Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

On the second floor, Su Qianrou and Xu Linlin found a seat by the window, ordered a pot of tea and two kinds of pastries, and began to chat.

"Don't you usually like to stay indoors and read? Why aren't you reading today? You've come out shopping instead," Xu Linlin asked.

"I'm tired of seeing it."

"You'll get tired of it eventually. You've read a book over and over again at least five times before, and you never got tired of it. To be honest, I really admire you. You can get into such a boring book. If it were me, I would have thrown the book far away long ago."

"Besides the ledgers, what else can you look at?" Su Qianrou joked.

"Indeed, but there's nothing we can do about it. It's all hereditary. My dad is the same way. Getting him to read is like taking his life away, but if it's about looking at account books, he can stay up all night."

Suddenly, Su Qianrou had a flash of inspiration and excitedly said, "Linlin, why don't we open a restaurant together?"

"There are at least a dozen restaurants of all sizes in Yangzhou. They all have their own regular customers. If we were to open a restaurant, it would be difficult to compete with them for business unless we had something unique."

"That's easy," Su Qianrou thought. "They've never had hot pot or barbecue before." Then she said, "That's simple. I have a way. Just tell me if you're willing."

"Of course I'd like to, but when did you become interested in doing business?"

"Isn't this just something to do when I'm bored, and to make some money on the side?"

"You're not short of money."

"Who would complain about having too much money? Besides, with money, you can do more things."

Xu Linlin agreed with this statement and asked, "Then where should we open the shop?"

“You are more familiar with Yangzhou than I am, so I’ll leave the task of finding a shop to you, as well as managing the business from now on. I’ll focus on researching the dishes and marketing. What do you think?”

"Okay," Xu Linlin replied without hesitation.

Then the two discussed the details.

Before they knew it, they had been chatting for more than an hour. Seeing that it was getting late, Chunzhu couldn't help but say, "Miss, it's getting late, we should go back."

"Yes, we got back late. Madam must be worried," Luo Yu echoed.

The two then stopped their discussion and got up to leave.

In the study, Su Qianrou was oblivious to everything around her, concentrating intently on drawing the interior design plans for the restaurant.

Chunzhu stood quietly to the side, grinding ink for her.

After an unknown amount of time, Juxia came in and said, "Miss, Madam wants you to go to Zilan Courtyard."

"What is it?" Su Qianrou didn't even raise her head.

"No, but the Marquis's residence sent a congratulatory gift today."

Su Qianrou didn't speak. After a while, she stopped writing, blew on the paper, and then handed it to Juxia, saying, "Take this to Linlin."

"Yes," Juxia accepted it.

Afterwards, Su Qianrou took Chunzhu to Zilan Courtyard.

Upon entering the room, I saw a large box on the floor and various items on the table, including jewelry, fabrics, and inkstones, which puzzled me.

Qinghui, Yunmeng, and Granny Li were taking inventory when they saw her and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Miss."

Lin Rong sat on the couch, and Su Qianrou walked up to her and asked in confusion, "Mother, what are you doing? Are you cleaning things?"

"These are all congratulatory gifts from the Marquis's residence. I had Granny Li and the others register them."

"A wedding gift for my elder brother."

"Ok".

"No, what were they thinking when they gave these things as congratulatory gifts?"

"See? Even the young lady thinks it's excessive. I really don't know how they have the nerve to give it away. A noble family like ours, using some old things as a congratulatory gift, aren't they ashamed?" Granny Li said indignantly.

“That’s right, these things aren’t even as good as what Madam and Miss gave us,” Qinghui couldn’t help but say.

Su Qianrou walked to the side and sat down. "It must have been hard for them to bring out all their best stuff."

"You all know what kind of people they are. Besides, the Marquis's mansion is now all show and no substance. What good things could it possibly have?" Lin Rong said indifferently.

“But you can’t try to fool us with these things. Over the years, every gift you’ve sent back during holidays has been far more valuable than these,” Yunmeng said.

"Alright, since they've already been delivered, we can't just return them. After registering them, let's take them to the warehouse."

Granny Li and the others knew they couldn't change anything, so they just complained a few times to vent their dissatisfaction.

Lin Rong turned to look at Su Qianrou, "I've been busy with your brother's wedding lately and haven't had time to visit you. How are you feeling? Are you still feeling unwell?"

"I don't feel bad anymore, I'm all better now."

"That's good, but we still need to be careful."

"Yes, I will... By the way, Mother, Linlin and I are planning to open a restaurant."

"Why is the restaurant suddenly thinking about starting a business?"

"Just killing time when I'm bored."

"The money is enough."

"That's enough."

"Granny Li, go and fetch a thousand taels of silver, and also bring the shop I prepared for Rou'er."

"Yes".

A moment later, Granny Li came in with a small box and handed it to Lin Rong, saying, "Madam, you have something to ask for."

Lin Rong took it and placed it in front of Su Qianrou, saying, "Take this thousand taels. If it's not enough, just ask me for more."

"No need, Mother, I have money."

"Take it. What can you do with that little money?"

"Thank you, Mother."

"These land deeds are part of your dowry. I was originally going to give them to you when you got married, but since you're going to run the restaurant, I'll give them to you as well, so you can get started sooner."

Su Qianrou opened the box, took out the land deeds inside, and was stunned by the number of deeds, which numbered more than a dozen. "So many!"

"Not much. These are just some shop deeds. I'll give you some more land deeds later."

"No, this is too much, I can't accept it," Su Qianrou said, pushing the box in front of Lin Rong.

"Here you go, just take it," Lin Rong said, pushing it back to him.

"Give it to your older brother. It's perfect timing; isn't he getting married soon?"

"I already gave your older brother his share; this is yours."

"But isn't this too much?"

"Not many, only twelve rooms," she said earnestly. "Rou'er, you must remember, no matter how loving you and your husband are in the future, you cannot give these things to him. You can help him, but you absolutely cannot give them to him. You must keep them firmly in your own hands. That way, if anything happens in the future, at least you will have money to rely on, so you won't have to live too hard. Do you understand?"

"I know that only what I hold in my own hands truly belongs to me."

Lin Rong smiled with satisfaction, then gently stroked her head and exclaimed, "Our Rou'er has really grown up."

Su Qianrou didn't speak, but gave a faint smile.