Chapter 284: Those Shops Are All Mine

Finally, the shopkeeper handed over a total of 1,300 taels of silver.

Jiang Wei checked the accounts carefully, and it was indeed this amount.

Regardless of how the shopkeeper treated customers with a look-down-on-people attitude before, just the act of making fake accounts was a taboo in business, and such a person could not continue to stay in the shop.

Therefore, no matter how humbly the shopkeeper begged on the ground, the mother and daughter ignored him with cold faces.

The commotion was big, attracting some shop waiters and passersby on the street to come and watch the fun. After asking, they knew about the shopkeeper making fake accounts.

Making fake accounts was a taboo in business.

Everyone spat on him one after another.

The shopkeeper had no face to stay anymore and had to leave in a gray manner.

However, his reputation had been ruined, and the matter of making fake accounts had spread throughout the streets and alleys of Central Imperial Street, and no one would hire him to be a shopkeeper in the future.

"... In just a few months, he embezzled so much silver. This kind of person deserves to be struck by lightning!" Mr. Bai still scolded the shopkeeper for making fake accounts, his words full of gnashing teeth.

Jiang Xiaoxiao listened and couldn't help but think of him walking dejectedly on the street alone earlier, and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Bai, you just came to Xuzhou, did you encounter any trouble again?"

At the mention of this, Mr. Bai was like a frosted eggplant, drooping his head and saying: "The shop I originally rented in Xuzhou expired two days ago..."

"Ah, how could this be?" Jiang Xiaoxiao was surprised, "Didn't you look at the time before you came to Xuzhou?"

Mr. Bai shook his head: "I was fooled by them. The rental period written on the contract was clearly two years, but it was tampered with, and the shop was taken back..."

All his money was used to buy soap, and he had no money to rent a new shop.

What should he do with those three thousand pieces of soap piled up...

After hearing this, even Jiang Xiaoxiao felt it was not worth it for Mr. Bai.

Sigh, it was really a decline in public morals.

In this world, there were too many unscrupulous merchants. For the sake of money, they had no moral bottom line, and business people like Mr. Bai who were upright and honest were becoming fewer and fewer.

Jiang Xiaoxiao looked at the rows of cabinets in Meirenzhai, her eyes brightened, and she suddenly said: "How about this, Mr. Bai, why don't you move those three thousand pieces of soap into Meirenzhai to sell?"

"How can this be." Mr. Bai refused without thinking, "This is your shop, how can I be embarrassed to sell my things..."

"My shop is just missing a shopkeeper." Jiang Wei on the side opened her mouth, "If Mr. Bai doesn't mind, just temporarily be the shopkeeper in my shop, help me watch the business, and your three thousand pieces of soap can also be sold in the shop. Of course, if you feel embarrassed, you can take a few points of commission for me."

The plan Jiang Wei proposed was very stable.

For her, she could first use these three thousand pieces of soap to open the Xuzhou market.

For Mr. Bai, it solved his big problem of renting a shop.

"Since Lady Jiang thinks so highly of me, then I will temporarily take the position of shopkeeper of this shop."

Jiang Xiaoxiao also pulled the two little girls to ask about the shop's affairs, such as the flow of people in the shop, who would come often, and such as their wages...

The two little girls were a pair of twin sisters, one named Chuntao and the other named Qiuju.

When Jiang Xiaoxiao knew that the sisters' wages added up to only twenty wen a day, she scolded the shopkeeper again.

In a small place like Yong'an County, the wages they gave to Xiao Linzi were more than this number.

In Xuzhou, where prices were so high, how could the sisters live on this little money?

Jiang Xiaoxiao immediately decided to increase it to thirty wen a day for both of them.

The shop's affairs were handled, and Jiang Xiaoxiao had time to talk to Yu'er and the other maids on the side.

"Sister Yu'er, do you see any rouge you like? You can pick whatever you want, and I'll give you two."

Yu'er was flattered and waved her hands repeatedly: "No, no, I still have a lot of rouge rewarded by the Lady, it's enough."

It was Yu Ying'er on the side who shamelessly leaned over: "I say Xiaoxiao, since you are the owner of this shop, why don't you waive the fee for the lip rouge I bought just now? We can be considered acquaintances. You wouldn't be so stingy about this little money, right?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao glanced at her, her tone cool: "I can't waive it. For me, a cat or dog from the countryside, these fifteen taels of silver is a large amount. I still need to make money to eat. If you can't afford it, just put it down and don't take it."

Yu Ying'er was blocked by her words and was very embarrassed.

She bit her lip in regret. If she had known that the owner of this Meirenzhai was Jiang Xiaoxiao, a country bumpkin, she wouldn't have said such things before.

However, it was hard to buy regret medicine in the world.

After Yu Ying'er regretted it for a while, she looked at the dazzling array of rouge and powder in Meirenzhai with great unwillingness. The price of each one was something she would have to save for several months before she would be willing to buy a box.

What was Jiang Xiaoxiao relying on?

Yu Ying'er was both jealous and envious, clenching the handkerchief in her hand.

But on the surface, she still tried hard to pretend not to care, and said coldly: "Hmph, what's so great about it? It's just a few boxes of powder. I don't want it, can't I? Yu'er, let's go, follow me to Cuibao Tang in front to take a look."

Cuibao Tang was the largest jewelry shop on Central Imperial Street. What were a few boxes of rouge and powder? The jewelry sold in Cuibao Tang was all boutique. She must buy two and show them to this group of poor people who had never seen the world.

"Cuibao Tang?" Jiang Xiaoxiao flipped through the contract her mother stuffed to her, "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you, that Cuibao Tang is also mine."

"Besides that, there is that tea house at the street corner opposite, and the Jinxiu Pavilion selling ready-made clothes next to it are also mine." She quickly flipped through the contract in her hand and added.

"My God, Xiaoxiao, are you the owner of these shops?" Yu'er covered her chest and widened her eyes in surprise.

Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded expressionlessly: "That's right, those shops are all mine."

Yu Ying'er, who was standing at the door, turned pale and turned her head to look at her in disbelief. Her expression was as ugly as seeing a ghost.

Time soon reached the evening. Under Jiang Xiaoxiao's leadership, Yu'er and the other maids visited several shops.

Except for the shopkeeper of Meirenzhai, the shopkeepers of other shops were very sensible. Seeing the contract Jiang Wei showed, they all took the initiative to hand over the account books for inspection.

Jiang Wei saw that they were honest, and there was no messy confusion in the account books, and the business in the shop was also very good, so she left several people to continue to be shopkeepers.

With Jiang Xiaoxiao, the little owner, here, Yu'er and the other maids were treated favorably, buying many hairpins and jewelry at a discount, as well as some beautiful handkerchiefs.

Only Yu Ying'er had a gloomy face all the way and didn't say a word.

She felt as if she was holding a breath in her heart, going up and down, and it couldn't come out.

Until she saw the sky gradually darkening, the corner of her mouth curled into a smile: "Yu'er, it's about time to go back and see the Lady." ===== CHAPTER 285 =====