When the Cannon Fodder Meets the Love-Brained Female Supporting Character - Episode 16

After Fang Rui saw Xiao Ran off, she came back and asked Jiang Nan, “Boss, why are you so nice to her?”

Jiang Nan gave the same reason as the waiter had: “She got frightened in our teahouse, so naturally, we should compensate her a little.”

Fang Rui wasn’t convinced. “I don’t believe that! That excuse might fool the waiter, but not me. Even if it’s compensation, just waiving the bill would’ve been enough. Why give her such an expensive Bantianyao?”

As she cleared the table of the last customer who had left, she added, “I think you just wanted to stand up for her. That man said she couldn’t afford it, so you made sure she could.”

Jiang Nan denied it. “How could that be?”

Fang Rui shrugged and went downstairs.

Jiang Nan herself didn’t know what she was thinking.

Perhaps it was because she knew Xiao Ran’s fate in her past life and felt some pity for her? Or maybe she was angry that Xiao Ran had been harassed right under her nose? No matter which girl faced such a situation in front of her, she would have stepped in.

There was no third explanation.

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Time passed quickly, and before anyone knew it, a month had gone by.

Xiao Ran’s fruit wine was finally brewed, now only waiting to ferment.

She hadn’t gone anywhere these days, focusing entirely on making the wine, which also helped her avoid a lot of the plot.

During this time, A-Jiu moved into the estate and became Jiang Nan’s maid.

She had a knack for business and followed Jiang Nan around, handling shop affairs and running errands.

Using the excuse that she only needed one maid to attend to her personally while the other had to manage household matters, Jiang Nan smoothly kept A’Tuo in the estate.

Bantianyao officially went on sale at Cang Fang Lou.

Thanks to its uniqueness and Jiang Nan’s relentless marketing, the teahouse was soon packed to the brim. Many wealthy young men took pride in being able to drink Ban Tian Yao tea. Those who managed to get a taste flaunted their wealth by boasting about it everywhere, even voluntarily promoting the tea.

Jiang Nan did the math. For the first two months, despite continuous advertising, revenue and expenses had barely balanced out. It wasn’t until the third month that they finally turned a real profit.

She still honored her agreement with Wei Ji Teahouse. No poaching regular customers from the surrounding area, no undercutting prices or playing the sympathy card. Instead, she relied solely on gimmicks to draw people from all over the city.

Fang Rui particularly enjoyed dropping by Wei Ji Teahouse.

She discovered that Wei Ji had a spacious backyard filled with all sorts of flowers and plants. Sometimes, while admiring them, she couldn’t resist taking a couple of pots home with her.

It wasn’t until Wei Hui, the second manager of Wei Ji, noticed.

Perhaps recalling that Wei Ji had started this whole mess, the two managers didn’t make a fuss. They simply sneaked back to retrieve the flower pots.

Fang Rui pretended nothing had happened and continued her pot-stealing spree whenever she had the chance.

She stole happily, stole contentedly.

Even if the pots disappeared the next day, being able to admire them for a day was still a delight.

Many customers noticed the flowers changing daily and assumed it was part of Cang Fang Lou’s refined charm.

Wei Hui developed a habit of not only keeping accounts but also taking stock of the plants every day.

Meanwhile, Jiang Nan enjoyed playing cards with Wei Su, with wins and losses fairly balanced. Sometimes, customers from both teahouses would gather to watch and even offer their opinions.

The two teahouses grew increasingly harmonious but this harmony didn’t last long before a troublemaker arrived.

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Another morning dawned. Jiang Nan pushed open the teahouse’s windows one by one, letting the warm sunlight brighten every room.

She loved the feeling of pushing open a door and watching light swiftly chase away the darkness.

Just as she opened the last window, she noticed a man and a woman tugging at each other downstairs.

Jiang Nan took a closer look and recognized the woman as Wei Su, who was visibly annoyed by the man and shouting something at him.

Just as she tried to get a better view, Wei Su entered the teahouse, while the man lingered for a moment before leaving as well.

By mid-morning, Jiang Nan went downstairs to feed the pigeons and spotted the same man from earlier.

The man was decently dressed, with a hooked nose and a downturned mouth, giving him a somewhat fierce appearance.

Wei Su emerged from the teahouse, hands on her hips, and yelled, “I told you, I’d rather die alone than be with you! How can you be so shameless?”

The man scoffed, exhaled, and put on a reasonable tone. “Cousin Susu, here’s the thing. I believe I’m the best husband for you. I own a well-managed shop. If we marry, you won’t have to work so hard running the teahouse and can comfortably be a lady of leisure at home. Cousin, you’re already twenty. You may not be as beautiful or clever as Wei Xue, but I don’t mind. I’m not some shallow nobleman, you see. Others might not be so forgiving, right? You know the benefits of marrying me, don’t you?”

Wei Su trembled with rage.

She grabbed a feather duster and swiped it through the air with a sharp whoosh, roaring, “Wei Yan! Get! The hell! Out of here!!!!”

Wei Yan frowned. “Are you trying to hit me? Violence isn’t the answer. You should win people over with virtue.”

Wei Su snorted. “Sorry, I win people over with my fists.”

Wei Yan frowned again. “Susu, stop fooling around!”

“Fool around with your dad! Get lost!” Wei Su struck the ground with the duster, her fury palpable.

Wei Yan shrank back, hesitated, but still stood his ground.

Jiang Nan chuckled. “Try a different approach. Like this…”

She clapped her hands, and a line of burly men from the teahouse filed out, standing behind her.

The men crossed their arms, glaring fiercely at Wei Yan.

Jiang Nan said, “Leave now. Don’t block our business.”

Wei Yan’s face darkened. Gnashing his teeth, he hissed at Wei Su, “Cousin, you… fine, very good. And you!” He turned to Jiang Nan. “I’ll remember you!”

After glaring at both women, he stormed off in a huff.

Once he was gone, Wei Su sighed in relief and struck up a conversation with Jiang Nan.

“That man is my distant cousin. After finding out I run this teahouse, he traveled all the way to Yangcheng. He went to great lengths to convince my parents to arrange a marriage between us. They thought his status was a decent match, but in the end, they love me more and wanted my opinion. When he realized he couldn’t sway them, he started pestering me. At first, it was just at home, but now he’s followed me here. You saw what kind of person he is, I’d rather die alone than have anything to do with him.”

Wei Su gave a bitter laugh.

Jiang Nan patted her shoulder sympathetically.

On the way back to the estate, the messenger Jiang Nan had hired to maintain contact with Qin Wan slipped over unnoticed, his hat pulled low, and handed her a letter.

The handwriting was messy yet bold, sprawling across the entire page.

It chronicled recent events like a diary, detailing how they had encountered suppression from a local gang and a rogue merchant alliance in Qicheng. Qin Wan had skillfully exploited public sentiment to carve out a path for them, ultimately making a fortune in the city.

Qin Wan was still young, unable to conceal so many worries in her heart. From her words, Jiangnan could easily imagine how spirited and triumphant she must have looked.

She always believed Jiangnan was some hidden influential figure, and that she herself was someone this figure had casually lifted up.

Occasionally, she would even send some local specialties, claiming it was her duty to let Jiangnan enjoy them ahead of time.

She was a girl with a rather sincere heart.

Jiangnan picked up a brush, pondered for a long while, and finally wrote on the letter: If you ever need money, just ask.

What she thought was, once Qin Wan’s merchant group grew large in the future, she wouldn’t be able to help much anyway.

When Qin Wan received Jiangnan’s letter, it only deepened her previous rigid impression.

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Jiangnan returned home under the stars and moonlight, only for her good mood to be ruined by the sight of a man and woman sitting in the pavilion.

She didn’t recognize the woman, but the man was Jiang Huai.

Jiang Huai had his arm around the woman’s shoulder, yet his expression was full of misery, and the woman looked equally sorrowful and pitiful.

To Jiangnan, the whole scene could be summed up in one word:

Awkward!

A’Tuo stepped forward and began chattering endlessly about the gossip she’d heard: “The second young master had a fight with Miss Yu. Look at the girl beside him. Doesn’t she resemble Miss Yu?”

Jiangnan turned her head.

The girl was quite delicate and pretty, but she had absolutely no resemblance to Yu Qian.

Jiangnan nodded.

A’Tuo immediately continued, “She’s a stand-in the second young master found to provoke Miss Yu. Apparently, Miss Wang lost a gold bracelet, and it went missing after Miss Yu visited the Wang residence. She was accused of stealing it. Miss Yu insisted she didn’t take anything, but the second young master didn’t believe her and even forced her to apologize to Miss Wang. Miss Yu was so furious she argued with him and has refused to speak to him since.”

Jiangnan had read this part in the plot.

In reality, Wang Wan had hidden the gold bracelet herself and deliberately framed Yu Qian. It was a clumsy scheme. Just a simple search would have exposed it.

But Jiang Huai insisted on confirming the accusation. All because, not long before, he had seen Yu Qian accept a gold bracelet from another man. He concluded that she was no longer the same girl from their childhood and had become a vain woman.

Even though Yu Qian repeatedly explained that the bracelet was something her mother had left behind in Yangcheng and forgotten to take, Jiang Huai refused to believe her. He only trusted what he saw.

Jiangnan: “And then?”

A’Tuo sighed. “Then, well, you see the result. The second young master was so angry he started seeking out other women just to provoke Miss Yu. I also heard that later, he secretly repaid the silver to the Wang family on Miss Yu’s behalf and even bought a pile of gold bracelets to give to her. But for every day Miss Yu refused to see him, he gave one bracelet to someone else. Sigh… The young master has actually done a lot for Miss Yu in secret. He’s the most devoted young master I’ve ever seen… Miss, are you alright? Did you eat something bad?”

Jiangnan finished dry-heaving, patted her chest, and coughed. “Yes, I feel a little sick.”

A’Tuo carefully supported her. “Then let’s hurry back inside.”

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Xiao Ran had kept a low profile this past month, missing out on a lot of the drama.

That was for the best.

Originally, the person Jiang Huai used most often to provoke Yu Qian was Xiao Ran. She was always by his side, the most convenient tool at his disposal. So much so that outsiders genuinely believed Xiao Ran was the most important person to Jiang Huai, which ultimately led to disaster.

The next day, Jiang Nan got up early in the morning to soak up some sunlight. She gently touched the mimosa plant that Fang Rui had proudly presented to her, then closed her eyes to bask in the warm sunlight on her face.

Suddenly, A’Tuo exclaimed excitedly by her ear, “Miss, look who’s here?”