The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“People always say you’re so busy, and I didn’t want to disturb you by inviting you over to my house for a chat, but since you’re free today, why don’t you have lunch with me?”

Mrs. Deng said, ”1 just killed a chicken, and planned to make spicy fried chicken for lunch. You like spicy food, so it’s perfect. I’ll steam some rice to eat with the meal.”

Auntie, don’t worry. I came here to talk to you about something.” Zhuang Qingning sat down, smiling, “I won’t beat around the bush. I’ll speak straight to the point.”

I’ve been thinking about buying the shop from you. Would you be willing to sell it to me?”

At first, renting the shop was due to a shortage of funds, she couldn’t afford to buy it.

Now, with enough silver at hand, and thinking of expanding the business with selling hot and sour noodles, and bringing Zhang Xiangrong and the Cao family to live here, it would be best to buy the shop for long-term business. This would also avoid the troubles that might arise from lease expiration or if Mrs. Deng decided not to rent anymore.

“You want to buy the shop?” Mrs. Deng looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected Zhuang Qingning to have such a plan.

“Yes.” Zhuang Qingning nodded, then continued, “I understand that you may not be willing to sell this old shop that you’ve owned for so many years. So, I’ll offer a price that’s above the market value by ten percent. What do you think?” After finishing her sentence, Zhuang Qingning peered at Mrs. Deng’s facial expression, feeling somewhat nervous.”

Mrs. Deng, a widow who lived alone here after her daughters got married, could stay here instead of living with her daughters. This was possibly due to the fact that she owned the shop.

She valued highly of the shop left behind by her late husband; otherwise, Feng Ershu would not have had such difficulty in buying it, and even resorted to treacherous tactics.

However, Zhuang Qingning felt that she had to buy this shop. She offered to pay an additional ten percent in the hope that Mrs. Deng would accept her proposition quickly and cleanly.”

“You really want to buy the shop?” Mrs. Deng asked again.

“Yes,” Zhuang Qingning affirmed with a nod, “I plan to buy.”

“Ah, you should have told me earlier!”

Mrs. Deng laughed heartily, even spinning around twice out of excitement. Then she held onto Zhuang Qingning’s sleeve and said, “You don’t need to raise the price, just pay the usual price. I’ll give you some extra things as a bonus.” “Anything here in the courtyard, or stuff inside the house, whatever you like, just take it.”

Um?

Zhuang Qingning was taken aback, “Auntie, are you…”

“Well, here’s the thing. A while ago, my eldest daughter came home and said her mother-in-law, who had been a widow for a while, fell ill with a cold. They thought it wasn’t serious and that she would get better after taking a couple of herbal soups. Even the doctor said she would definitely recover in three days. However, after drinking soup for two or three days, her condition worsened. She developed a high fever and became delirious. In a matter of days, she passed away. After arranging her funeral and handling a bunch of stuff at home, my eldest daughter found it difficult to handle everything on her own, including taking care of her three children. So she thought of having me to move in with her to help with the household chores. Moreover, she feels uneasy about me living alone here. In case something happens to me, they wouldn’t be able to attend to me.”

“With my eldest daughter suggesting this, and my second daughter strongly supporting it, I started contemplating about it, and thought it made sense. As one grows older, health issues can unexpectedly arise. If a person like my eldest daughter’s mother-in-law, who was under constant care, could still pass away abruptly, what would happen to me, who’s living far away from my children? If something were to happen to me, and if I passed away, it wouldn’t be a big deal since I’ve lived a long life already. But I’m afraid that my children would carry the guilt.”

“Moreover, living alone here is indeed peaceful, but it’s too peaceful and dull. If I were to live with my eldest daughter, I would have my grandchildren around, and there would be things to do every day.”

“So I thought to myself, if I couldn’t cope, I would move in with my eldest daughter. But I couldn’t go there empty-handed, that would make me seem like I’m depending on my daughter’s family. So I thought of bringing some money along. All the money I have saved isn’t a lot. I thought, if all fails, I would sell the shop and take the money with me.”

“If I were to sell the shop, I would definitely not sell it to strangers, only to you, Qingning. But I was afraid that you wouldn’t have enough money since your business is still in its early stages, and you wouldn’t be thinking of buying the shop yet. So I was hesitant about discussing it with you.”

“A few days ago, my eldest daughter came back to urge me again, and I was thinking to look for you a few days later to talk about this matter properly. If necessary, I would consider selling the shop in installments. But to my surprise, you came over today and asked about buying the shop.”

“Qingning, you’ve really helped me solve a major problem!”

Mrs. Deng was so delighted that she couldn’t hide her excitement, and her eyes gleamed with joy. She generously said, “I’m not joking with you. Anything you want in here, be it furniture like tables and chairs, beds, the trees in the courtyard, or flowers planted in the corners, just let me know, and you can take them.”

“When I leave with my eldest daughter, I may never come back, so these things would be left here unused, which would be a waste. If you can use them, it would be a good way to put them to use…”

Mrs. Deng chattered on.

Zhuang Qingning’s eyes widened in surprise.

She had just been considering to buy the shop, and was worried about whether Mrs. Deng would sell it. However, it turns out that Mrs. Deng had already been thinking of selling it, and doing it as soon as possible?

And not only did she agree to lower the price by ten percent, she also wanted to give her many things, each and every one of them was useful, saving the Cao family the trouble of procuring them.

This was too much of a coincidence, oh no, it should be said her luck was just too good.

After leaving Mrs. Deng’s house, Zhuang Qingning kept marveling at her fortune.

[Of course, it’s due to your good luck now. So everything is going smoothly, and you’re getting twice the result for half the effort.]

Good luck?

Yes, Xiaowu was truly an excellent system, taking care of everything so thoughtfully.

[Although I would love to take credit for this, I did not intentionally add this for you.]

[It’s all thanks to the marriage stone.]

Marriage stone?

Zhuang Qingning suddenly remembered the round, small and unassuming stone.

A little while ago, Xiaowu had mentioned that this marriage stone would come in handy on her road to fortune and prosperity, but it didn’t specify how.

Are you indicating that the marriage stone can bring about good luck?