She continued to shout with all her might, "Apprentices wanted! Learn to make umbrellas for one tael of silver! We guarantee you’ll learn, but materials are not included..."

Chen Wanqing took out her key and opened the door to her shop next door. When Mrs. Zhu saw her, she scurried over in a flash.

She glanced smugly toward the alley entrance. "Your mother didn’t come by today? I was planning to thank her properly. Thanks to the scolding she gave me yesterday, I’ve finally seen the light. See? I went back and discussed it with my husband last night, and we’ve decided to sell off our oil-paper umbrellas for cheap, take on some apprentices, and make some silver by teaching them the craft."

Chen Wanqing replied, "As the old saying goes, ’Teach an apprentice all you know, and you’ll starve to death.’ Aren’t you worried that if you teach too many people, the whole city will be full of oil-paper umbrella sellers, and they’ll drive the two of you out of business?"

Mrs. Zhu chuckled slyly. "HEH HEH. Now, that’s where you’re wrong. We weren’t planning on selling oil-paper umbrellas for much longer anyway. I’ve figured it out—this stuff is too durable. A normal family won’t replace one for years. Trying to support a family by making these things... the silver you earn isn’t even enough to cover the rent. We’re not going to sell umbrellas anymore. We’ll use this opportunity to clear out our inventory and make some quick money teaching apprentices. Then we’ll go back to our hometown, buy a few dozen acres of land, and live a more stable life off the annual rent."

Mrs. Zhu added with a wide grin, "Besides, we can also make money off the materials when we teach the apprentices. We’ll save that money for our future expenses. Ah, just thinking about our future life... it’s going to be so comfortable."

Hearing this, Chen Wanqing gave a soft laugh and said no more.

’I can’t say Mrs. Zhu’s plan is wrong, but I think she’s being a bit too fanciful.’

’She wants to teach apprentices to earn enough money to buy dozens of acres of land... Does Mrs. Zhu even know how much one acre costs these days?’

’Charging one tael per apprentice, she’d need eight of them just to scrape enough together for one acre of good farmland. To buy ten acres, she’d need eighty apprentices...’

’Eighty apprentices... I’m sure she’ll never find that many.’

’But if you factor in the cost of materials, maybe she really could earn a decent sum after a few years.’

’Then again, if it takes several years to teach someone how to make an umbrella, I’m afraid their shop will get smashed to pieces sooner or later.’

The lock clicked open. Chen Wanqing put away the key and padlock, then pushed the door open and went into her shop.

Mrs. Zhu squeezed in behind her. "Wanqing, you’ve been our neighbor for so long. We’re having a sale on our umbrellas. Why don’t you take this opportunity to buy a few dozen?"

"A few dozen is out of the question. We’re all normal people in my family, each with only two hands. We really have no use for dozens of umbrellas. I’ll come over in a bit and pick out two, just to support your business, Mrs. Zhu."

"Alright, fine. I’ll personally pick some out for you and bring them over later."

"Then I don’t want them. I’ll only take the ones I choose myself."

"Look at you, being so picky over a simple oil-paper umbrella! What’s there to fuss about? No matter the design, they all work the same, don’t they? You insist on picking your favorites... by the time you get around to it, all our umbrellas will be sold out."

"If they’re sold out, then I just won’t buy any. It’s not like we’re short on them at home anyway..."

Thoroughly rebuffed by Chen Wanqing, Mrs. Zhu grumbled and muttered to herself as she left.

Chen Wanqing had originally thought that with all the noise from next door, business on her side would suffer.

Unexpectedly, however, quite a few customers came to her door.

Although most left immediately after inquiring about the prices and finding them too expensive, she still managed to close several deals one after another.

The best-selling item was the Dream Spirit Fragrance, followed by incense for relaxation and prayer. After all, the twelfth lunar month was approaching, a time when people would bathe, burn incense, and fast before praying for the blessings of their ancestors and the Bodhisattvas. Such things were indispensable.

When lunchtime arrived and the customers had cleared out, Mrs. Zhu came dawdling over again. "Wanqing, look, we were the ones banging gongs and beating drums in the street today, and that’s what drew this whole crowd. Never mind whether we made any sales or not—it ended up helping you close several deals. So, what do you say? Shouldn’t you give us a little silver for our trouble?"

"Silver? What silver? The moment I’m not around, you show up to bully my daughter? Mrs. Zhu, are you looking for a beating?"

Xu Su Ying had just walked in the door, catching the tail end of Mrs. Zhu’s words. She hadn’t heard everything, but it wouldn’t have mattered if she had. To a mother fiercely protecting her cub, this was plain and simple bullying. Who else was she going to hit?

Xu Su Ying rolled up her sleeves menacingly, and Mrs. Zhu turned tail and fled in terror.

She knew all about Xu Su Ying’s fighting prowess.

The woman had supposedly learned a few moves from her constable husband and could handle two or three petty thugs with ease.

Back when the mother and daughter first opened their shop, some local ruffians and troublemakers had tried to take advantage of them. Xu Su Ying had grabbed a wooden club and beaten them so badly their own mothers wouldn’t have recognized them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

There were three of them. One was left with his face swollen with lumps, and Xu Su Ying chased the other two out of the alley, nearly making them run right out of their pants.

Xu Su Ying made a name for herself with that one fight. With her husband, Chen Song, also stopping by from time to time, the mother and daughter were finally able to run their business in peace.

The image of Xu Su Ying swinging that club with the force of a whirlwind made Mrs. Zhu’s legs go soft with fear.

’It’s true I’m fleshy,’ she thought, ’but it’s all soft meat, not meant for pounding! I have to run faster, or Xu Su Ying will hammer me into a meat paste!’