Qin Yao glanced at him, "After you finish eating, clean up and come to my room."

"Oh, this, um..." Liu Ji looked at the children at the table and Yin Le and Ah Wang, feeling a bit awkward as he fidgeted and said to Qin Yao, "The kids are here, talking about this isn’t really appropriate."

Qin Yao’s expression darkened, and someone immediately shut their mouth, smiling and nodding, "Understood, my dear, you eat quickly."

If he didn’t eat soon, he felt like he’d starve!

Qin Yao shook her head, too lazy to look at this farm man’s messy appearance any longer, picked up her chopsticks, and started eating.

After the meal, Qin Yao first returned to the room, and everyone else in the house finished their tasks and went back to their own rooms.

Liu Ji was the last one to come out of the shower room, and after thoroughly freshening up, he felt like he had shed two taels of weight.

Taking a deep breath under the night sky, Liu Laosan was alive once more!

Looking across at the main house with light shining through, Liu Ji straightened the wrinkles on his white robe, thought for a moment, and slightly tugged at the collar, revealing a hint of collarbone.

Whether he could fully appease the fierce wife and regain his former status depended on tonight.

With a full heart of courage, Liu Ji walked to the main house door, raised his hand, and lightly knocked on the door.

"My dear, may I come in?"

"Come in."

The door was pushed open and then gently closed.

Inside, only a single candle was lit, illuminating a small area in front of the table.

Qin Yao was sitting at the table, working an abacus with one hand and taking notes with the other. The table was filled with properties sent by the Shen, Deng, and Qian families.

Having accepted others’ goods, one must handle things properly. Without looking up, Qin Yao pointed to the seat opposite, signaling Liu Ji to sit down and instructed:

"You go into town tomorrow and settle these matters for the three families. Since we’ve accepted their benefits, we shouldn’t keep them waiting."

As she spoke, she handed the calculated property information to Liu Ji for a glance, saying, "The Shen family sent a two-courtyard house on the outskirts of the city and a 15-square-foot storefront on East Street downtown."

"The Deng family provided ten acres of high-quality paddy fields and thirty acres of forestland, all located in Lanxiang Town."

"As for the Qian family’s, they own the largest fabric shop in our Kaiyang County, sending ten bolts of silk, and twenty bolts of cotton cloth. These are items with clear value, making them the easiest to circulate."

Just wearing them all would take a long time, so Qin Yao prepared to send five bolts of silk to the Lotus Courtyard in Liu Ji’s name.

Five bolts of cotton cloth were given to the old house: one bolt for each of the two elders, and one for each remaining household.

Qin Yao planned to rent out the shop and courtyard given by the Shen family, earning a substantial monthly rent.

As for the paddy fields and forestland sent by the Deng family, she would need to conduct an on-site inspection before making further arrangements.

The paddy fields are easily managed—just rent them out. Regarding the forestland, where there are reportedly fruit trees planted, if there’s any yield, Qin Yao intended to have Song Yu find a local farmer to help take care of it.

Listening to the snapping of the abacus inside the house, Liu Ji was momentarily stunned. So his wife asked him to come to her room at night, not for something improper?

"Did you hear everything I said clearly, or do you want to go back to fieldwork?" Qin Yao raised her eyes and asked dangerously.

Liu Ji quickly focused his mind, took a deep breath, and summarized everything she had instructed without missing a single detail.

Qin Yao nodded in satisfaction, tidied up the table, and noticed that Liu Ji hadn’t left yet, coldly asking, "Do you want to stay?"

"No, no, no, my dear, you rest; I’m leaving now." Liu Ji hurriedly got up, and before exiting, he obsequiously added, "Don’t worry, my dear, I’ll go into town first thing in the morning and complete everything you’ve instructed without a single mistake."

After saying this, he quietly and gently closed the door and headed out.

The night wind was quite strong, chilling Liu Ji’s neck, making him quickly pull his collar together, hugging himself as he walked towards the study, a smile gradually forming on his lips.

His wife had given him another task~, indicating she still trusted him!

Thinking of this, Liu Ji’s smile grew wider, and it seemed those hidden internal injuries all felt healed.

Returning to his own little world, Liu Ji took out a mirror and looked at his own haggard but handsome face, feeling complicated.

That fierce wife—when she acted, she was so ruthless, yet she knew to spare his charming face, not letting him appear too bedraggled in front of others, preserving some of his scholar dignity. Wasn’t she somewhat considerate in her own way?

With such thoughts, Liu Ji’s mood improved, and he had a good night’s sleep, different from his previous slump. Early in the morning, he was refreshed and went to town to handle business.

Qin Yao stood in the courtyard, watching his leisurely fading figure, her brows slightly furrowed.

Recovering so quickly—was he broad-minded or did he simply not take the lesson seriously?

Before Qin Yao could ponder further, Liu Bai arrived with a letter sent from the Prefecture.

It was a letter from Qiu Yan. Qin Yao opened it and scanned its contents briefly, her lips couldn’t help but curl up.

Liu Bai curiously asked, "What’s the good news?"

Qin Yao handed him the letter and said with a smile, "The Lady’s Box sold out in the Capital. Qiu Yan is asking how much I can provide before the year ends, the more the better."

Hearing this, Liu Bai was delighted and quickly took the letter to read carefully. The literacy classes weren’t for nothing; he could understand seventy to eighty percent of the content.

Returning the letter to Qin Yao, he said excitedly, "We should inform Steward Song about this news so the factory can produce at full speed. At our usual pace, two or three thousand can be produced."

Qin Yao raised her hand, "Not that many."

Without addressing Liu Bai’s puzzled expression, Qin Yao instructed, "Brother, go back to the factory and inform Song Yu to call the stewards to the meeting hall; I’ll be there shortly."

Liu Bai quickly agreed and ran off.

Qin Yao returned to her room, changed into more appropriate attire, informed Mrs. Li at home that she wouldn’t be back for lunch, and made her way swiftly to the stationery factory.

The factory’s upgrade was nearing completion, with the entire plot bought by the stationery factory, and now the new plant stood next to the original plant.

Most of the old plant was demolished, with the various divisions moved into the new plant, leaving only the cafeteria.

This place, Qin Yao didn’t plan to tear down; separating the cafeteria was beneficial, and the distance between the new and old plants was less than fifty meters anyway.

Moreover, on the vacant ground left by the demolition, two rows of large dormitory houses would be built with shared rooms for long-distance workers to rent in the future.

The new plant’s layout was roughly the same as before, but the production line was split into two.

One small scale, used for producing the original Divine Power Book Box and gift boxes.

One large scale, which is the most critical at present, for producing the Lady’s Box.

In addition, there were two important raw material divisions: the embroidery house and the jade factory, located outside Liu Family Village.

The embroidery house handled all fabric products, and the jade factory dealt with all jade accessories, with the finished products sent to the Liu Family Village stationery factory for final assembly and shipping.

With Song Yu and Yun Niang managing factory affairs, Qin Yao hardly worried about anything, just overseeing major directions.

For instance, with Qiu Yan’s letter today, she had to personally come over to issue the subsequent production orders.

Regarding the new product’s brand building, Qin Yao needed to personally ensure that the stewards implemented everything before she could be at ease.