The next day, Ruan Jiu's eyes were swollen like two big walnuts.
When Chuntao entered the room, she was startled.
After repeated inquiries, Ruan Jiu only said that she didn't sleep well last night.
But Chuntao thought she was worried about the lack of staff in the silk store, and must have secretly cried in the quilt last night.
But as soon as they arrived at the silk store, Chuntao was immediately dumbfounded.
All the words she had prepared to comfort her cousin were stuck in her throat.
"What... what's going on?"
Chuntao looked at the busy figures in the silk store in disbelief.
Qiuniang, Xiaowu, and those伙计 who had left before had all come back.
Everyone was busy with their usual work.
Just then, Qiuniang saw the two of them coming and immediately greeted them with a smile.
Seeing Chuntao's confused face, Qiuniang reached out and tapped Chuntao's head. "Aren't you happy that we're back?"
Chuntao covered her head, and a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.
But soon she hid her joy and snorted. "You're really good at following the trend!"
What she meant was that when the silk store was in trouble, they all left.
Now that they heard the silk store was doing well, they all came back.
Seeing that Chuntao still held a grudge against Qiuniang and the others for leaving, Ruan Jiu and Qiuniang exchanged a smile.
"Cousin, you'd better tell Chuntao the truth. Look at her eyes. She恨不得 tear me to pieces." Qiuniang said with a laugh as she looked at Ruan Jiu.
So Ruan Jiu quickly told Chuntao the truth.
It turned out that when Li Deming persuaded the silk store's staff to leave at first, Qiuniang and the others had told Ruan Jiu about it.
Many people in the silk store had received favors from Ruan Jiu.
How could they be taken away by Li Deming's few words?
Ruan Jiu always felt that there must be someone behind all these things, so she decided to play along.
She asked Qiuniang and the others to pretend to leave with Li Deming in order to find out who was behind it.
"Oh, I see." Chuntao suddenly realized, and then pouted. "Cousin is so bad. You only kept it from me."
Chuntao was simple-minded, and Ruan Jiu didn't mean to keep it from her.
Ruan Jiu affectionately took Chuntao's arm and coquettishly said, "If I hadn't done this, how could I have seen my dear Chuntao arguing with so many people for me?"
Hearing this, Chuntao tried to hold back the smile on her lips and proudly raised her head. "I won't talk to you anymore. I have to go and see if anyone is slacking off."
After Chuntao left, Ruan Jiu and Qiuniang went to the inner room together.
After all, there was still an important matter.
"Qiuniang, have you found out who is behind all this?"
Qiuniang nodded and then shook her head.
"We only know that the person is from the capital, and others call him Young Master Shen."
That day, after Li Deming led the silk store's staff away, they went straight to the Zhou's Cloth Store on the next street.
The Zhou's Cloth Store sold coarse cloth and had been doing so-so in Qinzhou City over the years.
But when Qiuniang went there, she found that Boss Zhou had poached them to make silk.
You know, coarse cloth and silk are two different materials. Silk is not only complicated in craftsmanship, but also its raw materials are dozens of times more expensive than coarse cloth.
It would be impossible for Boss Zhou alone, even if he emptied his family fortune.
Later, Qiuniang found that Boss Zhou always quietly went to the Mingxiang Teahouse and was very respectful to a young man.
After some inquiries, she learned that the young man was called Young Master Shen and was from the capital.
It was he who silently supported Boss Zhou to switch to making silk.
As for the rest, they knew nothing.
Qiuniang told Ruan Jiu all the information she had found out without missing a single word.
Ruan Jiu propped her chin and looked solemn.
Young Master Shen?
The capital?
When did she ever offend such a person?
"Qiuniang, thank you. You've worked hard these days." Ruan Jiu said gratefully.
"Cousin, what are you saying! If it weren't for you, Huzi and I would have starved to death long ago!"
Since the day she was saved by Ruan Jiu, Qiuniang had sworn that she would stay by Ruan Jiu's side for the rest of her life.
"But cousin, what are you going to do next?"
Ruan Jiu narrowed her eyes, frowned, and thought for a long time.
As her frown relaxed, she had an idea in mind.
"The Mingxiang Teahouse is just across the street. I'll go and meet this Young Master Shen right now."
Rather than waiting for the other person's next move, it's better to be more direct.
The Mingxiang Teahouse was the largest teahouse in Qinzhou City. Although it was across the street from the silk store, Ruan Jiu had never been there.
Today, thanks to this Young Master Shen, she could finally have a taste.
It seemed that Young Master Shen had also expected Ruan Jiu to come looking for him.
As soon as Ruan Jiu walked into the Mingxiang Teahouse, a servant led her directly to the private room where Young Master Shen was.
"Miss Ruan, please."
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu didn't hesitate. She smiled gracefully and sat down generously.
She saw that Young Master Shen was still dressed in white, holding the gold - edged folding fan in his hand.
He looked in his early twenties, with a handsome and refined face.
Every move of his exuded nobility.
There was a smile in his eyes, but it didn't reach the bottom of them.
Young Master Shen filled a cup with tea on the table and then pushed it in front of Ruan Jiu. "This is Yunwu Tea. It has a mellow taste. Try it."
Ruan Jiu smiled faintly at the corner of her lips and pushed the cup back. "I dare not drink this tea."
"Oh?" Young Master Shen raised the corner of his lips and folded his arms across his chest. "Why do you say so, Miss Ruan?"
"I'm afraid I've encountered too many bad things recently. A large number of fake brocades have appeared in Qinzhou City, which almost got me kicked out of the Xie family. Chen Jiaojiao and her mother deliberately deceived me, and the staff of the silk store all left.
One thing after another, the person behind all this wishes to kill me.
What if there's poison in this Yunwu Tea? It would implicate you.
Am I right, Young Master Shen?"
Seeing Ruan Jiu calmly list out all the things he had done, Young Master Shen had never seen such a woman before.
At first, he thought Ruan Jiu was just a beautiful but empty - headed vase, but unexpectedly, she was much smarter than he had imagined.
"Hahaha." Young Master Shen laughed. "Miss Ruan is really eloquent."
Ruan Jiu lowered her head and smiled faintly.
When she raised her head again, all the smiles on her face had disappeared.
"I wonder where I offended Young Master Shen that made you deliberately make things difficult for me again and again." Ruan Jiu said coldly and got straight to the point.
Ruan Jiu's sudden change made the smile on Young Master Shen's face freeze.
"I'm new here. If I've offended you in any way, please forgive me, Miss."
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu tried hard to hold back the urge to roll her eyes.
Offended?
Forgive?
She said angrily, "Well, with Young Master Shen's behavior, you must have been unable to stay in the capital, so you came to Qinzhou.
If you ever need help in the future, Young Master Shen, just ask. I'll surely kick you when you're down."
After saying that, Ruan Jiu forced a smile at Young Master Shen.
When it came to arguing, if she said she was second, no one would dare to claim to be first.
Hearing Ruan Jiu's words, Young Master Shen wasn't angry.
After all, he was in the wrong first, so he couldn't blame Ruan Jiu for not giving him a good look.
He just thought that Ruan Jiu would at least try to negotiate with him for a while.
Unexpectedly, she was so straightforward, which was just to his liking.
"Actually, I didn't mean to make things difficult for a little girl like you. It's just that someone made a very interesting deal with me."
Ruan Jiu didn't expect Young Master Shen to be so direct in telling her.
She pursed her lips, with a complex look on her face.
Sure enough, it was as she had guessed.