Chapter 23
Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter: 023 out of 513 – Preparing to invest and enter into a partnership (2)
This was like treasure falling from the sky! Miss Shui was so surprised that she was left dumbstruck. Her mouth was gaping open, but she didn’t close it. She could only think about how her hand was holding a banknote worth a hundred silver taels.
But, she quickly recovered her senses. She furrowed her brow and said, “Then, aren’t I taking advantage of Madam?”
This madam was willing to purchase the store and let her keep 30% of the profit from her item. How could there be such a good thing?”
Ji Man calmly said, “You also know that it wouldn’t be suitable for me to do business with my status. If anyone finds out, there would be no way for me to turn things around. So, it’s not a loss to me at all to give you this consideration. In the future, I’ll also need your assistance in acquiring raw materials. Understand?”
Miss Shui was silent. There was hesitation in her eyes.
It was naturally impossible for her to instantly decide on such an important matter. Ji Man didn’t try to hurry her either and only said, “I’ll leave the money here. I’ll come back to look for you in a few days. If you agree, then rent the store. If you don’t agree, then I’ll just take back my deposit.”
“Madam, let me think about it.” Miss Shui saluted.
Ji Man nodded. She looked around the shop one more time, then she left the shop with Muxu.
“Master, how could you so easily give all of your money to her?!” Muxu furrowed her brow and asked, “What if she runs away with the money?”
A hundred silver taels wasn’t a small sum. The average person would definitely feel tempted.
“Good faith is the most important when doing business.” Ji Man said in a neutral tone, “The one hundred silver taels is a test. If she passes, then it’ll save me future trouble. It’s fine if she doesn’t pass. It’s still better than being betrayed later on. After all, safety is the most important thing.”
She had to find a trustworthy person. Otherwise, she would be in trouble if people found out that she was the one selling cold cream.
Muxu still felt heartache. One hundred silver taels was almost half of what master had received from selling off her jewelry.
Ji Man hadn’t cared much about selling her jewelry. It would have been tiring to wear so much jewelry every day. It would be nice to only have two silver hairpins left.
She had secretly taken out the rest of her jewelry with her this time. If she wanted to buy a store, she would need at least three hundred silver taels. She calculated the items she had brought with her. She probably would have enough money after selling these items.
After successfully achieving her goal by bargaining with the pawnshop’s storekeeper for a long time, Ji Man walked out of the store with two hundred and eighty silver taels. She put the banknote into her clothes and pulled Muxu along with her to go back to the residence.
“Master, you’re not going to shop around the market?” Muxu asked.
“Shopping?” Ji Man twitched her lips. “We deliberately lost those servants. It’ll be the best if we return before them. Otherwise, Madam will definitely blame us for causing trouble. If we return to the residence first, Madam will blame them for not being conscientious and failing their responsibility.”
Muxu was speechless. Master was actually quite clever. Why did she use to lose her ability to thinking rationally because of her feelings for Marquis Moyu? She used to be wholeheartedly focused on him to the point of being hopelessly stupid.
Ji Man used a carriage to bring her and Muxu back to the Marquis’s residence. As expected, Liu Mama and the other two servants hadn’t come back yet. While rejoicing in other people’s misfortune, Ji Man hurriedly went to Qiangwei Courtyard to report to Wen Wan.
“It seems like the stall that sold cold cream wasn’t open today. It was also very crowded in the streets and this servant was worried about getting lost, so this servant came back early.” Ji Man was kneeling in front of Wen Wan and she said these words in a regretful tone.
Wen Wan raised her hand to allow her to stand up. She furrowed her brow and said, “You’re very sensible in coming back first. After all, you’re part of the Marquis’s household. You can’t just walk around by yourself. When Liu Mama and the others come back, I’ll discipline them. You can go back and rest.”
“Thank you very much, Madam.”
After Ji Man returned to her courtyard, she calculated the resale value of the items that Wen Wan had recently bestowed her. Then, she had Doctor Li take the items away to sell for her. Combined with the money from selling the rest of her jewelry, she would have at least three hundred silver taels in total after these items were sold. Taking advantage of this time when she had nothing to do, she urged Muxu to go the marquis’s residence’s back gardens to steal various types of flowers for them to make into flower water. Then, they made several more boxes of cold cream.
A few days later, Ji Man received permission to leave the residence again. She guessed that the cold cream had been very effective for Wen Wan. Even her unfavorable situation had been improved. When she left the residence, there was only Liu Mama and one other servant escorting her.
“Master Sang, please don’t get lost. Keep close to this servant.” Liu Mama was still worried about what happened last time. She kept a close watch over this pair of master and servant. She was afraid they would disappear again.
Ji Man nodded with an agreeable expression. However, as soon as they entered the market, she did the same thing as before and trickily took advantage of when there were many people to run away with Muxu.
They first went to the Shuiji store on Zhengde Street, but the store was already closed and there was sign on it offering it for sale. So, Ji Man and Muxu turned around to go to Yongning Street.
Yongning Street was much more lively than Zhengde Street. After they had almost walked the entire street, they saw a store that was facing the sun and was currently being put in order. There was a woman standing at the entrance. Other than Miss Shui, who else could it be?
“Madam.” Miss Shui turned around and saw her. She said with a smile, “You’re finally here.”
Ji Man let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this woman had been a steadfast person.
“Have you rented the store?” She asked.
Miss Shui looked left and right before leading her inside. “Madam, you have good luck. I discussed with this store’s shopkeeper. He said he was in a hurry to return to his hometown and will sell this store for two hundred sixty silver taels.”
T/N: Added a page for Cast of Characters. Page has minor spoilers up to most recently translated chapter. Link for cast of characters can also be found on table of contents page after the summary section.