Time Travel: Brothel Maid

Xiao Guoer waited until everyone had left before she dared to raise her head.

She patted her chest and felt like she had survived a disaster.

It’s too scary, we’d better leave this place quickly.

Xiao Guoer was no longer in the mood to wander around. There was no hope of finding a suitable store today.

After leaving the restaurant, she quickly returned to Zhuxian Lane.

When I returned to the courtyard, Yueya was sitting in front of a large basin washing clothes.

"The second girl is back?"

Xiao Guoer nodded, and sat down next to Yueya dejectedly, leaning on Yueya's body like a boneless person, rubbing his little head against Yueya's shoulder.

The voice was soft and sticky, and the tone was inflected as she called out softly, "Crescent Moon."

Seeing her acting like a spoiled child and pouting, Yueya couldn't help but laugh and stopped what she was doing.

"What's wrong with the second girl? Why do you look so unhappy?"

Xiao Guoer sighed, "Nothing, just a little tired."

She didn't want to tell the people in the yard about her difficulties and add to their troubles.

Yueya wiped her wet hands on her apron, supported Xiao Guoer and said, "If you are tired, go eat something and have a good sleep. Aunt Zhou cooked white fried spring goose today."

Xiao Guoer immediately perked up, jumped up from the stool, and trotted into the kitchen.

While running, he shouted, "Auntie Zhou, I'm hungry!"

Yueya smiled so much that her eyes curved into crescents. She knew that no matter how big the matter was, the Second Girl would be happy immediately as long as there was something delicious.

In this respect, I'm like a little kid.

At first, she was not used to the second girl's casual personality, and was even less used to her occasional coquettishness and intimate behavior.

But gradually, she felt that the second girl was someone who could make people want to be nice to her from the bottom of their hearts.

I no longer followed the rules and didn't dare to get close to her.

The second girl seemed to be one or two years older than her, but Yueya always felt that the second girl was sometimes more childish than her, and she should take care of her more.

Yueya continued to rub the clothes in her hands and frowned. Why was the second girl's bellyband so plain and not elegant at all?

Later she would embroider some flowers and grass on it, and let the second girl slowly develop the habits of a girl. She couldn't act like a tomboy every day.

Xiao Guoer's eyes lit up when she saw the fried spring goose just out of the pan. She picked up a piece of meat with her bare hands and put it into her mouth.

Zhou Ma was watching and couldn't bear it, "Second Miss, why are you so anxious? At least use a pair of chopsticks to avoid burning your hands."

Xiao Guoer's unruly behavior made Mrs. Zhou lower her bottom line again and again.

From being surprised and disgusted at the beginning to being calm now, he has completely accepted it and even feels a little happy.

The dishes she cooks are so popular with the second girl, isn't it her skill?

Look at this second girl, her lips were curled up even after she ate the fried spring goose she cooked!

"It's not hot, it's not hot, Aunt Zhou, your cooking skills are truly top-notch, even the chefs in the restaurants in the capital can't compare to you!"

Mrs. Zhou was flattered by Xiao Guo'er and smiled, "If the second young lady likes to eat for a while, eat more."

"Yeah, I like it. It's my favorite."

When the four were preparing to eat, an uninvited guest came into the courtyard.

When Zhou Fangye saw a room full of masters and servants sitting at the same table, his face turned dark.

Before he could open his mouth, Yueya and Zhou Pozi hurriedly stood up, stood aside, and bowed for fear of being blamed.

"Master, you are well."

"Master, you are well."

Xiao Guo'er, however, sat still.

Zhou Fangye wanted to have a meal with Yingniang and talk about some private matters.

He knew that Yingniang had been blaming him recently, but the relationship couldn't always remain so strained. He thought that if he coaxed her a little more, things would improve.

But the current situation was really unexpected. Not to mention that Yingniang actually allowed these maids and old women to eat together at the table in such an unruly manner, just from the moment he came in, Yingniang's face showed no joy at all, which made him feel uncomfortable.

Does Yingniang really hate him?

Zhou Fangye felt a pain in his heart.

"Mr. Zhou, have you had your meal? If you don't mind, please stay and have dinner with us." Xiao Guoer noticed the strange atmosphere and asked in a tone like she was greeting an acquaintance.

Yueya and Zhou Po were so frightened that their eyes widened. The second young lady was so brave, how could she let the master eat at the same table with them?

Before Zhou Fangye could even open his mouth, Yingniang had already refused on his behalf.

"Mr. Zhou is very busy with official duties. I don't think he has time to stay here for dinner."

Zhou Fangye opened his mouth but ultimately did not say he wanted to stay for dinner. The other person's attitude was already so cold, why should he go and make himself unhappy?

"If you are missing anything, please send Aunt Zhou to the Zhou Mansion to find me. I have something else to do in the government office, so I will leave first."

Yingniang nodded without comment.

Xiao Guoer looked at Zhou Fangye's leaving back, then looked at Yingniang's expression and sighed deeply.

It seems that there is no time to delay making money.

Only with money can Yingniang pay off Zhou Fangye's debt and stand up straight.

Let Yueya and Zhou Ma sit down and eat again.

Xiao Guo'er had something on her mind, so she didn't eat much. After eating, she went back to her room and started to seriously think about the feasibility of setting up a stall.

This is the worst option, but I can't find a suitable store now, so I can only take it one step at a time.

In one afternoon, Yueya and Zhou Ma saw the second girl asking for wood, coarse cloth, and paper and pen, going in and out more than ten times.

Then there were clanging and banging sounds coming from the east wing, as loud as if a house was being demolished.

When asked what the second girl was doing, she wiped her sweat and just said, "Making money!"

He went into the east wing and never came out again.

Although Yingniang was curious, she knew that Xiaoguoer always had a lot of ideas and that she was indeed capable of making money, so she didn't ask too many questions and just waited to see her results.

Yueya and Mrs. Zhou then went back to their own work.

Early the next morning, Xiao Guoer carried the simple stall he had made yesterday afternoon to Yongxing Street.

In front of the stall there were two huge, eye-catching words written by Xiao Guoer: Grab a Prize.

She placed a finished wooden box on the stall.

The box was a cube, and Xiao Guoer dug a round hole on the top wooden board, which was just big enough for a hand to fit in.

The wooden board in front of the box is only half, with the upper part cut off, allowing people to see clearly what is in the box from the front.

This is a prize-grabbing box made by Xiao Guoer. The principle is very simple. Just put many slips of paper into the box and let people grab them randomly.

The folded notes were written with words such as "Thank you for your patronage", "Five cents", "Ten cents", "Twenty cents", "One tael", etc., in varying quantities, and the higher the denomination, the fewer words there were.

Guests can spend five cents to randomly pick a piece of paper from the box. The process can be seen from the half-cut wooden board, which is open, transparent and clear at a glance.

This is different from the way Xiao Guoer originally envisioned running a lottery shop.

Because it's a street stall, she can only do it this way for now. When she has a store in the future, she will improve the winning mechanism.

The "Grab the Prize" stall is officially open!

Next to the "grab the prize" stall is a fortune-telling stall.

The stall owner was a man in his forties with a moustache.

Xiao Guoer chose this place to set up her stall on her first day after much consideration.

Anyone who wants to have their fortune told has a certain degree of hope in life.

So naturally, the acceptance of things like grabbing prizes will be high.

One of the most important things in doing business is to accurately identify your target customers.

After a morning, Xiaoguo'er's business was neither good nor bad, with a total of eight people coming.

Xiao Guoer is already very satisfied with such results at the very beginning.

She is not making any money at the moment.

There is no other way. If we want to expand the market quickly, in this era of backward information dissemination, we can only rely on word of mouth.

So how can she get people to promote her stall more?

There is only one way, and that is to increase your chances of winning!

If the guests are satisfied and think they are getting a good deal, they will naturally introduce their relatives and friends to the restaurant. At the very least, they will come more often themselves.

So there were quite a few prize notes in Xiaoguoer's prize box.

If you want to make a lot of money, you have to take a long-term view and ignore temporary gains and losses.

Xiao Guoer waited until the sun was high in the sky before packing up her stall and returning to Zhuxian Lane.

She ate her meal in a hurry and looked at the questioning eyes of the three people in the family without explaining.

Let's wait until she makes money.

After dinner, he went back to the east wing to take a nap for half an hour, and then hurried to Yongxing Street to set up the stall.