Chapter 95: Drunk
Su Yaoguang finally managed to help Zhou Wangshu into the room and coaxed him into bed to sleep. Once he lay down and closed his eyes, she left his bedroom.
There are five rooms in the backyard. Zhou Wangshu’s room is the last one on the right, next door to Su Yaoguang and Jiang Jing’s room.
After settling Zhou Wangshu, Su Yaoguang smelled the alcohol on her body and felt uncomfortable, so she went to the kitchen to boil hot water for a bath.
It was still early, and she wanted to finish calculating the account book. She didn’t plan to sleep so soon, so she washed her hair too. Once she wrung her hair half-dry, she went to the front yard to fetch the account book and returned to her room to check the accounts.
While Su Yaoguang was nimbly working the abacus, a thud came from next door. She stopped what she was doing and went next door to check the situation.
Pushing open the door, she saw Zhou Wangshu sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring blankly ahead. Upon seeing Su Yaoguang, he said aggrievedly, “Why did you take my bed?”
Su Yaoguang: “…”
Was there no end to this?
That wine cup wasn’t big either. Half a cup of wine was just one sip, so how could he get so drunk?
She squatted down, touched his hair, and said gently, “I’ll take you to find it. Get back up quickly.”
Zhou Wangshu got back up and was led by the hand by Su Yaoguang back to bed. As soon as he covered himself with the quilt, he held Su Yaoguang’s finger and slowly closed his eyes.
“If I had known that one sip of alcohol would cause such trouble, I wouldn’t have let you touch it. From now on, don’t even think about touching any alcohol.” Su Yaoguang said, looking at the sweetly sleeping Zhou Wangshu.
Voices speaking came from outside. It must be them returning. Su Yaoguang withdrew her finger, tucked Zhou Wangshu in properly with the quilt, and walked out of the room.
Zhang Zhaodi saw her coming out of Zhou Wangshu’s room, her expression odd.
“Wangshu can’t drink alcohol from now on. One sip and he’s dead drunk.”
“This boy’s tolerance is so poor?” Zhang Zhaodi said with a look of disdain. “How can a man not drink? Your dad can down a whole jar in one go.”
Su Yaoguang: “… Mom, that’s not something worth bragging about.”
“How is it not? Your dad is a real man.” Zhang Zhaodi said. “Alright, this boy is still young, and it’s his first time touching alcohol. He’ll be fine after trying a few more times.”
“Where are the others?”
“Your maternal aunt and maternal uncle are in the back. We didn’t wait for them. Chunni and her mom went to the front yard to check if the door was locked properly. Those two just love to worry unnecessarily. I locked the door myself—how could it not be locked? Jing’er went to fetch hot water, saying it’s for me to wash my face and feet. My daughter’s eyesight is spot on. The first time she bought a handsome husband, and the second time she brought back such an understanding and dutiful goddaughter for me.”
Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni returned, saying the door was locked. Jia Chunni held Su Yaoguang’s arm excitedly, saying how wonderful the lantern festival was and insisting she must go see it tomorrow night.
“You’ve been tired all day today. Rest early!” Su Yaoguang said. “Although there won’t be as many customers tomorrow as today, we still need to stay spirited.”
“By the way, how much did we sell today?” Zhang Zhaodi asked.
“I haven’t finished calculating yet.”
“I’m not sleepy. I’ll wait until you finish calculating before going to sleep.”
Although Zhang Pandi and Jia Chunni were also curious about how much silver they made today, this was ultimately something only the boss could know, so they didn’t pry. They made excuses about being tired and went back to their rooms to rest.
When Jiang Jing came over with the hot water, she didn’t find anyone in Zhang Zhaodi’s room. Hearing voices from here, she carried the hot water into Su Yaoguang and her room.
“So much?” Zhang Zhaodi stood up in shock, pacing around the room upon hearing the number Su Yaoguang reported. “My god, over eight hundred taels of silver in one day.”
“This is the selling price. We still need to deduct our cost, labor, rent, expenses for three meals a day… Plus, with so many people today, we gave out quite a few free gifts, all of which need to be accounted for. Also, as mentioned before, we need to set aside twenty percent to give everyone a bonus, which also gets deducted. Even after calculating all that clearly, we can still save three hundred taels of silver.”
“I can hardly imagine it.” Zhang Zhaodi pinched herself. “Hiss, it hurts. Not a dream.”
“Godmother, of course it’s not a dream. We’ve worked so hard for so long for this opening day! There won’t be discounts tomorrow, so we won’t sell this much.”
“How about we continue the discount tomorrow?” Zhang Zhaodi asked. “Anyway, selling cheap still makes money. Might as well sell cheap, clear the goods, and make more money.”
“Even at seventy percent off tomorrow, there won’t be too many people, because those coming for the excitement came today. Tomorrow, only customers who got the news late will come. These cosmetics aren’t like food that gets eaten up. One purchase lasts one or two months, and if used sparingly, even half a year. We can’t lower the price further. Today, in front of everyone, we said the discount is only for one day—we can’t go back on our word!”
“What we made today is enough to tide us over for half a year already. Godmother, don’t worry. Future customers may not be as many as today, but there won’t be few either. Moreover, Yaoguang’s makeup technique has sparked interest in many people. Just those seeking her for makeup could block the doorway.”
“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have thought of it. My hands are clumsy; I probably can’t learn those makeup techniques you mentioned. But your female cousin is clever. Teach her, and in the future, someone can share your work.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. Jing’er will handle the medicinal herbs, since she knows them best, so formulating new prescriptions will be my and her responsibility. Store matters will be arranged by Mom. The accounts will be managed by maternal uncle. Maternal aunt is good with words, so she’ll handle receiving customers. Second aunt will assist maternal aunt in receiving customers, but second aunt is a bit timid, so maternal aunt needs to be more tolerant. Chunni will learn makeup technique from me, so she can handle customers who need makeup services. Then there’s our family’s meals. For now, trouble second aunt and Chunni to handle it, subsidizing them ten copper coins hardship fee per day.”
“Your second aunt and Chunni aren’t the type to take it; they won’t accept your subsidy. These meals don’t have to be made by just the two of them. We can take turns. Your maternal uncle goes without saying; his health is poor, so he can’t cook. Me and your maternal aunt together, your second aunt and Chunni together, you and Jing’er together—we three groups rotate cooking. On days when your maternal aunt and I cook, the others handle cleaning. Does that work?” Zhang Zhaodi said. “With so many of us, how could we go hungry? The front yard and backyard look big, but with division of labor and cooperation, there’s not much work left.”
“Mom is still the smart one, arranging these matters so reasonably. For now, we’ll follow Mom’s arrangements. If it gets too tiring or busy later, we can consider whether to hire someone.”
