Chapter 37
The maid, however, regarded the two men in black as ordinary. She stopped at the door and was about to call into the room again when Yuli had already come out.
Yuli was extremely surprised and delighted. “I knew you would come! Have you taken care of your family matters? Where is your child? Why didn’t you bring him?”
Lizhen: “My mother is helping me look after him. We went to see a doctor yesterday, and he’s much better after taking the medicine. The Mistress doesn’t have to worry about me. I’m here today to apply properly. Do you think I’m suitable now, Mistress?”
“Of course you are. Let me introduce you to our team first.”
“This is Jingyu, who is in charge of purchasing supplies. This is Zhile, our chief craftsman. These two are Zhile’s apprentices.”
Lizhen looked at them one by one. The little girl just now was one of the apprentices.
“This is Xiyun, my personal maid, who is also in charge of everyone’s food and daily life.”
After Yuli finished speaking, Lizhen did not immediately reply.
Yuli smiled. “Don’t look at how young they and I are. Each of us has an irreplaceable advantage. Jingyu is even more steady than me and can handle those arrogant suppliers. Zhile’s skills are better than the old craftsmen. Xiyun is meticulous and considerate, and is the best at taking care of people. Now we’re just missing you, Lizhen. Come and work with me. I guarantee you’ll make a lot of money!”
Lizhen nodded heavily and agreed. “Thank you for your high regard, Mistress. Lizhen will definitely do her best. But I have never managed such a large shop before, and there are many things I don’t understand. I will be asking many questions then, and I hope all my sisters will not hesitate to teach me.”
Lizhen curtsied like the maids of a large family she had seen in her memory. Yuli took her hand. “We don’t do all that bowing and scraping in my shop. We’ll take care of the employment contract and other things later. The most important thing now is to go to the front hall and help me with the customers.”
Lizhen pinched her cuffs. Yuli thought she was waiting for her to take her and said, “I should have set an example for you, but, I have some special reasons.”
Yuli had some unspeakable difficulties. Lizhen shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. Can the Mistress lend me a set of clothes first? This outfit of mine is too shabby. If I walk around the shop in it, I’m afraid the customers will look down on me. I don’t mind being looked down on, but I’m afraid it will lower the class of the flowers.”
Yuli: “Alright, alright, that’s the spirit. Whether our shop’s business is booming or not depends on you!”
Yuli signaled for Xiyun to find a set of silk clothes. “Just make do with it for now. Later, Xiyun will find a tailor to make two new sets for you. You are in charge of all the business and sales matters in this shop. If you have anything to say, just say it and do it immediately. Prepare everything without considering the budget. Don’t look at how deserted our shop is now. In a few days, a steady stream of customers will come in.”
Seeing that Yuli was so pragmatic and trusted her so much, Lizhen also completely shed her initial restraint. As she had thought, she whispered two points she had just seen to Yuli. One was that the little apprentice’s words and actions were not very proper, and the other was the two men in black, whose identities were unknown and who were out of place in this shop.
Yuli nodded in agreement with the first point. For the second, she rubbed her forehead. “These two were sent by my husband to protect me. I can’t order them around either. Just pretend they don’t exist. If someone causes trouble, bring them out. The effect will be absolutely first-class.”
Hearing this, Lizhen was completely relaxed. Yuli was so beautiful and young. She had previously wondered why she would be walking around outside alone with only two maids. She had worried about her identity and was also afraid of getting into trouble. Now it seemed that Yuli had a powerful husband who cared for her and indulged her. Lizhen also dismissed her worries in this regard.
With everything ready, Lizhen made two sales as soon as she took office.
At noon, Yuli had Xiyun go and buy some good dishes to welcome Lizhen.
Yuli sent the two guards to watch the front hall, and the seven girls sat around a round table, eating and talking and laughing.
Before they had finished their meal, Song He appeared at the door.
In the room, Yuli sat at the head of the table, with Jingyu and Xiyun on her left and right, and Zhile, Lizhen, and the two girls in order.
Jingyu was just putting a piece of food into her mouth. Seeing him, she stiffened for a moment but still put the food into her mouth.
Song He was impassive. He cupped his fists and bowed. “Mistress, the Young Master has sent an opening gift. It has arrived at the door. Please have a look at how to arrange it.”
Yuli put down her chopsticks and went. Xiyun, Zhile, and the others all followed. The girls went to the main hall in a line.
Jingyu walked at the back, with Song He half a step in front of her.
“You’ve completely forgotten your identity. Little Yu,” Song He said in a low voice.
Jingyu’s smile faded a little. “In that situation just now, if I had stood alone, I would have been the one out of place.”
Song He glanced at her from the side. Seeing that she knew what she was doing, he strode forward to the front hall.
The screen was composed of four paintings. One was of a white cat chasing a butterfly in a flower bush, one was of a lush camellia blooming on a continuous range of mountains, one was a side profile of a lady, and the last was a courtyard with a white rabbit looking at the moon, and on one side, a tiger with only half its face, one paw, and a few whiskers showing was lying down.
Yuli and the others let out exclamations of amazement. Except for the tiger’s paw in the courtyard picture, the others were too in line with Huayan Fang. And the painting was perfect, the colors were bright, and the blank space was appropriate. It was indescribably beautiful, and one couldn’t take one’s eyes off it.
Yuli liked it very much. It was a gift from Xie Yao, and she accepted it with a clear conscience.
She had Song He’s people arrange it in the hall, so that one could see the faint colors upon entering, and the whole picture after brushing aside the gauze curtain, which would surely be stunning and at the same time make people love her shop.
After it was arranged, Yuli was about to go back to continue eating. She casually asked Song He, “Have you had lunch?”
Song He paused. “I have.”
Yuli: “Really? Don’t lie to me.”
Song He said nothing.
Yuli turned to Xiyun. “Take them to the restaurant across the street for lunch. Have the owner put it on Huayan Fang’s account.”
Xiyun, who was standing far away from Song He and the others, agreed as usual and turned to go.
Before Song He left, he sensed Jingyu’s gaze and met her eyes.
Jingyu smiled at him without a sound, a trace of cunning flashing in her eyes.
Song He: …
*
After the Lantern Festival night, Huayan Fang’s business exploded as Yuli had expected.
The hundred or so velvet flowers that Zhile and the apprentices had made before were sold out within ten days. Lizhen had Zhile rush to draw up a catalog for customers to choose from, and took pre-orders. By mid-spring, the delivery date for the most popular flowers was already three months later.
Yingniang’s same-style velvet flower sold unexpectedly well. It was just as Uncle Hu had said; the one thing the capital was not short of was rich people.
When Yuli was on her way to Huayan Fang, she saw a young lady wearing a velvet flower from Huayan Fang. She felt that they were all as beautiful as fairies, and Yuli was overjoyed.
In Mingyue Residence, Yuli would sometimes hum a lighthearted song.
Xie Yao looked at her like this, his expression a mixture of helplessness and depth, but he couldn’t help but smile with her.
During this period, Yuli was very busy. Although she did not greet customers in Huayan Fang, she was in the backyard every day, dealing with some emergencies and maintaining customer relations. She went out early and came back late every day and felt tired when she returned to Mingyue Residence.
When Xie Yao did not come back, she would have her meal, wash up, and go to bed early. When Xie Yao came back, she would force herself to stay up to accompany him.
Sometimes she really couldn’t hold on and would fall asleep while waiting for him in bed. Sometimes she would fall into a deep sleep and wake up to find that he had already gotten up and left.
Sometimes she would be kissed awake in a daze, but she was too sleepy and would push him away, and he would retreat.
Only once, she was woken up in her sleep by a lack of breath. He was kissing her and wouldn’t let go. She wanted to push him, but her hands couldn’t move, and he held them tightly.
She couldn’t resist and could only let him do as he pleased, but he was more controlling than usual.
She subconsciously wanted to hide. His eyes were fixed on her. “Continue to sleep.”
That pair of eyes was dark and fanatical. Yuli was immediately startled awake. How could she dare to sleep? And after he said that, he continued. How could she possibly fall asleep?
Yuli was filled with resentment and anger. She bit his shoulder and couldn’t stop crying.
He didn’t seem to feel any pain and even held her earlobe, his voice low and hoarse as he chuckled, “Bite harder. Bite until it bleeds.”
Yuli couldn’t bite anymore and weakly hammered him, whimpering and cursing, “You villain.”
He chuckled and became even more energetic. Yuli almost fainted before he showed mercy and let her catch her breath.
After that night, Yuli didn’t dare to stay in the shop for too long and would always save some energy to deal with Xie Yao.
Having gained her attention, he was not so crazy anymore and returned to normal.
Yuli thought with some resentment that Xie Yao was like a demon who lived by sucking her essence. One suck would last for a while. Once she was a little far from him and did not give him enough company, he would show his true demon form and suck his fill at once.
*
At the beginning of mid-spring, she got the account books for the first month of opening and calculated that she had already started to make a profit. Yuli was so happy she couldn’t close her mouth.
The revenue from Xiangfu Zhai was still sent to her every month. The profit from Huayan Fang this month was not even a fraction of that money, but the satisfaction Yuli gained was a hundred times more than the money she had gotten for free.
Because Huayan Fang, from the selection of the shop to the renovation, and especially the selection of talent, was all built up bit by bit through her own ability.
It was a good thing she had worked for many years in the modern era, and thanks to that balding boss, she was familiar with all aspects of company management, which was why she had achieved such success.
It seemed that her miserable life as a worker in the modern era was not because she was too bad, but because the environment was not good.
Yuli was calculating on her abacus. If things continued like this, she would be able to buy a small house in the capital in less than two years. Even if she didn’t live there usually, she could leave it empty and go for a short stay at any time.
She also wanted to give bonuses to Zhile and Lizhen. They were the ones who had worked the hardest during this period. She really wanted to act like a nouveau riche and give them each a house or something.
Yuli was daydreaming, but she had not forgotten that all her start-up capital had been given by Xie Yao.
She had previously thought of saving up to pay him back. Now that she could really earn it herself, she felt that it was fine to spend it. If she paid him back, he might not be happy, so it was better not to.
Yuli sighed with a smile. People really need a sense of value to not be afraid of gain and loss.
Having decided to keep his money, Yuli specially took a whole day to make Xie Yao’s favorite dishes and steamed custard buns. Although others could also make them, and he had said that he had not married her to cook for him, she could see that he still liked what she made herself the most.
Before Xie Yao returned, he already knew what Yuli had done. The Southern Garrison and Du Ling had already set out. The court affairs were important, but not so important to him. He had postponed what he could and left the Imperial Palace early to return to Mingyue Residence.
Yuli wore a beautiful dress and even put on light makeup. She had arranged for a maid to wait at the second gate in advance. When she saw him return, she would come and report, and she would immediately go to greet him eagerly.
Xie Yao no longer deliberately wore light-colored clothes to pretend to be gentle. Today, he wore a crimson-purple scholar’s robe, with a black jade waist pendant, with a faintly visible carved dragon pattern, and he walked with a grand stride.
The crimson-purple matched his aura, making the arrogance and majesty of a superior that surrounded him even more apparent. But when he saw Yuli, he curled his lips, and a faint light lit up in his eyes. The majesty around him immediately weakened into a relaxed and contented air, but it was not without the condescending gaze of a superior who was willing to submit to the person before him.
Yuli could naturally see that he was waiting for her to take the initiative to hug him and say something he liked.
Yuli usually went along with him, and today she was even more intimate. She took a few quick steps to him, threw herself into his arms, and held his waist. She called him sweetly, “Husband.”
Xie Yao stood still. Before he could raise his hand to hug her back, Yuli tightened her arms and then quickly let go.
Yuli gave him enough emotional value, took his hand, and returned to Mingyue Residence. She served him food with full energy, watched him with concentration, and chatted with him.
After the meal, Yuli walked with him in the garden. It was early spring, and the flowers and trees in the garden had already sprouted new buds, a tender green that was almost transparent, making one feel a sense of pity. Yuli took a deep breath, and a sense of happiness filled her heart. She held Xie Yao’s arm and said to him, “I really want to live like this forever.”
Xie Yao replied, “Are you satisfied with just this?”
“It’s not about being satisfied or not. It’s just that at this moment, everything I have is just right, and I have a stable hope of realizing my wishes step by step. I’m very happy.” It was not just happiness. Her heart was calm and full, a feeling she had never had before.
But Xie Yao seemed not to be able to appreciate it and just smiled faintly at her.
Yuli didn’t say any more of these things. She looked at him. He was also a part of what she had now.
Sensing that Yuli’s gaze was as gentle as water, Xie Yao finally felt some happiness. She was satisfied with just this. If she became the empress and owned the world, she should always look at him like this.
Yuli also smiled at him, hoping that he could feel her importance. She held him and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Including you.”
After Yuli finished speaking, she wanted to run away. Xie Yao was quick and hooked her waist, pulling her back. He held the back of her head and kissed her lips.
Yuli was kissed until she was panting heavily. After pushing him away, her mouth was dry, and her voice was hoarse. “Let’s not walk anymore. Let’s go back to Mingyue Residence.”
Mingyue Residence, bedchamber.
Their lips were intertwined, their breathing like the wind.
The warm yellow candlelight flickered incessantly.
Yuli took the initiative to climb onto Xie Yao and unfasten his buckle. She hooked her arms around his neck, held his face, and licked and kissed his lower lip.
Xie Yao was about to go crazy.