My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

In the afternoon, Meng Ruohua sent someone to Rongxi Courtyard to report, and then left the mansion with Linglong and Chunxiu.

They went straight into the private room of the teahouse, where Uncle Yang had been waiting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Meng Ruohua greeted him with a smile: "Third Uncle, it's been a long time."

A plain-looking man in gray stood up and took two steps outside, his steps slightly uneven.

"Greetings, Miss!" Yang Sanli chuckled and bowed with clasped hands.

"Third Uncle, I'm troubling you again." Meng Ruohua personally poured a cup of tea and handed it to him.

Yang Sanli laughed heartily and said, "Miss, just tell us what you need. We old bones are just looking forward to having something to do."

"Third Uncle isn't old at all; those kids still need you to take care of them!"

Meng Xin took in some of the orphans and widows of soldiers, some living in the back street of the Meng residence, and others in the estates outside the city. Under the care of the Meng family, they were able to find a place to live.

Yang Sanli waved his hand and said, "It's all thanks to the general's care."

Meng Ruohua, unwilling to reopen old wounds, quickly brought up the important matter.

"Third Uncle, I want to send someone to the south to collect grain. Do you have any reliable people there?"

Yang Sanli is a straightforward person; you can ask him anything directly. If you beat around the bush, he'll get impatient.

"Why did Miss think of this?" Yang Sanli asked in surprise. No one in the Meng family had ever thought about doing business!

Meng Ruohua had already prepared an excuse and calmly said, "If you want to do grain business, even if we can't get a good price here, we can transport it to the north to sell or exchange it for furs. It doesn't matter how much money we make, as long as we don't lose money."

She couldn't very well say she predicted there would be floods next year; I bet Uncle Yang would be the first to disbelieve her.

But... "Who doesn't want to make money in business? Why is Miss thinking about not losing money first?"

Meng Ruohua frankly said, "Doing grain business is to prepare for unforeseen circumstances. Third Uncle also knows that the Northwest Army is suffering. If one day Father's people really can't get enough to eat, I can transport some grain over to them as a way of showing my filial piety. Even if the army doesn't need it, we can sell it to the northern tribes. If they have grain, they will be less likely to covet our grain."

Northern nomadic tribes don't grow crops; when they run out of food, they go south to plunder. Besides large-scale military attacks, the local population suffers from harassment of varying degrees every year. Every winter, the local inhabitants live in constant fear, always ready to flee.

"Whom is Miss looking for?"

Besides collecting information for Meng Xin, Yang Sanli also took care of the orphans and widows that Meng Xin had adopted, as well as the homeless soldiers. When he heard Meng Ruohua's idea, he was quite interested.

Some of them were wounded and retired from the battlefield, and because they were disabled, they could not find work and could only rely on the Meng family for a living. But they were all upright men, how could they accept the Meng family's relief year after year?

There are manual labor jobs available to everyone, but they are often missing limbs, so they work slower than others and don't earn much money at the end of the day.

Meng Ruohua's original intention was also to subsidize these soldiers, so she said, "We need a manager who knows about grain trading, an accountant to keep accounts, and guards to protect them."

She had never run a business before and wasn't very clear about the details. "My third uncle knows that no one in our family is in business, and I really don't understand the ins and outs. That's why I wanted to ask him to find some people, preferably a manager who is used to traveling around doing business. Besides, I know that my third uncle has people under him, so I shamelessly asked him to do this. It's always more reassuring to use your own people."

Yang Sanli didn't know anything about business, but he had gathered information and gotten to know quite a few people over the years, so he could understand some things as he listened. He racked his brains for people he could use, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "As you know, Miss, we all come from humble backgrounds and have never done big business before, but we've traveled around and gotten to know some people over the years. If you trust me, I'll go and gather a team. I can't guarantee how much money you'll make, but at least you won't get ripped off or robbed."

He genuinely wanted to find things for his brothers to do. These were all grown men, seven or eight feet tall, yet they were being bossed around by those young upstarts every day!

Not all of my brothers are mediocre or incompetent; they just lack connections and capital. Now that we have the opportunity, we're sure we can handle things with the young lady!

Yang Sanli became more and more excited as he thought about it, and he stood up and started pacing around the room.

Meng Ruohua watched him walk with a swaying gait, wondering if his injured leg was in pain.

"Third Uncle, why don't you sit down and discuss this?"

Yang Sanli turned around and caught her gaze as she looked at his injured leg. He chuckled and said, "Miss, don't let my limp fool you. If a fight broke out, I could easily take on three or five people."

After a moment's thought, Yang Sanli asked again, "When does Miss plan to start?"

"I'm not in a hurry. Maybe next March or April. I'll go to the south in May or June, harvest the new grain, and come back. That will give me time to prepare the manpower."

Yang Sanli waved his hand casually, "Finding people isn't troublesome; we can gather them in a couple of days."

The two then discussed it further, and Yang Sanli finally suggested that they go to the Northwest this winter to collect some furs and bring them back to the capital to sell. In winter, which noble family in the capital doesn't buy three or five new fur coats? Even if they can't afford a whole fur coat, a fur collar is still quite stylish.

Those brothers were used to living in the Northwest, and they weren't afraid of the harsh cold and hardship on the road. They could ride fast horses and arrive in ten or twenty days, and they could make a profit by the end of the year when they returned.

Furthermore, they know many people in the Northwest, so no one would make things difficult for them, even if they didn't offer to help with something as trivial as collecting furs.

General Meng didn't do it before because no one was willing to make arrangements. Now that Miss is doing this business first, they are naturally willing to help and also help their brothers find a job to earn some money.

"Alright, then I'll leave everything to Third Uncle. I'll have Linglong bring over 10,000 taels of silver tomorrow, and Third Uncle can arrange it as he sees fit."

"Ten thousand taels is too much, five or six thousand taels will do. Hides are cheap in the Northwest," Yang Sanli quickly said. They were indeed cheap, and it was better to be conservative for the first trip.

Meng Ruohua felt mostly at ease; Uncle Yang's character was definitely sound. Her only worry was that since they had no business experience, they might get scammed.

Although she said she didn't care about making money, she couldn't afford to lose too much!

She doesn't have much money! If she just wants a peaceful life, this amount of money is enough to support her for the rest of her life, but if she really needs to do something, this amount of money is simply not enough!

No wonder those wealthy and powerful families have their own sons who go into business; you can't bribe officials without some money.

After adding a few more details, the two parted ways.

Yang Sanli hurriedly went back to gather his men; he didn't have time to sit here and drink tea!

Meng Ruohua then led her entourage back to the Meng residence.

After her afternoon nap, Meng Sixiu's mother was feeding him rock sugar and pear soup.

"Auntie, come quick, I saved some sweet pear soup for you." Meng Sixiu rushed over as soon as he saw her, pulling Meng Ruohua's hand and dragging her into the house.

Fang Ling laughed and scolded, "You want to stay? Where are you going to stay? You've already had two bowls!"

Meng Sixiu sucked on his round little belly, "It's all because the bowl was too small, I finished it in just a few gulps."

Meng Ruohua tapped his chubby little belly and said, "Yes, it's because the bowl is too small. Next time, give us a big bowl. You're a real man now, so you should learn to drink from a big bowl and eat meat in big bites."

Mencius' mother pointed her finger at her forehead and said, "You're still teaching him! He'll be a troublemaker in the future! One big one is a troublemaker, and the little one is a troublemaker too."

“You’re not that old, so you don’t need to worry about anything. You can’t raise any more children anyway,” Meng Ruohua retorted with a smile.

Fang Ling barely managed to suppress a laugh, quickly covering her mouth and turning away.

Mencius' mother couldn't bring herself to hit her, so she just gave her a disapproving glare.