Days as a Wet Nurse in the Jiang Mansion

Chapter 208

For the sake of the golden needles, Li An had racked his brains to come up with these ideas.Speaking of the golden needles, Ye Yunniang thought of Old Master Chu Nan. She had said she would go pay her respects but still hadn't gone.

"Are you still going to the Chu Family Pharmacy to be an apprentice dispensing medicine?"

"We don't need to go starting tomorrow. Master said he's taking me and Senior Brother out to gather herbs." Li An mentioned Gu Cundong's arrangement.

"Where to? Is it dangerous?"

"There's no danger, we're just going to the fields in the suburbs to dig up some common herbs."

Even though Li An said so, Ye Yunniang was still worried, planning to arrange for two martial-arts-trained servants to look after him.

As they were talking, Tong Tiemei walked over; she had made an appointment to meet with Zhong Zhaoli.

Ye Yunniang followed Tong Tiemei out of Xiaocaiji and went to a teahouse.

Zhong Zhaoli had arrived first and was waiting for the two of them in a private room.

As soon as Tong Tiemei sat down, she talked about what she and Ye Yunniang wanted to do.

After hearing this, Zhong Zhaoli was very interested and wanted to participate.

She quickly brought out a planning proposal.

Zhong Zhaoli's plan was for a women's academy, structured like a traditional academy with different departments and classes.

The departments were divided into Craft, Arithmetic, Medicine, and Beauty.

Under each department, there were various classes.

Craft: Weaving, embroidery, culinary arts, pastry making, etc.

Arithmetic: Basic arithmetic, bookkeeping, household management, etc.

Medicine: Medical skills, herb gathering, massage, etc.

Beauty: Hairstyling, facial cleansing, making rouge and cosmetics, etc.

Ye Yunniang was full of admiration after reading it. Zhong Zhaoli was truly formidable when she wasn't focusing all her attention on Tong Mo.

Running shops had taught Zhong Zhaoli that offering things for free made people feel they were too easy to get and thus not cherish them.

She proposed two ways of studying.

One was like a traditional academy, paying a monthly tuition fee.

The other was signing a contract: after completing their studies, they would work in the shops under the academy's name for ten years to repay the tuition.

If they studied poorly, they would be expelled and have to return the tuition.

The students' products would be sold in the Zhong family's shops. When the girls finished their studies and left the academy, they could have priority to work in the Zhong family's shops.

Zhong Zhaoli had listed everything very comprehensively.

Ye Yunniang couldn't see any problems with it, so she took the proposal home to show Jiang Mingzhe and seek his advice.

After reading it, Jiang Mingzhe raised many questions.

If the academy relied entirely on the Zhong family's shops, it would fall into a very passive position.

Would the Zhong family's shops accept all the students, or just some? How would the students who couldn't go be handled?

Also, the proposal didn't state how much each of the three of them would invest to establish the academy.

Who would be the director of the academy? When the three had differing opinions, who would make the final decision?

And who would manage the accounting books? ...

Jiang Mingzhe listed a checklist of questions.

Looking at the list, the slight hesitation in Ye Yunniang's heart grew much larger.

She had originally only wanted to run a small embroidery academy.

Now that it was so big, she felt quite intimidated.

The planned proposal required a large space, a large building, and hiring many people, which meant the expenses would also be huge.

If it succeeded, that would be fine.

If something went wrong in the middle, they would lose money.

Ye Yunniang would blame herself, as she was the one who suggested it first.

"Go ahead and do it with peace of mind. The children and I are your backing."

"Mhm, I'll think about it some more."

When Jiang Mingzhe mentioned the children, Ye Yunniang remembered that Li Ping didn't come home yesterday.

Li Ping was preparing for the opening of the Little Sheep Pavilion, eating and sleeping over there.

"Did Pingping come back today?"

"No."

Hearing that Li Ping hadn't returned, Ye Yunniang was worried and wanted to go take a look.

Jiang Mingzhe accompanied her to the Little Sheep Pavilion.

When they arrived, they found a row of seven shops all under renovation. The Little Sheep Pavilion was almost finished, but the other six had just started.

"Could these six be...?" Ye Yunniang asked softly.

"My wife is smart," Jiang Mingzhe praised.

Ye Yunniang looked at Jiang Mingzhe's slightly profound smile.

"Did Pingping buy these six shops?"

"My wife guessed perfectly."

Ye Yunniang didn't know what to say. This father and son really never stopped battling each other.

"Pingping is still young, don't always bully him."

"Your words are a bit biased, my wife. The brat was willing and gave them of his own accord." Jiang Mingzhe didn't want to be wrongly accused.

"Pingping didn't do business to make money himself, but gave them away on his own initiative. Is he stupid?" Ye Yunniang felt that Li Ping wouldn't make a deal that lost money.

"He's as shrewd as can be."

Looking at it now, giving away six shops was a loss. But these were shops that the six princes were going to run.

Once the six princes finished running them, Li Ping would take over. Using their names to attract customers would draw in many curious patrons.

"What if the princes don't return the shops?" Ye Yunniang was worried that if the shops were run well and made money, the princes wouldn't be willing to let them go.

"Then let the brat suffer a loss and learn a lesson." Jiang Mingzhe was quite happy to see that happen.

"You didn't remind Pingping of this."

"The brat has his tail high in the air right now; even if I told him, he wouldn't listen."

"Were you father and son enemies in your past lives?" Ye Yunniang couldn't help but ask. The two just wanted to see each other make fools of themselves.

Jiang Mingzhe smiled softly, "It's possible."

"What's possible? Stinky dad, are you speaking ill of me again?" Li Ping walked over.

"Pingping." Ye Yunniang frowned. "You shouldn't speak to your father so aggressively."

"Mother, I was wrong." Li Ping immediately apologized.

"You shouldn't be telling me." Ye Yunniang stepped aside, making Li Ping apologize to Jiang Mingzhe.

"Dad, I was wrong. I shouldn't have called you stinky."

Jiang Mingzhe accepted Li Ping's apology.

The father and son tacitly maintained peace in front of Ye Yunniang.

Ye Yunniang pulled Li Ping close, examining him carefully, and said with heartache.

"You've lost weight."

"Mother, I haven't lost weight, I've actually gained some." Tasting dishes with Wen Nuan every day, he was eating eight meals a day.

When Li Ping put on his clothes this morning, he found they were all tight.

However, Li Ping quite enjoyed his mother's concern.

"Aunt Wen has developed two new dishes. You came at just the right time, Mother. Taste them and give some feedback." Li Ping pulled Ye Yunniang into the Little Sheep Pavilion.

New dishes made by Wen Nuan had to be tasted.

Entering the Little Sheep Pavilion, Wen Nuan was plating food and looked up at the sound.

"Yunniang, come quickly and taste. I've been working on stir-fried lamb with garlic sprouts, and lamb and yam soup."

"It smells fragrant already; it must be delicious."

Ye Yunniang took the chopsticks Wen Nuan handed her and picked up a piece of the garlic sprout lamb to taste.

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‍tenderness of the lamb and the fragrance of the garlic sprouts blended perfectly, making it incredibly savory and refreshing to eat.

She accepted the small bowl of lamb and yam soup that Jiang Mingzhe scooped for her. The sweet yam paired with the soft, tender lamb made her whole body feel warm after eating it.

"The lamb and yam soup can be added to our family dining table." Ye Yunniang nodded continuously, urging Jiang Mingzhe to taste it too.

Jiang Mingzhe tasted it and agreed with Ye Yunniang's words.

"Yunniang, don't just focus on praising it. Tell me the flaws too," Wen Nuan urged.

"The flaw is that there's too little of it, it's not enough to eat." Ye Yunniang said as she scooped another bowl of lamb and yam soup. "You two eat as well, don't just watch me eat."

"We just finished a portion before you came, we're really not hungry now." Wen Nuan and Li Ping were more than just not hungry; right now, seeing lamb made them a bit nauseous because they had eaten too much.

After tasting the delicious food, Ye Yunniang pulled Li Ping into the carriage to go home.

On the way, Ye Yunniang voiced her concerns about the six shops.

"Mother, I'm not stupid. The contracts I signed with the princes are all written out clearly. If they want the shops, they can buy them at a ten percent discount off the market price." Wanting Li Ping to give them a shop for free was impossible.

"They are princes. What if they refuse to honor the contract?"

"Dad is there."