The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 198 Shop
Shang Wan: "Who's the other one? Be specific, I don't have much patience."

Yu Da hurriedly said, "She's the madam of the Baihua Tower in Zhending Prefecture. Everyone in the tower calls her Mama Qin. Judging from Zhong Chenghong's tone, he doesn't seem to know the madam."

Killing a complete stranger, especially a brothel madam, suggests that Zhong Chenghong is either bored or working for someone else.

Could it be the Marquis of Wu'an?

Why would a dignified Earl like Wu'an go against a madam?
Shang Wan couldn't figure it out for the time being, so she secretly made a note of it and waited for Yu Da to continue.

Yu Da racked his brains and told everything he knew, but it was all information that Shang Wan had heard from Zhong Chenghong, with no other useful information.

Yu Da: "I've told you everything I know, Madam, please forgive Yu Er."

"Fine, I'll spare him." A cold glint flashed in Shang Wan's eyes. "I'll... leave you with a complete corpse."

Thin clouds obscured the moon, the moonlight gradually faded, and darkness prevailed.

·
"You're back?" Lu Chengjing lowered his rolled-up sleeves and strode over to greet him. "How was it?"

"I'll find out some things." Shang Wan handed the sleeping baby to him. "Is everything alright at home?"

"It's nothing, just a few bundles of firewood caught fire in the woodshed." Lu Chengjing glanced at his daughter, who was snoring away, and reached out to pinch her chubby little face.

"Where is Anian?"

“He’s still asleep,” Lu Chengjing said. “We’ll tell him when he asks about it tomorrow morning.”

Shang Wan nodded, and Xiao Huan poked her head out from the kitchen, "Brother-in-law, the water is ready."

Lu Chengjing walked over and handed Yuanyuan to her, asking her to take Yuanyuan to take a bath. He then went to the study with Shang Wan.

The study was pitch black. Lu Chengjing took out a tinderbox, blew on it, and lit the oil lamp.

The two sat down on the couch by the window, and Lu Chengjing picked up the small teapot on the table and poured Shang Wan a glass of water.

Drinking tea at night makes it hard to fall asleep, so Lu Chengjing usually switches to plain water unless absolutely necessary.

Shang Wan held the small teacup and drank it all in one gulp, then picked up the small teapot and refilled it herself.

She said, "Besides me, Zhong Chenghong also had Yu Da and the others kill someone else, Qin Mama, the madam of the Baihualou in Zhending Prefecture."

"A madam?" Lu Chengjing was slightly surprised. "Does he have a grudge against this madam?"

Shang Wan shook her head. "Yu Da said Zhong Chenghong doesn't know this madam."

Lu Chengjing frowned. Hiring someone to kill someone he didn't know in advance usually meant there was only one possibility.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Given Zhong Chenghong's family background, it's impossible for him to spend a thousand taels of silver to hire an assassin. There must be someone behind him directing this."

The two were on the same page, and Shang Wan asked, "How likely do you think this person is to be the Marquis of Wu'an?"

Lu Chengjing shook his head, knowing too little information to speculate at the moment.

Unable to reach a conclusion, the two could only put the matter aside for the time being, since it was none of their business anyway.

The next day, Shang Wan and Xiao Huan drove an oxcart into town and overheard rumors circulating in the village that wolves were eating people.

"The wolf howled so loudly last night that I was too scared to sleep."

"What are you afraid of? If anyone dares to rush into the house, I'll chop them to death with a woodcutter's knife. Wolf meat is very nutritious."

"Not only did the wolves howl, but I also heard someone screaming in agony."

"I heard it too. It was screaming like a ghost. Could it be some kind of mountain spirit or monster?"

"Stop talking nonsense. Where would ghosts come from in broad daylight? I think someone might have been bitten by a wolf."

"Impossible, I didn't hear of anyone being bitten by wolves this morning."

The group chatted animatedly, and when they saw Shang Wan driving by, they quickly asked, "Scholar's wife, did you hear the wolves howling last night? It scared the crap out of us."

An aunt waved her hand, "What kind of question is that? The scholar's family keeps a wolf, so why would he be afraid of the wolf's howl?" "That's true," the man smiled sheepishly, "Fortunately, the wolf kept by the scholar's family doesn't bite people randomly."

"I slept soundly last night and didn't hear it." Shang Wan smiled, exchanged a few words with the others, and then drove the oxcart away.

A young man looked at the oxcart and sighed, "Ah, if only I knew those herbs, I would go up the mountain to collect herbs and sell them. Look at other people, they have built big houses, they have no worries about food and drink, and they go to the city every day. I really envy them."

People chimed in from twos and threes, exchanged a few more words, and then dispersed.

While the sun is still high in the sky, let's hurry up and finish the work in the fields.

After entering the city, Shang Wan first went to Gu'an Hall to sell the medicinal herbs, and then went to the pharmacy to sell the ones of slightly lower quality.

Xiao Huan looked around and asked, "Sister, there are several pharmacies on this street. Shall we open our shop here too?"

"Let's see if there are any vacant shops."

Shang Wan couldn't help but thank the Yu brothers again for their generous donation of one thousand taels of silver. With this money, they could skip the stage of saving silver and directly look for a suitable shop.

The two sat on the oxcart and looked at each shop one by one, but they didn't see a single empty shop.

"Let's go check out the next street." Shang Wan pulled on the reins, and the oxcart turned right, slowly entering the adjacent street.

There are also two pharmacies on this street, neither of which looks very big, but unfortunately there are no vacant shops.

After thinking about it, Shang Wan decided to go to the street next to Gu'an Hall.

She remembered there was an empty shop here when she was strolling around the city a while ago.

If that still doesn't work, then you'll have to find a middleman.

I don't know if it was just bad luck, but the shop was taken over and now only sells cosmetics.

Since they were already there, Shang Wan decided to take Xiao Huan inside for a stroll.

The shop didn't hire any waiters; the owner personally served the two.

While looking around and chatting, Shang Wan learned from the shopkeeper that the annual rent for this shop was two hundred and sixty taels.

She asked, "Are all the shops in town this expensive?"

"How could that be?" The shopkeeper tried on Xiao Huan's lip rouge and laughed. "Although my shop is not big, it has two floors. People can live on the second floor. The annual rent is no more than three hundred taels, which is reasonable. For larger shops, the annual rent is four hundred taels or more."

Collecting rent is still the best; you can earn money passively.

Shang Wan asked, "Has the shopkeeper found a middleman to introduce you?"

The shopkeeper nodded, glanced at Shang Wan, and asked, "So you're thinking of opening a shop and starting a business too?"

"Just a small business," Shang Wan smiled. "My sister and I have been to several places but haven't found any vacant shops. We're thinking of finding someone to introduce us. Do you have any recommendations, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Chen Zhongren is a good person. He has a good reputation in the city and his prices are reasonable."

Shang Wan: "Where does this Mr. Chen live?"

The shopkeeper said, "It's located in the west of the city, in the fifth alley. You can find out by asking when you get there."

Shang Wan noted it down and thanked the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper smiled, put down the lip rouge box, and held up the mirror for Xiao Huan to see herself.

The color of the lip rouge complements her skin tone and makes her look more energetic; Xiao Huan likes it very much.

"Take two boxes if you like." Shang Wan was a generous older sister. She asked the shopkeeper to give her one of each of the floral water, perfume, and face powder that Xiao Huan had just tried.

No woman can resist the allure of cosmetics. Xiao Huan smiled, her eyes crinkling. Seeing that Shang Wan wasn't picking any, she asked in confusion, "Sister, aren't you going to choose some?"

Shang Wan doesn't really like putting things on her face, especially now that it's summer, because it feels stuffy.

Xiao Huan insisted that she choose, and kept nagging if she didn't. She felt her head buzzing, and randomly chose two bottles of fragrant floral water.