Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 22 It's all her fault! (Seeking monthly votes)

As Lu Jia predicted, after Yu Feng Hao and the He family were both disgraced, the rumors disappeared.

The next morning, Lu Jia and Qiu Niang opened their shop. A few people came first, tentatively asking about the price. Then more and more people came to ask about the price. Lu Jia didn't hesitate. She picked a straightforward person, paid the deposit, and made the decision.

The tenant rented this shop to sell lotus seeds. Lotus seeds are a seasonal grain, and besides, lotus seeds from Shawan County sell very well, so a short-term rental is also suitable.

The family was naturally happy to have income, but Qiu Niang couldn't help but worry when she heard that Lu Jia was really going to be an apprentice at Hongtai Company: "Girl, are you really not planning to go back to the capital?"

"Putting everything else aside, you're already fifteen. If you don't go back, what will become of your marriage? There's no one in this small Shawan County who's good enough for you."

Furthermore, since Qiu Niang already knew Lu Jia's identity, she dared not make a decision on her own.

Lu Jia didn't seem to care at all: "Don't worry, I can make my own decisions about the marriage."

What does it mean to be worthy? Or not?
Was the family you married into in your past life not of high enough social standing? So what? Once you enter the gates of a noble family, it's like entering a deep sea. Just thinking about all the wives, concubines, and other members of the Yan family across generations is enough to give you a headache.

Qiu Niang then asked, "So, when do you want to go back?"

She both wanted her daughter to go back and feared her going back. She wanted her to go back because the Zhang family harbored treacherous intentions and might even attract someone like Li Er in the future. She didn't want her to go back because the thought of her daughter, whom she had raised since she was five, causing her heart to ache as if it were being torn apart, was unbearable.

"Don't worry. Even if I go back, it will be at least a year before I return."

Lu Jia answered without hesitation.

In her previous life, she married into the Yan family in place of Lu Ying, exactly one year later.

Is Lu Jia stupid? Why would she run back at this time?

Anyway, Jiang hadn't found her by then, so why didn't she wait until Jiang couldn't find any way to get rid of the Yan family's marriage proposal and had no choice but to send Lu Ying to marry that perverted Yan Qu in a bridal sedan chair, and then appear after everything was settled?

Qiu Niang was unaware of the situation and felt that this would delay Lu Jia's progress, but seeing Lu Jia's confident demeanor, she didn't try to dissuade her.

This girl is much more decisive than I am. If it weren't for the fact that the neighbor Li Daoshi's wife mentioned the Zhang family's affairs after seeing me the other day, Qiu Niang wouldn't have known that He Shi was still talking about her behind her back, let alone that her daughter had silently settled things with Li Chang to avoid upsetting her.

Thinking of this, her already chilled feelings towards the Zhang family deepened even further.

The biological family only schemes against you, while the adopted daughter, who has no blood relation to you, protects the family and the mother in every way. It is clear that the biological family is not as close as the adopted one!

Xie Yi, who was on the other side of the wall, sneezed: "Who insulted me?"

Lu Jia said, "Stop beating around the bush and answer my question."

Xie Yi sighed, "How would I know what I'm capable of? Besides recognizing and writing characters and using an abacus, I've never done anything else. How about I learn to play the suona from Uncle Li next door? Or become a Taoist priest?"

Lu Jia slapped him on the back of the head: "The world has been ruled by Taoists, and you still want to be a Taoist! Let your mother find you a good accountant so you can learn how to do accounting."

Now that the shop can collect rent, Xie Yi should start planning for his future.

Although Lu Jia felt that in this day and age, more upright people were needed to enter the court to fight against treacherous officials, since Qiu Niang had concerns, she decided to learn accounting first. That way, she could at least keep the family shop afloat.

With everything arranged at home, Lu Jia arrived at the Hongtai the next day.

The Shawan Rice Market relies on grain for its livelihood, and includes grain shops, warehouses, rice mills for processing grain, and rice stores that mainly focus on retail.

Grain shops are further divided into three types. The first type specializes in selling grains and operates as a middleman. This is the authentic grain shop, known as "Zuo Se".
Secondly, in addition to rice, they also sold cotton, miscellaneous southern products, local fruits, etc., which were called "with color";
Thirdly, there is the "Xise" business, which only deals in miscellaneous grains and cotton. The people who make Xise are usually from Jiangxi and are concentrated in Wanshou Palace, downstream of Shawan.

The Hongtai naturally belongs to the "sitting" category.

Not all businesses in the rice market are capable of operating independently. Apart from large businesses like the Zhang family and Liu Xiyu, most are joint ventures operated by a group of people.

This further highlights Liu Xiyu's competence as a businesswoman.

Lu Jia, guided by Chen Quan, the grain collecting master assigned to her by Liu Xiyu, learned about the rules of the grain trade and began to learn how to collect grain.

Grain collection involves more than just checking the scales; the grain's color, plumpness, and uniformity all need to be assessed. Some unscrupulous landlords would mix sand into the grain, which would seep through the gaps to the bottom, making it invisible on the surface. In such cases, the grain would need to be tampered with.

Chen Quan is a man in his thirties. His wife has given birth to a bunch of children, and just feeding these little brats has turned his hair white with worry.

There's a commission for harvesting grain, and Chen Quan works hard every day, but he can't even keep up with the commission. He never expected that his master would give him a girl.

On the day they met, he stared at Lu Jia for a long time before burying himself in his work.

For several days afterward, Lu Jia didn't hear him utter a sound. He looked like a wilted eggplant, so pitiful!
Lu Jia didn't say anything and just went about her business.

That afternoon, the shop was so busy that everyone was on their feet. As it was getting dark, Chen Quan still had to go to Huashi on the outskirts of the city to check on the grain. He thought it would be inconvenient to bring Lu Jia along, so he handed her a stack of grain slips: "You can read, right? This is the grain we collected today. I've marked the quality of each household. Go back and sort these out, put them on a list, and give it to the warehouse tomorrow."

Perhaps because it was the first time he had given her a task, and he wasn't sure if she was reliable, he added, "Don't mess things up."

Of course, Lu Jia couldn't mess things up. Not only would she mess things up, but she would also have her wages docked. Liu Xiyu had already said that even if someone made a mistake, the rules would still apply. How could she ruin the opportunity she had worked so hard to get?

She rolled the list into a tube and went home.

Sitting in the Yufeng, Madam He watched as Lu Jia came out of the Hongtai and walked past right under her nose, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets!
That brat not only ruined her business, but she also colluded with Hongtai!
Shawan Wharf is full of people from other places, including local grain dealers and people from nearby prefectures and counties. After the Yufeng ship suffered such a big loss that day, it was really quiet for a while. It wasn't until recently that a wave of new merchant ships docked that things gradually started to improve, but it was still a major blow!

She was hoping for a great start, but so far she's only just broken even!

It's all that damned girl from the Xie family's family's fault! It's all her fault!

She slammed her hand on the table: "Someone come here!"

The servants came over immediately.

As dusk settled in, Madam He said, "Go out into the street and find a few people to follow that bitch!"

(End of this chapter)