Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 222 - 221 Ninth Master

Chapter 222: Chapter 221 Ninth Master

Chen Afu thought long and hard about it, but in the end, she felt she needed to be pragmatic. The class system in ancient times was strict. Even if Mr. Chu sincerely liked her now, there were too many external forces preventing him from marrying her. For example, the pressure from older family members, arranged marriages for the sake of the family’s future, overwhelming public opinion, and so on. Besides, he seemed to be domineering at first glance, and she had traveled in time. Even if she was suspicious, careful, and cautious, her perspectives and actions wouldn’t be the same as those of a native woman, considered the "virtuous and good". If two people who are both strong-willed spend a lot of time together, it is easy for conflicts to arise...

She is now a single mother, has a son, and can make her own money. The kind of life she wants to lead can be entirely up to her. She could not naively throw away this magnificent opportunity to gamble on an unknown emotion.

However, she would have to be more cautious in her interactions with Mr. Chu in the future. She would have to maintain a normal superior-subordinate relationship and could not flawlessly provoke his anger... She thought about it until the middle of the night and then slowly fell asleep.

The next day, she woke up with dark circles under her eyes, sent Dabao off, and welcomed Ms. Chu from the daycare center.

The first thing Ms. Chu said when she came over was, "Auntie, daddy asks you to take me to see my grandmother when you’re not busy, I miss her too."

Chen Afu nodded with a smile. She also missed that graceful woman. She said, "Okay, after I make the White Robe for Abbot Liao Chen, I will take you there."

While they were talking, seeing Auntie Zeng going to the county town to buy cloth to make a White Robe, Chen Afu also remembered Ms. Yang, who had asked her to pick her up in the county town.

So she stopped Auntie Zeng and said, "I’ll go to the county town with you and stop by The Yangs to see Sister Qian."

When Chu Hanyan heard that Auntie was going to see Sister Qian, she clamored to go.

Chen Afu was pleased. The fact that the little girl actively asked to visit was a significant improvement. So she agreed and asked Luo Mei to go to Tang Garden and tell Manager Luo to arrange for a few more guardians to accompany them.

Manager Luo was happy about Hanyan’s progress when he heard about it, so he came with ten guardians and two carriages.

Chen Afu, with the little lady, Mrs. Song, and Luo Mei, got onto one carriage. Auntie Zeng and Xia Yue, with a few boxes of homemade snacks, got onto the other carriage. Manager Luo himself drove the carriage with Chen Afu, leading the guardians on horseback and heading to Sanqing County together.

On the way, Manager Luo asked Chen Afu about the new business venture in Dingzhou. He also mentioned that his master said he couldn’t simply take that 20% share without contributing anything, so he would invest 600 taels of silver.

Half a month ago, Chen Afu had sent Zeng Shuang to Dingzhou to prepare to open a business. The business was named Fuyunlai Trading Company, which would mainly deal with the family’s watermelons, food crops, and all other profitable trades.

To ensure that The Chus can escort the business, she mentioned to Manager Luo that she wanted to give a 20% share to Tang Garden and a 10% share to Manager Luo’s family. She also thought that Mr. Chu might not be interested in a small shop like hers. If he didn’t want it, she would give Manager Luo a 20% share.

Manager Luo had laughed at that time and said, "I’ll just accept that 20% share on behalf of Tang Garden. Ms. Chen is smart. The business you open will definitely make money. I’ll report this to my master when he returns. But, I am a servant of Tang Garden, how can I hold a share with my master? So, I won’t take it."

Chen Afu said that giving the share to Tang Garden was a courtesy statement; she didn’t want to have too many interactions with Mr. Chu. She genuinely wanted to give it to Manager Luo. With him helping, nobody would dare to make trouble with the business. But she didn’t expect Manager Luo to reply like that, so she could only agree too.

Now hearing that Mr. Chu would give 600 taels of silver, she hurriedly modestly said, "That small shop... 600 taels is too much! I can’t accept."

She knew that her business was small now, but it would definitely grow bigger in the future. 600 taels for 20% share was not too much. But with The Chu’s reputation on top, she was getting the better end of the deal.

Manager Luo chuckled, "Both my master and I trust Ms. Chen. The business will undoubtedly improve in the future. Our Tang Garden will not be at a loss."

When they arrived in the county town, they first went to a cloth shop and bought two pieces of fine cloth suitable for making White Robes. They also bought some silk and detailed cloth for their own clothes. It was already midday.

The group went to a wine-shop for midday meal. The plaque on the wine-shop showed the words "Good Yet Again." Chen Afu always felt that the place was familiar.

Mr. Luo laughed and said, "Ms. Chen, don’t you realize? This is the old Xile Grand Restaurant."

Chen Afu started laughing in realization.

She remembered the last time she came here was to sell prescriptions. She had to wear a hat to cover her face, afraid that bad men would take notice of her. But now, she was flanked by bodyguards and servants, scaring the bystanders away. With the little girl Chu’s prestige, she also acted like a privileged class.

Just as they entered the wine-shop, they encountered more than a dozen burly men, one of whom was pushing a young master forward.

The young master was in his early twenties, handsome and elegant, and wearing luxurious clothes. Unfortunately, he was a cripple and was sitting in a wheelchair.

Chen Afu instinctively felt that these people were not ones that she or even Tang Garden could afford to provoke and quickly looked away. Yet, she couldn’t help but glance once more at the young master. He seemed familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before even though she was certain she hadn’t.

Even though she merely glanced an instant longer, and a faint emotion flashed across her face, it seemed to be detected by the burly men who glared at her angrily. She quickly lowered her head, holding Chu Hanyan’s hand even tighter, fearing that the little girl would offend them.

When Manager Luo saw the young master, he was also taken aback and quickly bowed, saying, "This humble one has seen Ninth... Ninth Master."

The Ninth Master nodded and looked past Manager Luo at the people behind him, finally fixing his eyes on Chen Afu and Chu Hanyan.

He asked, "Is this little lady Mr. Chu’s daughter? She does indeed look very similar to Mr. Chu." His voice was clear, cold, and peaceful, like a clear spring on a mountaintop.

Manager Luo bowed and replied, "Yes, it’s my family’s lady, her name is Hanyan." He then turned around and called, "Lady, come and greet Ninth... Ninth Master." He knew that his young mistress was shy around strangers, but since the Ninth Master had already spoken, he had to push his young mistress to go and pay respects.

Chu Hanyan was scared and hugged Chen Afu’s waist tightly, burying her head within Chen Afu’s waist, too afraid to step forward. Hearing that the Ninth Master, someone from the Marquis’ Mansion, had asked Hanyan to offer him salutations, Chen Afu guessed that the so-called Ninth Master was either a royal relative or a highly respected noble. She gently patted the top of the little girl’s head and whispered, "Don’t be afraid, Hanyan..." She wanted to persuade the little girl to pay her respects but couldn’t bring herself to do so seeing the little girl’s fear.

Manager Luo bowed again, "Please forgive us, Ninth Master, our little lady is a bit shy."

The Ninth Master did not take offense. He looked at Chu Hanyan kindly saying, "Miss Chu is charming." As he spoke, he took off a green jade bead bracelet from his wrist, gave it to one of his men and asked them to hand it over to the little girl. It was evident from a single glance that the bracelet, which had made two turns around his wrist, was of extraordinary quality.