Lu Qiqi was unaware of what happened after she left the Ink Studio, and she didn't care what happened afterward.
With Manager Zheng leading the way, Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng soon arrived at the largest ink shop in the East City.
As soon as Lu Qiqi stepped into the gate of the Ink Studio, she saw a shop assistant dressed in white with blue patterns come up to her.
The waiter smiled and said, "Please come in and have a seat, gentlemen." He then gestured for them to enter.
Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng exchanged a smile, both of them tacitly recalling what had just happened.
Lu Qiqi nodded and followed the waiter inside.
Manager Zheng looked around the ink shop. Along the way, whenever any of the shop assistants saw them, they would politely nod in greeting.
The waiter led Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng to a private room and said, "Please have a seat, gentlemen."
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng sat down, and Manager Zheng even pulled out a chair for Lu Qiqi.
Lu Qiqi nodded and thanked her.
The waiter sat down opposite Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng. Not long after, a waiter in brown clothes brought two cups of tea.
One cup was placed in front of Lu Qiqi, and another cup was placed next to Manager Zheng.
Manager Zheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and couldn't help but exclaim, "As expected of the largest ink shop in Luzhou Prefecture, the scale is truly different. Even the staff are all poised and generous, and they are very considerate in their dealings with people."
The waiter in white with blue stripes chuckled, "You flatter us, sir. Making guests feel at home is our motto. May I ask what you two gentlemen would like to buy?"
Shopkeeper Zheng chuckled twice, pointed at Lu Qiqi, and said, "It wasn't me who bought it, it was her."
The waiter in white with blue stripes remained expressionless, smiling as he looked at Lu Qiqi and asked, "What does the young lady need?"
When Lu Qiqi met the shop assistant, who had a pleasing appearance, he didn't look at her with the same strange gaze as the previous shop assistant. He went straight to the point and asked, "I want to buy writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for my child's early education. Do you have any recommendations?"
The shop assistant in white with blue stripes smiled and said, "The better ones include Xuan paper, Xuan brushes, Huizhou ink, and Xuan inkstones. The lesser ones have even more varieties. If you're looking for something to teach your child, all the products in our shop can be used for that purpose."
When Lu Qiqi heard the white-clad, blue-patterned shopkeeper introduce and quote the items, she realized that these were exactly the items later known as the Four Treasures of the Study.
I don't know if it's just the same name and the items are completely different, but at least it feels very familiar, right?!
Lu Qiqi immediately decided that she wanted the best. She said, "Give me the Xuan paper, Xuan brush, Huizhou ink, and Xuan inkstone you mentioned, four sets of each. Also, I want some paper for practicing calligraphy and books for beginners to learn to read."
The waiter who received the order didn't say much. He asked Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng to wait a moment and then went out of the private room to prepare the things.
Manager Zheng had done business with Lu Qiqi before and knew that Lu Qiqi was efficient and straightforward in her work, which sometimes made even him, a man, admire her.
But when he saw Lu Qiqi buy such expensive writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones all at once, and not just one set, even he, a businessman who was used to doing business, couldn't help but gasp.
Manager Zheng laughed and said, "If Manager Qian knew that Miss Lu spends money here like water without batting an eye, I wonder if he would regret it to the core."
Whether Manager Qian regretted it to the core or not, Lu Qiqi didn't care. She said, "A person like that will suffer a great loss sooner or later in business."
At that time, neither Lu Qiqi nor Manager Zheng knew that Lu Qiqi's words would become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In the near future, Manager Qian offended someone, and his entire ink shop was burned down. He couldn't salvage anything and lost everything.
Lu Qiqi paid the money, and two waiters in white shirts with blue stripes saw Lu Qiqi and Manager Zheng out.
Manager Zheng thought Lu Qiqi was just a young girl, so he offered to help her carry the things.
Lu Qiqi didn't want to trouble Manager Zheng, and besides, it wouldn't be appropriate to store the items in her spatial storage with Manager Zheng around, so she said, "I won't trouble Manager Zheng. You can just take them to the street corner ahead for me. Someone will come to help me get them later."
Seeing that Lu Qiqi didn't seem to be refusing, Manager Zheng placed the items on the street corner as Lu Qiqi had instructed and left.
Lu Qiqi stared at Manager Zheng's disappearing figure, and when no one was paying attention to her, she stored the items in her spatial storage.
Passing by a stall, Lu Qiqi stopped and bought quite a few small items.
Lu Qiqi went out of the city gate, found a big tree, and released the horse.
Then he mounted his horse and galloped away, leaving behind a cloud of dust kicked up by the horse.
Just as Manager Zheng was about to get into the carriage, he saw people and horses galloping past and was choked by the dust, so he quickly hid inside the carriage.
Manager Zheng wondered if he was seeing things, because he actually saw Lu Qiqi riding a tall horse and galloping away.
Shopkeeper Zheng shook his head with a self-deprecating smile and muttered, "This little girl gives people too many surprises. It's not surprising that I thought she could ride a horse."
Lu Qiqi rode all the way to the veterans' village. When she knew she was almost at the cabin, she dismounted and carried her things on her back.
Lu Qiqi placed the things on the octagonal table in the main room. When Lu Yao saw her sister return, she immediately put down what she was doing and came over to Lu Qiqi.
"Sister, you're back."
Lu Yao came over and saw Lu Qiqi put down a large bag of things from her back. She asked Lu Qiqi, "Sister, what good things did you buy?"
Lu Qiqi didn't unpack the bundle. She said, "Don't rush, you'll find out soon enough. You can't rush things, you know?!"
Although Lu Yao was eager to know what good things her sister had bought, she didn't ask any more questions after hearing her sister tell her to wait. She figured her sister would tell her eventually, so she obediently nodded in agreement.
Lu Qiqi loved Lu Yao's innocent rabbit-like appearance, but this little rabbit was quite different from before.
The old Lu Yao used to cry easily, but now she can not only help take care of Xi Bao, but also embroider money bags for Lu Qi Qi, and she won't let Aunt Qian look at her inappropriately.
Lu Qiqi took out a few plain handkerchiefs and handed them to Lu Yao, saying, "I saw these handkerchiefs in Luzhou Prefecture today. The material is nice, and the color is pleasing to the eye, so I bought them for you. I guessed you would like them."
Lu Yao took the handkerchief and smiled sweetly. She said, "Thank you, sister. I really like this handkerchief. I want to embroider a beautiful handkerchief for you."
Looking into Lu Yao's bright eyes, Lu Qiqi suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu, like a daughter growing up. If Lu Yao were to be taken away by someone, even the basin, in the future, she would definitely flood the Jinshan Temple.
As they were talking, the Zhou brothers, Li Qingshan, and Lu Dahai all returned after finishing their work.
The family gathered around the table, looking at the large and small bags of things.
Lu Qiqi opened the bundle in front of everyone.
Everyone was dumbfounded as they sat around a table laden with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
So many writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones, they look very expensive, how much money did they cost!
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