Episode 7 recap: The Grand Opening of Ji Ming Zhao's Nameless Department Store
Ji Ming Zhao is the daughter of the Ji family. As she grew older, her mother planned to arrange a marriage for her with Liu Yun Gui, the third son of the Liu family. Ji Ming Zhao saw her sister marrying someone she didn't love due to a family alliance and often came back crying. She didn't want to live such a life, so she went to her parents to plead with them. When her mother learned that Ji Ming Zhao was considering running away from the marriage, she criticized her and said that it wasn't a skill.
She challenged Ji Ming Zhao to prove that she could earn money for the Ji family, and then she could be her own master. After hearing her mother's words, Ji Ming Zhao decided to use 4,000 silver tickets as startup capital to turn around the most run-down shop in Muyun City and transform it into a profitable business. At the same time, she planned to train the existing staff in the store, Ye Wu Zhi, Meng San Xi, and Yan Si Fang, into senior core personnel. She also aimed to achieve more than ten times the profit of the store, and all of this needed to be accomplished within one year.
Ye Wu Zhi was brought back by Meng San Xi and Yan Si Fang. When faced with Ji Ming Zhao's questioning, she admitted that she had gone to a gambling house. Ji Ming Zhao didn't mind and directly presented three contracts, offering to hire the three of them for five taels of silver per month. However, she had one condition: they had to stay in the store during working hours, and if they needed to take a day off, they had to apply for leave in advance. Ji Ming Zhao planned to expand the business, not only selling groceries but also adding firewood, rice, oil, salt, fruits, vegetables, and grains. In order to let consumers see at a glance that they sold a variety of items, she decided to rename the Nameless Grocery Store to the Nameless Department Store, while retaining the "Nameless" name. Ye Wu Zhi, Meng San Xi, and Yan Si Fang were all very happy about this.
Meng San Xi went to purchase goods and directly approached the Ying family, demanding that the goods they had previously sold at half price be repurchased at the original price. The shopkeeper refused, so Meng San Xi caused a commotion, making Ying Bai Chi think there was something exciting to see. Upon learning of Meng San Xi's purpose, Ying Bai Chi immediately disagreed. Meng San Xi then threatened Ying Bai Chi by saying that if there was no excitement, he would create trouble. In the end, Meng San Xi successfully bought back the goods at a lower price, saving money for the Nameless Department Store. When Yan Si Fang went to purchase fabric, she found out that the Ji family's fabric shop had received a notice not to sell fabric to the Nameless Department Store. Yan Si Fang threatened the shopkeeper that if he didn't retrieve a jade pendant for her, she would definitely complain about him. The shopkeeper had no choice but to cleverly sell the fabric to Yan Si Fang. Ji Ming Zhao was surprised when she saw the purchased Ji family fabric.
When Ye Wu Zhi went to buy dice at the gambling house, the boss refused to sell them. However, Ye Wu Zhi made a bet that if she won, she could take the table away. With her gambling addiction kicking in, Ye Wu Zhi immediately started gambling and actually won, allowing her to take the table back to the Nameless Department Store, which happened to be where Yan Si Fang had placed the batch of fabric she had purchased.
Ji Ming Zhao had an urgent matter to attend to and instructed Meng San Xi, Yan Si Fang, and Ye Wu Zhi to autonomously arrange their work. As long as they performed well and generated profits, they would receive a share of the earnings. Meng San Xi learned from Bu Zhuang that the employees of the Ji family didn't need to stay in the store all the time, which made him suspect that Ji Ming Zhao was playing tricks on them and actually restricting their freedom. He couldn't help but feel puzzled, considering that Ji Ming Zhao had initially purchased the store at a high price and then hired them at a high salary. Ye Wu Zhi, however, had a pure mind and believed that Ji Ming Zhao was simply wealthy and wanted to open a store for the convenience of buying fruits. After hearing Ye Wu Zhi's analysis, Meng San Xi and Yan Si Fang concluded that Ji Ming Zhao was just wealthy, dispelling their strange speculations, and they proceeded to work diligently.
Wei Dong Yang arrived at the department store and informed the three of them that he had successfully diverted someone's attention. He mentioned that he had returned to Mu Yun City and was now employed by Ying Bai Chi. If they wanted to witness some excitement, they could call on Ying Bai Chi, and the fee would be seven taels of silver per month. Meng San Xi and Yan Si Fang felt a bit envious of Wei Dong Yang's salary. However, when they learned that Wei Dong Yang had returned to Mu Yun City to gather information on the San Qi Dao because someone in their sect had been punished, they became suspicious. Ye Wu Zhi wanted to invite Wei Dong Yang to join the revenge organization, but Meng San Xi and Yan Si Fang changed the topic. It was then that she remembered she had to go out, so she went to Lao Wang Noodle House to inquire about the person who witnessed Liu Yun Xiao setting the building on fire. The other party already had an answer but demanded full payment before revealing it. Ye Wu Zhi went to the gambling house again to make money, but this time she lost everything and had nothing left. So she decided to work hard and save up one hundred taels.
Ji Ming Zhao learned that Mr. Fan was going to design the eighth bathhouse for the Liu family, so he brought some fruits and went to their door, intending to collaborate to enhance the reputation of his own store. Gu Nianzhuang from Yu Ting Xuan had the same idea. The two of them met in front of the Fan residence and neither wanted to let the other steal the opportunity. They lingered there for a while and eventually decided to use their own strategies to lure Mr. Fan out. They succeeded in getting his attention, but Mr. Fan declined their offers. Ji Ming Zhao and Gu Nianzhuang were not willing to give up, so they went to find Mr. Fan again. Understanding Mr. Fan's concerns, they expressed their opinions, and in the end, they persuaded Mr. Fan to agree to a collaborative partnership with both of them.
I only deduced half an hour before going live that the wrongful case of Bei Xiao Hai might be related to the arson case involving Liu Yun Xiao. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be true in this episode. Now, there are additional cases involving a caravan of 50 people, two yamen officials, and the eldest son of the Ji family. The caravan may be connected to Ying Bai Chi (who is a skilled supplier with good lightness skills), the yamen officials to Dai Meng Hui, and Ji Ming Zhao to the Ji family. If these four cases correspond to the four families, then Bei Xiao Hai should be the son of the Liu family, taking the blame for his brother and being framed for other crimes.