Shen Qing thought to himself: If I don't want your money, why would I want your shady dealings?

But she only thought about it and didn't show her mockery on her face. She coughed lightly and pretended to be pitiful, saying, "Do you know that our family owes Master Zhao 100,000 taels of silver?"

Gao Laosan glanced at her sideways, fiddling with the lid of his teacup.

He knew that the second wife owed 100,000 taels, but he believed that she could repay that amount.

Once the child is adopted, he will be able to legitimately handle the second wife's property, and he will repay the 100,000 taels on behalf of the second wife.

Once the second wife's debts are cleared, the house, silk, shops, kesi workshop... all of these will belong to the third wife.

If we could exchange 10,000 taels for Shen Qing to accept adoption, wouldn't that be acceptable?

Compared to losing a life, ten thousand taels of silver is nothing...

Just then, Shen Qing said, "Previously, Master Zhao threatened to kill me, and I was even seriously injured by his thugs outside the county government office. I opposed the adoption back then only because I was afraid I couldn't protect the child, since I can barely protect myself. This Master Zhao clearly wants to kill me and then seize the Gao family's house. If he finds out that the Gao family has an heir, do you think Master Zhao will kill him too...?"

Gao Laosan's hand holding the teacup trembled slightly.

Adopting a child is only to legitimately handle the second wife's property, not to risk the grandson's life.

That grandson is the lifeblood of the whole family.

If we don't bring Jin Sun over, under what pretext will we deal with the second wife's property?

Just as she was feeling troubled, Shen Qing said, "How about this, I'll write you a written agreement to prove that I agree to the adoption, but it's best to keep this a secret and not let the outside world know. Of course, the child will continue to be raised in your household. Once I've paid back the 100,000 taels of silver I owe Master Zhao, and he can't do anything to our second branch of the family anymore, then I'll take the child back to my side."

Gao Laosan immediately felt relaxed and refreshed.

We were already worried that something might happen to Jinsun if he went to the second wife's house. Now that Jinsun can continue to be raised well at home and will be able to inherit the second wife's property in the future, there is no better way.

They easily devoured the second wife's entire family!

Once he understood all this, he immediately sent someone to bring pen and ink, and asked Shen Qing to write a written agreement for adoption.

Shen Qing accepted Gao Laosan's silver note and rushed to the next house.

Chunju said, "I didn't expect that Third Master Gao would be so much more straightforward than Grandpa Gao. Grandpa Gao is a bit long-winded."

Shen Qing smiled: "The eldest son's family didn't want to exploit the family's infertility. It would be difficult for them to hand over money for nothing. The third son's family, on the other hand, took a gamble and exchanged 10,000 taels for all of the second son's assets, which was a straightforward decision."

Chunju suddenly realized.

With the endorsement of the other two branches of the Gao family, Shen Qing easily obtained the silver notes from the other three relatives.

Looking at the five silver notes neatly arranged on the table, she let out a long sigh of relief.

We finally managed to scrape together the money.

After a moment of stunned silence, Shen Qing picked up a pen and wrote down the extraction process of artificial cellulose on a piece of paper.

The raw materials are easy to obtain; pulp can be extracted from wood, peanuts, and soybeans. The difficult part is some chemical solutions.

Unlike today, in ancient times, chemical solutions were readily available as long as they were not regulated.

Here, to obtain a chemical solution, you have to extract it yourself.

Shen Qing wrote down the names of caustic soda, carbon disulfide, sodium hydroxide, etc. on a piece of paper, and then closed his eyes to recall the equations for these chemical reagents.

Fortunately, I had done well in chemistry during my student days, and I was able to write out the equation quickly.

Analyzing chemical raw materials requires baking soda and quicklime.

Quicklime was very common in the Qing Dynasty; you should be able to buy it by asking around in the market. But baking soda…

The Belgians invented baking soda in the 18th century, but it wasn't until the Republic of China era that it became available in China.

In other words, to buy baking soda right now, you still have to go through foreign merchants. And to go through foreign merchants, you have to go through Cheng Zhiwen?

Shen Qing threw down his brush and spread his hands, clearly intending to give up.

She went to the market early the next morning, asking around to see if she could buy baking soda.

The merchants all shook their heads, looking completely bewildered.

Nobody had ever heard of such a thing, let alone sold it.

Helpless, Shen Qing casually bought a few bags of quicklime and left them at the Gao family's silk weaving workshop before heading home to pack her luggage.

Seeing that she was starting to pack up the clothes again, Chunju asked worriedly, "Young Madam, are you going to Shanghai again?"

Shen Qing hummed in agreement.

Chunju then went to the door and glanced outside to make sure no one was eavesdropping before returning inside and whispering, "If the old lady finds out you've left Jiangzhou again, she'll suspect you..."

She went out to meet other men in secret.

Chunju didn't dare say the last sentence.

Shen Qing knew what she wanted to say, but instead of getting angry, he said in a normal tone, "I'll ask my wife for leave later."

After tidying up, she went to Gao Liu's room.

He sat down at the round table and said, "I have to go to Shanghai early tomorrow morning, and I estimate I won't be back for three to five days."

Since celebrating her birthday that day, Gao Liushi's complexion had improved considerably, but upon hearing that her newly widowed daughter-in-law was going out again, she couldn't help but show her anger with a harsh expression: "Going to Shanghai to find a man again?"

Shen Qing lowered her eyes and straightened the hem of her gown, saying nonchalantly, "I suppose you also think I'm good-looking, which is why you're worried that I'll meet with men in secret. You must also know that with my looks and the fact that I've never had any children, it wouldn't be difficult for me to find a rich man to be my concubine."

Gao Liu choked and couldn't say a word.

She squinted at Shen Qing.

Her skin was like jade, her almond-shaped eyes were bright and watery, and her figure was slender and graceful. The beauty nurtured by the water and soil of Jiangnan was indeed as gentle as water.

If she weren't so stunningly beautiful, her son wouldn't have insisted on marrying a woman who had been rejected by her fiancé.

And she's right. Now, as long as she becomes someone else's concubine, the Gao family will have nothing to do with her anymore, and she won't have to rack her brains to raise money to do business or pay off the Gao family's debts.

Thinking of this, Madam Gao softened her tone and pretended to advise, "A concubine is subject to the discipline of the first wife. The first wife can beat you if she wants to, and sell you if she wants to. Although the Gao family is in debt right now, you are still the young mistress of the Gao family, and no one dares to touch you."

Shen Qing smiled, knowing that his wife had understood.

She stood up and looked at Madam Gao Liu: "You're wrong. I'm not someone no one dares to mess with in the Gao family. If we can't repay the 100,000 taels next year, you and I will both lose our heads."

Gao Liu's face immediately turned ashen.

Although she felt she couldn't go on living after her son and husband passed away and even considered joining them in death, she still hoped to be laid to rest in peace and leave with dignity, rather than being separated from her family and left to rot in the streets as a laughingstock.

Shen Qing's words were like an executioner's blade, pressing tightly against her neck. She no longer had the mind to control whether Shen Qing went to Shanghai or Beijing.

Helplessly, he waved his hand at Shen Qing: "Go! Just don't do anything that would damage the reputation of the Gao family! Go!"