These past few days, Su Mo has been lying in bed almost all the time, mostly sleeping and eating very little.
Even when Xia Miaomiao made a lot of chili and chili sauce, she had no appetite.
No matter how much everyone tried to console her, she seemed completely disheartened.
However, she did take good care of the pot of chili she brought back.
Bai Yunhan has also started helping Wang Fu manage the Bai family business.
Sang Li and the others have been staying at Wenge Pavilion and have not returned to the Bai family.
But recently, there have been rumors on the street about Bai Yunxin and Li Wenxuan.
Upon hearing the rumors on the street, Bai Yunxin immediately went to Wenge Pavilion.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the three of them sitting outside at a table, playing cards and leisurely drinking tea.
Bai Yunxin's anger surged, and she walked over immediately, knocking the table over, causing the playing cards to scatter all over the ground, startling the three of them.
"What do you all mean? I gave you so much money, and this is how you keep secrets?" she exclaimed.
"What?" Sang Li was still a bit confused.
"I haven't told anyone about me and Li Wenxuan, except you guys," Bai Yunxin said angrily.
"Ahem..." Xiao Han purposely coughed and leaned over to Sang Li's ear, saying, "Sister Li, my bad. I accidentally let slip about the fight between me and Li Wenxuan on the street last time."
"..."
"You..." Bai Yunxin pointed at Xiao Han. "You all have been freeloading at my Bai family's expense. What face do you have?"
Bai Yunxin's personal maid, Dong Xue, stepped forward with an indignant expression. "Exactly, now that the matter with Master Bai has been settled, why are you still staying at the Bai family?"
"Miss, if it weren't for us, who exposed the murderer who killed Master Bai, we wouldn't have achieved such a great merit, right? In the end, it was also your eldest young master who didn't pursue it!" Xiao Han said.
"This is the Bai family's property, and I'm telling you to leave right away!"
"Speaking of which, your mother is also an accomplice in the death of Master Bai. Why hasn't she been driven out of the Bai family?"
"You..." Bai Yunxin's chest heaved with anger at Xiao Han's words. She angrily said, "My mother was manipulated!"
"Enough of the noise! Enough of the noise!" A shoe flew out from the house, directly towards Bai Yunxin's face.
Bai Yunxin was startled and temporarily forgot to dodge.
"Miss, be careful!" Dong Xue immediately threw herself at Bai Yunxin, and the two of them fell to the ground together.
Bai Yunxin's face was smeared with mud, and her headdress was askew.
"Ah, my face! Ah!" Bai Yunxin exclaimed in frustration.
Su Mo walked out of the house barefoot and lazily leaned against the door. "Bai Yunxin, you have such a loud voice, you disturbed me!"
Dong Xue quickly helped Bai Yunxin up and asked, "Miss, are you alright?"
"Slap!" A slap landed on Dong Xue's face. "It's all your fault! Who asked you to throw yourself at me?!"
Dong Xue covered her face and lowered her eyes. "Miss, I'm sorry."
"Miss Bai," Sang Li stood up and approached her. "This matter was a slip of the tongue by my friend. It was our fault, I apologize. But have you ever considered whether Li Wenxuan truly intends to marry you?"
"That's right, that Li Wenxuan looks like a scumbag. Maybe he's just playing with you!" Xiao Han chimed in.
"Why don't you test him with this incident? If he genuinely cares for you, he won't let rumors harm you. He will take responsibility and marry you," Sang Li suggested.
Although Bai Yunxin felt angry in her heart, after giving it some thought, she found Sang Li's words reasonable. "But... I'm in the mourning period and cannot get married."
"How long is the mourning period here?"
"One hundred days."
"In that case, you can establish an engagement between the two families first and get married after the hundred days. It's a win-win situation. The key is to see Li Wenxuan's attitude," Sang Li proposed.
Bai Yunxin pondered for a moment. "I'll go find Wenxuan now."
"Miss Bai!" Sang Li called out to her and pointed at her disheveled appearance and disordered hair. "You look a bit unkempt. It would be better to go tomorrow."
Bai Yunxin touched her face and hair, glared at them, and left Wenge Pavilion.
"Sister Li, will Li Wenxuan marry Bai Yunxin?" Xiao Han asked.
"It's difficult," Sang Li glanced at Xiao Han. "It's all your fault! Why did you blurt it out on the street?"
"I... I'm sorry. I got too carried away when I was scolding him," Xiao Han mumbled and rubbed her nose.
When Xia Miaomiao saw Su Mo finally wake up, she rushed over and grabbed her arm. "Mo Mo, you're finally awake! Let's play mahjong with the four of us. I just made a set of mahjong tiles these days!"
Su Mo weakly replied, "Not interested."
Xiao Han and Sang Li helped Bai Yunxin pick up the fallen table. "Mo Mo, this is not good. It's been several days, and you haven't been out at all. Why don't we accompany you for some shopping?"
Still in a weak voice, Su Mo replied, "Not interested."
The three of them sighed helplessly.
At this moment, several people entered the courtyard. Upon hearing the voices, they turned their heads to see Bai Yunhan, Fang Qing, and Yi walking in.
"Sister Su!" Yi carried a large basket in his hands and ran towards Su Mo. "Look, I heard you like eating bell peppers, so I found a lot of them! I even planted some in the backyard of the Bai family. From now on, you won't have trouble finding them if you want to eat!"
Su Mo looked at him and forced a stiff smile. "Thank you. I'm tired. I'll rest first."
After speaking, Su Mo entered the house and closed the door.
Yi lowered his eyes, a trace of desolation flickering in them.
"Yi, she's been in a bad mood these days. Don't mind it, okay?" Xia Miaomiao quickly said.
"I know she's in a bad mood. That's why I thought of finding more bell peppers for her, hoping it would improve her mood. It seems that only the Shadowless Gentleman can make her feel better," Yi pouted.
The group fell into silence.
"I'll go to the study and find some books. You all can talk," Bai Yunhan said.
Sang Li thought of Bai Yunxin and immediately said, "I'll accompany you."
After Sang Li and Bai Yunhan left, Xiao Han immediately pulled Fang Qing and Yi aside, excitedly saying, "Come on, let's play mahjong! Mo Mo has been feeling down these days, and we can never gather enough people. Miaomiao, quickly bring out the mahjong tiles you made!"
"Oh, okay." Xia Miaomiao went inside to retrieve the mahjong tiles.
"What's mahjong?" Fang Qing couldn't help but ask.
Xiao Han smiled mysteriously at him. "It's a very fun game, of course!"
Seeing Xiao Han's expression, Fang Qing touched his pocket and felt a bit uneasy. It was his first time planning to give a girl a gift, so he was a little nervous...
...
Bai Yunhan's study was very large, even bigger than the study in the Bai family. It was probably the size of two rooms combined.
"Bai Gongzi, what kind of books are you looking for? I can help you find them," Sang Li said.
"Oh, I want to find some books about business and learn from them."
Lately, Bai Yunhan had been under a lot of pressure because of the Bai family's business.
Sang Li approached the bookshelf and started searching. She glanced at Bai Yunhan and casually asked, "Bai Gongzi, how is your relationship with the Li family lately? Have they been causing any trouble for your business?"
Bai Yunhan sighed, "They haven't caused any trouble, but after my father's death, all the money that was kept in the Bai Family Money House was withdrawn and deposited into the Li family's money house."
"Is it because the Li family has been spreading rumors that you are not good at business, which led to the loss of these customers?"
Bai Yunhan nodded. "That seems to be the case. I am indeed not very skilled."
"What businesses does the Bai family have in Lan City?"
"We have a money house, a pawnshop, a winery, and a gambling hall."
Sang Li pondered for a moment and asked, "How much interest does your money house offer for deposits?"
Bai Yunhan furrowed his brow, not fully understanding Sang Li's question. "What do you mean?"
"When someone deposits money into your money house, how much do you have to pay them annually?"
"I'm not quite sure. People who deposit money into our money house are required to pay us a custody fee regularly," Bai Yunhan explained.
"I see. Here's the thing," Sang Li suddenly understood. The money house here was different from a bank. The currency here was mostly gold and silver, which wasn't convenient to carry around, so people would generally store their money in a money house.
"Bai Gongzi, why don't you change your approach? Let others deposit money into your money house, and you can pay them a small amount regularly as interest. Although the amount won't be large, they would definitely be willing to keep their money with you instead of paying a custody fee."
"I'm not sure about that..."
"You can take the money deposited in your money house and lend it to other merchants, charging them a certain fee. If someone urgently needs money, you can ask them to use valuable things like property deeds as collateral."
...
Sang Li spent a long time explaining various banking methods to Bai Yunhan in the study, and he listened in a haze. However, he felt that some of Sang Li's methods were feasible and needed to be slowly digested.
"Sang Gu-niang, after listening to your explanation, everything suddenly became clear to me. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Sang Li smiled and suddenly had an idea.
"Bai Yunhan, I wonder if you're interested in opening an entertainment chess and card room?"
Bai Yunhan was somewhat puzzled, "An entertainment chess and card room?"
Sang Li briefly explained it to him.
"Well, this would require your investment, and my three sisters and I would help you operate it. As for the earnings, we can split them... how about a 60-40 split? Or, you can lend us some money first, and when we make a profit, we'll pay you back. But I think it would be more beneficial for you to become a shareholder."
Bai Yunhan listened, somewhat undecided, and asked, "So, how much money do you roughly need?"
"Well... I'll ask Miaomiao when I go back and have her come up with a plan. I'll show it to you then."
Bai Yunhan hesitated for a moment and replied, "Alright."
The two of them talked in the study for a while, and Bai Yunhan took out a few books.
"Miss Sang, I'm really grateful for your help today."
As they walked to the courtyard, they saw four people playing mahjong.
"Haha, I won!" Xiao Han laughed, "Li Jie is not here, and I found out that I can still win. You two are just too inexperienced!"
Fang Qing and Yi pouted, "Miss Xiao, Miss Xia, we've already lost all our pocket money for this month! Are you bullying us because we don't know how to play?"
"I thought I was already dumb enough, but it turns out you two are even dumber than me, hahaha!"
"..."
Xia Miaomiao couldn't help but laugh. She pushed the silver coins over, "Here you go, take it back. Study it well, next time we'll play for real."
The two of them happily collected the money, "Okay, once we're familiar with it, we'll come back and play with you!"
Sang Li looked at them and said to Bai Yunhan, "Do you want to join in?"
Bai Yunhan thought for a moment, "Sure, I'll give it a try."
Bai Yunhan and Sang Li walked over, and Yi and Fang Qing voluntarily stepped aside.
Xia Miaomiao explained the rules to Bai Yunhan twice, and then they began.
Yi and Fang Qing stood behind Bai Yunhan, acting as strategists. They would occasionally rub their chins or scratch their heads, their expressions quite animated.