"People outside say that I am a widow who killed my old horse not long after I walked in. If you help me like this, aren't you afraid that I will also be disadvantageous to you?" Bai Yulan looked at Zhou Sen and asked seriously.
Zhou Sen smiled.
The one you want to defeat has already been defeated, but it’s not because of this metaphysical reason that he doesn’t know. Anyway, he doesn’t believe in the saying that “fates conflict with each other”.
"If you are so powerful, then why do Su Wenqing and Qin Qiye want to marry you?" Zhou Sen chuckled, "Aren't they afraid of death?"
"I come from a poor background and have been married before, but I don't want to hand over myself so hastily for the rest of my life. Neither Su Wenqing nor Qin Qiye is my ideal man," Bai Yulan said.
Zhou Sen asked curiously: "Then what kind of man do you want?"
"He doesn't have to be very capable or a hero. As long as he treats me sincerely, understands me, and never leaves me, that's fine." Bai Yulan thought for a moment and said, "It's best if he is older than me. Bigger."
"Yes, heroes usually don't end well. I'm not a hero, and I don't want to be a hero. It seems that except for my age, I still meet your mate selection criteria."
"You are really shameless." Bai Yulan spat.
"As for you, you are obviously not very old, but you still pretend to be old-fashioned. Aren't you tired of carrying it like this every day?" Zhou Sen chuckled.
"Today is the New Year, won't you go home to celebrate the festival?"
"I live in a traditional Russian family. What do you think is the point of me going back?" Zhou Sen said, "I haven't eaten yet. Have I made any dumplings?"
"Do you still want to stay with me?"
"That home was too deserted. No one talked at night. Apart from reading and sleeping, it was very boring..."
"It seems that you just want someone to talk to you."
"It depends on who it is. Some people don't want to say a word." Zhou Sen walked over and sat down almost next to Bai Yulan.
"What are you doing? Who asked you to sit here?" Bai Yulan became a little angry, and Zhou Sen was too presumptuous.
"Don't you understand that opposites attract each other? My husband is not married and your daughter is not married. I feel that we are quite destined."
Zhou Sen was not that shameless. Although he was sitting next to Bai Yulan, he still maintained a distance of three punches and did not make any irregular movements with his hands.
Scoundrel!
"Let's eat, the dumplings are cold..." Finally, Bai Yulan couldn't sit still anymore and stood up with a red face.
Today is the New Year. Axiang got up early and went to the North Market. She bought all kinds of fresh meat and came back to make dumplings.
In addition to dumplings, we also make pastries and Kanto sweets.
Although Axiang is not old, she can cook very well. According to her, this is what her mother taught her since she was a child. There are many sisters in her family. When faced with bad times, someone needs to make sacrifices, so she was sold. …
This kind of thing sounds heartbreaking, but in this troubled world, it is actually not the worst.
The parents who sell their children must be so cruel, but when one is sold, the remaining children can survive.
This is not another helpless choice.
There were eight kinds of dumplings on a platter, as well as sweet and soft pastries. Zhou Sen devoured them to his heart's content.
"Axiang, with your skills, if you open a dumpling shop, it will definitely be packed with customers!" Zhou Sen was full of praise.
"Really? If it's delicious, Brother Sen, please eat more. I've packed a lot of them." Axiang was very happy.
"It's almost done, I..."
"Xiao Lan, is Xiao Lan here?" Suddenly a voice came from outside the door. Zhou Sen's voice stopped suddenly and he immediately closed his mouth.
Bai Yulan frowned, why did Sister Yan come here at this time?
Looking at Zhou Sen, he knew that if Sister Yan found out about this, there would definitely be trouble. With a finger, Zhou Sen was asked to go to the back room to take shelter for a while.
Zhou Sen didn't care. He had never stayed in Bai Yulan's boudoir. He walked over quietly and closed the door.
At this time, Bai Yulan gave Axiang a look and asked her to go over and open the door.
"Axiang, why did it take so long to open the door?" Sister Yan came in and first complained to Axiang who opened the door.
"Sister Lan and I are eating dumplings."
"It's so late and you're just eating?" Sister Yan looked surprised. When she saw three pairs of chopsticks and a sauce plate on the table, a gleam of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Bai Yulan also noticed the chopsticks on the table. There was no need to hide them at this time. She would just show them off later.
"Xiaolan, are you having guests?"
"Oh, it's a friend of mine who just left." Bai Yulan explained calmly. This is her room anyway, and Yan Yuyan can't do anything wrong.
Yan Yuyan sat down and did ink for a long time, and then Qiqi Ai Ai said: "Xiaolan, I know you don't want to give in to yourself, but this is the way the world is. It's difficult for us women to survive without a backer. In fact, if you are willing to choose Su Wenqing, , there is another option.”
"Sister Yan, I didn't expect that one day you would come to be a lobbyist." Bai Yulan said in a disappointed voice.
"Xiaolan, Sister Yan is getting old. She will be old and lose her beauty in two years. I should think about the rest of my life." Yan Yuyan said.
"You can think about your future, and I won't stop you even if you want to leave, but you know what I hate most is people who eat in and out."
"Xiao Lan, I didn't betray you, I just did it for your own good. As long as you agree to follow Qin Xiong, Mr. Qin, not only will the Ningxiang Pavilion be yours, but Qunfang Pavilion will also be under your control from now on!" Yan Yuyan said thoughtfully.
"Oh, it turns out you are hooking up with Qin Xiong." Bai Yulan finally figured out who Yan Yuyan was, and she was actually hooking up with Qin Xiong, the eldest son of Qin Qiye?
"Xiao Lan, don't say it so harshly. I'm just here to give you some words on behalf of Mr. Qin. As for whether you listen or not, it's up to you." Yan Yuyan said, she has been with Bai Yulan for many years, how can she not understand her? His character is too strong. If he refuses to bow his head, he will succeed and fail because of this character.
"Qin Xiong, he wants me to be his concubine. You know, as long as I nod, he can marry me. When the time comes, he will respectfully call me aunt. Do you think I will look down upon me?" To follow him without any name or status?" Bai Yulan snorted coldly.
Yan Yuyan's face turned pale.
"Although Su Wenqing is a hypocrite, he has promised to marry me, the matchmaker. Moreover, his wife has long been out of date. If she marries into the Su family, she will be the mistress who can take charge of the family. If I don't choose this, what will I choose to do with him? ?”
"But you have rejected Su Wenqing, do you have any other choice?" Yan Yuyan asked, "Master Qin Qi has been bedridden for a long time. In other words, this old man's time is running out. Do you want to marry him again?" A widowhood for once?”
"Who said I would choose Mr. Qin Qi?" Bai Yulan rolled her eyes and asked.
"Do you have a better choice? Although Lao Ma entrusted his family's property to you when he died, you are an outsider after all. There are still people in Lao Ma's family, and they have been asking you for help these years. Family property, since Lao Ma's death, you have been living in Ningxiang Pavilion and gave Lao Ma's house to them, but you have nothing to produce. Once you get married, you will have to hand over the property left by Lao Ma. Yan Yuyan said.
Bai Yulan knew about her relationship with Lao Ma's family. Lao Ma left a will before his death and handed over all his properties to him, because he was afraid that after working hard all his life, the family fortune that he had finally accumulated would be lost to the Ma family. The prodigal son was defeated.
"That's my business and has nothing to do with you, Sister Yan. If you still miss the friendship between us, leave on your own initiative." Bai Yulan said.
"Are you driving me away?"
"Do you still have the nerve to stay?" Bai Yulan asked.
"I have helped you manage the Ningxiang Pavilion for so many years. There is no credit, but hard work. Even if I want to leave, I will take the share I deserve." Yan Yuyan said, since it is all about this. Once she got married, she no longer pretended to be "sisterly".
"How much do you want?" Bai Yulan asked.
"Thirty thousand, you give me thirty thousand, and I will move out of Ningxiang Pavilion early tomorrow morning." Yan Yuyan raised three fingers to Bai Yulan.
"Okay, I promise you, but I don't have that much money on hand right now. Can you please give me some time?"
"Okay, but you have to write me an IOU."
"Okay, I will write you an IOU, but I only recognize you. If anyone else comes with an IOU, I will not pay the money. Do you agree?"
"Um."
"Axiang, get a pen and paper!" Bai Yulan ordered Axiang.
Ah Xiang quickly took the banknotes, and Bai Yulan wrote an IOU to Yan Yuyan on the spot. Of course, she also wrote down the conditions for payment, and signed her name with a private seal!
Yan Yuyan dried the ink stains on her face, put away the IOU solemnly, and left with a satisfied expression.
"Sister Lan, why did you agree to give her so much money?" As soon as Yan Yuyan left, Axiang couldn't help but ask.
"She has been with me for many years and has helped me share a lot of my burdens. Giving her a sum of money as compensation is also the end of the relationship!" Bai Yulan explained.
"But there's no need to give so much..."
"That's Yulan trying to stabilize Sister Yan." Zhou Sen walked out of the bedroom and explained to Bai Yulan that Bai Yulan clearly had money in her hands at this moment. He gave Bai Yulan a mere thirty thousand, and she Take it out right away.
But she didn't give it directly, and even wrote an IOU. On the one hand, it was for his consideration, and on the other hand, she wanted to hide herself.
Since Sister Yan is unreliable, she cannot be allowed to know more information. Otherwise, if she turns around and tells Qin Xiong, it will inevitably cause trouble again.
Bai Yulan nodded. Now Zhou Sen is really the only one who is in the same boat as her and understands her best.
"Those people in Lao Ma's family are like leeches attached to you. No matter how much blood you have, they will suck it dry sooner or later. What's more, they cooperate with outsiders to deal with you. It's time for you to make a cut with them. "Zhou Sen came over and sat down in his original position.
"How to cut it? When Lao Ma was dying, I promised him that I would take care of the Ma family." Bai Yulan said.
"I can understand that you are grateful to Lao Ma and want to repay you, but sometimes, no matter how much you do, they will feel that it is not enough. They even feel that Lao Ma's property is in your hands, so it is better to leave it to them. They don’t trust you at all, that’s human nature.”
"Then what do you think I should do?"
"I want to know what Lao Ma's last will and testament was?" Zhou Sen asked.
"Except for a part of the property that was given to some of his uncles and brothers, the rest was left to me. However, I have to use part of the income from the property left by Lao Ma every year to support Lao Ma's two sons and three My daughter, it started out as 60,000 yuan a year, but now it’s increased to 100,000 yuan.”
"How much is Lao Ma's total property, and how much is his annual income?"
"The Ningxiang Pavilion is the most valuable, along with garment factories, cloth shops, and teahouses. These add up to about one to two million. I haven't calculated the exact amount. Annual revenue, excluding costs, taxes, and miscellaneous expenses. Okay. At that time, it was 300,000 yuan a year. In the past two years, the loss has been serious, and I have to supplement it every year. Especially this year, the loss is serious, almost 400,000 to 500,000 yuan." Bai Yulan said.
"You closed the Ningxiang Pavilion because you wanted to completely change your career, right?" Zhou Sen asked.
Bai Yulan was startled for a moment, then nodded.
