maidservant

Chapter 148 The New Shop is Set Up
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year is celebrated, and the sweet aroma of fried sesame candy wafts throughout the city.

Yunshan wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter and stood at the entrance of East Street, staring blankly at the signboard of "Qixiang Pavilion".

This was the most suitable shop she had chosen; it had a good location, spacious rooms, and even a small courtyard. It was mainly two-story, with a lot of patients coming and going, and those with private ailments could go to the second floor for consultations.

However, this cosmetics shop couldn't withstand the plague and is now dilapidated.

The carved windows that used to be adorned with rouge and powder are now all nailed shut with wooden boards. The faded red silk lanterns patter against the walls in the wind, and snowflakes sting your face.

When the wooden door was pushed open, it creaked loudly, startling the winter sparrows on the beams.

There was an indescribable strange smell in the room, like rouge that had been left out for too long and had gone moldy, mixed with the fishy smell of rat droppings.

Xiao Tao followed behind, sneezing incessantly. She tiptoed to reach the silk curtains on the wall, dust falling in a flurry: "If we use this shop, we'll have to clean it up properly."

Yunshan climbed the creaking wooden stairs.

The nanmu dressing table on the second floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and three shadows were reflected in the bronze mirror—her face red from the cold, half of Doctor Liao's face wrapped in a gray headscarf, and Xiao Tao's round face looking up.

Pushing open the back window, a cold wind blew in, carrying snowflakes. The old plum tree in the backyard was crooked, with several strings of withered mugwort hanging from its branches, swaying in the wind.

“This place is much bigger than our old little house,” Yunshan said, rubbing her frozen hands. “Back then, we had to walk sideways to get medicine, and if someone was in a real emergency, we were afraid of knocking over the medicine jar when we turned around to get the medicine.”

Dr. Liao reached out and touched the carved railing; the wood was icy cold. "It really needs a thorough cleaning; the dust on these beams could fill half a basket."

When negotiating the price, the owner of the rouge shop was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet.

This was a shop that the owner had leased for his wife, and he cherished it dearly. But the plague took his wife's life, and the cost of medicine and treatment was considerable.

He was a man, and he had neither the inclination nor the ability to run a cosmetics shop for women.

Therefore, he thought he could sell it for a reasonable price so that his two sons could go to school, and he could take only his daughter and run an ironware shop in his old home on the outskirts of the city.

After some haggling, the man gritted his teeth and agreed, "Six hundred taels? Fine! But it has to be paid in full before the 28th of the twelfth lunar month!"

He rubbed his frostbitten nose, his breath steaming in the cold air, and said, "Look at this! All the shops on this street are empty! If it weren't for the New Year and my rush to get back to my hometown, I really wouldn't have been able to get this two-story house with a courtyard for six hundred taels!"

Yunshan stared at the abacus on the counter, silently calculating in her mind—the clinic had earned less than three hundred taels of silver, and it seemed she would have to use the gold bestowed by His Majesty for the rest.

He didn't have much money on him, so he paid a deposit of fifty taels.

Xiao Tao squatted by the brazier, roasting sweet potatoes, her eyes wide with surprise: "Shopkeeper, can we really raise enough money? Is our shop really that profitable?"

Yun Shan added a piece of charcoal to the fire, and sparks crackled and sprang up: "Silly girl, have you forgotten that last month the line to get medicine stretched to the alley entrance? This plague is a vicious tiger that everyone wants to kill, but it's an exception for our medical profession."

Doctor Liao poured the decocted medicine into the pot and smiled, "These plague-preventing pills could save a line of people stretching from east street to west street. They're worth the price. Our shop makes as many as we need, and we sell them all. Nobody tries to haggle over the price; they might not even sell out. Sigh, making this money is a real struggle."

She recalled the worst of the plague—the oil lamps in the clinic stayed lit all night, three people took turns grinding medicine, and Xiao Tao, though sleepy, kept nodding as she stirred the medicine, while heart-wrenching coughs could be heard from outside the window from time to time.

Several people sighed, realizing that in their line of work, good business was nothing to brag about.

Doctor Liao turned to Yun Shan and asked, "Even with Su's mother's reward, it probably wouldn't be enough, would it?"

She lowered her voice, "I still have a hidden gem."

The next morning, Yunshan took Xiaotao to the silver shop and exchanged several ingots of gold for silver.

When the 550 taels of silver were placed on the counter of the rouge shop, Xiao Tao gasped.

The shopkeeper's hands trembled as he counted the money. "Manager Song is truly a man of great courage. We've settled the payment today, so we can head back home as soon as possible!"

The next step is to get the shop all sorted out before the end of the year.

Yunshan gazed at the newly hung plaque "Xinglin Chunguan," the ink still wet. The wind whipped up snowflakes that splattered onto the plaque, blurring the last stroke of the character "Spring," as if trying to melt away the cold winter.

The old plum tree in the backyard suddenly trembled, and a few red plum blossoms fell into the snow, bright red and vivid.

"It's cold, shopkeeper. Why don't you go upstairs to the second floor to avoid the wind?" Xiao Tao came and put a robe on Yun Shan.

"Yes, boss, we can handle these tasks well, so please don't worry!"

Yunshan also felt a bit chilly. Seeing the workers working hard and carrying things, she realized she was getting in their way, so she went upstairs and sat by the window.

Yunshan was unpacking oil paper packages in the backyard, which was piled high with timber. This rouge shop was all small cabinets and compartments, which was somewhat out of place for them. They needed to buy a lot of wood and do some hammering and nailing.

Xiao Tao ran in from outside, carrying a freshly cut piece of purple silk, her hair streaked with snowflakes: "Shopkeeper, we've bought this opaque purple silk! We bought a lot, and in small pieces, so Madam Wang from the silk shop only charged us half price. She said some of it was scraps, so she wouldn't charge us. She even wished us great success in opening our shop!"

Xiao Tao, following Yun Shan, remained as innocent as ever. Yun Shan loved seeing them so unpretentious; she herself had always wanted to live such a simple life.

"Also, shopkeeper, the cloud-patterned curtains you ordered can be picked up tomorrow!"

"Let's leave it for now." Yun Shan wiped her sweat, her fingertips tracing the newly arrived cypress medicine cabinet.

These past two days, she and her team have been working non-stop, watching the carpenter plan wood during the day and drawing room plans by oil lamp at night. None of them have gone home.

Dr. Liao carried a stack of straw mats down the stairs, followed by two men carrying bamboo ladders: "The old carpenter on West Street said that these Xiangfei bamboo woven mats are the most breathable and easy to clean. Although it is the dead of winter now, if there are some patients who sweat a lot, they will be more comfortable lying on these mats while wearing their own winter clothes, and it will also be easier for us to clean them."

Yunshan nodded, made a note of the transaction, and gave Doctor Liao the extra money.

Dr. Liao put down her things and sat down beside Yun Shan. She glanced at the wood shavings stuck in Yun Shan's hair and said, "You should rest for a while too, don't overwork yourself."

Yunshan smiled and shook her head, reaching out to take the straw mat: "Once this last screen is installed, it'll be almost done."

The shop finally looked presentable after being cleaned up, and a bunch of people were exhausted and sprawled out on the ground.

Yun Shan wasn't without shops; in fact, the two shops Lin Yu gave her were located on the busiest Zhuque Street.

Yunshan had seen it when she passed by; it had an ornately decorated facade, and the threshold alone was higher than a person's knee.

But that was Lin Yu's dowry, and she wasn't in a situation where she was short of money. It would be truly impolite for her to use it now. Just like that old plum tree in the backyard, no matter how beautifully it blooms, its roots are still planted in someone else's soil.

We'll have to wait until after we're married to Lin Xiao to change the contract. Right now, the shopkeeper is still giving all the profits from those two shops to Lin Yu.

"Shopkeeper!" Xiao Tao suddenly poked her head out from the second floor, a purple silk draped over her shoulders like a blooming flower. "Come quick! The newly made curtains are up!"

The once empty dressing room on the second floor has now been divided into six small rooms, with newly pasted paper windows letting in soft light. The windows are not large, but they are still visible from the opposite side, so purple silk curtains have been added outside the paper windows. When the curtains are closed, each room is completely dark.

Yunshan climbed the wooden ladder. When the purple silk curtain wasn't drawn, sunlight streamed through the window paper, casting dappled patterns of light on the blue brick floor. The innermost room even had a small window that offered a view of the plum tree in the backyard.

"That's good. Women are most afraid of being seen when they come to see a doctor."

Yunshan gently tugged at the curtain; the fabric felt soft and thick to the touch.

"From now on, once the curtains are drawn, you won't see a single shadow outside."

Dr. Liao reached out and touched the window frame; the freshly applied tung oil still carried a pleasant fragrance. "You've thought of everything," he said, "but you've lost weight these past few days."

After tidying up, Yunshan stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the newly painted gold lettering, which gleamed warmly in the setting sun. Xiaotao skipped and hopped to light the red lanterns in front of the door, while Doctor Liao organized the newly arrived medicinal herbs in front of the medicine cabinet, the air filled with the aroma of angelica and dried tangerine peel.

The wind picked up again, swirling up scattered snowflakes that stung my face.

"Let's pick an auspicious day to reopen."