Suggestion

Madam Xie had been listening to her daughter talk about how amazing her older sister was all day long, so she couldn't help but call her "older sister" at all times. Now, hearing Zhao Ruxi's teachings to her daughter, she couldn't help but feel tears welling up in her eyes.

When her brother and sister-in-law passed away, they took Xu Xi back to the village. Who would have thought they would have such a fate? Now she is truly grateful to the gods for allowing her family to treat Xiaoxi well and receive such blessings. Now the blessings have been bestowed upon her two children, Madam Xie is moved to tears.

Despite the ordeal, Zhao Ruxi acted decisively, picking out the most suitable clothes and jewelry with a glance, and her makeup was also extremely efficient. As a result, Xu Chongwen only had to recite his essay twice before he was called out of the house.

Zhao Ruxi brought two carriages with her when she arrived, one for women and one for men, and they all headed towards the capital.

Once seated in the carriage, Madam Xie heard the sounds of horses' hooves and the rumbling of wheels. Since the driver couldn't easily hear them, she whispered to Zhao Ruxi, "I heard from Xiaoxue that your mother rented a house for you—a two-courtyard house with over ten rooms—but only charged one tael of silver?"

Zhao Ruxi nodded. "Yes."

"How is that possible? Courtyards in the capital are at least twice as expensive as those in Beining, and houses there are twice as big. By that calculation, a house would cost at least eight taels of silver. A newer house would cost ten taels or more. You're saying it's only one tael? Are you trying to trick me?"

She stared at Zhao Ruxi: "Tell me, is it your mother trying to fill the void left by us?"

Zhao Ruxi shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen what the house is like either. I'll just relay what my mother said to you."

As she spoke, she innocently winked at Madam Xie.

That night, when she heard Lady Zhu say that the two-courtyard house only cost one tael of silver, she knew that Lady Zhu wanted to secretly help the Xu Family, or that the family had something to ask of Lady Zhu, which was why she lowered the rent so low.

Her mother was kind to the Xu Family because they had been kind to her, and her mother wanted to repay their kindness on her behalf. If she were to refuse on behalf of the Xu Family, it would seem to Lady Zhu that she was ungrateful. So she kept quiet at the time. Since Lady Zhu wanted to hide it, she naturally couldn't admit it either.

"You!" Madam Xie tapped her forehead with her finger, then said decisively, "We can't rent this house. How can we take such a big advantage of your family? Besides, such a big courtyard is too wasteful for your Chongwen brother to live in alone. We only need to rent a small room, two or three hundred copper coins will suffice. As for this house, tell your mother not to even look at it, just cancel the lease."

"Aunt," Zhao Ruxi said seriously, "Do you think your business is bigger in Beining or in the capital?"

Madam Xie was taken aback by Zhao Ruxi's quick change of topic and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Of course, it's the one in the capital."

Although they have only supplied dishes to restaurants in the capital these past two days and haven't even set up their planned stalls yet, it's obvious that business in the capital will be much bigger.

The population of the capital is Youyu than ten times that of Beining; moreover, the people of the capital are wealthy and willing to spend money on food and clothing. Wealthy families and powerful households would not buy their cold dishes, but minor officials and ordinary families are still very willing to buy them. Not to mention that there are far more restaurants of all sizes in the capital than in Beining, and the demand is also very large.

Although restaurant chefs might not be able to replicate their cold dishes perfectly after a few tries, their dishes are inexpensive, delicious, and made with high-quality ingredients. Many restaurants that don't want the hassle of finding a better option still prefer to work with them. With a few more restaurants, their business in Beijing could flourish even more.

Zhao Ruxi nodded and said, "That's it. Since the capital is so big, possibly one or two times bigger than Beining, why don't you move your cold dish preparation location to the capital? That way, the amount sent back to Beining will be smaller. The other day I advised you to buy people, but you said you didn't have anywhere to put them. Aren't these two courtyards just right?"

"Besides, Chongwen's studies are already tough enough. Do you expect him to come home from school and not even have a cup of hot tea, and have to cook for himself? I know you're used to being frugal and always think that if you can do something yourself, you shouldn't hire anyone. But money isn't saved, it's earned. If we set up more stalls and add more variety, we'll earn back the money for rent."

Madam Xie frowned in thought, remaining silent.

"Yes, Mother, please listen to your sister. Think about it, if it weren't for the recipe she gave us, we wouldn't be able to start this business; if it weren't for her persuasion, you and Father would still be trying to set up your own small stall, earning a little bit of hard-earned money, just waiting for others to learn the recipe and steal our business; if it weren't for her persuasion, Father wouldn't have taken the business to the capital to earn more money."

"So don't overthink it, just listen to your sister. She won't hurt us," Xu Xue, her little mouth babbling.

Zhao Ruxi couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.

She reached out and pinched Xu Xue's soft cheek, saying to Madam Xie, "Auntie, I'm not a god, so naturally I can't say everything I say is right. I just want to say, look at Chongwen, he's going to take the imperial examination and become a scholar, he'll definitely go further and further in the imperial examinations; Xiaoxue is also so promising. The family business is getting bigger and bigger, you can't keep looking at things with the old ideas from the village. You have to calculate whether it's worth it to wear clothes or eat a meal. Look at your clothes today, didn't you spend so much money? It shows that people still need to be presentable."

"Now that we're making money, Chongwen can take a page when he goes out, and Xiaoxue can have a maid. They'll be respectable, and it'll be easier to find a spouse later, don't you think? Besides, once you've set up your stalls in the capital, I'll find a way to add a few more varieties to your menu. You can't just sell cold dishes. Otherwise, you'll still have to do everything yourself. If you leave the money unearned and work yourself to death, your business will never grow."

Xu Yongyi has been traveling more now, his horizons have broadened, and his thinking is different from before. He has also told Madam Xie about what Zhao Ruxi said.

For the first thirty-odd years of her life, Madam Xie had lived in the village. Her habit of counting every penny and feeling the pinch when spending an extra coin was not something that could be changed easily.

She felt terrible about spending so much money to rent a house and then another so much to buy servants. The thought that all the money she'd earned during this period might have to be spent, plus the huge monthly rent, made her extremely upset. Therefore, she absolutely refused to agree.

Madam Xie continued, "But Xiaoxue is still studying at the Women's Academy in the county. We can't just leave her in Beining, can we? Chongwen is a boy, it's fine for him to live here alone. But Xiaoxue can't live there alone. Even if we hire a servant to keep her company, it won't work. I'm worried about it."