My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

Mother Gao asked the maid to bring porridge and led Si Muyan and her sister to the old lady's yard, but she did not go in immediately. She just nodded to her younger sister.

"Let your sister go in alone."

The younger sister was a little unhappy when she heard this, but she didn't say anything. She obediently followed another maid to the flower hall to wait.

Si Muyan followed him into the room and saw a slightly plump middle-aged woman, about forty years old, lying on the couch, listening to a smart little maid talking.

After just one look, Si Muyan lowered her eyes, secretly amazed.

For a modern person like her, being called an old lady in her forties is a little hard to accept. In her opinion, only people in their sixties can be considered old men and women, right?

In addition, the Xu family is definitely not an ordinary wealthy family.

Those maids each had their own duties and were well-mannered. Just from what she could see, there were nearly ten of them. For an old lady to have so many people serving her showed that the Xu family was extraordinary.

Madam Gao had come here once before, and Old Lady Xu knew who this girl was. She just told the maid to stop talking and waved at Si Muyan: "This must be Madam Zhou, she looks very young."

Mother Gao smiled and said, "Madam, Miss Si is only sixteen."

Old Mrs. Xu became interested and asked Si Muyan to sit down. She asked her about her family situation and her current affairs. Si Muyan answered them one by one, and Mother Gao helped to answer some of them.

"You're a hard worker. Are you the only one here today? Where are your brothers and sisters who made breakfast with you?"

Si Muyan was about to speak when she heard Madam Gao reply, "The eldest daughter is in charge, so I only brought the eldest daughter with me."

My younger sister is here too.

Si Muyan was thinking in her heart, but her face did not show it at all.

Old Lady Xu nodded. "Mother Gao said you were triplets? It's rare to see such beautiful babies. Have you promised them?"

"With the family going through such a huge change, getting married is a bit difficult." Si Muyan didn't want to say more.

Old Lady Xu didn't ask any more questions and changed the subject: "Us old folks, when we see young men and women, we like to talk too much, haha. Let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this. Madam Gao said you wanted to open a shop?"

"Yes……"

Ever since Madam Gao said she would bring her to see Old Lady Xu, Si Muyan guessed that this reward would definitely not be as simple as five or ten taels of silver.

She was a little excited. It would probably take another six months to save enough money to rent a shop. But she was also a little nervous. It was not good to always take advantage of others.

Old Lady Xu said, "I happen to have a vacant shop on East Street. It's quite good. Madam Gao, please ask the Cao family to take the eldest daughter to take a look."

Si Muyan hurriedly said, "Madam, my family's current situation means we may not be able to afford to rent a shop."

"It's okay, let's go take a look first."

Mother Gao took Si Muyan out and asked someone to call the Cao family over. She whispered to Si Muyan, "It's just a shop. Don't worry. If you like it, you can pay me back when you make money. It will be the same."

Si Muyan was naturally grateful. When she looked up, she saw an extremely gentle and handsome young man striding towards her.

She was stunned for a moment. Is this the one from the Cao family? She's so pretty, well-dressed, and so young, yet she's already a manager?

"Fourth Master." Mother Gao bowed.

Si Muyan then realized that it was not the steward, but the master of the mansion.

She also bowed.

The Fourth Master looked Si Muyan up and down and asked, "Mother's new maid?"

Madam Gao hurriedly said, "Fourth Master, this is Madam Zhou. The young master likes to eat their porridge. The old lady has a poor appetite recently, so I brought her here to let the kitchen learn some new porridges."

"I see." The Fourth Master hurriedly saluted Si Muyan, "Sorry, I was abrupt."

Si Muyan bowed again, stepped aside and said nothing.

The Fourth Master's gaze moved across her face, then quickly shifted away. It didn't make anyone feel uncomfortable, as he had already gone in.

Madam Gao explained to Si Muyan, "The old lady, the young master, and the two young ladies live here. The Fourth Master comes here every ten days, but the time is not fixed. I didn't know that the Fourth Master would come back today, so please don't be offended."

"It doesn't matter."

Soon the Cao family's steward came over. She was a plump woman in her thirties with a friendly smile. After listening to what Madam Gao said, she nodded immediately and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll take the girl with me."

But when Mother Gao sent the person away and returned to the old lady's room, the Fourth Master had already left.

Old Lady Xu asked calmly, "Did they see him?"

"Yes," Gao Mama agreed softly, "but I don't think the Fourth Master has that intention."

Old Lady Xu sighed helplessly, "He doesn't look down on so many precious girls. He's almost twenty-one, and he still hasn't found a husband. I'm so worried."

Madam Gao said, "Old Madam, we can't rush this matter. I think the eldest daughter of the Si family is a person with her own ideas. I saw that the eldest daughter didn't even look at our Fourth Master."

"This is only the first time. When the young lady works in our shop, we'll arrange for them to meet more often. Something will eventually happen." Old Lady Xu pondered for a long time. "It's just that the young lady is too beautiful."

Madam Gao knew that Old Lady Xu didn't like women with outstanding looks, so she said quickly, "If she wasn't pretty, I'm afraid the Fourth Master would be even less interested. Besides, although the eldest lady is beautiful, she has a heroic air, not a coquettish air."

Old Mrs. Xu nodded and said nothing more.

The Cao family took Si Muyan and her sister to East Street to look at the shop. My sister's eyes were almost open. Such a big shop, used to make porridge? That would be such a great thing.

She was very excited, but she also thought that if she rented the shop, it would cost a lot of money per month, and not much less per year, and they had no money.

Si Muyan asked: "Mom, the rent of this shop is not cheap, right?"

The Cao family laughed and said, "Ten taels of silver a month is not expensive for outsiders. But since it's the old lady who ordered it, I can't ask for so much for you. Eight taels of silver will be enough."

Eight taels is indeed not expensive.

The Cao family member paused, and seeing the two men looking troubled, he quickly said, "Mother Gao just told me about your situation. She told me that you just need to come and open the shop, and you can pay the rent after you make some money."

After saying this, he took out a pen and paper, wrote the contract and stamped it so that they wouldn't worry.

Si Muyan looked at the contract carefully. There was nothing complicated in it, which made her even more surprised.

Could it be that Old Lady Xu really took a liking to the porridge shop business at first sight and thought that it would definitely be successful and would not lose money?

After thinking about it, Si Muyan nodded, signed his name on it, and pressed his fingerprint.