Chapter 93

Only then did Gu Xinxin know Mr. Chen’s identity—his father was the prefect.

For a moment, Gu Xinxin was speechless. She had chosen to hug the thigh because she thought Mr. Chen might be a high-ranking official. Unexpectedly, she hugged the thickest thigh in the entire prefecture.

Really, if you cling to the Prefect's thigh, you still have to worry about whether the Prefect will turn against you. But if you cling to the Prefect's son, then Young Master Chen has a special liking for food. Even if he finds out about the Prefect, Young Master Chen can probably avert a disaster by just acting coquettishly. In this world, few parents can win over their children.

Gu Xinxin couldn't believe it: "Is he really the son of the prefect?"

Cheng Shansong nodded again: "Yes, he is the youngest son of the prefect. He has an older brother who is currently studying with the teacher. He will take part in the next imperial examination, the Spring Examination."

Only when one is promoted from scholar to juren can one take part in the spring examination, the examination for tongsheng and the examination for scholar, which are all taken in the autumn examination.

Because his elder brother was so outstanding, even if Young Master Chen liked to eat delicious food, Lord Chen didn't stop him. Besides, there was nothing wrong with liking delicious food. He didn't like gambling, drinking, playing games, or money. He wasn't like other dandies, teasing cats and dogs, or causing trouble. Lord Chen was extremely satisfied with Young Master Chen.

Gu Xinxin was angry again: "Since Master Chen is the son of the prefect, he must have a famous teacher to guide him academically. Does he still need to go to the prefectural school?"

Cheng Shansong's mouth twitched. "Although he has a famous teacher to guide him, he doesn't necessarily go to the prefectural academy just to attend classes and study. He could also go there to make connections and learn how to get along with others. And if he has any ambitions of becoming an official, he must learn to take care of himself."

Lord Chen couldn't kick his son out of the house and let him learn these things, so sending him to the provincial school was the best option.

Gu Xinxin was very flattering: "That's right, otherwise how could Mr. Chen know such an outstanding person like you?"

Cheng Shansong smiled and said, "You think I'm very good?"

Gu Xinxin nodded: "Yes, putting aside your appearance, you are able to handle unreasonable relatives with ease. This alone makes you better than many people."

She dared to say that at least 70% of men would not ask a single question or interfere as long as the matters at home did not affect them, even if they were in chaos.

Cheng Shansong was already a scholar, how could he not know the importance of reputation? Even though he knew that, he still went to force the Cheng family's eldest wife like that for a few taels of silver. How can we describe this kind of character? Gu Xinxin really admired him. He neither stayed out of the matter and just enjoyed the peace of the family, nor did he care about his reputation and hide the matter.

He is fair and just. Whoever does something wrong must pay the price. Even if his father does not allow it, he can ignore his father's words in private.

When Gu Xinxin came to this world, she met elders like Gu Daniu and Gu Chen, as well as fools like Old Lady Gu. So what she hates most now is foolish filial piety, people who are so foolish that they even sacrifice their own children to show their filial piety.

She doesn't think filial piety is bad, but filial piety also depends on the situation, and not only obeying others is filial piety.

When she said this, Cheng Shansong was a little surprised: "I didn't expect you to have such an idea..."

It's quite shocking that in this era where filial piety is the way to rule the world, there are still people who can tell the difference between filial piety and foolish filial piety, and she is an uneducated woman. For a moment, Cheng Shansong really felt that Gu Xinxin's idea was inexplicably in line with his own.

Filial piety is certainly good, but filial piety is more than just obedience.

Forget it, who doesn't have unreasonable elders? What can the younger generation do? They can't disobey openly, so they can only think of ways to deal with it in private.

Cheng Shansong did not stay in the inn for too long. He just came to deliver the red deed with the government seal. After handing it to Gu Xinxin, he left.

Gu Xinxin held the red deed and urged Gu Daniu to go home quickly: "Let's go to Huaishu Town first and tell my uncle about this. I want him to build a workshop so that they can make fish balls in the village in the future."

Fried fish nuggets can also be made, but they need to be sealed in a jar to keep them fresh.

Gu Daniu was a little indignant: "You are thinking about your uncle's family. Our family can also do such things. You can push away things that make money."

Gu Xinxin raised her eyebrows: "There are only so many people in our village. If you hire them all away, what if they unite and marginalize you?"

Gu Daniu didn't understand: "How could such a thing happen?"

"Why not? Our Gu family isn't a big family. Besides, even if it were, who wouldn't be tempted by making money? Originally, I just wanted to open a workshop and have them make the handicrafts and hand them over to us. You're giving us too much, who wouldn't be jealous? Do you dare to say that the village chief and the head of the neighborhood wouldn't be jealous?"

Gu Xinxin asked, and Gu Daniu was confused: "What does that have to do with you handing the fish ball thing over to your uncle?"

Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "Of course it matters. By then, they will all know that I can make them money, and I can also make others money. If they listen to me, everyone will make money. If they don't listen to me, then I can immediately give up on them and replace them with another group of people."

Gu Xinxin said.

Gu Daniu didn't understand. If you change a group of people, don't you also have to change a group of prescriptions?

But then he thought that Gu Xinxin had received guidance from her mother, so even if Gu Daniu couldn't figure it out, he shut up.

The mule cart hurried back to Huaishu Town. Uncle Wang was setting up a stall in the town. His small fish had become famous, and now there were several shops in the town that imitated him. Although the taste was not as good as his, after all, his shop used the secret seasoning given by Gu Xinxin, but as long as the price was low, there were still people willing to go there to buy the new blanket.

So when he saw his niece, Uncle Wang immediately closed his stall and took the remaining food home to eat as a snack.

He patted Gu Daniu's shoulder and asked, "Why did your brother-in-law bear to come to our village?"

Gu Daniu said expressionlessly, "Xinxin wants to talk to you guys about something."

Uncle Wang laughed heartily and said, "When you planned to starve Xinxin to death, you didn't expect this day to come, did you?"

Gu Daniu was wronged to death: "When did I plan to starve Xinxin to death? Xinxin was sick at the time, so it was right for her to go hungry for two days. Besides, I watched her eat breakfast, and before I went up the mountain, I also asked her stepmother to save some food for her."

Who would have thought that Gu Chen wouldn't leave anything for it?

Uncle Wang bluntly punctured Gu Daniu's self-defense: "Did you watch her drink a few sips of water used to wash the pot? What's the point of not having a grain of rice? Besides, how can you go hungry for a few days while you're sick? She couldn't eat enough before she got sick, and now she can't even drink water. Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Gu Daniu frowned. "I'm delivering goods to the county town. The wealthy families there have to starve for a few days if their children get sick. They have money, so what they do shouldn't be reasonable."

Uncle Wang raised his eyebrows. "They're rich, they're well fed, they eat a lot of meat and fish all day long, so when they're sick they have to go hungry for a few days. Are you a wealthy family? Can you even eat meat once a month?"

Gu Daniu nodded: "Sure, one meal every ten days or so."

He was a hunter, and he needed to maintain his strength. How could he possibly not eat meat at home? Besides, if he hunted something, it wouldn't cost him money to keep some for himself, so why wouldn't he keep some?

Uncle Wang was speechless. Gu Xinxin waved her hand at him and said, "My father's brain is not flexible. It's a waste of time to talk to him."

Gu Daniu turned around and glared at her. What girl would talk about her own father like that?

Gu Xinxin didn't care at all and asked about the fish balls: "Are the fish balls selling well?"

Uncle Wang laughed and said, "It's not bad. Fish balls can earn a few hundred copper coins a day. But because the method is simple, it's not as profitable as small fish."

"If I need ten kilograms of fish balls a day, can my uncle make it?" After a pause, Gu Xinxin changed the subject: "Thirty kilograms."

Wang Fengshou was shocked: "What do you need so much for? If you can't finish it, it will go bad. Even though the weather is cold..."

Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "I opened a restaurant with someone called Fish House. We not only want fish balls, but also small fish. We want a lot of small fish. We want 20 kilograms of spicy fish a day, and 20 kilograms of five-spice fish. My uncle just needs to sell it to me according to the market price."

Wang Fengshou waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, you opened your own shop, so I definitely only need your capital..."

"I didn't open this business myself. I opened it with a partner. I buy from you at the market price, which is written in the contract. I also gave up my profits, so this is all agreed to by our partners. Uncle just delivers the goods, and I pay you once a month."

Gu Xinxin explained in more detail: "When the time comes, our Gu family will buy a horse-drawn carriage and deliver goods to the capital every day. You just need to wait at the town entrance every day. If there is no need for goods one day, or if there are too many, I will send someone to deliver a letter to you. If you can't do it yourself, then hire someone to do it, just like my family, and set up a workshop."

Uncle Wang took a long time to say, "Open a workshop? Not yet. Your aunt and I can make these little fish. We can buy fish balls from the village. Most people in the village know how to make fish balls."

When hiring people to do work, you have to worry about whether they will be lazy or do a bad job. But when buying, the initiative is in your hands. If the quality is good, you buy it; if the quality is not good, you don't buy it. You have to pay more attention when they do it themselves. Wang Fengshou understood this principle very well. He was worried that his niece was too young to understand, so he explained it to Gu Xinxin.

Gu Xinxin nodded. This was just like when she organized the villagers to stir-fry pork floss at home. Only when it was clearly related to their own interests would they be more attentive. If they were paid to work in a workshop, they might not be so attentive.

She gave Uncle Wang a thumbs up: "Uncle, you really know a lot. Thank you for teaching me."