"Does Brother Xiuwen have a girl he likes?" Qi Huan asked the most commonly asked question in the game of 'Truth' without a second thought, her eyes flickering with a spark of curiosity.
"Miss Qi, you jest. How could someone like me talk about liking others?" At the mention of feelings, Xiu Wen smiled humbly, his eyes revealing a trace of melancholy.
Hearing him say this, Yan Qinghe felt a slight twinge of heartache. He gently placed the mahjong tiles in his hand down and countered, "Why not? It's quite common for palace maids to take eunuchs as their partners in the palace. Moreover, Brother Xiuwen is talented with words and gentle in nature. Don't sell yourself short. Perhaps your destined one is already on their way."
After comforting him, he revealed a mischievous smile and probed further, "Qi Huan asked if you have someone you like, Brother Xiuwen. Don't dodge the question. Tell us, do you or don't you?"
"I do."
"...Who is it? Do I know them?"
Asked directly, Xiu Wen smiled faintly, "That's the second question."
"Alright, I'll ask again when I win next time."
The four shuffled the mahjong tiles on the table thoroughly before stacking them neatly in front of themselves. Qi Huan was the winner of the previous round, so she picked up the dice and tossed them lightly, throwing two sixes. After counting, she started taking tiles from Li Shuchen's stack, and a new round soon began.
An hour later.
"I think I've gone Mahjong!" Qi Huan exclaimed with a giggle, feeling the newly drawn tile in her hand. Turning it over, she indeed had the three character tiles. "A pure straight!"
"Impressive, impressive. This time, I'll take the dare," Xiu Wen declared immediately.
Egged on by Yan Qinghe, Xiu Wen took the dare and drank three bowls of red wine. With a loud burp, his face flushed red as he dozed off.
With one player down, the three-player game could not continue.
For the remaining punishments, the other two chose 'Truth.'
Qi Huan switched to a new question, "What are your New Year's wishes?"
"I hope I can return to the military, even if I have to start from the lowliest rank," Yan Qinghe said, his bright eyes filled with aspiration. "I must become a towering hero like Huo Qubing, a revered general. I will conquer the Liang Country, subdue the Western Jin dynasty, and spread the glory of the Great Li Country... and let my late father see in the underworld that I have not disgraced the Yan Family!"
Mentioning his father cast a shadow over Yan Qinghe's heart. He picked up the wine bottle on the table and drained it.
The sweet yet sour red wine flowed down his throat, causing his heart to swell with a tangy sensation.
The wine's potent aftermath left Yan Qinghe feeling lightheaded. "I'll return to my room myself, lest I collapse and need you to carry me," he said self-consciously before leaving.
With another player gone, the room felt even colder and emptier.
"Li Shuchen, you haven't told us your wish yet," Qi Huan said, resting her chin on her hand and looking at him intently.
Li Shuchen's eyes, clear like jade, turned toward her as he softly spoke, "May every year be filled with joy."
May every year be spent happily together with Qi Huan.
That was his only wish at the moment.
Not understanding the deeper meaning, Qi Huan's eyes curved into a sweet smile. "Then I wish you joy every year too... Oh, I have something nice. I don't know if it will bring a smile to your face and a moment of delight."
She stood up and pushed her chair back, walking over to the fireworks. "Li Shuchen, could you please help me move this to the courtyard?"
Li Shuchen had previously said that all physical tasks should be left to him, so Qi Huan happily obliged and commanded him.
Li Shuchen walked over, easily lifting the delivery box and carrying it to the center of the courtyard.
Qi Huan adjusted the control key to the maximum, then crouched down and held the lighter to the fuse of the fireworks. With a flick of her thumb, a small flame flickered and ignited the fuse.
She quickly retreated, stepping backward while looking up at the fireworks.
The night sky was lit up with brilliant and dazzling fireworks.
Beautiful things always brought joy. Qi Huan's eyes curved into crescents as she bared her perfectly aligned teeth in a wide smile.
At her side, Li Shuchen glanced at the fireworks for a few moments before turning his gaze back to her.
Noticing his stare, Qi Huan pointed at the fireworks and urged, "Li Shuchen, why are you looking at me? Watch the fireworks! They're so beautiful."
"You're more beautiful than the fireworks."
With the blazing fireworks overhead and his scorching gaze upon her, Qi Huan's face flushed crimson.
She thought it might be the lingering effects of the wine.
At that moment, the distant bell tower echoed with a series of chimes. It was just past midnight, the start of the new year.
Qi Huan beamed, "Li Shuchen, Happy New Year!"
As the last firework fell, the night sky gradually returned to its silent state.
And so ended Qi Huan's first year in this world.
The fifteenth year of the Longshun era, the sixth day of the first lunar month.
It was time for the annual opening of the markets.
Qi Huan moved between her three shops, surveying the surroundings and instructing the workers to sweep away the dust.
In her previous life, many companies would hold opening ceremonies after the New Year holiday, making grand promises to motivate their employees to work harder and achieve even greater results in the new year.
Qi Huan followed a similar tradition, gathering the workers from the tavern, noodle shop, and snack shop.
Following the principle that empty words of encouragement were no match for cold, hard cash, she gave each worker a large red pouch embroidered with the Chinese character for 'wealth' in yellow silk thread. These were custom-made at a clothing shop.
Inside each pouch were ten strings of copper coins, totaling a thousand copper pieces. The massive pouches were bulging with the weight of the coins, far more impressive than a few stray silver ingots. As expected, the workers eagerly hefted the pouches, their faces beaming with joy.
Seeing their delight, Qi Huan was satisfied. She cleared her throat and proclaimed loudly, "Happy New Year, everyone! At the start of a new year, everything is renewed - it's the perfect time to make money. As long as you all continue to work diligently and conscientiously, provide excellent service with a smile to every customer, I'm confident that our business will soar to new heights in the coming year.
Once the shops are performing well, your earnings will naturally increase too. This year, we'll continue with the base salary plus bonus model. On top of your fixed monthly pay, you'll receive bonuses based on the shop's income. The better our business, the more you'll earn.
These shops are my family business, but our success relies on all of you. For the sake of bigger paychecks, let's strive together!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the workers had already tucked the pouches into their waistbands and freed their hands to applaud enthusiastically, echoing in unison, "We'll work hard, hard, and harder!"
Qi Huan smiled along with them.
Such was the allure of money.
She waved her hand, and the crowd immediately dispersed to resume their duties.
Qi Huan went to the kitchen and demonstrated how to make her newly created 'Crispy Bites' and 'Jellied Delicacies' to Tao Su.
"These are two new dishes I came up with during the New Year holiday. I've already had the junior waiter add them to the menu. Learn how to make them first, and once you've mastered the flavors, you'll be in charge of these two dishes."
"Understood. My mother always said, 'The more skills, the better.' Thank you, Miss Qi, for sharing your knowledge so generously. I won't let you down."
Soon, Tao Su had learned the dishes well. The crispy bites were fried to a perfect golden crunch, and the jellied delicacies were refreshingly delicious, on par with Qi Huan's versions.
Satisfied with the results, Qi Huan went to the front counter to help Xu Mingda handle the accounts and payments.
"Miss Qi, how are you so swift and accurate at calculating accounts?... I must admit my inferiority," Xu Mingda said in admiration.
Facing his awestruck gaze, Qi Huan smiled shyly. Who would have thought that this former academic underachiever from her previous life would become a math prodigy in ancient times?
After all, mental arithmetic and basic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were elementary skills that modern humans had evolved to master effortlessly.
Seeing Xu Mingda's thirst for knowledge, Qi Huan started by teaching him the fundamental multiplication tables.
As she was teaching, she suddenly noticed an additional student join them.
