Chapter 334: Everyone Has Their Own Little Schemes

The men hadn’t expected a raise. It was a pleasant surprise, and one by one, they eagerly promised to manage the shops well.

Gu Fei then pointed to Gu Erlang and said, “This is my second brother. He’s never been involved in business matters before. From now on, he will go to the shops every day. I hope you shopkeepers will teach him.”

Gu Erlang stepped forward and cupped his fist in salute to the shopkeepers.

The shopkeepers all said, “We will certainly do our best to teach the Second Young Master well.”

After giving her instructions, Gu Fei dismissed the shopkeepers.

Once outside, the shopkeepers exchanged knowing glances and headed to a nearby teahouse.

They got a private room. The manager of the silver building, Manager Zhang, began mysteriously, “Do you two know who this Miss Gu is?”

The other two shook their heads. “We don’t.”

Manager Zhang smiled. “You may not, but I do.”

“This Miss Gu is no ordinary person. Have you heard about what happened with Housekeeper Wu a while back, how he was slapping his own face? That was the Young Master Heir, getting justice for Miss Gu.”

One of them said, “I heard about it, but I thought it was just a baseless rumor. Now it seems it must be true.”

Manager Zhang snorted. “Of course it’s true. I was right outside the inn that day and saw it clearly. That Housekeeper Wu was kneeling at Miss Gu’s feet, slapping himself in the face for dear life. He didn’t dare stop even when his face was swollen.”

“Now, Manager Wu is dead, and these… these shops are in Miss Gu’s hands. We don’t know everything that happened in between, but we can guess.”

“So, I’m just giving you two a word of advice. The Young Master Heir is backing this Miss Gu. We should all be a bit more restrained, lest we anger the Young Master Heir and lose our lives.”

The two men quickly replied, “Thank you for the reminder, Manager Zhang.”

One of them added, “But in the past, half of our shops’ business came from the Prince Mansion’s purchases. From now on, with a new housekeeper at the Prince Mansion, those purchases might not come our way. Business will definitely be worse than before. When the time comes, what should we do if Miss Gu asks about it?”

Steward Zhang shook his head. “I don’t know about that either. In any case, we have the Second Young Master watching over us. As long as we keep our hands clean, Miss Gu won’t be able to find fault with us.”

“From what I can see, this Miss Gu doesn’t have anyone else to rely on. She’s still managing the inn herself. As long as we don’t make any major mistakes, I doubt Miss Gu will fire us.”

The other two nodded. “I suppose that’s all we can do.”

“When we get back, we’ll have to be more careful with business than before. Otherwise, it won’t look good if next month’s accounts are too far off.”

The three chatted idly for a while longer before parting ways.

Meanwhile, Gu Fei, her father, and Er Lang had already gone to the South Market.

They went to several places but only saw foreign women, Kunlun slaves, and old and young female servants and boys for sale.

The boys were all very young and none were literate, so they didn’t buy any.

Finally, they came to a place where many people stood on a platform—young maids, old matrons, servants, and even some elderly men.

Gu Fei understood at a glance. ‘Some official’s family must have fallen on hard times, and all their servants are being sold off together,’ she thought. ‘Just like me, once.’

Gu Fei stared at the older men, then whispered to Gu Zhang, “Father, those men were likely stewards in a large household. Go ask the Ya Zi. If they are, buy them all.”

“If they have families, buy them as a unit. It will make them easier to manage.”

If you only bought one person, they would lose hope and wouldn’t put their heart into their work.

Gu Zhang nodded and went to find the Ya Zi to inquire.