Russian merchant Livinov had opened a tea factory in Hankou, using steam hydraulic presses to manufacture brick tea, which provoked boycotts from local Chinese tea merchants. Lin Yuchan helped mediate the situation on the condition that she could study the structure of his steam engine.

She had drawn up the blueprints and thoroughly understood them, bringing them to Shanghai where she pondered them every few days, considering how to modify Livinov’s clunky steam engine to suit Boya’s small but refined tea production line.

Wang Quan led Defeng Trading House in rapidly seizing Shanghai’s market for refined export tea. Since the beginning of the year, Boya’s refined tea sales had been extremely sluggish, barely able to break even.

Shopkeeper Mau from Xuhui Tea Shop sent word through intermediaries: “They’re processing tea regardless of cost! Regardless of cost, Miss Lin! You couldn’t catch up even if you whipped your horse! Don’t know where that Shopkeeper Wang gets his money from – how strange!”

Lin Yuchan knew where Wang Quan’s money came from. Real estate speculation.

This path was too risky. She now not only had to make money for herself but also bore responsibility for many people’s livelihoods, so she couldn’t replicate Wang Quan’s money-making route.

She told Shopkeeper Mau to maintain professional ethics, focus on processing tea for Wang Quan, and not damage Xuhui Tea Shop’s reputation.

But at the same time, she wondered if using steam engines for tea processing could increase production volume enough to compensate for the thin profit margins.

Unfortunately, her capabilities were limited. She had conceived several modification models for the steam engine, but none seemed quite right. She had also pondered it together with Su Minguan, but since neither was a professional engineer by training, they couldn’t achieve perfection.

There are specializations in every field. Lin Yuchan wouldn’t do something as foolish as working behind closed doors. In a flash of inspiration, she asked Xu Jianyin for help.

She carefully redrew Livinov’s steam engine blueprints and detailed the steps and required equipment for Guangdong-style tea processing, asking Xu Jianyin whether it was possible to use machinery to replace manual labor in completing these steps.

If the academic genius could help her break through this bottleneck, she could provide him free procurement services for the next ten years!

Sealing the letter, she handed it to Jiang Gaosheng. Lin Yuchan felt full of hope.

Now, with the Yixing Business Association as support, bulk commodity prices were temporarily stabilized, and Boya Trading Limited Company’s business was steadily growing. It was time for expansion again.

The tea business was handled by Zhao Huaisheng, struggling to survive under pressure from Defeng Trading House. Fortunately, Wang Quan didn’t know that Boya was Xuhui Tea Shop’s major shareholder. When he “spared no expense” in crafting refined tea for the customs, some of those costs could still be recovered to Boya’s accounts, barely achieving a break-even balance.

The cotton market continued to boom. Chang Baoluo’s in-laws in Ningbo had already opened a small “Meng’s Flower Shop” locally, specifically supplying Boya Company with quality cotton.

Cotton processing work was completed by children from Tushanwan Orphanage through a work-study program. Lin Yuchan assigned the spinster sisters Hong Gu and Nian Gu to take turns supervising and demonstrating at the orphanage. They were already familiar with cotton textile work, and being women, could communicate more easily with the nuns and children.

Additionally, Boya Company began taking on import business for Western scientific instruments. The volume wasn’t large, only occasionally when Western missionaries and scholars needed such items for compiling books. Back when Rong Hong managed Boya, he had enjoyed importing these useless and expensive trinkets. Now Boya was returning to old business, with the difference being that Lin Yuchan would strategize a bit, trying to combine different customers’ orders into groups to reduce costs, at least avoiding Rong Hong’s pattern of losing money on every transaction.

Boya’s Hongkou branch closed because the Taiping Rebellion was gradually subsiding, and the landlord wanted to reclaim properties everywhere to return home and settle down. Currently there were no laws protecting tenants’ rights, so when landlords said withdraw, they withdrew – Lin Yuchan had no recourse.

Fortunately, most of the current tea business had transferred to Xuhui, and Boya Hongkou’s location was rather remote anyway, so it was perfect timing for a complete relocation.

However, having experienced one war, the landlord had been reduced from wealthy household to ordinary citizen and could no longer afford many servants. So he negotiated with Lin Yuchan to gift her the maid Aunt Zhou in exchange for reducing one month’s rent refund.

For them, giving away or selling servants was equivalent to disposing of objects, very casual.

But Lin Yuchan didn’t want to be so casual. She took Aunt Zhou’s indenture contract, crossed it out with red ink herself, and wrote a manumission declaration. She told Aunt Zhou that the original master, mindful of past affection, intended to free her and let her register her household at the government office.

Aunt Zhou had worked with Lin Yuchan for over a year and had become somewhat enlightened in her thinking. She felt that being a maid meant no worries about food and shelter, with others making all decisions – such a life was quite good, but living like Miss Lin, being responsible for oneself, was also quite nice.

Now, hearing that her original master no longer wanted her, Aunt Zhou cried once. Though reluctant to part, she gradually became happy and thanked Buddha.

But she was accustomed to being a servant and didn’t want to change to other occupations, so she remained with Lin Yuchan, responsible for managing household affairs for her residence and Boya Company, working as a housekeeper and receiving monthly wages like everyone else.

Additionally, Boya Company needed to recruit five new people to manage warehousing, shipping, and debt collection.

Previously, Lin Yuchan had considered hiring long-term contract workers, but who among strangers would be willing to work under a young girl?

Now people were willing to work with her. However, she couldn’t choose completely freely either.

“You’ve inquired about all ten of these people,” in Boya headquarters’ parlor, Su Minguan rapidly wrote notes, not lifting his head as he spoke to Lin Yuchan. “I can’t guarantee their abilities, but they’re tight-lipped, honest, and all owe the Heaven and Earth Society their lives. You can pay market wages. If you don’t provide room and board, add thirty percent to their wages.”

Batch after batch of refugees who had been smuggled out of Nanjing – some could still return home to join relatives and friends, while others had become rootless drifters, unable to reintegrate into society.

They could only rely on the “organization” to arrange their livelihood.

Lin Yuchan held rank in the Heaven and Earth Society; her membership fees had long passed the seven-day no-questions-asked refund period, and she had enjoyed the benefits of grassroots mutual aid. Now it was time for her to fulfill some obligations, which she accepted without hesitation.

Moreover, this “obligation” was completely effortless. Though slightly risky, compared to the “obligations” of decades past when members had to be ready to hang their heads on their belts for rebellion, this was incredibly humane.

Lin Yuchan happily expressed her thanks, not forgetting to confirm: “I only need five. If there are others…”

“Don’t worry, I have arrangements for the rest. Li Fugui told me Yason Shipyard is hiring laborers.”

Look at that – they even let her choose first. Lin Yuchan thought smugly that this was probably the privilege of the White Feather Fan…

Among the ten people, there were six young men and four able-bodied women with natural feet. Having just escaped from the besieged city, they appeared haggard but resilient.

If following Lin Yuchan’s preferences, she would prioritize hiring women. But after thinking it over, she didn’t make an immediate decision.

Neither manager is here. Please have these brothers and sisters come again tomorrow. I’ll provide two meals.”

She wasn’t the only one working in the company. Having these people try out the work and interact with veteran employees, ensuring they could get along personality and habit-wise, was necessary before hiring.

Su Minguan nodded and sent the ten people back to temporary lodging.

Although these ten had already become part of Shanghai’s tens of thousands of refugees with impeccable backgrounds, he still didn’t let his guard down, escorting them out of Boya’s compound gates while steadily surveying the surroundings to ensure no prying eyes.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on a street corner as he asked Lin Yuchan, “Do you know this person?”

A man in his twenties with a scholarly appearance, followed by a young servant, was finding his way here following street signs. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and a purple arrow-sleeved straight robe with a jacket whose edges were trimmed with golden satin, high-quality fabric that ordinary commoners weren’t permitted to use, indicating this person held academic rank and shouldn’t be treated lightly.

Before Lin Yuchan could react, Aunt Zhou had already gone out to meet him, with the slight impatience of an elder, smiling as she shooed him away: “Sir, this is a trading house – a Western company! If you have no business, please don’t come here. Everyone’s busy, and if other customers see this, they’ll think we don’t do proper business every day!”

Since regaining her freedom, Aunt Zhou was enthusiastic about everything, not satisfied with her “housekeeper” role and occasionally overstepping her authority to manage things – naturally within Lin Yuchan’s tacit approval.

Baoliang was a Manchu bannerman from the capital. His father was an official at court, and he was a tribute student with a nominal position in the Military Affairs Office of the Two Jiang Governor-General. Having been away from home for a long time, his thinking had become more progressive. He had heard of this female manager of Boya Company before and had seen her in person at the customs celebration banquet some days ago. Since returning, he couldn’t forget her. This was already his third visit.

Among the Great Qing’s hundreds of millions of people, thinking was generally conformist, but there were also quite a few nonconformists with outstanding worldviews. Some felt that widows running businesses dishonored national customs and must be beaten down; others felt it was understandable, who didn’t have their difficulties?

Baoliang belonged to the latter group. Blocked at the door by Aunt Zhou, he called out unwillingly: “Who says I have no business? I – I want to order Western translations! Isn’t this the customs-designated supplier?”

Lin Yuchan had no choice but to personally run to the door.

The Western translated textbooks you want don’t need to be purchased overseas. Mohai Press has printed editions. Turn right from this intersection and you’ll reach it. Take care, we won’t see you off…”

“Miss Lin!” Baoliang deliberately didn’t use her “married surname,” standing somewhat clumsily at the door as he said in one breath: “I know a widow’s door attracts gossip, but I’ll say two sentences and leave – Miss Lin, I’m not coveting your money. My father is a Grand Secretary at court, our hometown has a hundred acres of good farmland, and I can give you a good home. Though he’s rather old-fashioned and doesn’t like foreign affairs, I’ll work hard to persuade him to accept you and definitely won’t wrong you. If you agree, I’ll immediately hire a matchmaker…”

His voice gradually lowered, then he gathered courage to continue: “Tonight is Spring Festival, the Yu family troupe is performing Shaoxing opera at Little Peach Garden. – I’ve reserved a box with a good view. Just give my name and I absolutely won’t disturb you…”

Lin Yuchan listened awkwardly to a few sentences, then said softly: “Since you know a widow’s door attracts gossip, are you planning to make the neighbors laugh at me?”

Boya’s headquarters were located in the center of Saigon Road’s foreign settlement, where the street was mostly inhabited by foreigners and progressive Chinese who wouldn’t be as strict about various scandalous phenomena as elsewhere. But a well-dressed official’s son blocking the door in pursuit of love would still attract attention over time.

Baoliang’s face reddened: “Then… tonight…”

“I’m not Zhuge Liang – you don’t need to visit my thatched cottage three times. The first time, I spoke very clearly. I have no plans to marry and bear children. Since you favor me and find me pleasing, why don’t you take my refusal seriously?”

If he had turned and left decisively after the first visit, Lin Yuchan might have thought him one of the Great Qing’s rare forthright good men. But his repeated visits, treating her polite refusals as if they were nothing, inevitably seemed rather self-centered.

Lin Yuchan thus showed a bit of displeasure, instructing Aunt Zhou to see the guest out.

Baoliang panicked and reached out to grab her sleeve: “I understand your concerns…”

Suddenly, an impatient shout came from inside: “Boss! How did this invoice get written wrong?”

Baoliang was stunned, and Lin Yuchan took the opportunity to escape inside.

“Hehe, thank you.” She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Sorry for the spectacle.”

Su Minguan looked at her nonchalant appearance, hesitated to speak, then nodded.

From the start, hearing Dandy’s speech outside, Su Minguan had identified his intentions. But after weighing the situation momentarily, he hadn’t rashly gone out to help her resolve the situation.

A widow’s door attracts much gossip. If he had gone over to interject a few words, staging a scene of rivalry in love, it would have brought the young lady even more trouble.

Outside, Aunt Zhou, relying on her age, pushed that thin-skinned young man out while nagging: “Our lady proprietor already has it hard enough – don’t come here adding to the chaos! Go on, go on…”

They could vaguely hear Baoliang apologizing several times before leaving in embarrassment.

Aunt Zhou strode inside, still muttering to herself, complainingly: “… now, either do it properly and send a matchmaker, or don’t. A grown man coming to a widow’s door every day – if you’re not ashamed, I am!”

Lin Yuchan said sternly: “Aunt Zhou! Don’t want to go see opera tonight?”

Aunt Zhou’s last comment was pointing at the mulberry to scold the locust tree – did she think Lin Yuchan couldn’t tell?

Aunt Zhou’s face fell, not daring to say more, only glaring at Su Minguan with her eyes to express her position:

What good does being handsome do if you won’t take responsibility?

Boss Su was indeed very responsible at work. Just after evening fell, Yixing’s staff came to request: “The boat is ready! Everyone bring thick clothes and be ready to depart anytime!”

Today was the Spring Festival.

Ancient common people didn’t have many entertainment activities, so various festivals naturally became justified reasons for relaxation.

In the past two years, Lin Yuchan had mainly struggled alone and hadn’t been in the mood to join traditional festival celebrations. However, now that her social relationships had expanded, she needed to synchronize with the locals during holidays.

For instance, the Spring Festival was a time to worship the earth god. Villages and towns throughout Jiangnan would pool money to stage grand operas, with men, women, and old and young gathering to drink among the field ridges, while upper-class people held banquets and entertainment, beating drums to pray for good harvests. Officials would also use the opportunity of rural assemblies to announce policies, provide education, and guide agricultural timing.

On this day, Shanghai’s foreign settlements and counties outside lifted curfews, allowing citizens to enjoy opera until dark.

By afternoon, many people on the streets had entered festival mode, carrying wine and food to visit relatives and friends. Lin Yuchan also closed her shops. She had long since chartered Yixing’s boat to treat her employees and chamber of commerce directors to opera, uniformly building goodwill.

Though from her personal preferences, she really didn’t find watching opera particularly entertaining. But everyone else enjoyed it!

Money could solve that.

Su Minguan was usually sharp and strict with subordinates, but when it came time to distribute benefits, he wasn’t stingy either. Today he also contributed money to treat everyone to opera. So five or six black-canopied boats crowded Suzhou River, with Yixing and Boya’s Shanghai employees exchanging greetings, happily boarding their respective boats and slowly rowing toward the deeper parts of the river.

On the river surface, water vapor mixed with the rising moonlight drifted to shore and covered the newly sprouted tender grass with a light layer of mist.

Lin Yuchan sat in the rocking boat cabin, chatting with Aunt Zhou, Hong Gu, and Nian Gu while eating sunflower seeds.

Chang Baoluo and Old Zhao each had families and needed to accompany their families to the festival, so they didn’t come to join the fun. Lin Yuchan had given them all festival gifts.

So only women remained in the cabin, and they quickly relaxed into laughter and conversation, with topics gradually becoming uninhibited.

Hong Gu suddenly laughed: “The other day on the street, I heard people chatting about a very sharp honey trap scam – telling it would make people blush. Do you want to hear…”

Suddenly, there were rhythmic knocks outside the cabin – oar against hull, three long and one short.

Everyone looked at Lin Yuchan with meaningful gazes.

Hong Gu pushed her back, laughing: “What’s a young girl doing listening to honey traps? Go on! Go play with your young master.”

The others all laughed.

China had always been a society of human relationships. If people suddenly heard of a strange woman with outrageous behavior, unmarried and unengaged yet intimately involved with wild men, most would frown and think this woman’s character questionable. But everyone had already become familiar with Lin Yuchan and knew she was an honest person. Having a preconceived good opinion of her character, any romantic improprieties on Lin Yuchan’s part would just become harmless minor flaws.

Moreover, she was the boss who paid for their entertainment. And they were all women. In this small boat cabin, making a big fuss wouldn’t result in anyone issuing moral censure.

So Lin Yuchan smiled as she finished cracking a sunflower seed, crawled out of the cabin, found her balance, and stepped across to the adjacent black-canopied boat.

She was immediately caught by a pair of strong arms and efficiently tucked into the cabin. The process was swift and clean – others on the river thought they had seen things.

The domineering president inside had already shed his dignified exterior, expressionlessly pulling her into his embrace.

Lin Yuchan let him hold her, laughing softly in reproach: “Didn’t we just meet this morning?”

Previously, when she was busy, she would become single-mindedly focused and often only remember she had a boyfriend after finishing work, feeling guilty alone for a while before obediently seeking him out, saying, “I’ve come to keep you company.”

She didn’t know when she had discovered that not seeing each other for a week made her miss him.

This gradually developed into missing him a bit after four or five days apart, missing him a bit after two or three days apart…

She gave herself a four-character evaluation: truly without prospects.

Su Minguan pointed to the food simmering on the boat’s stern stove, spread out bowls and chopsticks, and smiled at her in invitation.

Lin Yuchan wailed dramatically: “I won’t eat!”

The young master was at odds with the kitchen – this food wasn’t his handiwork, most likely from Yixing Tea House’s head chef. And Lin Yuchan, who frequently went to Yixing Tea House for meals, had deep experience – the cook had a grudge against salt, counting salt grains when cooking, making everything extremely bland and health-conscious.

No matter how delicious something was, without salt, it became tasteless.

Every time Lin Yuchan ate work meals there, she would boldly run to the kitchen and salt her food.

But later she had figured out the mystery: Yixing Tea House didn’t operate for profit but only provided a place for Heaven and Earth Society members to gather. If the food was too delicious, first, too many unrelated customers would come, making it inconvenient to discuss business; second, ordinary members would come to eat free food whenever they had nothing to do, fleecing the Grand Master.

So they’d rather make the food less tasty to ensure every bowl reached the stomach of someone who most needed it.

Su Minguan suppressed a smile, picked up the belly meat of the steamed fish, and placed it in her bowl.

Lin Yuchan pinched her nose for a taste—

“Wow! The cook has had a change of heart?”

Not only was the saltiness just right, but the flavor had improved several levels!

The cabin door suddenly opened, and Lin Yuchan immediately shuddered.

“I made it!” Hong Chunukui stood outside menacingly, still gripping the boat oar. “Well, does it suit your taste?”

He was now Luna’s ship’s cook, secretly specializing in rescuing refugees. Yesterday, Luna had once again completed the Shanghai-Hankou route, and Hong Chunukui had also come ashore. Without resting for a day, he was called by Su Minguan to row boats and cook.

Hong Chunukui knew this was deliberate suppression, but he had no complaints. He hadn’t watched opera for over ten years. He hadn’t heard such carefree laughter floating on water for over ten years. Having changed from a king back to a commoner, he never tired of these mundane household tasks in ordinary life.

Looking back, thinking of how he had been trapped in a black-and-white worldview, treating the kind young lady before him as a “demon” he could casually crush to death, Hong Chunukui wanted to jump overboard in embarrassment.

But his skin had thickened now. Hong Chunukui bowed to the two of them, speaking in Yixing dialect: “Boss, take your time. Mrs. Su… hehe, Miss Lin, take your time.”

Lin Yuchan quickly spoke from the heart: “Delicious, really delicious. Thank you for your hard work.”

Then she happily ate her fish belly.

When Lin Yuchan first arrived in the Great Qing, eating leftover and spoiled rice daily without getting full, she relied entirely on getting fish at Hong Gu’s place to safely grow up.

So she had developed a dependency on fish later in life. She especially loved steamed fish with light soy sauce.

Su Minguan was accustomed to seeing her wolf down fish and thought she naturally loved eating it. He always saved the fish belly for her.

In return, Lin Yuchan carefully picked out the minced garlic from the stir-fried vegetables.

The young master had been picky since childhood, and his food preferences and taboos could fill a book. After growing up and being brought back to earth, most of his bad habits had automatically changed. But some preferences formed since childhood weren’t so easily erased.

For instance, he wouldn’t eat cooked garlic. He only accepted the extremely diluted garlic spiciness in cold dishes.

Hong Chunukui was casual about details and naturally too lazy to manage such minutiae.

Su Minguan smiled slightly and ladled soup.

…

Scandalous things, like during their Yangtze River journey, had no opportunity for repetition now. But even just eating a meal, even eating silently without saying a word, most of the day’s fatigue could be swept away.

Before they knew it, noisy human voices came from outside the black-canopied boat. Lin Yuchan looked out the window at the dark, undulating mountains slowly retreating.

She suddenly realized – this was the village opera from Lu Xun’s writings!

The original version!

Vaguely remembering the text she had memorized, she suddenly blurted out: “I want to eat luohan beans!”

Su Minguan’s eyes crinkled. Where did this picky appetite come from?

The riverside “Zhegui Garden” had invited famous Hangzhou opera troupes that had been performing non-stop for several hours. The prime positions on shore were occupied by high officials, nobles, landlords, and local gentry, while common people crowded outside the walls, craning their necks to catch the sounds from the opera.

Some people also rowed boats to the riverbank, gaining another angle for close-up viewing.

The prime mooring spots on the river were packed with various hand-rowed boats. Vendors carried their wares, jumping from one boat to another.

Su Minguan stuck his head out to look, but there were no bean sellers – only wine, food, pastries, and various grades of opium.

Some neat, high-class boat cabins were already filled with smoke and clouds, releasing wisps of gray smoke.

Su Minguan had their Yixing boats rowed to the upwind position.

Everyone had eagerly emerged from their cabins, moved benches, found ideal positions, and focused intently on watching the opera.

Lin Yuchan, well-fed and content, listened absentmindedly for a while, then suddenly realized today’s date had been rather quiet.

Boss Su, who usually didn’t blink when confronting people, today only smiled at her and patiently listened to her rambling chatter.

She probably guessed what was bothering Su Minguan and laughed as she teased him: “What, did you think I would agree to that official’s son?”

Su Minguan raised his eyelids to look at her. His features were calm as usual, but his eyes held emotions that were hard to define.

He was indeed slightly irritated by that blind pursuer, but this wasn’t the main issue.

Unmarried girls doing business was a delusion, but widows’ doors were equally unsettled. Especially for someone like her, a fake “widow” without real in-laws for support.

The Yixing Business Association’s troubles had been temporarily suppressed, and the tactless suitor had been rebuffed. But what about the future?

Her solitary struggle in the commercial sea was like piloting a leaking small boat. Though she had patched here and there and could compete with other speedboats, it ultimately made people nervous.

He had barely touched the food in front of him, quietly watching her eat until she was almost finished before saying, “With business this big, it would be best to find someone to marry.”

Lin Yuchan nearly choked on a fish bone, drank some tea, and glared at him displeasedly.

Su Minguan’s expression was calm, as if he were just discussing the food, needing “a bit more salt.”

She put down her chopsticks and smiled seriously: “But I have a paramour…”

“Of course not today.” Su Minguan looked at her with a smile. “Even if you had such intentions, you’d have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Miss Lin,” he pressed his fingertips together, looking deeply at her as if he had just completed an unusual contract, “this year… you’ve worked hard.”