Yang Ruxin only needed one look to understand what Wang Dali had in mind. She couldn’t really blame him, after all, she did have a youthful appearance. But it didn’t matter, as long as he was willing to follow her, she would eventually show him that age was just a number.
After Qian Er introduced Yang Ruxin, he took a step back.
"I need manpower," Ruxin didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point. "Qian Er is someone I trust, and he’s recommended you. If you are willing to work for me, I won’t mistreat you. Of course, this is on the condition that you remain loyal."
The three men exchanged glances, seemingly unaccustomed to Ruxin’s directness. However, Hu Zi and Gouzi both looked towards Wang Dali.
"Ruxin... Sister Ruxin," Wang Dali called out with some difficulty. After all, he was already in his twenties with two kids, but had to address a girl who seemed to be in her teens as ’sister’, which felt awkward. But since Qian Er introduced her that way, he had no choice but to follow suit. "We’re all honest folk, just looking to make a living. As long as Sister Ruxin can keep us employed and fed, we’re willing to work like oxen and horses..."
"I don’t need oxen and horses, I just need people to do the work," Yang Ruxin raised a hand to stop his pledge. "And I don’t put much stock in promises, I value action more." She said with a smile, "You can go back and think it over. If you’ve made a decision, look for Qian Er. He will be staying in the county town to help renovate the shop and the courtyard..." After saying that, she got up and returned to her own room.
As expected, it was less than fifteen minutes later that Qian Er came knocking on the door. Wang Dali and the others were willing to work with Sister Ruxin.
Yang Ruxin nodded. She couldn’t always stay in the county town, so she entrusted everything here to Qian Er. The large shop here should be rented out first, while the small shop and the yard had to be refurbished—the small shop would continue to operate as a pancake and fruit stall, and the yard, once fixed up, would mean that there would be no need to stay at an inn when she came to the county town in the future.
As for the manor, Yang Ruxin would personally go to settle things in a few days. After all, having seen it this time, the head of the manor wasn’t bad, so for the time being, it could continue as it was. Even if changes were to be made, they could wait until the spring of the following year.
That night passed without incident, and early the next morning, the family packed up and checked out, ready to leave.
And the butler from the Fang Family hurried over, as Yuan Mengzhu had prepared some more gifts to send over.
Seeing that the gifts were cotton fabrics and food items, Yang Ruxin accepted them without refusal.
The carriage slowly departed from the inn, but not long after setting out, someone caught up from behind: "Divine Doctor, please wait..."
Yang Ruxin’s eyes flashed for a moment, realizing that the old man had ultimately decided to come after all; it seemed he was indeed afraid of dying. She then asked Qian Er to stop the carriage and emerged from the carriage compartment: "Butler Dong, what is it..."
"Requesting the Divine Doctor to treat a patient," Dong Hang said, handing over a purse.
The day before, when Yang Ruxin asked for a consultation fee of ten thousand taels, Dong Hang had thought it was a joke. But to his surprise, his son-in-law had felt reassured upon hearing it, commenting that Divine Doctors are indeed divine, and a cheaper price would only raise suspicion. Besides, Dao Xuzi was too well-known in the martial world, so he agreed.
Yang Ruxin took the purse and opened it. Inside were two silver notes, each worth five thousand taels, both from Baofeng Bank. She nodded in acceptance, "But what about my family..."