Amidst the children’s playful chatter, Sister Teresa pulled Lin Yuchan aside and whispered, “You don’t know the situation. The church has opened two more orphanages in Qingpu and Fengxian, collecting over a hundred children in just a few days, but the funding only increased by fifty percent. We had no choice but to let them graduate from school earlier. Those eight years old and above are all sent to Christian families for fostering…”

Lin Yuchan frowned.

She knew that when missionaries first came to China and had no conditions to run orphanages, they relied on Christian families to foster abandoned babies. They provided some nutritional fees when the children were small. When they grew up, the fostered children could help with household chores or go out to earn some money. Nominally adopted sons and daughters, they were equivalent to half-servants.

There was no other way. After all, these abandoned babies were snatched back from the King of Hell, so being alive was thanks enough to God. As for quality of life, that was a secondary consideration.

Later, when funding was sufficient, they established orphanages and church schools, teaching them skills to make a living, and cultivating a few gifted children to become priests and nuns.

Now that money was scarce again, it seemed they were returning to the old path of “foster families.”

Lin Yuchan asked flatly: “So, those over eight don’t attend school anymore?”

Sister Teresa rubbed the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, sighing mournfully: “Hiring teachers also costs money! What’s the use of studying until their teens? Boys just need to recognize a few characters, girls should learn needlework and women’s crafts, so they can support themselves in the future. Running a charity can’t starve itself to death! – By the way, little Florence will turn one next month, and the priest says we should also consider finding her a foster family. But I’m not at ease – this child gets sick every few days, others might not be able to care for her well.”

Su Minguan was surrounded by children distributing candy, like Santa Claus. Suddenly, he looked up slightly and gave Lin Yuchan a warning glance.

—This nun is trying to get you to donate again.

Lin Yuchan nodded slightly. She could still see through this.

But she also knew that although Sister Teresa mentioned money in every other sentence and seemed very mercenary, her heart was still mostly kind – otherwise, she wouldn’t have become a nun. The red envelopes Lin Yuchan usually gave her were mostly used to add nutrition for the children, with only a small portion kept to improve her meals. In Lin Yuchan’s view, this was already faithful to duty.

Lin Yuchan was clear in her heart that there was also corruption and waste within the church. People all had greedy natures, which couldn’t be eliminated.

As long as it was within her acceptable bottom line, she could only turn a blind eye.

After all, compared to the Great Qing’s official charitable institutions, the church here was still relatively clean.

But Sister Teresa, a local nun, absolutely lacked the courage and ability to embezzle large sums of church funds.

And the orphanage’s current difficult situation was visible to the naked eye.

Ding-a-ling, the kitchen announced mealtime. Sister Teresa quickly apologized: “I must go get busy.”

The children stuffed malt candy into their mouths and cheered as they rushed into the kitchen.

A large bucket of mixed porridge with corn flour, Sister Teresa directed the cook to distribute it to the children, the porridge topped with pickled vegetables and minced meat. Mrs. Guo filled a small bowl of porridge, picked up Lin Feilun, and slowly fed her with a small spoon.

Perhaps because they had malt candy to fill their stomachs today, the children didn’t wolf down their food as usual. A thick layer remained at the bottom of the bucket.

Only then did Sister Teresa join the nanny and cook in dividing the remaining porridge, also eating with slurping sounds, stuffing pickled vegetables into their mouths while eating, each eating until their bellies were round.

Lin Yuchan tugged Su Minguan’s sleeve, signaling him to observe.

Whatever the children ate, they ate.

This porridge-eating process had become a habit, not a performance.

Su Minguan’s mouth curved upward, his eyes pointing to a cabinet.

Lin Yuchan quietly opened a crack; inside were cheap tea and preserved foods.

…Alright. The staff still ate slightly better than the children. But this was also within her acceptable range.

She called Sister Teresa over, counted out ten silver dollars, put them in the donation box as compensation for her missed donations from the previous months, then asked for a receipt.

“I’ll find opportunities to advocate for donations for you. Feilun will stay at the orphanage temporarily, cared for by people she’s familiar with. Don’t send her to other families. Can you do that?”

Leaving the orphanage gate and walking two streets, they saw Xujiahui Anglo-American Tea Shop, Lin Yuchan’s senior business partner.

Su Minguan smiled: “Not going to say hello?”

Lin Yuchan said coldly: “No.”

Seeing his puzzled expression, remembering he was now her major shareholder and shop operations should be transparent with him, at least major matters couldn’t be hidden.

She pointed to the xiaolongbao restaurant across from the tea shop.

She used to come here often with Mau Shuniang for treats, already a regular customer. But Mau Shuniang had returned home for the past six months, and the waiter was forgetful, studying them for a while before recognizing Lin Yuchan.

“Miss Lin! Please come in. This gentleman… hehe, please come in too.”

He didn’t remember that Su Minguan had eaten here before.

Lin Yuchan skillfully slurped the soup from the xiaolongbao, her eyes pointing across the street.

“Too arrogant. That shopkeeper doesn’t take me seriously now.” She said in a low voice, “The masters I worked so hard to train for, they prioritize dispatching to other customers!”

Xujiahui Tea Shop had now upgraded completely, all masters trained by Lin Yuchan once. Their tea-frying skills, if not dramatically improved, at least had greatly standardized operating procedures. Lin Yuchan noticed that Xujiahui Tea Shop had changed its price list twice this year, quietly raising prices by thirty percent, yet business remained booming with countless repeat customers.

And Lin Yuchan’s Boya Company had fallen from “the only major customer” to “one of many customers.” Sometimes when she went to discuss matters, Shopkeeper Mau wouldn’t even show his face, leaving the clerks to handle things.

Lin Yuchan didn’t mind the slight. After all, business was like this – only when both parties could win-win was it a healthy development path.

When Rong Hong went missing and she was scrambling with her tea supply cut off, to find a replacement, she could only use Xujiahui Tea Shop’s channels to import a batch of raw tea from elsewhere. Because she needed it urgently, Shopkeeper Mau took a small cut.

Being in that position required loyalty to duty. Lin Yuchan didn’t have too much resentment about this. Character was conserved – how could she always pressure others?

But after Boya reopened, when Lin Yuchan came to sign tea-processing orders and specifically requested several highly skilled old masters, Shopkeeper Mau refused, stammering that they had returned to their hometowns.

He assigned her several new apprentices who needed retraining, starting from reading thermometer markings.

…

“Being a sucker isn’t done this way!”

Lin Yuchan finally concluded indignantly, fiercely biting through the last xiaolongbao.

Su Minguan had been watching her eat with a smile. This girl had good technique, not spilling a drop of soup, which he found quite pleasing to watch.

It seemed she had practiced here quite often.

“Oh, so this is the real purpose of dragging me to Xujiahui.” He pretended to suddenly understand, smiling with pursed lips, “Alright. I’ll go give them a talking-to. Ah, being a shareholder isn’t worry-free either.”

Unexpectedly, Lin Yuchan shook her head.

“I don’t want to rely on others’ influence.” She said, “Besides, how long would a talking-to be effective?”

Still so strong-willed. Su Minguan smiled at her, about to give her another bad idea, when the four words “money-sex transaction” suddenly flashed through his mind, making his face slightly hot.

He coughed and put on airs: “What do you plan to do? I’m a thirty percent shareholder, I have the right to know.”

Lin Yuchan pondered for a long time, then slowly said: “I want to… borrow something from you.”

“What?”

She smiled somewhat nervously, reversing her chopsticks and gently tapping the handle end on his palm.

“Your hand.”

Two weeks later.

On the door panels of “Xujiahui Tea Shop,” the double copper coin symbol still hung, indicating its sphere of influence.

Recently, social affairs have been numerous. The Heaven and Earth Society occasionally clashed with neighboring gangs, and when ships traveled to Pudong, they reportedly had friction with remnants of the Green Gang there, nearly attracting official attention.

Su Minguan decided to raise membership fees. Commercial members would pay one silver dollar annually, and individual fees increased to two jiao. Compared to the previous Chu Nanyun, it was still bargain-priced, with the best service quality on the of Shanghai Bund. Therefore, everyone happily renewed their contracts.

Lin Yuchan pushed open that door.

The clerks all recognized her and quickly bowed with cupped hands.

Before Lin Yuchan could speak, Shopkeeper Mau, sporting his bald head, came running in small steps from the back hall, dismissing the clerks.

“Miss,” Shopkeeper Mau had an accusatory tone, his slightly drooping eye corners tensed up angrily as he questioned: “Our shop has cooperated with you for years, and I have always treated you with sincerity, never deceiving you; but why did you establish a dual contract and treat me like a monkey? Business emphasizes integrity as the foundation. Even if you are a ‘Hometown Association’ member, today you must explain clearly before we consider continuing cooperation!”

Lin Yuchan was immediately confronted and felt completely confused.

However, experience told her that for accusations she didn’t understand, defending was equivalent to admitting. What if they were testing her?

She didn’t take this bait, smiled slightly, and pulled out a small red envelope from her bosom.

“I heard your son got married. I came to contribute my share. We’ll discuss other matters later. Congratulations.”

Shopkeeper Mau was stunned, showing some guilt, his expression softening.

“Why must you do this, Miss…” He smiled awkwardly, accepting the red envelope, “Our humble household couldn’t accommodate everyone, and we didn’t invite you either, please don’t mind.”

Lin Yuchan asked: “Where are Master Zhang and Master Chen? Their leave should be over by now?”

Shopkeeper Mau, seeing that she didn’t respond to his earlier reproach, didn’t know how to bring it up.

“Them? They were recently requested by other customers,” he finally told the truth, spreading his hands helplessly, “No choice, they asked earlier, and it’s a big firm, and…”

Lin Yuchan smiled and asked: “Business expanded again?”

Shopkeeper Mau’s eyes showed slight pride: “My former partner from our hometown retired. The new shareholder invested generously, adding another thirty percent of capital. We’re considering opening a branch.”

Though he spoke with bowing and scraping, his attitude was quite smug. The meaning was: our Xujiahui Tea Shop is no longer a small business, we’re a medium-sized shop now!

After speaking, Shopkeeper Mau’s confidence increased slightly. With a forced smile, he took something from behind the counter.

“Miss should first explain why you conspired with my daughter to deceive me.”

A white handkerchief, folded into the shape of a naive little rabbit, was placed in the counter gap, already somewhat deformed from compression, its head drooping, looking dejected.

“Jade Rabbit Fund.”

Lin Yuchan’s breathing tightened.

Originally, Mau Shuniang had come crying to her, saying the money she worked hard to earn sifting tea leaves, which she planned to save for her dowry, was all taken by her father to find a respectable wife for her brother.

Lin Yuchan didn’t want to offend Shopkeeper Mau or oppose social customs, so she and Shuniang agreed to publicly claim they were cutting Mau Shuniang’s wages in half. In reality, Lin Yuchan saved this half, calling it the “Jade Rabbit Fund.” Whenever Mau Shuniang needed it, she could come with the handkerchief rabbit to withdraw it.

Anyway, a woman employing a woman wasn’t written into contracts, so she could operate behind the scenes as she pleased.

However, Lin Yuchan had warned Mau Shuniang at the time that if this matter leaked, she wouldn’t cover for her, and the “Jade Rabbit Fund” would be zeroed out and given entirely to Shopkeeper Mau.

That was also to remind Mau Shuniang to keep it strictly secret.

But from the current situation…

The girl’s mouth wasn’t tight enough.

Lin Yuchan cursed inwardly but remained calm on the surface, smiling: “The girl has filial piety, isn’t this an offering? Shopkeeper should be happy.”

“Filial piety?” Shopkeeper Mau was so angry his head seemed to generate static electricity, the few hairs on top fluttering indignantly, quite heroic in his rage, “I had to beat her twice before she’d talk! This ungrateful little thing, I feed her, clothe her, even let her come play at the tea shop – where in the world is there such an open-minded father? – But she’s good, doesn’t know gratitude at all, even dares to secretly save pocket money! Miss Lin, you helped her – hmph, no wonder you two had such a good relationship, going out for xiaolongbao every time. I thought you girls had things to chat about, who knew you were both scheming against me! The girl will marry next year – with such boldness, what will happen in the future!”

He said this all in one breath, so angry that his dialect became heavier. Lin Yuchan only caught the general meaning: he blamed her for leading Mau Shuniang astray.

The girl wasn’t being careless. She was forced to confess under interrogation.

Shopkeeper Mau was professionally competent, smooth in dealing with people, trustworthy, and courteous – a standard gentleman merchant.

Unfortunately, these virtues weren’t applied to his own family.

Lin Yuchan smiled coldly.

“Shopkeeper Mau, as I know, your son’s marriage, from betrothal to wedding ceremony, was extremely expensive, so much that you even sold half your tea shop shares to afford a good daughter-in-law – the dozen or so taels the girl saved privately is just pocket change. Why make such a fuss about it?”

Shopkeeper Mau: “This isn’t about a dozen taels! She’s defying her parents…”

Lin Yuchan: “Shopkeeper, after Boya’s reorganization, our business content is different from before. Boya refined tea only maintains a minimum production. I need to use your channels and sales networks to complete different grades of…”

Shopkeeper Mau: “…”

This girl was talking past him, each saying their own thing!

He had come today full of anger to demand an explanation, thinking that if Miss Lin admitted her mistake with a good attitude, he’d consider continuing cooperation; otherwise, they’d part ways cleanly. His Xujiahui Tea Shop had expanded now and had other major customers, so he didn’t need her.

So what about the Hometown Association? If both parties parted amicably, he’d have done his duty. The Hometown Association couldn’t interfere with his business decisions.

He simply stopped talking, scratching his bald head, saying coldly: “What you’re saying is too complicated, I don’t understand. Please find another shop.”

Lin Yuchan smiled: “I also require the girl to supervise. Her wages will be written in the contract, and this time you’re not to take hers again.”

Shopkeeper Mau: “…”

Lin Yuchan’s face turned cold, suddenly raising her voice: “Shopkeeper Mau, you can refuse. Pack up and get out today, I’ll find another shopkeeper. Shanghai Bund has plenty of capable people. Using someone younger would save on wages too.”

Shopkeeper Mau gaped, rubbing his eyes, scratching his head, as if hearing nonsense.

After a moment, he laughed.

The little girl had learned to threaten people. Her usual calm composure was all an act – when anxious, her true level showed.

“Hehe.” Shopkeeper Mau unhurriedly wiped the money jar on the counter, smiling like coaxing a spoiled child: “If Miss wants to change Xujiahui Tea Shop’s shopkeeper, even if I agree, our shareholders might not. Why don’t you write to ask?”

Lin Yuchan smiled slightly.

“Shopkeeper Mau, to afford your son’s marriage, you cashed out fifty percent of your shares, transferring them to your hometown partner. But your partner retired last month, transferring all shares to another wealthy merchant, who also added thirty percent more capital. I guess this wealthy merchant is your shop’s current major shareholder? May I ask his surname and name, and how to contact him?”

Shopkeeper Mau chuckled, with the mood of humoring an idiot: “He’s busy with business outside, we correspond by letter, and he sends money orders quite readily. Says his surname is Su…”

He suddenly stopped, strangely sensing something was wrong.

“What a coincidence.” Lin Yuchan pulled out a stack of letters from her bag, slapping them on the counter, “You may have forgotten that on my official identity documents, I happen to be surnamed Su. Usually you call me by my maiden name, perhaps you forgot.”

Shopkeeper Mau’s hand trembled, crash! The money jar fell to the ground, copper coins hitting his little toe, making him grimace in pain.

“You… impossible… he’s a man… You don’t have brothers…”

He lunged at the counter, looking at that stack of transfer contracts in disbelief. Each bore his own signature and seal.

But… but the handwriting of “Boss Su” on those documents was light and elegant, mature and experienced, clearly that of a young talent, completely unlike Lin Yuchan’s usual neat schoolchild writing when signing contracts with him!

Xujiahui Tea Shop’s hometown partner had always been hands-off, having several invested shops that he couldn’t manage individually.

Unexpectedly, this fellow was eager to divest his shares, and seeing the money became dizzy. When the other party proposed being too busy to meet in person and suggested conducting all business by correspondence, he agreed without insisting on a face-to-face meeting!

And Shopkeeper Mau? Used to doing things his way, only burying himself in account books and profits, assuming this new shareholder was also hands-off, he was only too happy to have full authority. He never thought to ask more about this person’s identity or discuss the shop’s development direction.

He only looked at the transfer documents, finding them flawless. Seeing the new shareholder’s additional investment in real silver, Shopkeeper Mau was quite pleased.

Traditional Chinese shops didn’t have strict operational procedures anyway; transfers and sales were easy. As long as there were fingerprints and seals, no one could deny it.

Lin Yuchan waited for Shopkeeper Mau to digest this information before saying flatly: “Now my Boya Commercial Trading Limited Company owns over eighty percent of Xujiahui Tea Shop shares. Shopkeeper, your portion is less than twenty percent, so you have no decision-making power. Your shopkeeper contract is up for renewal next year. I value your professional competence and am willing to raise your salary by half a percent. The condition is…”

“Done!”

Lin Yuchan burst into the xiaolongbao shop, announcing energetically with a beaming smile.

Su Minguan pushed away the empty bamboo steamer, pretending disappointment: “I came for nothing. Please settle the lost wages.”

She pulled out a tin of premium Anhua tea from her bag, slapping it on the table before him: “Priced at ten taels. Borrowing flowers to present to Buddha, don’t mind.”

Lin Yuchan had been quietly busy acquiring Xujiahui Tea Shop for over ten days, achieving success today and going to take over.

She anticipated Shopkeeper Mau would be difficult to handle, perhaps refusing to acknowledge this transfer, causing a scene and adding trouble. Therefore, she didn’t dare to be blindly confident, bringing Boss Su along in advance, in case she couldn’t handle it herself and needed him to show his face.

Fortunately, Shopkeeper Mau, though shocked, retained his rationality and knew how to calculate for himself.

What’s done couldn’t be undone. Since the tea shop had changed owners, as a professionally competent shopkeeper, he should diligently work for the new owner while trying to inflate his remaining shares.

After complaining for half an hour, Shopkeeper Mau grimly accepted reality, took the keys to open drawers, handed over all account books, and called out all the clerks and masters for Lin Yuchan to address.

Shopkeeper Mau had worked at the tea shop for many years, with top-notch experience and connections. Lin Yuchan didn’t want to change generals before battle, disrupting morale, so she temporarily kept him, offering a carrot of a raise after the New Year to observe his performance.

Previously at Boya Trading House, Lin Yuchan was just a middleman between raw tea and processors, with nothing notable except technique. Now she could finally smoothly operate the entire tea production chain like the former Defeng Trading House – though she couldn’t yet track from tea trees to port completely, at least Xujiahui Tea Shop’s masters, customers, channels, and facilities could all be used by her.

Besides the profit-halved Boya refined tea, she could also launch other tea products of different grades and completion levels, achieving profit channel diversification and greatly increased risk resistance.

And without being constrained or sabotaged halfway.

“And he agreed to let his daughter come to work!” Lin Yuchan excitedly whispered, “I threatened him – either father and daughter earn money together, or both pack up and leave. Money still works. He only required the girl to have a separate workroom, not mixing with male masters, splitting earnings fifty-fifty with him – I agreed. You didn’t see his expression, hehe!”

Su Minguan watched her bright smile, deliberately finding fault: “Her in-laws also agreed?”

“Her father-in-law is a clerk in Shanghai County. Last time he helped deliver a message for Master Rong, he already made quite a bit from me. Later, when Master Rong was released and became an official, he came to thank him again, moving that clerk to tears. He’s hoping to curry favor with important people for future success! His daughter-in-law was working before marriage? Small matter.”

Lin Yuchan concluded: “Actually, many people seem stubborn, but it’s just that their positions have a price.”

Su Minguan, hearing her complete account, couldn’t find major flaws and couldn’t help but look at her with new respect.

Who would have thought he’d one day hear the little monster giving him life guidance lessons?

Simply outrageous…

But he liked it.

He smiled: “If I’d known my three thousand taels would be used for this, our gambling agreement should have had different terms.”

“Too late.” Lin Yuchan took advantage while being modest, leaning close to his ear and whispering: “Young master, taking over Boya just got twice as hard.”

Su Minguan thought she was getting into character, arguing back: “Let me see Xujiahui Tea Shop’s accounts. Maybe it’s full of bad investments.”

“No way.” Lin Yuchan scoffed, “Didn’t you see how beautifully their shop is decorated!”

Su Minguan disagreed again: “Flashy exteriors are just for show, who knows if the inside is…”

Lin Yuchan smiled, opening the newly acquired account book, pressing: “Is what?”

She grinned, making a smiling expression—

Like Ximen Qing?

Su Minguan’s eyebrows reddened slightly as he grabbed the account book, giving her a warning glare.

Xujiahui Tea Shop had numerous accounts. She only brought the general ledger, planning to copy the key points back home for filing. Then find an appropriate time to parachute in one of her own people – Chang Baoluo was still on honeymoon, Zhao Huaisheng would be suitable.

The general ledger didn’t contain much, just some major customer lists, tax memos, monthly surplus, inventory summaries, and such.

Su Minguan only flipped a few pages before having to cheerfully admit that in this gambling agreement, Lin Yuchan’s chances of winning had indeed increased by another point.

He suddenly turned pale, his smile fading, losing some color from his face.

“A’Mei,” his eyes flashed with coldness as he said, “I think I know who Shopkeeper Mau assigned those skilled masters you couldn’t get to.”

He pointed to a line in the account book.

Lin Yuchan leaned over, her pupils contracting slightly.

The largest customer from last month’s transactions, recorded in black and white in the general ledger, clearly showed four characters:

Guangzhou Defeng.