By noon, Fang Pingying had calculated the net income, which was roughly US $100—a not inconsiderable sum. Then came good news from Uncle Zeng’s side as well. He said that on Fang Pingying’s pastries’ first day on the shelves, they sold exceptionally well. Not only did their pastries sell well, but the sales of other items at their counter also considerably increased from before. While there wasn’t an exact figure, Zeng Weiguo gave a rough estimate of the figures after sharing profits, and it was several times more than what the shop was making. Fang Pingying felt that her life was going to gradually get better. By mid-afternoon, the number of customers dwindling due to the cold weather and the early onset of darkness. Fang Pingying asked Fang Xiu and Luo Honglan to tidy up the shop and planned to close up after it got dark. While they were cleaning, suddenly a voice called out from the entrance of the shop, "Xiao Fang." Following the voice, Fang Pingying saw to her surprise that it was Ju Zi’s mother, Zeng Yueji, standing at the door, with a woman of a similar age by her side. However, the woman was wearing a hat and had her face covered with a mask, making it impossible for Fang Pingying to see her true appearance. But for some reason, Fang Pingying felt that the woman looked at her with a spark of excitement, unlike someone who had never met her before. This also reminded Fang Pingying of the strange look in Zeng Yueji’s eyes when she had seen her at Ju Zi’s house that day. Furthermore, what made Fang Pingying somewhat uneasy was how familiar those eyes seemed to her—it was as if she had seen them somewhere before, but she couldn’t recall where. But at that moment, Fang Pingying didn’t have time to think further. She immediately walked to the door smiling, and greeted Zeng Yueji, "Aunt Zeng, come in and sit down with this lady here, it’s cold outside." As Lin Yueji and the unfamiliar woman entered the shop, she introduced her to Fang Pingying, "This is my good friend, surnamed Li, you can just call her Aunt Li. She’s feeling a bit unwell today, that’s why she’s wearing a mask. She knew your shop specialized in food." With a faint smile, Fang Pingying said to Aunt Li, "It’s alright, Aunt Li, you can take off your mask. The items in this shop are all packaged, it should be fine. Or you can sit in the inside room if you prefer." "No, no need," Aunt Li glanced at Fang Pingying with what seemed to be a flustered look before quickly turning away, then she instinctively clung to Zeng Yueji’s arm and said, "We have other matters to attend to, we’ll be leaving soon." Zeng Yueji obviously paused, then turned with a smile to Fang Pingying saying, "Yes, we do have other things to do. Xiao Fang, I came here today because I heard from Ju Zi that your shop was newly opened, so I wanted to come and see. Originally, Ju Zi was going to come, but the weather is cold and I was worried it would be inconvenient for her to come out, so I didn’t let her and asked Aunt Li to come along instead." Upon hearing this, Fang Pingying immediately said with a smile, "Aunt Zeng, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness; there’s no need to come. Uncle Zeng even special ordered a dragon and lion dance here this morning, which brought in many customers." "That’s great, I was worried he’d forget," Zeng Yueji chuckled after making a round in the shop and asked, "How’s the business?" "Not bad, much better than before the renovation." Zeng Yueji complimented the shop’s decoration, then pointed to Luo Honglan and Fang Xiu, who were busy on the side, and laughed saying, "It’s just the three of you ladies bustling about today. Where’s Xiao Luo? Didn’t he take a leave to come help?" Fang Pingying playfully complained, "He’s gone on an assignment, probably won’t be back for a few days. Besides, with his temperament, even if he was home, he wouldn’t leave his troop duties to help me." "It must be quite tough for you, a young lady, to manage this store, isn’t it?" This question came from Aunt Li, who was standing at the door. Fang Pingying just invited her to sit inside the store, but she seemed reluctant, so Fang Pingying didn’t insist. Hearing her question, she smiled at her, "It’s going well, we don’t have to make products ourselves now, as Uncle Zeng delivers the goods on time every day. We just need to look after the store, and with three people helping out, it’s quite relaxing." Fang Xiu, who was tidying up the shelves, also smiled and added, "Yeah, it’s much easier than when we were farming back in the countryside. This amount of work is really nothing where we come from." Aunt Li looked at Fang Xiu and smiled, then asked Fang Pingying, "Who is this?" "This is my sister, Fang Xiu," replied Fang Pingying. "Xiu’er, greet our guests, Aunt Zeng, Aunt Li." Fang Xiu, always a sweet talker and recognizing that Lin Yueji was Ju Zi’s mother with a well-off family background, immediately came over to greet her, "Aunt Zeng, Aunt Li, hello. When Ju Zi hangs out here, she always says you look so young and beautiful—I can see she wasn’t wrong." "Look at this girl, such a sweet talker." After laughing, Zeng Yueji suddenly asked, "Is she your biological sister, or is she Zhiyong’s sister?" "She is my biological sister. Who is Zhiyong’s sister?" As she said this, Fang Pingying pointed to Luo Honglan who was busy on the other side. "Ah? You have a biological sister?" Lin Yueji seemed stunned for a moment, and so did Aunt Li standing beside her, as if they didn’t expect that Fang Pingying would have a biological sister. Fang Pingying had never specifically mentioned to Ju Zi about being adopted by the Fang Family, and naturally, she said even less to people like Lin Yueji. Smiling, she nodded, "Yes, she’s my biological sister. We don’t have any brothers, just the two of us as sisters." "It’s nice to have two sisters, it’s lively, unlike my home with only Ju Zi alone, which feels a bit too solitary," Zeng Yueji said, but her eyes and expression clearly showed a hint of disappointment. Aunt Li also had the same disappointed look in her eyes. After that, they didn’t say much more. Each of them bought some pastries and then left. After the two left, Fang Xiu enviously watched their departing figures and sighed, "City people are so fashionable. Look at them, they’re about the same age as us, but without a single wrinkle on their faces—so fair and glowing. They must be using that thing called ’cosmetics’ that people talk about." "Do you want to buy some too?" Fang Pingying scolded her, "First take care of the household tasks before thinking about other things." Fang Xiu stuck out her tongue and muttered softly in complaint, "Big sister, why do you have to be such a killjoy? I’m not talking to you anymore." Luo Honglan also noticed something amiss and whispered to Fang Pingying, "Sis-in-law, why do I feel Aunt Zeng is acting a bit strange? Bringing Aunt Li here today was also odd. They kept staring at you; what exactly were they looking at?" "I don’t know." Even Luo Honglan noticed it, so Fang Pingying surely wasn’t unaware of their behavior, but since they didn’t say anything outright, she didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask either. However, she planned to ask Ju Zi next time they met to find out what was really going on. As it was getting dark, Fang Pingying didn’t dwell on it. She instructed Fang Xiu and Luo Honglan to clean up the store, then she locked up for the night. They tended to open the store a little earlier in the morning, so they’d close as soon as it got dark. In the evening, Uncle Zeng sent over the accounts for the day, and Fang Pingying did the bookkeeping under the lamp. After calculating, she was thrilled and her blood was boiling. Her own store had a revenue of nearly US$ 100, and after adding Uncle Zeng’s share and deducting taxes and such, there was a net income of nearly 700 yuan. This meant that with this kind of revenue, she could make enough for a decent house in less than a month. (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)