(I saw a girl saying that there are too few updates. If you want to read more updates, feel free to leave a long review or give me a red packet. Every long review can cause the author to drop a new chapter of 3,000 words!)

She actually owned a few shops that were more profitable than Guilin Restaurant. However, there was only one restaurant, Guilin Restaurant. Since Old Third's wife had some talent in the art of eating, this Guilin Restaurant was the most suitable restaurant for her to manage at the moment.

The Great Wu Dynasty didn't care about wealth or business. All the matriarchs of the various manors had a few shops that could generate money.

Even the empress of the dynasty had a secret shop in Shengjing. However, everyone knew this, so no one said it out in the open.

If the matriarchs of each family could manage their businesses well, it would be a sign of their ability.

After all, no matter if it was a big or small family, they all needed to spend money, right?

Duke Jing 'an's estate also had a few shops, but they were all in the hands of the eldest wife, Madam Zou. It wasn't easy for Matriarch He to ask for them.

Moreover, she knew some of the details. Those shops usually didn't have much surplus, so it wasn't easy for Madam Zou to manage the business.

Thus, after thinking for a whole night, Matriarch decided to choose a shop from her private property for Third Daughter-In-Law to practice.

When Chu Lian married over, she didn't even have a dowry of land, let alone a shop. Old Matriarch He also knew her situation.

Although Guilin Restaurant had been established for decades, it wasn't very famous in Shengjing. In the early years, it was fine and still had a little surplus every month. However, in the past decade, the eastern and western markets had been reorganized. Originally, Guilin Restaurant had the advantage of being close to the eastern market, so it didn't lack customers.

However, after the eastern market was reorganized, Guilin Restaurant became a residential area and no longer had any customers. Guilin Restaurant's food was only average to begin with, so it gradually lost customers.

In recent years, it was in the red every month. Originally, Guilin Restaurant had five waiters, but now there was only one left.

Nowadays, it was good enough to have two or three customers every day.

The reason why Old Matriarch He allowed people to manage Guilin Restaurant was because of her special feelings for it. After all, Guilin Restaurant was the Old Matriarch's dowry. It was the Old Matriarch's mother who personally handed it to her. Back then, it was the Old Matriarch's mother who personally named the restaurant.

The Matriarch's mother had passed away more than ten years ago, and Guilin Restaurant had become her spiritual sustenance.

Old Matriarch He nodded, "Grandmother sees that you have nothing to do in the fu all day, so I found something for you to do. You won't blame grandmother, right?"

Chu Lian's eyes widened slightly. "Grandmother wants me to manage Guilin Restaurant?"

Matriarch He smiled. "This restaurant is my dowry, and it's not doing very well now. Third daughter-in-law, if you can revitalize it, grandmother will give it to you. However, there's one thing. This Guilin Restaurant can only be used as a restaurant."

Wasn't this like someone handing him a pillow when he was about to doze off?

She had been looking for ways to make money these few days, and Old Matriarch wanted to give her a restaurant for her to manage. Chu Lian did not have such good luck in the past.

In the original novel, Chu Lian first plotted to take charge of the family. Then, when the Old Matriarch was seriously ill, she used another method to obtain the Old Matriarch's private shops.

"This is …" Was this real?

How happy she was!

However, Chu Lian was interrupted by Old Matriarch He before she could finish.

Old Matriarch He purposely put on a stern face. "But what? Grandmother gave it to you, just take it. Grandmother won't give it to Dalang and the others!

Even if the business isn't doing well, grandmother won't blame you. That restaurant isn't making any money now, so there's nothing worse than it is now. "

Old Matriarch misunderstood Chu Lian's meaning, and Chu Lian also knew that now was not a good time to explain.

Her little face was flushed from happiness, and one couldn't help but want to reach out and pinch her cheeks to see if they were as smooth and soft as they imagined.

Needless to say, Old Matriarch He really did that.

Chu Lian was a bit embarrassed from being pinched, and called out "grandmother" in a sweet voice. After all, the age in her heart was not that of a teenage girl.

While the grandmother and granddaughter were getting along harmoniously, Liu mama came in with a smile to report that Eldest Grandmother had brought two young misses.

Chu Lian glanced at the account book, then at Old Matriarch He, her eyes clearly filled with anticipation.

Old Matriarch He laughed. "You're so strange. Alright, when your sister-in-law comes, I'll tell her."

With Old Matriarch's words, Chu Lian finally relaxed.

Although she couldn't tell what Madam Zou was thinking from the original text, she was still Wei Fengzi's close friend, and Wei Fengzi wasn't ordinary.

In the original text, Madam Zou had long been injured because of Chu Lian's schemes, and she couldn't even get out of bed. However, things were different now. Madam Zou was still fine, and she was managing the entire Duke Jing 'an Estate. They were daughters-in-law of different households, so there was no conflict of interest.

Regardless of Madam Zou's character, Chu Lian didn't want to affect the balance between sisters-in-law and make Madam Zou bear a grudge against her just because Old Matriarch had given her an ordinary restaurant.

Now that her husband was no longer by her side, she didn't want to make an enemy of herself in the inner courtyard. That would be a tough life!

As expected, when Madam Zou entered Qingwen Hall, she frowned slightly when she heard that Chu Lian had been here for a while.

She calmly brought her two daughters into the reception pavilion. When Madam Zou bowed, Chu Lian stood up and returned the greeting with a smile.

Following that, Old Matriarch openly told Madam Zou about how she had managed the restaurant for Chu Lian. Madam Zou, who had been a little nervous, only calmed down after hearing Old Matriarch speak so openly to her.

She had some understanding of the shops that Old Matriarch had privately owned.

Among them, the one that made the most money was a fried tea shop. It was estimated that it could bring in two to three hundred taels per month. The worst shop was Guilin Restaurant. After losing money for so many years, Madam Zou didn't understand why Old Matriarch didn't sell the restaurant building and open another shop in a densely populated area if Guilin Restaurant wasn't making money.

It was just a restaurant that was losing money, and Old Matriarch bluntly told her about it. Madam Zou didn't care anymore, and even her impression of Chu Lian improved a lot.

"Eldest Sister-in-law, you've been a housekeeper for so many years, and you've managed the shop well. If you have time, please give me some pointers."

Madam Zou smiled sincerely this time. "As long as Third Sister-in-law doesn't mind, you can come to my courtyard anytime."

"Then I'll thank Eldest Sister-in-law in advance!"

Old Matriarch saw that these two sisters-in-law were getting along happily and felt comfortable inside. Her gaze then fell on her two great-granddaughters. She opened her arms and said, "Older Sister An, Older Sister Lin, quickly come to Great Grandmother's side. Let Great Grandmother take a good look."

Old Matriarch lovingly rubbed the heads of her two little great-granddaughters, but she felt a bit regretful. Older Sister An was already six years old, but she still hadn't had a great-grandson. Thinking this, she glanced at Chu Lian's flat stomach out of the corner of her eye.

Ever since Chu Lian had mysteriously arrived at the Great Wu Dynasty, she was especially sensitive to other people's gazes and smells.

Noticing that Old Matriarch was looking at her stomach, her entire body froze, and she felt unwell.

She had forgotten that in Old Matriarch's eyes, she and He Sanlang had had a "spring night" …

The Chu family's daughter was also known for being good at giving birth. Perhaps in Old Matriarch He's eyes, she had a good constitution that was "sure to hit the target with one shot" …

Chu Lian's lips twitched awkwardly. Pregnant? She was clearly still a virgin.

It would be scary if she was really pregnant!

Chu Lian took the account book and went to Countess Jing 'an's place with Madam Zou. After about five minutes, Chu Lian finally returned to Songtao Court.

She had a lot of things to do today. She had to make some pastries as a return gift to Madam Yang and the other madams yesterday. She also had to find time to practice her calligraphy.

She was about to open a restaurant, so she couldn't possibly not recognize traditional Chinese characters.

For the rest of the time, she had to look at Guilin Restaurant's account book.

After putting away the account book, Chu Lian went to the small kitchen with Xiyan and Jing Yan.

The ingredients for the longevity peaches were ready. Chu Lian saw that there were still a lot of red beans left in the small kitchen and suddenly had a brainwave. She remembered the old Beijing pastries, "Jingba Pastry".

This was a type of northern style pastries. It had a long history and had many varieties. Back when Chu Lian went to Beijing to play, she learned it from an old granny who lived in a courtyard house. In order to learn this authentic Jingba Pastry, she had specially stayed in that courtyard house for half a month.

Jingba Pastry was divided into large, small, and thin. The reason why it was called Jingba Pastry was because each pastry had a different filling. There were eight pieces in total, and there were also eight different shapes. It was the most complicated pastries Chu Lian had made so far. However, the ingredients for Jingba Pastry were ordinary. Even in the Great Wu Dynasty, where food culture was backward, it was still possible to gather all eight types of fillings.

Chu Lian instructed Xiyan to make the red bean paste and Jing Yan to wash the green plums and raisins. She then began to mix the dough.

When the pastries were ready, Xiyan and Jing Yan stared at her with wide eyes.

Chu Lian took the small and exquisite oval bamboo basket with lace edges from Senior Servant Gui, who was standing in the hallway outside the kitchen.

She walked to the table and said to Xiyan and Jing Yan with a smile, "Watch carefully, I will only do the plate filling once. I will leave the rest to you."

Because she had to deliver to seven or eight families, Chu Lian had made a lot of pastries this time. Chu Lian carefully arranged the pastries in the shape of kidneys, drumsticks, bats, and other pastries in the bamboo basket. Finally, she took out a half-opened peony that had just been picked, sprinkled some water on the petals, and placed it in an empty space at the bottom of the basket.

Like this, the Jingba Pastry was complete.

All kinds of pastries of different flavors were piled up in an orderly manner in the delicate bamboo basket. It was already very beautiful, but they were all crispy pastries made from flour fillings, so the color was unavoidably monotonous. However, when paired with a beautiful red peony, it instantly made people's eyes light up. Especially in such a hot summer day, it was as if these pastries would carry a layer of elegant and light floral fragrance, making people want to eat them.

Jing Yan opened her eyes wide and forcefully swallowed her saliva, muttering, "Third … Third Mistress, so beautiful!

This kind of pastries, this servant … this servant can't bear to eat them. "

Chu Lian smiled and glared at her, "Remember, the rest of the pastries should be filled like this. There are still many left. After filling the plates, you can also bring some over to taste."

When Xiyan and Jing Yan heard that they still had a share, they both smiled.

The pastries that were to be used as a thank you gift were all placed on plates and sent to Chu Lian. Chu Lian then picked out a brocade box of suitable size and lined it with black velvet. She placed the bamboo basket inside and tied the box.

She then took out another wooden box of suitable size for each fu's furen's jewelry and handed it over to the housekeeper. He sent a clever manservant to deliver it to each fu and told them that there were pastries in the brocade box and not to eat them overnight.