"To, to buy my freedom..."
Clearly, Chunlan had never even dared to dream of those words, so she stood frozen for a moment, unable to react. Lin Shanyue smiled and said, "That's right, buy your freedom. As long as you work hard and we make money, I will definitely buy your freedom."
Chunlan's eyes turned red. "I will definitely follow Mistress and work hard! I'll be your beast of burden!"
Lin Shanyue burst into laughter. "There's no need for that. Come on, let's go buy you some clothes first."
Fair is fair, Liu Niang had indeed been good to her; fifty taels of silver were handed over without a second thought, and she had even made a gift of her person. If she didn't build a proper business out of this, she would truly let Liu Niang down. Lin Shanyue was currently brimming with drive, and her first step was straight to the draper's shop.
Making them herself would be a bit too slow, so today she bought two sets of ready-made clothes directly. For herself, she chose a light pink mandarin-collared short jacket with an inner tunic, paired with a moon-white silk long skirt embroidered with peonies. For Chunlan, she picked a greenish-blue cross-collared lined jacket and a pale yellow skirt embroidered with orchids, which quite fittingly matched her name. The two sets of ready-made clothes cost three taels of silver, leaving Chunlan extremely ill at ease. "Mistress, I... I can't wear something this nice."
"Just this once, and never again," Lin Shanyue smiled. "Now that we're out and about, if we don't dress a bit better, how will anyone think our goods are any good? We'll make our own later on, and once we earn some money, we can buy more."
Chunlan nodded blankly.
Lin Shanyue also bought a padded jacket for Xiaobao, haggled fiercely with the draper's shopkeeper, and then walked out of the shop quite satisfied.
"Next, we're going to buy a mule cart."
This was also part of Lin Shanyue's plan for going out today. A horse carriage was temporarily out of the question because the small courtyard she rented didn't have a stable at all. There was, however, a mule shed; if she cleaned it up herself and added a mule cart, it would be quite feasible. Whenever they traveled, they always needed transportation.
Lin Shanyue went straight to the agency to find the young man who had rented her the house earlier. Seeing that she was already buying a mule cart so soon and had even brought along a maid, the young man was utterly astonished and didn't dare look down on this young mistress. He immediately said, "Our agency certainly doesn't have mule carts, but I can help introduce one to Mistress. There's a man named Ma Bing in the East Market who has good mules."
Lin Shanyue smiled and slipped him a few copper coins. "Then I'll have to trouble you to make the introduction, young man."
The young man beamed with joy. "Easy enough, Mistress, just wait for me a moment."
...
Lin Shanyue had gone out in the morning hours, and before she knew it, it was noon again. Auntie Pang glanced outside, feeling a bit worried that if Lin Shanyue didn't return soon, Xiaobao would start crying again. Fortunately, Xiaobao was very well-behaved today, and soon the sound of cart wheels rolled into the alley. Auntie Pang hurried out holding Xiaobao, and sure enough, it was Lin Shanyue returning.
Lin Shanyue stepped down from the mule cart right away. "Auntie Pang! Xiaobao!"
Seeing a mule for the very first time, Xiaobao lit up with excitement and burst into a smile, stretching his hands out toward Lin Shanyue. Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Shanyue scooped her son into her arms.
Auntie Pang was quite surprised. "You went out and actually bought a mule cart?"
Lin Shanyue smiled. "Yes, otherwise getting around is too inconvenient."
Chunlan knew how to drive a mule cart and hopped down at that moment, standing obediently by Lin Shanyue's side. Lin Shanyue made the introductions. "This is Auntie Pang, and this is my son, Xiaobao."
"This is Chunlan."
Chunlan hurriedly greeted her.
There was nothing Auntie Pang didn't understand now, and she said with a beaming smile, "Not bad, not bad. Your life is really taking shape."
"Thank you so much, Auntie. Starting tomorrow, I'll try my best to look after Xiaobao myself."
"Don't stand on ceremony! If you're too busy, just come find me anytime!"
Lin Shanyue accepted with a smile.
Chunlan was very sharp. Without even waiting for Lin Shanyue to speak, her eyes landed straight on the mule shed.
"Mistress, I'll go sweep out the mule shed and then lead the mule inside."
The one Lin Shanyue had ultimately chosen was a large dark gray mule, extremely sturdy and a master at hard, enduring labor.
It cost six taels.
"Alright, you handle it. I'm going to make lunch first."
Chunlan hesitated slightly. "Shall I do it instead? Mistress can rest for a moment."
Lin Shanyue shook her head. "I didn't bring you back to cook. You only need to help me with odd jobs and keep an eye on Xiaobao. Besides, we'll be making pastries and concocting incense tonight, which is quite tiring, so don't you worry about the cooking."
Chunlan nodded obediently.
Xiaobao was extremely curious about the new member of the household, his big eyes staring intently at Chunlan. Chunlan took an instant liking to him and, the moment she finished cleaning the mule shed, went straight over to hold Xiaobao. "Mistress, I had no idea you had such a cute son. How old is he?"
Lin Shanyue had already changed into her everyday clothes and was washing her hands to cook. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "He's two. Just call him Xiaobao."
"Xiaobao, Xiaobao, I'm Chunlan~"
Xiaobao wasn't resistant to this new older sister either, babbling away, and after a moment, he pointed toward the large dark gray mule. Chunlan smiled and said, "Mistress, Xiaobao wants to go see the mule."
"Go ahead, you can carry him over, but just stay a safe distance away."
"Understood."
When Xiaobao saw the large dark gray mule, his eyes lit up; clearly, he had never seen such an animal before, and he even wanted to reach out and touch it, but Chunlan carried him away.
"Mistress, where should I put Xiaobao down?"
"Just put him on the bed inside the room."
Chunlan acknowledged with a soft "right," and suddenly remembering something, Lin Shanyue followed her inside. She glanced at the Silver Mirror; nobody seemed to be on the other side right now, which put her a bit more at ease. She added, "My room is simple, and there's only one bed. However, there's a small room next door with a wooden bed as well, but it hasn't been tidied up yet. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to clean it out."
Chunlan smiled. "Leave it all to me, Mistress, don't you worry."
"I've wronged you."
"What's wrong about this? At the flower house, I slept in a communal dormitory. Now I actually have my own room; I should be thanking Mistress instead."
"Alright, then go tidy up, and we'll eat later."
Chunlan went off with a smile. Only then did Lin Shanyue look into the mirror and whisper, "Young master?"
Huo Yi didn't have any pressing matters, but knowing she usually wasn't around in the morning, he hadn't been guarding the mirror. Hearing her call out just then, he walked over. "I'm here."
Lin Shanyue noticed that his room and table were much tidier. Staring at them for a moment, she recalled that Huo Yi had urgently cleaned things up last night; seeing her notice, he knew she must have caught sight of that chaotic mess yesterday.
Huo Yi found it a bit hard to maintain his composure and gave a light cough. "What is it?"
Lin Shanyue quickly collected herself and with a smile told him everything that had happened today.
Hearing that she had gained so much from a single trip out, Huo Yi was somewhat surprised. "You... did very well." Much better than he had imagined.
"It's also thanks to your guidance, Young Master. Today I even borrowed fifty taels of silver from Huayue Pavilion. It was my first time borrowing money, so I felt a bit guilty."
Hearing that she had actually borrowed money from others made Huo Yi feel a bit uneasy inside. He wanted to say he would provide it, but then he realized the one drawback between their two worlds: currency was not mutually transferable. After a moment of thought, he said, "Have you partnered with her on pastries?"
"Yes! The powdered milk and sugar you sent, Young Master, are both top-tier!"
Huo Yi curved his lips. "There are more good things. Catch."
As he spoke, he tossed an oversized bag through the mirror. Inside was yet another wealth of various items, causing Lin Shanyue's eyes to widen.
"These are just some basic things used for baking. Take your time learning and researching them, I believe in you."