Chapter 19 Chapter 19 The Stalker.
At the same time, Lin Sen put his hand on his wife's shoulder, and the couple sat close together and talked.
"After going through that, Sister Zhi has come to her senses. Isn't that a great thing? Why are you so sad now?"
"How am I looking sad?" Song Jiaoniang retorted, "I'm just feeling a little confused inside."
Song Jiaoniang gestured: "Look, Sister Zhi has this talent, I didn't realize it before. Tell me, tell me, is it that I didn't pay enough attention to her before? I actually didn't know anything about the things she talked about..."
Lin Sen was also amazed by his daughter's performance today, and couldn't help sighing. However, when he saw his wife's eyes welling up, he quickly consoled her, "Remember when Zhijie was little, I often bought fish and shrimp for her, but she would sometimes like them and sometimes not."
"Or did you notice that whenever the fish and shrimp I bought were dead, Sister Zhi would not eat them."
"Yes, I knew she had a good tongue then." Song Jiaoniang was not comforted at all, but became even more depressed: "But I just thought she was picky, and even scolded her for being pretentious and cunning, saying that she treated herself as the master just because she was with the young lady..."
"Back then, we were servants in the mansion, so our perspectives were naturally different. If you were the mother of an ordinary citizen, your perspective would naturally be completely different."
Lin Sen interrupted his wife and said softly, "When she was in the mansion, my daughter only wanted to serve her master well. You asked her to learn needlework for Sister Zhi'er's own good, and Sister Zhi understands."
"Look at her, has she ever said anything bad in the past? Now that she's out of the house, she's willing to talk about other things."
"Now that we have left the house, we will be together every day in the future. There will be plenty of opportunities to love her and understand her..." Lin Sen racked his brains and comforted her for a long time before he made Song Jiaoniang cheer up again.
Song Jiaoniang patted her face and said, "That's right. Sister Zhi has worked so hard, and we as parents must work even harder."
"We can't hold her back."
"Speaking of which, I can't even cut vegetables, how can I help you later?"
"Why did you think of this, my lady?"
"Could it be that you want something else?" Song Jiaoniang picked up the four pieces of Jiaozi on the table with a complicated expression.
Song Jiaoniang and Lin Sen just went to the clothing store for a walk around and got a general idea of the prices there.
However, in the Hezhou ferry area, there are more than ten silk and satin shops and ready-made clothing stores, and there are also small shops and stalls specializing in repairs around them. The competition is extremely fierce, so the prices of each store are not high. A simple dress with some embroidery only costs one set.
Song Jiaoniang also happened to meet a lady who came to consignment. The brocade dresses she made were more expensive, about three strings of coins. If she was willing to provide the material herself, the processing fee would be about five hundred coins to one string of coins, from simple to complex.
Song Jiaoniang was well aware of the embroiderer's speed. If she could complete one piece a day, she was considered fast. The slower ones would take about two or three days to complete one piece.
Even if all the orders were custom-made, it would take at least a year to earn two hundred strings of cash.
What's more, a newly opened shop would never make so much money. Song Jiaoniang originally wanted to send Lin Zhi to work in an official or other people's shop for two or three years, so that she could build up some reputation before opening her own shop.
After all this, it will probably take another three to five years to earn the first pot of gold.
And what about my daughter? She earned such a huge sum of money just by going out and talking.
Song Jiaoniang sighed, "What else can we think? She's the only daughter in our family, so it's up to Sister Zhi to do whatever she wants."
Song Jiaoniang thought so, but Lin Sen subconsciously refuted: "Not necessarily. Didn't you say last time that being a cook is so hard and tiring? Running a food store requires getting up early and working late."
"Besides, Sister Zhi would have to go to a big restaurant and learn for a few years, right? They only accept children as apprentices when they are five or six, or even six or seven years old. If Sister Zhi went there to learn, she might be ignored. Can Sister Zhi accept that gap?"
Song Jiaoniang listened and suddenly felt dissatisfied: "How can you not care about her? Our Zhijie is well-behaved and sensible. Has anyone said anything bad about her in the mansion for many years? How could anyone not like her!"
Lin Sen opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the angry woman: "Besides, it's obvious that he has top-notch talent. Maybe he can become a master in three to five years!"
"If you ask me, this is what Sister Zhi should do." After saying that, she pouted and ignored Lin Sen, looking at the door waiting for her daughter to return.
But after half a cup of tea, she still didn't see her daughter. She asked curiously, "Why hasn't Sister Zhi come back yet? She's been gone for quite a while."
Lin Sen walked to the door to check, and saw that Lin Zhi was nowhere to be seen outside the door and the corridor was empty. The couple became worried and hurried to Mrs. Xie's door and knocked. They breathed a sigh of relief when Mrs. Xie opened the door and saw Lin Zhi.
When Madam Xie saw the two of them, her eyes immediately lit up. She presented the portrait to them and said, "Uncle Lin, Madam Song, you two have arrived just in time."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"Please take a look at this portrait." After saying this, Mrs. Xie unfolded the portrait in her hand and handed it to the couple.
The person in the portrait looks very familiar.
Lin Sen only took one look and recognized her as the old woman he had met this morning. He asked in surprise, "Madam Xie, how come you have a portrait of this person?"
Upon hearing the sound, Song Jiaoniang hurried forward to take a look and exclaimed, "Could it be that Madam Xie took it from the city gate notice office? That man is indeed a kidnapper! No wonder he was sneaking around this morning and even tried to trick Sister Zhi into leading her!"
Lü San, who was standing opposite, heard the noise and pushed the door open. "Kidnapper? Where is the kidnapper?"
In an instant, the sounds of doors opening were heard one after another, and everyone in the caravan came out one after another. Even the elusive Chen Yan appeared at the same time as Tao Yingce and his brothers, and followed the sound to find Madam Xie's room.
"I just drew this portrait."
"Ah? Was this painted by you, Madam Xie? I thought it was posted by the government. This is incredible." Song Jiaoniang blushed and quickly replied, "We did see this person just now..."
Song Jiaoniang couldn't help but look at the painting by Xie Niang. The portrait was truly remarkable. With just a few simple strokes, she had created a lifelike image, making the woman come alive on the paper. "We don't know if she's a kidnapper."
Lu San first sighed regretfully, and then asked worriedly: "Are you all okay?"
"It's okay. We also thought this woman was suspicious, and when we saw the portrait, we subconsciously thought it was her." Lin Sen shook his head and explained the whole story. He pointed to the portrait in Madam Xie's hand and said, "She looks exactly like what Madam Xie drew."
"Although these scammers and kidnappers shouldn't dare to mess with the caravan, everyone should be more careful to avoid being deceived."
“Hmm…”
"Uncle Lin is talking about..."
Everyone's eyes were focused on the portrait, and they echoed vaguely.
Lin Sen scratched his head and tried to change the subject: "By the way, where did you go today?"
"Just strolling around the streets."
"Thanks to Brother Lin for sending me food, otherwise I would have almost starved to death."
"Oh?" Lin Sen was surprised when he heard this. "Aren't we all out having fun today? How come we didn't fill our stomachs?"
"That's not a joke, it's clearly..."
"We went to visit various clothing stores and silk shops, and also went to the nearby brokerage to inquire about business." Chen Yan interrupted Lu San and said, "We have been busy running around for a long time and didn't even have time to eat, right, Brother Lu San?"
Lu San came back to his senses and coughed awkwardly twice: "Yes, yes, Yan'er is right. We are going to the shops and cargo ships to inquire about the latest market news."
"That's really hard work." Lin Sen's smile remained unchanged, but a question flashed in his eyes - although most of the people in the caravan had left when their family left, they still spoke to Shen Yan.
If that was the case, why would Lu San go out with Shen Yan? Moreover, when they arrived at the Silk and Satin Shop, they didn't run into anyone.
In addition, when they went to the silk and satin shop and the garment shop, they did not meet anyone, which means that the caravan was not going to these two places at all, but went somewhere else.
Lin Sen thought about it for a moment, then suppressed the idea and found an excuse to take his wife and daughter back to the room.
Tao Yingce, on the other hand, stared at the three of them for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "They seem to doubt our identities."
"We're not the kind of people who want to hide in the open," Chen Yan said, dismissing the idea. He also walked back inside. He took the portrait from Madam Xie and, after glancing at it for a few moments, his expression relaxed. "We should thank Uncle Lin and his wife, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this clue."
"It wasn't them, it was Sister Zhi who said that."
"Sister Zhi... Miss Lin said that?" Chen Yan and Tao Yingce were both surprised, and Tao Yingheng blurted out, "Is this true? Can an idiot recognize people?"
"Of course it's true." Madam Xie gave an affirmative answer, and then she became indignant: "If Sister Zhi hadn't been in trouble, she would have been an extremely clever and intelligent girl. Look at what the Xi family did, it's really... despicable!"
"It seems that Miss Lin's condition should be improving." Chen Yan interrupted Miss Xie and smiled. "I've heard that brain damage can be mild or severe. Many people can't even recognize their relatives at first. But as their qi and blood become warm, the fog that obscures their minds will gradually dissipate, and they will naturally be able to remember people and events."
"Mrs. Lin has such a good sign. I think she will be able to recover as before in time."
…
The next morning, when the Linzhi family went downstairs for breakfast, they learned that most of the caravan members had gone out again. The three of them looked at each other, and they felt more and more that this group of people did not look like a caravan, but more like people sent by the government.
"Can we go out yet?"
"Let's go out in the afternoon." Lin Sen thought for a moment and said, "Then we can go to the street to buy some dry food and fruit. We'll be staying on the boat for several days."
The family went out only after the sun set.
After yesterday's experience, they were familiar with the area and their shopping was quick. After they had finished their shopping, they found a drink shop, ordered three sweet soups, and decided to sit down and rest.
"Have you heard? It seems a talented cook came yesterday and claimed she figured out the secret recipe for Fengji steamed buns after just one bite!"
"No, no, no, I heard that they guessed the secret recipe by just smelling it."
Linzhi couldn't help but choke on the sugar water, coughing twice before recovering. The family of three felt that the rumor was too outrageous, but they were too embarrassed to step forward and explain it, so they just listened in silence.
The people sitting next to us were still discussing, "No matter what kind it is, someone at the dental clinic has said that as long as the chef is willing to provide the recipe, the price is negotiable."
"How much can you give?"
"I don't know. I'm still looking for someone."
"Stupid—someone with such skills can easily make a lot of money, right? Maybe he's a powerful figure from somewhere, otherwise why wouldn't the chefs in so many shops guess it, but this guy did?"
Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang looked at Lin Zhi with strange expressions. This "powerful person" as others talked about was drinking sugar water from a porcelain bowl with both hands, with a very calm expression.
"I've finished drinking it."
"Well, let's go."
"Right, right, what kind of person is that?"
"They said it seemed like a family of three—"
As the family of three walked out of the drink shop, they heard the man sitting next to them exclaim: "Oh, the people sitting next to me just now were a family of three, maybe they were them."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"How old does that young lady look?"
"Maybe it's the big one!"
"Come on, you're stupid and you don't believe me! I just checked and those two ladies don't even have calluses on their hands. I'm afraid they haven't even touched a spatula."
Fortunately, the Linzhi family did not hear the subsequent words. They walked away quickly, and were only thankful that they ran fast yesterday so that no one noticed them.
Even so, they had no mood to stay and went back early with their things.
When the inn was just around the corner, the three of them suddenly heard someone calling from behind: "Young Master, Madam, Young Madam..."
The conversation between the idlers just now flashed through the minds of Linzhi and the other two. Their hearts skipped a beat and they slowly turned around to look, only to see that it was the old man who sold cakes yesterday.
Seeing the old man pushing the cart and panting, Lin Sen hurriedly walked back a few steps and reached out to hold the cart.
Song Jiaoniang also came over, raised her hand to support the panting old man, and said with a smile: "Uncle, are you looking for us?"
"Yes!" The old man took out two large boxes of food from the car and stuffed them into Linzhi's hands. "You left in a hurry yesterday, and there were too many people at the stall. When I was done, I didn't know where you went. These are not valuable things. Take them and eat them."
"How can I take your things?" Lin Zhi shook her head repeatedly and quickly returned the box to the old man.
"You're welcome. Thanks to your help, I was able to sell all the fruits yesterday, and today there are several repeat customers!" The old man refused to accept it and insisted that Linzhi accept it.
Seeing this, Song Jiaoniang, who was standing next to him, grabbed a handful of money from her bag and tried to put it into the old man's hand.
"You give me money, but you look down on me."
"That's not the case—"
As the group pushed and shoved, two coins were accidentally knocked out of Song Jiaoniang's hand. Just as Song Jiaoniang and the old man were half-bending down to pick up the coins, the old man quickly said, "Someone is following you."
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