Thirty-Three: The Shrewd Old Master

Su Wan smiled. “Let’s take it one step at a time. I’m getting married next week—after that, we’ll see.”

Hu Zihan’s face immediately took on a sympathetic look at those words.

“You really do have a knack for business,” she said, pulling a thick envelope from her bag. “This is the payment for the goods, as agreed, along with your commission. Count it and see.”

Su Wan checked the contents of the envelope. “It’s just right.”

Hu Zihan then asked, “Do you have any more of those lipsticks?”

Su Wan nodded. “I do. I’ll bring them to your shop tomorrow.”

While they chatted, Su Chen finished preparing the meal and called them to the table.

Thanks to Su Wan’s recent guidance, Su Chen’s cooking had improved greatly. The rice was perfectly steamed, and he’d made pumpkin steamed eggs, garlic greens, and poached shrimp.

Since they had a guest, the old master himself had slaughtered a chicken and instructed Su Chen to stew it with mushrooms. When it was brought out, it was still bubbling and steaming.

Hu Zihan’s eyes widened as she looked over the dishes, then turned to Su Chen in surprise. “You made all this?”

Su Chen served everyone their rice and untied his apron. “Yes, I did.”

Hu Zihan, amazed, silently accepted the bowl Su Chen handed her, but couldn’t help glancing at the old master.

He sat with an imposing air, and after just one look, Hu Zihan quickly averted her gaze.

But the old master spoke first. “How did you and my Su Wan meet, young lady?”

Hu Zihan was about to mention that Su Wan supplied lipsticks to her shop, but recalled her earlier warning and closed her mouth just in time.

She stammered, “Well… Su Wan came to my shop to buy something, and that’s how we met.”

The old master smiled. “You two get along well, then. Becoming friends just from a purchase.”

“Yes, Su Wan is really clever. And her goods… I mean, she’s very good at what she does.” Hu Zihan stopped herself halfway, then fell silent and focused on her food.

The old master wore a look of understanding but said nothing more.

Seeing this, Hu Zihan thought he must know about Su Wan’s business dealings and hurried to cover for her. “Grandpa, Su Wan really only came to buy things from me. She didn’t do anything else.”

A sly glint flashed in the old master’s eyes. “I never said you two were working together.”

Hu Zihan was so startled she dropped her chopsticks. “No, we didn’t—”

Before she could say the words “doing business,” Su Wan quickly covered her mouth.

“Grandpa, what are you doing? You’re scaring my friend.”

The old master gave Su Wan a meaningful look, then turned his eyes on Hu Zihan. “I didn’t say anything.”

Only then did Hu Zihan realize the old master had merely said “working together,” and her nerves had made her mishear him.

Still shaken, she looked at Su Wan and then at Su Chen, who was quietly eating. Seeing their unbothered expressions made her even more anxious—the old master was truly something else.

She quickly lowered her head and pretended to be starving, eating voraciously.

She had to admit, the meal was delicious.

Once they’d finished eating, Su Wan sent the old master out for his exercise and walked Hu Zihan to the edge of the village.

“That scared me to death. Is your grandfather a scout? His eyes are like an eagle’s. Standing in front of him, I felt like a murderer.”

Su Wan could well relate to that. If she hadn’t had a strong mind, she might have confessed to being a soul from another world right then and there. Even so, the old master hadn’t suspected she’d replaced his granddaughter, only that she’d hurt her head.

The two chatted at the village entrance until a car came to pick up Hu Zihan.

Back home, Su Wan crushed the pigment powder she’d dried in advance and continued making lipstick.

Just as the lipsticks were cooling and about to be removed from their molds, a face suddenly appeared at the window.

The old master’s stern gaze fell directly on Su Wan.

He was not at all surprised, simply came in calmly and sat beside her.

“So this is lipstick?” he asked in his deep voice.

Su Wan felt a bit uneasy, but nodded. “When did you find out?”

The old master moved some things off the table to make room for her lipsticks.

“I’ve known for a long time.”

“Does this stuff harm people’s health?” he asked.

Su Wan shook her head quickly. “Of course not. Everything’s made from natural ingredients. There won’t be any problems.”

The old master nodded. “Then make it out in the yard—don’t start a fire indoors.”

Su Wan hadn’t expected him not to pursue the matter further.

She was surprised. “You approve of me doing business?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

The old master sighed. “Back then, you couldn’t focus on school, so I thought I’d find you a good husband, so you’d have a good life.”

“But later I realized, you can’t rely on others. You need skills of your own.”

“I only ask one thing of you: never act against your conscience in business.”

Su Wan hadn’t expected her grandfather to be so reasonable. But then, what about what had happened with her aunt?

She voiced her question.

At that, the old master’s face darkened, his brows knotted, eyes wide, nostrils flaring as he struggled to contain his anger.

“That was different,” he shouted.

Realizing his outburst, he turned away, still agitated.

“That was different. Your aunt wasn’t doing honest business—she was hurting people.”

He recounted a few things from that time.

Her aunt had encouraged a family to demand all the best gifts for their daughter’s wedding. When the bride’s family made a scene, she took the opportunity to sell sewing machines, watches, and radios to the groom’s family.

In the end, the two families became bitter enemies, while her aunt made a fortune.

“That I could just tolerate. But later she started trading grain, and people died because of it.”

It turned out that, during a time of severe food shortage, her aunt had used radios, cigarettes, women’s creams, and hairpins to trade for the poor’s ration coupons. She then sold those coupons to the wealthy who didn’t lack for food.

This drove up grain prices so high the poor could no longer afford to eat, forcing them to work for the rich for almost nothing. In the end, all the things the poor had received in exchange returned to the hands of the rich.

The poor worked hard but could never earn back the grain they’d traded away.

Several people died of starvation as a result.

The poor might not have understood what had happened, but the old master only had to think it over to see the truth.

He and his daughter had quarreled fiercely, and in the end, he drove her out of the house in a fit of rage.

Su Wan, who had once drifted through life, had started making lipstick on a whim, never realizing that in this era, a merchant could so easily destroy lives.

The more she thought about it, the more afraid she felt. If such devastation could happen in just one village, what might occur on a larger scale?