Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 024

Chapter 24: Proposal

An Zhi received the green rice dumplings made by Meng Jie the next day, but Meng Jie gave her two portions. She took one out and asked someone to send it to An Chengye.

This marriage was completely settled.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Wang Fu came with the other five shopkeepers and brought the new accounts for the past two weeks.

“Miss, please take a look.” Wang Fu smiled and held up the account book.

An Zhi took a look and found that the business of the six shops had increased. The profit of the silver shop was slightly higher than that of Wang Fu’s silk shop. It seemed that they had vomited out some of the food they had eaten before. The pawnshop and a silk shop had the worst business. As she had said before, she would close these two shops.

“Here are four rewards.” Binglu held up a tray with four money bags on it. “The young lady said that you four have worked hard during this period. Please continue to maintain your current business. The young lady will check the accounts every month.”

“Ah?” One of them screamed in surprise, realized something was wrong, and immediately lowered his head to cover his mouth.

Each of them had contributed money to these six account books. If they continued to make profits based on this, they would have to contribute money every month, which went against their original purpose of staying.

“Miss,” Wang Fu spoke again, “you know that in business, there are always ups and downs. It’s impossible to have such good profits every month.”

“I know, so I don’t expect you to be this good every month, but it can’t be too bad, right?” An Zhi replied with a smile, “If Shopkeeper Wang is free, go back to work. I still need to arrange severance pay for the remaining two shopkeepers.”

Wang Fu glanced at the two depressed shopkeepers standing beside him. “After all, they and I have worked together for many years…”

“Shopkeeper Wang, I told you to go back first. If you are old and your hearing is not working well, you can let your son take your place.” An Zhi said calmly. She had long seen that Wang Fu was the leader of the six of them and also the one with the most bad ideas.

After Wang Fu left, An Zhi asked Bailu to bring the severance pay to the remaining two shopkeepers. “You have worked hard over the years. If you have a future in mind, you can tell me and I will help you find a job.”

When the two shopkeepers heard this, their expressions were not very good, as if they wanted to say something, but in the end they shook their heads and said no.

“Binglu, send someone to keep an eye on them. Don’t tell me unless you can’t stand it any longer.” An Zhi yawned. She was very sleepy this spring and wanted to sleep at noon.

Binglu had recently gradually caught up with An Zhi’s train of thought, and understood that the young lady was preparing to help in times of need. “Miss, if you feel sleepy, please take a nap first. I will come to call you when it’s time for dinner.”

“No need for mealtime, just half an hour.” An Zhi didn’t dare to sleep too long, otherwise she would not be able to sleep at night.

Binglu said yes and closed the door for An Zhi when she went out. As soon as she walked out of the corridor, she saw Cuisi rushing in and snorted, “You impetuous little girl, the young lady is taking a nap. If you wake her up, you will get a beating.”

“Sister, go and wake up the young lady! The Wang family is here to propose marriage!” Cuisi was very anxious, but she didn’t dare to speak loudly. “The eldest son of the Wang family just brought someone to the door, and the master is talking to him.”

“What eldest son of the Wang family?” Binglu asked with a frown as she walked back.

“It’s the family of Wang, the Minister of Works.” Cuisi couldn’t wait for Binglu, so she knocked on the door first.

An Zhi heard Binglu and Cuisi talking in the room, but she didn’t hear clearly. After she came in, Binglu hurried in and said that Young Master Wang had come to propose marriage.

Young Master Wang had been married for five years, so it was naturally impossible for him to come for himself. Last time, Madam An said that Madam Wang was asking for the illegitimate son in the family who was just eating, drinking and having fun.

“Help me change my clothes quickly.” An Zhi was afraid that An Chengye had already agreed, and it would be difficult to cancel the engagement. After all, the master of the Wang family was the Minister of Works, a second-rank official, much higher than An Chengye.

After changing her clothes, An Zhi entered the living room through the side door.

She hid in the inner room and listened to the two people talking outside.

“Master An, you still need to consider. Are you dissatisfied with my brother?” Wang Wenxuan asked directly. In his heart, he looked down on An Zhi and didn’t want to make this trip. But it was his brother who was so unmotivated. He had asked many girls and none of them were willing. Hearing that An Chengye still needed to consider, his long-suppressed anger was about to burst.

An Chengye also looked down on the Wang family’s illegitimate son. He certainly didn’t like An Zhi, but An Zhi’s character and appearance were both top-notch. He had previously considered relying on An Zhi to connect with the rich and powerful, and he still had that thought. However, illegitimate sons couldn’t inherit the family business, and Wang Wenhao himself had no achievements. If An Chengye married An Zhi off, it would be like marrying off a daughter for nothing.

Hearing Wang Wenxuan’s bad tone, An Chengye was also unhappy. “I don’t know whether your brother is good or not, but I have encountered the proprietress of Wanhua Tower several times asking your brother for wine money. Although my official position is not high, I have raised my daughter well. Since you asked this, then I will be frank. If it was your biological brother, I would agree without hesitation, but your half-brother has played with all kinds of people from the lowest class. No girl from a good family would be willing to marry him.”

“Fulu, please show him out.” Seeing that Wang Wenxuan was gasping for breath, An Chengye knew that he had offended others by talking too much again, so he left before Wang Wenxuan got angry.

“Miss, the master is really considerate of you.” Binglu said with emotion.

An Zhi snorted and said nothing. An Chengye was not thinking about her, but felt that it would be of no benefit to him to let her marry the illegitimate son of the Wang family.

When An Zhi heard Wang Wenxuan cursing outside, she went to find An Chengye.

An Chengye was breathing heavily in the study. He was a quick-witted and easily influenced person. He was easily taken advantage of and easily offended.

“Father.” When An Zhi walked into the study, she saw beads of sweat on An Chengye’s forehead and knew that he was afraid. “I know about the Wang family’s proposal.”

“I have already rejected him for you. That bastard has no talent or moral integrity and is not a good person.” An Chengye drank tea in big gulps.

“Thank you for thinking of me.” An Zhi sat down below An Chengye and offered to pour tea for him. “The last time I went to my aunt’s birthday party, my aunt turned down Madam Wang. I never thought that her family would come.”

“No one wants the illegitimate son of the Wang family, so they keep coming back.” An Chengye looked at his daughter’s beautiful face and regretted that he had agreed to let Pei Yu cancel the engagement. Otherwise, he would still be the father-in-law of the eldest grandson of the Pei family. It would be better for An Rong to become a concubine than to lose Pei Yu as his son-in-law.

An Chengye sighed and earnestly warned An Zhi, “My daughter, you must not belittle yourself just because the Pei family broke off the engagement. With your talent and beauty, finding a good family is not a problem. When your stepmother comes home, I will ask her to help you find one. I will write to your aunt later. If there is a suitable one in the army, that would also be fine.”

Ever since Pei Yu was expelled from the Pei family, An Chengye’s affection for An Rong has waned by half. A few days ago, he secretly kicked An Rong out of the family tree. He was currently counting on An Zhi to marry into a wealthy family so he could continue to enjoy a life of luxury for the rest of his life.

An Zhi had completely guessed An Chengye’s intentions, but that was fine. An Chengye wanted to marry her off to a wealthy family, but the high-ranking families in the capital would surely despise her because she had a broken off engagement before, so marriage was bound to be difficult. But after what happened today, she felt that she had to let the person in An Chengye’s courtyard go. If Cuisi hadn’t had the quick news today, she would have been late.

After exchanging a few words with An Chengye, An Zhi walked towards her own courtyard. When she arrived at the courtyard, the housekeeper was waiting for her with a teenage servant.

The housekeeper said, “Miss, this is the servant I bought today. His name is Fusheng. If you like him, he will fill the vacancies of running errands in your courtyard.”

Fusheng lowered his head, his eyes were dark and bright, and he looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, and he looked pretty good.

“Is this a child not from an ordinary family?” An Zhi frowned and asked the housekeeper, “Didn’t I tell you not to buy the child of a criminal?”

The housekeeper smiled and said, “He’s not from the family of a criminal. You’ve already instructed me to do that, so I won’t forget. He’s the child of a merchant from the south. Because his business failed, his family fled to Langfang. They couldn’t afford to support him anymore, so they thought selling him would at least keep him alive. I bought him because he had a good face and was quiet, so I thought the young lady might like him.”

“Alright then, Binglu, please arrange something for Fusheng.” After watching Binglu take Fusheng away, An Zhi whispered to the housekeeper, “In a couple of days, arrange two more people for my father’s courtyard.”

The housekeeper said: “I understand. Don’t worry, I will definitely take care of it.”