Chapter Twelve You Are the Housekeeper

  In the clothing store on Zhenhai Gate Street, Liu Minyou was busy. Chen Xin had been gone for another month. In Liu Minyou's view, now that he had a shop and a boat, he could live his life at ease. When it was time to leave, he would go to Taiwan or Ryukyu, and it would be the same for the rest of his life.

  Shen Li was seriously writing cards next to him, now she is in charge of production planning, Zhou Laifu's wife entertains guests, Old Cai still acts as the accountant, Lu You is responsible for warehouse materials and errands. Actually, Liu Min lacks a tailor the most, but Chen Xin has so many people, the burden is too heavy, Liu Min can only ask Zhou Laifu to work overtime at night.

  "This damn Chen Xin, it's all because of him that my clothing store doesn't even have a tailor." Liu Minyou cursed in his heart. The weather was already very cold, and sales of cheongsam dresses were about to slow down. Liu Minyou racked his brains and designed several types of cotton-padded jackets and windbreakers based on memory. Unexpectedly, they sold quite well, especially among traveling merchants who loved the windbreakers. This month alone, nearly 200 pieces were sold. The Lan Brand Clothing Store started to have a number of repeat customers and gained some reputation among Tianjin's middle class. Liu Minyou made up his mind to hire a full-time tailor; otherwise, efficiency would be too low.

  "Master, this is the summary for this month. Take a look." Shen Li came over and said softly, handing over a piece of paper. Liu Minyou took it and looked at it. This Shen Li was originally an official's daughter, she could write and learn quickly, just like Deng Keshan, she quickly mastered the two-dimensional table and was good with the abacus too. If Chen Xin hadn't arranged for Old Cai to be in charge of accounting, she would have been able to take on the role directly.

  "This month's earnings are eighty-three taels, which is not bad." Liu Minyou looked at the performance and nodded in satisfaction. He made up his mind to hire a full-time tailor, preferably Zhou Laifu. He planned to go back and talk to Zhou Laifu that evening.

  "Mrs. Zhou, I've finished making five garments for the Qu family on Hebin Road. Would you mind delivering them this afternoon?"

  Zhou Laifu's wife grunted in response, her face slightly red. She didn't say anything and went back to discussing the materials with Old Cai and Lu You. Old Cai also had a bad expression on his face. After Shen Lishi finished speaking, she lowered her head and retreated back to sit at the edge of the table.

  Liu Min sighed in his heart, because Shen Lou made a scene every day on Erdao Street, saying that Shen Li didn't have the face to do so, causing some rumors among the neighbors. They suspected Liu Min of having an affair with her, and even Lu You's wife had some suspicions about Lu You, although she didn't dare say it out loud. She often sneaked a peek at the store entrance. Zhou Lai Fu's wife wasn't worried about this aspect, but felt that Liu Min shouldn't have let this woman into the store. She originally wanted to arrange a marriage for Liu Min, but after hearing Shen Lou's commotion, both families gave up on it. Old Cai thought this woman was too capable and might snatch his accountant's job, so everyone didn't get along with Shen Li.

  Shen Li herself knew she was being ostracized, but Shen Lou's mother had taken charge and let her come to work. Now her whole family relied on this little money to make a living, so she was also very cautious in the store, afraid of offending someone. Liu Min was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble, several times wanting to fire her, but feeling sorry for her, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

  So both of them were very cautious, never alone in the store, and even when they met outside, they didn't speak to each other. The more this happened, the more Liu Min felt awkward, and Shen Li's wife didn't dare look at him every time she spoke to him. But after being together for a long time, Liu Min felt that this woman was very capable, could read and write, learned quickly, and had a good sense of dressing herself. She was originally an official's daughter, and her aesthetic vision was indeed better than that of any aunt or sister. Moreover, she was still very beautiful.

  Liu Min took a stealthy glance, indeed beautiful and pleasant to look at. However, often getting beaten by Shen Lou, her face either had a panda eye or a bump on her forehead, and her complexion was also haggard every day, which affected the aesthetics.

  "Domestic violence." Liu Min had already made a definition, he had never seen Shen Lou, this person had broken his leg and basically didn't go out, so Liu Min drew a picture of someone similar to Feng Yuanzheng in his mind.

  Liu Minyou was slightly distracted, staring for a moment too long, and Shen Li seemed to have noticed something, looking up to catch Liu's eye. Just as their eyes met, Liu quickly looked away, and Shen's face turned red as she hastily buried her head, trying not to be seen by others.

  "Master, this batch of goods has been inspected. Do you want to take another look?" Just then, Lu You came over to interrupt and Liu Min took the opportunity to go to one side to inspect the goods, avoiding this awkward situation.

  Outside the gate came a sound of footsteps, and Zhang Da's voice came in: "Liu brother, I'm back."

  Liu Minyou heard that and ran out happily, seeing Zhang Dahui standing at the door with a joyful face. "Dahui, come in quickly! How did you guys go for so long? Where's your brother Chen?"

  "Let me have a drink of water." Zhang Da Hui himself found a tea bowl, Lu You hurriedly picked up the thermos from the charcoal stove and poured it for him. After drinking, he said to Liu Min, "Chen Ge is still behind, I'm afraid it will take two more days, he asked me to come back and prepare some things first."

  "What's the hurry?"

  Zhang Da looked around at the other people in the store, then pulled Liu Min out to the door before saying in a low voice: "One hundred sets of red padded jackets, one hundred sets of what's called training uniforms. Let you do them first. He said they have to be majestic, with shoulder pads added, and stiff. He said you understand. The clothes can be made by your clothing store. I still need to go to other places to buy some quilts and food."

  "Why did he buy so much?"

  "Liu, you don't know, Chen is now quite formidable. He's a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War and has been loudly denouncing the eunuchs in the capital. He's even become famous among the common people, with teahouses talking about him. This time, he recruited fifty laborers on the road and plans to take them to Weihai."

  "This son of a bitch, who wants to live a peaceful life." Liu Min gritted his teeth in his heart. Chen Xin made such a big noise, naturally not wanting to go to Weihai to live a small life.

  "There's more..." Zhang Da Hui paused for a moment, "Chen Da Ge bought an old lady on the road and said he wanted to make her his young wife."

  "What? Bought it? This is against the law, no, how can this be."

  "He said yes, he said he had taken a liking to that woman."

  Liu Min was a bit stunned, he had never thought of buying and selling people before. His brain was not working well for a moment, the director of the office went to buy a woman back, what kind of situation is this? He asked dully: "Is that woman as beautiful as a fairy?"

  Zhang Da's eyebrows were all scrunched up, his mouth tightly closed, and he held it in for a while before shaking his head and saying: "Liu Ge, when they arrive, you'll see for yourself."

  "Huh?!"

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  Two days later, in the courtyard of Erdao Street.

  "Oh dear, this courtyard is too small. Master, why did you give those poor rascals so much silver? It would be better to keep it and buy a bigger courtyard. Look, there isn't even a second entrance. What if someone comes in the future? I'll be seen for sure. My old place was a three-entrance mansion, where outsiders couldn't enter the inner courtyard, and the front door had a screen wall too. This corridor is narrow, and what's more, this window only has one layer, it should have two layers to be more useful."

  Xiao Jia Hua wore a big, exaggerated red dress, like a moving red envelope, standing proudly in the courtyard with her head held high and her chest out, gesturing to the yard as she spoke. Zhang Er Hui, Hai Gou Zi, Zhang Da Hui, Wang Dai Xi, Liu Min You, and Old Cai surrounded her in a circle, staring at her foolishly.

  Chen Xin only returned today, Lu Zizi and Zhu Guobin took those concubines to stay outside the city, Liu Min hurried back to the courtyard, wanting to see Chen Xin's wife, and saw this Xiao Jia Hua in front of him.

  Liu Min looked at Xiao Jia Hua in front of him, who was as red as a lucky envelope, and quietly asked Zhang Da Hui beside him: "Was she originally the young lady of which family? How does she understand everything?"

  "It's a maid who serves the young lady, so she sees more and understands more."

  "Oh, maid, why is the frame so big."

  "This is nothing, on the road there are even bigger frames, and even donkeys' wives are carried up by sedan chair bearers."

  "What did Chen Xin allow her to do? And what about him?"

  "Older brother Chen is drinking tea in the shop."

  "Have some tea? He's quite all right, bringing back a young mistress like this, and then hiding away to enjoy himself."

  Liu Min was storming towards the market, having only taken a few steps when he was spotted by Xiao Jia Hua, "Hey you, come over here."

  Liu Min looked over and it seemed that Xiao Jia Hua was talking to him, so he stopped out of politeness and said to Xiao Jia Hua with courtesy: "Miss Xiao, do you have..."

  Xiao Jia Hua glanced at the house while interrupting casually: "You're the butler, right? From now on, don't call me Miss Xiao, call me Young Madam."

  "Boss Zhang took a look and thought it wasn't good, so he hastily introduced: 'Young lady, this is Liu...'"

  "Liu Guan Jia, hurry up and help me and Master clean out a main room,"

  Wang Dai Xi saw Liu Min standing with a black face and was afraid he would get angry, so she quickly came out and said: "Young lady, I'll help you clean up. The right side is where Brother Chen used to live, I'll take care of it immediately."

  Xiao Jia Hua turned her head to look at the main house and said in confusion: "Which side is that? Quickly point it out to me."

  Wang took Xi to the door of Chen's new house and said: "It's this one, madam, take a look."

  Xiao Jia Hua suddenly burst out laughing, "So my old master lives here, great, look, mainly the bed needs to be bigger, and you, servant girl, from now on don't call him Big Brother, but Master." After saying that, she followed Wang Dai Xi inside.

  Liu Min stormed into the shop with a belly full of anger, while Chen Xin and Song Wenxian were leisurely drinking tea inside.

  "You... is this your wife?" Liu Min had originally planned to scold Chen Xin, but seeing Song Wenxian present, he swallowed his words instead.

  Chen Xin saw Liu Min and smiled all over his face, "Brother Liu, you're doing well."

  Song Wenxian chuckled and said, "Brother Liu has arrived just in time. On this journey, I've been treated as a steward by Chen's wife, now I can finally hand over this task."

  Liu Min angrily said: "Chen, when did you become a human trafficker? You don't even recognize her, and yet you want to make her your wife? Besides, even if you were going to buy one, couldn't you have bought a more reliable one? Go tell her that I'm not your housekeeper, and Wang Dai Xi is not her maid."

  Chen Xin didn't get angry at all, and smiled: "Brother Liu is right, I'm not her husband either."

  "She's gone to tidy up your room for the two of you, and who knows, maybe she'll even buy a big bed. The way things are going, it looks like you'll be getting married tonight, and yet you still say she's not your wife?"

  "Don't bother with her, I won't live in the same house as her. Actually, I bought her to be a maid." Chen Xin didn't dare tell Liu Min that she was bought as a hostage, or else he would definitely be scolded to death by Liu Min.

  "Yāo yāng?" Liu Min had a bunch of question marks on his head, "Then why did she say it was the young lady?"

  It's not that Chen Xin couldn't handle it: "I took pity on her, she was freezing to death, otherwise why would I be involved in human trafficking? I also had good intentions, planning to let her serve as a maid for Zhao Xiang, and maybe later become a concubine. I said maybe later, but after talking to her for a few more sentences, she went around spreading rumors that I was her husband, isn't that right, Mr. Song?"

  Song Wen laughed and said, "Indeed it is so, but for now I'm still a maid, and you treat me like a servant, when the time comes and I become the young mistress, I wouldn't dare to enter your door."

  Chen Xin looked at Song Wenxian helping to cover up the lie, and then gestured to Liu Min with a wave of his hand. Liu Min had heard that Xiao Jia's flower was almost frozen to death, so he softened in his heart as well. Although this woman was a bit strange, human life was more important than anything else.

  Liu Minyou glared at the two of them and said, "So that's how it is. I was wondering why your eyesight was so bad. Since you're saving someone, then whatever. But you still have to tell her that I'm not your butler, and Wang Dai Xi isn't her maid either." Liu Minyou finished speaking and stormed off with a huff.

  Song Wenxian asked Chen Xindao: "Brother Chen, you seem to be a little afraid of your younger cousin, what's going on?"

  Chen Xin smiled wryly and said: "I don't know either, anyway I'm a bit afraid of him nagging, like an old lady."

  "However, your younger brother is right, this Xiao Jia Hua is really outrageous. Brother Chen, you are indeed very patient. I can see why her previous master wanted to get rid of her. If I were to encounter Xiao Jia Hua, I would beat her up first and then talk, how could she be so arrogant and loud, without any dignity?"

  "Mr. Song is mighty and powerful, but I think this Xiao family's flower is quite interesting, shouting and yelling every day to relieve boredom."

  Song Wenxian was about to continue speaking when a loud shout suddenly came from the courtyard, "Housekeeper, housekeeper, bring in the rouge I bought!"

  Chen Xin still looked relaxed, anyway Liu Min had already returned to the shop and would be taking Xiao Jia Hua away in two days, so let her make a fuss. Xiao Jia Hua called out several times but didn't see the housekeeper, so she continued shouting in the courtyard.

  Song Wenxian felt stifled and could only stand up and say, "Brother Chen, even if Mount Tai were to collapse in front of him, he would remain unmoved. In the future, he will surely become a famous general like Commander Qi. As for you, brother, you don't have this kind of cultivation, so it's better for you to just be his housekeeper."

  "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Song with it," said Chen Xin with a smile.