The Female Cannon Fodder With Boundless Merits
Chapter 454 - 458: Shang Family’s Daughter (19)

Chapter 454: Chapter 458: Shang Family’s Daughter (19)

On the fourth day, the fifth day...but by the sixth day, many people couldn’t hold on anymore.

They were all ordinary citizens, not wealthy families; they had to split a single piece of money in half to spend it.

During these days, not buying from Su Family’s store and turning to other merchants, not only was the quality worse than the Su Family’s, but even the prices were much higher.

Whether it was threads, rice, or flour, these daily necessities that were indispensable, even if the price was just one Silver Coin higher, after a few days, it added up to a significant amount for the citizens.

Before, when they shopped daily at the Su Family’s store, they didn’t notice the bargains, thinking that, after all, how could business be done without profit.

No one is shrewder than merchants; no one truly believed that the Su Family would be that benevolent.

But it was only after a few short days that they realized, it was the Su Family’s store that actually had a conscience.

Grumbled as they might, a portion of the people still decided to return to the Su Family’s store to make their purchases.

"What do you mean, there’s none left? That’s impossible, I saw just a few days ago that your store had fully restocked its inventory."

"No goods left, what do we do? My family is still waiting to cook with rice and flour."

...

This kind of talk was happening in every one of the Su Family’s stores that were still temporarily open.

"Sorry, because no one was buying, our Miss Su decided to donate it all. A new group of refugees arrived in the county, and Miss Su felt very sympathetic towards them."

"Business has been difficult; our store didn’t make much money before, and we had a lot of inventory pressure. The money lost these past few days has made Miss Su feel it isn’t worth it. Once we’ve dealt with the little stock remaining in the store, we are planning to close."

"Yes, yes, Miss Su said that over the years, Old Master Su has lost a lot of Silver Coin, and now that she’s back with the Su Family, she doesn’t plan on being the one to suffer those losses."

"There are other stores in the Capital, aren’t there? You can still go to the Wu Family’s or the Li Family’s shops to buy. Didn’t you all buy from them in the previous days? What’s stopping you from buying there in the future?"

...

The citizens of the Capital wanted to cry but had no tears to shed, for the Su Family was directly planning not to open the store anymore.

Where were they supposed to buy their goods from then, really go to the Wu’s or Li’s to shop? That would certainly require spending much more money.

The remaining citizens became restless; they had dared to join in the ruckus, mostly because they had now come to see that Old Master Su was a truly kind person, who, even if angered, wouldn’t hold too much of a grudge against them.

Besides, it wasn’t just them saying so; weren’t others spreading bad rumors about the Su Residence and Miss Su too?

They had not imagined that this would drive the Su Family out of business.

It wasn’t just the citizens of the town who were fretful; the county magistrate was worried too.

The county magistrate was already fuming because the Su Family had rejected his proposal before.

There went his political achievements—a considerable loss, just like that.

Apart from Mr. Su, the Great kind person, he really couldn’t think of anyone else who would give away real money for the sake of doing good deeds.

The merchants in the town, each one more cunning than the last, it would be good enough if they didn’t take this opportunity to make money.

When the county magistrate heard that the Su Family was going to close all their shops, he clenched his hand so hard that he pulled out a large clutch of his finely groomed beard.

He didn’t even have the time to feel the pain and leaped in shock.

"Is this really true?"

"Absolutely true."

The county magistrate now deeply regretted his decision of a few days ago.

He shouldn’t have stood by indifferently, watching those people slander the Su Family.

It was an issue he could have easily resolved with just a word, but out of feeling it was inconvenient, he let it continue to develop.

The county magistrate was filled with remorse for his cautious attitudes.

In this town, the prestige of the Su Family was even higher than his as the county magistrate, which irked him greatly.

Moreover, he genuinely felt that the actions of Miss Su were improper.

Since ancient times, women have always been obedient and virtuous, following their fathers at home, their husbands upon marriage, and their sons upon their husbands’ death.

Yet the behavior of Miss Su from the Su Family could now be said to be heretical and rebellious.

While the law did allow for a woman to divorce, such a trend should not be encouraged. If other women were to follow suit, what would become of society? Chaos would ensue.

However, the county magistrate currently had no time to ponder these matters.

"Send someone to invite Mr. Su to the residence for a talk."

---------

"What, Mr. Su and Mrs. Su have already left to travel and study?"

"I heard the Su Family adopted two Xiao Tongs, and Old Master Su is personally teaching them. For the children’s education, the elder couple of the Su Family decided to travel all the way to the Capital. Now the head of the Su Family is Miss Su."

"But I also heard that Miss Su is not at home either, she went to another estate to ease her mind."

The county magistrate’s hair whitened with worry. Outside, there was a tumult because of the closing of the Su Family’s shop, causing several conflicts with the workers from the Wu and Li Families over the issue of goods pricing.

If things continued to develop, there would likely be an uprising.

Meanwhile, Su Li, who was supposed to be away at another estate to ease her mind, was actually sitting comfortably inside the large house of the Su Family.

In front of her sat two pale-faced beautiful women clutching handkerchiefs and shedding tears.

"Sister, my mother-in-law keeps egging my husband on to divorce me, saying that the upbringing of the Su Family is questionable, after all, I came from the Shang Family. She has never approved of this marriage, and only compromised because of my husband’s insistence."

The speaker was Second Miss Su, her expression frantic, her sobs unceasing.

Hearing her sister’s words, Third Miss Su’s clasped hands involuntarily tightened.

Su Li glanced at her sister’s fingernails digging into her flesh and said, "Third Sister, is your family the same?"

Third Miss Su forced a smile, "My in-laws also listened to the rubbish talk from outsiders..."

Su Li dismissed it, "Stop crying. I thought it was something serious. You should remember, you didn’t bring a small dowry when you got married."

It wasn’t hard to grasp the hidden meaning in her words, considering the recent actions of their eldest sister.

"No, Lady, you mustn’t..."

Two handsome and fair-complexioned men rushed in, breathlessly and anxiously saying to their Ladies, "Lady, don’t listen to what my mother says, I would never divorce you."

"Husband..." Simultaneously, Second Miss Su and Third Miss Su stood up and rushed to their respective husbands.

"Lady, I couldn’t stop the two young masters," the housekeeper said, head bowed.

Su Li hummed an acknowledgment and dismissed the housekeeper.

Had it not been her intention, these two unlucky brothers-in-law would never have been able to enter the Su Residence.

Not too bad, not every man was as worthless as Yuan Wen.

---------

Three days later, in front of the Su Family’s other courtyard, a large carriage was followed by two smaller ones.

Apart from Su Li, her two sisters and their husbands also followed her out of the city.

To say that Su Li had secretly closed all the Su Family’s shops in the city and sold off many valuable items, only to invest them in maritime trade, was an understatement.

Nobody knew that the entire Su Family had left the town in secret.

Old Master Su and Mrs. Su, bringing the two young ones along, headed towards the Capital, and nobody knew how Su Li convinced Old Master Su, at his age, to leave his hometown.

As a result, after more than half a month of travel, the carriages entered a small town and came to a halt.

Old Master Su stepped out of the carriage, puzzled, and asked, "Why have we stopped here?"

"Father..." A familiar voice, which shouldn’t be present in this place, happened to be here.

The astute Old Master Su immediately knew that this must have been his eldest daughter’s doing.