Shen Yuning stepped forward, placed the box on the table in the yard, took out the lease contract for the embroidery workshop and the rubbings of the business contracts from it, and handed them to Shen Jingui.
However, Shen Jingui couldn't even recognize a single character. He stared blankly at the paper.
Shen Yuning pointed to the hand - written rubbings considerately. "Brother, look. This is the lease for the embroidery and dyeing workshops. The houses are leased, and it was Second Brother's father - in - law who rented them. Uncle Zhang can't write, so he just pressed his fingerprint back then. Look how big this fingerprint is. It's definitely not mine. Then look at the signature and fingerprint on this business contract. It says Jiang Xuanzhi and his fingerprint. If you don't believe me, just compare this fingerprint and see if it's mine."
Among the four embroidery workshops and one dyeing workshop, actually only the first embroidery workshop was signed by Old Man Zhang. At that time, he was afraid that Yuning, a young girl, might be inexperienced and get cheated, so he went to press his fingerprint himself. He never expected that this could be used to deceive Shen Jingui.
What confused Old Man Zhang even more was how the business contract had become Xuanzhi's.
Shen Jingui was already extremely angry. He stood up and waved his hand towards Shen Yuning's face.
However, the next moment, his hand was firmly grasped by another hand and twisted hard. He let out a scream in pain.
Don't be fooled by Xuanzhi's young age. He had been practicing martial arts since childhood, so his strength was far beyond that of an ordinary person. At this moment, he pushed Shen Jingui onto the chair and stared at him coldly, standing in front of Shen Yuning to protect her.
Shen Yuning never expected that this elder brother would directly raise his hand to hit her. She was completely caught off guard. It was not until Xuanzhi had subdued Shen Jingui that she finally reacted and looked up at Xuanzhi in front of her.
She vaguely remembered that when she first met Xuanzhi two years ago, he was only twelve. Perhaps because he had never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear for a long time, he was very short, about the size of an ordinary ten - year - old child. He had grown quite fast in the past two years, but since she had watched him grow up, she always thought of him as a child like Yuanbao.
But at this moment, she found that Xuanzhi was half a head taller than her. Looking at his side profile now, with his sharp eyes and tightly pursed thin lips, he was completely different from the playful child he used to be.
A warm feeling welled up in Shen Yuning's heart. She felt that the younger brother she had raised up now knew how to protect her.
Shen Jingui was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He leaned on the chair, groaning for a long time. After he finally recovered, he didn't dare to say a single word. He stammered and asked, "Wasn't it said that the embroidery workshops belong to Yuning? How did they become someone else's?"
Shen Yuning shrugged. "I'm a girl. It's inconvenient for me to go out and show myself in public. So I only teach embroidery. The shop affairs are all taken care of by Uncle Zhang, Second Brother, and Xuanzhi."
Shen Fugui twitched the corner of his mouth. Did his younger sister really think it was improper to show herself in public? Among all the men and women in the shops, his younger sister was the one who showed herself the most.
Of course, at this moment, even though he knew his younger sister was lying, he wouldn't expose her. Instead, he quickly nodded. "Yes, these... are all thanks to my father - in - law and Xuanzhi. I... I just do some hard work. I didn't do much."
Shen Jingui was a coward who showed bravado on the surface. At first, he was so domineering because he thought everything here was brought by Shen Yuning. Now he found that it was just a vain imagination. Moreover, the real owner of this embroidery workshop in front of him, although looking young, had amazing strength. When he grabbed his wrist and twisted it like that, it almost broke his hand.
At this moment, there was not a trace of his overbearing attitude left. He only mumbled something about missing his younger sister and daughter, which finally made the people in the room heave a sigh of relief and stop bothering him.
Then Shen Yuning asked again, "Do you plan to go back or stay here? Did Sister - in - law stay in Shenjiapo waiting for you?"
Perhaps Shen Jingui was in too much pain. His face turned slightly red, and his voice was much softer than before. "Your sister - in - law... didn't make it. She's gone..."
Although Shen Yuning knew that the former Shen Jingui and his wife had done some shameful things like stealing and were punished, those wrongdoings didn't deserve such a heavy punishment as two years of exile. It was probably because of Xiao Rou's interference.
Now that she heard that her sister - in - law had lost her life because of this, she felt quite sorry. She just told them not to tell Yuanbao for the time being, lest the young girl couldn't bear the pain of losing her mother.
Since there was no longer any concern, and Shenjiapo was a poor place, Shen Jingui naturally didn't want to go back. Of course, he wanted to reunite with his younger brother, younger sister, and daughter.
At this moment, he never mentioned that he wasn't the owner here and shouldn't live in such a nice house.
After everything in the yard returned to peace, Maid Cen and Xier quickly prepared a bedroom for the master's elder brother to move in. Shen Fugui even fetched water for his elder brother and told him to take a good bath and wash up so as not to stink up the place.
Although Shen Yuning disliked this elder brother very much, he was still her blood - related elder brother. She couldn't just abandon him. Moreover, no matter what, this man was Yuanbao's biological father. Other than providing for him well, there was nothing else she could do.
Fortunately, since Shen Jingui came, Old Man Zhang no longer went back to Xiaoshu Village from time to time. Instead, he stayed in the town and stared at Shen Jingui all day long. If Shen Jingui dared to cause any trouble, the hot - tempered Old Man Zhang would surely jump up and scold him severely.
As time passed, Shen Jingui became more obedient.
The only poor one was Yuanbao. Since her biological father came, he had been nagging all day that she ate too much and dressed too expensively. He even thought that it was a waste to spend money on books and writing brushes. The money should be used for him to buy wine.
However, Xuanzhi had already made it clear that if Shen Jingui dared to do evil things like buying wine on credit or gambling again, he would immediately kick him out of the house. He even went to the familiar shops and told them that Shen Jingui was just a lodger and had nothing to do with their shops.
So Shen Jingui's little schemes had no place to be carried out. He had no choice but to stay at home obediently. Occasionally, Old Man Zhang would soften his heart and give him some money to buy snacks, wine, and meat to satisfy his cravings.
Two months passed like this. It was extremely hot in the midsummer, but Shen Yuning, Xuanzhi, and the others were still extremely busy. The days when they could return home were getting fewer and fewer.
Shen Fugui sometimes looked at his younger sister's dark and thin face and felt very heart - broken, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop.
Shen Yuning herself didn't really care. Taking advantage of the shade of the tree, she lifted her veil hat to get some fresh air, wiped the sweat off her face, and let out a sigh. "Now the business of buying and selling women and girls in Yun County has basically disappeared. The status of women has improved. And I've been to so many places. I found that there are more and more merchants opening embroidery and knitting workshops. Women can also earn money and do work instead of just going to sell themselves as servants. I heard that other places in Lingcheng are also following our example. I'm so happy."
Shen Fugui looked at her with a heart - broken expression. He took out a silk handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her face and then handed her a chilled drink. "You should take a little rest. These things weren't originally your responsibility. Now the officials in Lingcheng have all put in efforts, and the situation will get better and better."
Shen Yuning didn't comment. She felt that her second brother had finally come to his senses and no longer said that as a girl, she shouldn't worry about these things. Immediately, she acted coquettishly towards her brother and said she wanted to eat the ice jelly sold on the roadside.
Shen Fugui considered himself a useless person. All he wanted was to take good care of his wife and younger sister. How could he refuse? Immediately, he went to buy the ice jelly. After watching his younger sister finish eating, he helped her onto the ox - cart and then rushed back home.
Now that Shen Yuning had money, she bought a carriage for convenience. But she only took the carriage when going on a long - distance trip. The ox - cart was used more often for short - distance travel. Today, Xuanzhi had taken the carriage out to handle the business contract for the fifth embroidery workshop, so Shen Fugui was driving the ox - cart to accompany Shen Yuning out.
When they got home, Shen Yuning found that the atmosphere in the house was not right. Old Man Zhang wasn't at home, and Zhang Rong didn't know where she had gone. In the yard, only Maid Cen was holding Huzi. It seemed that she wasn't afraid of the sun at all and just let Huzi play in the sun.
Shen Fugui saw that his son's face was red from the sun and his clothes were soaked with sweat. He blamed Maid Cen for not taking good care of the child. Immediately, he carried his son into the house to take a bath.
Only then did Maid Cen react. Blushing, she followed him to help fetch water.
Shen Fugui wasn't used to getting angry with others. Seeing that she was obedient, he didn't want to ignore her. He just asked, "Where's his mother?"
Maid Cen hesitated for a long time. "There's something wrong with the shop. Madam Second and Xier went to take care of it..."
Shen Yuning was quite surprised. Because of Xier's skillful hands, ordinary jobs were never given to her. Moreover, since she had suffered a lot in the past and didn't like going out to meet people, Shen Yuning always let her take the jobs and do them at home.
Shen Fugui was careless and didn't suspect anything. He nodded and asked again, "Where are my father - in - law and elder brother? Why aren't they at home either?"
Maid Cen's face flushed red. She lowered her head and didn't dare to say a word.
Shen Fugui mumbled, thinking that they had gone out to drink again. He just thought that these two people didn't even take care of the children. If Maid Cen had work to do, wouldn't there be no one to take care of Huzi?
Shen Yuning noticed something was wrong from Maid Cen's evasive eyes. She quickly asked, "What exactly happened?"
Maid Cen didn't dare to hide anything. She immediately told the whole story.
It turned out that because of the hot weather, everyone was wearing less clothes. Xier was different from Maid Cen. Xier was better - looking and had a more plump figure. Usually, she always stayed in her room. When she went out, she would put on a loose outer - garment to cover herself up, so it was okay.
After lunch today, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Maybe Maid Cen felt uncomfortable after being in the wind. Thinking that Shen Yuning was going to come back, she asked Xier to help her stew some soup to relieve the summer heat and clear the fire.
Xier probably thought that there was no one in the yard at noon anyway, so she didn't put on the usual loose outer - garment that covered her figure and just went to the kitchen to start the fire.
Maid Cen looked embarrassed and guilty. "I don't know why, but Master Shen didn't take a nap. Maybe he drank some wine at noon and then sneaked into the kitchen."
Shen Fugui suddenly stood up. Thinking that Shen Yuning was an unmarried young girl, he didn't allow Maid Cen to continue. He rushed towards his elder brother's room angrily.
Maid Cen quickly stopped him. "Master Second, Xier is fine. She was just shocked. Madam took her to the embroidery workshop to hide... But Master was extremely angry and drove Master Shen out..."