High-class maid

"If you're not busy, sir, let's go have lunch first," Pang Bo said.

Shen Kun looked up at the sky and said, "Look at me, I've been so focused on looking at houses that it's already noon. Let's go eat. No matter how important the matter is, we can talk about it after we've eaten."

"Master Shen is right. I'll take you to have some donkey meat soup. A hot bowl of donkey meat soup will warm you up, and it'll be delicious with donkey meat sandwiches." Pang Bo made it sound delicious, which shows he's been to many good restaurants.

"Haha, alright, Brother Pang, lead the way," Shen Kun said.

Since they were all on the street, they didn't need to take a carriage. They followed Pang Bo for a short while and arrived at a donkey meat soup restaurant. After drinking some hot donkey meat soup and resting for a bit, they set off again to look at houses.

"This is the third place." As the group walked out of the donkey meat restaurant, Pang Bo stood at the door and gestured forward with his chin, saying.

"Isn't this a clothing store? Why was it sold in such a prime location?" Wang asked in shock, looking at the clothing store located in the middle of Chang'an Street.

"Ahem, the owner of this clothing shop was an official's mistress. The official set up a shop for her and gave her some work. Later, the official took a fancy to one of the embroiderers in her shop and abandoned her. The owner was heartbroken and wanted to sell the shop and wander the world." Pang Bo said in a low voice.

"Wow, so melodramatic? People in ancient times weren't conservative at all, wandering the world and even incorporating fantasy and chivalrous plots." Shen Xing'er couldn't help but laugh out loud as she thought about it.

"What's wrong?" Her commotion drew curious glances from the other three, and Wang asked in confusion.

"No, nothing. I just suddenly remembered something funny. Let's go inside and take a look," Shen Xing'er said.

The family of three followed Pang Bo into the clothing store. Perhaps the proprietress was heartbroken and did not come out, because Shen Xing'er did not see the legendary proprietress, but only a shop assistant selling clothes.

The group briefly toured the shop. It had only two floors. The first floor was neither too big nor too small. Going up the wooden stairs, the second floor was divided into two large private rooms. One was for taking measurements for customers, and the other was where the embroiderers did their embroidery.

"Oh, right, it even comes with a small courtyard! Come with me and take a look," Pang Bo said.

The group followed him down the stairs and opened the back door to see a small courtyard. The courtyard was not large, only big enough to fit a well, a set of tables and chairs, a small kitchen, and a storeroom.

"How much is this shop?" Before Shen Kun could even speak, Shen Xing'er asked impatiently.

“Reporting to this young lady, this shop costs 420 taels. Many people have their eyes on it, but they have given up because they think the backyard is too small. If the backyard were larger, it could fetch 500 taels,” Pang Bo explained.

“We are very satisfied with these three shops. Let us discuss them and decide which one we want before we tell you,” Shen Kun said.

Because Pang Bo knew they genuinely wanted to buy, and knew it wasn't easy for their family to travel out of town, he had put a lot of effort into finding this house. Therefore, Pang Bo wasn't surprised by the result; he nodded and said...

“I understand Mr. Shen’s idea. Why don’t we go to my shop? You can sit there and discuss it properly. If you decide on something, I will take you to complete the formalities immediately. It can be done today.”

So Shen Xing'er and her family followed Pang Bo to the middleman's shop. Pang Bo led them to a small room, served them a pot of fine tea, and then withdrew. Before leaving, he thoughtfully closed the door behind him.

"Father, Mother, which shop do you prefer?" Shen Xing'er asked.

"What about you? Which do you think is more cost-effective?" Shen Kun didn't rush to answer, but instead asked Shen Xing'er.

“If you ask my daughter, she shouldn’t take over the first shop,” Shen Xing’er said, rejecting the idea first. Shen Kun and Madam Wang nodded in agreement.

“Xing’er is right. If no one else is going to take it on, we’ll be on the safe side and not take it on either. What about the second one?” Shen Kun asked again.

“The second place… is not suitable for opening a clothing shop. If we leave the manor in the future, and my daughter wants to open a clothing shop in the capital, then the third place seems to be the most suitable,” Shen Xing’er said.

"Then shall we listen to Xing'er and buy the third property?" Wang asked.

“Okay, it’s a property anyway, it doesn’t matter where we buy it.” Shen Kun had no objections.

"Father, Mother, won't you reconsider? If you want to do any business after leaving the manor, buying those two properties will be the same," Shen Xing'er said.

“No need, neither your mother nor I want it. When you get married, you can take it with you as part of your dowry,” Shen Kun said.

Shen Xing'er was so moved by her parents' consideration for her that she didn't know what to say.

Shen Kun no longer hesitated. He called Pang Bo over, negotiated the price again, and finally settled on four hundred and ten taels.

"Husband, Xing'er and I will head home now. It's still early, so you should hurry and go with Brother Pang to complete the formalities. Once everything is settled today, we'll have accomplished a great task." Madam Wang took five hundred taels from her bag and gave it to Shen Kun before taking Shen Xing'er home.

When Shen Kun returned home, his mother and daughter had already finished dinner. Wang Shi helped the heavily intoxicated Shen Kun, patting his back as she said, "Why did you drink so much? Was everything settled? Where's the carriage? How much did it cost?"

Shen Kunqiang opened his eyes, took out the house deed from his chest, handed it to Wang Shi, and then said, "It was already dark when we finished the formalities. With Pang Bo here, we saved a lot of trouble. Shouldn't I treat him to a meal? Pang Bo hired a young man to drive the carriage for me. Our carriage is still parked at the alley entrance."

Shen Kun finished speaking in one breath, but the alcohol made him start to get a headache. Shen Xing'er handed her father a bowl of water at the right time.

"What about the money? How much was spent in the end?" Wang asked, addressing the question of money that she was most concerned about.

"The house cost 410 taels, I paid 41 taels in taxes, spent 2 taels on gifts, and 2 taels on food." After saying this, Shen Kun could no longer hold on and fell asleep on the bed.

Wang kept muttering, "Drinking so much, how long has it been since you last drank? Look at the mud on your shoes."

Seeing her mother's complaining expression, Shen Xing'er secretly laughed and said, "Mother, please don't be angry. If I didn't have to report to you when we got home, my father would have fallen asleep in the carriage long ago."

Wang smiled and rolled her eyes at her, agreeing with her daughter's assessment. She stopped nagging Shen Kun, quickly tidied him up, picked up the house deed, and examined it with Shen Xing'er by candlelight, saying...

"Xing'er owns a house now."