Chapter 618 A Dream of Youth (150 words)

Chen Wanniang held Xie Ning's official robes and looked at them again and again. When Xie Ning came out of the study, she pulled Xie Ning into the room and said, "Bao'er, quickly put on these official robes and let your mother see them."

If it doesn't fit, your mother will alter it for you tonight.

Xie Ning has two sets of official robes, one light scarlet and the other green.

"good."

Xie Ning was wearing a light scarlet official robe, which was the robe of a sixth-rank official.

Because it was arranged by Xie Wangzhi, Xie Ning's official robes fit her very well. Moreover, Xie Ning was fair-skinned and taller than most children her age. Chen Wanniang looked at the tall and graceful girl and couldn't help but be amazed.

Xie Ningxiao's father also possessed a touch of feminine gentleness, making him somewhat androgynous at first glance.

"Your mother will comb your hair and then put your official hat on you. We'll show it to your father and brother later, so that your brother can be encouraged to work harder."

Then, during the meal, Xie Ning sat directly opposite Xie Qi. Of course, she wasn't wearing her official hat; she just had her hair up.

After all, official hats are easy to get into trouble with.

Looking at Xie Ning, who was dressed in a light crimson official robe, Xie Qi felt as if he had been pierced by a thousand arrows. He lowered his head and bit into the crispy roasted lamb chop with resentment. At this moment, only food could heal his heart.

He hadn't even taken the imperial examination yet, and his younger sister had already entered the court as an official. It was easy to imagine how much envy, jealousy, and hatred he would receive from his classmates.

Although he was proud of Xie Ning, as an older brother who was several years older than Xie Ning, he felt ashamed and wanted to cry.

After the meal, Xie Qi sighed and picked up his book to study in the garden. Xie Ning also changed out of his official robes and then went to find Xie Qi with a plump gold ingot in his pocket.

There are very few feelings in this world that a gold ingot cannot heal. If it cannot, then it must be because one is not enough. Is there really anyone who doesn't love shiny gold?

Sure enough, Xie Qi's eyes lit up instantly, or rather, they gleamed with golden light. "Bao'er, how do you have so many gold ingots?"

Wow, it's so sparkly!

Xie Ning sat on the railing, then threw a small stone, splashing water and startling the fish that were dozing under the lotus leaves.

"It was a gift from His Majesty."

You can earn silver ingots for treating ordinary people, but the emperor is more generous.

No, Xie Ning carefully recalled the rewards he had received, and then said quietly, "This gold was all given by the Empress and Princess Yanxi. His Majesty gave him calligraphy, paintings, treasures, cloth, and things like writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones."

You wouldn't know unless you thought about it carefully, but now that you think about it, the emperor really never directly rewarded her with any money.

Even so, Xie Qi was still quite envious, as he had no income to date and his expenses were all covered by public funds.

“Bao’er, I won’t accept your gold for nothing. It just so happens that one of my classmates wants to start a business but doesn’t have the funds. I’m planning to do it with him.”

He felt it would be better to have extra income. He felt embarrassed to rely on his parents and younger sister, but it was unrealistic for him to spend so much energy to build his own business.

It just so happens that his classmate was not very good at studying, but he was extremely keen on business and very perceptive.

"What kind of business?" Xie Ning wondered if Xie Qi had been scammed.

"There are many people traveling during holidays, but not everyone has a horse-drawn carriage. Especially for us students, we have to rent one from a carriage rental shop."

Renting a car is expensive, and most of us aren't rich. Plus, sometimes you can't even rent one.

My classmate thought, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if we built a long car so people could carpool and split the cost?"

Xie Ning felt a little relieved and seriously discussed the feasibility of the matter with Xie Qi.

This is equivalent to a modern bus. Xie Qi's idea actually has precedents. In the previous dynasty, there were painted carriages with cushions inside, which could carry six to ten people, similar to buses.

As she spoke, Xie Ning pulled Xie Qi into the study.

Seeing Xie Ning spread out the paper to draw design sketches for them, Xie Qi very attentively poured some water and began grinding ink.

He certainly knew that Xie Ning had an exceptional talent for design; just look at the incredibly popular food trucks in Beijing right now.

“Your idea is good, but it’s not suitable to just run it like the old way. This business has already been taken over by others, so you need to have a better idea.”

She then began working on the car's design.

"Okay, okay, okay." Xie Qi nodded like a chick pecking at rice, as if he could already see gold beckoning to him.

Xie Ning was halfway through drawing when he remembered to ask Xie Qi, "Brother, is your classmate's family wealthy?"

If you don't have enough money, no matter how much you do, the business will easily be snatched away.

"Yes, no, he doesn't have much money, but his grandfather is a high-ranking official."

"What official?"

Xie Qi said mysteriously, "It's the Duke of Anguo."

That official position is indeed high-ranking, but why would someone with such a powerful family background be poor?

"What's so strange about that?" Xie Qi picked up a piece of cold watermelon and started eating it with a crunch.

"Although their family has a powerful background and their wealth far exceeds ours, they have many children. When one child gets a share and another gets a share, each child ends up with very little."

Not to mention that Lu San also has wives, concubines, and children to support.

Realizing he had spoken out of turn, Xie Qi quickly moved on.

No wonder he wanted to drag Xie Qi into the business together.

Xie Ning blew on the paper and waited for the ink to dry before handing it to Xie Qi. "Brother, you can also use this to invest, but you don't need to mention my name. If there are any dividends in the future, just give me a share."

She doesn't care much about these things; there's no end to making money.

Although she likes money, she prefers the overall improvement of society. Therefore, she is not stingy in contributing what she has learned. After all, from the beginning, she also learned from her predecessors and enjoyed the shade of the trees planted by them.

She wasn't selfless; she just had different expectations.