income for two months has been only 7 or 8 taels of silver per month, while the previous months had at least more than 10 taels of silver. September became the dividing line between high and low incomes before and after.

  "It seems that due to the death of his parents, not only did the apprentices in the store lose their enthusiasm, but even the customers who came to the door had an extra layer of caution."

  She sighed, closed her account book, and looked out from under the jade-colored car curtain at the opposite side.

  This is a shop about two zhang wide and four zhang long, filled with colorful fabrics. Two apprentices are leaning on the counter with their hands supporting their cheeks, dozing off.

  It's the season for making winter clothes, other silk shops are booming with business, but in her shop, the apprentices were actually sleeping.

  Lu Sheng's face was a bit awkward, and he said: "Miss is right, this indeed has a great relationship with the death of the second master and mistress. Outside, it is now being spread that all the property in the second house will be taken back by the old lady, including this shop. As a result, the partners are also unable to stay, and last month I took the initiative to add 200 Wen to their wages, just to keep them here. However, because there were too many goods stored for two months, resulting in no funds to purchase winter goods, so business is relatively less."

  Xie Wan put away her account book, tightened her apron strings and said: "Go take a look inside."

  He had already put on his wooden clogs and gone downstairs.

  Luo Sheng and Yu Xue followed closely behind.

  The shop assistant had apparently fallen asleep, and Xie Wan walked under the counter before they opened their eyes.

  Luō Shēng was about to speak up when Xiè Wǎn turned around and glared at him, stopping him. After taking off her wooden clogs, she stood slightly taller than the counter, glanced at them once, and then ignored them as she went to check on the goods in the storehouse.

  There were indeed many goods stored, all of which were fabrics for making clothes in spring and autumn. There were over a hundred varieties of colors and patterns. Adding the ones that had not been unpacked in the warehouse at the back, it was estimated that they would be enough to sell until next spring.

  Although there are many, due to local market conditions, most of them are mid-to-low-end goods that cost one or two silver coins for a whole piece. The audience for such goods is mostly well-off families or the wives and servants of wealthy households. Women with real social status would never wear these, like Madame Wang and Madame Huang.

  She looked at the flower pattern again and carefully examined the weaving condition. Then she asked Luo Sheng, "Where did this fabric come from? It doesn't seem to be from Jiangnan."

  Luojin was slightly surprised and said, "Miss has a keen eye, this is indeed not from Jiangnan. Although the quality of silk from the south is superior and the colors are bright, but for our small shop, if we only purchase a small amount of goods, the cost will increase greatly. So these fabrics were all purchased from the fabric market in Hejian Prefecture, mainly produced in Huguang and other places. In the entire Qingyuan State, most shops like ours have this kind of source."

  Xie Wan nodded, took another look at the sleeping partner, and said to Yu Xue and others: "Choose the fabric you like and move a few rolls onto the car. Move as much as you can. Also choose some for Wu Mama and her children, as well as Yin Cui." Then she also chose a few rolls, and with a glance, signaled Luo Sheng to come forward and help.

  A group of people carried out over twenty rolls of fabric without alarming their partner in the slightest.

  Xie Wan arrived at the car, then picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the shop. The apprentices heard the stone hit the counter with a loud crash, and finally jumped up in surprise.

  Xie Wan climbed onto the carriage and headed back to the mansion.