A blessed wife leads her husband to wealth and prosperity!

Emerging from the brokerage, Lin He'er's bulging purse quickly emptied considerably. Including the mistress and her maid, a total of four women—one maid and four women—had cost her a little over three taels of silver. To be honest, this price was quite cheap, only because the woman who followed and one of the older women were practically given away—one with a disfigured face, the other quite old. The brokerage didn't want to keep them tied up, and besides, they hadn't been offered a high price. Otherwise, Lin He'er wouldn't have gotten such a bargain.

He could only console himself that this was still the price in town; if he went to a brokerage firm in the county seat, the price would probably double.

Because the brokers needed to register the sale of the women to the authorities, Lin He'er couldn't take them back immediately. Besides, she didn't have room for so many people at home, and she needed to go back to the village to rent an empty house as staff quarters. She figured it would be perfect to leave them at the brokerage for a few days, paying them for food. Broker Liu readily agreed and warmly saw them to the door, saying that they should definitely come back to patronize his business if they ever needed anything.

Lin He'er could only respond with a reserved smile.

By the time the two left the brokerage, it was already past mid-afternoon. "Thank you so much, Brother Wen, for keeping me company all this time," Lin He'er said to the young man walking beside her.

"Miss Lin, there's no need to be so polite. Our relationship is different from others," Wen Yuning said with a light laugh.

Brother Wen, you don't need to be so polite with me. You always call me Miss Lin. If you don't mind, you can just call me He'er.

Okay, then I'll call you He'er from now on. Hearing the little girl beside her allow her to use a more intimate name for her, Wen Yuning wondered if this meant their relationship was progressing!

Lin He'er: Brother Wen, I've finished all my business, so I won't stay in town any longer. I'm going home now.

"I'll take you," Wen Yuning thought, not wanting to return to the private school right now. Going back meant losing sight of this girl. The day they spent together had been quite pleasant, and she longed to linger in their company. This was the first time since she'd started school that she didn't want to go back to her books so soon.

Hmm, nothing beats reading about your own little girl!

The two weren't in a hurry, so they walked slowly forward in tacit agreement. Just as they were about to turn towards the oxcart parking area, they saw a young girl following a woman towards them from the intersection.

The two groups came face to face. Wen Yuning saw the woman and girl who had stopped and called out to them, "Greetings, Master's wife and junior sister."

Lin He'er; so the woman who always opened the door for her was Mr. Wen's wife. No wonder she called her by her courtesy name. The gentle and quiet girl beside her was her daughter. This morning she was marveling at how women could freely enter and leave the private school; it turned out that place was run by her father.

"Is Yishan busy with something? Aren't you going back to the private school?" The woman opposite asked Wen Yuning gently.

Reply to Master's wife: We won't be back for now. We'll return later when we're done with our business. We're leaving now so as not to disturb Master's wife and junior sister's shopping trip.

After bowing, he was about to walk forward with Lin He'er when the young girl opposite him, who was holding the woman's arm, asked Wen Yuning, "Brother Yishan, who is this little girl? I heard from my mother that relatives have been coming to see you lately. Is she her?" She then smiled at Lin He'er.

Lin He'er: ...I sensed something unusual in the air.

I haven't introduced her to my master's wife and junior sister yet. This is a marriage arranged for me by my family, Miss Lin.

"Yishan is engaged? I've never heard you mention that before?" The woman opposite her seemed surprised and asked uncertainly.

Wen Yuning; My family arranged this marriage when I was young. Now that I'm of marriageable age, Miss Lin and I will be getting married in a little over a month. Please invite my master's wife and teacher, along with my junior sister, to the banquet.

Lin He'er felt a pink bubble rise in her heart as she listened to Wen Yuning introduce their relationship so openly in front of others... She smiled and stepped forward to greet them; "Greetings, both of you. You are welcome to come and have a drink with us sometime."

Upon hearing this news, the gentle young woman on the other side seemed to be shocked. She stood there stunned, her eyes suddenly reddening. She almost couldn't maintain her smile, so she quickly lowered her head and ran forward.

"Wan'er, slow down, wait for your mother!" The woman nodded to Wen Yuning and hurried after her daughter.

Lin He'er;…………

When they arrived at the place where the oxcart was parked in the village, the two said goodbye to each other with some reluctance, and Lin He'er got on the oxcart and headed home.

On the way, he kept thinking about the incident with his master's wife, Wen Yuning. Looking at that girl, it seemed like she had feelings for his fiancé. His intuition as a member of the opposite sex made him clearly feel the inexplicable hostility that the girl was showing when she looked at him.

Brother Yishan, humph! What girl would be so intimate with a stranger? It seems I've already encountered my first rival in love before even marrying Wen Yuning!

However, it seems that the falling flowers are interested, but the flowing water has not yet noticed, so I will observe in secret for the time being.

The oxcart swayed and rattled all the way to the village entrance. Lin He'er said goodbye to Uncle Chen and headed home. Before she even reached home, she ran into Granny Liu on the way.

"Hey, Hey, don't rush off!" As soon as Granny Liu saw Lin He'er, she hurriedly ran up from behind and asked with a smile, "I saw a carriage going to your house the other day. The driver said your mother does business with a shop in town. What kind of business is it?"

Since everyone in the village would find out sooner or later anyway, Lin He'er figured there was no need to hide it. Telling Granny Liu today would be the same as telling the whole village.

Grandma Liu, since we have some free time at home, I've been thinking of ways to earn some money. My younger brother recently fell ill and we've accumulated a lot of debt, so my mother and I learned some embroidery. When we're not busy, we embroider handkerchiefs and crochet little trinkets like purses to sell in town. The shopkeeper at the embroidery shop took a liking to our skills and started doing business with us.

Ah! So they make handkerchiefs and purses. Granny Liu knew that the widow Lin was skilled in embroidery. There were other women in the village who could do it, but none were as good as the Lin family's. She hadn't expected the embroidery shop to take notice of their work. It seemed the widow Lin's embroidery skills were quite impressive.

Having gotten her hands on the first juicy gossip, Granny Liu smiled and congratulated Lin He'er before turning and walking towards the village...

Mom, open the door, I'm home!

Hearing her daughter knocking on the door outside, Madam Lin quickly got up from the stool in the main room to open it. "Why are you back so late? It's almost dark!"

Lin He'er: Today, besides seeing Brother Wen, I also went to the brokerage with him.

Why go to the brokerage? Our family doesn't need those maids and servants. Madam Lin doesn't understand what her daughter is doing there.

Lin He'er: Our family really needs those people. Don't you remember what we were worried about a few days ago? I haven't told you yet, Mother. The embroidery shop owner doesn't have a good way to help us solve the manpower problem either. Brother Wen suggested that we buy some people directly to do the work. We'll go to the brokerage this afternoon to take care of it.

Wow, we've bought servants! We can barely support ourselves, how can we afford servants? Madam Lin was still a little taken aback; her family was barely able to afford enough to eat, how could they possibly have servants?

Lin He'er: Mother, don't think of these people as servants. Just think of them as people who come to our house to work. Even in wealthy families, servants are paid. We just hired a group of people to work. They are just like the women in the village, working for money to support themselves. The only difference is that they will not reveal our needlework technique!

Besides, they are all pitiful people who couldn't survive on their own. By buying them to work, we've given them hope for survival. Otherwise, who knows where they would have been sold to later. You'll see when you meet them.

Lin He'er was afraid that her mother wouldn't be able to understand, so she picked out some of their stories to tell her.

When Lin Niangzi heard about the plight of these women, she shed many tears. They were all pitiful people. If it weren't for her daughter's hard work, her family would have been starving before.

Seeing her mother so empathetic that she shed tears, Lin He'er felt that her psychological manipulation had been too successful!

Mother, when we bring these women over, tell everyone they are women sent by the embroidery shop owner to work. We're only responsible for teaching them embroidery. If anyone asks, just say...