Hearing Chun Tao's high praise for Xiao Yingchu, Li Wanming gradually felt relieved.
Every five days, Xiao Yingchu would bring the ledger to report the accounts to her.
Seeing that the ledger was clearly and neatly recorded, it was actually no less than Xiao Jingnan's.
Li Wanming always appreciated hard - working and capable girls, so she was even more relieved to hand over the wine shop to Xiao Yingchu to manage.
Anyway, Chun Tao was lazy by nature, fond of playing and making a ruckus, and was originally not very suitable to be a shopkeeper.
Back then, she had let Chun Tao take over the old shop only because she had no one around her.
Now that there was such a capable girl, Chun Tao was quite happy. She was only too glad to push the old shop out and come to Li Wanming's side to hang around.
Seeing this situation, Li Wanming had no choice but to keep Chun Tao in the academy again as her chief maid—although she only had this one personal maid in total.
Only Xiao Jingnan frowned slightly when he heard that she had completely handed over the old shop to Xiao Yingchu, looking somewhat displeased.
"The recipe of each wine shop is confidential. Are you really that confident in handing it over to an outsider, my lady?"
Li Wanming replied, "It doesn't matter. The most core ingredient of all our wines is the red lychees from Fujian. Fujian is a long way away, and it's not easy to dry the lychees. Except for the Liu family's caravan, no one is willing to travel all the way from Fujian to transport the red lychees."
She waved her hand indifferently. "So it's okay. Even if she knows the recipe, she can't steal the ingredients."
After hearing this, Xiao Jingnan pondered for a while and then said, "My lady should pay more attention to the business of the wine shop."
"I know," Li Wanming said. "The academy can't make a profit on its own yet and still needs the financial support of the wine shop. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on the shop."
Xiao Jingnan nodded. "Since my lady has a clear idea, I won't say more."
Chun Tao's judgment was correct. Xiao Yingchu was really capable.
In just half a month, she not only managed the inside and outside of the old shop neatly but also placed vases in the hall and laid soft carpets. As soon as people stepped in, they would feel as if they were bathed in the spring breeze, completely at ease.
The business of the old shop was even better than when Li Wanming was in charge.
Li Wanming was really happy from the bottom of her heart.
However, the attitude of Cai Wei, another major shopkeeper of the Li family's wine shop, was a bit strange.
Li Wanming asked her to learn from the decoration style of the old shop and decorate the new shop on Changming Street in the same way. But Cai Wei just casually agreed and then dragged her feet and refused to act.
This was not in line with Cai Wei's character.
She was always quick - handed and quick - tongued, with a fiery temper. Why was she so磨蹭 this time?
Li Wanming whispered to Xiao Jingnan in private, but Xiao Jingnan said, "Since you've handed over the new shop to Cai Wei, you should trust her. She must have her reasons for what she wants or doesn't want to do. Maybe those vases and soft carpets are not suitable for the decoration style of the new shop?"
Li Wanming squinted her eyes.
She felt that his words were also a bit strange.
Where did she not trust Cai Wei?
If she didn't trust her, would she hand over such a big shop to her and not even ask about it for such a long time?
It was really inexplicable.
For some reason, she always felt that Xiao Jingnan and Cai Wei didn't like Xiao Yingchu very much.
Every time she mentioned Xiao Yingchu to the two of them, their expressions were a bit awkward. And so was Qing Lan. There was also a trace of unnaturalness in her expression.
But Qing Lan covered it up well and was not as obvious as the other two.
What was going on?
Did they have a feud?
But it shouldn't be...
Miss Xiao was a proper young lady from a prince's mansion. She had no connection with the children of these peasant families. How could there be a feud?
Li Wanming couldn't figure it out. And when she asked these people, she couldn't get a clear answer. So she had to shake her head, thinking that she had misseen.
——————————
The autumn wind was rustling, and the weather was getting colder. Winter was coming soon.
Maybe because there was no more instigation from Mrs. He, Mrs. Li had been quite quiet recently. She even sent a message, saying that she missed her granddaughters and asked the three sisters to go back and chat with her when they were free.
Hearing this, Li Wanmo raised her sword - like eyebrows. "I'm not free. I won't go! If grandma is really that idle, she can come to the academy for classes. I'll surely teach her a set of Taizu Long Fist without bearing a grudge!"
Li Wanming didn't directly refuse. She sent Chun Tao to the military camp on the outskirts of the capital to ask for the opinions of Yuan Jinqiu and Li Rusong.
Yuan Jinqiu replied quickly, "Go if you want, and don't go if you don't! Do you really have to send someone specifically to ask me about such a trivial matter?"
Li Rusong said, "Your mother's opinion is mine."
So Li Wanming could only say embarrassedly, "Grandma sent someone specifically to call me. Logically, I shouldn't decline. But a mother's order is hard to disobey. She said I could go if I wanted and didn't have to go if I didn't. I asked myself, and I really didn't want to go... So, sorry. A parent's order is more important than anything, and I have to obey."
In the end, only Wanxin went back.
When she came back, Li Wanming and Wanmo asked about the situation in the Li family. Wanxin only vaguely said that grandma was old and seemed to have a much better temper, and she didn't make things difficult for her this time.
However, according to Qiu Ying, the maid who went with her, it was completely different!
"Although the old lady Li didn't have such a long face as before, she still was picky about everything and made things difficult for our young lady!"
As soon as they met, she disliked the snacks that Wanxin had brought, saying that they didn't look fresh and were obviously cheap goods. Then she asked why only she had come back to see her and why the other two girls didn't come. Did they still have her as their grandma in their eyes...
Qiu Ying was so angry that her teeth were itching. "She just thinks our eldest young lady is easy to bully! If it were the second and third young ladies, would she dare to say such things to their faces?"
Xia He quite agreed. Twirling her handkerchief, she said softly, "If our second young lady were there, I can't say anything else, but about half of the pots and jars in the old lady's room would probably be gone."
"Our third young lady wouldn't smash things," Chun Tao said. "She would only say, 'Grandma thinks the things I bought are not good? Fine. I won't buy them anymore in the future! Chun Tao, we'll take these packs back for ourselves later. Don't leave them here to annoy grandma.'"
Chun Tao tried hard to imitate Li Wanming's tone, and she imitated that lawless and unruly look so vividly that the three maids burst into laughter.
After laughing for a while, Qiu Ying sighed again. "Our eldest young lady is good in every way, but she's just too soft - hearted and can't resist a few nice words. If only she had the tough personalities of the second and third young ladies. Then she wouldn't have suffered so much..."
Chun Tao wondered, "I remember that the eldest young lady was fine when she was in Fujian. Didn't she even go to the dragon - boat race at that time? She was so straightforward. Why has she become like this now?"