Beauty won't put food on the table

"Sister-in-law, you've misunderstood. Miss Cheng is a fine woman. I didn't mean to slight her."

Chen Shi'an shook his head repeatedly. "You've been through this yourself. You must know that feelings can't be forced."

Su Qingrou fell silent for a moment before asking quietly, "Do you prefer slender women like Fang Ruyu?"

Chen Shi'an shook his head again. "Sister-in-law, I told you before. I'm not interested in romance right now. I want to focus on building a livelihood first."

Su Qingrou said, "You're already eighteen this year. Taking a wife, having children, and continuing the Chen Family bloodline is the most important undertaking of your life.

"If you don't like Qiaogu, that's fine. I can keep looking for someone for you.

"With the ten taels of silver the Stronghold awarded Tiantian, I have nearly thirty taels on hand now.

"And we're selling chili sauce every day.

"Don't worry about the money. There's enough for you to marry and for us to renovate the house.

"Tell me honestly. What sort of woman do you actually like?"

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, Chen Shi'an thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sister-in-law, I'll tell you the truth. There's already someone I like. You don't need to worry about me."

Su Qingrou blinked. "Who is she? Fang Ruyu?"

Chen Shi'an shook his head. "We've only just started. I won't tell you who she is yet. When the time is right, I'll bring her over."

"Really?"

Surprise and delight appeared on Su Qingrou's face, as though a great weight had lifted from her shoulders.

"Of course."

Chen Shi'an turned his gaze toward the courtyard. "Sister-in-law, you'd better hurry up and think about how to handle Miss Cheng from the Steamed Bun Shop."

Su Qingrou smiled. "There's nothing to handle. Qiaogu came to buy chili sauce today."

"..." Chen Shi'an was speechless.

Cheng Qiaogu had indeed come to buy chili sauce, but after paying her copper coins and receiving the sauce, she was in no hurry to leave.

She sat at the stone table and chatted with Su Qingrou for quite some time, occasionally stealing glances at Chen Shi'an's room. Only when he still failed to appear did she leave, disappointment written on her face.

"Sister-in-law, there's something I'd like to discuss with you." Chen Shi'an waited until Chen Qiaogu had left before entering the courtyard.

"I think Qiaogu really does have some interest in you," Su Qingrou teased with a smile.

Chen Shi'an shook his head with a wry smile. "Sister-in-law, she isn't interested in me. She's interested in Tiantian's status as a Spirit Medium.

"Otherwise, why would she choose to come now, rather than earlier or later?"

Su Qingrou thought for a moment. "That's true.

"When your older brother was still alive, we often had a visitor or two.

"After he was injured and bedridden, no one came to visit anymore.

"Now that our chili sauce is selling well, more people have been coming. Especially after Tiantian became a Reserve Divination Medium, people who hadn't visited in ages started coming by again."

By the end, she let out a long sigh.

Chen Shi'an smiled faintly. "Sister-in-law, that's just the way of the world and human nature. There's no need to sigh over it. All we need to do is live our own lives well."

Su Qingrou nodded. "Didn't you say you wanted to discuss something with me?"

Chen Shi'an cleared his throat. "Chen Su Ji's chili sauce is selling quite well now, and it has an excellent reputation. Demand will only keep growing.

"But with you doing all the work alone, production will fall further and further behind.

"I was thinking we might hire someone to help."

Su Qingrou hesitated briefly. "Hiring someone would cost a substantial amount of silver. More importantly, I'm worried whoever we hire will learn our methods, and we'll end up training a competitor for nothing.

"Over the past few days, people have already been asking how I make the chili sauce under the pretext of coming to buy some."

Chen Shi'an had anticipated this. He said gravely, "Sister-in-law, if you're worried about our methods getting out, I do have a solution. We could buy a slave at the Slave Market."

Su Qingrou rejected the idea without a second thought. "Your older brother told me that buying a slave doesn't just cost a large sum of silver. We'd also have to pay the City Construction Tax for them. That's a considerable expense.

"The little silver we earn selling chili sauce is only enough to support ourselves. How could we have any left over to buy a slave?

"Besides, once you get married, we'll need to spend a great deal of silver."

"My marriage is still a long way off."

Chen Shi'an gave a helpless, wry smile. "Sister-in-law, we need to look further ahead. And you need to have faith in yourself.

"Chen Su Ji's chili sauce has already won the market's approval. This is the perfect time to expand. We can't let production hold us back.

"Buying a slave now would certainly put some strain on us.

"But you have to believe that once Chen Su Ji reaches a bigger market, the money we spend on a slave will be well worth it."

Su Qingrou blinked and smiled. "If you married sooner, your wife and I could work together. That would greatly increase our chili sauce production too."

Chen Shi'an smiled wryly. "So you're rushing me to marry because you want a helper."

Su Qingrou was quite frank. "It would kill several birds with one stone. Of course I'm eager."

"Sister-in-law, I have my own plans for marriage. Let's keep talking about the slave."

Chen Shi'an hurriedly steered the conversation back. "If we want to grow the business, we'll have to bring in more help sooner or later.

"Sooner is better than later. If we grit our teeth now, we'll reap greater returns in the future."

Su Qingrou hesitated briefly. "All right. We'll do as you say."

With that, she turned and went inside.

When she came back out, she was carrying a large pile of silver pieces. She placed them all on the stone table-twenty-four taels in total.

Chen Shi'an took only twenty taels. "Sister-in-law, you need to keep some silver to buy ingredients for the chili sauce."

Su Qingrou shook her head. "Take all of it. I've already set some aside for emergencies.

"If we're going to buy one, we should buy a good one.

"A lot of the slaves at the Slave Market are injured or ill. Don't go chasing a bargain.

"If you bring back a sick woman, we'll have to spend money treating her."

"Understood." Chen Shi'an put away the remaining four taels of silver.

"And she shouldn't be too old. No older than forty. Nor too young-at least sixteen.

"Most importantly, don't just pick someone because she's pretty. Beauty won't put food on the table," Su Qingrou instructed quietly.

Chen Shi'an looked puzzled. "Sister-in-law, aren't you coming to the Slave Market with me?"

Su Qingrou shook her head. "We're spending such a large sum, and there'll be another mouth to feed at home. I need to make the most of my time and prepare more chili sauce."

Chen Shi'an said, "Sister-in-law, one day won't make that much difference. You've been working hard lately. This is a good chance to get out and relax."

"What if I don't choose well..."

Su Qingrou's gaze grew meaningful. "You men surely have a better eye for women than we women do."

With that, she stood and headed for the kitchen.

"Sister-in-law, we're choosing a slave who can work. What does being a man or a woman have to do with having an eye for that?" Chen Shi'an looked utterly bewildered.

Su Qingrou didn't turn around. "Everything about a slave belongs to their master. She won't just be making chili sauce for us.

"You're an adult now. I understand that you have those needs.

"If you don't want to marry yet, buying a slave is fine too. I won't object."

"What needs..."

At that point, Chen Shi'an froze on the spot.

Only then did he realize that this was what Su Qingrou had been thinking.

Have I really been acting that desperate?

Chen Shi'an scratched his head. He wanted to explain, but how was he supposed to explain something like this?

Would that even be appropriate?

Let her misunderstand, then. It's perfectly natural anyway. Nothing to be ashamed of.

With a long sigh, he returned to his room and resumed drawing his saber.

At the same time, he calmed his mind and considered his current situation.

With Chen Tiantian becoming a Reserve Divination Medium, the Chen Family's crisis had been temporarily resolved. It had bought him some time, and he could breathe a little easier.

Now it was time to shift from passive defense to active offense.

He could keep stringing Lu Chenyang along with poetry. As long as Lu Chenyang still wanted to pursue Tao Yaoyao, he wouldn't lay a hand on him.

As for Tao Yaoyao, having the poetry manuscripts in hand was like gripping a snake at its vulnerable seventh inch. He needn't worry about her for now either.

Still, that woman had broken her word and nearly driven Chen Shi'an into a corner with no way out. He would mark that debt against her for now.

The day would come when she had to repay it.

For the moment, Wang Tianye was the first person he needed to deal with.

However, Wang Tianye was a veteran Ranked Martial Artist. Chen Shi'an knew he was still far from being a match for him.

Moreover, Wang Tianye controlled the City Guard Battalion. Whenever he went out, he often had numerous city guards protecting him.

Thus, assassination wasn't an option for now.

One man's strength wasn't enough to deal with Wang Tianye. He needed help.

Where there were interests at stake, there would be conflict.

As the leader of the City Guard Battalion, Wang Tianye was bound to have political enemies and people who didn't get along with him.

The enemy of his enemy was his friend.

Many people in Windrise Stronghold knew there was one man who was a thorn in Wang Tianye's eye, yet Wang Tianye could do nothing about him.

That man was Fu Qingyang, the leader of the Demon Hunting Team.

The Demon Hunting Team nominally belonged to the City Guard Battalion and was subject to its Commander's authority.

In reality, however, Wang Tianye couldn't command the Demon Hunting Team at all.

The Demon Hunting Team had fewer than a hundred members, but any one of them could hold his own against ten men.

They frequently left the Stronghold to deal with difficult problems on its behalf.

And, as their name suggested, their most important task was hunting Demon Beasts.

The Desolate Ruins bordered the Demon Beasts' lair, the Ten Thousand Barbarian Mountains, so Demon Beasts were bound to wander into the Desolate Ruins.

The Demon Hunting Team's duty was to track any Demon Beasts that entered within a hundred li of Windrise Stronghold and hunt them when an opportunity arose.

Any Demon Beasts they killed belonged to the Demon Hunting Team.

A Demon Beast was a treasure from head to toe. Killing just one brought in a large sum of silver.

Fu Qingyang was a loyal, generous man and usually chose to share the proceeds of their hunts with his comrades.

Thus, even though Windrise Stronghold paid the Demon Hunting Team no military wages, everyone in the team was swimming in wealth, leaving the City Guard Battalion green with envy.

Still, envy aside, many understood perfectly well that earning such silver required real ability.

Without some skill, even if they joined the Demon Hunting Team, they would only end up as Demon Beast feed.

The Demon Hunting Team paid its own wages. Never mind Wang Tianye-even Xiang Chuxiong had to be polite if he wanted to deploy them.

If Chen Shi'an could establish a connection with Fu Qingyang, it would be an excellent option for him.

Soon, he thought of someone: Hou Fang, a good friend of his older brother, Chen Qingye.

Hou Fang had only recently left the Demon Hunting Team for the City Guard Battalion. He might still have some connections in the team.

The night passed without incident.

The next day, after practicing his saber draws and eating, he practiced for a little over another half a shichen, waiting until the Slave Market was about to open.

Chen Shi'an let Su Qingrou know, then headed out.

The Slave Market was located in the southeastern corner of Windrise Stronghold. On the surface, it was privately operated, but its true owner was Xiang Chuxiong, Windrise Stronghold's City Lord.

Human trafficking had always been a business steeped in violence. Naturally, Xiang Chuxiong had to keep such a money tree firmly in his grasp.

A little over half a quarter-hour into the Si Hour, Chen Shi'an entered the Slave Market.

The Slave Market was already open, bustling with people coming and going.

Many men and women, dressed in rags and sallow with hunger, were shackled and locked in iron cages for customers to choose from.

Beside the cages, people continuously called out to draw customers, explaining the slaves' basic circumstances to anyone who showed interest.

Chen Shi'an followed the crowd, moving slowly past the cages and selecting slaves according to Su Qingrou's criteria.

Following the principle of comparing goods before buying, he didn't rush to settle on anyone. Instead, he looked through all the cages first, shortlisted a few candidates, then compared them.

After nearly half a shichen, he had seen all the slaves and had a rough idea of whom he wanted.

He was ready to make his final choice from among those candidates.

Suddenly, a large crowd gathered beside an iron cage in the middle of the Slave Market, and angry curses rang out.

"You wretched bitch! You won't know what's good for you until you get a whipping!"

After that furious, vicious voice, a whip cracked again and again.

However, it didn't strike a person. It struck the iron cage.

The people were merchandise. If they were damaged, they wouldn't fetch a good price.

These traffickers weren't fools. Angry though they were, they were merely putting on a show of force and didn't dare actually whip the slaves inside the cage.

Chen Shi'an wanted to buy a slave quickly so he could return home and keep practicing his saber draws. He had no intention of joining the commotion.

He was about to pass the crowded throng when a woman's resolute voice came from within it. "If you want to sell me, you have to sell her with me. Otherwise, I'll bite through my tongue and kill myself!"

"She's so badly injured she won't last more than a few days. Who would buy her?

"You wretched bitch! You should count yourself lucky that a customer wants you. If you don't get out here right now, I have a hundred cruel ways to deal with you!"

The vicious voice rang out again.

"If any of you dare come in, I'll bite through my tongue right now!" The woman abruptly raised her voice.

Chen Shi'an stopped. Through a gap in the crowd, he saw a thin young woman with disheveled hair huddled in the corner of the iron cage, holding someone tightly in her arms.

The person she held was also a young woman, but her eyes were shut tight. A sharp weapon had sliced open her black martial outfit across the waist and abdomen, exposing a conspicuous wound that was extensively infected and festering.

The cage door stood open. Two burly men wanted to enter, but for fear that the thin woman really would bite through her tongue and kill herself, they kept hesitating. Both looked toward a middle-aged man with a protruding belly.

The potbellied man's sparse eyebrows knitted tightly. He was equally troubled.

He knew how stubborn the thin woman was. If pushed too far, she really might bite through her tongue and kill herself.

Then, instead of earning any silver, he would have to find someone to dig a hole and bury the body.