After being a widow for half my life, I found out that my husband was not dead.

On the tenth day, the top ten poems and essays were selected and paintings were presented in public, and the top fifty were presented with pens, inks, paper and inkstones. This grand event ended successfully.

The account was calculated in front of Pei Rong. After deducting the 15 taels spent on the ten paintings and various expenses, 5 taels were left in the end.

Looking at the last number on the abacus, Pei Rong couldn't help but applaud: "I admire it!"

She cleverly used the mentality of the scholars who refused to accept anyone else. She probably regarded the elegant gathering as an imperial examination. She wanted to compete for the top ten, which was far more than thinking about painting.

The top ten are posted every day, which further stimulates the fighting spirit of the scholars.

"But in fact, for Nanmozhai, this is just the beginning, and the road ahead will still be difficult." Liu Yunxiang said.

Pei Rong nodded, "Even if you make a good start, there will always be failures later."

"So, I want to cooperate with Boss Pei."

Pei Rong raised his eyebrows, "Cooperation?"

"We run Nanmo Restaurant together, and in the end we will make six profits for you and four for me."

"But I already have Qingxiangzhai."

"If you cooperate with me, Nanmo Zhai will definitely surpass Qingxiang Zhai. Of course, we can also cooperate with other study halls. Then the people who will overwhelm Qingxiang Zhai will not be my own family."

Pei Rong lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then raised his head: "Isn't this Boss Liu's ultimate goal?"

Liu Yunxiang nodded, "Nanhonglou, I also want to cooperate with Boss Pei. I have Yunjin, you have channels, I have a brand, and you have connections."

Doing business must be profitable for both parties. It depends on whether her conditions are attractive enough to make him willing to offend An Hong.

Pei Rong looked at Liu Yunxiang: "To be honest, at the beginning, Boss Liu said he wanted to do business with me. The first thing I worried about was Boss Liu's ability. Now Boss Liu has eliminated my worries, but..."

Liu Yunxiang interrupted what Pei Rong was about to say, "Boss Pei, please think about it first."

Pei Rong thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then let Rong think about it for a few days."

After coming out of Tianxiang Tower, Liu Yunxiang returned to Nanmozhai. There were many guests inside, all wearing plain robes, so a woman wearing a brown cotton skirt in front of the counter stood out.

"Madam, what do you think of this square inkstone?" The clerk pushed a square inkstone to the woman, "This inkstone is a good-quality Duan inkstone, but the style is simple and not eye-catching. If you like it, I will make it cheaper for you. Five taels of silver."

Duan inkstones usually cost at least ten taels of silver, and five taels is indeed very cheap.

Liu Yunxiang didn't pay much attention. He walked to the back and called Chen Chong to him, "Tomorrow you follow the shopkeeper of Qingxiangzhai to pick up the goods. He will introduce you to some of the workshop managers. You take them to a restaurant and have a drink. Let’s negotiate the purchase of goods.”

Pei Rong did not agree to cooperate with her, but shared Qingxiangzhai's purchasing channels with her, solving the first problem faced by Nanmozhai.

"That's great. It's easy to buy goods, but it's difficult to have good quality and favorable prices. I'm worried about this!" Chen Chong said happily.

Liu Yunxiang nodded, and when he was about to leave, a waiter came over and asked: "My boss, shopkeeper Chen, the lady only has [-], [-], [-] yuan, and asked us if we can sell this inkstone."

Chen Chong frowned, "When we took it from Qingxiangzhai, it was only five taels. She didn't earn a penny from it. How can we sell it at a loss?"

Liu Yunxiang looked towards the woman and saw that she was soft and frail, and her face seemed not to be well. She was coughing and counting the coins in the handkerchief. At the end of the count, her frown deepened.

"Sell it to her." Liu Yunxiang said.

The waiter responded, accepted the money, wrapped the inkstone and gave it to the woman. The woman's face showed joy and she kept thanking her.

The clerk pointed at Liu Yunxiang to the woman, probably saying that she was sold to her by her boss.

The woman turned her head and looked this way. Liu Yunxiang was slightly startled. She nodded to her gratefully, and Liu Yunxiang also nodded to her.

Watching the woman leave, Liu Yunxiang exhaled slightly. There was a scar on the left side of the woman's face, which should have been caused by burns.

Liu Yunxiang came out of Nanmozhai and went to Jingzhao Mansion Prison. She brought clothes and food to shopkeeper Hu, and stuffed a piece of silver into the guard. He was willing to give these things in.

After coming out of the prison, Liu Yunxiang walked to Jingchuan Garden. When she passed the market, she saw the woman again. The woman was selling rice cakes, and she shouted loudly when someone passed by, but her voice was mute probably because she was ill.

Next to her sat an old woman wearing a brown cotton skirt and a green smear on her forehead. She couldn't close her eyes and the whites of her eyes were exposed. She should be blind.

"How many are left?" the old woman asked.

The woman coughed first and said, "There are quite a few left."

As soon as the woman finished speaking, the old woman slapped her on the back, "You have long legs and your eyes are squinting. You are running around. If you can't sell these, you don't want to eat tonight!"

The woman coughed again, "How about I take you back first?"

"This time, everyone is gone. I don't have any brains every day!"

"Cough cough!"

"I'm not asking you to take medicine. Have you taken the medicine? It makes it seem like our Xi family is abusing you!"

"Mom, you drank."

The woman spoke in a very soft voice. Even though she was beaten and scolded by the old woman, she still had a soft smile on her face and her eyes were moist. She was a woman as gentle as water.

It was getting late, and the people in the market had begun to disperse. The woman comforted the old woman, but she couldn't help but have a sad look on her face.

Liu Yunxiang stepped forward, "I want all these rice cakes."

The woman was overjoyed first, looked up and saw Liu Yunxiang, hesitated for a moment, and said, "It's you!"

Liu Yunxiang looked at the woman, smiled at her and nodded, "Well, what a coincidence."

"There's a lot left. Do you want all of it? Can you finish it?"

Just as Liu Yunxiang was about to answer, the woman gave the woman a quick blow, hitting her chest, "If someone wants to buy it, you should quickly install it for them. What are you doing with so many questions?"

The woman was very weak, but the old woman was very strong, so she was shaken back by this blow.

Liu Yunxiang frowned, "Who is this?"

The woman said awkwardly: "She is my mother-in-law."

"It's my mother-in-law."

Looking at it like this, she must be an evil mother-in-law!

After having enough of the evil mother-in-law's cries, Liu Yunxiang felt a little sympathy for this woman.

The woman wrapped the rice cakes in oil paper, wrapped them in five big packages, tied them with ropes, and handed them to Liu Yunxiang.

Liu Yunxiang gave her a piece of silver, and the woman looked at her in embarrassment.

"I can't find it."

Liu Yunxiang handed it to her and said, "No need to look for it."

"How can that be okay? You bought me so much at once and you have already taken good care of me. It's absolutely not okay..."

Before the woman finished speaking, the old woman interjected: "This lady doesn't care about this little money, she just finds it troublesome, so please continue quickly and stop being verbose."

The woman shook her head and pushed back firmly.

Liu Yunxiang smiled, "Then you can fold the rest into rice cakes and deliver them to Nanmozhai tomorrow."

"But you have already bought so much..."

"We have a lot of family."

The woman then caught the broken silver and thanked her profusely.

Liu Yunxiang left and walked more than ten steps into the courtyard. She looked back and saw the woman carrying a basket and supporting the blind mother-in-law. Her body was as thin as a wicker, as if it could be blown away by the stronger wind.

She sighed, there were many suffering people in the world, and her little suffering was probably nothing.

Thinking like this, she felt a lot lighter and headed towards Jingchuan Garden.

But when she arrived at the backyard, she saw a eunuch and several guards coming out of the hanging flower door, and she hurriedly hid.

The eunuch clicked his tongue and said, "Go back and report to the Holy One quickly. I'm afraid this person may not be able to survive."