While Shen Shaoguang was preparing to grit her teeth and endure, she didn’t know that the Cloud Come Wine House had already lost its nerve.

Manager Feng jabbed his finger at Wei San repeatedly: “You just keep causing trouble for me!”

Wei San felt somewhat wronged – when he initially arranged for those two Hu ruffians to make trouble at the Shen establishment, he had informed you, and you were all smiles then, saying things like “Don’t let them go too far, just teach them a lesson. She’s just a young lady running a business, don’t make it impossible for her to continue.”

Now that you know there’s some connection to the Junior Governor’s mansion, you’re blaming me.

Though grumbling internally, Wei San maintained a placating smile on his face, “It’s just a minor attendant from the Junior Governor’s household, Manager, no need to worry too much.”

“Attendant? Can a mere attendant order the steward himself to go buy pastries?” Manager Feng raged.

It had been so many days before this dog reported that those two ruffians had been taken to the Legal Assistant’s office and sentenced to the rod punishment! Finding something amiss, he had asked around on the streets and learned that before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Lin household steward had personally gone to Shen’s shop to buy quite a lot of pastries. This situation—it didn’t seem like something a mere attendant could arrange!

“You mean… Junior Governor Lin himself?” Wei San’s eyes widened in shock, “That can’t be!”

“Why not? That young lady is quite a beauty.”

“Beautiful women? Aren’t there plenty in Chang’an? Besides, Junior Governor Lin comes from an aristocratic family – would he really be interested in a street pancake seller?” Wei San disagreed, suggesting wouldn’t he rather fancy the courtesans from Pingkang Ward. They were both graceful and accomplished in playing music and singing, some could even compose poetry.

Manager Feng became somewhat doubtful.

Having worked with Manager Feng for quite some time, Wei San knew exactly how to phrase things, “I advise you not to worry too much. Even if it is Junior Governor Lin, so what? He may look impressive now, but who knows when he might offend someone and get posted to some coastal or mountain backwater? Officials in the Capital Prefecture change so quickly.”

Seeing Manager Feng’s silence, Wei San added, “Just think about how many Prefects and Junior Governors we’ve seen come and go. They change more frequently than the cups and plates in our wine house!”

Manager Feng kicked Wei San while laughing and scolding, “You can’t handle business properly, but you’re first-rate at running your mouth.” His expression had already relaxed, though.

Not just considering what Wei San said, but also this Junior Governor Lin wasn’t the kind of wastrel who would make trouble over a young lady, and those two ruffians hadn’t caused any major incident. His earlier anxiety was mainly about causing trouble for their master, who was most honest and cautious, always instructing everyone to behave properly in the capital during his visits, and he had heard that the Prince’s mansion had to spend considerable money every year on gifts for court officials…

“Fine, what’s done is done. Whatever relationship that young lady has with the Lin mansion, leave her alone.” He added another warning, “Everyone behaves properly from now on, don’t stir up any unnecessary trouble.”

Manager Feng also warned himself to be more careful in the future – the capital was full of intricate connections, and even a rat running on the street might be some minister’s beloved pet…

Meanwhile, Shen Shaoguang was discussing shop lease transfer matters in the fabric shop next door.

Shen Shaoguang and the fabric shop’s proprietress, Madam Li, were quite familiar, often exchanging cooking tips. When Shen Shaoguang hinted at wanting to rent a larger shop, she had originally hoped Madam Li, with her local connections, could help inquire around. Unexpectedly, Madam Li clapped her hands and said: “Why don’t you rent our shop too? Two combined into one would be perfect!”

Madam Li’s husband, Master Guo, had come to Chang’an as a teenager, apprenticing at a large silk and fabric shop in the Western Market. In his twenties, he married Madam Li, and after marriage, Madam Li used her dowry to rent a small shop, and the couple started their own fabric business.

After more than twenty diligent years, the Guo couple had saved some money. Now with elderly parents and children who had married in their hometown, they were thinking of returning home to enjoy family life—many “peaceful drifters” ended up this way.

Returning home for a peaceful life was a good thing. Shen Shaoguang, not knowing when she might achieve financial freedom and retire, smiled and congratulated Madam Li while inquiring about the landlord and rent.

Since her son had married, Madam Li had been planning to go back and enjoy being a grandmother, but she had already paid rent until next year. If someone took over now, she could probably get that rent back, so she smiled at Shen Shaoguang: “Don’t worry, young lady, the property owner is most accommodating. Every time it’s just the steward who comes to collect rent. We’ve rented this shop for seven or eight years, never any fuss, and they’ve never raised the rent.”

Shen Shaoguang liked this location – expanding the current shop would be ideal. Having finally built up some reputation, it would be better not to relocate if possible. Moreover, the rent wasn’t expensive – the front shop was about thirty to forty square paces, with three rooms and a small courtyard in the back, all for fifteen hundred cash per month. While she couldn’t have afforded it back when selling pancakes at the ward gate, now it was easily manageable.

So Shen Shaoguang asked the Guo couple to help make the connection.

Sure enough, the person who came to discuss and sign the contract appeared to be a steward. When he heard Shen Shaoguang wanted to open a wine house and planned to connect the two shops, he frowned—many small wine houses were quite messy, making things dirty, requiring replastering before renting again, too much trouble, not to mention putting holes in the walls!

Shen Shaoguang invited him to look at her current small shop next door, and smiled, “When we eventually end the lease, we’ll hire masons to rebuild the wall, definitely won’t leave any trouble behind – this can be written into the contract.”

The steward was struck by what he saw – whitewashed walls with palm mats, white jars, and green bamboo, neat tables and benches, and copper kettles polished to a shine. He suddenly recalled this place used to be a butcher shop with black walls, uneven floors, and greasy counters. Hearing Shen Shaoguang’s willingness to restore the wall later, he thought briefly and agreed.

The Guo couple were eager to return home and set the handover date for a month later. The steward didn’t make things difficult, actually returned their rent, then made a contract with Shen Shaoguang and collected payment, clearing up all three parties’ business. Thus Shen Shaoguang just needed to wait until next month to move and renovate the new shop.

A Yuan became increasingly admiring of her young mistress – she did what she said! When she said “breathe big and special,” she went for it!

A Yuan was also delighted: “Now we’ll have our place! No more living in the temple, watching Sister Jingci’s expressions. She’s so polite to Second Lady Pang but so cold to a young mistress – does she think we can’t tell?” By the end, she was quite indignant.

Shen Shaoguang couldn’t help but laugh – they wanted you to notice!

Shen Shaoguang suddenly felt somewhat guilty towards A Yuan. The maids of noble families were all high and mighty, living lives of luxury, like the “junior misses” mentioned in Dream of the Red Chamber, but her own “noble family’s” maid was washing dishes, scrubbing floors, preparing vegetables, chopping meat, and might even have to fight off ruffians…

Looking back at A Yuan, she was already happily packing her things.

“What’s the rush? We still need to wait for Madam Li to move out, and we need to fix up that room before we can move in.”

“I’m just happy! Getting ready early.”

Well, being happy was good. Shen Shaoguang left A Yuan to it while pondering – with the expanded premises, two people definitely wouldn’t be enough to handle everything, they would need to hire more help.