Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Pei Mu and Zhong Yizhu returned to the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain when it was already dark.

The two weren’t sure if things would go smoothly today, so before setting out, they had told Sun Yunniang not to wait for them to eat.

Now that they had an oxcart, they didn’t have to walk as much. When they got home, Zhong Yizhu was still bouncing happily—partly out of happiness, and partly because, after the trading trip, he had more energy than before.

Although Sun Yunniang had gone to the Zhong family’s old house during the day, she still came back here to sleep at night. This was what they had agreed on, and Sun Yunniang didn’t mind the trouble. It was almost like going to work every day and then coming home, which was a refreshing change.

She was still in the main room, lost in thought about the day’s events, when she heard the door open and came out to greet them. But first she heard the crisp voice of the young man: “Mother, you go back to your room and rest; no need to busy yourself. We’ve already eaten. We’ll come tell you about our shop later.”

Sun Yunniang smiled and responded, then returned to the main room. Though it was still cold in the second month, a fire was burning inside. The sweet potatoes she had roasted for them were long done and kept warm on the side. Now she peeled them, so they could eat them as soon as they came in.

From Zhong Yizhu’s tone, she knew things had gone well today. Her worry eased, and as she looked at the sweet potato oozing with syrup, she felt a warm sweetness in her heart.

In the backyard, Pei Mu unloaded the cart while Zhong Yizhu led the ox into the shed, gave it hay and water, and reached out to pat its head.

The two went together to the kitchen to wash their hands, then returned to the main room.

As soon as the door opened, the room was filled with a rich, sweet aroma.

As they sat down, each was handed a peeled roasted sweet potato. Pei Mu bit into the soft sweet potato while listening to Zhong Yizhu vividly recounting the story of buying the shop to Sun Yunniang.

Zhong Yizhu was a good talker. At a tense point, he deliberately paused, and Sun Yunniang couldn’t help urging: “And then? You didn’t have enough money—how did you finally buy it?”

Zhong Yizhu then continued with the twist, bringing up what had happened in Quzhou Prefecture, which made Sun Yunniang gasp in amazement.

Pei Mu watched the undisguised pride on Zhong Yizhu’s face, and couldn’t help smiling along. He thought that if Zhong Yizhu didn’t go into the incense business, he’d probably be a very popular storyteller.

Zhong Yizhu caught Pei Mu’s smile and wrinkled his nose at him, making a funny face. Pei Mu raised an eyebrow at him. Though Pei Mu made no other move, Zhong Yizhu’s ears grew hot, and he looked away.

Sun Yunniang was still reveling in the joy of having acquired a good shop: “So, after one year, when you’ve paid the remaining one hundred and twenty taels, the shop will be transferred to your name? That Master Yan is truly a good man. It was a blessing that you helped him in Quzhou—good deeds come back around.”

Returning to the shop, Zhong Yizhu said with a smile: “That’s right. Although we brought more silver with us, we still need to keep some for renovating the shop and buying shelves. So we agreed to first pay three hundred taels as a deposit, along with the twelve taels of rent, all at once. In one year, we’ll pay another one hundred and twenty taels, and then the shop will be ours.”

Songyun County was in an excellent location, and even if the shop didn’t appreciate in value, it would never go down. So either way, they came out ahead.

Sun Yunniang laughed along with him. So soon, her son was able to open a shop—how impressive.

And Pei Mu—everything wouldn’t have been possible without his support. Pei Mu didn’t take credit, nor did he interfere with the young man’s decisions. In all her years, she had seen many people, but never another like Pei Mu.

She looked at Pei Mu with concern: “Son-in-law, do you plan to start your spice business after the shop opens? Is there anything you need my help with?”

Pei Mu nodded: “Yes, I’ll go to Spice Street to set up a stall after Zhu Ge’er’s shop opens. For now, I can manage on my own. If I need help, I’ll ask you, Mother.”

Hearing this, Sun Yunniang smiled in acknowledgment. Noticing it was late, she got up to go to her room to rest, but then remembered something.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have something to tell you too.”

Zhong Yizhu quickly responded: “What is it? I haven’t had a chance to ask—how did things go at the old house today? Did anyone cause trouble?”

Sun Yunniang shook her head: “No trouble at all. Tao Geer and Lady Zhou helped keep an eye on things. Today I selected a dozen or so passable ones, and told them to come learn embroidery from me tomorrow.”

“What I want to say is, this method of selection is good, but I see the children from poor families in the village—they don’t even have extra money to embroider a handkerchief for themselves. But that doesn’t mean they can’t learn. Later, when your business expands, I’d like to take in all the girls and lads who want to learn and teach them, what do you think?”

Zhong Yizhu thought for a moment and said: “Of course. The important thing is that we’ve made it clear—you’ll teach them personally, and how much they learn depends on their own effort. Our purchasing standards won’t be lowered. Everyone earns money by their own ability.”

“But even if they don’t meet our purchasing standards, maybe they can sell to others later. Once our shop’s business stabilizes, I plan to ask Tao Geer if he’d like to handle the incense business in Chuiliu Town. That way, he could also handle a portion of the goods.”

“Really? That would be wonderful!” Sun Yunniang was delighted. Though she felt pity for those children, she didn’t want to cause trouble for her young man. Hearing that Zhong Yizhu already had such a plan, it worked out perfectly.

Zhong Yizhu replied: “But for now, let’s stick with what we agreed on before, so the villagers won’t complain.”

“Of course, of course.” Sun Yunniang nodded, then got up and left the main room with a smile on her face.

Zhong Yizhu was also happy. Before, his mother had devoted herself entirely to him. Now seeing her doing this with such enthusiasm, he felt it was wonderful.

After washing up and returning to the room, Zhong Yizhu’s mind was still racing with calculations. The shop purchase was settled. If a dozen or so families in the village could earn money through them, those people would stand on their side. Add in those who farmed their land, and that was quite a number. The village had only about a hundred households.

But as Pei Mu closed the door and came over, all the stray thoughts in Zhong Yizhu’s mind vanished.

Though the weather was still cold, Pei Mu must have just washed up, and, as if not afraid of the chill, wore only a robe thrown over him. He probably really wasn’t cold—steam was still rising off his body. His bare skin showed healed scars, but the contours of his arms, waist, and abdomen were striking with every movement.

Zhong Yizhu didn’t know what he was thinking anymore. By the time Pei Mu drew near, there was that familiar look in his eyes—the same one he had when he caught Zhong Yizhu doing mischief before.

A hint of nonchalant smile, indulgent and doting, but underneath, a devastating aggression that overwhelmed everything.

This time, Zhong Yizhu didn’t avoid it. Instead, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Pei Mu’s neck.

A scorching kiss came as expected. Zhong Yizhu closed his eyes, his lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, the heat searing all the way to his heart.

Pei Mu, as always, patiently prepared him. But Zhong Yizhu took the initiative to hook his leg around Pei Mu’s waist.

When he entered him, it was a bit urgent and painful. Their breathing was ragged.

In the dim candlelight, Pei Mu captured Zhong Yizhu’s eyes, seeing the complete trust and affection in them, and couldn’t help thrusting deeper.

Zhong Yizhu couldn’t hold on much longer.

His earlier initiative turned into soft pleas for mercy, but Pei Mu seemed to develop selective hearing—partly from his lack of self-control, partly out of deliberate teasing.

The room was filled with lingering warmth.

...

Zhong Yizhu felt his body was really much better than before. This was evident the next morning when he got up—though his waist and hips were sore, he wasn’t as weak and unwilling to move as before.

When Pei Mu pulled him onto the oxcart, he even had the sudden urge to ask Pei Mu to teach him how to drive. But Pei Mu easily stuffed him back into the cushioned spot he had set up for him, saying he would teach him when it got warmer.

The two drove the cart all the way to their newly acquired shop.

Zhong Yizhu pulled out the key, got off the cart, and opened the shop door. He first went into the backyard to let Pei Mu drive the cart in, then returned with Pei Mu to carefully inspect the shop.

The previous shop had been an embroidery business. The cabinets and such were left behind, apparently because the owner had no money later and used them to offset the rent. When Zhong Yizhu first saw them, he thought many could be put to use. Now that the shop was truly in his hands, he looked at everything with a different feeling.

Here, they would change it to an open-shelf display cabinet. There, they would tear it down to open up the space and make it more spacious. He pointed things out as he walked, and Pei Mu began to picture a completely different layout.

Once they had roughly decided on the changes, Pei Mu told Zhong Yizhu to rest while he went to the carpenter’s shop to hire a master craftsman.

While Zhong Yizhu discussed the details with the master, Pei Mu also inspected the backyard for things needing repair. When the master came over, Pei Mu pointed them out and asked the master to fix them at the same time.

Although Zhong Yizhu’s requested changes were extensive, many existing items could be reused. In the end, the carpenter’s shop quoted nine taels and six qian—not too high.

The two paid the deposit promptly, and the carpenter’s shop soon sent people to start the work.

With this step done, Zhong Yizhu’s focus shifted to making incense.

Running a shop was different from having a stall—it needed daily restocking. And to transition from a stall to a shop, he had to introduce new incense products to make a splash and attract both new and returning customers.

Zhong Yizhu was making incense at home, while Pei Mu went into the city to gather information.

He still remembered the Liu's Fragrance Shop, which had been plotting against Zhong Yizhu and his incense stall. Before leaving for Quzhou Prefecture, he had told Wang and his husband to ignore any suspicious people and had also asked Yao Sheng to keep an eye on things. However, after returning, he learned from Wang Ping'an that no strange people or incidents had occurred, which was a bit different from what he'd expected.

In any case, since their shop would soon open and inevitably face them, Pei Mu put in some effort to investigate and ended up uncovering quite a drama.

It turned out that Old Master Liu had been gravely ill, and his sons had begun vying for the position of successor. That was why Liu Zhenhan had been so eager to spend a large sum to poach Zhong Yizhu—to make the fragrance shop's accounts look good and gain more leverage in the struggle.

The other sons naturally displayed their own talents, but no one expected that Old Master Liu was faking being sick. He had been observing from the shadows all along, only to grow more disheartened as he watched—none of his sons were competent.

Furious, Old Master Liu took back control of all the shops and businesses, forcing himself to clean up the mess even while ill. This time, however, he truly fell too sick to recover.

Old Master Liu passed away quickly without naming an heir. While he was barely cold, his sons had already started fighting among themselves. The dispute dragged on without resolution, each refusing to yield, and as a result, they had little energy left to manage the shops that had been assigned to them.

Anyway, the decline of Liu's Fragrance Shop was actually a good break for them.

By late February, on the day of the big market in Songyun County, the most popular little incense stall at the West Market was back to the original young couple.

Old customers were pleasantly surprised, smiling as they greeted Zhong Yizhu and Pei Mu, saying they hadn't seen them since the New Year. They had seen a strange woman and a young couple before and thought someone was impersonating them, but after asking, they learned it was their mother and only then felt comfortable buying.

Zhong Yizhu smiled, his eyes crinkling into crescents, and handed each customer a printed floral note.

"Oh, what's this?" a young husband asked, surprised, holding the beautifully crafted floral note.

"On the third day of next month, the incense shop my husband and I are opening will officially launch. Every customer who visits that day will get 20% off when they check out, and there will be new incense samples to try. New and returning customers are all welcome."

"Oh, what a great deal! Congrats on opening your shop, young man! Don't worry, I'll definitely come that day!" This young husband was the same customer who had previously complained to Zhong Yizhu about his sister buying the wrong incense pellets. Months had passed, and he was still a loyal customer.

Zhong Yizhu smiled and said, "The address of the incense shop is at the bottom of the floral note. When you come that day, Mr. He, be sure to look for me. I'll give you another incense pellet as a thank-you for your continued support."

"Certainly, certainly." Mr. He left with a big smile. On the way, he met acquaintances who asked what he was holding that looked so pretty. He showed it off to everyone, happily plugging Zhong Yizhu's shop in the process.

The floral notes printed with bamboo scattered throughout the city, carrying the news of the impending shop opening and the good wishes from both new and regular customers.