Shitou nodded firmly, "Rest assured, Princess, I won't come back until I sell everything!"
Duoduo shook her head.
"No! You must come back before the estate gates are locked."
Shitou nodded, picked up his bamboo basket, and gradually disappeared from everyone's sight.
Shitou was gone until the gates of the Prince's estate were about to be locked.
Duoduo kept worrying about it, and was absent-minded during her afternoon palace etiquette class.
Fortunately, the class covered things she had already learned, so nothing went wrong.
While exercising, Duoduo kept looking outside, and she asked Lüdou to wait at the side gate.
As soon as Shitou returned, she wanted Lüdou to bring him over.
Seeing that it was almost time to lock the gates, Lvluo advised Duoduo.
"Princess, why don't you go back and wait inside? You just finished exercising and are covered in sweat. Be careful not to catch a cold in the wind."
Duoduo waved her hand.
"No need, I'm still feeling hot! Go do your work, don't worry about me!"
Just as Lvluo was about to continue persuading her, Duoduo saw Lüdou's figure.
Duoduo looked closely. Who else was following behind Lüdou but Shitou?
Lvluo also saw Lüdou, "Princess, Lüdou is back!"
Duoduo nodded excitedly, "Yes, they're back!"
In the blink of an eye, Lüdou and Shitou walked up to Duoduo.
Shitou knelt down to pay his respects, and Duoduo asked impatiently.
"How did it go? Did you sell them?"
Beside him, Lüdou's eyes were startlingly bright, "Princess, they are all sold!"
Duoduo was stunned, "All sold out?"
Shitou raised his head, the light in his eyes like a spark ignited on a wasteland.
"Princess, everything is sold out. Here is the money."
Shitou carefully took out a heavy purse from his chest.
Duoduo took it, opened it, and saw that it was full of copper coins, along with a few bits of silver.
"This much?" Duoduo's eyes widened.
Shitou nodded, "Yes! Miss Lüdou's pastries are very delicious."
"Everyone who tasted them scrambled to buy them, and the last few were all bought by one person."
Hearing this, Duoduo sized Shitou up, "Are you alright?"
Shitou's clothes were a bit messy, but he looked fine overall.
Shitou smiled and shook his head.
"Princess, I am fine!"
Lüdou reminded everyone, "Princess, let's go back inside first."
"Shitou definitely hasn't eaten yet. Lvluo, go to the kitchen and bring back the food the Princess asked them to save for Shitou."
Lvluo agreed and left, and a look of gratitude appeared on Shitou's face.
Servants ate at the main kitchen, and if they missed mealtime, there would be no food left. That was the rule.
Shitou thought he would have to go hungry tonight, but to his surprise, the Princess had actually asked someone to save a meal specifically for him.
The three of them returned to the room, and Duoduo impatiently poured out all the copper coins.
"Shitou, how much money is in here?" Duoduo looked at the table full of copper coins, her eyes shining.
Shitou's gaze as he looked at the coins was also eager.
He only knew it was quite a lot, but he hadn't expected it to be this much.
"I was worried about being targeted by bad people, so I didn't count it."
"Lüdou, hurry, let's count it together and see how much there is."
Duoduo divided the copper coins into two piles, and the two of them started counting separately.
"Princess, I have one thousand and fifty copper coins here." Lüdou finished counting first.
"I have two thousand and eighty here, plus these three bits of silver."
"Then that's three thousand one hundred and thirty copper coins in total. Wow, plus these three bits of silver, it's almost six taels of silver!"
Duoduo's eyes widened, "It actually sold for this much?"
Duoduo started counting on her fingers, "Six taels a day, in a month, wouldn't that be eighteen taels?"
Lüdou was also excited, "Princess, you gave one hundred copper coins as capital today. Deducting the capital, we made a full six taels!"
Duoduo looked at Lüdou suspiciously, "This much?"
Lüdou nodded excitedly, "Master was right, making pastries is incredibly profitable!"
"Today I only made a little bit. If I make more tomorrow and have Shitou go sell them early in the morning, we can definitely double it!"
Looking at the excited Lüdou, Duoduo calmed down instead.
Li Jin had also told her a bit about the knowledge of doing business.
Something was not right here!
Duoduo looked at Shitou, who was keeping his head down, and pondered for a moment.
"Shitou, are you sure this is all the money from selling pastries?"
Shitou raised his head, "Princess, all the money is here."
"I didn't take a single copper coin, and I promise not a single coin was lost!"
Duoduo asked again.
"Are you sure it's all money from selling pastries?"
Hearing that Duoduo's tone was off, Shitou raised his head and quickly glanced at her.
He saw that Duoduo's face was full of displeasure.
Shitou hurriedly knelt down.
When Shitou heard the total amount of money, his heart had started pounding.
He had originally harbored a fluke mentality. The Princess was only four years old; seeing the money, she would definitely be overjoyed. How would she know how much the pastries should sell for?
"Answering the Princess, only the copper coins in here are the money from selling pastries," Shitou chose to confess.
"The other three bits of silver were given as a reward by an adult after I saved a child who choked on a pastry."
"Counting it, this money was also obtained because of selling pastries, so I put it all together."
That meant today's pastries sold for three taels of silver, but it was still too much.
After pondering, Duoduo continued to ask, "How did you sell the pastries today?"
Shitou kept his head down and answered honestly.
"When I first left the estate, I went to the bustling East Market."
"I walked around and bumped into a few former classmates. I was worried about being laughed at, so I left."
"I walked for a long time, and thinking of my promise to the Princess to sell everything, I gritted my teeth and returned to the East Market."
"I carried my basket to a teahouse, wanting to sell the pastries to the manager, but the manager had me chased away."
"So I took out a few pieces of pastry and tried letting people taste them first."
"A chubby little kid heard that he could taste it for free and immediately ran over to grab a piece."
"As a result, the child ate too fast and choked."
"I remembered the action my grandmother used to do when I choked on food as a child."
"Then, I successfully got the pastry out of the child's throat."
"His family's adults heard about the situation and rewarded me with a few bits of silver."
"He reasoned with the manager and let me go inside to sell the pastries."
"Seeing that the prices of pastries in the teahouse were very high, I raised my selling price."
"The pastries made by Sister Lüdou tasted very good, and the customers who tasted them all bought some."
"The remaining ones that weren't sold out were all bought by the customer who helped me."
"Princess, every word I said is true, without a single lie!"
After Shitou finished speaking, he kept his head down, his face full of apprehension.
