Chapter 998: Chapter 998: Who Will Accompany You?

Shu Yu suddenly realized–no wonder she felt like she had forgotten something these past few days.

That’s right, after she and Manager Qiu ended their contract, she had considered going to the prefecture to source materials.

But with the house needing repairs, the manor to be purchased and farmland to be cultivated, and her mother and sister busy managing the shop, she paid little attention.

Unexpectedly, the batch of good fabrics was almost used up.

Shu Yu understood that part of the shop’s booming business was due to people being drawn by her Village Chief title. But another portion was undeniably attracted by the beautiful and innovative clothing designs.

Ever since Madam Ruan and Shuyou returned from the southwest, they had visited various ready-to-wear shops during the journey back, and after seeing the trendy styles from the prefecture, their inspiration surged.

During the past few weeks when Shu Yu had been especially busy, the two were at the workshop from dawn until late at night, determined to bring their envisioned clothing designs to life.

Beautiful, high-quality, ready-made clothes, paired with personalized styling offered by the shop–who wouldn’t love that?

Many ladies and madams from prominent families would purchase two or three outfits at a time.

Currently, the only shortcoming of Yiren Pavilion was the lack of embroidery work. The main issue was not having recruited enough embroiderers, compounded by the short timeframe, leaving the embroidery to be simple and expedient.

Since taking over the shop, Shuyou had already thought about making plans.

“After we return from the prefecture this time, I plan to hire two embroiderers to address this gap. Besides, I’ve thought it over–we can’t just bury our heads working in the county town. If we don’t understand what kind of outfits women outside the county are wearing, our shop won’t survive for long. This time, Mother and I intend to stay in the prefecture for two days to visit its ready-to-wear shops as well as those in the surrounding counties. Later, we’ll have Mrs. Xiang and Xiangdi go out for some scouting too.”

The more Shuyou spoke, the brighter her eyes sparkled. When she finished, she suddenly paused and looked at Shu Yu, “Yu, do… do you think my plan will work?”

“Of course it will!!” Shu Yu exclaimed with delight, “Sis, you’re amazing.”

What an extraordinary sister she had–how much had the Zhang family held her back before?

It seemed this trip to the southwest had led to rapid growth for everyone.

Each of them could now manage things on their own. From now on, she wouldn’t need to worry about the ready-to-wear shop–she would let Mother and Sister handle everything.

Shuyou’s cheeks instantly turned red; embarrassed, she quickly lowered her head and sped up her work.

She wanted to say that the most amazing person in the family was Shu Yu.

Shu Yu chuckled and then added, “But you two haven’t gone to the prefecture on your own yet. Here’s a thought–I’ll have Ying Xi go with you, and Ying Dong can go as well. With the two siblings protecting you, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

Unexpectedly, Shuyou immediately raised her head and said quickly, “No, no need. Ying Xi needs to stay with you, and Ying Dong is already busy at the manor.”

“But just you and Mother going so far to the prefecture–I’ll be worried.” Especially since this was to discuss business. Facing those crafty old foxes, neither her mother nor sister had much experience; they wouldn’t even know if they were being taken advantage of.

Someone needed to accompany them and learn by experience.

From her observations during this time, Ying Dong was quite capable–once given a defined scope of responsibility, he would hold the line firmly.

Shuyou lowered her gaze again, her voice now barely audible, “You… you don’t need to worry; it’s not just Mother and me.”

Shu Yu froze for a moment, “Hmm? Who else is going?”

“Well, Doctor… Doctor Zhao said he’d accompany us.”

The last two words came out so softly that they were almost inaudible.