Chapter 1054: Giving a Hint

Vagrants without household registration are considered drifters, and the government won’t care if they die. However, people with household registration in the neighborhood are considered upstanding citizens, and if one of them dies, it’s a major case of human life; should their family cause a stir, the government will have to intervene.

Ms. Lu explained these twists and turns to Mrs. Chen in detail, which frightened Mrs. Chen: "Oh my God, how can this be? Prefecture City people are too malicious. I’m just trying to do business, yet they want to make it a matter of life and death. A bunch of damn killers, I curse them!"

Third Grandma said, "What’s so surprising about this? Remember when we first set up the tofu stall, Lu Laosan came straight to us trying to snatch our recipe. If you want to open a shop in Prefecture City, you have to be aware of these matters and proceed with utmost caution."

Even with support from Futai Building and the Qi Family, we can’t let our guard down.

Gu Jinli nodded and said, "Third Grandma is right. I’ve had you rewrite it so many times to show you that opening a shop is not simple. It might seem like a good thing, but if you’re careless, it will turn bad."

She admitted that she deliberately put Mrs. Chen in a difficult situation, but it was more about Mrs. Chen not being adequately prepared. She wanted Mrs. Chen to learn a lesson this way.

"What can we do then?" Mrs. Chen asked anxiously, "You know those rich families in Prefecture. Sometimes they just eat something for the novelty, eating one or just a few bites of a plate of golden bean pancake, leaving most uneaten. Looking at this is heart-wrenching."

Mrs. Chen’s family is extremely poor, having also fled famine, and is very careful with food, not wanting to waste any.

Gu Jinli glanced at her: "You haven’t come up with a plan after days of thinking?"

Weren’t you always boasting about your intelligence? Why so slow this time?

"Look at what you say, you made Aunt appear too smart. If I come up with a solution, it’ll be miraculous," Mrs. Chen was carefree enough to seek help from Gu Jinli with a smile: "Xiao Yu, stop teasing, quickly give Aunt an idea. Your family holds the major share of the shop. The silver earned splits mostly to your family, so let’s straighten this out soon so we can open."

Seeing Mrs. Chen had learned a lesson, Gu Jinli thought she’d no longer be careless when opening the shop and said, "There are many ways. If there’s too much bean dregs in the shop, you can make it all into bean cakes. Have Manager Hu from Futai Building liaison to sell the cakes cheaply to Carriage Inn. The inn is full of porters doing hard labor, reluctant to spend money on food. Bean cakes are both filling and nutritious; they will be glad to buy."

However, she reminded, "You must sign a contract with the inn’s owner, selling only to them. The owner inspects the goods before buying, and if nothing goes wrong, they distribute to the porters. So if anything happens, it’s the inn’s owner they find, not us."

"You can also sell to brokers. There are many servants waiting to be sold there, and their daily food expense is considerable. Brokers will be eager to buy those leftover bean cakes cheaply to feed the servants."

With a clap, Mrs. Chen crossed her hands joyfully: "Oh my, Xiao Yu indeed has a solution. As you say, even if we make more tofu and have more bean dregs, it’s all insufficient to sell."

Tian Xiaohua admired Gu Jinli the most, had been listening closely, and felt Sister Xiao Yu was really skillful. She learned another trick and thought she wouldn’t make mistakes when opening her own shop in the future.

"What Xiao Yu says is, this really is a way to make money safely." Ms. Lu had heard that Gu Family’s Second Girl was adept at earning money, though she hardly believed it. Now, hearing her speak, she genuinely admired her; the rumors were indeed true.

But her family background was too poor. If she were an official’s daughter, her father-in-law would strive to marry her to Brother Ming as a wife.

But Gu Family had just risen, and her father-in-law wanted to marry an official’s daughter for Brother Ming, so he planned to marry the granddaughter to a Gu Family son, connecting both families, not thinking of marrying a Gu Family daughter.

"Second Sister-in-law Xu, can you look to see if there’s anything else to change?" Mrs. Chen asked again, showing a face of urgency. If there are no issues, what excuse will Xiao Yu use for her to rewrite?

Ms. Lu shook her head: "None."

Mrs. Chen pointed to the account book and said: "What about the account book, anything needs changing?"

"None, Little Sister-in-law Da Gui did the account book excellently, simple and clear, far better than ours." Ms. Lu had never seen such a bookkeeping method before, where each item is listed so clearly that even a first-time viewer can understand.

"This bookkeeping method was taught by Xiao Yu, and the account books used in our workshop follow this format, the lines prepared in advance. I just write following the lines, saving me a lot of trouble." Mrs. Chen took the chance to praise Gu Jinli. Right after, she turned to Gu Jinli and said, "Second Sister-in-law Xu said everything is fine; surely this time it’s approved?"

Young girl, let’s see you make me rewrite this!

Gu Jinli raised her eyelids to look at Mrs. Chen, giving her a very pleasing smile.

Mrs. Chen shivered in fright, waving her hands: "Don’t smile like that, every time you smile that way, something bad happens; it’s scary."

Gu Jinli put away her smile and said: "No, it still needs rewriting."

"Rewriting again? On what grounds?!" Mrs. Chen exploded, jumping up and rushing to Gu Jinli, waving the paper in her hand: "Look at this, it’s been reviewed by Second Sister-in-law Xu, who manages so many family businesses and said it’s okay, why isn’t it okay for you?"

Gu Jinli calmly threw out a sentence: "Did you change the twenty-third clause? If not, how can I approve it? Hurry home and change it then we’ll talk."

She pointed at the graffiti on those pieces of paper: "Keep the surfaces clean, they always look like ghost talismans, how am I supposed to read them?"

Mrs. Chen was speechless, unable to argue, but after her anger subsided, she said: "This is the last revision. Once I correct it, you must approve it, or I won’t continue."

She’s not here to be the top scorer, yet every day needs to tussle with a few pieces of paper. Is this reasonable?

Gu Jinli smiled: "We’ll see."

Those three words nearly drove Mrs. Chen to explode again.

Ms. Lu quickly laughed and said, "Little Sister-in-law Da Gui, Xiao Yu is just teasing you. Once the twenty-third clause is corrected, and you add the method of handling leftover bean cakes, it will surely be approved."

Ms. Lu knew Mrs. Chen was anxious, afraid she’d rush home for a rewrite without catching the hint, so she diverted the topic saying: "Little Sister-in-law Da Gui, about Girl Ling’s matter, I sincerely apologize, let me make amends on her behalf..."

Before she finished, Mrs. Chen said: "If you don’t mention it, I’d almost forget. No need to apologize, just give her a few more beatings for me."

She continued: "Not to criticize, but your Family’s Girl Xu Ling is really too arrogant. Such a girl, if not disciplined thoroughly at home, knocks out that nasty temper, what will happen once she’s married? She’ll definitely get sent back home."