Chapter 33
For several days, Yuli went out, eating and playing. She finally chose a shop north of Zhuque Street, near the Imperial City. Although it was not the most bustling and prosperous area, it was close to the wealthy households, focusing on a high-end, grand, and classy image.
Yuli chose several signature pastries. When setting the prices, she referred to Uncle Hu’s suggestions and set them extremely high. She also added outrageously expensive tea.
Yuli was worried that there would be no customers, but Uncle Hu was confident. She decided to give it a try first. If it really didn’t work, she could offer discounts, the kind that had a special price 365 days a year.
She occasionally mentioned her progress to Xie Yao. Xie Yao just smiled and told her not to tire herself out. Yuli didn’t feel tired at all and told him, “Uncle Hu has helped me a lot. Now we just need to hire enough tea servers and waiters to open.”
“What about the shopkeeper?”
Yuli said as a matter of course, “Me.”
Xie Yao smiled faintly. “Are you going to go to the shop every day to greet customers?”
Thinking that Xie Yao would definitely not like her to show her face in public, Yuli said, “I’ll just go and have a look occasionally.”
“Then let someone else be the shopkeeper. You only need to provide the money and direct the shopkeeper.”
Yuli thought that was also fine. It was normal for her to be the chairman and hire a CEO. She would be in charge of the general direction, but she could leave the trivial management to a more professional person.
A worker could also become a chairman one day. Yuli was overjoyed for a long time, thinking of indulging in the experience of being a boss and interviewing applicants.
Unexpectedly, the next day, the shopkeeper appeared before her automatically. It was Uncle Hu, who had recommended himself and had been internally appointed by Xie Yao.
Yuli sighed slightly. Uncle Hu it was. At least he was a 100% trustworthy choice.
Uncle Hu was very dedicated. After taking office as the shopkeeper, he immediately discussed the opening date with her.
Yuli had only thought of the name “Xiangfu Zhai” and had not yet finalized many things. She decided not to set an opening date for the time being.
Uncle Hu smiled and agreed. The next day, he brought her a detailed plan, detailed down to how to standardize the movements and language of the tea servers, and what materials and colors to use for the indoor partitions.
Yuli had nothing to say and could only let him be.
After the opening date was set, Uncle Hu was so busy every day that he was nowhere to be seen. She, on the other hand, was idle.
Since she had no experience in opening a high-end teahouse, she didn’t know where to start even if she wanted to get involved. She would occasionally go to the shop to have a look, but she could only inspect it silently, because what Uncle Hu had done exceeded her expectations.
Finally, the opening day arrived. Yuli was supposed to be there. Unexpectedly, Xie Yao held her at night and did not let her go until after the hour of Zi, which caused her to wake up late the next day.
When she arrived, the auspicious time for the ribbon-cutting had already passed. She could only go in silently, pretending not to care about this small business. “I’m just here to have a look. Don’t mind me, hehe, hehe.”
The tea servers and waiters in the shop all knew her. Under the training of Uncle Hu and a certain someone, they didn’t even dare to look at her directly, just like the maids in the Xie Residence before, respectful but distant.
Yuli could only convince herself that it didn’t matter. As long as she got most of the profits for herself after making money.
So she went to Xiangfu Zhai less often, only having Uncle Hu bring her the account books every day.
By mid-winter, Xiangfu Zhai had been open for a month, and she was finally about to get some results.
From the account books since the opening, Yuli had roughly calculated that although the turnover this month was not bad, after accounting for the monthly rent, depreciation, and labor costs, it was actually at a loss.
When Uncle Hu came, he was holding a box that looked quite heavy.
Yuli took it and opened it. It seemed to be all the revenue for this month.
Uncle Hu said with a smile, “The pastries created by the Mistress are indeed a big hit in the capital. This is only the first month. In the future, it will definitely be much more each month.”
Yuli paused, then remembered something extremely important.
“Where did the money for our rent and renovation come from?”
“It was taken from the residence.”
So Xie Yao had lent it to her.
Yuli immediately took out the account books. The shop was open, and the revenue was not small, but it had not yet started to make a profit.
The revenue she was earning now had to be returned to the residence first.
The money in the residence was always managed by Jingyu. Yuli called her over and said in front of Uncle Hu, “The shop has borrowed too much money and can’t pay it back at once. We’ll pay back a portion every month. I don’t know what the interest rate was?”
Jingyu and Uncle Hu looked at each other.
It was Jingyu who smiled and explained, “The money in the residence all belongs to the Mistress. There’s no need to talk about borrowing.”
What does that mean? A free gift?
Yuli showed some confusion.
Uncle Hu smiled. “The Young Master said that the Mistress only needs to collect the money every month and doesn’t need to worry about the accounts.”
Yuli was taken aback. It meant that Xie Yao had paid for everything, and the profits were hers.
“We haven’t made a profit yet. Take these first,” Yuli said with a smile.
“These are all profits,” Uncle Hu smiled.
Yuli found it a little incredible. Xie Yao paid for all the costs, and she got all the revenue. Were they too stupid, or was she too ignorant?
Although her handwriting was terrible, she was sure that she had read a lot.
Yuli looked at the box full of loose silver. It would be a lie to say she didn’t want it, but it was strange.
It was as if she had done the research and development, completed the first groundbreaking step, and was about to turn it into results, when someone suddenly took it over. The other party threw in a lot of money, produced the results, and then gave her the profits, and even told her, “No need to thank me, it’s what I should do.”
Thank you, my foot! I could have done it myself!
She could have taken all the credit, not to mention making a fortune, and also had a full sense of accomplishment. Now the money was hers, but the sense of accomplishment all belonged to Uncle Hu.
The bulk of this money was Xie Yao’s. What was the difference between this and him giving her money directly?
Yuli felt an itch in her heart. She had cash, but it didn’t feel right.
Even if they didn’t know she had read a lot, they knew she had once run a breakfast stall and had common sense about business.
They must have been instructed by Xie Yao. Yuli didn’t say much to them, had Uncle Hu put down the money, and then sent them away.
Yuli thought that Xie Yao giving her money for free was out of kindness, and it was also a good thing. At least it meant that he was not worried about her running away now and was willing to give her cash.
Jingyu was still there. Yuli dismissed her miscellaneous thoughts and showed twelve points of surprise at the cash. She put it away in front of her. When Xie Yao came back at night, she made him his favorite dishes and looked very happy all night.
Perhaps it was her experience of renting and moving around in the big city in her past life, but Yuli had an obsession with buying her own house, not with money given by others, including her parents, but with her own income.
In her past life, the housing prices in the city where she worked were extremely high. She couldn’t afford one even if she worked for a lifetime. She had planned to work for a few years and then go back to her hometown to buy one, but she never had the chance.
Xie Yao wanted to give her money. They were husband and wife, so it was natural for him to spend his money. But Yuli wanted to realize her dream and make up for the regrets of her past life.
Yuli kept the account books, planning to only keep the profits she deserved and slowly save enough money to buy a house.
Unexpectedly, the next day, Xie Yao returned to Mingyue Residence with a smile, followed by two maids holding two trays covered with red silk.
“Lift it and have a look,” Xie Yao told her.
Yuli was full of suspicion. She lifted a corner to look and was immediately blinded by the golden light.
She looked at the maids again. They were indeed holding them with great effort.
Yuli slowly lifted the two pieces of red silk. Gold ingots were stacked on the two trays, stacked as high as they could go.
Yuli’s eyes saw stars. She quickly had the two maids put them down.
After the maids put them down, they secretly rubbed their wrists. Yuli casually weighed a gold ingot. It was very heavy.
“What are these for?” Yuli asked Xie Yao.
Xie Yao stared at her. “For you, pocket money.”
He looked as if he had done something to please her and was waiting for her reaction.
Yuli should have been overjoyed, so surprised that she couldn’t control herself, and then given him a hug, a kiss, and been more enthusiastic when they went to bed at night.
But Yuli was a little resistant, which showed in her not being so happy, at least not as happy as Jingyu had conveyed yesterday.
“It’s not easy for Husband to earn money outside. I can’t use so much. I’ll just keep a little,” Yuli said, grabbing two gold ingots and smiling at Xie Yao.
Xie Yao looked at her without a word.
Yuli grabbed two more, and both her hands were full.
Xie Yao: “Jingyu said that when you go out recently, you always just look and don’t buy. Now you don’t have to. You can buy anything you like. I will give you this much every month from now on.”
Yuli was truly shocked this time.
Why did this person either give nothing at all, or give so much at once that it would kill her?
“No, no, I can’t use so much in a month,” Yuli looked at the two piles of gold. She couldn’t use it all in a lifetime!
Xie Yao’s expression became deep and gloomy.
Yuli cried out in her heart that this was not good. She quickly said, “I know Husband is good to me, but I really can’t use so much. Really, I’m very easy to support. I have food and lodging in the residence, which is already very luxurious. It’s fine just like before.”
Xie Yao still looked at her.
Yuli said again, “I’ll take these for now. Seeing them will remind me of Husband’s goodness to me. If I see anything I like, I will also buy it generously and won’t always worry about being short of money.”
Yuli’s smile was from the heart. Although she was not as happy as yesterday, Xie Yao did not say anything in the end.
At night, Yuli sensed that Xie Yao’s desire for control was very strong. Although he did not tie her up, he did not allow her to move. Yuli really couldn’t take it anymore and kicked his shoulder.
When he stopped, she was almost exhausted.
Xie Yao panted for a while, held Yuli, and called her name softly.
In the past, Yuli had not paid attention, but today she was paying attention to him. In that moment, Yuli seemed to feel the emotions under his frozen abyss, but it was gone in an instant.
He held her tightly for a long time, and her empty body was gradually filled.
In a moment of clarity, Yuli thought of the gold ingots from the evening and suddenly understood some philosophy of life.
If she were a little squirrel, before meeting Xie Yao, she was a wild squirrel, free in the forest, but had to endure the wind, frost, rain, and snow. Her daily routine was to find nuts, constantly find nuts, occasionally daze off, and sunbathe. She would be overjoyed when she found a cluster of nuts, and would be disappointed if she didn’t, but looking at the full collection of fruits she had gathered, she would be so happy that she would roll on the ground.
After meeting Xie Yao, she became a pet squirrel. Her activity space was limited, but she had an endless supply of nuts, and they were different every day. She no longer had to endure the wind and rain. After enjoying it for a while, life became a straight line with no ups and downs. The owner gave her fine clothes and jade food, and mountains of nuts, but she no longer had the joy she had felt in the wild when she picked up a single nut covered in dew.
Yuli sighed. It was so annoying. She was always so sentimental after something too intense.
“What are you thinking about?” Xie Yao suddenly asked.
“Nothing,” Yuli hummed.
Xie Yao: “You sighed.”
Yuli: …
He was always paying attention to her. What about himself? Didn’t he have such moments of sudden confusion?
Yuli propped herself up on him, lifted her body to look at him, and stared at him just as he sometimes stared at her.
Xie Yao lowered his eyes to meet hers, not flinching at all.
Yuli was defeated, but not convinced. Xie Yao smiled, lowered his head to kiss her, but she held his chin.
Yuli asked him, “What is Husband thinking about?”
Xie Yao: “I’m thinking about what to do to make you more comfortable and happier.”
Yuli thought for a moment. Compared to her life as a worker in her past life, and the early mornings and late nights for a living in Xihe County, her current life was already comfortable enough.
She didn’t have to worry about food and clothing. It could even be said that what she ate and wore was the best in this world. And she had a cat, and a large residence planted with flowers and trees. Besides the entertainment being a bit monotonous, it was a dream life.
Why was she still not so satisfied? People are indeed greedy.
Yuli still couldn’t figure it out, but she was sure that she didn’t need him to do anything more for her.
“Husband is already good enough to me,” Yuli said softly.
Xie Yao just gently caressed her back and did not respond.
Yuli was unusually energetic tonight. After Xie Yao carried her to wash and came back, she was still not sleepy.
It was still early. Yuli decided to chat with him about life philosophy.
“In my hometown, there was a philosopher named Ma who said that people have five needs in life. The first is physiological needs, which is the food and drink necessary for survival. The second is safety, to be in an environment without violence and where one will not be easily injured…”
Yuli’s voice was like flowing water. Xie Yao closed his eyes and listened, his fingers twirling her hair.
“The highest level is self-actualization, which means that after a person has satisfied the first four needs, the next step is to pursue the creation of value, rather than just acquiring material things.”
“In the past, I was just busy with my livelihood and could only live with the flow. I didn’t dare to think about self-actualization,” Yuli said.
Actually, in university, she had also been full of ambition, but a series of setbacks had made her realize that she was just an ordinary, even mediocre, person.
In modern society, there was always an invisible order that constrained people like her. She had to strive for the first four levels of needs and no longer thought of pursuing self-worth.
But it was different now. Her life was also getting better.
She could fight and strive without worrying about the consequences.
Yuli was suddenly a little happy, and Xie Yao could feel it.
“Whatever you want to do, I can help you achieve it,” Xie Yao said.
After all that, he still didn’t get it. Yuli said, “No, I have to do it myself to be satisfied. It doesn’t count if others help. Think about it, if everything you wanted was delivered to you, it might be easy at first, but would you still be happy after a long time?”
Xie Yao chuckled. “I understand.”
What do you understand? There was no follow-up. Yuli was a little annoyed, but she heard him say, “Whatever you want to do, just go ahead, but remember one thing, if you encounter any difficulties you can’t handle, tell me.”
Yuli was overjoyed.
Great. It turned out that if she communicated with Xie Yao properly, he could understand and agree with her.
Yuli happily burrowed into his arms.
After the weather turned cool, she liked to sleep close to him. He was big, had a large surface area, and his skin was good, smooth and warm, like a human-shaped heater, with a constant and suitable temperature, the kind that didn’t need to be refueled and wouldn’t go out.
The corners of Xie Yao’s lips curled up. He pressed against her head and kissed the top of her hair.
Yuli suddenly tilted her head up and kissed the corner of his lips. “Husband is so good to me.”
Xie Yao was taken aback. Yuli had already burrowed back, preparing to sleep in his arms.
Xie Yao’s body temperature rose for a moment, then returned to normal as Yuli’s breathing evened out.
The small Xihe County was full of hidden talents.
But he felt that what that Ma fellow said was both right and wrong.
People might indeed have those five needs, but the order was not necessarily that way.
As long as he was alive, he had to keep moving up. As for the others, so-called safety, love, and respect, he would have been dismissive of them in the past, because with force and power, no one dared to offend him in the slightest. Even if they hated him, they had to pretend to admire him.
Even Yuli was obtained through force and power.
At first, he felt satisfied. As long as he had her, even if she was unwilling, it was enough for him.
But gradually, he had changed a little.
In the past, he had thought Yuli was gentle, pure, and almost like a fairy. Slowly, he discovered that she was ten thousand times better than he had ever imagined.
She didn’t want the things he offered her, because she had a resilient and self-loving soul.
She did not seek vanity, nor was she greedy for external things. Her appetite was a bit heavy, but she always made things herself.
She was gentle and delicate, able to make the lifeless maids genuinely close to her.
There was no worldly hierarchy in her eyes. She could even connect with a lowly songstress.
She was clearly afraid of him, but she was so nervous when she saw him hurt himself.
He had wanted to make her dependent on him with gold, silver, and lust, but he couldn’t.
He had seen the filthiest of human nature and knew that there could only be one such person in this world.
And this one and only was now in his arms.
He wanted Yuli’s true love so much.
To be loved by her must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
His life had been shrouded in darkness and blood from the very beginning.
If Yuli loved him, he didn’t even dare to imagine what warmth and light it would be like.
Living a plain and smooth life with her, just being a plain husband and wife, respectful to each other, then he would probably never be able to surpass the person who had once shared hardships with her.
If Yuli were to pursue higher things, she would definitely encounter difficulties. At that time, she could only come to him for help.
If she suffered, and hit a wall, as long as he appeared at her most difficult time, he could occupy an unforgettable position in her heart.
He wanted to give her the best of everything in the world. Including a perfect him.