At her core, Hua Zhi was a businesswoman through and through. The moment she learned what was happening, she acted decisively and ordered her people to implement scarcity marketing — a fixed daily supply, doors closed once the stock was sold, keeping the market perpetually undersupplied. And because the product was consumable, day after day the demand not only failed to diminish but actually grew considerably.
The canned goods business that had been on the verge of stagnating was now flourishing.
Nian Qiu worked the abacus with quick, rattling clicks, let out a soft breath, and carried the account ledger over to her mistress with a light step. “Miss, the calculation is done.”
Hua Zhi looked at the figure, and the corners of her lips curved gently upward. She had known that partnering with Yunlai Restaurant was the right call. Setting aside everything else, the price point alone was striking — twelve taels of silver per jar, and who would have imagined the cost of production was less than three taels? That was still accounting for the higher-quality ceramic jars she had chosen to elevate the product’s prestige. If her standards had been lower, two taels would have sufficed.
Liu Xiang announced from the doorway, “Miss, the Fourth Madam has arrived.”
“Please invite her in.” Hua Zhi rose and moved toward the entrance. Wu Shi entered from outside carrying a chill in her clothes. “Stay back from me.”
Hua Zhi stepped back to her original spot and watched her fourth aunt pat the cold from her garments, warming her hands and face before coming to sit across from her. “It feels like snow again — dreadfully dry and cold.”
“It’s the dead of winter, of course it snows.” Hua Zhi pushed a teacup toward her. “Drink this and warm your stomach.”
Wu Shi made no pretense of declining and downed half the cup in successive sips. “You sent for me — is something the matter?”
Ying Chun placed three banknotes, each worth one thousand taels, on the table before the Fourth Madam. Hua Zhi met her surprised look and said with a smile, “These aren’t for you. Please make a trip to the other three households and deliver this money to them. Tell them that I’ll have great need of funds after the new year, so this is all I can spare for now — let them buy a few things and see the year through.”
Wu Shi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Everyone tends to keep a little something set aside. We managed to hold some back — they may well have done the same.”
“Whatever they’ve set aside is theirs. It has nothing to do with what we give them. If our branch shows absolutely no regard for the others, this family will begin to fracture.”
Wu Shi nodded. “All right, I understand. I’ll have it delivered to them shortly.”
Watching her tuck the banknotes away safely, Hua Zhi said, “The inner household has seemed rather calm of late.”
“How could it not be? You’ve brought in money, and the young ladies of each household have begun taking on responsibilities — it’s fair benefit all around.” Wu Shi smiled. “Though once you hand over this money, some will likely have opinions. After all, the workshop was funded by contributions from every branch, so they all have a share in it.”
“I haven’t touched the canned goods money. These three thousand taels are counted as earnings from the Green Moss Lane venture. The profits from the canned goods won’t be distributed for now — I need that capital to generate more.”
“I’ll pass that along to them.”
Hua Zhi smiled. “And that’s precisely why I need it said through your voice. Fourth Aunt, I need you to help me manage the inner household. You know what my mother is like — she can’t be relied upon. You’ll need to help maintain the balance among the wives. After the new year I’ll be preoccupied with other matters and won’t be able to give this my attention.”
“The inner household won’t cause any trouble. Even your Third Aunt is deferential to you now. You handle things fairly — you’ve given the daughters of the second branch treatment equal to that of daughters born in wedlock. They won’t stir up any trouble at a time like this.”
“Good.” Hua Zhi nodded. “There’s one more thing, Fourth Aunt. I need you to sound out Second Aunt’s thoughts on my behalf.”
Wu Shi started. “You want her to return to the Yang household?”
“On the contrary — I want to know whether Second Aunt has ever considered a divorce.”
Wu Shi’s expression grew complicated. This niece of hers acted with a boldness that was genuinely startling. Not everyone possessed such resolve. She thought for a moment, then said tactfully, “Whether she divorces or not may not matter all that much — what’s important is that she isn’t sent back to that pit of fire in the Yang household.”
“It does matter. As long as Yang Qi remains a son-in-law of the Hua Family, he can use the Hua Family’s name to make contact with those who have ties to us.”
Wu Shi was not like Zhu Shi — she understood very well the Hua Family’s influence among scholars. One moment’s thought was all it took to grasp exactly what Zhi’er meant. Then, thinking back to how Second Aunt had suddenly been beaten, her heart lurched, and she nodded. “I’ll go sound out her thoughts.”
“Also, please give Third Grandmother a word. Whatever each branch receives, Second Aunt will receive the same going forward. Whatever the Hua Family’s descendants are entitled to, Sui’an will never be left short of her share.”
Wu Shi gripped Hua Zhi’s hand tightly, nodding with feeling. This was what she admired most about Zhi’er — her magnanimity. It made you listen instinctively, made you follow her lead without even realizing it.
Thinking that she hadn’t had a proper conversation with her mother since the Old Madam had passed, and finding herself with relatively few matters at hand, Hua Zhi made her way to her mother’s courtyard.
Zhu Shi took a warm cloth from Nanny Lin’s hands and pressed it over her daughter’s hands, murmuring softly, “Coming all this way in such cold weather — if you had something to say, you could have just sent a maid.”
“If I want to keep Mother company, I can hardly send a maid to do it for me.” Hua Zhi helped her mother settle into the seat by the brazier and looked at the slimmed-down face before her, sighing inwardly while keeping her expression entirely composed. She touched the pale blue fabric in the basket beside them and asked, “Making this for Father?”
“What use would he have for fabric like this where he is now? I’m making it for you.” Zhu Shi rose and held it up against her to measure. “You haven’t grown, so the measurements won’t be off.”
“…Mother, I know you’re saying I’m short.”
Zhu Shi let out a small laugh and shot her a reproachful look. “Would your mother actually dislike you for being short?”
“It sounded that way.”
Zhu Shi gave her arm a light, playful tap and set the fabric down. “It’s rather strange, really — neither family has anyone short, yet somehow you’re the one who just never grew. Bailin is already as tall as you now.”
“Mother, you don’t understand — quality is concentrated in smaller vessels.” As the shortest among the adults of both the Zhu and Hua families, setting aside the younger generation still in their growing years, Hua Zhi had been troubled by it at one point. She had wondered whether her soul was simply too powerful, so powerful it even affected her height. In her previous life she had stood only at one hundred and fifty-six centimeters, forever having to rely on heeled shoes, always the lone short figure surrounded by taller people in every photograph online.
In this life her height was slightly better than before, but the capital was also in the north geographically speaking, and among her female relatives even those younger than her were taller, making her once again the shortest among her generation and their elders.
“What you say makes a great deal of sense — and so my Zhi’er turned out this capable.” Zhu Shi was struggling to contain her amusement. She had thought Zhi’er didn’t care about such things — it turned out she did after all.
Hua Zhi played along as though performing for her mother’s delight. Seeing her mother laugh, she smiled too, eyes curving with warmth. Laughter that hadn’t been heard in many days drifted through the room.
“I know you’re not fond of managing affairs. I’ve asked Fourth Aunt to handle the inner household. Please make more trips to Second Grandmother’s — with Second Uncle sent into exile, she has no one to lean on in the household, and the uncertainty of it all must be weighing on her.”
Zhu Shi nodded. “You’re right. Before, she had Third Concubine to keep her company, but now that Second Aunt has come home, Third Concubine’s attention will surely be all on her daughter. I’ll make more visits from now on. I may not be able to help with much, but this much I can do.”