Li Shi was very pleased when she heard that. Before Sang Pingliang could speak, she quickly nodded her head. “Yes, yes! This is a good idea! I haven’t seen Miss Gu in a long time. I also want to see her!”
Upon hearing that, Sang Pingliang, who had wanted to object, couldn’t say anything, let alone Hu San. However, he snorted in displeasure and said, “If you leave, no one else will be at home. Are you not worried leaving both Sang Rou and Sang Yan at home?”
When Li Shi heard her husband mention her precious daughter, she hesitated. However, after seeing the docile and delicate Yan Zhi at his side, her hesitation immediately vanished into thin air!
She couldn’t bear the thought of having to be an old housewife while the two of them led a merry life in the city! She definitely wouldn’t let such a thing happen. Moreover, everything was in the house. Her daughter was old enough, so was there still a need to worry about her?
She would tell her daughter later that if anything happened, she could seek Sang Hong and his wife for help. She didn’t believe that the two of them would be so cruel as to not even meet her daughter!
“They’re not children anymore. Why can’t they take care of themselves? If you’re worried, let Yan Zhi stay behind and take care of them. How about that?” Li Shi said while she rolled her eyes.
Yan Zhi was slightly swayed and didn’t object to it. Anywhere without Li Shi was like heaven to her. If she didn’t need to deal with the two of them, that would be even better!
“Not happening!” Sang Pingliang cut her off. Taking Li Shi along instead of Yan Zhi? That would not happen unless he was out of his mind! Didn’t he have enough of this old woman’s face? Would he still want to bring her along by his side? With Yan Zhi, he would at least be able to relieve his loneliness.
“Hurry up and pack your things. We’ll set off now!” When Sang Pingliang saw how persistent Li Shi was, he didn’t bother to say more.She could follow if she wanted, but if she dared to make a big fuss and be unreasonable towards him, he secretly had ways and time to deal with her!
“Don’t worry. I’ll be done very quickly!” Upon hearing that, Li Shi quickly went to pack her things happily before she called Sang Yan and Sang Rou to talk to them.
What she told Sang Yan was naturally to take good care of herself, not to suffer, close her door and sleep early, not to go out if there was nothing important, and so on. However, she did not speak to Sang Rou in a nice tone. She couldn’t speak to her without additional threats and scoldings. All she told her was not to skive off and be swift and diligent. Otherwise, she would deal with her when he returned!
Sang Rou lowered her head and eyes as she responded timidly, but she was bursting with joy deep down. Both of her parents wouldn’t be around while Sang Yan was passive. Wouldn’t she be in charge of the household then? She wouldn’t have to be so tired anymore, and she could eat better and wake up at a later time. She couldn’t wait for them to leave!
“Lass, if I come back and find that anything happened to Ah Yan, I’ll definitely break your legs!” After Li Shi said these vicious words, she picked up her bundle and dumped it on Yan Zhi without being polite. “Take good care of it!”
Yan Zhi didn’t dare to retort, so she hurriedly took it. Although Sang Pingliang was slightly displeased and frowned, he didn’t want any more delays during this crucial moment. He pretended that he hadn’t seen that and said to Hu San with a smile, “Brother Hu San, let’s go now!”
“Yes, of course!” Hu San responded before he hurriedly led them up to the carriage and they set off.
When Gu Fangzi saw that not only did Hu San bring Sang Pingliang over, but also Li Shi and his concubine, it was exactly what she wanted and she praised him without forgetting to reward the nervous Hu San. Thus, Hu San was delighted.
Gu Fangzi personally received the three of them with a smile. Just like what Yan Zhi had said, before Sang Pingliang could speak, Gu Fangzi took the initiative to order the servants to arrange three rooms with a common courtyard for them to stay near the warehouse.
Sang Pingliang and his wife were very grateful, and they went on to fawn over Gu Fangzi.
Li Shi had happily planned to go to the Shi household from time to time to have a chat with Gu Fangzi. However, Lan Xiang privately told her that it was not nice. If others saw that, they might think that Miss Gu was specially taking care of them. If they got jealous and schemed against them, it wouldn’t be worthwhile! She also added that the young master and young mistress of the household were not at home, so Gu Fangzi was the one in charge of the matters within and outside the household. How would she still have the time to meet her? In the future, she would naturally invite her over when she was free.
As such, Li Shi dropped the subject after hearing that.
Once Gu Fangzi settled them down, she went to see Wang Shi. She told Wang Shi that Sang Wan’s maternal uncle and aunt had come to find work. Since she was also short of manpower to guard the warehouse, she planned to arrange them there and asked Wang Shi whether it was fine. At that moment, Wang Shi was only thinking about her son, whose situation was not known to her yet. Therefore, would she still care about other things? She nodded her head and didn’t discuss it further. Gu Fangzi then went to arrange it.
Afterwards, things went according to how Gu Fangzi had imagined it. Sang Pingliang and the other two were greedy. Now that he had the convenience of guarding the warehouse, together with the instigations from time to time, how could he restrain himself?
At first, he would be very scared when he smuggled. After tasting the sweet taste of benefits a few times, he became absolutely unrestrained. Gu Fangzi sneered and told the others to turn a blind eye to that. Once someone brought this matter up, she would keep it under control. She would also vaguely reveal that Sang Pingliang was their Young Mistress’ relative and left the rest to their imagination.
Nobody dared to voice their objections. Since the relationship between Miss Gu and their young mistress was strained and this was the Shi Family’s business, it wouldn’t bring them any benefits by being concerned. So why should they meddle? Very soon, nobody brought it up and the few supervisors were kept unaware.
The discrepancies were only found when the supervisors conducted their routine stocktakes on this day. When the supervisors pursued the issue, the workers naturally couldn’t help Sang Pingliang. At this moment, Gu Fangzi was no longer in-charge of the sea freight business. Hence, everyone made use of this chance to report Sang Pingliang freely.
The managers were shocked and angry. However, they couldn’t detain him given his status. Therefore, they could only find an excuse to make him take a break for a few days while they reported this matter to their Young Master before making a decision.
After all, Sang Pingliang’s surname was Sang.
Once Sang Pingliang heard that he would be temporarily put on a break, his face turned pale. After he secretly inquired about the reason, how could he still remain calm? He hurried to the Shi Household immediately. He had to be faster than the managers and resolve this before they did. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing for him. Could the Shi family still keep him? He couldn’t bear to part with his job, as he had gotten to live and eat well. When others heard that he was the Young Mistress’ uncle, they assured him that he would have a bright future. They mentioned that he would only be at the warehouse temporarily to gain experience before he could climb the ladder to success. After all, this was a practice exercised by the Shi Family, so who would dare to neglect him? As such, many workers fawned over him!
In all his life, he had never received such treatment. This was the most beautiful and grand moment in his life. Wouldn’t it be a pity to let it end here?
When Gu Fangzi heard from Lan Xiang that Sang Pingliang had something urgent to see her about, she knew that the truth was out after the stocktake. His actions had finally come to light!
She had been waiting for this day, so there was no way she would help Sang Pingliang to contain this matter. Instead, she would escalate it even further!
“Go and settle it with him. Say that I’m no longer in-charge anymore and tell him to find Young Mistress instead!” Gu Fangzi slowly said, “You’ve to tell him about the consequences too. Just tell him that she will definitely not turn a blind eye to it, and she will probably get angry after she hears about it. And don’t forget to tell him to come up with a thorough explanation. After all, he would be disgraced having to be taught a lesson by someone younger! If he isn’t willing to look for her, then perhaps he could plead for leniency with Old Mistress! I’ll be going to my aunt’s place now. But before I go, are you confident with what you have to do?”
“I am! Missy, you don’t have to worry!” If she could not do such a simple task, she would have been Gu Fangzi’s servant for nothing all these years. Miss Gu had schemed against Sang Pingliang and his wife with much difficulty. How could she let him find Young Mistress and cry for help? She naturally had to draw him to Old Mistress!
Lan Xiang bowed and went to get it done. Gu Fangzi sneered and mumbled with a sigh, “Sang Wan, I’ll see how you’re going to explain this to Aunt Wang!”
Sang Pingliang was like a cat on a hot tin roof. When he finally saw someone come to invite him in, his anxious heart calmed down a little before returning to being anxious again.
Upon seeing that Lan Xiang was the one meeting him, although he was somewhat disappointed, he still bucked up and went forward with a smile before saying, “Miss Lan Xiang, where is Miss Gu? I have something urgent to find her for!”
Lan Xiang responded, “You can tell me instead and I’ll pass it on to my Missy later on! She is serving the Old Mistress right now, so how could she abruptly leave? Why don’t you come again tomorrow instead?”
How could Sang Pingliang still wait until the next day? His face flushed with anger and he was embarrassed, but he gritted his teeth and told her everything. Of course, he simplified the course of events. He only said that he had been muddled and deserved to die, and shouldn’t have been obsessed with money and given in to instigation by others which led to the huge mistake. He needed Gu Fangzi’s help, or he would have no other way out!
Lan Xiang was startled by his words. After a long while, she returned to her senses and said quickly, “How could you be so muddled as to do such a thing! Miss Gu kindly helped you get the job, but you caused such trouble instead! I’m afraid even she would have to apologize humbly. How can she even help you!”
“Miss Lan Xiang, you have to put in a good word for me in front of Miss Gu! I really know that I was wrong. It won’t happen again in the future! I swear that I’ll definitely be earnest in the future and won’t disgrace Miss Gu!” After being criticized by Lan Xiang, Sang Pingliang couldn’t help but feel anxious and guilty.
Lan Xiang muttered unwillingly and said with a sigh, “Second Old Master Sang, she is no longer in charge now. She can’t help you even if she wants to! Why don’t I check if Young Mistress is free and you can ask her for help instead?”
“No, no! You can’t let her know!” Before Lan Xiang could think of how to shift from her Young Mistress to Old Mistress, Sang Pingliang almost jumped from what she said. He shook both of his hands and hurriedly objected, “You can’t tell her. You can’t tell her about this!”
