CH 4.3

Ruan Longling, who was able to collect money to settle the payment with the black market, fell peacefully asleep until the afternoon. When she opened her eyes, she suddenly felt something under the pillow. She stretched out her fingertips and found a two hundred tael banknote under the pillow. This bank note was stuffed by the second sister, Ruan Liyun.

A few years ago, when the Ruan family was not rich, Ruan Liyun was worried that her younger sisters and younger brother would suffer at home and would quietly leave banknotes every time she went back to her natal home. Thinking of this, Ruan Longling felt a surge of warmth in her heart. She got up and walked to the desk, where she found a special ledger to add the two hundred taels to. She wrote a few very beautiful small characters in the account book and asked Ah Xing, who was grinding ink, “Is there any trouble today?

“A few people were caught who wanted to eat and drink for free, and the clothes in the clothing store were infested with worms due to improper storage… Boss, it seems we have to take action immediately.”

Ruan Longling’s writing didn’t stop, she frowned and said sharply, “If I remember correctly, this is the fourth time that something has gone wrong with the fur shop’s account book this month, so you go and order Manager He to check it out. If there are any mistakes, we need to replace the manager. Nothing else?”

“There is another problem…” Ah Xing started to inform Ruan Longling.

On the other side of the Tianxia Building, a guest who booked Qizhen Courtyard encountered difficulties when checking in.

Six days later, Literary Taishan, the former Chief Assistant Zhou Ge, went to Yangzhou to conduct a lecture for a period of one month. Half a month ago, many students had gathered from all directions. In order to listen closely to Mr. Zhou Ge’s teachings, they preferred to stay in Tianxialou, where Mr. Zhou Ge lived. Therefore, every April, the accommodation fee in Tianxialou increased, and it was more than ten times more expensive than usual.

Tianxia’s accommodation price was divided into three patterns: board, room, and courtyard. Among them, the price of the courtyard was the most expensive, and the prices of the Qizhen Courtyard, Wenfeng Courtyard, and Wusheng Courtyard, which were next to Mr. Zhou Ge, were the most expensive. One hundred taels for a night: Even so, it had to be booked half a year ago.

“The guests who can make a reservation for Qizhen Courtyard are not ordinary people. ” Ruan Longling had finished writing the account book and placed the Langhao brush lightly on the inkstone. “But who is he? If he is currently short of funds, that is not our issue. Tianxialou doesn’t owe anything on credit, just refuse it directly. Everyone in Yangzhou knows this rule, so why did you report it to me? ”

Ah Xing felt her forehead covered in a cold sweat, hearing the slightly harsh tone of Ruan Longling, and she hurriedly explained, “Fenniang also told the guest that there is no credit policy, but the guest refused to leave and handed it over. A wooden token, insisting on asking to see the boss. After all, he is a guest who has reserved the Qizhen Courtyard. Fenniang said that the gentleman seemed to be rich, and the wooden token was given to him by you. So that’s why Fenniang wanted to inform us of this matter.” Ah Xing took out the wooden token from her sleeves and placed it lightly on the rosewood desk.

Under the big “Ruan” character in the middle of the token, it showed the serial number of the wooden token, “Sixteen.”

‘Isn’t this the one I handed to that strange man this morning? That man is full of noble air, everything in his body is high-quality goods, and the jade rings on his knuckles are priceless. How can he be short of money? Didn’t he not want to accept the token first? Isn’t he very tall? Is it particularly condescending? And also cursed me, saying that my marriage would not go well. Okay, since it’s delivered to my door today, I’ll let him taste what it’s like to be teased.’ Ruan Longling thought smugly and said to Ah Xing, “Let’s go and meet this honoured guest.”

Ruan’s mansion was very close to the Tianxia Building, so she could deal with this matter quickly. She had a cup of tea first and went to the flower hall to meet the guest.

The windows of the flower hall were all painted with red vermilion lacquer, and the windows were decorated with colourful glasses. Ruan Longling walked slowly down the corridor, looking in through the window.

The sun shone on the coloured glass, casting colourful light into the flower hall. And that man was sitting in an official hat chair in the centre of the colourful halo. He was just about to lift the lid of the cup to drink tea when he felt some movements. Hearing the movement, the man closed the raised tea lid again, looked straight towards the door, and met her eyes. His eyes were unhurried and extraordinarily calm. At first, he seemed warm, but after a few more glances, she could feel a bit of sharpness in the man’s eyes. He was the one who wanted to talk with Ruan Longling, but when he met her gaze, there was no warm greeting on his face, and he didn’t even stand up to greet her. He only nodded slightly at her, and his tone was still as cold as earlier. “Ruan’s family, we meet again.”