Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Qi the Sixth Is Injured
When Mrs. Qi finished cooking the noodles and called everyone in the house to serve, the people inside had already agreed on the matter of buying the shop.
Four hundred taels is indeed a lot, but the family could still manage to come up with it.
As for bargaining, after some discussion, everyone ultimately gave up on the idea.
The reason being, the shop was the private property of the county magistrate, and they truly did not have the courage to haggle with him.
It was good enough not to have to send gifts to the county magistrate; bargaining would be like inviting his displeasure.
After finishing the noodles and chatting idly for a while, everyone finally went to their respective rooms to rest.
Early the next morning, the Qi Family’s carriage headed to the city once more.
This time, there were two carriages again.
Driving the carriage were still Qi Quanjin and Qi Ercai, but there were a lot more people sitting in the carriage this time.
Mrs. Qi didn’t go; she stayed at home to take care of Xiao Shiyi with Liu Meiniang.
Qi Manman went to the city with her grandfather, parents, second and third uncles, fifth uncle, third aunt, and fifth aunt.
After buying the shop, they had to tidy it up. Even if they couldn’t tidy it today, they still needed to prepare the second courtyard.
The third and fifth couples would live in the second courtyard, waiting for the teahouse to be tidied up, so they could move in without the need to travel back and forth.
Since they were opening a store, they needed to open quickly; everyone wanted to set up the shop as soon as possible.
For one, they could generate income, and for another, to quickly earn back the money spent on buying the teahouse.
Although Qi Zheng mentioned that buying the teahouse cost four hundred taels, nobody tacitly asked the family how they had saved up the four hundred taels of silver.
The transfer procedures were exceptionally smooth.
After paying the silver, it didn’t take long to receive the property deed.
Although Liu Qinghe didn’t come along, the servant from yesterday did accompany them.
The Qi Family thought it would take a few days, or even ten days to half a month, for the teahouse to be in their hands, but unexpectedly, after receiving the property deed, the servant directly took them to take over the teahouse.
From beginning to end, the Qi Family never saw the county magistrate’s brother-in-law.
"This teahouse is now yours."
The servant said with a smile, "If anyone causes trouble, you don’t have to handle it yourself; just send someone to the county government to find me."
This assurance put the Qi Family at ease.
Everyone was used to working, so they were quick with their hands.
Except for the shopkeeper’s and servants’ personal belongings, everything else in the teahouse was left behind.
There was no need to buy any tools, and everyone rolled up their sleeves and started cleaning inside and out.
By mid-afternoon, Qi Quanjin drove the ox cart, taking his second brother, father, wife, and daughter back to the village.
The remaining carriage was left for the four of them; if there was anything they needed, it would be convenient to use it back and forth.
As soon as Yi Meng returned home, she heard her young son’s loud cries and hurried to the main hall, only to see Liu Meiniang holding him and pacing back and forth.
"Fourth sister-in-law, you’re finally back."
Liu Meiniang greeted Yi Meng quickly: "Xiao Shiyi has been drinking rice porridge all day and now refuses to drink any more."
"Let me take him inside!"
Yi Meng felt sorry for her young son.
If it weren’t for today’s destination being unsuitable for such a young baby, she would have definitely wanted to take him along.
For a baby just over a month old, rice porridge naturally holds little interest.
Once inside, Yi Meng quickly wiped him a bit before feeding her young son.
Smelling the familiar scent, Xiao Shiyi finally stopped crying, only occasionally whimpering to express his discontent.
Qi Manman returned home asleep, and was directly taken to the old lady’s room, who was very worried. She gently wiped her little granddaughter’s hands and face before covering her with a thin blanket.
Qi Zheng and the others ate dinner in the main hall.
Having worked all day, even Qi Zheng, who hadn’t done much, was very hungry at this point.
It wasn’t until he finished a large bowl of rice that Qi Zheng finally sighed and said, "The restaurant matter is settled. Old Second, Fourth, discuss how to arrange things going forward."
"Dad, isn’t everything already arranged? What’s left to arrange?"
Qi Quanli immediately raised his doubts.
He hadn’t gone to the city to be busy with buying the shop, so he was completely unaware of what needed to be arranged.
Qi Zheng glared at him and said irritably, "When arrangements were made, we didn’t know what kind of shop we could get. Now that we have a shop, don’t we need to see if there are any changes?"
Even after explaining, he wasn’t satisfied. He scolded, "Is your brain made of wood? When will you start using it as your brothers do when things arise?"
"Dad, I’m, I’m not using my brain?"
Qi Quanli felt wronged after being scolded: "It’s because I haven’t seen what the shop looks like, so I didn’t know."
"You still have the nerve to say? You look at yourself, getting injured doing any work. Why do I see no one else getting hurt, but you do?"
Qi Zheng looked at the abrasion on his younger son’s forehead, feeling both worried and angry.
The abrasion wasn’t large, about the size of a fingernail, and seemed to be treated; there was slightly green residue, presumably from herbal medicine.
Liu Meiniang sat to the side, her face flushed. Especially seeing Qi Quanli being scolded until he almost couldn’t raise his head, she hesitated but then bravely said, "Godfather, it’s not Sixth brother’s fault; it’s all my fault. If it weren’t for saving me, Sixth brother wouldn’t have gotten hurt."
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, and looked at Liu Meiniang.
Qi Zheng asked worriedly, "What happened?"
Liu Meiniang’s face was so red it almost dripped with blood: "Today, Xiao Shiyi refused to stay at home, so I thought of taking him outside for a walk."
"But I, I was too focused on amusing the child and forgot to watch my step, ending up on a rock."
"If Sixth brother hadn’t quickly caught me, not only me, but Xiao Shiyi could have been dropped."
Having said that, Liu Meiniang looked at Qi Quanjin: "Fourth brother, I’m sorry, I almost dropped Shiyi."
Though godmother said it was nothing, Liu Meiniang had been worried the whole afternoon.
Revealing it now, she was prepared to be reprimanded by Qi Quanjin.
After all, it was someone else’s son.
Unexpectedly, Qi Quanjin asked, "Are you alright?"
"Huh?"
Liu Meiniang looked at Qi Quanjin in surprise.
And Qi Quanli chuckled and said, "See, I told you, fourth brother wouldn’t blame you; instead, he’d worry if you got hurt or not!"
Liu Meiniang’s face turned even redder.
Realizing everyone was waiting for her answer, she softly said, "I-I’m fine, just caused sixth brother’s head to scrape against the nearby wood."
"As long as you’re okay. Old Leatherhead’s skin is thick; a scrape isn’t a big deal."
Qi Zheng sighed in relief.
Qi Quanjin and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Meiniang: ...
Qi Quanli: ...
