The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“As long as you like it, it wouldn’t be a waste.” Zhuang Qingning playfully nudged her small nose and smiled, “In the past, we didn’t make much money, but now we do. We can afford this hairpin. Even if you want a dozen a day, we can manage. So rest easy and wear it.”

“Then…” Zhuang Qingning Sui was relieved and said, “Okay.”

With the burden lifted from her heart, Zhuang Qingsui returned to her previous jovial state and started enjoying the hustle and bustle of the county town once again.

The two quickly arrived at Cheng’s pharmacy they had heard about.

It was a large pharmacy, with tall signage and a bright facade. There were always people coming and going, making it look very lively.

Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui entered the shop.

A young man, Han Hu, about the same age as Zhuang Wencheng and obviously an apprentice, stopped pounding herbs and greeted them warmly, “Welcome! Are you here for a checkup or to pick up medicine?”

“Neither, we’re here to…”

Just as Zhuang Qingning was about to say “find someone,” she heard a commotion behind the curtains.

“You’d better confess honestly this time, or else, if you don’t speak the truth, I will punish you to grind herbal medicine for a whole month!”

The voice was full of anger, from an older man, presumably the Doctor Ge Zhuang Wencheng had mentioned before.

“Master, I really didn’t steal the herbs, nor did I swindle money from the shop.” The desperate voice for vindication, Zhuang Qingning could tell, was Zhuang Wencheng’s.

What on earth had happened?

Zhuang Qingning was startled, and forgetting the words that were just half-spoken, she listened carefully for the sounds behind the curtain.

“You didn’t swindle money from the shop? Then explain how the money under your pillow came about, and why there are fewer herbs? It’s clear that while working in the shop, you hid good quality herbs and replaced them with low- quality ones. Then, you sold the good herbs for a profit. And now you want to deny it?”

“Master, what I said is really true. I only give customers high-quality herbs. As for the low-quality herbs, I really don’t know how they got mixed in. The money under my pillow was earned by selling herbs that I picked up outside while off duty. Brother Huzi knows about this…”

Zhuang Wencheng added, “I truly didn’t swindle money from the shop. I didn’t want to ruin our shop’s reputation, and I certainly wasn’t trying to work against you. If you don’t believe me, you can check the books and see if the money tallies.”

“But I remember that a few days ago, you had some clothes made, yet your money didn’t decrease at all. Where did the money for the clothes come from?”

“That money was the fabric money my mother gave me a while back. I’ve been too busy to get clothes made. But with the weather getting hotter, I need to change my clothes, so I went to get measurements taken for new clothes. If you don’t believe me, ask the shopkeeper at the clothing store. I did mention this to him at that time.”

“If you order clothing, others make a profit, so of course, they would speak for you. Where is the credibility in that?”

“Master, I…”

“Enough, no need to explain further. You made a mistake this time, and you made some money as well. Anyway, we’ve been master and apprentice for many years. In light of our long relationship, I won’t hold this against you. But if I discover you doing this kind of thing again, I’ll send you back. Don’t bother being an apprentice here anymore!”

“But, master…”

Before Zhuang Wencheng could finish speaking, there was the sound of flipping pages from inside and an impatient voice. “Go ahead and get busy out front, oh, and display the insect-repelling herbal package up front. That formula took me a lot of effort to find. Don’t mix it with other herbs or it will lose its efficacy.”

“Yes.” Zhuang Wencheng, full of unsaid words, dropped his head and left listlessly.

As soon as he lifted the curtain, he saw Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui standing there, first a moment of surprise and then a joy. He hurriedly walked towards them, “Little Sister Ning, Sister Sui, how come you’re here?”

“You two, know each other?” Han Hu was also taken aback.

Han Hu had been listening to the ruckus in the back while forgetting to attend to the customers who had just entered the shop. When the commotion inside ceased and he came to his senses, he was about to greet the two fresh customers again.

“Yes.” Zhuang Qingning smiled slightly, “I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence earlier. We came here to find Brother Wencheng.”

“The two sisters from my hometown are probably here to find me for something, I’ll go greet them.” Zhuang Wencheng nodded towards Han Hu, “Brother Huzi, could you look after the counter for me for a while?”

“You go ahead and take care of your business. It’s not busy right now, I can handle it.” Han Hu smiled and said, “There’s some tea over there that I just brewed.”

“Thankyou, Brother Huzi.” Zhuang Wencheng expressed his thanks, then took Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui to sit down, and brought over the tea, “Little Sister Ning, Sister Sui, what brings you to the county town today?”

“We had never been to the county before and thought about bringing Qingsui to have a look around.” Zhuang Qingning took out the white sugar cake that Chai Zhengzhen had given her, “I found this white sugar cake from Ruyi Pavilion in the town pretty decent, wanted to bring some for Brother Wencheng to try.”

“Thank you, Little Sister Ning.”

Zhuang Wencheng was overjoyed seeing Zhuang Qingning bringing him something to eat, “How’s the tofu shop, Little Sister Ning? How’s the business been recently? I heard that you’re building a new house. Is it finished yet?”

“The tofu shop business is okay, I hired Aunt Cao and her daughter to look after the shop, so I do get some free time, it’s not too busy. The new house is almost complete. We had the village chief help us pick out a good day, and we’re planning to warm the house on the 8th of next month.”

Zhuang Qingning replied with a smile, “Today we just came to the county to look around, we thought Brother Wencheng was working at the pharmacy, so we came to see you and check if everything was okay here.”

“Everything is fine here.”

Seeing Zhuang Qingning showing genuine concern for him, Zhuang Wencheng’s smile flickered, and was finally reflected on his face and eyes. He couldn’t help grinning.

But when he thought of Zhuang Qingning in the hall earlier, listening to the reprimand, his smile faded slightly. He rubbed his ears awkwardly, “Just now…”

“Actually, it’s nothing. It’s just a little misunderstanding. It will be fine in time. My master is not unreasonable.”

Zhuang Qingning clutched her fingers under her sleeves.

She didn’t know whether Doctor Ge was reasonable or not as she hadn’t interacted with him, but from his words just now, she could tell that he fully suspected Zhuang Wencheng, even almost affirmed that Zhuang Wencheng was guilty.

Such a fixed impression could follow a person for a long, long time, even perhaps a lifetime, and once confirmed, whatever Zhuang Wencheng did afterward, Doctor Ge would probably subconsciously think of this incident and deny Zhuang Wencheng’s many good qualities.