At night, Father Su talked to Mother Su about what happened that day.

Mother Su also sighed that Su Qingyu was very brave: “Why did this girl become so brave after marrying into the town? I’ve never seen her so opinionated before!”

Father Su was silent for a moment and said, “Maybe now that Bocheng is gone, she wants to plan for herself. As a young daughter-in-law living under the watchful eyes of her parents-in-law, she also wants to have something to rely on. In the town, it’s not like in our village, where food and drink all cost money. Families without wells even have to buy water to drink.”

“Don’t you have Bocheng’s maternal grandparents’ land? The rent collected is enough for her to eat and drink.” Su’s mother still didn’t want her to take risks.

“She has enough food and drink by herself, but what if she has a child? Besides, we are just digging for food in the fields, don’t we know the yield of the fields? What if the year is bad and we can’t collect the rent? Do you want her to ask her parents-in-law for money? She wants to open a shop, and her father-in-law doesn’t object, so let her try. It doesn’t matter if she can’t succeed, as long as we are here, she won’t starve.”

Mother Su sighed: “If only Qingliu could have such a smart mind as her.”

Father Su also sighed: “Tomorrow I will go to her house and talk to her grandparents. If she can come to town, the two sisters can be together and take care of each other. If Yaya behaves like that, I am afraid that she can’t raise the child.”

“Pooh, pooh, pooh, what nonsense are you talking about? Say it now!” Mother Su tried to pull him away with an anxious look on her face.

Father Su quickly made a sound of “Pooh”.

“Then you should talk to her family tomorrow and use Qingliu’s wages to compensate them for the money they spent that year.”

“Um.”

That night, another couple talked about Su Qingyu.

As soon as Lu Shengcai returned to his room after closing the account book in the study, Wu Shi came forward to serve him attentively.

“Have you met Su Shi’s father today?”

“Yeah.” Lu Shengcai responded while taking off his outer clothes.

“Why did he come to you, to borrow money?”

“No. He came home first today. Why didn’t you meet your in-laws?”

Wu Shi paused and said, “It’s not good for a woman like me to meet a man outside of my family.”

“How can he be considered an outsider? Bocheng’s father-in-law is a legitimate relative. We are not a wealthy family and we don’t need to avoid suspicion. And it’s okay for you, but why doesn’t Yuzhu come out to meet her sǎozi’s ^[1]wife of elder brother father? How come she is becoming less polite as she gets older? What will her saozi think?”

Wu Shi curled her lips. She was not her biological daughter-in-law. Yuzhu and Lu Bocheng were not born to the same mother.

Help Lu Yuzhu think of excuses: “Yuzhu has a stomachache today. It’s her period. I can’t let her go. I heard that Su Shi’s biǎodì ^[2]son of Fahter’s sister younger than you was there too. She wanted to avoid suspicion, so I didn’t let her go.”

After hearing this, Lu Shengcai said nothing more.

After Wu Shi helped him wash his hands and face, he went to bed and said to Wu Shi, “Yuzhu is getting old enough to get married. We don’t know if there will be conscription again next year. You should find her a marriage partner as soon as possible.”

“I know and I’ve been paying attention to it. She is a flesh that fell from me, but it hurts you!” She punched Lu Shengcai in angrily, and Lu Shengcai grabbed her little hand in his palm.

Wu Shi leaned against his chest and asked the same question again: “Didn’t Su Shi’s father come to borrow money from you? Then what did he come for?”

Lu Shengcai remembered that Su Qingyu looked like she was planning for Bocheng today, so he decided not to tell Wu Shi about her gūfu, and he also planned to keep the matter of the five taels of silver a secret.

Wu Shi was a little too concerned about money, and he was afraid that Wu Shi would give Su Qingyu a bad look. Without Bo Cheng, he also wanted his family to be peaceful.

Then he said, “Whenever someone comes to see me, you think they are here to borrow money. My father-in-law is afraid that I won’t agree with my daughter-in-law opening a shop, so he comes to say something nice to her.”

When Wu Shi heard this, she quickly sat up from Lu Shengcai’s arms and said, “Ah, Su Shi wants to open a shop? What kind of shop? Last time you said you wanted to open a branch shop, do you want Su Shi to open it? I won’t agree to that!”

Lu Shengcai glanced at her and said, “No, she has her own ideas. I said before that I wanted to open a branch store, but I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Wu Shi quietly breathed a sigh of relief: “What kind of shop does she want to open? Did you agree? She is a woman who is out in the open and wants to learn how to do business from a man. When Bocheng is not here, she doesn’t stay at home but stays outside all the time. Are you at ease?”

“Why should I worry about that? She’s not that kind of woman. I’m actually worried that she won’t be able to make it. Business isn’t that easy to do. I worked as a peddler for many years before I opened a shop in town. There were so many twists and turns and difficulties along the way. Others only see the glamour of you opening a shop and making money.”

Wu Shi listened with a frown on her face.

After a long while, she said, “How can you tell from her face whether she is that kind of woman or not? Besides, we can’t follow her when she is outside. If she does something that will bring disgrace to our family and make Bocheng lose face, it will not be good for our family. It’s not easy for us to run that shop. Don’t let it affect us and we won’t have any customers.”

“You’re overthinking that. Customers only pick what they need. They’ll buy it wherever they need it and where the price is the lowest.”

“That’s not the case. If she makes a fool of herself, our family will be affected, and it will be difficult for Yuzhu, Bozu and the others to get married. Do you really agree to let her open a shop? What if something goes wrong? You will have to solve it. But what exactly is she going to do?”

“She just rented the shop. You’ll know what she does after a while.”

“Where did she get the money to open the shop?” Wu Shi asked relentlessly.

“Bocheng gave her the money he saved.”

“How could Bocheng save so much money? Did you give it to him?”

“How much can I give him? I give him a little during the holidays. He doesn’t have much left after spending lavishly. Su Shi’s is a small business, and it doesn’t cost much to buy goods. There is no need to stock up, and the goods are sold immediately. She hasn’t paid the rent for the shop yet. She said that she would pay him back in two months after the business is established.”

Wu Shi didn’t believe it. How could such a good thing happen? “You believe this? How can there be such a landlord? Isn’t this just getting something for nothing?”

“It’s not a big deal. Just go to Ren Ya and ask her. She has no reason to lie. This is just her luck. She probably doesn’t have much money on her.”

Wu Shi was incredulous. The daughter of a farmer who was hired for fifty taels of silver in the countryside was going to open a shop?

Her dowry was not valuable. Where did the money come from?

Lu Bocheng spent money lavishly and probably didn’t have much money saved. It must be that Lu Shengcai gave him some money when that bastard left!

Wu Shi shook Lu Shengcai and asked, “Did you give Bocheng money when he left?”

Lu Shengcai frowned and said, “How can I give him so much money?”

Then he turned around and lay down facing inside.

Wu looked at his back and still didn’t believe it: “Where did she get the money to open a shop?”

“Didn’t I tell you that Bocheng left some for her, and she didn’t even pay the rent for her shop, so she doesn’t need any money.” Lu Shengcai said with some impatience.

“I don’t believe it. Without a few dozen taels of silver, would she dare to open a shop and do business?”

“I’ve already said it’s a small business, with little capital, and she will only make a hard-earned living a month.”

“What kind of business is so good?”

“You’ll know in a few days.”

“Tell me about it now.”

“I don’t know now. Her business hasn’t even started. Are you still going to sleep? I have to go to the countryside to collect goods tomorrow!” Lu Shengcai closed his eyes with an impatient look on his face.

Seeing him pull the quilt over him and sleep, Wu angrily slapped him on the arched back and lay down sullenly. She was not sleepy at all, her eyes were shining, was this Su Shi really going to open a shop?

(End of this chapter)