Exiled to Lingnan, the Crown Prince's wife raises children, cultivates the land, and leads the

"Qiqi, what do you think of my shop?"

The old woman said with a proud look, "This used to be a candy shop, but then it was... vandalized, and then..."

When the old woman thought about how their candy shop had been smashed and how her husband was lying on the ground covered in blood, all that remained in her heart was anger and resentment.

Over the years, how much silver have they given to the Kong family so that the Leng family's sugar mill could remain stable in the village?

But in the end, the Kong family fell, and they had to be dragged down with them.

fortunately……

The old woman's gaze softened as she looked at Cheng Qiqi, and she said, "No one has been to this shop for a long time. With a little cleaning, it can become our village's shop."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get ready."

As Zhuang Sanmei spoke, she immediately started working. Her movements were so swift that Cheng Qiqi was dumbfounded!

"Me too."

Song Zhenmei knew very well that this was a rare opportunity to come to the shop, and she had to make a good impression.

Jin Xue'er looked at the shop covered in cobwebs and the floor so slippery that she had to be careful when walking. She didn't know where to start and said, "What... what can I do?"

"Gather all the broken tiles on the ground and put them in one place."

Zhuang Sanmei said this without looking up as she moved the broken tables and chairs from the house to the backyard.

"Okay, where should we put all of these?"

Jin Xue'er glanced at the broken tiles with disgust. Many of them were moldy and looked disgusting. She didn't even want to touch them.

"Of course we'll put it in the backyard. We'll wash it later and put it on the wall."

As Zhuang Sanmei spoke, she said, "We might have to stay in the shop again in the future, so we definitely need to tidy it up properly."

"oh."

Jin Xue'er took a deep breath and then began to move the broken tiles to the backyard little by little, like ants carrying house.

"Oh dear, young lady, even if you carry them piece by piece until dark, you still won't finish!"

Zhuang Sanmei didn't care about being a young lady or not. Seeing Jin Xue'er carrying people over in groups, she angrily shouted, grabbed a broken bucket, and threw it over, saying, "Put them in there, then carry them over, then empty them out, and do it again!"

"oh."

Jin Xue'er's face turned red from being yelled at. She looked up and saw that everyone was busy and no one noticed her. She immediately lowered her head and went to work as Zhuang Sanmei had told her.

Seeing that Cheng Qiqi was drawing and writing on the ground with a twig and hadn't noticed what was happening there, Granny Leng didn't say anything.

She wouldn't look down on a pampered young lady like Jin Xue'er who never lifts a finger. Since she's working in the shop, no one will treat her like a pampered young lady.

Cheng Qiqi was thinking about the layout of the shop when she overheard what was going on with Jin Xueer. She had also caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye. What Zhuang Sanmei said was quite right. If Jin Xueer worked like that, she wouldn't finish even if she worked until dark.

"Grandma Leng, our shop faces the street, right at the corner. On this side, we sell sugar, oyster sauce, dried oyster sauce, fish balls, sweet bean curd, vinegar, and the like."

Cheng Qiqi divided the shop in two, saying, "On this side, we can sell floral dew and fragrant dew, as well as mosquito repellent dew that we'll make later. On this side, we can put a few tables so that everyone can rest and taste our Bai Gan Shui (a type of herbal drink)."

"We can put a few tables in the backyard. The weather is getting warmer, and since we've already set up this shop, we can't let the space go to waste, can we?"

Cheng Qiqi even thought about summer smoothies, cold drinks, and sweet soups—those were all profitable businesses!

Ancient shops were really nice. The Leng family's shop not only had two rooms in the back with a small courtyard and a well, but the front shop was also very spacious. Even if you divided it into two shops and put in a few tables, it wouldn't feel crowded.

"Here, we'll put a row of tables against the wall and use screens to separate them, so that the girls can eat something and chat here."

Cheng Qiqi was already imagining the bustling scene at the shop, and said, "The kitchen in the back yard, the place where we make fish balls, also needs to be planned properly. In the future, we can make fish balls here and sell them directly."

"it is good."

The old woman didn't understand what Cheng Qiqi meant by wasting space, but she figured that listening to her was the right thing to do.

After wandering around the shop all day, when she returned, Cheng Qiqi took a notebook and a charcoal pencil and carefully noted down the parts that needed to be changed.

On the way home, Cheng Qiqi noticed that Jin Xueer was unusually quiet.

Looking up, Cheng Qiqi saw that Jin Xueer was covered in dust and looked wilted, like a frostbitten eggplant.

"Are you alright?"

Upon arriving at the Jin family's gate, Cheng Qiqi still asked a question. She was the one who brought the person out, and it would be difficult to explain if the person got injured.

Did she get injured when she went with Granny Leng to find the person who would make the signboard?

"without."

Jin Xue'er shook her head, paused, and said earnestly, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry."

"..."

Cheng Qiqi looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Jin Xue'er strode into the house. The work was really too hard. Back when she was in the Marquis's mansion, she used to cause trouble for Cheng Qiqi all the time. Thinking about it now…

That was incredibly harsh and excessive, but my sister-in-law didn't hold a grudge and even helped them make money.

The more Jin Xue'er thought about it, the more she felt that she had gone too far in the past.

"Xue'er, did you fall on the ground? You're all dirty."

Lin Huilan had just finished cutting a set of clothes and was dawdling as she prepared to go to the vegetable garden to work. She really didn't know what the master was thinking. With her delicate skin, if she did all the work in the vegetable garden, what would happen if she couldn't do embroidery later?

Just as she stepped outside, she bumped into Jin Xue'er returning. Jin Xue'er immediately noticed how dirty Jin Xue'er's clothes were and said, "You're a young lady; how can you be so dirty?"

"Where's Cheng Qiqi? She's your sister-in-law. We own the shop. Why are you still working?"

Lin Huilan's incessant chatter made Jin Xue'er feel ashamed: "Little sister, this shop is opened by us and the villagers together. Why didn't my sister-in-law protect me? If I go to the shop and don't work, am I supposed to be the owner and manager?"

When it came to work, Jin Xue'er felt even more embarrassed, because both Zhuang Sanmei and Song Zhenmei did more work than her.

"How could I have given birth to such a stupid daughter!"

Lin Huilan reached out and poked her head, lowering her voice to say, "If it weren't for Cheng Qiqi, would this shop have been able to open? You're going there to help keep an eye on the other two, so you should do less of this work."

"Young lady, you know I was there to keep an eye on them? Weren't they keeping an eye on me too?"

Jin Xue'er was so angry she laughed. Her father and grandmother were right; she should listen less to her stepmother.

Cheng Qiqi returned with candied hawthorns but didn't see her daughter. She assumed her daughter had gone to pick rabbit grass again and didn't think much of it. She went into the kitchen and started braising the pork offal she had bought.

"Oh no! An'an is fighting with someone!"

A gasp rang out, and Cheng Qiqi instantly dropped the spatula from her hand to the ground.