Farm Girl's Manor-Chapter 286: Obtaining the Store and Tricking the Zhang Family (8)_1

Mo Yan had the wall between the front and back halls torn down, turning it into a spacious chamber, with only the kitchen remaining so Lizhong, who would be in charge of the shop, could also make himself a warm meal.

The walls on both sides of the entrance were also removed, and the craftsmen from Mu’s Shop were called to measure and make a type of retractable door. This way, with the doors opened, the inside of the shop was bright and inviting, and the items on display could be seen clearly by customers standing at the doorway.

After explaining the key points and details of the renovation to the workers, Mo Yan then began to look for a warehouse.

Since the Mo Family’s fields had not yet produced any grain, Mo Yan couldn’t mix the grain from the Space with that and transport it to the shop to sell; she had to rent a place, like she did before for the refugee camp, to pile the grain from the Space and let Lizhong take it to the mill for processing before selling it in the shop.

However, doing this might make Lizhong suspect that she did not trust him and that was the reason she was unwilling to hand over the task of purchasing grain. There was no other choice for now; it would be better once the family’s fields yielded their own grain.

The chosen location also had to be relatively hidden, so as not to arouse suspicion from others. Fortunately, there were many warehouses available for rent in the city, mostly used by merchants traveling south and north to store their goods.

After inquiring through the Dentist for several days, Mo Yan finally set her eyes on a small warehouse of about fifty square meters. This warehouse was at the very edge of the warehouse district, with goods continuously moving in and out nearby every day. Unless someone was specifically monitoring, no irregularities concerning the incoming and outgoing goods at this spot would be detected.

Apart from its distance from the shop, which was a bit far, Mo Yan was satisfied with everything else. The rent was not expensive either, at two taels of silver per month, which she paid for an entire year. After a year, she wouldn’t need the place anymore.

With the warehouse secured, Mo Yan still felt more at ease personally overseeing the shop’s renovation. Every morning, Lizhong would take her into the city, and if he couldn’t pick her up in the afternoon, Mo Yan would simply hire a carriage back. She would have lunch at Mo Qingze’s place, which delighted Han Zhiyun immensely—he would come over every midday to join for a meal.

Mo Yan hadn’t informed Mo Qingze in advance about the purchasing and opening of the shop. Upon finding out, Mo Qingze didn’t scold her for making decisions on her own, but instead asked whether the family had enough silver for their expenses and even considered moving into the Academy to save money for the family.

Mo Yan was pleased with her father’s open-mindedness and trust, a sentiment that left Han Zhiyun marveling in awe.

Han Zhiyun admired his friend’s liberalism and paternal kindness, and also envied him for having such a capable daughter, regretting even more that he hadn’t had a son earlier. If only they could have become in-laws, what a wonderful relationship that would have been!

...

Before long, it was the end of October, and the weather had turned increasingly chilly, necessitating thick cotton clothes to stave off the cold.

By then, the Mo Family’s shop had been renovated, and the grain from the Space had been piled up in the rented warehouse in advance. Lizhong had processed the necessary items and transported them to the shop. Besides rice, wheat, and corn, there were also millet, red beans, green beans, and other sundry grains, as well as eggs.

Everything was ready, with only the opening day of the shop on the thirtieth of October remaining.

On the twenty-eighth of October in the afternoon, Lizhong hurriedly drove the carriage to Changshan Academy to pick up Mo Qingze. At the end of each month, Changshan Academy would have its holiday.

Mo Yan had specifically set the opening day of the shop for the thirtieth of October so that the whole family could attend.

However, when Mo Qingze returned, he brought with him some very bad news: half a month ago, the Bai people’s army had invaded the borders of Great Chu!