Chapter 118 -

Chapter 118: Chapter

Yimei rolled her eyes at his words, letting out a small, dismissive scoff. "I don’t give a shit about the Bai family," she said flatly, her voice filled with absolute indifference. "Why on earth would I use my own money on them? I don’t do anything that doesn’t benefit me."

Xiao Jun chuckled softly, entirely unsurprised by her cold response.

Yimei looked down at the heavy iron crate and tapped her fingers against the wooden lid. "Divide this money into two equal parts," she instructed smoothly. "Use 50,000 taels for the full renovations and the daily running of my new pavilion here in the market. I will take the remaining 50,000 with me."

She looked straight into Xiao Jun’s eyes with a sharp, businesslike clarity. "And whenever my recipes make more money while I am away in the southeast, keep every single tael safely locked away for me until I ask for it."

Xiao Jun snapped his paper fan shut with a sharp clack, his smirk widening with deep admiration. "Consider it done, Yimei. Your fortune will be kept safer than the Imperial Treasury itself."

Yimei nodded in satisfaction, turning around to gather her cloak. "Good. I have a long journey to prepare for."

Xiao Jun called his guards, and within half an hour, the silver was split. Fifty thousand taels remained locked in the pavilion’s private vault, while the other fifty thousand taels were packed neatly into heavy leather chests and loaded onto a large, wooden handcart.

Yimei walked out to the quiet back alley of the pavilion where the cart was parked. She looked at the massive, bulky chests sitting under the heavy tarp and let out a long, tired sigh.

There were no modern banks, digital transfers, or secure credit cards in this ancient world. Carrying fifty thousand taels of pure silver on a long carriage journey across provinces was basically begging every group of mountain bandits and greedy relatives to target her.

How on earth am I supposed to move all this money without drawing attention? Yimei thought, rubbing her temples.

[Host, you don’t need to haul that heavy cart around like a target,] Nine’s electronic voice chimed in her mind suddenly. [Your system features include a personal dimensional storage space. You can store non-living items, gold, and silver inside it safely, and retrieve them whenever you want.]

Yimei’s eyes lit up with a sharp, victorious glint. You tell me this just now?

[You never asked, Host!] Nine replied, sounding almost innocent.

Yimei turned to Qinqin, who was watching the heavy cart with a terrified expression, clearly wondering how they were going to get it back into the Bai Manor without anyone noticing.

"Qinqin," Yimei said smoothly, her tone completely calm. "Go wait for me at the front entrance of the tea house with the carriage. I need to handle a quick private arrangement for these chests with Young Master Xiao’s guards."

"Yes, Young Madame," Qinqin replied with a breath of relief, quickly hurrying toward the front alley.

Once the alley was completely clear, Yimei stepped up to the cart, placed her hand over the heavy iron lock of the first chest, and softly commanded in her head, Store.

In an instant, a faint blue light flashed, and the heavy leather chests vanished into thin air. The heavy cart sprang upward, completely empty.

Yimei dusted off her sleeves with a satisfied smirk, pulled her fur cloak tightly around her shoulders, and strolled back toward her carriage.

Yimei and Qinqin made their way through the busy streets to her new East Market pavilion to see it one last time before their long journey.

When they stepped inside, the sound of sawing wood and light hammering echoed through the main hall. Master Chen and his craftsmen were hard at work, fixing the wooden railing and doors that Boss Qian’s thugs had damaged. Everything was being restored to perfection.

Seeing Yimei walk in, Lin Fang immediately stopped what she was doing and rushed over, her face filled with worry.

"Young Madame!" Lin Fang gasped softly, looking at her with wide, anxious eyes. "Are the rumors really true? Is the family really moving to the southeast?"

Yimei gave a calm nod, reaching out to pat Lin Fang’s shoulder reassuringly. "They are true. But you do not need to worry about this place."

Lin Fang bit her lip, still looking uneasy. "What will happen to our pavilion while you are away?"

"I know you can manage this pavilion well on your own," Yimei said, her voice steady and confident. "Young Master Xiao will be supervising everything from now on. Have a private office prepared for him on the upper floor whenever he comes to check on the progress. All necessary funds and running expenses will be provided directly by him."

Lin Fang listened intently, nodding her head as the weight off her shoulders began to lift.

"I am trusting everything here to you, Lin Fang," Yimei added, her dark eyes flashing with sharp assurance. "As for Boss Qian and those other shopkeepers, they will not dare attack this place ever again. Focus on the opening, keep the accounts tight, and run this business with your head held high."

"Yes, Young Madame!" Lin Fang replied firmly, bowing deeply with newfound determination. "I will not let you down!"

Yimei took one last look around the grand, beautiful tea pavilion, satisfied with her arrangements. With her money safely hidden in her space and her business in capable hands, she turned around and walked out into the crisp winter air, ready to return to the Bai Manor.

Inside the carriage, the only sound was the soft rustle of silk and the quiet scratch of Yimei’s ink brush across paper.

Across from her, Qinqin sat near the window, holding a piece of embroidery. Her hands moved super slow. She let out a long, heavy sigh, her needle just hovering over the cloth.

Yimei didn’t look up. She kept writing down notes for her new business plan in the southeast.

Sigh...

Qinqin let out a second sigh, even louder this time, her shoulders slumping.

Yimei turned a page in her small notebook.

SIGH...

Qinqin let out a third, super dramatic sigh, practically collapsing over her own lap.

Yimei finally stopped and set her brush down. She looked over at her maid with a calm, unbothered face.

"What is wrong with you, Qinqin?" Yimei asked flatly. "If you keep sighing like that, you are going to blow the carriage curtains away."

Qinqin immediately dropped her cloth, moved over, and sat right beside Yimei. She squeezed Yimei’s hand gently, her eyes full of real fear and worry.

"Madame, I am really, really worried!" Qinqin said, her voice shaking. "How are things going to go for us in the southeast? We have no family business to rely on, no servants, no monthly allowance, and Young Master Zhengyu’s legs are still healing! How are we going to survive, let alone win against the other branches?!"

Yimei looked down at Qinqin’s hands, then looked right into her eyes. A small, confident smirk appeared on her face. She squeezed Qinqin’s hand back gently.

"Qinqin, listen to me," Yimei said, her voice smooth and steady. "The other branches are panicking because they have spent their whole lives relying on the Bai family’s money. Without this manor, they have nothing. But me?"

Yimei leaned back comfortably against the carriage cushion, her eyes sharp and clever.

"I was already making my own money before Grandmother made this decision, and I will make even more in the southeast," Yimei said softly. "So stop sighing. As long as you stay with me, you will never go hungry. In fact, we are going to sit back and watch those greedy relatives mess up while we build our own wealth."

Qinqin stared at her Madame, her eyes big with shock and total respect. All the fear in her heart vanished instantly, replaced by pure trust.

"Yes, Madame!" Qinqin nodded quickly, wiping her face with a bright smile. "I will follow you anywhere!"

The carriage came to a soft stop right in front of the Northern Courtyard, bringing them one step closer to leaving for the southeast.