Mrs. Li had only spent a moment considering, but many thoughts flashed through her mind. Su Tang was actually giving her face by adding a whole extra tael despite knowing both that Mrs. Li had only had the girl on her hands for a few days and the price she had paid for her and, on top of that, when Mrs. Li thought of how hard it might end up being to sell Yang Dani, she finally decided to agree to Su Tang’s price without any more fuss.
When Su Tang saw Mrs. Li nod her head, she smiled and directly counted out six taels of silver to pass over to the older woman. A moment later, she had Yang Dani’s slave contract in her hands.
“This servant thanks the miss! This servant will definitely do good work in the future! Whether the work is bitter or tiring I pledge to do it all well!” Mrs. Li left quickly once the sale was finished, and Yang Dani immediately knelt down to pay her respects to Su Tang.
Su Tang gave her a slight nod and then said. “Dani isn’t a good name. Let’s call you Pu Wei in the future.”
At the same time, Su Tang felt that the villagers living nearby really didn’t use their brains when naming their children. She had bought four people and two of them were actually both named ‘Dani’. In fact, when she had first heard the girl’s name, Su Tang had really struggled not to spout out a retort.
“Thank you miss. This servant will be called Pu Wei.” Pu Wei once again kneeled and kowtowed.
Su Tang quickly gestured for her to get up, so Pu Wei stood up. But then, she asked in a curious tone, “But miss, what does Pu Wei mean?”
“Pu Wei is a kind of grass that is very flexible and tenacious.” Su Tang had felt this girl gave her an impression of tenacity, so she chose a correspondingly fitting name. (tl note: Her name is ‘蒲苇’ which is pampas grass – an invasive species of grass that can outgrow and choke out other forms of vegetation)
As it happened, since Mrs. Li had brought Pu Wei over in the morning before Su Tang had opened the cafe, the girl had arrived at a good time. Taking advantage of that, Su Tang led both Pu Wei and Baohe to the kitchen to make the desserts that would be sold during the day. While they worked, Su Tang sternly told Pu Wei the rules of her family. Once again, Su Tang explained that Pu Wei should never speak about the things she might see inside the house to outsides, but other than that she would have a great deal of freedom.
Pu Wei firmly engraved Su Tang’s words in her heart and promised that she would never disclose anything. Su Tang nodded with satisfaction and decided that, starting from today, she would hand over the Dessert Cafe to Pu Wei and Baohe.
Su Tang was free in the mornings, so she decided she would lead them in making the desserts at that time, and after that, the two of them would work to keep the shop running while exchanging which counter they worked from time to time so that they would be experienced with all aspects of the shop. This way, Su Tang felt that she finally wouldn’t be so tied down to the shop anymore.
That afternoon, Su Tang headed to the Song residence. When Pengmo opened the door to her knock, he was surprised to see her there and said: “Young miss, why did you come? This small one was still planning to come and pick up master’s lunch a bit later.”
Su Tang replied, “Today I bought a new servant, so I won’t have to be in the shop all the time anymore. Where’s master, in the study?”
Pengmo quickly ushered her inside and closed the door behind while saying: “En, he should be. Since the young miss hasn’t been coming these past few days master hasn’t been eating as much anymore. It’s good that you’re back now, he won’t have to miss you anymore.”
“Pengmo, I think you’re asking for a beating! Why are you spouting nonsense?” Song Yi suddenly roared. He had originally been in his study when he heard the knock at the door. Thinking that it might be Su Tang, he anxiously sent Pengmo over to open the door for her but, at the same time, he wanted to maintain his dignity as a master so he stayed in the study himself.
But who would have thought that as soon as Pengmo saw Su Tang he would unexpectedly grow leopard guts and start talking nonsense?
Hearing his master’s yell, Pengmo just smiled and said: “Yes, yes, this small one was wrong, this small one should be beaten, and this small one will pour tea for you and the young miss now. Ah, there’s still some of that milk tea sent over by the young miss before, so should I use that or the regular tea?”
Su Tang stepped inside and was met with Song Yi staring at her and fuming, but she just smiled and said to Pengmo, “Yesterday’s milk tea isn’t fresh anymore, I brought a freshly made pot with me and also some desserts that I made this morning. Here, please put them on a plate and send them over.”
Su Tang held up the food box she was carrying as she spoke and then handed it over to Pengmo when she was done. Pengmo hurriedly agreed and disappeared toward the kitchen after receiving the food box.
“Unworthy disciple, it seems you still know to come back?!” Song Yi’s words were fierce, but his tone was more petulant.
It was said that children grew up into old children, and Song Yi seemed to fit the bill. Su Tang almost wanted to laugh. Although her master was normally very shrewd and always scheming up new ways to tease Su Tang, after she had stopped coming over for only a few days he was already throwing a small temper.
“Master, the disciple really missed you. I haven’t seen you for just a few days, but you’ve already lost weight! This disciple really wishes you would eat and sleep properly while we are apart, ah. But now, finally meeting master today, this disciple feels as if she’s stepped out of a cold winter and into the warmth of the sun!”
Su Tang could clearly see Song Yi’s temper rising, so she quickly began to speak sweet words to coax this elder!
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tl begging corner:
Buahahahaha. Old child throwing a fit