Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 647 - 645

Chapter 647: 645

The next day in the early morning, Xiao’er, Jingrui, and Jinghao went together to check up on their shops in the county.

They planned to return to their village after inspecting the shops.

Though they hadn’t returned for several years, they maintained their stores once every year. Thus, all of Xiao’er’s shops, or those she had shares in, always looked brand new inside and out.

All the shopkeepers were exceedingly delighted to see the siblings.

As it was year-end, Xiao’er and Jingrui also personally delivered the annual gifts to the shop managers and clerks.

This was a small matter that they didn’t need to do themselves, but Xiao’er thought that as the owners, it was a small but thoughtful gesture. Since they had to check on all the shops anyway, personally delivering the gifts could better demonstrate their appreciation. Others found it quite heartwarming.

Xiao’er believed that without their conscientious work, it wasn’t possible for her family to own multiple shops and earn money.

If they didn’t truly value their employees, how could the workers work with their heart? Therefore, Xiao’er was always generous when it came to the employees’ benefits.

Besides salaries, the amount of money Xiao’er’s family spent each year on the managers and clerks was considerable. They received festival gifts, compensation for injuries, extra pay for overtime, winter compensation, and summer beverage allowances. Although spending a lot, the returns were obvious. The profits of many shops increased every year, bringing in a lot more than what was spent.

As the saying goes, you can’t expect a horse to gallop but not graze. It’s impossible!

The correct principle should be to feed the horse well and make sure it’s full and contented, if you want it to run fast and steady!

Xiao’er and Jingrui left the toy store amidst words of thanks and respect-filled glances.

"Why does it feel colder now than when we left in the morning?" Jingrui asked, looking at the weather with a frown.

"It looks like it’s about to snow." Xiao’er also looked at the sky.

"Let’s go. After visiting the colored glaze store, we’ll pick up our mother and head back to the village." Jingrui walked ahead.

"Brother, there’s a shop near Juxian Academy that sells delicious scallion pancakes, the best I’ve ever had. Since we’ve made the trip back here, why don’t you go to the colored glaze store while I buy some pancakes?" Jinghao mentioned the snack he used to buy when he went to school, which he wanted to eat again but was too shy to admit.

Jingrui recalled those times as well, when going to school was a joyous occasion and buying snacks around the academy had left them with pleasant memories. "Wait for me at the colored glaze store, I’ll go buy them." he agreed.

"Brother, I don’t want just scallion pancakes, but also braised duck legs, donkey meat buns..." Jinghao listed a bunch of snacks.

Jingrui...

Was he just going for a few scallion pancakes? Why did he need to buy snacks from almost the entire street?!

Seeing Jingrui’s flabbergasted expression, Xiao’er couldn’t help but laugh: "That’s enough, Jinghao. Brother only has two hands, he can’t carry so much. The village isn’t far from the county. You can come again when you have time."

"Let’s choose two or three types to buy then." Jinghao said, a bit embarrassed for wanting so much and could not control his cravings.

Although the snack street near the Imperial College in the capital had snacks from all over the country, none of them tasted as authentic as the one near Juxian Academy.

Jingrui nodded and walked off alone.

Juxian Academy was quite distant from the toy store, and Jingrui, fearing it would snow, walked rather brusquely.

At an intersection, he turned right and walked a short distance before catching sight of a few young boys romping about and chasing each other on the street.

One of the boys was running ahead while urging his peers to run faster. It seemed he was about to collide with a heavily pregnant woman.

Someone on the side yelled, "Be careful!"

"Get out of the way! Move quickly!"

The pregnant woman had been keeping her head down and walking, but the commotion brought her head up, just in time to see a small figure hurtling toward her.

The pregnant woman tried to step out of the way, but she wasn’t quick enough due to her heavy belly.

A collision seemed imminent.

Unable to watch, some bystanders covered their eyes.

Just then, a red figure who was closest to the pregnant woman acted, grabbing her and pulling her clear of the boy’s path.

The boy had now noticed the danger and stopped abruptly.

However, the boys chasing after him were running too fast, one of them knocked into a pole causing an old woman carrying two baskets of apples to spin half a round on the spot and fall to the ground.

The baskets of apples scattered on the ground.

Most elders had brittle bones, and such a fall could be painful. The old woman held onto her waist, too agonized to speak.

"God! Whose child is this? Running wild on the streets! Look! He’s run into someone!"

"Yeah! This is no way to behave, this isn’t some playground. What if he’s hit by a carriage next time?"

"Let’s help this old woman gather her apples! It’s winter, and it’s pitiful for her to have to sell apples at her age."

"First, let’s get her to the clinic. From the looks of it, she might have broken her waist!"

Seeing that they were in trouble, the boys looked at each other and then took off running.

"Don’t let that kid get away! If he does, who’s going to pay for the old woman’s medical expenses? We need to get his parents to compensate us!" A woman called out as the boy was about to escape.

"Yes, we can’t let him escape! This old woman seem poor. We don’t know how severe her injuries are. If they’re serious, it would cost at least eight to ten taels of silver to treat them, and where is she going to get the money for that?"

Those who intended to take the old woman to the clinic decided against it after hearing these words, for they did not have much money to spare either!

A man hurriedly grabbed and held onto the boy who had caused the accident.

The other children took this opportunity to run away even faster!

"Let go of me! Let go of me! You’ll regret it when my mother comes!" The boy struggled fiercely, issuing a threat.

Seeing this, Zhu Yan quickly let go of the pregnant woman and went over to the old woman.

"Grandma, did you hurt your waist? Can you stand up?"

"No, I can’t... My waist hurts so much, I can’t get up." The old lady shook her head, pain written all over her face.

"Grandma, let me check if you’ve broken your waist." If her waist was truly broken, trying to move could make it worse. If it wasn’t, Zhu Yan could carry her to the clinic.

Zhu Yan had some knowledge of medical skills. She reached out and felt the old woman’s waistbone for a bit. Then, relieved, she said, "Grandma, you didn’t break your waist. It’s probably just a fracture. I’ll take you to the clinic."