“Ah Liang, hold, hold Jiaojiao?”
One wave after another, Shen Yueyue turned her head in surprise to look at her older sister.
She actually wanted her stepmother to hold her?
Feng Xinyao was also quite surprised—not that the little milk child was asking for a hug, but that Shen Jiaojiao had stopped calling her “stepmother” and instead called her “Ah Liang.”
When her real mother returned, wouldn’t she be displeased to hear that?
But she really couldn’t explain such things to the child, afraid of hurting her young heart.
She bent down and scooped Shen Jiaojiao into her arms, then also picked up Shen Yueyue, who had been staring blankly at nothing.
Shen Jiaojiao was delighted, wrapping her arms around Feng Xinyao’s neck and calling out in a milky voice again: “Liang.”
Then her entire little face flushed red, like a ripe apple.
Who could dislike such a sweet little child?
Feng Xinyao carried the two children for a stretch of the road.
The children weren’t greedy either—after a short while, they asked to be put down to walk on their own.
Their stepmother was too good; they couldn’t let such a wonderful stepmother get worn out.
Feng Xinyao didn’t say much, letting them do as they wished.
The streets of Anqing County were lively. Though not as splendid as the streets in period dramas, and the passersby weren’t dressed in particularly fine clothes, there were indeed quite a few people coming and going.
Thinking that rice and flour would be heavy to carry, she took the children to the fabric shop first.
Anqing County wasn’t large, and there were only two well-known fabric shops, facing each other across the street—one called Splendid Fabric Shop, and the other called Brocade Garments.
Feng Xinyao saw that the two shopfronts were about the same size, so she didn’t fuss over the choice and walked toward Splendid Fabric Shop, which caught her eye more.
But just as she was about to enter, she heard scolding from inside.
“Our young lady’s fabric—how dare you dye it like this! Do you not want to do business anymore? Come, smash the place for me!”
As soon as the words were spoken, bolts of fabric were thrown out.
Fearing the children might get hit, Feng Xinyao quickly pulled them behind her. Just as she thought this shop was in trouble and was about to head to the one across the street, she saw a man dressed as a servant carrying a large pile of fabric come out, cursing at them:
“Stinking beggars, get out of the way! Don’t block the road.”
With that, the man hurled the fabric in his hands onto the street.
The ancient street was just packed dirt. The moment the fabric hit the ground, it was instantly covered in a layer of dust.
“Hey now, young man, let’s talk this out nicely—don’t go throwing things!”
A middle-aged man with a wooden measuring ruler tucked at his waist ran out to the street, stomping his feet anxiously at the soiled fabric.
“Our young lady’s birthday is in three days, and you dared to botch the dye job! Smashing your shop would be letting you off easy—I ought to take your life!”
With that, the servant-dressed man flung out another stack of fabric.
Feng Xinyao looked at the fabric—pure white with faint blue water-like patterns—and knew it was probably freshly dyed white-and-blue cloth that had accidentally bled colors together.
She watched the helpless, frantic shopkeeper and the servant-dressed man across the way hurling abuse, and a fire rose in her heart.
She had always despised this kind of bullying and contempt for the law. If a deal fell through, refunding money or paying compensation was only reasonable—but what sense did smashing someone’s shop make?
However, her current situation of dragging along children didn’t allow her to play hero. Still, this matter wasn’t entirely unsolvable.
Just as she saw the servant about to bring out more fabric to throw, Feng Xinyao grabbed the servant’s hand.
“What do you want?”
The servant shot her a fierce look, but his eyes flickered, and he formed a judgment in his mind.
This was truly a beautiful young woman.
“If you can’t get this batch of fabric back, your young lady will have your life, won’t she?”
“What?”
The servant was taken aback. Was this young woman he’d just met concerned about him?
Feng Xinyao was even more direct: “Even if you take your anger out on the boss, it won’t help. You wouldn’t dare kill the boss, but the young lady who holds your deed of indenture can kill you.”
Feng Xinyao wasn’t entirely sure what ancient servants feared, so she tried intimidating him with something she’d learned from TV dramas.
Unexpectedly, the servant’s face changed immediately. He furrowed his brows and shook off her hand. “What do you know?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, girl. If you want to buy cloth, go across the street.”
Feng Xinyao wanted to say more, but the cloth shop owner stopped her, even pushing her toward the rival shop across the way.
It seemed he was afraid she’d get him into legal trouble.
Feng Xinyao smiled calmly. “I have a way to save your batch of fabric, boss.”
“You?”
Though the boss had good intentions, he looked Feng Xinyao up and down, along with the three children she’d brought. She didn’t seem like someone who knew how to dye cloth.
Feng Xinyao had studied medicine, so dyeing cloth wasn’t her specialty. But as luck would have it, many herbs could be used for dyeing, and since she’d studied them extensively, she naturally had deeper knowledge in that area.
Besides, her relatives ran large businesses spanning many industries. Through constant exposure, she’d naturally picked up more knowledge.
Seeing that the boss didn’t believe her—or perhaps suspected her motives—she said, “Whoever wants this batch of fabric must not be an ordinary person. If this deal falls through, both of you will face legal trouble. Naturally, I won’t help for nothing. My children and I are struggling to get by. If the fabric I handle pleases that young lady, let me take a cut of the profit from this deal.”
“Miss, do you really know how to dye cloth?”
“Are these your children?”
Upon hearing her words, the boss and the servant voiced two completely different questions.
Feng Xinyao ignored the servant. The boss shot the servant a glance.
This woman looked only sixteen or seventeen, and the oldest child beside her was already six or seven. She certainly couldn’t be their birth mother.
But that was her personal business, and the boss wouldn’t pry like the servant did.
Feng Xinyao naturally wouldn’t answer such a useless question either. She looked at the boss and said, “If you don’t let me try, you won’t be able to complete this deal, and that fabric will be ruined.”
The boss understood this logic too, but Feng Xinyao and the children were dressed in rags—she really didn’t seem like someone with such skills. Yet her speech and demeanor were so confident and composed…
The boss deliberated for a long while before finally making the decision: “Alright, miss, give it a try. If you succeed, I’ll give you a three-percent cut of the profit, plus an extra hundred taels as a reward.”
The boss was quite generous. When he’d originally bid for this business deal with Young Lady Bai, he’d staked half his fortune on it.
If this deal failed, not only would he be ridiculed by his peers, but having offended the Bai family—who controlled multiple raw material businesses in Anqing County—he’d have no future in this trade.
So with a chance to turn things around right before him, he had no reason not to gamble.
Seeing how forthright the boss was, Feng Xinyao didn’t hold back either. She directly asked for paper and a brush and wrote out a list.
After she finished writing and handed it to the boss, the boss hadn’t reacted yet, but the servant let out a derisive laugh and then barked:
“So much for us trusting you! What’s this—a prescription? Are you going to feed medicine to the fabric and let it heal itself?”
Hearing this, the boss was caught between laughter and tears. He didn’t understand either, but still asked politely, “Miss, are you serious?”
“Of course. Boss, just do as I say. If it doesn’t work, I’ll cover the costs.”