Xia Chunyu was excited. “We definitely have to take two shares. This is a rare opportunity and Second Auntie clearly wants us to take it if she’s offering us a discount.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the risks?” Ye Jiayao asked.

“If it was suggested by someone else, I would definitely be hesitant, but this is coming from Second Auntie. I trust her and her judgment. Aside from that, Second Uncle is more than capable. He might be easy-going but his knack for business is unparalleled. Their family wealth actually started rising because of him,” he told her. It was clear from his tone that he admired him greatly.

Chunyu continued, “Do you know why Third Aunt and Second Aunt are in such a tense relationship? Third Aunt has been wanting Second Aunt to rope her into her business, but Second Auntie refuses to.”

“I know that the coal mine is a good money-making opportunity. And I do trust Second Auntie. I’m just not sure why she offered this to us and not to Mother,” she explained.

Xia Chunyu shook his head, smiling. “A large-scale coal mine like that is bound to attract the attention of a lot of wealthy people. There are a lot of rich families in Shan Xi, all of them with connections. Without someone from a prominent position staking some claim in it, people would not hesitate to stir up trouble. Second Auntie could’ve asked Mother and Father as they hold enough power as the Jing An Marquis, but if she did, she would’ve had to loop in Third Uncle and Third Auntie, too. She gave us this opportunity because we’re the next best thing.”

“And Second Auntie likes you!” He reached out to pinch her nose lightly. “Yaoyao, you are my money-making lucky charm!”

Ye Jiayao opened her mouth to bite his finger, but he retracted his hand quickly.

“I mean money-making dog,” he amended with a laugh.

“How dare you!” Ye Jiayao pounced over him, intending to tickle him but since he was much bigger and stronger than her, he very easily restrained her into a hug.

“You are getting increasingly passionate, I love it,” Xia Chunyu said softly as his hands started to wander.

“Passionate my ass!” Ye Jiayao snorted and stopped his naughty hands. “We’re discussing something important here. Behave.”

Xia Chunyu chuckled. “Fine. Speak, I’m listening.”

Ye Jiayao pushed herself away from him and said, “We’ll buy two shares, then. I have to warn you, though, I only have 250 thousand cash on hand. Second Auntie said that one share is 50 thousand so two percent would be twenty shares, which would cost a million. You go find a way to raise the remaining 750 thousand.”

“That’s simple. I will go borrow some from Zhao Qixuan. Luckily, Heavenly Residence is profitable enough to sustain us and allow us to repay everything in half a year. It’ll just be a little hard on you since you have to make sure the restaurant keeps churning more money,” he said cheekily.

Ye Jiayao rolled her eyes. “If it’s gonna be harder on me then I should have a bigger cut on the profits.”

Xia Chunyu raised his eyebrows in incredulity. “You are so mercenary. Why do you always have to look at it that way? We are married now, we are one entity. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours.”

She smirked inwardly. More like what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is also mine.”

“Stop saying that! Don’t forget that we have a contract. We only have two years and six months left on that. Who knows how things will turn out when the time comes?” she reasoned.

Xia Chunyu nodded understandingly. “Alright. We should stick with the old rules then, 50-50.”

Ye Jiayao wanted to snarl at him. Weren’t he just saying that what’s his was hers too earlier?

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “50-50 it is. We need to put this in a contract so that it’s binding for both of us.”

Xia Chunyu held his laughter back at seeing Yaoyao’s face. Silly, impatient girl.

Ye Jiayao quickly wrote up a contract and asked her husband to press his thumbprint.

“Why can’t I just sign my name? It’s so late, I don’t want to get up and wash my hand again,” he complained.

“No. What if you say I forged your signature?”

“Do you really think that I’m that kind of person?”

“People change.” Ye Jiayao grabbed his hand, placed it on a red ink paste, and pressed it down on the contract. After it dried down, she locked it safely in the safe, even covering up to prevent him from peeking.

Xia Chunyu couldn’t help but laugh at her antics. Did she really think that her makeshift metal box was going to stop him if he really wanted that contract?

“Aye, don’t tell anyone about this, okay? This will make a lot of people jealous,” Chunyu warned her.

She huffed impatiently. “You don’t have to tell me that. You never show others the extent of your wealth – that’s business 101.”

The next day, Xia Chunyu spoke to Second Uncle about the business of the coal mine at length. After he was satisfied that he understood enough, he then went to Zhao Qixuan to borrow the money he needed. Zhao Qixuan readily gave it to him after hearing that it was needed urgently and that it would be returned in the next five months.

Once she handed the money out to Second Auntie and Second Uncle, Ye Jiayao felt poor. She has to watch her expenses more closely from now on.

Luckily for them, Manager Bai has already gotten the accounts squared away. Manager Lu and his nephew had stolen almost 50 thousand taels, and this was only from what they were able to trace from the account books.

Xia Chunyu told them that they either give the money back or they would be sent to the constables.

Manager Lu could only give him the shop that he bought and all the gold bars and silver ingots he hid. These only costs around 38 thousand taels. He has already spent the rest of the money that they stole and was unable to cough out the remaining amount.

Xia Chunyu didn’t want to relent but considering that Manager Lu still has four children and his parents to support, he decided to let it go. He ordered him to leave Jin Ling and never come back again.

Ye Jiayao did the math. Although the 38 thousand taels were a welcome addition to their budget, it didn’t really help all that much. Her food and clothing might come out of the family fund now, but Chunyu still has a lot of social parties to attend that would require social expenses. Not to mention the gifts they have to send for the approaching new year, and the money needed for sowing seeds in the new season. All these thoughts of budgeting were making Ye Jiayao’s head spin. Yes, she still has her personal savings and her dowry, but she wanted to avoid using that unless absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Liu Li was feeling unhappy because Chunfeng ended up taking the position in the judicial office. Zhou, the ever backstabbing woman that she was, urged her that this was definitely Jinxuan’s doing. She told Liu Li that Jinxuan didn’t want them doing better than her and Chunyu that’s why she tried to sabotage Chunfeng’s career. This only made Liu Li hate Jinxuan even more.

Now that Xia Peishan has left, Zhou had more room to move and she couldn’t be happier about that.

Ye Jiayao, on the other hand, chose to ignore all the snide remarks from Zhou and Liu Li. She simply pretended to not see or hear anything. She also knew that if Zhou ever steps out of line, You would be there to stop her.

Time at the mansion went by quickly and before they knew it, it was the twelfth month, almost the end of the year.

Ye Jiayao has opened a pastry shop next to Heavenly Residence that focuses on exquisite cakes and ice creams. She put Jiang Yue in charge but she also employed Zhong Xiang to help out whenever he’s free.

This little pastry store’s profits were unexpectedly great. Giving cakes as gifts has become kind of a trend and all the wealthy ladies scramble for them.

Watching her earnings grow day by day definitely helped Ye Jiayao ignore Zhou and Liu Li’s evil ridicules. She was simply too happy to pay any attention to their pettiness.

One day, Xia You handed Ye Jiayao a list, saying, “Take a look at this. These are all the names of our friends and aristocratic acquaintances. We need to send them some gifts for the new year and make sure that these gifts would not pale in comparison to those that we sent the past years. You would be in charge of these kinds of things in the future so we better prepare you now.”

Ye Jiayao was elated. Her mother-in-law was teaching and training her to become the future mistress of the Marquis’ mansion.

She looked through the detailed list meticulously. She noted the long-time friends who require special attention and the ones that the Xia family had a benefit-based relationship with. She also took notice of the list of things that couldn’t be given to certain families.

It wasn’t a long list but it certainly gave her an insight into You’s social circle.

“Start with learning how to write a gift list and I’ll review it once you’re done,” Xia You told her.

Ye Jiayao was starting to realize how hard it was to be a mistress of a family as prestigious as the Xias. Sending out gifts alone required so much detail and attention!

“Yes, Mother,” Ye Jiayao replied obediently, trying not to let on the immense pressure she was feeling. She knew that You was grooming her to become the future Madam. She may not want that position and all the headaches that came with it, but she still couldn’t fail this test.

“Also, the Empress Dowager’s 70th birthday is in the first month of the new year. His Majesty wants to help the Empress Dowager arrange a grand celebration. I have yet to think of what to give her so I need you to think about that too,” Xia You added.

Of course, you do. “Sure, Mother.”

After their conversation, Ye Jiayao returned to her room and flopped down on the couch with a sigh.

Seeing her face all scrunched up in a frown, Xia Chunyu asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Is the pastry shop not doing well?”

“No. Actually, I need your help,” she began. “Mother wanted me to make a list of gifts to send to our family friends and business acquaintances. There are more than 10 households on the list!”

Xia Chunyu pushed his documents to the side and walked over to her. He said lazily, “Why are you stressing about that? Just send the same gifts as last year.”

“Ugh!!” Ye Jiayao groaned. “You’re no help. Do you think Mother would’ve told me to make a list if it was that simple? I don’t want to disappoint her. You don’t want me to disappoint her too, don’t you?” Ye Jiayao said with a pout.

He nodded and said, “You’re right. However, I am not good at these things either.”

“Two heads are better than one. Come on, let’s brainstorm!”

“It’s three heads! We are still lacking one more!”