Back in the room, she saw that Gu Ruizé was still practicing calligraphy with a fountain pen. She shook her head helplessly.
Thinking back to last night—she had called him into her room to help her write five copies of a contract. Unexpectedly, the moment he entered and saw the room’s setup, he became like a curious child. He pointed at the light and kept asking what it was called, then picked up the pen and asked about it as well. After she taught him to write a few characters, he immediately became obsessed, as if he had discovered a new world. The key point was that this stoic-faced man even smiled. It annoyed her to no end, and she immediately regretted asking him to help and kicked him out just to regain peace.
Unexpectedly, before dawn the next day, he came again on his own and started curiously studying the paper and pen, even seriously practicing calligraphy with the fountain pen. Mu Jianxi was so angry she almost wanted to kick him, but she didn’t dare. She could only turn over, pull over the blanket, and ignore him as if he were air.
With a dark expression, Mu Jianxi walked over. “Did you write the contract I asked you to help with? If not, then please—”
Before she could finish speaking, Gu Ruizé took out a folded stack of papers from his chest and handed it to her, signaling with his eyes that he had already finished it long ago.
She took it and opened it to look. Although she couldn’t recognize the characters, she could clearly understand the big word “Contract” written on it. She took it and walked out.
At that moment, Gu Ruizé looked at the characters he had just practiced with the fountain pen. The strokes were delicate and neat, and he was very satisfied. He couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he had been allowed into her room—otherwise he would never have discovered these two amazing tools. It seemed the technology of her country was far beyond his reach. Even the paper was so white, so smooth to the touch, and yet had a certain firmness.
Soon, five people arrived in the courtyard, curiously observing their surroundings. Mu Jianxi came out and handed them the contracts to read. After reviewing them, they signed and pressed their seals, and the official government stamp was already on them, making the contracts legally valid.
After a brief reading, they signed their names and pressed their thumbprints in red ink, and the contracts immediately took effect.
Mu Jianxi asked Bao Bao to store them in her spatial space for safekeeping, then assigned tasks:
“Early stage: Chun Cao and Chun Xiang, you two will make the batter and puff pastry. Granny Wu will cook various fruit jams. Later stage: after the puff pastries are baked and cooled, the three of you will assemble them. Wang Sheng will be responsible for washing the fruits in the early stage, and later for lighting the ovens and burning charcoal. Su Wen, you will fry the ‘drunken peanuts.’”
“Also, I’ll demonstrate once. Watch carefully. If you don’t understand later, you can ask me. Today we need to produce 100 portions. In the afternoon, customers will come to buy. Those who are free can help with sales.”
“Yes!”
After the demonstration, they quickly got the hang of it. Mu Jianxi went over occasionally to guide them. At noon, she casually prepared six dishes and one soup, and everyone finished eating quickly before returning to work.
Afternoon arrived. Mu Jianxi waved at two of them—Su Wen and Wang Sheng. They opened the gate on both sides, and countless nobles gathered outside, desperately trying to squeeze in and buy quickly.
Mu Jianxi loudly announced:
“Everyone, quiet down. I am the shopkeeper Mu Jianxi. Today is our grand opening promotion. Everything is 20% off. Limited to 100 portions per day, one portion per person per day. Every seven days, we will launch new products. Fruit jam puff pastries come in various flavors—you can choose freely. One costs three copper coins; a bag of drunken peanuts costs twenty copper coins. If bought together, they still count as one set.”
“Now line up. Anyone caught cutting the line will be blacklisted and permanently banned from buying my products.”
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone obediently formed a queue and became very quiet.
The first customer was the Minister of Censors. He leaned in and smelled the aroma, then ordered two of each flavor of fruit jam puff pastry and one bag of drunken peanuts.
“Please wait,” Mu Jianxi said.
She used tongs to place two of each flavored puff into a temporary box, sealed it, and handed it over along with a bag of drunken peanuts. He happily took out thirty-five copper coins and placed them into a cloth money bag used for payment.
Then came the second customer—the Minister of Rites…
Mu Jianxi continued selling happily, while the others kept working. By the time the hundredth order was completed, she regretfully told everyone:
“Today’s limit of 100 portions has been sold out. Those who didn’t manage to buy, please come earlier tomorrow. Thank you for your support.”
Those who missed out left disappointed, regretting that they hadn’t come earlier.
Those who managed to buy immediately took it home to share with their families—after all, delicious food is happiest when shared.
The Crown Prince, the Prince of Runan, and the Prince of Duan rushed over excitedly, only to see many people walking away disappointed. After asking someone, they learned that all 100 portions had already been sold out. The three of them were so frustrated their eyes turned red—they refused to believe they still couldn’t buy it tomorrow.
At that moment, inside Cian Palace, the emperor, empress, and dowager empress were eating various fruit jam puff pastries and drunken peanuts, enjoying them immensely.
Originally, the emperor had sent a shadow guard to buy them. Unexpectedly, that foolish guard jumped into Mu Jianxi’s courtyard and loudly declared:
“His Majesty the Emperor has ordered me to buy food!”
Mu Jianxi simply packed the prepared items and handed them over without charging money, letting him leave with them.
While eating, the dowager empress curiously asked the emperor, “What do you think of that young lady?”
“Not bad. She speaks logically and clearly, sees situations with sharp insight, and has strong determination. She is not to be underestimated. I feel she may bring greater surprises to the empire—or even elevate it to a new level.”
The emperor had never given such a high evaluation of anyone before.
It seems the dowager empress also felt she should go and see the young lady. Hearing that she is close with Prince Ze, if her character is good, arranging a marriage would not be out of the question.
As evening approached, after everyone went home, she counted the money in the bag—over 800 copper coins. After deducting costs and labor, the profit was over 500 copper coins. This was still far from enough to open a workshop; it seemed she still needed to save more.
Gu Ruizé came in from outside and saw Mu Jianxi looking like a money-obsessed little miser. When he glanced at the paper, he noticed her calculations—clear and simple. She didn’t even need an abacus to calculate so quickly.
“What kind of calculation method is this? How can it be done so fast?”
“Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division,” she said. “Of course it’s fast. After all, I went through nine years of compulsory education, three years of high school exams, and four years of university as an excellent student.”