Qiu Yan gritted his teeth, "Do you have any other requests?"

For example, borrowing money from him to build a factory.

Qin Yao smiled faintly; she had money now but had a detail to discuss with him clearly.

"If Fulong Trading Company can’t launch the Lady’s Box, it’s reasonable for me to find another company to cooperate with, right?"

Qiu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Right now, in the Zijing Mansion, our Fulong Trading Company is the most powerful. If we can’t push it out, then other firms can’t either."

Qin Yao still smiled casually, "But the world doesn’t only have Zijing Mansion."

Seeing that Qiu Yan’s expression was starting to falter, Qin Yao immediately added, "But I believe that with Fulong Trading Company’s strength, our cooperation can definitely make the Lady’s Box a huge hit!"

"Of course." Qiu Yan finally smiled, seeing Qin Yao was tired, he told her she could rest in the guest room at the back; he would have the contract drafted and ask her to check it later.

Qin Yao didn’t stand on ceremony, thanked him, and followed a company clerk to the backyard to rest.

Qiu Yan worked swiftly, and by the time Qin Yao awoke from her nap, the contract was already drafted.

After they verified it together on the spot, each added their seal, and while it was still early, they went to the government office to get a guarantor, making the contract effective immediately.

Before parting ways, Qiu Yan couldn’t help but add, "Miss Qin, if you’re in need, just say the word. As long as it’s within my ability, I won’t refuse."

He looked at Qin Yao with a hint of probing in his gaze.

He was really curious about how much silver she had to produce such luxurious Lady’s Boxes.

According to their agreement, the stationery factory would deliver one hundred Lady’s Boxes to the company by August Mid-Autumn, to leverage the festival to debut in the Capital and build momentum.

Qiu Yan could calculate the profits from the stationery factory, so he could also figure out Qin Yao’s portion.

But he didn’t know Qin Yao also earned quite a bit on the side and had a fundraising and equity activities upon returning to the village, leaving him unsure.

Qin Yao said earnestly, "Rest assured, I will deliver the agreed quantity on time, with quality assured."

With her assurance, Qiu Yan felt truly at ease and returned to the company that night, immediately gathering all the stewards to prepare the stage for the Lady’s Box’s debut.

Qin Yao didn’t stop for a moment either; once she got the contract, she immediately set off the next day.

Without Wang Jin, the journey was incredibly peaceful.

However, when Qin Yao arrived at Liu Family Village, she suddenly received a letter from Qiu Yan.

The letter clearly informed Qin Yao that a high-ranked figure had stepped in to threaten Fulong Trading Company to cut off all business dealings with the Liu Family Village stationery factory.

But it had all been resolved by Qiu Yan, who reassured Qin Yao to produce the Lady’s Boxes without worry, and told her that the two Lady’s Boxes left in the Prefecture were already on their way to the Capital.

Due to the previous beautiful misunderstanding, Qiu Yan slyly asked Qin Yao if she still had any contact with the Princess.

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow; sometimes she felt she had quite a thick skin and didn’t want to clarify this beautiful misunderstanding.

Especially now that she was being watched by a powerful figure; if she didn’t borrow the Princess’s name, the stationery factory would be in danger.

So she took out the Token Mu Ling had previously given her, made an ink rubbing on white paper, and sent it with Liu Bai’s convoy to the Prefecture.

When Qiu Yan saw the rubbed image on the return letter, he felt at ease.

For the time being, he could only continue to negotiate with the powerful figure, waiting for Lord Imperial Censor to arrive in the Capital.

However, knowing that a mad dog at death’s door could easily lash out, Qiu Yan was also under significant pressure.

On the contrary, Qin Yao’s side, having delivered several rounds of overwhelming defeats, left a significant shadow on the other side, who dared not provoke her for the time being.

Moreover, with Song Zhang in Kaiyang County, as long as Qin Yao didn’t leave Kaiyang County, she was safe.

Putting aside these upper-level silent battles, Qin Yao wholeheartedly devoted herself to the comprehensive upgrade affairs of the stationery factory.

With Song Yu aiding professionally, Qin Yao only had to worry about two things.

The first: Money.

The second: Money again!

However, the former was her own money, the latter was the money raised through equity.

On the second day after returning from the Prefecture to Liu Family Village, Qin Yao took advantage of the evening after the villagers had finished dinner to hold an equity meeting at the ancestral hall.

Due to the villagers’ limited literacy, having only learned a hundred or two hundred characters tops at the stationery factory’s literacy class, understanding Qin Yao’s concepts of fundraising, dividends, and equity still took some time.

So three days later, Qin Yao held another discussion meeting to consult the entire village for their opinions and answer villagers’ questions.

Out of blind trust in Qin Yao, most of the villagers expressed a desire to join in, but when they heard Qin Yao say that it would take five taels of silver to buy a share, they were all taken aback.

But there are always smart people, and the situation with the stationery factory was obvious to everyone. Seeing Liu the carpenter’s newly built large house and newly purchased farmland was telling enough.

Five taels of silver wasn’t really that much; families could scrape it together.

In desperation, they could even sell one or two acres of land.

If they didn’t even have land... the cool melons in the fields were ripe.

Yin Le and the kids excitedly ran into the house carrying two smashed watermelons while Qin Yao was calculating the silver she had.

It’s really surprising when you calculate it.

She unexpectedly had two thousand one hundred taels of silver in hand!

And this didn’t include the Lady’s Box order earnings of six hundred fifty taels from Fulong Trading Company, nor the stationery gift box earnings of two hundred forty taels from Bai Shan.

The stationery factory also had two hundred fifty taels of silver as working capital.

Considering all this, the upgrade of the stationery factory and the additional building of a new workshop did not impose much pressure, and it could even be considered easy.

According to Song Yu’s accounting, upgrading the Lady’s Box would only require an additional one thousand two hundred taels.

One hundred taels of this for the workshop building upgrade, and the remaining eleven hundred for purchasing materials—acquiring embroidered room from the county, as well as a jade processing workshop.

Considering this, Qin Yao felt more reassured about the comprehensive upgrade of the factory.

Just then, the sweet scent of watermelon wafted over, and she felt pure joy.

Da Lang held up the half watermelon he smashed, excitedly said, "Mother, the melons in the field are ready to eat!"

Sanlang and Si Niang, salivating, eagerly stared at their second brother holding the other half of the bright red melon, just waiting for Mother to say the word so they could devour it.

Yin Le, seeing the cool melon for the first time, although it smelled uniquely fragrant, was still skeptical about its striped skin, "Master, is this cool melon really that delicious?"

Qin Yao put down her abacus and stood up, motioning for everyone to follow her. They went to the kitchen, where Mrs. Li brought a kitchen knife. With a few swift chops, Qin Yao had the two pieces of melon sliced into even slices.

She took one first, bit into it, and the burst of sweet juice filled her mouth, bringing a delightful coolness in the scorching summer.

Just one word: "Refreshing!"