A Beggar as a Shopkeeper

In fact, Su Jiu could not answer this question. She did not remember where she was from, she did not remember who her parents were, and only remembered her surname was Su.

It turned out that the beggars who had taken her in had been calling her Jiu'er, so later she shortened it to Su Jiu.

"My name is Jiu!" Su Jiu replied.

Upon hearing this, Nangong Bi looked back at Nangong Shu, astonished.

Only poor uneducated people use numbers to name their children, they thought in unison. But Su Jiu does not look like she is from a poor family.

They were chatting as footsteps came from outside the door. Chang Huan walked in and smiled at Su Jiu. "Here he is!"

Su Jiu got up, and sure enough, the beggar they saw came in cautiously with his still sleepy daughter in his arms.

Coincidentally, when Chang Huan went, he happened to see them coming out of the physician's clinic.

As the weather had turned cold, there were many people in the clinic and there was a long queue. Seeing that the father and daughter were beggars, the staff had been ignoring them all the time, so it took them a long time to get their turn.

At this time, the man was still holding the medicine in his hand.

As soon as he came into the room and saw so many people, he was a little scared. "Young Master, why have you called for me?"

Qiao An stepped forward. "Don't be afraid. My young master called you over to give you a job. You don't have to beg any more. Would you like to accept the offer?"

The man was stunned, but he nodded immediately. "Yes, yes!"

"That's great!" Qiao An smiled and said, "My young master and this lady have set up a shop together, and now there is no one in charge. We want you to be the shopkeeper!"

The man thought he had heard wrongly so he froze and asked, "Shopkeeper?"

"Yes!"

"Young Master trusts me to do it?" The man was in disbelief.

They weren't even acquaintances. He was just a beggar. Su Jiu had just passed by and gave five taels of silver to me, he thought, but he trusts me to be the shopkeeper?

This is unbelievable.

A shopkeeper must be in charge of the money in the shop. 

Are they not afraid that I am a villain, and would escape with the money, or embezzle the money in the shop? he wondered. 

"To tell you the truth, we are not very sure either, but I am willing to let you try!" Su Jiu said frankly.

The man held his daughter in his arms and knelt down. He choked up with gratitude. "Thank you, young master. I will do a good job and repay you for your kindness!"

"That's a deal. Take your daughter to the backyard and ask the cook to brew the medicine. She seems to be even sicker!" Su Jiu helped him up.

"Yes, yes!" The man got up and looked at the girl in his arms. Tears filled his eyes. "Xin'er, we have a place to live!"

Watching the man holding his daughter carefully as he walked to the backyard, Nangong Bi bit her lip and said, "Poor thing!"

Nangong Shu walked behind Su Jiu, and asked, "Master Su, are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

He heard that she had the right person and thought it was one she was familiar with. He didn't expect the person to be a beggar, even if the beggar was obviously not the kind of person who begged because he was poor from a young age.

Su Jiu blinked, "Hmm?"

"If he was an ordinary man who has fallen from grace, that's fine. If he is a criminal, I am afraid that Master Su will have to bear the responsibility of hiding a criminal."

In case the beggar was guilty of a crime and was not allowed to be hired and taken in, they would be committing the crime of aiding and hiding, and the accomplice would be sent to a distant exile.

Su Jiu raised her eyebrow. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Nangong Shu was speechless. "Did you give me a chance to speak?"

Qiao An interrupted them and said, "I'll ask more from him!"

Qiao An went to the backyard, and thke rest went on drinking tea and chatting.

Nangong Shu glanced at Su Jiu's slender pale hand with thin calluses, and asked nonchalantly, "How did Master Su know the beggar?"

"I saw him begging with his daughter in his arms on the street and gave him five taels of silver!" Su Jiu said. 

Nangong Shu, waiting for Su Jiu to continue, saw him stop and asked, "That's it?"

Su Jiu nodded. "That's it!"

Nangong Shu was speechless.

Because he had shared his money, he dared to call a stranger to take care of the shop. Either this young man thought that people were too simple, or he didn't understand the world at all.

For a moment, Nangong Shu was speechless.　

Nangong Bi looked at her brother's silence, bowed her head and chuckled. She became even fonder of Su Jiu.

At least this proved that he is a kind man.

"Master Su, you're not from Shengjing, are you?" Nangong Bi asked.

Su Jiu shook her head. "I'm from Yuhu Mountain."

Yuhu Mountain was less than a hundred miles from Shengjing, which was also the jurisdiction of Shengjing.

As they spoke, Qiao An came in through the back door, sat beside Su Jiu, smiled and said, "He's not a criminal wanted by the court. Originally, his family was in Xitang County, 40 miles west of Shengjing. His surname is Li, who also did business.

"Unfortunately, he told me his house was burned down and his wife died in the fire, leaving only one daughter behind. His daughter became seriously ill, so they came to see a doctor in Shengjing. It is pitiful that their silver was stolen, leaving them to resort to begging!"

Nangong Shu nodded in understanding. "It's good that we got things clear!"

"It's getting late. We're going back. I'll try my best to take care of matters here over the next few days." Nangong Shu got up.

Nangong Bi also smiled and said, "Even if my brother is not free, I will come over often. If that Bai family dares to find trouble again, I will demolish them!"

"Thank you for your trouble!" Qiao An clasped his fists.

Nangong Shu nodded, his calm gaze swept past Su Jiu's face, and he walked out of the door with Nangong Bi.

When the Nangong siblings left, Qiao An said, "Chief, we were really lucky today. We not only bought a shop but we also made friends with the West Guard Great General, which will be of great benefit to us in the future!"

Hu Dapao and Ah Shu, who had not been interrupting, gathered around him and asked excitedly, "Will we be able to make a lot of money in the future?"

"Dream on!" Su Jiu picked up the tablecloth and hit it on Hu Dapao's head. "It'll be enough to live on."

And the money earned still has to be divided equally with others.

Qiao An turned to look in the lobby, with a smile on his face. "Even if we don't earn money, it doesn't hurt, at least we'll solve the problem of eating in the future!"

In the past, when they were in Yuhu Mountain, their biggest problem was starving. Now that they had this tavern they no longer had to worry about being hungry!

"Yes, yes!" Hu Dapao responded excitedly.

Everyone else was elated.

"Greetings to the Young Master!"

The beggar came back out of the backyard and bowed to Su Jiu.

"Is the medicine ready?" Su Jiu asked with a smile.

"Yes, after drinking the medicine, Xin'er is already asleep in bed." The man knelt down again as he spoke to Su Jiu. "I thank you for your kindness!" 

Su Jiu had not only saved his daughter but also saved him.

"Brother Li, you don't have to be so polite!" Qiao An helped the man up. "When we're not here we have to rely on you to take care of this shop!"

"Rest assured, I will do my best. I dare not have a trace of negligence!"

That reminded them. 

"The original owner of this shop offended the Bai family in this street," Qiao An told him. "If the Bai family comes looking for trouble, you don't have to panic and fear, and you don't have to force yourself to handle it.

"Just save yourself, and then send someone to this place to notify us!" Qiao An finished before he handed over the note that held their current address to Li Tai.

"Understood!" Li Tai took the note and looked at it, and then folded it carefully and put it in his clothes.