Wanjin Lady.

Chapter 52: Using Gentleness as a Weapon
He tried to squeeze in, but was stopped by the quick-witted waiter. "Boss, please move aside a few steps. Our young master said that tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the Wen Family Wine Shop, and we're giving out cash gifts to new and old customers. You can come early tomorrow morning to join in the fun."

"Yo huh? Giving out silver? Really?"

Some people, however, sensed something else. "Your young master? Why, now that Wen Weiming is no longer in charge, has Young Lady Wen taken charge of the winery?"

After just two or three words, a lot of people gathered in front of the shop.

"Hey, Shopkeeper Luo, Miss Wen has already married into the family, so Wen Weiming's business must be passed on to her."

"What a shame, what a shame! Shopkeeper Wen is a warm-hearted man, but it's a pity he doesn't have a son. A girl can't do business like this!"

"Who says it's not true? I heard that most of the employees at the winery have left, even the head chef Zhang Jiping is gone. What do women know about running a business? The right thing to do is to stay at home and take care of the husband and children!"

Some people, however, didn't care and only cared about the "giving out money" that the waiter mentioned. He pulled the waiter aside and asked, "You just said that the winery would give out cash as welfare. Is that real cash or just a gimmick?"

The servants had already been told this by Wen Wan several times, so they naturally knew how to respond. They immediately raised their voices, "Of course it's silver! The young master said that this time the winery will give out 100 taels of silver for a raffle. Whoever wins the prize will get the silver!"

"Lottery?" The people around suddenly became interested. "How do you draw?"

"Buy our wine and you'll be able to enter a lottery. The highest prize you can win is one tael of silver! Anyway, the young master took out all his cash yesterday and piled it up like a small mountain of silver, just waiting for the winery to open tomorrow for good luck."

Feng Shuigen came forward. He was tall and strong, and usually did the heavy lifting of winemaking. His chest muscles were well-developed, as if two pieces of cotton were stuffed in his chest. His voice was full of energy. "Oh, it's a pity. The young master said that this is a benefit for the guests who have always supported the winery, and our winery workers are not allowed to participate."

Feng Shuigen is an excellent actor. He portrayed the regret, heartache and remorse so vividly that it immediately aroused everyone's interest. In just a moment, the door of Pingxian Wine Shop was packed with people.

"Hey, big brother, how do we draw the lottery? Is it only those who bought your Wen family wine who can draw the lottery?"

"Our Young Master said this event is definitely the biggest we've seen at the Wen Family Winery in the past 20 years! Regardless of whether you buy our wine or not, as long as you come, even if it's just for fun, we won't let you go home empty-handed! Everyone, remember, tomorrow at noon, bring your entire family to our winery to show our support to the Young Master!"

Why don't you come to join in the fun and leave empty-handed?

"Oh my, is this true? If you give it to us for free, won't your young master lose everything?"

Feng Shuigen patted his chest loudly, "Oh, please come early tomorrow and see for yourself, then you'll know whether what I said is true or not!"

The Wen family restaurant reopened, countdown, six hours.

The Wen family has now laid off a lot of people, including the servants in the mansion and the workers in the winery. The number of people left is less than one-third of what it used to be. Everyone is very busy, but they feel at ease.

It’s better to be busy.

Only when you are busy can you see hope.

The Wen family's servants were busy transporting aged wine to five wine shops. Wen Wan was not idle either. She organized Chen Ma, Hongmei, Lu Ping and others, and even did not let go of the child laborers Wen Jing and An Zhongrong, and caught them all to work for her.

The yellow paper was cut into pieces about one inch in length and width, evenly arranged, and all made into red tickets, which were later called vouchers. Words such as 99% off, 20% off per piece, 500 wen discount, and 300 wen discount were written on them. Later, they were opposed by Chen Ma, an illiterate person, and were changed to be used as markings.

Zhao Heng then suggested: The circle represents a 99% discount on two items.

The square represents 20% off per piece.

The plum blossom represents an immediate reduction of 500 coins.

The three-petal flower represents an immediate reduction of three hundred coins.

The people in the room began drawing based on the symbols and meanings posted on the wall. Chen Ma, who was illiterate, felt targeted by Wen Wan and kept muttering, "Oh dear, I've only ever held a needle and a spatula in my life, I can't hold a brush, I'm not the kind of scholar who can burn the midnight oil. Never mind, young lady, don't make things difficult for me, let me cut paper." Zhao Heng asked with a smile, "Chen Ma, you've never been to school, so why do you know so many idioms?"

It seems that Wen Wan is not the only one who finds Chen Ma's witty remarks fascinating.

This question brought back painful memories for Chen Ma. She switched seats with Hongmei, and after she sat down, she slowly spoke, "In the early years, Master taught Miss to read. Miss was young at the time, and when she couldn't recite, Master spanked her palms. I looked at Miss's palms covered with cane marks, and my heart ached. Then I thought, I'm several years older than Miss, and if Miss couldn't remember, wouldn't I be able to help her remember? So later, whatever Master taught me, I would stare at it with wide eyes and memorize it by rote, and then go back to teach Miss something."

Speaking of her gentle mother, Chen Ma's face softened. "So even though I can recite idioms and scriptures, I can't even recognize a single word."

Chen Ma slowed down her paper-cutting, her voice humming with emotion. "Alas, it's been over a decade since Miss passed away. I've almost forgotten what she looked like. All I can remember is when my family was fleeing more than 30 years ago. My parents kicked me off the donkey cart. I broke two ribs, fell to the ground, couldn't get up, and was nearly dragged away and cooked!"

None of the girls had ever experienced a famine, so when they heard the word "eating people", Hongmei and Luping were so scared that their faces turned pale and they stopped drawing circles.

"Luckily, the young lady brought me back to the Bai family, gave me food to eat, and new clothes to wear. At that time, I was thinking, how could such a beautiful girl exist in this world? I will be her slave for the rest of my life. Alas, I never thought that I was five or six years older than the young lady, and she passed away before me."

Wen Wan's mother died too early, and the original owner had a vague impression of her.

Wen Wan then asked Chen Ma, "What kind of person is my mother?"

"Fairy!" Aunt Chen's smile creased her cheeks. "There's no one better than the young lady in the world! She and the master have been married for so many years, and they've never had a quarrel. They always discuss everything. Even though the master is a powerful businessman, he always discusses even the most trivial matters with the young lady when he comes home! Who among the servants in our courtyard doesn't say hello to the young lady?"

Wen Wan lit a candle in her heart for Aunt Liu, the late substitute for Bai Yueguang.

Now that I think about it, the white moonlight that Old Man Wen could not forget must be no ordinary person.

Wen Wan has lived two lives and realized a profound truth: beauty may be a woman's weapon, but gentleness is definitely a killer that can kill both men and women.

However, what Chen Ma said reminded her of her mother.

She fought cancer for several years and lost 50 to 60 kilograms, and her mother also lost more than 20 kilograms with her.

Within a year or two after the diagnosis, my mother's hair turned white.

Since she fell ill, her mother has often been so anxious that she can't sleep. Sometimes she would come to her room in the middle of the night, say nothing, and just sit quietly at the head of her bed wiping her tears.

In the last one or two months before her death, my mother couldn't bear to hear the word "death" and even changed everyone's cell phone number in the family to one with the number "four".

She was the one who was about to die, but her mother was the one who was driven crazy.

Wen Wan once thought that people would go to the same place after death, whether it was called the underworld or heaven, and she would eventually be able to meet her relatives again at the end of the world.

But unexpectedly, she traveled through time.

Then where can mom find her?
Zhao Heng was the first to notice Wen Wan's dejected expression. He held her hand and said, "My dear, I haven't seen my mother yet. Let's go pay our respects to her after we're done with the winery."

Wen Jing also leaned into her arms and said, "Don't be sad, sister. You have daddy and auntie who love you. And I love you too."

Wen Wan's hands were held by someone, one on each side. She felt warm in her heart, but suddenly she was nostalgic for the short-lived and illusory warmth.

She thought in a daze.

Perhaps at this moment she really is Wenwan from the Great Chen Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)