Chapter 199: Second Brother (Four)
Chapter 199: Second Brother (Four)
It took quite some more effort on Xiang Ling’s part to convince Hao Ran and Zuan Hu to accept the Inn’s ownership. Though with reluctance, the two of them finally agreed, but not before adding their condition.
However, the condition they put forward was to spilt the profit in half between them and Xiang Ling, but the latter quickly declined it. In the end, Xiang Ling made a suggestion that finally convinced Hao Ran and Zuan Hu.
Xiang Ling accepted fifteen percent of every month’s profit from the Inn’s business and suggested to add fifteen percent of the profit to the Chen Manor’s treasury. The remaining seventy percent was for Hao Ran and Zuan Hu to do as they deemed fit.
Throughout this discussion, Chen Ming and Chao Xing remained completely silent and just munched on the snacks. By the time, the discussion came to an end, the food had also arrived.
The six of them got busied in tasting the delicacies for the next several minutes and it was not until they were halfway into the lunch, did Xiang Ling spoke. "Second Brother, second sister-in-law, you two can also move back into the manor with Caocao. I’m planning to start a clothing shop after this. Once its business will settle, I will hand it over to Second sister-in-law."
Chen Ming and Chao Xing were left shocked by Xiang Ling’s words. The duo shared a quick look between them before Chao Xing spoke in an unsure tone. "Y-you... are really going to do that?"
Xiang Ling nodded her head quickly in response. "That’s exactly what I’m planning to do. I have been training a few students who are quite good in embroidery. That is all I have for now including money to start the business. But I will need you to help me out. You might still have connections with the fabric merchants and other staff with whom you used to work in the past. I’m sure if we worked together, we will be able to open the shop by the end of the year."
Chao Xing looked thoughtful as she took her time to consider the proposal. She might not hate Chen Xiang Ling for her past mistakes, but she surely disliked her. For a moment, she could have forgiven the woman for selling the shop as they were family, but what she couldn’t forgive her for was the fact that Xiang Ling used to mistreat Caocao.
However, as she observed Xiang Ling, she was able to tell just how much the young woman had changed. So far, she had been hearing about her changed personality from Hao Ran and Zuan Hu when the duo visited their parents every other weekend. But witnessing the change herself made her realize that Xiang Ling had indeed improved a lot.
"Xiang’er, we really appreciate your thoughts. But you don’t have to go to such extremes to earn our forgiveness-"
Before Chen Ming could have finished speaking, he was silenced by his wife. Turning her full attention to Xiang Ling, Chao Xing spoke, "I will accept your offer and if you will continue to behave properly, I will definitely forgive you and will think about returning to the Manor. I just hope that you will not let me down... again."
"Fu’ren?"
Chen Ming tried to stop his wife but Chao Xing was determined and it only made Xiang Ling like the woman more. She didn’t try to hide her dislike toward Xiang Ling, nor she pretended to forgive her immeditely after finding out about Xiang Ling’s plan of opening a clothing shop and handing its ownership to her. She was being her true self.
"Second Brother, it’s alright. Second sister-in-law has the right to make this decision because she’s the victim here. It was her shop I sold away and it should be her decision whether she want it back or not. As for sister-in-law’s conditions, I accept them all. I promise to not let you down again." Xiang Ling quickly defended Chao Xing.
Finally, a little smile broke out on Chao Xing’s lips as she gave a nod of her head, and even though the smile was barely noticeable, Xiang Ling saw it clearly and let out a sigh of relief.
"Let’s meet next weekend to discuss about business plans for the clothing store. Why don’t you come and visit us at the Manor? I will also like you to meet the students who have been training their embroidery skills for months now." Xiang Ling offered and Chao Xing once again nodded her head.
The ice finally broke with the end of this conversation and a peaceful atmosphere filled the private room along with the delicious aroma of the dishes. They enjoyed the rest of the lunch while chatting about different things and there were a lot of questions that Xiang Ling answered.
What happened to suddenly make her change her personality? - Her loosing her memories and realizing just how afraid everyone around her was, and how much they disliked her.
How did she make so much in so little time? - By selling rare spiritual herbs that she found during her adventures in deep mountains. And since she had been always going out of the house, this excuse worked.
Where did she meet Zhang Xuan? - Zhang Xuan launched into full length story as he repeated the same words he told Hao Ran and others the very day he appeared at the entrance of the Chen Manor.
Had her memories returned? - Almost.
How was her relationship with the rest of her husbands? - Better than in the past.
By the time Chen Ming and Chao Xing left the Tranquil Cloud Inn, it was already late afternoon and Xiang Ling was feeling tired. Deciding to take some rest, she too took her leave and returned to the manor.
She spent the rest of the evening cultivating inside her Spatial Realm and refined a batch of new spiritual pills to send for the next month’s auction.
With over ten hundred thousand golden taels in her treasury, she completed the mission of making Chen Xiang Ling rich, and her plan was to continue making more money.