Almost a month has passed since the tribute samples were submitted.
Yingtian Prefecture is not too far from the capital. The official ship can travel via the Grand Canal, which only takes five or six days. The outcome should be clear in a round trip.
There has been no movement. There are only two possibilities, neither of which has been chosen; there are disagreements among the higher-ups, and it has not yet been clear which one to choose.
Xianjin dipped his head in the sticky white paste and asked softly, "Everyone? Who are these 'everyone'?"
Manager Zhong said in a deep voice, "The people from the Chamber of Commerce, the big paper companies like Hengyunliu didn't say anything, but some small workshops are quite anxious. After all, they invested money and materials before, but now it's like throwing silver into water without making any sound, so they are a little anxious."
Xianjin nodded slightly and applied the paste on the yellow silk paper. "After I got sick, did Hengxi also get sick?"
Manager Zhong had a dignified face, but sneered, "Yes, in this coldest day of the year, you occasionally feel a cold, and the fifth wife of the Heng family also feels a cold. However, the third-ranked vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, Heng Lian, is in good health. He has been jumping around these days, going to the small workshop to drink tea, and going to Liu's to look at paper..."
Constant curtain.
Xianjin nodded with a smile, "Let him stir up the storm. The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish will be. If necessary, we will add fuel to the fire."
Xianjin gently put down the brush dipped in the paste and said to Aunt Zhong in a deep voice, "Ask Qiang Ge, the boss of Qiangji, to follow Henglian and fan the flames. This will make everyone's efforts more exciting and cheer them up."
Aunt Zhong lowered her eyes and responded.
The old people who followed Xianjin from Jingxian all have one advantage: they never question any of Xianjin's arrangements. They do whatever Xianjin points out without asking why, and they never put forward their own so-called "better" ideas.
All her plans are now truly taking shape.
Aunt Zhong drank up the warm tea in the teacup, stood up, hesitated for a moment and finally spoke, "Although we don't know what happened in the Chen residence in the past few days, I believe it is definitely not a good thing."
"All the money of the Chen family has arrived, and all the contracts have been re-signed. If the tribute is really not selected this time, shopkeeper, we must make a long-term plan."
Xianjin nodded, smiling, "I'm glad that you are prepared for this."
As Xianjin spoke, he gently put down the framed painting in his hand. It was clearly a long painting: streets, vendors, and houses were lined up one after another; rivers, mountains, plains, and reservoirs were clearly layered; scholars, merchants, officials, and women came and went...
The days gradually evolved from an eerie calm to a state of recklessness where "out of sight, out of mind; invisible troubles are no troubles" - even though everyone knows that there is a string hanging over their heads, ready to be triggered at any time, everything is still moving forward in an orderly manner.
During this period, Madam Qu's health improved and she was able to walk again. However, Xianjin never met her from beginning to end, which felt like a situation where the king did not meet.
Chen Fu also woke up, but he stared at the curtain with lifeless eyes and said nothing. Occasionally, tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. In order to make Chen Fu happier, Xianjin asked someone to send a clean white kitten.
The kitten mischievously tore the spider plant in the house, its round eyes wide open with innocence.
Chen Fu finally spoke, looking at the little white cat with tears in his eyes, "...it looks a bit like Ai Niang."
Xianjin:...
I know you have no resistance to this kind of cute and scheming little thing.
In mid-October, Chen Jianfang finished mourning. On the same day, he gave Xianjin a dried cherry blossom tucked inside a book. Along with the cherry blossom, he also sent a piece of white paper, on which he wrote, "Three years are fleeting, a piece of plain paper costs five coins."
On the second day, dried pear blossoms and a piece of white paper were delivered, "The jade plate is as thin as silk, and ten copper coins are lightly promised."
On the third day, I sent dried jasmine flowers and white paper, and on the fourth day, I sent dried lotus flowers and white paper...
The prices of all rice paper in the shop are hidden in those two lines of poetry.
Sun's dog was sneaky, but he saw Xianjin taking the dried flowers and white paper every day and burning them without showing any emotion the whole time.
Why make it so awkward... We are all from the same pond. He Xianjin cannot escape from the Chen family, and Chen Erlang is willing to take care of her. Is there anything better than this? - Sun thought.
Sun couldn't figure it out.
Chen Fu sometimes looked at the little girl's solemn and fair face, and couldn't help but show persuasion in his eyes. He finally spoke while taking the medicine, "Erlang, not bad."
History has proven that he could not protect Xian Jin: Don’t you see, the wheel of history has broken even his feet?
Although he didn't like Erlang (to be precise, he didn't like everything and everyone that Madam Qu liked), he had to admit that Erlang had a bright future. Although he was still a little far from being a good match for Xianjin, if Xianjin couldn't leave the Chen family, Erlang was indeed the best choice.
As a qualified stepfather, the baby's comfort must take precedence over his preferences.
What's more, he likes the strong Qiao Baoyuan, but can Qiao Baoyuan marry Xianjin?
These two enemies start quarreling as soon as they meet, and their quarrel is so painful.
Xianjin threw a spoonful of bitter medicine at him, "Take your medicine, my living father."
"Cough cough cough! Cough cough cough!" Chen Fu was ecstatic, "What did you call me?!"
"Dad." Xianjin took another spoonful of bitter medicine.
Chen Fu: "What did you call me!?"
"father."
"You called me daddy!?"
Xianjin put the spoon in the bowl speechlessly and glanced at Fatty White squatting in the corner, "I wouldn't call that fat white cat dad, would I?"
Chen Fu was so happy that he went crazy.
When everyone thought that life would continue in such a strange and peaceful way, a thunderbolt from Governor Xiong struck - "The tribute of Xuan paper has entered the third round. Fujian Jiangji and Xuancheng Chamber of Commerce will send another round of paper to Beijing, and Cabinet Minister Zhu Bingsheng will personally participate in the evaluation."
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