Chapter 170: New Plans

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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When the Young Miss saw that those two plagues had left, she finally heaved a sigh of relief. Then she immediately turned to Liu Lin and gave a curtsy, “Thank you so much for earlier… Thank goodness you were here.”

Liu Lin had backed up a step and was waving off her thanks. “It’s nothing, They’re just like that.” Then he thought it over for a moment and decided to advise her, “Young Miss, it would be best if you don’t come out to tidy the place by yourself. Just get your servants to do it. Especially since their lease will be up in a few days, they might come and make trouble. You and this old… Granny, won’t be able to handle them.”

This time, the Young Miss didn’t smile, She covered her lips and gave a soft, “En.” It was clear that something was wrong, but she had no way of explaining it to Liu Lin. 

Since he had already said what he needed to, Liu Lin’s conscience was clear. So he said his goodbyes and turned to leave. 

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Tl bye fwpv zlqv obld vbl sze osxyd qaydvknyzzu ypjle bla Zswdt Ykpp, “Zswdt Ykpp! Mbl zlypl okzz cl wr vbl eyu yqvla! Xwa bswplbsze eslpd’v byhl ydusdl…. Ebu esd’v usw zlv vbkp pzyhl ts yde kdhkvl vbyv Zswdt Yypvla vs nsxl cu vbl eyu yqvla vsxsaaso? Pked’v usw blya bkx xldvksd vbyv bl oydvle vs aldv vbkp pvsal? Gde bl pllxle vs alnstdkpl vbspl vos rlsrzl lyazkla. Ebld vbl vkxl nsxlp…. Tl nyd blzr vs cynj wp wr!”

Mbl Zswdt Ykpp vbswtbv ycswv kv. Tlzrzlppzu, pbl dseele, “Ebu esd’v usw ts yde ypj…”

Fs vbl sze osxyd pvyavle vs nbypl Nkw Nkd. Wasx clbkde, pbl nyzzle, “Zswdt Yypvla, Zswdt Yypvla!” vs vau yde tlv bkp yvvldvksd.&dcpr;

Rq kv olald’v qsa vbl qynv vbyv Nkw Nkd bye fwpv blyae bla hsknl, bl oswzed’v byhl alyzkple pbl oyp nyzzkdt qsa bkx! Rv oyp sdzu clnywpl bl blyae y qyxkzkya hsknl alrlyvlezu nyzzkdt swv vbyv Nkw Nkd pvsse vs zssj yaswde. Frsvvkdt vbl sze plahydv qasx vbl pvsal awd shla, bl oykvle qsa bla. Fbl oyp rydvkdt cu vbl vkxl pbl tsv vs bkx, “Zswdt Yypvla, vbkp Zswdt Yypvla… Pke usw oydv vs aldv vbl pvsal? Ebu esd’v…. Zsw nsxl yaswde vbl eyu yqvla? Mbyv’p obld vbl zlypl kp wr sd vbl pvsal! Vlabyrp… Ebld usw nsxl cu vs byhl y zssj, ol nswze ekpnwpp vbl xyvvla? El okzz xyjl pwal vs nzlyd vbl pvsal wr okvbkd vblpl vos eyup!”

Nkw Nkd pvyavle vs blpkvyvl. Gzvbswtb bl eke pyu bl oydvle vs aldv vbl pvsal, vbyv oyp fwpv bkx nypwyzzu xldvksdkdt kv. Tl lmrzykdle, “R xyu dsv aldv kv. R yx pvkzz zssjkdt….”

Mbl sze osxyd dseele bla blye alrlyvlezu, “Xq nswapl! Mbyv kp sdzu dyvwayz! Ebld usw aldv y pvsal, usw oswze elqkdkvlzu dlle vs zssj yde vbkdj ycswv kv nyalqwzzu… Jwv swa pvsal’p zlypl kp wr vbl eyu yqvla. Gv vbyv vkxl, usw nswze nsxl yde byhl y zssj…”

Nkw Nkd qkdyzzu wdelapvsse bla kdvldvksd. Fbl oyp rascyczu osaakle vbyv vbl eyu yqvla, Wydt Kknbldt oswze nalyvl y pkvwyvksd vbyv pbl yde bla Zswdt Ykpp nswzed’v bydezl. Rv zssjle zkjl vblal olald’v xydu plahydvp kd vbkp Tydzkdqw? Eyp vblal sdzu vbkp sze osxyd plahydv? Rv ynvwyzzu aliwkale vblka Zswdt Ykpp vs nsxl esod rlapsdyzzu vs bydezl vbl pkvwyvksd? Gzvbswtb bl bye xydu iwlpvksdp, Nkw Nkd pvkzz kxxlekyvlzu dseele bkp ytallxldv. “Fwal. R okzz nsxl cu vbl eyu yqvla. Jwv vblal’p ds dlle qsa usw vs nzlyd wr. Mblal’p rascyczu y elye xswpl sa psxlvbkdt kd vbl pvsal. Nlv psxlsdl lzpl nsxl cu vs nzlyd.”

Mbl sze osxyd’p qynkyz lmralppksd jlrv nbydtkdt. Fbl blpkvyvle yde zssjle hlau vaswczle.&dcpr;

Liu Lin shook his head, “Forget it. At the time, I will bring two people over to help you tidy up. Let’s set aside the question of whether or not I rent the store. Even if I rent it, it could be… Let’s talk about this later.” Then he waved his hands and left. 

The old woman repeatedly thanked him and watched as he left. Then she hurriedly turned and went back to the store. She explained what had happened to the Young Miss – the Young Master called Liu Lin would definitely come the day after. As for the matter of cleaning the store – she would think of another way to let her know. She didn’t want to scare her Young Miss. 

Liu Lin went back home and thought about it some more. A few years ago, he had started to consider opening another store – A textiles store. When he first started considering it, it was only for convenience. After all, his family’s handicrafts required lots of cloth. And ever since they’d opened the workshop, their requirements had only increased, so he had continued to develop this idea. 

When his sister Xu’er had become engaged, Liu Lin had already started to think about the question of her dowry. It was just that his parents hadn’t said anything yet, so it wasn’t for him to speak up. He had thought that it would be best for him to open the store before mentioning it. 

From the time his family had started doing handicrafts till now, they had opened three stores and a workshop. Each and every step had been meticulously planned and researched. Liu Lin was very interested in business and had quite a few years of experience under his belt – he could be considered an old hand at this. So he knew that in business, the most important thing was to do his homework and research everything carefully. Especially because they had never done any business related to textiles, so he would need to be extremely careful to research everything about it. 

So, Liu Lin had been researching all the textile shops in Feng town these past few years. He had even checked out the ones in Hanzhong city. He was aware of which cloth sold well, which were average, when cotton was available, and how to tell from early signs what types of cloth would be trendy. He had familiarised himself with everything about the industry. 

He had originally thought to start to prepare for it at the end of this year, and start to buy stock early next year to open up the store. But then, there were the examinations to consider, so he had decisively moved to delay his plans till next year. 

But now, Liu Lin thought – he should probably speak to his family members about this. When he got back, he saw that Liu Shu was also at home, so he dragged him to the room to have some tea, and shared his idea to open a textiles shop. 

“The year after, Xu’er will be getting married. With regard to her dowry, I feel that all three of our shops and the workshop should be given to her… Our family only has Xu’er for a daughter, we only have this one sister. No matter how much we give her, I would still feel it’s too little. Especially since these all belonged to Xu’er to begin with!”

Liu Shu nodded when he heard, “That’s right. Dad and mum have actually discussed this with me before and agreed about that. We just haven’t discussed it in detail.”

Liu Lin nodded when he heard. “That’s good. I plan to open a textile shop. I’m still thinking about it, but our family needs to have something to do in future. And if we manage to do well in Feng town, then we can consider opening another in Hanzhong city…. We will take it slowly. The textile business is actually not bad. And there’s a lot of room for expansion. We can open a small one first in Feng Town and sell ordinary coarse cloth. While at Hanzhong city, we could sell the more expensive grades of cloth. We can slowly think about it.”

Liu Shu nodded his head in support of the idea, “Good plan! You’ve clearly thought this through. Let’s do that then!”

Liu Lin smiled and said, “En, I’ve thought it through carefully. I originally only wanted to mention it after next year’s exam…. Let’s see!”

The two brothers continued to discuss their plans. The day after, Liu Lin spoke to Liu Tao and asked to borrow Xiaoxi for the day. Then he called Xiaobei and Xiaoxi to come with him to the store. 

Although he had come by rather early, Liu Lin saw that the store was already open. That Young Miss and the old servant woman were both already inside.

Seeing that Liu Lin had come by – and so early! – The Young Miss was very grateful. She came forward to offer her thanks and gratitude. Liu Lin waved her thanks off. 

Then he got Xiaobei and Xiaoxi to go and clean up the store. 

The Young Miss’ face was slightly red, and she mumbled her thanks. She couldn’t reject his offer – the store needed to be cleaned. But there was a dead mouse and she was scared so there was no other way but to allow Liu Lin to help. Because they were sweeping the shop, the store became filled with dust. The Young Miss invited Liu Lin to the back of the store to have a seat.

When he sat down, that old woman served them some tea. As Liu Lin sipped it, the Young Miss hesitantly said, “I really need to thank you for coming down today and for helping us to clean…. Our store…” She didn’t know what to say.

Liu Lin saw that she wasn’t someone who knew how to do business. And knowing what he did about her background, although he wasn’t aware of the full details of why the Young Miss of a prestigious family would come personally to clean the store, it was obvious that she had never done this before and didn’t know how. 

So Liu Lin nodded his head and said, “Don’t worry. After cleaning it, I can also have a look and see what the store is like. But I need to make this clear, I probably won’t rent the store immediately. Even if I do rent the store, it might have to wait till the second or third month next year. Furthermore, I need to compare it with other stores.”

The Young Miss quickly nodded and said, “Of course, of course… I’m not trying to force you to rent ours.”

Liu Lin found that amusing. He nodded his head. 

The Young Miss embarrassedly took a sip of her tea. She had originally thought that Liu Lin would ask a lot of questions, but he didn’t even try. The Young Miss started to feel a bit ashamed – she had gotten him to help her, but wasn’t willing to share anything with him. And it was obvious that her situation was strange. 

After taking a sip, she muttered to herself before finally asking, “Could I ask – those two who rented my store… Do you know them? I heard the woman call you by name. And you… clearly recognised them.”

There was nothing to hide, and it was still rather early – who knew when, and whether or not Fang Jicheng would come – , so Liu Lin didn’t mind chatting. He nodded his head and said, “That woman is my tangmei¹堂妹/ Tangmei – Younger female cousin of the same surname – ie, father’s brother’s daughter, my dabo’s daughter. We were all from Taohua Village, but my tangmei’s character is bad, so my family doesn’t get along with her.”

The Young Miss nodded her head in understanding. Actually, just those few sentences made the entire situation clear.

Liu Lin then said, “You don’t have to worry. They had already taken most of the things in the store away that day. They might not even come today. Although he said those words as he was leaving, it was probably just him venting. They wouldn’t dare to actually do anything. It has nothing to do with you.”

The Young Miss nodded her head again and smiled bitterly. After a long while, she said, “My wet nurse and I came, because there was no other choice. There are some issues at home…”

Liu Lin nodded his head, “I thought that must be so. You don’t have to say anything more, if it’s not convenient.”

The Young Miss nodded her head and let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was clear that those few words had already taken a lot out of her. After pausing for a moment, she smiled and asked, “You mentioned you can only confirm your plans next year, in the second or third month. Are you planning to take the examinations in the second month next year?”

The Young Miss was from a scholarly family – it wasn’t strange she would know about these things. So Liu Lin nodded his head and said, “That’s right.” Then he felt a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head and smiled, “I’m just there to test the waters and see what it’s like. I don’t have much hope of actually passing.”

The Young Miss covered her mouth and smiled. 

Liu Lin then said, “You don’t have to be so courteous with me. You can just call me Liu Lin. If you’re too courteous, I feel rather awkward.”

The Young Miss smiled and nodded her head. But then sighed again.