Chapter 14
After Manager Song finished speaking, he didn't look up at anyone, afraid the obvious satisfaction in his eyes would annoy people.
But Manager Song's ears were standing straight up, clearly hearing the sharp intake of breath, which greatly comforted him.
Actually, as a manager, no matter how hard he worked, the money wouldn't go into his own pocket.
When earnings were high, the master would give a bit more monthly pay; when earnings were low, they'd give less. The big portion still belonged to the master.
But among those working in one place, everyone wanted to come out ahead. How much money earned in two months determined how much confidence you had!
Most of these managers were old hands who had been with the Qi family for years, earning trust to reach these positions. Even though the three Qi brothers were harmonious, with filial sons and kind father, the people under them weren't truly united. Usually, private bickering and competing for superiority were common occurrences.
The two estate managers naturally always led by a step, since they made more money and could stand tall with confidence.
Now Manager Song's wine shop had suddenly emerged as a dark horse. If he didn't take advantage of this opportunity to show off, when would he ever get another chance?
Qi Zhao was somewhat surprised. Since the accounting days always had him accompanying Father Qi, Qi Zhao knew very well the capacity of these shops. Although the wine shop's income wasn't small, it shouldn't be this much.
But after his surprise, he smiled at Manager Song, saying cheerfully: "No wonder Manager Song has been coming so frequently these days. With income tripled or quadrupled, excellent!"
Hearing this, Fang Shi in the left room gritted her teeth.
Excellent what excellent? The income was theirs, not yours. Why are you foolishly celebrating!
Father Qi quickly looked through the account book. Although he didn't know many characters, he could still recognize the numbers written on it.
One hundred twenty-one strings of cash, written in black and white, impossible to fake.
Pressing down on Qi Zhao, who still wanted to say something, Father Qi asked: "Manager Song, in just two months, how did the wine shop get so much income?"
It wasn't that Father Qi suspected Manager Song, but he simply wanted to ask for clarity.
Regarding business matters, Father Qi wasn't clear about them and didn't pay much attention. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given everything to Qi Yun.
But wanting to make money from shops wasn't something that could be done overnight. Being able to see income naturally made Father Qi happy, but he still needed to ask clearly how this income came about.
Money was one thing, but they couldn't cause any trouble.
Manager Song looked around and met pairs of curious eyes.
According to what he had been thinking, he would absolutely never speak about these matters, no matter who asked.
But Qi Yun had probably long known Manager Song's thoughts and had instructed him early on:
"If my father asks how we made the money, you don't need to go into too much detail, just pick the main points to mention. You don't need to worry about others stealing the method. They're all family members managing different businesses. What we're doing can be found out with a little inquiry. Deliberately hiding it would create distance instead."
Manager Song had his plan figured out, so he said to Father Qi: "Second Young Master had me contact several taverns in town last month, taking over part of their wine supply."
At these words, several managers showed surprise on their faces.
Because the Qi family was the largest landowner nearby with abundant grain, their wine brewing scale wasn't small either. Usually they sold to nearby common people and made money through the wine shop in town. But now listening to Manager Song, it sounded like they were selling large quantities at low prices to taverns?
Shouldn't this lose money? How did it make money instead?
Manager Song didn't explain, just felt proud inside. How could they know that the current Qi family wine shop could sell however much they stored, completely unlike previous years when they couldn't sell their inventory!
They were originally fine vintage wine, and now they could finally hold their heads high.
Second Young Master had also said the money-making days were ahead. This was just the beginning. As long as enough people tasted it and word spread, the Qi family wine shop's reputation would surely be established.
But Manager Song wouldn't let his tail wag too high. It was better not to show off until the money was safely in their pockets.
Trying hard to suppress his urge to tremble with excitement, Manager Song stood there pretending to be composed, but anyone could see his beard was practically growing upward with joy.
Father Qi couldn't figure out the logic behind it, but he could tell this wasn't something that would offend people, so he nodded with a smile on his face: "Good work, Manager Song."
Qi Zhao, who also didn't understand, didn't have as many concerns as Father Qi. He had watched Qi Yun grow up since childhood. Even though others feared Qi Yun, as the Eldest Brother, Qi Zhao always protected his younger brother. Upon hearing this, he immediately looked at Father Qi: "Father, I knew Second Brother was capable." His tone couldn't hide his joy.
Father Qi naturally knew his eldest son was kindhearted and always spoke up for his brothers, but Father Qi still tried to be fair: "Manager Song has worked hard running around this past month. His monthly pay should be increased."
Manager Song thanked Father Qi and sat down calmly, but inside he was happily accepting the envious gazes from around him.
But for the other managers, while they congratulated Manager Song on his "prosperous business" and praised Qi Yun as a "reincarnated god of wealth," the atmosphere wasn't lively at all. Instead, it became somewhat heavy.
Look at the estate: 50 strings of cash.
Look at the wine shop: 100 strings of cash!
These two old foxes really weren't giving others a way to live. The managers were gnashing their teeth in hatred.
Among these people, Manager Dong from the medicine garden rolled his eyes, thinking perhaps he could also go find Second Young Master to chat?
Whether Second Young Master was a reincarnated god of wealth or not could be set aside. As long as he could increase the medicine shop's income, Manager Dong wouldn't mind hugging Second Young Master's leg and calling him the god of wealth.
In the left room, Ye Jiao held Little Shi Tou, feeding him small pieces of broken peach pastry.
She could hear the conversation outside clearly. Some she understood, some she didn't, but what she could grasp was that her husband had made money.
Her husband was capable. Ye Jiao had always firmly believed this.
But unlike Fang Shi, who would probably hum with pride if she were in the same situation, Ye Jiao didn't react much. She just wholeheartedly wanted to tell her husband later that she thought she understood what "striking it rich" meant.
Liu Shi looked at Ye Jiao, becoming more and more satisfied the more she looked.
This child was fortunate. Her son's health had improved, and the shop he managed had income. These were all very good things.
Actually, as a woman of the inner quarters, Liu Shi didn't understand what was being said outside, but this only strengthened Liu Shi's belief that Ye Jiao brought good fortune.
Feeling comfortable inside, her face showed an even more kindly smile. Liu Shi specifically had Nanny Liu prepare a bowl of almond cream for the evening, remembering that Ye Jiao liked to eat it.
But compared to Ye Jiao, Fang Shi wasn't very happy in her heart.
She looked down on merchants. When the shops weren't doing well before, she thought it was natural. But now that the shops were doing well, Fang Shi felt uncomfortable.
It wasn't exactly jealousy, but when someone had been in a high position for a long time and was suddenly surpassed, it was inevitable to feel uncomfortable.
But Fang Shi didn't dare show her inner displeasure too obviously on her face. She still chatted with Liu Shi, and the family remained peaceful until nightfall.
Qi Ming arrived home after dark, and the whole family had a reunion dinner together.
But the doctor had instructed that Qi Yun still couldn't leave his room at night, so he didn't come to eat.
As Qi Yun's wife, Ye Jiao naturally had to attend.
She also received the almond cream Liu Shi had prepared for her, but she didn't eat it. Instead, she had Little Su find a food box to pack it up.
During dinner, Father Qi first praised his second son's capability, then spent the remaining time caring for his third son.
Qi Ming was only 12 years old this year. By rights, he should still be at a mischievous age, but studying from a young age had given him some premature maturity.
Though it had only been two months since they last met, because he was young, he actually seemed to have grown taller since the last time they saw him.
That face still carrying childishness remained calm throughout, only showing slightly red cheeks when Liu Shi expressed her heartache and longing sentence by sentence.
But looking around, Qi Ming was obviously searching for Qi Yun.
He had been tutored by Qi Yun for his early education, so his feelings for his second brother were extraordinary.
After finishing dinner, he said to Ye Jiao with a serious face: "Second Sister-in-law, it's late today, but tomorrow I will definitely go see Second Brother."
"Good." Ye Jiao smiled and agreed. After Qi Ming left, she picked up the food box and walked back.
Carrying the food box into the courtyard, she quickly walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open a crack, and Ye Jiao had just squeezed inside when she quickly closed the door, afraid of letting the outside cold air in.
Closing the door and dropping the latch, then lowering the door curtain, Ye Jiao thought that tomorrow she'd need to tell Little Su to replace it with the thick door curtain like in the main hall.
Turning around, she saw Qi Yun sitting cross-legged on the soft couch wearing an outer garment.
Qi Yun seemed not to have noticed Ye Jiao come in. With his back to the door, he sat upright, extremely focused.
Ye Jiao quietly set down the food box, then went into the inner room and stood behind Qi Yun, poking her head out to look.
On the soft couch was a low table with a pine-colored chess board on it. Qi Yun had two chess containers beside him, one black and one white, slowly placing pieces on the board.
Ye Jiao was about to look more when she felt her hand being grabbed.
The woman turned her head and met the man's eyes.
It was already night, and the candles lit in the room cast everything in a soft ginger-yellow glow, making even Qi Yun's usually pale complexion look much softer now.
He had originally been holding Ye Jiao's hand with one hand. Feeling the woman's fingertips were slightly cold, he released the chess piece and used both hands to hold hers, warming her with the heat from his palms while asking: "Why are your hands so cold?"
Ye Jiao sat down beside him sideways, tucking her fingertips into the man's palms, her face smiling: "Mother had someone make almond cream. I brought it back for you."
Qi Yun looked at her with some disapproval: "You should have eaten it yourself. With such cold weather, why trouble yourself carrying it back and getting frozen?"
Ye Jiao still looked at him smiling: "I promised my husband."
Qi Yun thought for a while before remembering that Ye Jiao had indeed said before that she wanted to bring almond cream back for him to eat. It had been so long ago that Qi Yun could barely remember, yet Ye Jiao still remembered clearly.
Feeling warm inside, Qi Yun held her other hand too, saying softly: "Next time, have someone else bring it over. Don't always tire yourself out."
Ye Jiao agreed with a sound, then looked at the chess board.
Qi Yun had been working through chess problems to clear his mind. Seeing her interest, he said: "Want to learn?"
But this time Ye Jiao's agreement wasn't as quick as when she had learned to read.
She learned to read because she wanted to understand medical texts and not be illiterate, so even knowing it was difficult and troublesome, she was willing.
But this game with black and white pieces looked very difficult at first glance. Even after learning it, she didn't know what use it would be. Ye Jiao honestly said: "Is it difficult? If it's difficult, I won't learn."
Qi Yun couldn't help but smile, still holding her hand and having her sit across from him, saying gently: "We won't learn the difficult version. Let's just play Five-in-a-Row as a game."
As long as Qi Yun said it wasn't difficult, then it wasn't difficult. Ye Jiao always blindly trusted her husband and immediately nodded excitedly.
Qi Yun cleared the pieces from the board while explaining the rules to her.
After listening, Ye Jiao found it indeed simple.
Holding the chess container, Ye Jiao thought no wonder spirits and monsters all wanted to become human. It was truly interesting.
But while playing chess, Qi Yun chatted casually with her, and Ye Jiao didn't hide anything, telling him in detail about everything that had happened that day.
Qi Yun wasn't surprised that Manager Song had received praise. Although the wine shop was just getting on the right track and the money earned was far less than those big wine shops, compared to before, the progress was indeed significant.
Surpassing the estate's income was somewhat surprising to Qi Yun, but not shocking.
But hearing about Fang Shi knocking over the teacup, Qi Yun raised his eyes slightly and said softly: "Jiao Niang, don't pay too much attention to it."
Fang Shi was somewhat petty and not very smart, but with Eldest Brother Qi Zhao watching over her, nothing major would happen.
Qi Yun just didn't want Ye Jiao to overthink because of Fang Shi.
Ye Jiao was holding a chess piece, staring at the board considering her next move, when she heard this and looked at him with some surprise: "Pay attention to what? The teacup that eldest sister-in-law broke wasn't even ours. Mother already said she didn't need to compensate."
Qi Yun was first stunned, then smiled: "You're right. Jiao Niang is truly clever."
How had he forgotten again that his wife had the cleanest heart, clear as water, with the kind of goodness rarely seen in ordinary people anymore.
How wonderful.
After playing casually for two rounds, Qi Yun let her win, with each of them winning one game. Seeing it was getting late, they put away the chess board.
Qi Yun ate the almond cream, Ye Jiao let down her hair, and after washing up, they prepared for bed.
But before blowing out the candles, Qi Yun sat up from the bed and looked at Ye Jiao, who was lying on the soft couch wrapped in blankets. After hesitating a moment, the man said softly: "Jiao Niang, tonight... would it be alright to sleep together?"