Discounts

After that day, the An Family finally settled down.

Now, when people walked the streets, they could barely hear anyone cursing the An Family. Instead, everyone praised An Ziran for being so righteous and kind, calling him a living Bodhisattva and the like.

Just as Wu Zhi had said, the simple-minded commoners of Anyuan County had already forgotten how An Changfu had once exploited them, leaving them without food and making entire families go hungry. In truth, they were simply lovable people who could overlook the past as long as someone gave them food to eat. Their minds were uncomplicated and one-track, or else An Changde would never have been able to incite them.

To clear the An Family's name, An Ziran also lowered the price of rice.

Originally, the An Family's rice had been somewhat more expensive than that sold by other rice shops. With a stroke of his pen, he cut the price in half, making it considerably cheaper than the others.

However, this would not be the permanent price. It would only last for five days. During that period, anyone buying rice from the An Family would pay that price. After five days, the An Family's rice prices would rise again, though not back to the previous above-average rate, but to the same price as the other rice shops.

As soon as the news spread, nearly all the commoners in Anyuan County surged madly toward the An Family's rice shops.

Once they confirmed that the price truly was lower than at other rice shops, it immediately sparked a frenzied rush to buy rice. Every rice shop under the An Family's name had crowds packed at its entrance each day, lining up to buy rice. Some who had no silver to buy rice even went out to borrow money. Not only that, people from neighboring counties came rushing over after hearing the news.

For five consecutive days, the atmosphere in Anyuan County was more festive than during the New Year. Nearly every household wore broad smiles. For those who truly could not borrow any silver, the An Family's rice shops even allowed them to buy on credit without charging interest, so long as they repaid it later.

The better the An Family fared, the uglier An Changde and his wife's expressions became.

To them, An Ziran's actions were practically no different from giving away the An Family's fortune. If he continued like this, the An Family would sooner or later become an empty shell. However, haste would not bring success. It was already impossible to bring down the An Family in one stroke.

An Changfu's three concubines also had many complaints about An Ziran constantly making decisions that harmed the An Family's interests. Yet after the previous incident, they no longer dared to barge into the study recklessly. Even Wang Qinglan, who was rather calculating, had quieted down and behaved herself ever since.

An Ziran did not care about them. Having finally gained a period of peace and quiet, he was at last able to devote himself wholeheartedly to losing weight. It had been a month since the day he became An Ziran, and during that month, he had successfully lost twelve jin through the weight-loss regimen he had devised.

If this rate of weight loss had happened in the twenty-first century, it would certainly have caused a sensation. Losing the most weight in the shortest time was something many women dreamed of, but it still did not meet his requirements. Given his current age and height, his ideal weight should be close to one hundred and ten jin, so he still needed to lose another thirty-four jin.

Thinking about how far away that goal still was, An Ziran felt a little conflicted.

During his weight-loss days, time seemed to pass very slowly. He counted the days every day, and when he stood before the mirror once more to examine himself, another month had already passed.

An Ziran looked at his reflection in the mirror and frowned almost imperceptibly.

Over the past month, he had worked desperately to lose weight and had ultimately shed twenty jin, surpassing last month's result. However, he was still fourteen jin away from his goal.

Though the person in the mirror was no longer outrageously fat, his face was still chubby. He possessed none of the imposing vigor he had imagined would command the room. Instead, he had baby fat. One glance was enough to tell that he was still underage. It was somewhat cute, but that was not what he wanted.

Chunlan entered carrying hot water and saw the scene. A faint smile appeared on her pretty face. She had always thought the changed young master was cold-faced and godlike, with few expressions and a rather aloof personality. But after two months of serving him, she discovered that he occasionally revealed adorable actions befitting a young man when in private.

For instance, when he looked in the mirror, that conflicted expression paired with his chubby cheeks was truly adorable. From then on, she was no longer afraid of the young master. Occasionally, she even dared to joke with him a little, and she had never seen him lose his temper.

"Young Master, the hot water is here. Do you have any other instructions?" Chunlan set down the basin.

An Ziran withdrew his gaze and turned around. "Nothing else. You may leave first."

"Yes, Young Master." Chunlan left with her head lowered and an obedient manner. The moment she was out of An Ziran's sight, she immediately broke into a run. She had to share the young master's adorable appearance with Qiulan and the others.

After washing up, An Ziran headed to the dining hall. Unexpectedly, he ran straight into Steward Su, who was hurrying over. Seeing that he looked as though something urgent had happened, An Ziran knew he would not be getting breakfast. He might as well count it as part of his weight loss...

Tomorrow was December 1st. I'll post a chapter first thing in the morning. Don't hold back—throw the olive branches in your hands at me with all your might! Also, rewards can earn you olive branches too. Apparently, rewarding 1,000 copper coins will immediately get you an Invincible, though I haven't tried it myself yet.