Shen Xiling saw his meaning and smiled while pursing her lips, then gently tugged at his sleeve, saying: “Young Master, please sit.”

That final “please” at the end of her sentence was pronounced so lightly and softly that one could barely hear it if not paying attention, yet precisely because of this it had an especially endearing quality, carrying an indescribable charm and delicate coquettishness that was even more moving than proper Wu dialect soft speech.

No one could resist it – not even the usually cold-hearted Young Master Qi.

He could only helplessly follow the gentle tugging force on his sleeve and sit down, very close to her, on the seat by the railing. She sat on the ground, the two of them at different heights, so she had to tilt her face slightly upward to look at him.

She actually quite liked looking at him this way – she didn’t know why she just liked it very much. Perhaps it was because this way his knee would be at the level of her profile, and if she just turned her head slightly she could lean against it gently, thus being able to rest against his knee like Xue Tuan’er.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t Xue Tuan’er and couldn’t openly and confidently do such a thing. Shen Xiling also knew such behavior wouldn’t be appropriate between them, and besides, he probably wouldn’t allow her to do that anyway, so she only glanced once before looking away.

Qi Ying didn’t notice that look of hers and only glanced at the small brazier, asking: “What are you making again?”

Hearing him ask about this, Shen Xiling became interested. Tilting her face up to look at him, she smiled mysteriously, then turned to check the fire. Thinking it was about ready, she took a cloth from the seat behind her on the railing and opened the steamer lid.

A cloud of white misty steam immediately dispersed. Qi Ying glanced and saw she had steamed two crabs.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled, asking: “What made you think of eating crab?”

Shen Xiling actually hadn’t particularly wanted to eat crab – she just thought that since today was his birthday, she should do something different from usual.

In previous years she had given him birthday gifts and put considerable thought into them. Because she couldn’t discern his preferences and always felt he was indifferent to external things – couldn’t really say he liked or disliked anything – she couldn’t figure out what would be good to give him.

At the time she had pondered that since this was her first time buying him a gift, she shouldn’t be too stingy, lest she appear insincere. Her business was just beginning to show promise then, so she didn’t hesitate to spend most of her savings at the time to buy him an authentic painting and calligraphy work by Master Baopu. It depicted a pastoral scene from after his retirement, with an inscription that included several lines of his own poetry.

She had thought this gift was both meaningful and valuable – surely there would be no problem with it. But when he received it, he wasn’t particularly pleased and even scolded her, saying she was being extravagant and telling her not to buy him any more gifts in the future.

She had been a bit sad at the time, feeling he was ungrateful, but later realized he didn’t want her hard-earned money wasted. Also, he was a bit strange – he seemed to always think it was natural for him to spend money on her, but when it was the other way around he felt uncomfortable.

It was a mindset Shen Xiling still couldn’t quite understand.

Though she didn’t understand it, she had no intention of opposing him. Seeing he didn’t like her giving gifts, she stopped doing so afterward, but would intentionally use other little gestures on his birthday to amuse him, so this person who was always so hardworking could get a moment’s rest.

These thoughts weren’t worth sharing with others. When he asked now, Shen Xiling only curved her eyes and answered softly: “This trip took me through Suzhou, where I heard the lake crabs are famous, so I made a detour to buy a few. On the way back I was afraid they’d die and lose freshness, so I kept them alive the whole way.”

She blinked and said: “I thought I’d bring them back for Young Master to try.”

Qi Ying had certainly eaten Suzhou lake crabs before, but he always kept to light foods and wasn’t greedy for such delicacies – originally he hadn’t found them particularly delicious. But now with Shen Xiling’s bright eyes watching him with an expression waiting for his praise, his heart softened again, the smile in his eyes deepened, and he said: “Mm, it’s been a long time since I’ve had them – I do miss them somewhat.”

Hearing this, she indeed became happy, even the corners of her eyes carrying a smile.

He looked at her, his expression gentle, and asked: “Why didn’t we eat them together earlier in the flower hall?”

Shen Xiling was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then looked at him without speaking.

Originally she should have brought the steamed crabs up together, but she knew that besides them, there would certainly be others present in the hall at that time, and she… wanted to be alone with him for a while.

She hadn’t seen him for half a month.

She had missed him.

She didn’t voice these thoughts, but her silence at this moment seemed even more meaningful. From the look she gave him, Qi Ying glimpsed vague and subtle emotions that were even more ineffable than when she was little – like a strand of golden thread grass gently entwining around his heart, instantly creating a slightly unusual feeling in his heart, a small tingling sensation.

He thought perhaps tonight Qing Zhu hadn’t diluted his wine with enough water – he really was a bit drunk.

Qi Ying coughed once, dispersing those unusual feelings in his heart, then changed the subject, asking: “Did you encounter any troubles on this trip?”

Over these three years, Shen Xiling’s business could be said to have made great progress.

She had started with that small cloth shop.

Three years ago, following his advice, she hadn’t immediately moved against Manager Lu but first focused on clearing the backlogged fabric, recovering a not inconsiderable profit, while simultaneously discovering new business opportunities.

Song Haotang, who was originally responsible for dyeing fabric at the shop, turned out to be quite knowledgeable. It was said he had traveled extensively in his early years, going as far as the Guanshan region. Guanshan connected to the Western Regions, and cotton had first entered from there. Song Haotang had seen Western textiles made from cotton there, used for winter warmth with effects far superior to silk and hemp, yet lighter and more practical than sable fur.

However, this material came from the north, while the suitable land and climate for cultivation were in the south. With decades of warfare between north and south, circulation of this material was poor. Even now it hadn’t made much of a splash in Jiangzuo. Though some merchants dealt in it, it wasn’t significant and far from entering common households.

Shen Xiling had thought this was an opportunity, but two things were quite difficult: first, cotton cultivation hadn’t yet spread in Jiangzuo, and second, the weaving techniques for this fabric weren’t yet mature.

Manager Lu happened to be able to help with this matter.

Having operated the cloth shop for many years, his connections were broader than Shen Xiling had imagined. He happened to know a merchant surnamed Tian who grew cotton on estates in the Fujian-Guangdong area. Since few people in Jiangzuo had seen cotton textiles, Master Tian had thought it would be a business opportunity, but unexpectedly no one was interested and it was almost all stuck on his hands. Later, when Manager Lu made introductions, he was overjoyed and agreed to sell a batch of cotton to Shen Xiling at prices twenty percent lower than silk and hemp.

That was Shen Xiling’s first decision on her own.

Speaking of which, she was quite strange – clearly having such a gentle and quiet temperament, yet sometimes when making decisions she was exceptionally decisive and calm, and bold.

She clearly knew Master Tian’s cotton had poor sales channels and that this move carried great risk, yet she still spent all the money she had painstakingly recovered from clearing inventory, and additionally borrowed a considerable sum from a money house, to buy all that cotton. She also negotiated two conditions with Master Tian: first, transportation costs for shipping cotton to Jiankang would be borne by Master Tian, and second, for the next five years the cotton he sold her couldn’t be overpriced.

Master Tian faced the predicament of losing everything at that time. Though Shen Xiling’s conditions were quite harsh, he had no other choice. After lengthy negotiations he could only nod in agreement, and both sides reached a deal.

Shen Xiling gave the cotton textile techniques to Song Haotang to research. His wife Meng Yingying was an experienced embroiderer. After examining the cotton textiles her husband had gathered from various places, she figured out specialized weaving methods within a short time, producing fine and beautiful textiles that were also very light, comfortable to wear, and warm.

It was autumn then, but after long consideration, Shen Xiling still decided to launch this batch of textiles in winter.

These textiles were of excellent quality, and because material costs were kept low enough, the finished products weren’t expensive either. By rights they should sell well, but promoting a new product always takes considerable time, so Shen Xiling remembered what Qi Ying had taught her: to consider human psychology.

She thus used the same old tricks, bringing out the scheme she’d used to clear backlogged fabric and playing it again, selling cotton textiles together with existing silk and hemp textiles, thoroughly applying the principle of “two for one coin, three for two coins, five for seven coins.” As a result, when that batch of textiles was launched, they were immediately bought up completely, supply couldn’t meet demand, causing quite a sensation in Jiankang City.

That was Shen Xiling’s first success, and in the three years since, her business had grown like a rolling snowball.

She calculated precisely and saw far ahead.

Though Master Tian sold cotton to her at low prices, transporting it from the Fujian-Guangdong region took a long time with considerable losses along the way, so Shen Xiling began seeking suitable estates in the Jiangnan area to grow cotton herself.

Her small cloth shop earned more and more, gradually becoming a large cloth shop, then even opening several branch stores, yet she didn’t indulge in luxury, allocating most profits to purchasing estates. Now she had quite an operation in the Jianghuai area, becoming a female merchant with bulging purse strings.

That originally half-dead small cloth shop had become what it was now in less than three years under her management – this was truly something Qi Ying hadn’t expected. He had originally thought the little girl’s temperament was too quiet and she wasn’t good at dealing with people, making her unsuitable for commerce. He’d never expected she could really manage this business. Who would have thought that once she was out from under his watchful eye, she almost became a different person. According to Master Ding, she handled affairs decisively with tenacity, attended to everything personally, and was very meticulous – a rare uncut jade.

Master Ding had even said: “Young Master, Miss Fang is very much like you.”

She was like him?

Hearing this assessment, Qi Ying couldn’t help but remember the little girl’s soft and weak appearance in childhood, and couldn’t help but smile, while also feeling vaguely moved by the mysterious nature of bloodlines. She was indeed worthy of being the Prime Minister’s daughter – though no one had taught her, she truly had a talent for business.

Because she managed the cloth shop extremely well, Qi Ying gradually began transferring other businesses to her. After all, the industries her father had given him were quite extensive, even including tea and salt trades. Her understanding only cloth shop business was far from enough – she needed broader experience so she wouldn’t be flustered when truly taking over later.

This trip out was partly to collect debts and partly to generally survey those businesses scattered across various commanderies.

Author’s Note: These two really have no ability – they can’t even break through such thin window paper! Honestly, paper this thin could be broken with a puff of breath!