Chapter 96: Apologizing
Zhou Wangshu came to the kitchen and saw Su Yaoguang and Jia Chunni bringing out the steamed steamed buns and steamed buns. He went forward to help.
Su Yaoguang saw him and looked at his expression: “Looks like you rested well. Your complexion is pretty good.”
Zhou Wangshu had no memory of last night at all and asked her: “How did I get back?”
“How else could you have come back? Of course, I carried you back.” Su Yaoguang placed the steamed buns and steamed buns on the table and began serving porridge.
Zhou Wangshu looked at himself, then at Su Yaoguang: “You carried me?”
“Or did you carry me?” Su Yaoguang stopped, pinched Zhou Wangshu’s cheek, “Do you know how rowdy you get when you drink? I’m telling you, you’re not allowed to touch even a sip of alcohol from now on, got it?”
Zhou Wangshu brushed her hand away, frowned, and tried hard to recall last night’s events, but there was a blank space in his mind—he couldn’t remember no matter what.
Su Yaoguang deliberately teased him, imitating him while holding a steamed bun: “Oh no, why is the steamed bun talking? My throat feels so sore. Am I going to die?”
Zhou Wangshu was stunned. Those fragments suddenly rushed into his mind, like a blockage suddenly clearing. Not only what Su Yaoguang mentioned, but also what she didn’t say—he remembered it all.
—Sister, sister, sister…
—Fifty taels of silver!
—Why did you steal my bed?
Su Yaoguang saw him standing there dumbfounded and waved her hand in front of him: “You haven’t sobered up yet? Oh no, just one sip of alcohol turned you into an idiot. Could that alcohol be some kind of deadly poison?”
Zhou Wangshu darted into the kitchen like he was fleeing a disaster: “I’ll go get the chopsticks.”
He couldn’t drink anymore.
If he drank again next time, he would…
He would be an idiot.
He didn’t say anything he shouldn’t have last night, did he?
Zhou Wangshu counted the chopsticks while recalling fragments from last night. If it was just embarrassing, he could pretend not to remember. But if he said something he shouldn’t have, he couldn’t stay here anymore.
However, after thinking for a long time, he had no memory of that sort, so he probably didn’t say anything.
“Do eight people’s chopsticks need to be counted this long?” Zhang Zhaodi stood next to Zhou Wangshu, looking at him puzzled. “Looks like you really can’t touch alcohol. Just one sip turned you into a big idiot. If you drank a few more sips, you’d probably not get up for days.”
“I suddenly remembered the schoolwork the teacher assigned and got lost in thought for a moment.” Zhou Wangshu said embarrassedly.
“If you’re busy, go do your thing. The shop has us, no need for you to help.”
“I’m not busy. I also want to do something for the family.”
Zhang Zhaodi was even more satisfied with Zhou Wangshu.
If only he were two years older, they could hold the wedding banquet.
It was still early now, so they didn’t need to open for business so soon. After all, those coming for the morning market were mostly poor families or people doing business. Their customers generally wouldn’t come this early.
However, they still needed to make some preparations in advance. First, fill their stomachs, then clean inside and out, then arrange goods and restock, even inventory and tally the goods.
Zhou Wangshu had three days off and had just returned yesterday, so he wasn’t familiar with the shop’s situation. After getting familiar for a few hours yesterday, today he directly acted as a selling shop assistant, attracting quite a few young female customers.
Today’s customer flow was indeed half of yesterday’s. Yesterday, there were more customers buying skincare products; today, most came to try makeup. If the makeup trial effect was good, they would inevitably buy one or two makeup items.
Su Yaoguang kept Jia Chunni by her side, always teaching her how to do makeup for customers.
After seeing off the last makeup customer, Zhang Zhaodi came over and said: “From today’s situation, from now on, we’ll keep two people in the shop to watch it, and the others go to the backyard to continue making the next batch of goods. If there’s not enough manpower and we can’t keep up, just shout—everyone is in the backyard and can come over to help anytime.”
“Once I teach Chunni how to do makeup, I’ll leave the shop matters to you and Chunni. Uncle-in-law helps with bookkeeping, and Jing’er and I will take Second Aunt and Maternal Aunt to the backyard to rush the next batch of goods. If we still don’t have enough manpower, we’ll hire a few more people.” Su Yaoguang said, “Now that we’ve just opened, let’s observe first—no rush to hire.”
“Yaoguang, I’ll go tell the teacher that I’ll come home every day from now on, okay?” Zhou Wangshu said, “That way, I can also help with some work in the evening.”
“We’ve now moved to the city, so you can totally come home to live. But helping with work is secondary; mainly, it’ll be livelier and more popular. It’s just that your academy doesn’t allow you to go out, right?”
“The headmaster will agree.” Zhou Wangshu said, “When I get back to the academy, I’ll go talk to him.”
If he could come and go freely, he wouldn’t be restricted by the academy’s rules, and it would be more convenient to enter and exit the dance hall.
Early on the third day.
Knock knock! Knock knock! Someone was knocking at the front yard door.
The few people busy in the backyard heard the sound and hurried to the front yard.
There were people in the front yard, just checking inventory behind closed doors. Hearing the knock, they immediately opened the door.
When Su Yaoguang arrived, she saw Zhang Pandi talking to the person knocking. Zhang Pandi turned around, saw Su Yaoguang and the others coming, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“He says he’s the shopkeeper of Jin Le Fang, here to find Yaoguang.”
Su Yaoguang and Jia Chunni had met the shopkeeper of Jin Le Fang.
The shopkeeper first bowed to Su Yaoguang: “This must be the young owner of Peach Blossom Workshop. I am the shopkeeper of Jin Le Fang. Today, I’ve brought this useless second manager to apologize to the young owner. Please be magnanimous, show mercy, and forgive him this once.”
Su Yaoguang said to Jiang Jing and Zhou Wangshu beside her: “Open the door and invite the shopkeeper of Jin Le Fang in.”
Jiang Jing and Zhou Wangshu opened all the big doors.
Once the entire door opened, many people looked over.
Not only did the shopkeeper of Jin Le Fang bring a few shop assistants, those shop assistants were also holding a fat-headed, big-eared man. Looking closely, it was that despicable person who had disguised himself as a traveling merchant to deceive her back then.
With such a big commotion here, passersby all saw it. However, not everyone knew about the grudge between the two families. So, seeing this situation, they were all guessing what had happened.
Thus, the street began replaying the previous story versions again. But compared to before, it seemed some new content had been added.
“I heard Jin Le Fang was jealous of Peach Blossom Workshop’s craftsmanship and hired someone to sabotage Peach Blossom Workshop’s business, but ended up getting dealt with by Peach Blossom Workshop. This Peach Blossom Workshop has backing; otherwise, how dare a few women open such a big shop, and with business booming right from opening?”
“I heard Jin Le Fang bought Peach Blossom Workshop’s goods, then deceived customers saying they were their new products. When exposed, they lost face, and the grudge formed. No matter what, Jin Le Fang hiring someone to frame them is pretty despicable.”
