Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 224 - 223: Found the Origin

Chapter 224: Chapter 223: Found the Origin

Mr. Zeng came from the backyard to report, "Miss, Uncle Chen and I returned late this afternoon. The rapeseed is growing well, we should be able to harvest it in about half a month. It seems that our hundred acres of fields should earn about sixty taels of silver after deducting the rent for the tenant farmers and taxes."

Chen Afu laughed, "Good, you’ve worked hard, go back to your room and rest well." He quickly made arrangements for someone to call Mrs. Wang and Chen Ming for dinner.

Chen Afu had the rooms tidied up. Yang Chao was injured and had to sleep with the wet nurse, Mrs. Li, in the east wing guest room. The two little girls would sleep in their own bedroom upstairs, and Chen Dabao would sleep on the Luohan Bed in the main room.

Once everything was in place, he took the three children, three birds, and two dogs to the east side of Fu Garden to meet Dabao and Alu.

All the servants’ children from Tang Garden knew that this was the time when Aunt Chen from Fu Garden would come to pick up Dabao. They would also time their arrival to come here and play. Even Luo Mingcheng had come over. It was the busiest moment of the day here.

Chen Afu liked children and hoped that Chu Hanyan could have more interaction with them. Every time they came over, he would take out some candies from his wallet and give them to the children.

When Dabao and Alu returned and saw that Yang Chao and Yang Qian had arrived, and Animal House was back, they were very excited. They also expressed sympathy for the injured Yang Chao.

Chen Afu held Dabao and Alu and provided some on-the-spot education, they should not play too wildly with their peers. If they got injured like Yang Chao, they wouldn’t be able to go to school. Especially, he told Alu, who’s older, to keep a close eye on Dabao.

Alu replied, "Don’t worry, big sister, Mr. Jiang values Dabao more than anyone, none of the peers from the private school dare to offend him."

Seeing his envious expression, Chen Afu laughed and tapped his little head, saying, "Then you, as his little uncle, should take even better care of your nephew. Don’t let those who are unhappy with him bully him."

Alu nodded in agreement.

When they returned home, not only did Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang arrive, but even Mrs. Chen and Dahu had come.

Chen Ming was extremely happy and had quite a bit to drink. The yield from these hundred acres was not considerable, but it excited him more than any other income.

Mrs. Chen laughed, "Look at you being so happy, the yield is much lower than your earnings from Xinglong Wine Shop."

Chen Ming laughed, "You can’t think of it that way. Although these fields were given to me by Afu as a filial gift, I put in effort as well. As for the wine shop, I neither invested money nor I put in any effort. No matter how much I earn from there, it doesn’t make me as happy as the yield from the fields." He then turned his head to ask Chen Afu, who was sharing a table and eating with the children, "Afu, wasn’t your shop short of funds? Once I get the silver by the end of the month, you can take it first."

Chen Afu laughed, "Thank you, Dad, Tang Garden gave another 600 taels of entry silver, that should be enough."

Mrs. Chen was startled; she hadn’t heard about this at all. However, she was smart enough not to ask about it immediately.

After dinner, Chen Afu and Mrs. Wang took the children to play in the backyard, and Mrs. Chen and Chen Ming returned to Lu Garden.

In an envious whisper, Mrs. Chen said, "Afu is very capable, he opened another shop, in the town or county town?"

Chen Ming replied, "In Dingzhou."

With a tsk, Mrs. Chen started another inquiry. "What share did you get?"

Chen Ming furrowed his brows, "Mother, it’s not feasible for Afu to engage me in every business of hers, I don’t have even a single share."

Mrs. Chen shot him a disapproving look, scoldingly saying, "You fool, you raised her like your own daughter, it’s only right that you should have a share of her business."

Feeling discontented, Chen Ming raised his voice, "What kind of things are you saying, mother? I can make a living by myself, Afu has already given me so much, it’s not right to demand more from her." Then, his voice softened, "I’m healthy now and I have capital, so I can start earning on my own. I’ve been thinking about opening a shop in town, it’s near, convenient to manage. Afu said it would be best to open it in the county town, where the purchasing power is much stronger and it’s not that far from home. In the future, I’ll sell grains and watermelons. When Fuyunlai Trading Company has some rare quality goods, she will also supply them to me. I’ll set up the shop as soon as Zeng Shuang finds the right shopkeeper for me."

Mrs. Chen hastily approved, "Good, good. You’re right, my third son, you should earn by yourself." Then, she added, "Will you let your older brother take a stake in your shop? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Dabao pays his fair share of the entry silver."

Shaking his head, Chen Ming said, "Mother, you know Dabao’s wife well enough. She made such a mess last time at the Xinglong Wine Shop. If she gets involved, no amount of stake would satisfy her unless it’s all hers."

With a snort, Mrs. Chen exclaimed, "That reckless woman, Mrs. Hu, always so greedy and never learns restraint. She has brought hardship upon Dabao and Agui. My oldest son, it’s pitiful." She pulled Chen Ming’s arm, "My second child, I know that because of her, you and Alu have had conflicts with your elder brother. But you must remember who suffered and worked the most when you were young, Dabao. If it weren’t for him, you and Alu wouldn’t have such good lives. Now that you all have money, it’s only right to help Dabao a bit."

If it had been before, Chen Ming would definitely have given Dabao a 20% stake without hesitation. But after that incident caused by Mrs. Hu at Xinglong Wine Shop, he became even more suspicious and wary of Dabao’s wife. He preferred to avoid any financial entanglements with them.

He said, "I’ve always appreciated Dabao’s help. When the shop starts making profit, I will definitely show my respect to you, mother, and gratitude to my brother. In the future, I’ll suggest that Agui buy more land. If Dabao wants to set up a shop, I can lend him the money."

...

In the Fu Garden, Manager Luo brought Chen Afu a silver note worth 600 taels of silver - Tang Garden’s investment in the Fuyunlai Trading Company.

Chen Afu only kept over a hundred taels of silver and let Zeng Shuang take the remaining 500 taels to set up a shop. Such a small amount of silver was only enough to rent a small floor as a commercial shop.

Now, with an additional 600 taels of silver, and a set of valuable jewelry from Chen Shiying, she thought about selling the jewelry and some of the gems and jade from her inventory. She could just say they were gifts from Chen Shiying. By selling them, she could garner more money to buy a shop, once and for all.

She couldn’t help but laugh wickedly as she thought about how Shiying would wince if he knew she was pawning the jewelry he gave her.

She then said to Manager Luo, "If Tang Garden has someone heading to Dingzhou, please ask them to pass a message to Zeng Shuang that he needn’t rush to rent a shop. Let him look for bigger, better shops instead, preferably a two-story building with a yard and side rooms, around the cost of 2,000 taels of silver. If he finds one, have it reserved. In a while, I’ll make time to visit Dingzhou. I was given some jewelry by Mr. Chen which I’ll sell at the Silver Tower."

A shop selling crops doesn’t necessarily have to be at an especially prominent location, as long as it’s near the area where wealthy residences are concentrated. The shops here aren’t cheap but they’re not outrageously expensive either, and over 2,000 taels of silver should be sufficient to buy quite a decent one. Such a shop could not only be used for selling goods but could also provide accommodations and be used as a warehouse.

Manager Luo hesitantly said with a laugh, "Ms. Chen, there is some silver in Tang Garden’s accounts, and I have some too. Why not, let’s not sell the jewelry, I can lend you some silver?"

Chen Afu declined, "No, I don’t fancy wearing such extravagant jewelry, it’s a waste to leave them lying around. It’s better to sell them and convert them into cash."

With no choice, Manager Luo could only nod, "Alright, there’s someone heading to Dingzhou tomorrow, I’ll have him find Zeng Shuang."