Marrying for someone else and being a widow? Stepmothers open classes to raise children

"Miss, this time we collected a total of 15,400 taels of silver and 500 taels of gold. I have checked the accounts item by item and there are no mistakes."

Gu Zhiyi smiled slightly: "When those stubborn people saw their companions being slaughtered, they were all afraid and naturally dared not act recklessly anymore."

She looked through the account book quickly with sharp eyes, and after confirming that it was correct, she took the account book to Tingfeng Garden.

Coincidentally, Xie Xun was also there.

At that time, Xie Xun was talking to Qi: "The imperial examination is coming soon. I want to concentrate on my studies and have no time to manage my shop. Yunxuan is very talented and courageous. After she recovers, I plan to let her take over the management temporarily."

When he saw Gu Zhiyi, Xie Xun looked a little embarrassed.

Gu Zhiyi didn't even look at him. Seeing that the mother and son were talking, she planned to leave. Unexpectedly, Qi said, "It's okay. Zhiyi might as well stay and listen to what this rebellious son is talking about."

Xie Xun was suddenly speechless.

Gu Zhiyi had no intention of intervening, but seeing Xie Xun's expression of shame and anger, she changed her mind: "Okay."

Xie Xun looked at Gu Zhiyi's frosty face and couldn't help feeling bitter.

As the only heir of Duke Ningguo, he had few friends around him since childhood, and even fewer people with whom he could confide.

Chao Yunxuan was one of them.

Later, Gu Zhiyi was also one of them.

She had helped him before, but last time he accused her without knowing the truth.

Moreover, this happened even though Chao Yunxuan took the initiative to provoke him!

He felt extremely guilty and wanted to do something to make up for his mistake.

Qi took the account book and raised her eyebrows for a moment, as if she had understood something. Xie Xun suddenly said, "Mother, Zhiyi has just taken over the family's power. Those managers are as cunning as foxes, so it is inevitable that there will be omissions."

As the son of the Ningguo Mansion, he not only had to be proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, calligraphy, painting and other skills necessary for aristocratic sons, but also had to learn how to control his subordinates.

There are no fish in clear water. If there is no profit motivation, those managers will not serve the Ningguo Mansion wholeheartedly.

Therefore, it is normal for them to be clever.

As long as it's not excessive, even Duke Ningguo won't pursue it too much.

He thought that Gu Zhiyi suffered a loss because she was not familiar with the matter, so he wanted to plead for her, even forgetting his own purpose.

Qi looked at her son helplessly and said, "Take care of your own shop first."

Gu Zhiyi nodded in agreement: "Mother is right. Everything has its priorities. Let's deal with the young master's matter first. We can discuss my matter later."

Wait until he leaves.

She didn't want to hear any more of his nonsense.

Xie Xun was speechless for a moment.

He was doing it for her own good, but she didn't appreciate it at all.

He could only continue, "I want to let Zhiyi manage the China Youth Bookstore."

Since he was thirteen years old, he began to manage the family business independently. China Youth Bookstore is one of his businesses and it is also his favorite one, because among all the businesses, only the bookstore is full of the fragrance of books, symbolizing the character and spirit of literati.

In fact, he had absolute autonomy, but he knew that his mother had no good feelings for Yunxuan, so in order to prevent any further trouble, he came to ask for instructions.

He believed that with Yunxuan's talents, the bookstore would be profitable in a short period of time.

As long as her mother sees her abilities, she will be impressed by her and she won't have to report everything to her in the future.

Qi asked Gu Zhiyi, "Zhiyi, what do you think?"

Gu Zhiyi tactfully handed the decision back to Qi: "It's up to you, mother."

She was determined not to get involved in the complicated emotional entanglement between this man and woman, so as not to become an innocent link in their emotional chain like Gu Zhixiao.

She even thought of advising Qi not to get involved, but she soon realized that this was just wishful thinking.

Qi couldn't bear to see her son in trouble, and Chao Yunxuan hadn't caused any trouble recently, so she compromised and said, "Let's try it for a month. If she fails to bring more profits after a month, don't talk about her ability anymore."

"Three months? After all, implementing a new policy requires an adaptation period."

Qi pondered for a moment, and finally nodded: "Okay, just three months."

Although Xie Xun got the answer he expected, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he redirected the topic to Gu Zhiyi: "Mother, collecting debts sounds simple, but it actually has a lot of mysteries..."

Gu Zhiyi interrupted him and said, "You are worrying too much, sir. I think this matter is very simple. I didn't even do it myself, but handed it over to Luluo to handle. The people in charge were also very cooperative. Except for one person who turned himself in and went to jail because he knew that he had committed a serious crime, all the others were very obedient."

Xie Xun was full of confusion: "?"

What on earth are you talking about?

All of those shop owners are as cunning as foxes. Even he, the young master, has to compete with them in wits and courage. Yet you say they are docile?

He felt more and more that Gu Zhiyi had been fooled, and his eyes revealed a complicated look.

He wanted to speak frankly, but was afraid of hurting her fragile self-esteem: "You have never fought with those men. Although they are respectful to you on the surface, they actually have their own ulterior motives. I'm afraid you have been deceived."

"I know it may be hard for you to accept, but it is the truth."

Gu Zhiyi could only roll her eyes helplessly.

"Sir, do you need to check the account book before you comment?"

Qi was also amused by her son's naivety and handed him the account book.

Xie Xun widened his eyes and looked at the account book in amazement: "This..."

He had personally participated in collecting debts and was well aware of the revenue situation of these shops. Although there were some fluctuations, it was generally around 10,000 taels.

And Gu Zhiyi actually collected almost half more!

He didn't want to speculate too much, but he couldn't help but have conspiracy theories in his mind. Could it be that he had made a mistake in the accounts?

Gu Zhiyi said calmly: "The silver has been properly stored in the warehouse. If you don't believe it, you can go to the warehouse to check it."

Facing Gu Zhiyi's calm gaze, Xie Xun awkwardly gave up his ridiculous thoughts, but he still couldn't help but be curious: "I haven't heard of any stores being particularly profitable or popular recently, so how could there be such a big increase?"

Gu Zhiyi chuckled: "That's because they spit out all the profits they swallowed."

"I estimate that they will continue to vomit for several months."

Qi smiled and said, "Zhiyi is really superior. She killed a chicken to scare the monkeys and made those greedy people tremble with fear."

Xie Xun was full of curiosity, but neither his mother nor Gu Zhiyi had the intention to explain in detail, so he could only continue to be full of curiosity.

"Thank you for your kindness, sir. I also give you a piece of advice: in the next few months, do not spend money recklessly. If the bookstore loses money, I will not use the funds in my family to make up for the shortfall."

Xie Xun has only two businesses, one is a bookstore and the other is a clothing store.

He regarded clothing stores as places full of money, and even though they were very profitable, he did not like them.

He particularly loved bookstores, even though their profits were only one-third of those of clothing stores.