Departure

The ultimate meaning of this statement was exactly the same as what Jiang Nian said before coming to the blacksmith shop, both of which came from his investigation of her.

Jiang Nian met Xiao Yingzhu's indifferent gaze as she lowered her eyes, and the familiar feeling came over him again, and his thoughts replayed in his mind as before.

If Xiao Yingzhu had not caught a glimpse of hostility in his eyes when he attacked just now, she would have really had the illusion that Xiao Yingzhu had changed his personality after changing his clothes.

Xiao Yingzhu in front of her was still quietly waiting for her reply. Thinking of the inexplicable annoyance in her heart just now, Jiang Nian hid the thoughts in her eyes, and only the initial vigilance remained in her eyes.

"You have already spent an hour helping me escape from this interference. Now I naturally do not want to trouble you even a little bit. I thank you for your kindness."

Xiao Yingzhu seemed to be very interested in the bargaining between Jiang Nian and Zhao the blacksmith just now. He listened to the alienation and rejection revealed in Jiang Nian's words, and the casual smile on his face paused for a moment, and then said.

"If Miss Jiang really wants to do something for the help I just gave her, why not tell me what price-cutting is?"

The voice beside him came lightly. Jiang Nianben avoided his sight and then suddenly looked back, with a look of surprise that was hard to hide.

Xiao Yingzhu asked her how to bargain?

He lowered his eyes and looked at her, without any other dark emotions in them, as if he was asking the question sincerely.

The last time she saw such a look was yesterday in the pharmacy when he asked her what she was thinking, but today she didn't see the purpose of this question.

Jiang Nian lowered his eyes. Was it because the conversation style he had just had with Blacksmith Zhao was too different from the original owner?

Seeing that Jiang Nian's answers were a little slower than usual, Xiao Yingzhu tapped the handle of the ink fan with her fingertips, raised the corners of her eyes slightly, stared at her face for a moment, and asked casually.

"Miss Jiang is having trouble answering this question?"

Jiang Nian's peripheral vision caught sight of the ink fan in Xiao Yingzhu's hand for a moment. Her gaze paused, and the murderous fan from before emerged in her mind. Her expression remained unchanged, and she smiled at Xiao Yingzhu.

"How could that be? If you want to hear it, I will tell you."

Xiao Yingzhu keenly caught the nervousness that flashed across Jiang Nian's eyes just now. His gaze briefly glanced at the fan in his hand, his eyes darkened slightly, and his voice became a little cold.

"There's no need to be so formal with Miss Jiang and me. Just call her by her first name."

Jiang Nian was stunned, and suddenly remembered that the tension in his eyes was seen by Xiao Yingzhu, which led him to misunderstand that he had followed the etiquette again because of the fan.

Thinking of the real reason why she called him that, her eyes froze for a moment, then she followed Xiao Yingzhu's wishes and smiled faintly.

"If you want to know how to lower the price, I will explain it to you."

"Merchants often use buyers' expectations to set prices. Some will target different buyers. If they predict you won't negotiate on price, they'll usually raise the price a bit."

"The same thing happened to Blacksmith Zhao earlier. I paid him some hard work fees out of hope, but he thought I was someone with plenty of money and didn't want to haggle over the price, so he wanted to extort more from me."

"To protect my own profits, I exploited the blacksmith's logical flaws during the negotiation, uncovered his deliberate intention to raise the price, and then pushed the price back down to where it was originally supposed to be. This is known as price-cutting."

Jiang Nian paused for a moment, only to realize that she had involuntarily incorporated modern vocabulary into her explanation. Although she was still wary of Xiao Yingzhu, she couldn't help but tell him words that would not appear in this era, as if she wanted to find a sense of identity with the modern era from him.

Is it because Xiao Yingzhu was very interested in using modern words as the name of the anthelmintic formula?

So even though she was careful to follow the etiquette correctly, she still couldn't help but use modern vocabulary in her explanations.

Jiang Nian's eyes dimmed slightly, and just when he was about to open his mouth to change the subject, he saw Xiao Yingzhu beside him raise his eyes, and his tone was a little casual as if he was asking about something.

"I wonder where Miss Jiang learned this? This is my first time seeing this scene, and I'm very interested."

Jiang Nian's gaze moved slightly.

There was less of the probing into her identity in his words than yesterday, as if he simply wanted to understand the reason.

"I've been watching my father run his business since I was little, so I've learned a lot from him. These are just little things that happen in life..."

Just when Jiang Nian was about to ask Xiao Yingzhu if he had never seen such a scene, he changed his mind and remembered that he was the Duke and might never have seen the noisy scene in the market.

As for the negotiations on other matters, Jiang Nian shifted his gaze slightly and looked at Xiao Yingzhu's profile.

He seems like someone who can kill with a single blow, so this might not be necessary.

Xiao Yingzhu nodded slightly, ending the topic here, and then changed the subject. The deep meaning in her eyes appeared again.

"Miss Jiang, please explain this to me today."

"But I have another question for Miss Jiang."

Xiao Yingzhu's eyes were as black as ink, and the viciousness that had been hidden in his eyes was revealed again.

"Miss Jiang seems to mind the fan in my hand?"

The indifference and casualness in his eyes just now seemed like an illusion, remaining only during that moment of chatting.

When he asked this question now, he showed some of the shadows of yesterday's test.

“Human relationships are as thin as paper, and the world is like a new chess game, each one anew.”

"Miss Jiang is so polite to me today because of this fan."

His eyes darkened.

"Or is it just because of me?"

Xiao Yingzhu's tone was as light as water, and her purpose was not as obvious as yesterday.

But Jiang Nian felt that this indifferent look was still sharp.

Jiang Nian looked back calmly. Just as Xiao Yingzhu usually didn't care much about the meaning of her words, she used the same method today, distracting the meaning of her words and giving a brief reply.

"I have benefited a lot from spending these past two days with you, so I will naturally be courteous to you."

After all, the more help Xiao Yingzhu gives her, the more chips she will have to add to this cooperation.

Xiao Yingzhu doesn't seem to have any feelings. If something bad happens to him one day, Jiang Nian doesn't want to lose all his money because of the accumulated chips from all these things before he has made enough money.

As the sky gradually darkened, the young man in the carriage leaned over to look here, but was met with the cold glance from Xiao Yingzhu, and shrank his head back in fear.

This time, Jiang Nian discovered why the boy was so frightened. She withdrew her gaze from the boy and when she met Xiao Yingzhu's gaze, there was more doubt in her eyes.

"Sir, the driver is quite far from here. If you are worried about the walls eavesdropping, we can talk somewhere else."

Xiao Yingzhu casually opened the fan, and her gaze lingered for a moment on Jiang Nian's eyebrows, which seemed to be filled with a soft and faint smile. There were some other difficult-to-detect emotions in her eyes.

"Jiang Nian, are you the same as him?"

Jiang Nian, whose thoughts were still stuck on the previous moment, suddenly heard Xiao Yingzhu calling her name. She was stunned for a moment, and a trace of confusion appeared on her face, which usually showed no obvious emotional changes.

"What do you want to ask, Your Excellency?"

Xiao Yingzhu's gaze did not change on Jiang Nian's face. His deep eyes seemed to want to see through her inner thoughts.

"Your emotions."

"Miss Jiang, were you afraid when you saw me?"

His tone was as light and slow as when they first met, but when Jiang Nian met his inky-black gaze, she felt a little more nervous in her heart.

The inexplicable confusion in her heart was naturally not good for her. After suppressing the sudden shock in her heart, Jiang Nian avoided Xiao Yingzhu's topic and seemed to be answering something.

"If I were afraid of you, I wouldn't be your ally."

"Sir, please stop speculating about Jiang Nian's sincerity in becoming your alliance."

Xiao Yingzhu's gaze towards her was as thin as a cicada's wing, but Jiang Nian felt uneasy at this moment. She was afraid that if her facial expression changed slightly, Xiao Yingzhu would see through her, so she slightly turned away from his gaze.

The other person's gaze paused for a moment, as if letting the matter go. He looked away, chuckled softly, and didn't pursue the matter any further, his tone still hinting at a sense of lingering interest.

"It's the twilight hour, Miss Jiang, please go back."

The inexplicably obscure and subtle atmosphere suddenly dissipated with the impending farewell. Jiang Nian concealed the sudden strangeness in her heart. The thought that she could say goodbye to Xiao Yingzhu now was as if her superior had allowed her to leave work. Her tone, which had been heavy due to vigilance, became slightly cheerful.

She curled her eyes slightly and said to Xiao Yingzhu.

"Take care on your journey, Your Excellency. Jiang Nian will go ahead."

She walked a few steps towards the carriage, then turned around and waved to Xiao Yingzhu, with a little brightness in her eyes.

Xiao Yingzhu watched her walk briskly to the front of the carriage and get on it, then slowly looked away.

Xuan Gui, who was hiding in the dark, appeared and lowered his head slightly towards Xiao Yingzhu.

"Master, I've checked the area and found no suspicious individuals."

"Mo Qing kept the secret letter."

Jiang Nianzhi ordered the driver to go to the warehouse.

Fuling was previously in charge, and she had not yet carefully taken a look at and checked the work tables and chairs for the wholesale line, so she did not return to the Jiang Mansion directly.

The clouds outside the car window dyed the sky all over, and a touch of thick ink color dotted the darkening sky.

Because Xiao Yingzhu was one of the people on this trip to Zhao the Blacksmith, they were a little later than expected. When they arrived at the warehouse, it was almost dark.

Jiang Nian didn't think about the strange feeling in his heart when he was talking with Xiao Yingzhu just now. He walked into the warehouse quickly before the two maids got anxious.

The equipment needed for the wholesale production of insect repellents in the warehouse is still with Zhao the blacksmith, so there are only work tables corresponding to the workmen assigned by Xiao Yingzhu in the warehouse, which can be seen clearly in the huge space.

Jiang Nian simply checked the quantity and was about to turn around and walk out of the warehouse door, but he caught a glimpse of a dark figure flashing under the window opposite the warehouse.

Her alertness rose unnecessarily, and she took advantage of the night to slow down her pace, turned around and walked out of the warehouse door quickly.

The figure seemed to suddenly notice that Jiang Nian was approaching here, and he dodged and rushed out from the other side.

The light was dim. Jiang Nianwei frowned and glanced coldly behind the window. He bent down and searched carefully at the place where the figure had just been.

There was no trace of anything in the almost dark weeds. Jiang Nian raised her eyes and looked around. It was dark all around and there was no light at hand. She stood there for a while, suppressed her worries, and went back to the room for the time being.