The Minister: Cold by Day, Hot by Night-Chapter 55: I Don’t Want to Bother

At the mention of a shop, a smile bloomed on Zhi Wan’s face. "I hadn’t thought of it at first, but after eating the pastries Cousin sent, I had an idea. I want to open a pastry shop."

Lady Wei was very supportive. "A food business is a good idea. Shops that sell food are usually quite profitable. But what kind of pastries do you want to sell?"

Zhi Wan said, "I’ve noticed there are very few shops in the Capital City that sell pastries from Yangzhou. So I want to send someone to Yangzhou to hire a master chef who knows how to make them, to specialize in selling Yangzhou pastries here."

Lady Wei paused. "Yangzhou pastries?"

"Yes." Zhi Wan nodded, speaking with a touch of nostalgia. "Yangzhou has many delicious snacks, like three-dice buns, thousand-layer oil cakes, soup dumplings, Yangzhou fried rice, and salt-water goose. They’re all very characteristic Yangzhou specialties. But my shop isn’t large, so I’ll just focus on a few types of pastries."

When Lady Wei saw Zhi Wan speaking so knowledgeably about Yangzhou pastries with such a nostalgic expression, her heart couldn’t help but ache for her.

’This girl was born and raised in Yangzhou. She must miss it terribly.’

’But ever since coming to the Capital City, she’s rarely mentioned anything about Yangzhou, and she hasn’t been back even once.’

’Though she never speaks of it, she must deeply miss her parents and Yangzhou City.’

With this in mind, Lady Wei took Zhi Wan’s hand and said, "Wan’er, you’ve already had your hairpin ceremony. In another month, it will be the anniversary of your parents’ passing. Would you like to go back and pay your respects to them?"

Zhi Wan froze. Her hand, clutching her handkerchief, tightened unconsciously. She shook her head and said, "Aunt, I don’t want to go back."

Lady Wei frowned. "Why not?"

"The journey is too long. I don’t want to go through the trouble." Zhi Wan lowered her eyes.

’In her heart, she had long wanted to go back and pay respects to her parents. But in previous years, she was still young and didn’t want to trouble her aunt, so she had never mentioned it.’

’Now, although she had come of age and was an adult, making a trip back was no simple matter.’

’She knew that if she wanted to go back, her aunt would arrange everything for her, but that would be too much trouble for her aunt.’

’So she wanted to wait until after she had recruited a live-in husband and gotten married before returning to Yangzhou.’

’Perhaps, when the time came, she would just stay and settle in Yangzhou.’

’After all, her parents’ graves were in Yangzhou. Living there would make it convenient for her to pay respects and tend to their graves every year.’

Having made up her mind, Zhi Wan looked up and said, "Aunt, let’s talk about this later."

Lady Wei opened her mouth to persuade her, but the words died on her lips, and she swallowed them back down.

’This girl must be saying she doesn’t want to go back only because she’s afraid of troubling me.’

’Forget it. When the time comes, I’ll make the arrangements first and then tell her.’

"Alright, we’ll put this matter aside for now," Lady Wei said, then brought the conversation back to the shop. "I will support you in whatever you want to do. Opening a shop requires a lot of silver. You had Nanny Fang return that silver note to me a couple of days ago. I was planning to bring it to you tomorrow, but since you’re here, I’ll give it to you now. It’ll save me a trip."

Hearing this, Zhi Wan quickly tried to stop her. "Thank you, Aunt, but I have enough silver to open the shop. Please don’t give me any more."

"What can you do with that little bit of silver you have? Be good, don’t be so formal with your aunt." Lady Wei patted her hand, her expression serious.

"Aunt, the silver I have is truly enough. Besides, this time, I want to rely on myself to open the shop," Zhi Wan said with a serious look.

Lady Wei frowned. "Is it so bad for your aunt to help you?"

’She had actually prepared a few shops for Wan’er, intending to give them to her as part of her dowry when she married. She hadn’t expected Wan’er to think of opening a shop on her own.’

"Aunt has already helped me more than enough. But this time, I really have enough silver. Just let me try on my own first. If I don’t have enough later, I’ll borrow from you then," Zhi Wan said.

"What’s this talk of borrowing? That’s too distant," Lady Wei chided.

"I know, I know. I won’t say borrow, I’ll say ’ask Aunt for it’," Zhi Wan said with a smile.

"That’s more like it." Lady Wei’s expression softened. "But don’t be in a rush to send someone to Yangzhou to find a pastry chef. Go to the Brokerage first and have a look. They might just have someone who’s skilled at making Yangzhou pastries. If they do, you can buy them directly. It’s more reliable than just hiring a chef. If you hold their indenture contracts, you won’t have to worry about them being disloyal."

Zhi Wan’s eyes lit up. ’I didn’t even think of that. Aunt is so thoughtful.’

"Okay," she replied obediently.

After chatting a little longer, Zhi Wan left Lan Courtyard.

Following Lady Wei’s advice, she decided to go out and visit the Brokerage.

"Miss."

Just as she reached the front courtyard, Chen Jiu appeared.

"Chen Jiu?" Zhi Wan was a little surprised. She subconsciously glanced around but didn’t see Lu Zhan, which she found puzzling.

Chen Jiu was her cousin’s personal guard and rarely left his side.

But just now in Lan Courtyard, her cousin had clearly said he was going to the Ministry of Justice, yet Chen Jiu was still in the residence.

’Could it be that Cousin didn’t go to the Ministry of Justice?’

"The Master has already gone to the Ministry of Justice. There was nothing urgent, so he didn’t have me accompany him," Chen Jiu explained.

It dawned on Zhi Wan. "I see."

"Are you going out, Miss?" Chen Jiu asked.

"Yes." Zhi Wan nodded, not hiding her intentions. "I want to go to the Brokerage to see about buying two servants who are good at making pastries."

"I’m idle anyway. Let me accompany you," Chen Jiu volunteered.

Zhi Wan considered that this was her first time going to a Brokerage to buy people and she had no experience. ’If Chen Jiu comes along, things will be more secure.’ She nodded in agreement. "Then I’ll have to trouble you." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"You’re too kind, Miss," Chen Jiu said with a wave of his hand.

"Let’s go," Zhi Wan said.

Chen Jiu personally drove the carriage, taking her and Shuang’er to the Brokerage.

When they arrived at the Brokerage, a Ya Ren from inside came out to greet them enthusiastically.

"Miss, what kind of servants are you looking to buy? Our Brokerage has all kinds of servants."

This was Zhi Wan’s first time at a Brokerage, but with Chen Jiu behind her, she wasn’t intimidated. Upon hearing the question, she said, "Do you have any servants here who are skilled at making Yangzhou pastries?"

The Ya Ren’s eyes lit up. "Miss, you’ve come at just the right time! A few days ago, we received a batch of servants from Yangzhou. Among them is a married couple. They used to be cooks for a wealthy family, but something happened to that family, and all their servants were sold off. They ended up right here at our Brokerage."

Zhi Wan felt a surge of joy, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She said coolly, "Then please bring them out for me to see."

Soon, the Ya Ren led out a young couple.

"These are the two," the Ya Ren introduced, giving the couple a pointed look.

The couple had clearly suffered a great deal. Although they had been cleaned up before coming out, their faces were gaunt and sallow, and the corners of their mouths were chapped.

Zhi Wan sized them up.

"Greetings, Miss," the two said, bowing reservedly.

Zhi Wan asked, "You know how to make Yangzhou pastries?"

"We do," the man said quickly. "I specialize in main courses, and my wife is skilled at all sorts of pastries, especially three-dice buns, soup dumplings, and thousand-layer oil cakes. Our former mistress and young miss praised her endlessly."

Seeing that he could name Yangzhou pastries right off the bat, Zhi Wan was already inclined to believe him. Still, she had some reservations. "Can you make some for me to taste first?"

The man looked at the Ya Ren.

The Ya Ren quickly interjected, "Miss, you can rest assured. They wouldn’t dare lie; they truly know how. If they can’t cook, or if what they make doesn’t satisfy you, you can always send them back."

Zhi Wan thought about it. ’They probably wouldn’t dare lie.’ She said, "Alright. But are they in good health?"