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

Fourth Master Xu asked, "So you're looking to rent a house mainly to sell porridge in the morning?"

"Yes."

Fourth Master Xu laughed and said, "From what you said, you want the two branches of the Zhu family to help you with the work. However, they have many children at home, and if they live far away, it will be inconvenient to take care of them."

"Yes." Si Muyan nodded, "So I decided to rent a place nearby. Today I went to look at the houses in the two alleys behind East Street, but I didn't find anything suitable. I plan to look again tomorrow."

At this time, there were official yamen who were responsible for various matters such as population, livestock, and the rental and sale of houses, but they were not very well-established. Moreover, because they collected money from them, ordinary people were not willing to buy or sell houses through official or private yamen unless they were in a desperate situation. Especially when the rental was not expensive.

So Si Muyan could only rely on his own legs and run up and down two alleys a day to see if there was any.

"Luckily, I met a kind lady today. I told her about the situation and she said she would look into it for me. I should have a result tomorrow."

Fourth Master Xu asked again, "You're planning to rent a place nearby, so why haven't you considered separating the porridge shop from the food shop?"

"separate?"

Si Muyan and her younger sister looked at each other. Yes, why couldn’t they separate?

Fourth Master Xu said, "A food shop this size is perfect for lunch. But it would be a bit wasteful to use it as a porridge shop. They could choose a place that's half the size of this one, and the stove wouldn't need to be so big or wide. A place with two or three rooms and a small courtyard in the back would be perfect."

The more Si Muyan listened, the brighter her eyes became. She thought she was really stupid. She was only thinking about renting a house and her thinking was limited by it.

Now I suddenly felt like I had a light bulb going on. Since I had to rent a house anyway, I might as well rent a porridge shop. I could let Zhu Laoer and Zhu Laosan live together, and the two families could work together and take care of the children. I could earn money and take care of the family at the same time. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?

The younger sister also clapped her hands and laughed: "Not bad, not bad, big sister, I always wanted to open a dinner market, but you said it would affect the rest of Brother Zhu and his wife. If we separate them, they can just eat breakfast, and we can open for lunch and dinner."

"You're right." Si Muyan did what he said and stood up to go out and find a place.

Fourth Master Xu hurriedly stopped her and said, "Don't worry, Miss Si. As I was talking, I just remembered that a friend of mine has a shop vacant on the nearby Zhong Street. I wonder if it's been rented out in the past two days. If you think my suggestion is good, why not go and take a look?"

"Really?" Si Muyan was even happier.

Fenghuang County has two main streets dedicated to selling goods: East Street and West Street. They sell everything, but because of this, they are quite noisy from morning to night, especially during the day when the shouting is almost non-stop.

Zhu Laoer and his wife live here, and even if the restaurant is empty in the afternoon, they cannot get a good rest.

The middle street is where ordinary people live. With more people living there, it has become a small street, which is relatively quiet. It is very suitable for selling breakfast and having a good rest in the afternoon and evening.

Fourth Master Xu took the Si sisters out. They didn't have to walk, but got on a carriage.

My little sister's memory of horse-drawn carriages only dates back to before she was seven years old. In all these years, she has never ridden in one, let alone seen one.

Riding it now, she couldn't help but sigh. However, the Xu family's carriage was much narrower than the one she had ridden as a child, and it wasn't as luxurious inside or out. It didn't have a thick mattress in the winter, and even though the county town had flat gravel roads, it was still a bit bumpy.

Even so, it is much more comfortable than a ox cart.

Fourth Master Xu boarded the carriage with the two girls, feeling a bit proud. After all, the Xu family was a major merchant family, one of the best in Fenghuang County, and there weren't many carriages like his in the entire county.

The two girls in front of me were country girls and had probably never ridden in a carriage.

But once they got in the car, they saw that neither of them looked surprised. The eldest daughter of the Si family was fine, after all, she looked calm, but the third daughter of the Si family was lively and clever, and didn't seem to be the type to hide her temper. How could she be so calm?

For a while, Mr. Xu Si's idea of ​​taking the little girl to see the world was mostly gone.

Arriving at the shop on Middle Street, they saw that it hadn't been rented out yet. Fourth Master Xu ordered his attendants to look for his friend while he took the two of them to tour the shop.

The more Si Muyan looked around, the more satisfied she became. The shop wasn't big, but it had everything she needed inside, including a stove. Outside, two sets of tables and chairs could be placed, and if they squeezed together, three sets could be placed. The eaves in front of the door were very wide, so even if it rained, the rain would not drift into the house.

I went to take a look at the back. The rooms at the back were not very spacious, there were only two rooms, but one of them had a attic. After cleaning up, it was very suitable for Xiaochun to live in the attic.

There is also a nice yard at the back with a well with a cover, making it convenient and safe to get water.

It is really small but complete.

When the friend arrived, they quickly settled on a monthly rent of four taels of silver. With Fourth Master Xu acting as guarantor, the rent here was the same as the Si Family Food Shop. The lease was for a year, with monthly payments and no deposit required.

In fact, the rent of four taels of silver for a food shop like this in this area is not cheap, but just the small courtyard at the back makes Si Muyan feel that he has made a profit.

After returning to the food store, Si Muyan found Zhu Laoer and his wife and told them what had happened.

"It's very appropriate to separate the porridge shop. If Third Brother and His Wife are willing to bring their children over and work with you, you won't have to miss seeing the children twice a month. If they don't want to come, I'll ask if there is anyone willing to come and work with you."

Aunt Zhu was so happy when she heard this that she was at a loss for words. They had a good monthly allowance now, so it was easy for them to buy something, but the busier they were, the more they missed their children.

She is thinking about her sensible Dachun and young Xiaochun very much.

Especially before, Dachun came with his third aunt, and they could see each other every day and ask about his well-being. But Dachun didn't come these days, and she felt really empty in her heart.

Zhu Laoer said hurriedly, "Then I'll have to trouble Yan Yatou. Don't worry, Yan Yatou, we will do a good job over there. Keep accounts according to Wan Yatou's method. We'll see whether I send the accounts here every day or Wan Yatou goes to check the accounts."

Si Muyan laughed: "What I mean is, since we're separated, my second sister-in-law has learned to make almost ten kinds of porridge in the past half month. Why don't you run the porridge shop yourself from now on?"

Zhu Laoer was stunned: "This... this porridge shop is ours... how can this be possible?"