Transmigrated as A Farm Girl Making Her Family Rich

While Ye Shiqi was suffering from a headache, the flow of people delivering invitation cards finally ceased before dinner. With such a commotion at the house, all the sisters at home were already aware of it.

Li Zhihao came back for dinner and felt a bit alarmed.

A farmer, who had never managed the reception of so many noble ladies and young ladies, was fortunate there were no male guests, and he mainly had to arrange for the workers in the kitchen.

He was also very impressed with his young niece, who faced so many invitations with such composure.

Most of the prominent ministers' families from the Capital City had sent invitation cards, and perhaps it wasn't just the ladies and young ladies; relatives might be coming with them too.

During dinner, Ye Shiqi encountered her three elder sisters, who kept chattering non-stop, worrying about how to manage the next day.

Li Zhihao also inquired about what to use to accommodate so many guests the next day.

At that moment, Ye Shiqi wished her uncle were there, since he was the manor owner of the Mountain Villa and had never felt nervous hosting so many visitors there.

Ye Shiqi asked them to dine first, then prepare a list, ensuring that the tea for the ladies and young ladies must contain honey, since they didn't have any more prestigious tea leaves, only floral teas; honey made them most palatable.

Then, regarding the kitchen's pastries, if the kitchen couldn't produce enough for the guests, they could order them from various taverns overnight.

For the noon meal, they could only hire the restaurant's chefs to cook, while the house provided the dishes and meat.

The house hadn't hosted so many guests for a meal in over twenty years, and the tables and chairs stored in the storeroom were already old. Although they were made of good materials, their guests were distinguished.

Ye Shiqi could only ask Li Zhihao to bring over furniture stored in their shop's warehouse as an emergency measure, clear out the old furniture, and after hosting the guests, put the new furniture back into storage, as it might be used again next time.

Upon hearing his niece's instructions, Li Zhihao wrote everything down on a list, except for the furniture. He thought all the furniture was new and would cost a significant amount of money. Since the furniture was meant for sale, it was very costly. Then, he remembered about the Zhao Residence; it had furniture idly sitting in storage anyway—tables and chairs included.

Even some of the manor's courtyards had excellent tables and chairs. Since only caretakers lived there, he could borrow some tables and chairs as an emergency measure.

Li Zhihao even considered inviting some guests to the neighboring Zhao Residence.

But then he decided against it; the house had only a few nieces as masters, with their grandmother absent.

The nieces were very capable, but they were still young ladies who not only had to attend to the noble ladies but also several young ladies. This year, they might not be up to the task, given the substantial pressure they faced.

At this moment, with the old housekeeper absent, he didn't know who were allies among the various forces, and who belonged to which group.

Li Zhihao could only look for the shopkeepers to help out overnight, as they knew more about these external matters.

That night, as the workers were busy preparing for the guests arriving the next day, they worked very late. The garden not only needed tents to shade from the sun, but also couldn't possibly accommodate so many people in the main hall.

They had no choice but to use the garden and set up tents.

Hung up with red lanterns and colorful ribbons, Ye Residence usually only had the old housekeeper and some workers around and did not possess the finesse to decorate the garden with numerous famous flowers or to set up a conservatory.

Mr. Zhao was different; he was a man of fine taste by nature, and his family members and son had adopted his refinement, even having a conservatory at his residence.

Li Zhihao had no choice but to have people move flowers from there to here, bringing over mostly potted plants and fruit trees.

The young uncles were busy so late into the night, and with guests arriving tomorrow, there would be no time left if they got any busier.

Ye Shiqi and her elder sisters had written down the menu, feeling that living here, where the residence was slightly larger, might afford them a better capability to entertain the many guests.

If they went to the other side, moving tables and chairs wouldn't be so strenuous, perhaps moving the flowers and trees wouldn't be necessary either.

Having settled here with her sisters, they just stayed put, believing that with proper arrangements, all difficulties would be overcome.

Ye Shiqi's elder sisters' initial anxiety had, with her systematic help, began to settle.

It was just like receiving so many guests at the Mountain Villa; regardless of the guests' noble status, they treated everyone the same.

All comers were guests, whether they were masters or maids, old women should be treated the same.

She further arranged for people close to her and those in the yard, that except for those guarding the yard tomorrow, everyone would come to the garden and the hall to receive the guests.

Ye Shiqi and her sisters, aside from making the garden look beautiful, directly indulging in summer flower viewing, had many people visiting tomorrow with the sole purpose of coming to Ye Residence to see the flowers.

As for whether they truly came to see the garden's flowers or the residence's flower-like beautiful ladies.

Before coming to the Capital City, Ye Shiqi and her sisters had already bought many fabrics and ready-made clothes.

These past few days, they had continually made quilts and some items, and hadn't gotten around to making clothes.

Tomorrow they could only wear the ready-made dresses, all of which were new.

They had realized that in any era, what people competed over was wealth and family influence.

Ye Shiqi was worried that tomorrow, many noble ladies and young ladies would come and might disdain their attire and accessories, possibly leading to some unpleasant remarks.

For her sisters' sake, to make tomorrow less embarrassing, she lent them the jewelry Tang Shunyan had given her over the years.

Ye Luoqi didn't use her younger sister's jewelry; she was someone already betrothed, and her fiancé had sent many jewels, all her own now.

Ye Shiqi's other two sisters borrowed only a hairpin. Before coming to the Capital, their parents had bought them jewelry, initially paid for by future brother-in-law, while later purchases were funded by Tang Shunyan.

However, their belongings were of high quality, perhaps not as rare as some families' treasured collections.

The sisters did not feel inferior; their nervousness about hosting so many visitors stemmed from the significant influence of the visiting families, who might make things difficult for them.

It was just a matter of status; Ye Shiqi and her sisters could only wait for tomorrow to come and deal with challenges as they arose.

That evening, Ye Shiqi and her sisters made some preparations and returned to the yard; she then closed her room door to bathe.

Ye Shiqi, while in the spacious bathroom of the space, bathing and swimming, thought that tomorrow others might bring gifts, and despite being from the countryside, they couldn't just accept others' items without giving anything in return.

Then the dilemma returned, what exactly should they give to be appropriate?

Honey? That wouldn't be right. Given dozens of invitations, predictably each invitation representing two or three guests plus their entourage, there might be two to three hundred people.

Thus, hosting a meal might require seventy or eighty tables, adding chefs and workers, a total of over a hundred should be planned for, and gifts should also be distributed according to two or three hundred participants.

At this moment, Ye Shiqi saw flowers; aside from small chrysanthemums, large chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, and some other flowers intended for making skincare products.