Rejection

"Miss Xu, to be honest, I'm just a junior owner of the Abundant and Prosperous Pavilion; the real owner is the Pingnan Marquis of Pingnan's Residence." To achieve his goal, Xu Xinda directly invoked the Fu Family's status. "Our second young master has taken a liking to the jewelry designs you've created and hopes to establish a long-term partnership with you. We'll buy every single one of your designs for one hundred taels of silver, without hesitation."

"The second young master of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence?" Xu Xi was genuinely surprised this time.

Isn't this Fu Yunlang, the male protagonist from the original novel? The one who loved Zhao Ruyu dearly and doted on her. How come this Abundant and Prosperous Pavilion belongs to him?

However, considering that in the original book, the Marquis of Pingnan Heir of the Marquis of Pingnan Fu Yunkai died on the battlefield, Fu Yunlang inherited the title Marquis of Pingnan's Residence, living a comfortable and wealthy life, it's not surprising that the family owned many properties and opened several jewelry stores, so she felt relieved.

However, she didn't want to provoke the original female lead, let alone the original male lead.

These people all have protagonist auras; anyone who stays near them will become cannon fodder. For example, Fu Yunlang's older brother Fu Yunkai, died on the battlefield at a young age, before he was even married, to make way for his younger brother. He was truly pitiful.

"System, what is Madam Xiao's identity? I need an answer urgently." Xu Xi quickly called out to the system in her mind.

The system replied instantly, "Fifty points."

"Twenty." Xu Xi was speechless at the system's greedy nature.

"Fifty." The system was speechless at Xu Xi's stinginess. Even with things urgent, she still didn't forget to haggle; she was even stingier Grandet.

"Besides, you don't even have twenty points in your account," it added.

The person without money finally gave in. "If you reply instantly, the deal is done, and I'll owe you the points. If you send me the message later, I can only give you eight points."

The system sighed. Is it easy to pluck a feather from a miserly person?

"Fine, you can owe me that for now."

It then recounted Madam Xiao's situation. "Madam Xiao was the legitimate daughter of the Princess of Zhennan, and was granted the title of County Princess of Qingyang. She married the heir of the Duke of Ying at the age of seventeen, but after three years without bearing a child, the Wife of the Duke of Ying wanted to arrange a concubine for her son, and the Duke of Ying, Wei Zheng, seemed not to object. It was Wei Zheng who had pursued Madam Xiao relentlessly, promising never to take a concubine, so now that her husband had changed his mind, Madam Xiao couldn't get over it. She argued with Wei Zheng, ran back to her parents' home, and remained depressed. Even when the Duke of Duke of Ying's Residence sent people to fetch her, she refused to return. The Princess of Zhennan, fearing she would become ill from boredom, sent her to teach at the Beining County Women's Academy to cheer her up. She is currently residing at her dowry estate in Beining County."

Xu Xi had no time to lament about Madam Xiao's situation; she only asked, "What kind of person was she?"

"Of noble character, upright in conduct, and generous in spending."

Xu Xi rolled her eyes inwardly.

Is this an insult implying she's stingy? Don't you know that thrift and frugality are virtues?

When Xu Xinda saw that Xu Xi was stunned upon hearing the name of the second son of the Marquis of Pingnan and stood there speechless for a long time, he thought that Xu Xi was frightened. However, considering that Xu Xi was also a young lady of the Marquis of Huanping's Residence's mansion, and both were marquis families, their status should be similar, he dismissed his guess and simply assumed that Xu Xi was in love with Fu Yunlang.

It's worth noting that Fu Yunlang, being the male protagonist of the original novel, naturally possesses good looks, with a handsome appearance and imposing presence. As a young master from a noble family, such a man would easily charm some young girls.

While letting his imagination run wild, Xu Xinda feigned confusion and called out to Xu Xi, "Miss Xu, what do you think of my suggestion? Young Master Fu Er said that if you are interested, he would like to meet with you to discuss cooperation."

If he says that, Miss Xu surely won't refuse, right?

Xu Xinda was very glad that the Young Master Fu Er had expressed this idea.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. Madam Xiao. Master Xu, do you remember Mrs. Xiao from last time? She told me that she would buy all the designs I draw from now on. She never tries to bargain, and she never tries to take advantage of me. I had a very pleasant working relationship with her, so I don't plan to change partners. I apologize."

After speaking, Xu Xi quickly boarded the carriage and peeked out the window to say to Xu Xinda, "Based on the incident where your shop sent someone to follow me last time, I want to tell you something, Master Xu: I am the daughter of the Marquis of Huanping's Residence, and the Madam Xiao who is cooperating with me is the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Zhennan, the wife of the heir of the Duke of Ying, and has been granted the title of County Princess of Qingyang. If you want to use any tricks, go ahead and try, let's see who you can afford to offend. Also, Master Xu probably doesn't know, but your master, the second son of the Marquis of Pingnan, Fu Yunlang, is in love with my sister, and the Wife of the Marquis of Pingnan is currently discussing marriage with my family. It's just that because your eldest son hasn't found a match, it's been delayed. So, you'd better think carefully before you resort to any underhanded methods."

As she spoke, she nodded to Xu Yongyi and Xu Xue, "You two can go back now." She lowered the curtain, then turned and instructed Uncle Lu, "Let's go."

Xu Xinda was stunned by the sheer amount of information contained in Xu Xi's few words.

He had been the owner of a jewelry store for many years and held some status in the county, but he was ultimately just an ordinary citizen. He couldn't afford to offend any of the people Xu Xi mentioned, not to mention the various complicated marriage relationships involved.

As the carriage started moving, Xu Xinda stood there dumbfounded. His servant rushed over and pulled him up, preventing him from being knocked over. However, both of them were still covered in dust kicked up by the carriage.

"Let's go home." Xu Yongyi tugged at his daughter's sleeve and headed towards the Xu Family.

He knew that Xu Xi wasn't the type to be high-profile, and that the marriage between the young lady of the Marquis of Huanping's Residence Marquis of Pingnan was still undecided, so it wasn't appropriate to talk about such things carelessly. But Xu Xi still spoke out, simply because he was worried that Xu Xinda would make things difficult for the Xu Family.

Alas, they are still too weak, with no status, no money, and not even a servant in their home. That's why they can be bullied at will and need a young girl like Xu Xi to protect them.

He had originally been ambitious, but wanted to be cautious and try it out in the county first before expanding to the capital. But today, with business going so well and profits so substantial, he suddenly felt satisfied.

He hadn't touched the two hundred taels of silver Xu Xi gave him; he'd used his own savings. After deducting the rent for the courtyard, he'd almost recouped his investment in just one day. He'd started such a large business without investing any capital, and the profits were so substantial—what more could he ask for? What if he lost money in the capital?

But now it seems that his line of thinking was completely wrong.

Xu Yongyi couldn't help but ask Xu Xue, "Was your sister unhappy with me just now?"

Xu Xue was also stunned by Xu Xi's domineering aura just now.

Startled by Xu Yongyi's question, she snapped out of her reverie, glanced at her father, and thought for a moment before saying, "That's right. My sister clearly told you to expand your business to the capital. She even lent you two hundred taels of silver for that. Look at you, you're content with just this little stall. Father, you often tell my brother to study hard for the imperial examinations, to make something of himself, to live a good life, and not be bullied by others. But what about you? If our business were bigger, if we were rich, dressed well, and had servants at our beck and call, would that Master Xu dare to look down on us?"