40 This Shop is the One

After dragging the pair a ways from the food stand, Jiang Ya Lin turned to Nastasia. "Are you sure that was okay to do?" That was quite a bit of money. Being that they were food stand merchants, they would probably never see another gold coin. While it was a generous sentiment, she couldn't help but worry.

Old Man Cheng was a decent martial artist that had taken part in the great war that had orphaned her. Even before that, he had several merits beneath his name before he finally settled in the town of Mencheng to become a food stall merchant. These things happened years ago. Even to the people that caused a ruckus around his shop, he didn't raise a fist. Thus, she didn't know whether or not Old Man Cheng would be able to handle it should misfortune arise before they were able to tuck away the gold.

Although she asked this question, the money had already been given and could not be taken back.

Nastasia, on the other hand, did not understand the amount of money she had just given away. She had yet to learn to count up to the thousandth place. The only thing she had understood from Jiang Ya Lin's explanation was that six gold coins had been too much.

So, when this question of being sure of actions came about, she too misunderstood about which actions were being spoken of. It had been her thought that the girl was worrying over giving away money that didn't belong to her.

Realizing that she hadn't thought about that at the time, Nastasia began to feel guilty about giving away money that wasn't truly hers. Then again, at the time when Li Yu Rong had given over the coin purse, she had already resolved to pay him back the minute her shop started bringing in a decent revenue.

Therefore, after a second of thought, she waved off the concerned question. "It be okay."

Hearing that, Jiang Ya Lin nodded as she felt her heart settle. 'That's true,' she thought as she recalled the bank being located quite nearby, 'Old Man Cheng would probably close up shop earlier and head straight for the bank.'

Quite settled after considering this, Jiang Ya Lin was much happier as she led them into the Open Market Square. This large open space had many stalls set up, selling wonders from all over the world. Large pavilions, too, were scattered about with at least thirty meters between them and the next pavilion. People were scattered about either happily going through the exotic wares or enjoying meals from either food stalls or restaurants.

The Open Market Square was quite famous that people from all over would come to Mencheng just to visit and discover it's one-of-a-kind things. Things that could only be here due to the Palace of the Four Gates.

At the heart was a large three-storied pavilion. Upon seeing it, Jiang Ya Lin felt a bit of excitement. She had always wanted to see what it looked like on the inside, but as it was an establishment owned by Minister Li, it was exclusive only to the very rich.

Wu Mei Lin, the girl that lived to bully her, would always brag about the beautiful insides of the pavilion and the sweets served that melted on the tongue. Although the rich inside had likely been gutted after being seized and there would be no way for her to try those sweets for herself, it was still something to say that she had been inside.

Upon walking up, there were two guards standing outside the building. When they sighted Jiang Ya Lin, the two that had been about to sternly and roughly -if need be- turn them away did an about-face as they sputtered. "Yo-Young Miss Jiang, what are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't you be meeting Young Mast-"

"No matter how grandmother pushes it, father said it isn't necessary!" Jiang Ya Lin wasn't one to yell, but these unwanted and dreadful words elicited such a panicked response from her mouth. Her gaze slid to Paoxiao that stood beside Nastasia. Seeing that they were being respectfully indifferent to her sudden outburst had her exhaling in relief.

These two men, though she didn't know their names, were soldiers under her father's command that frequently hung around the Jiang estate for all sorts of military-related business. They were quite intimate with the servants that worked there and thus it was not surprising that such talk had reached their ears. Still, while she could not prevent such talk from being spread around, she'd appreciate it if they'd keep the news to themselves and not blurt it out without regards to who was around to hear it.

Clearing her throat, Jiang Ya Lin said, nodding toward Nastasia. "This young miss may be interested in purchasing this shop. Is it all right if we take a look inside?"

The soldier's face scrunched up slightly and then grinned a bit conspiratorially. "Technically, we're supposed to prevent everyone from trying to enter. It wasn't meant to be known that this place was available for sale until next week. However, since you are Commander Jiang's daughter, we can use that as an excuse to let you enter."

The soldier beside the one that had spoken drew his finger down the doors in some sort of symbol before knocking three times. The air around them rippled and shifted before the door eased open. "The seal has been removed, you may enter."

The excitement Jiang Ya Lin had upon entering the three-storied pavilion hit a brick wall and shattered. What was the point of so meticulously sealing the doors? There was nothing to steal, nothing at all. Even the gold dust from removing the gold trimmings had been carefully collected away!

Though disappointed, she didn't let the emotion carry her away for too long. Turning to Nastasia and Paoxiao she pointed to the stairs that led up to second and third floors. Each had an open view of the bottom floor. "Even though everything has been removed, the building is still rather nice and it's really spacious. Ah, but if it doesn't suit you, there are a few others I could show you."

Nastasia didn't respond right away as she walked around and looked over the space. Many plans ran through her head. This place, it reminded her a bit of this specialty store her sister loved to pieces. The store sold exotic clothes and jewelry from around the world. It was two stories and had a similar open floor plan.

Borrowing the idea for it might not be too bad of a thought. The bottom floor, she could fill it with reasonable wonders from her world; nothing too outlandish as to offend the sensibilities of the past-like mindedness of this world. The top floor could be used as a food court for those to take a break in after looking around or even for one to wait in while one's companion took a look around.

Since there are several small rooms some of them could be made into changing rooms, allowing for clothes to be tried on before purchasing. In fact, to ensure a good turnout of people walking through the doors, she would not turn away window shoppers. It was quite common in her modern world for people, who could not afford to buy clothes at a particular store, to then try on said clothes without buying them.

The point of this store wasn't to make money but to attract a large crowd in order to gather a lot of information. Although the point wasn't to turn a profit, Nastasia would at least make sure to get a decent return to pay back Li Yu Rong for his generous investment and all the help he had given her over the past couple months.

Quite satisfied with the shop and her plans for it, she then finally said to Jiang Ya Lin. "How to buy?"

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A/N:

Sorry that the updates have been a bit off this week... the Fourth of July ended up being a three-day celebration as a lot of family members flew in and stayed over. Didn't have time to write because of it. The three missed chapters will be made up over the weekend.

To those living in the US, I hope you all had an awesome Fourth of July. To the readers living everywhere else, I hope you all had an awesome day!