Chapter 256: Stirring Up Trouble
The fine cloth was collected in ever-increasing amounts. Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu discussed it and rented two storage rooms in Sister-in-law Yin’s in-laws’ warehouse to store the fine cloth.
In the afternoon, Li Xiaonan sat in the Yueyang Cloth Shop, discussing with Sister-in-law Yin about potential sales channels for the fine cloth, what they could do in the trading market in Yangzhou, and how to get everyone to use the fine cloth.
“Sister, please come and take a look at our shop. Just one glance, and you’ll definitely fall in love with it. There’s nothing in all of Pingjiang City that’s better, newer, or cheaper than ours!”
The enthusiastic calls of the Shop Assistant Yu came from the entrance. Sister-in-law Yin suddenly stood up and rushed to the shop entrance.
The shop assistant from the opposite Yu Family Cloth Shop followed two women all the way to the entrance of the Yueyang Cloth Shop, wishing he could grab the customers.
“Oh my!” Sister-in-law Yin exclaimed with a clear, loud voice, stepping aside to let the two customers in. As she crossed the threshold, she met the Shop Assistant Yu and exclaimed again, “I truly like how dedicated you are as a shop assistant; no one on this street can compare to you! Including myself, everyone in my shop combined isn’t as good as you!
“How much are your owner’s wages per year? How about I offer you a twenty percent increase, and you come work for me?”
The shop assistant smiled, lowering his voice, “Auntie, please be magnanimous. You see, this person hasn’t arrived at our shop yet, and our owner is watching. I really can’t help it. Auntie, please be magnanimous.”
Li Xiaonan stood behind Sister-in-law Yin, watching the shop assistant smile and retreat. She chuckled, “Is he really working so hard because his owner is watching?”
“You’re much smarter than your two older sisters!” Sister-in-law Yin spat playfully. “The Yu Family shop has three shop assistants in total, and he’s always the one standing on the street trying to attract customers!
“Whether his owner is present or not, he’s always this dedicated! He and his owner are truly a match made in heaven!”
Li Xiaonan peeked out from beside Sister-in-law Yin and looked towards the Yu Family First Madam, Mrs. Wu, who was holding a bag of orchid beans in one hand, her belly protruding, and slowly walked across the street with her head held high, entering the Yu Family Cloth Shop.
Sister-in-law Yin looked at Wu Da Nainai, gave a surprised sound, turned to look at Li Xiaonan, gestured towards the Yu Family Cloth Shop, and whispered with a smile, “They say Yu Da Lang proposed to your second older sister, but your second older sister didn’t fancy Yu Da Lang? Is that true?”
“Ah?” Li Xiaonan’s eyes widened in surprise. “He really proposed? Where did you hear that? How come I didn’t know?”
“It seems our guess was right!” Sister-in-law Yin chuckled.
“How do you know?” Li Xiaonan asked again.
“Their shop assistant told the shop assistants at the pastry shop opposite, and then the pastry shop assistants told our place,” Sister-in-law Yin shifted her small bamboo chair closer to Li Xiaonan and whispered, “They say that during their shop’s year-end banquet, Yu Da Lang got drunk and said a lot of harsh things, like how he had to surpass our Yueyang Hao, and that your sisters looked down on him, and that he had proposed to your second older sister!”
Sister-in-law Yin chuckled.
Li Xiaonan tried hard to recall. “My memory is very good. When Matchmaker Miao visited our home, she definitely didn’t mention Yu Da Lang, not even the character ‘Yu’. Could it be that the Yu family proposed to my second older sister?”
“No way! I mentioned it to your eldest older sister, and she didn’t know. If the Yu family had proposed to your second older sister, your second older sister might not tell you, but she definitely wouldn’t hide it from your eldest older sister!”
Li Xiaonan nodded. That was indeed true.
“How did Matchmaker Miao speak during that visit to your home?” Sister-in-law Yin asked.
“She just asked what kind of person my second older sister was looking for. I was listening nearby. She definitely didn’t mention ‘Yu’!” Li Xiaonan thought carefully and said with absolute certainty.
“That’s right, this is Matchmaker Miao’s tactic. I witnessed it firsthand once!
“Many years ago, when my husband’s sister was just starting to get engaged, my sister-in-law fancied a family, and we sent someone to inquire. They refused. Somehow, the matter reached Matchmaker Miao’s ears. Matchmaker Miao came to our home and patted her chest, assuring us that there was no marriage she couldn’t arrange.
“There were many back-and-forth exchanges later, which I won’t go into detail about, but just to mention one instance,”
Sister-in-law Yin pursed her lips and clicked her tongue.
“She sabotaged a marriage proposal that family was considering and came to our home to show off her skills to my sister-in-law. She explained her method: when proposing, you absolutely cannot directly mention the family, nor can you say you are acting on behalf of someone. Just say you’ve come to inquire about what kind of family they are looking for, so you have a better understanding.
“Whatever was not good about the family proposing, she would guide this family to mention it. For example, with the family she sabotaged, the young man was a bit short. She would then guide them to say they were looking for someone tall and imposing, and then report back: ‘They dislike your son for being short.’
“See, it’s all the truth, isn’t it? She claims she’s a cultivator and doesn’t lie, but this kind of ‘not lying’ is even more damaging than lying!”
Li Xiaonan nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, yes, she’s the one who guided us to say we were looking for a scholarly family. Eldest Sister said we weren’t a scholarly family, but she insisted we were!”
“See, see!” Sister-in-law Yin clapped her hands.
“Sigh!” Li Xiaonan remembered what Gu Yan had said about the tea house. She leaned forward and whispered to Sister-in-law Yin.
Sister-in-law Yin listened, dumbfounded. “She’s risking her life! What about the Young Lord?”
“I don’t think the Young Lord will pay attention to her. If she uses all sorts of tricks like this, even if she truly marries the Wu Family Sister into the Huang family, won’t she be afraid that the Wu Family Sister’s life will be difficult?” Li Xiaonan wondered.
“Look!” Sister-in-law Yin pointed to the opposite Yu Family Cloth Shop. “Isn’t that someone who married in by using all sorts of tricks? What’s wrong with that?”
“That’s true,” Li Xiaonan sighed.
Sister-in-law Yin glanced sideways at a mother and daughter being intercepted by the Shop Assistant Yu into the Yu Family Cloth Shop and snorted, “This matter needs to be told to Yu Da Lang. If the Young Lord gets involved, it will be a big problem. How to put it…”
Sister-in-law Yin rested a finger on her chin, thinking seriously.
Li Xiaonan propped her chin on her hand, watching the serious expression of Sister-in-law Yin as she thought.
Although the matter of the tea house had little to do with her, Matchmaker Miao’s insinuation was truly disgusting. She was very willing to see Sister-in-law Yin take action and stir up some trouble.
“Alright, that’s how I’ll tell it!” Sister-in-law Yin suddenly stood up. Li Xiaonan quickly stood up with her.
“Don’t go out, wait here.” Sister-in-law Yin held Li Xiaonan back, patted her clothes from front to back, then went out of the Yueyang Cloth Shop and entered the Yu Family Cloth Shop diagonally opposite.
Li Xiaonan sat back down, dragged her small bamboo chair forward, and stretched her neck to look at the Yu Family Cloth Shop opposite.
Wu Da Nainai, with a forced smile, saw Sister-in-law Yin to the shop entrance. After watching Sister-in-law Yin enter the Yueyang Cloth Shop, she dropped her smile, her face darkened. After standing for a moment, she instructed the shop assistant that she was going to Ping’s home to talk to Second Sister. She then left the cloth shop, hailed a cart, and headed towards Ping Yatou’s home.
