Chapter 10: Increase revenue and reduce expenditure

  Hey, this is the long-awaited chapter. I apologize for late update, really, my addiction getting worse i guess and i just finished my assignment. I'll try to get better and do better for the exam and translation this month, promise !

Full disclaimer this work is not mine. And should the author ask me to take it down, please contact me and I will take it down.

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Chapter 10: Increase revenue and reduce expenditure 

Pei Shu immediately said: "Of course, I will listen to you."

Gu Yun was half angry, and they all said that at home she followed her father, and her husband when she married. After marrying, Pei Shu is the person closest to her, but not the one she can rely on.

She also wanted to help Pei Shu clean up the mess.

Gu Yun didn't know if these guarantees from Pei Shu could counted on, but she believed that at least he wanted to change things when he said it.

Even if he returns to his old ways in the future, there is nothing she can do about it.

At least his eyes are sincere now.

Gu Yun nodded.

Pei Shu went to hold Gu Yun's hand. Gu Yun's hand was very cold. She was so young, but she had to deal with such a matter for him. Pei Shu felt that it was nothing special for him to skip a grade and engage in research. If Gu Yun did that, she would definitely be able to do that. And do it well.

Pei Shu squatted down and looked up at Gu Yun. She must have been aggrieved today, "I'm going to find a way to make money, so I'll go to the cloth workshop in the afternoon."

Gu Yun said, "It's better to rest for a day, your hand is still injured. "

If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it. Gu Yun understands this and can't push it too hard.

Pei Shu's heart became even more sour, thinking his wife still felt sorry for him.

Gu Yun pulled Pei Shu up. It was just past 4 o'clock, and there was still more than half of the morning.

With Qingyun on hand for the alms and the guards of the Duke's Mansion, Gu Yun had nothing to worry about.

The only thing she worried about was money. Pei Shu should be able to make money by dyeing new colors, but this is the business of the Duke's government, and any money earned will be confiscated. In other words, no matter how good the clothes shop's business is, she can't take it. The profit inside makes up for the shortfall in money owed.

The dowry shop makes a lot of money every month, and you have to spend money everywhere.

She also has a small village. The spring planting has already happened this year. The grain collected by the village is enough to raise livestock for the courtyard. In the future, the 20-tael rule for the small kitchen can be saved.

If you can save, save, and think of ways to make money, life will not be too difficult.

At most, it's an emergency because I don't have any money left, but it's not a big deal.

Gu Yun smiled at Pei Shu, "Husband, things have happened. No matter what we do, we can't go back to the time when we didn't borrow money. In this case, we just find ways to make money. We are a family after all."

Her marriage was with Pei Shu, not with the Duke's Mansion. Neither the Xu family nor anyone else was a relative, only Pei Shu.

Pei Shu felt bad. He would rather Gu Yun scolded him. Why is this girl so stupid? "We are a family. So, if anything happens in the future, I will tell you first."

Gu Yun thought to herself if it happened again, that time, she'll break Pei Shu's legs.

She couldn't go to the outskirts of the city, so she would wait for Qingyun to come back and ask about the situation.

In the afternoon, she went to the shop to have a look. There was still lunch. Gu Yun called the two cooks from the small kitchen over.

"Let's put down the menu that the Shizi set before. From now on, each meal will have no more than three dishes, and mutton must be included every day, Shizi likes to eat this, so don't forget it." Gu Yun had to eat the lamb and let Pei Shu eat more.

Maybe he would be fine all of a sudden. After she has a child, Pei Shu can go wherever he wants.

The two cooks promised to keep Gu Yun's words in mind and never forget them.

Qingyun came back before noon, and the alms went smoothly. Gu Jin and Gu Ning were able to take charge of their own affairs, but Dr. Zhao's young apprentice at Renhe Hall was very tired.

But Qingyun had already taken people to the restaurant and ordered a table of dishes.

A table of food costs two taels of silver. It’s really hard to be a householder and don’t know how expensive firewood and rice are.

Qingyun didn't dare to ask about the gambling debt. She was just a maid, and she would do whatever the young lady asked her to do.

It's just that this time Shizi really..... Shizi may not understand it yet, but she understands that if the lady can endure this, she will definitely control Shizi in the future.

Who allowed Shizi to have the leverage to fall into the hands of her lady?

Qingyun was sweating for Pei Shu.

In a blink of an eye, it was noon. Lunch was mutton stewed with radish, scrambled eggs with leeks, a steamed fish dish, and two bowls of rice.

It was different from what Pei Shu had ordered earlier, but he didn't dare to speak.

He spent a lot of money, and it was right to be frugal, but he shouldn't have harmed Gu Yun, she must be healthy.

Pei Shu knew that if he wanted to eat well, he had to make money.

He finished the meal peacefully without asking any questions. He even diligently served Gu Yun two pieces of mutton at the dinner table.

Gu Yun said, "Husband, eat more. The mutton sent by Zhuangzi is very fresh."

Pei Shu was flattered.

He used to focus on scientific research and was not as sophisticated as Gu Yun in dealing with people. Now that he owed money, he was like a child who had done something wrong and was at a loss.

He had to make money, pay it back, and prove it to Gu Yun.

Pei Shu was thinking of ways to make money, and Gu Yun was also thinking of ways to cut costs and increase revenue. First of all, Chengxinyuan didn't need so many maids.

After dinner, Gu Jun asked Chunyu to make a list of the maids in the yard.

There were two caretakers and women at the courtyard gate, four cleaning maids, two doing chores in the kitchen, and eight others who had nothing to do.

I don’t know what Pei Shu really wants to do with more maids.

Gu Yun said: "Pick two to serve the pen and ink in the study and tell the housekeeper about the rest. Chengxinyuan can't use so many people."

She has Qingyun and Lu Shao, and the monthly payment for so many people is dozens of silver taels.

Gu Yun called these little maids together. This was her first lecture after entering the house. These little girls lowered their heads and trembled.

"Chengxinyuan is such a big place, and you are wasting your time staying here. I will leave two to serve in the study, and the rest will go to the housekeeper first. If there is a shortage of people in the yard, you will be the first to take over."

Gu Yunrang They raised their heads and picked the two most beautiful ones.

One is named Chuxue and the other is named Yafeng.

"Send the others away."

Qingyun Lu Shao looked at each other with a bit of anxiety in their eyes. When Gu Yun returned to the room, Qingyun whispered: "Girl, it's better to choose honest people to serve in the study."

Although those two girls can't compare with our own girls, the Gaomen Courtyard likes to have this kind of Yingying Yanyan the most.

There were two young and good-looking maids in the study. Who knew what Shizi would do...

Gu Yun waved her hand. She wanted to say stop praising Pei Shu, he was simply not good enough.

No matter how beautiful the girl is, she is still not very attractive in his eyes. If the two of them can really succeed, she will be able to give birth to a child and raise it.

But it was Pei Shu who had a problem.

"No, I know it well."

Putting two good-looking ones is at least pleasing to the eye. Besides, Gu Yun likes good-looking ones and Pei Shu has been in the study a few times. Qingyun and Lu Shao are not the same, one has a cool temperament, and the other is lively and smart.

Then, when Pei Shu came back, he found that most of the maids in Chengxinyuan were missing.

In fact, he wanted so many maids for no other reason than for the scenery. Those who served tea poured water, rubbed shoulders, pinched legs...

The maids did not dare to speak without Pei Shu. He couldn't use them anyway, he only talks to Gu Yun.

But he really had to find a way to make money.

From head to toe, he only had three taels of silver left. Everything in Shengjing was expensive, but three taels of silver could buy three roast chickens. How could he make money?

The research he had done before could not be paid for a while, and even if he had money, it would not be in his pocket. Peishu sighed and called Huzi to go out.

Huzi was limping, and he was beaten again.

Huzi had a sad face and said, "Sir, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out today, so you should just stay in peace."

Madam was still angry and went out to mess with him.

Pei Shu sighed, patted Huzi's shoulder, took out half a piece of broken silver from his arms, and put it reluctantly in Huzi's hand, "Take it to buy some medicine, I'm disturbing you."

There were only two taels left.

Pei Shu went out alone. He didn't expect that it would be so difficult to make money. He didn't have any official position, and in this dynasty, if you wanted to be an official, you had to take the imperial examination. As a science student, even if he had an excellent memory, he couldn't learn from scratch.

After thinking again and again, Pei Shu could only think of two ways.

One is to improve grain and fruit seeds and cross-graft them. This will increase grain yields and sweeter fruits, and more people will buy them, which will definitely make money.

But it's mid-April now, spring planting has ended, and grafted fruit trees have to wait until autumn to bear fruit.

It's too long.

The second is to find a way to start a small business. He can cook and eat a lot, but he has no capital and no manpower. He can only start from a small business. It would be embarrassing if he was the original, but Pei Shu doesn't. Even if you go around the streets and set up stalls to sell food, as long as you can make money.

Pei Shu came back from outside only after dark, looking shamed.

Gu Yun was not idle this afternoon. She went to the cloth workshop. When she came back, her back and legs ached. She re-recorded the accounts for her and Pei Shu's family.

The debt is 7,150 taels, and the balance is 130 taels, so there is no other money.

Paying off Pei Shu's debt almost emptied her family fortune.

She was also afraid that if she did anything wrong with more than seven thousand taels, it would be wasted money for Pei Shu, but it would be worth it if he would never go to the gambling house again, and he could make more money.

Gu Yun was hungry today. She was almost ready to eat. She hadn't seen Pei Shu yet. "Chun Yu, go to the door to call him."

Chunyu was afraid that this matter would cause a gap between the couple. Something would happen to them just after they got married. It was still a big deal. She went out immediately and saw Pei Shu within a few steps.

Pei Shu gestured to her, "Shh."

He pointed inside, and Chunyu understood, "Madam is inside."

Pei Shu walked in lightly, "I'm back."

Gu Yun frowned, "Why are you back so late, husband? It's already dark. Don't you know the time?"

Pei Shu smiled: "I have something to do."

He put a purse on the table, "Open it and take a look." He said with a smile. Gu Yun was confused, but she opened it anyway. Inside were several pieces of broken silver and a few copper plates. As far as she knew, Pei Shu was almost out of money. There were at least ten taels in it. Where did he get the money?.

Pei Shu said, "I didn't steal or rob, I earned it myself."

Gu Yun was even more confused, Pei Shu said: "It's not much, but this is what I earned after shouting all afternoon, I will definitely earn more in the future."

"Hey, I made some cut cakes at home. It has many layers. The first layer is melon seeds and kernels, and the second layer is peanuts. There are also hawthorn cakes and fried chestnuts. There are a lot of fruits in them. They are all sold out, but I cut a piece in advance and brought it with me, give you a taste when I come back." Pei Shu took out an oil paper bag from his arms. Gu Yun must have never heard of Xinjiang cake cutting.

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TLnote: I'll try to update weekly, and as this was a MTL translation, I apologize in advance if there was a mistake. If any of you have suggestion for me to prolonged my attention span, please feel free to suggest it for me. I'm really am struggling with my college life. And sadly, therapist are expensive :(...Oh, and consider buying me a Ko-fi to fill my needs for sweets :)