Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 037

Chapter 37: Proposal

After An Zhi’s Shu brocade clothes were finished, the owner of the tailor shop personally delivered them to the An’s residence.

“Young Lady An, please try it first. If there is anything you don’t like or it doesn’t fit, we will help you change it.” Zhang Lan smiled gently. She relied on the work in her hands to support her family.

An Zhi tried them on. The three sets of clothes were well-cut and had good lines. They were considered top-notch in the market. “Very good, Binglu. Go get the silver I prepared and add two taels of silver as a reward for Shopkeeper Zhang. She did a good job.”

Zhang Lan smiled even more happily when she heard there was a reward. “Young Lady An is so kind. Thank you for the reward.”

“You’re welcome. I’m rewarding you because you did a good job.” An Zhi said with a smile, “But there’s something I want to ask Shopkeeper Zhang. Of course, if it’s inconvenient for you, you don’t have to tell me.”

Zhang Lan: “You go ahead.”

“How much money can a shopkeeper like you with good skills earn working for others in a year?” An Zhi really thought that Zhang Lan had good skills. After seeing Zhang Lan’s calloused hands, she couldn’t help but think of other things.

Zhang Lan smiled and said, “Usually it ranges from five to ten taels of silver, depending on how good the business is.” So the two taels of reward given by An Zhi was very generous to her.

An ordinary woman from a common family could only earn a few dozen dollars by doing some housework and selling vegetables. It was quite good for Zhang Lan to earn that much money in a month.

“Shopkeeper Zhang, do you want to earn more?” An Zhi had inquired about Zhang Lan’s family background. She was a widow with a seriously ill mother and four children. All the expenses of the family depended on her alone. In particular, the eldest son’s schooling cost half of the family’s money, not to mention that the second son would also have to go to school when he grew up. That was why Zhang Lan had so many wounds on her hands.

Zhang Lan naturally wanted to earn more. Her whole family depended on her to earn money for their livelihood. She was also very strong-willed and willing to spend money on raising her children. Her mother needed medicine every day, so the total cost was not small. “What does Young Lady An mean?”

“I own two silk shops and recently purchased a new batch of Shu brocade. You’re an expert in this area, but selling silk alone won’t yield the same profit as making ready-made clothes, especially for someone like Shopkeeper Zhang who specializes in making clothes for young ladies and ladies.” An Zhi had already taken back one shop and was planning to convert another into a ready-made clothing store. “I have the money, the material, and the shop, but I have no skills or experience. So, I’d like to ask Shopkeeper Zhang if she’s willing to partner with me. You can invest your skills in my ready-made clothing store. For the first shop, I’ll give you 30% of the profits. If business is good, we can open branches and split the profits 50-50. What do you think?”

Over the years, Zhang Lan has saved some money, hoping to own her own shop, but she saved too slowly, and there was not enough money even for renting a shop, let alone buying one.

Now that An Zhi suddenly threw a pie to her, it was not a question of whether she could accept it or not, but why she was chosen and whether she was being played a trick on her.

“I know Manager Zhang has a lot of concerns. We can sign a document, written in black and white. Once we get to the government office, you can’t escape.” An Zhi noticed Zhang Lan’s hesitation. “Manager Zhang, don’t rush to answer me. Go back and think about it. Give it some thought. In a few years, when your four children get married, where will your betrothal gifts and dowries be?”

An Zhi asked Binglu to send Zhang Lan out.

She wanted to make money, a lot of money, and when she was rich, she would support officials. When she was rich and powerful, no one would be able to restrain her anymore.

For the next few days, she waited for news from Zhang Lan. However, before Zhang Lan could reply, something went wrong with Pei Yu, who had registered the wrong grade of Shu brocade.

When the people from the business came to deliver the news, An Zhi was not surprised at all. After looking at the account book made by Pei Yu, she took the account book to the warehouse.

Pei Yu was wearing a simple cotton shirt and standing among a group of servants, but he still didn’t look like a servant.

An Zhi asked Pei Yu to go with her to check the warehouse. She said, “The Shu brocade in the warehouse has three major categories, and each category is divided into three grades. But you messed up the grades of these nine types of Shu brocade. Do you have a bad memory or are you illogical?”

Pei Yu gritted his teeth. He had never done anything like bookkeeping before. When he first arrived at the warehouse, he didn’t want to talk to other people. He felt that they were all a bunch of vulgar people and talking to them would pollute his ears, so he had to rely on himself to figure things out.

“Why aren’t you talking?” An Zhi turned to look at Pei Yu. “You look so unconvinced. You even messed up your account book. What’s your reason for being unconvinced?”

“I didn’t.” Pei Yu said with a serious face.

“No?” An Zhi raised her voice. “I’m not dissatisfied, so why are you giving me a cold shoulder now? Pei Yu, don’t forget, you’re a servant now. Have you ever seen a servant dare to give a cold shoulder to his master?”

An Zhi snorted and threw the account book in Pei Yu’s face. “Alright, I don’t need you for this account anymore. You don’t know how to do other technical work. Come back with me and run errands.”

After saying this, without waiting for Pei Yu to speak again, An Zhi turned and walked away, sighing softly, “People should know themselves and not be ashamed to ask questions. If you don’t even understand this, how can you still say you’re educated?”

Pei Yu, who stopped behind her, had a red face, clenched fists, and did not move.

An Zhi didn’t care whether Pei Yu followed her or not. She left the warehouse by herself and was about to get on the carriage when she saw Pei Que standing beside the carriage. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be waiting for her.

“Master Pei.” An Zhi saluted.

“Young Lady An’s business is doing well now.” Pei Que smiled and kept looking into the warehouse.

“That’s thanks to Fourth Master Pei.” An Zhi could never see through Pei Que’s thoughts. “Are you here to call me to task?”

“Why should I go to war to find you guilty?” Pei Que looked at her with a teasing look.

“Isn’t it because of Pei Yu?” An Zhi asked back.

Pei Que chuckled softly twice. “You’ve helped our Pei family educate our unfilial descendant. I can’t thank you enough, so how could I blame you?” He walked closer and whispered, “As long as you don’t rekindle your old feelings for him, I don’t care how you treat him.”

An Zhi’s face flushed when she heard this, and she couldn’t help but call him a lunatic. She saw Pei Yu coming out of the warehouse out of the corner of her eye, and she got on the carriage first.

When Pei Yu saw Pei Que, he whispered “Fourth Uncle”.

“Are you okay now?” Pei Que suppressed his smile. This was the first time they met after Pei Yu returned to the capital.

Pei Yu had a lot to say to Pei Que, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back, leaving only the word “okay”.

“Not bad? Haha.” Pei Que laughed sarcastically, “Since you say it’s okay, then it’s okay. You chose this path yourself, so don’t give up easily. You can’t see through the world with your eyes.”

“I know.” Pei Yu had already understood the truth that one can only judge a person by his appearance but not by his heart. “Fourth Uncle, how are my father, mother, and grandfather?”

“Do you think they will be okay? I thought I was trouble-making enough, but I didn’t expect you to be even more unfilial.” Pei Que’s words were a bit harsh, because he was really dissatisfied with Pei Yu’s ignorance.

Seeing Pei Yu was silent, he tutted, “There’s no turning back now. Don’t look back. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, I heard it.” Pei Yu’s eyes were wet. The moment he saw his relatives, he truly realized that he had done many things wrong. He was too stupid before.