Hu Xing was so frightened by Shu Qing's words that he broke out in a cold sweat.
He only thought about how to do this job well, let the Pei family come to the limelight, and let himself return to Pei Yan's list of people worthy of trust, but he forgot that the Pei family hated the most was the limelight.
Shu Qing is not the kind of person who speaks casually.
"Thank you, thank you!" Hu Xing said repeatedly, "When Mr. Shu is free someday, let's go have a drink together. There is no famous restaurant or wine shop in Lin'an City that I don't know."
Shu Qing was not from Lin'an, but came back from the capital with Pei Yan. Hu Xing had no idea where he was from or what his experience was.
He was not familiar with or understood either of them, including the accountant Chen Qi and the coachman Zhao Zhen.
Shu Qing smiled, said "OK" politely, and went about his own business.
Hu Xing stood in the shade of the tree for a long time before leaving.
On the other hand, things went better for the shopkeeper Tong than Yu Tang had expected. On the third day after she met the shopkeeper Tong, news came in that the shopkeepers of the Tong family had found two incense-making masters. One was from Fuyang, surnamed Xun, over sixty years old, and could come, but he had to bring his family and a dozen of his apprentices with him. The other was surnamed Mi, from Wuchang, in his early forties, and also wanted to bring his family of four and two apprentices. When the shopkeeper Xiao Tong introduced the two masters, he said, "Each has its pros and cons. Master Xun's old boss is gone, and the new boss wants to change his business and gave him a sum of money to support him in his old age. But his son, son-in-law, and apprentice all learn this, and he has to find a way out for them. He himself may not make incense anymore. As for Master Mi, he is in his prime, and he went to Jiangnan because he had a disagreement with his old boss. I'd like to ask Miss Yu to make a decision on which one to choose."
Yu Tang thought that this matter was handled by the Pei family elders, so she sent a letter to the Pei family ladies to ask for their opinions. Who knew that the Pei family ladies were all busy with the Buddha Bathing Festival, and the second lady simply said, "Since this matter has been handed over to Sister Yu, I'll trouble Sister Yu to make the decision."
He looked like he was about to give up.
Yu Tang smiled bitterly.
It really is true that whoever comes up with the idea should do it. How come this matter has become hers alone?
Fortunately, Shopkeeper Tong was just as open-minded as Shopkeeper Tong. Not only did he not laugh at her, he also comforted her: "It's okay, we often encounter such things. You just need to tell the Miss Pei the reason for your choice so that they can have a reference when they encounter such things in the future. This is also the reason why Mrs. An let the Miss Pei take charge - they will all marry into rich families in the future, so will they really take care of these things? Even if there is something, there are husbands and uncles in their husband's family and brothers and sisters in their natal family, there are plenty of people to give them advice. Mrs. An is also afraid that they are not knowledgeable, so she drags them around everywhere."
Yu Tang thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he said to the shopkeeper Xiao Tong: "I want to choose that Master Mi."
The shopkeeper Xiao Tong was stunned.
Most people usually choose Master Xun.
Master Mi had a dispute with his former boss, which was something that was widely criticized.
Yu Tang said, "The two you found are both famous local incense makers. It shouldn't be difficult for Master Mi to find a job to make a living, but he would rather leave his hometown. Obviously, he doesn't want to compete with his former boss. It can be seen that this man still has some bottom line. There may be other reasons for his discord with his former boss. As for Master Xun, his son, son-in-law, and apprentice all followed him to learn incense making. He is over 60 years old, and his new boss wants to change his career. His family and apprentices are not happy. The disciples can't find good jobs and need him to help them. It can be seen that if his sons, sons-in-law, and apprentices are not angry and don't learn his incense making skills, then he is too proud of his own skills and doesn't pass on his skills to his successors. Even if we invite such a person, I'm afraid he won't sincerely teach the masters and laymen of Ku'an Temple how to make incense. However, we still have to get to know the specific personalities of the two people after we meet them. "
Shopkeeper Xiao Tong nodded secretly.
He said this to test Yu Tang. If Yu Tang trusted him, she would believe the information he provided; if she did not trust him, she would only believe what she saw with her own eyes. This was related to how he would treat Yu Tang in the future.
Now is the best result.
The shopkeeper Xiao Tong no longer hid his intention. He said, "I want to invite both masters to come and give it a try." At this point, he smiled at Yu Tang and continued, "It's just right for them to help us make a batch of incense coils and sticks."
This is to take advantage of the trial opportunity to let both masters help Kuan Temple!
Yu Tang smiled and said, "It's feasible!"
The shopkeeper Xiao Tong also narrowed his eyes.
The two reached an agreement tacitly that each felt that the other was a smart and flexible person and would be able to work well together in the future.
Soon, both masters arrived in Lin'an.
During this period, Yu Tang also went on a blind date.
Just like the previous times, Yu Tang still didn't feel anything. Yu Wen thought the boy was quite honest, but Chen Shi was picky about others not being tall enough and not worthy of Yu Tang.
Yu Wen even argued with Chen for once, which was rare: "When getting married, isn't character and talent the most important thing?"
Chen said, "But the child is too short. Do you want to have a very short grandson in the future?"
Maybe because no one in the Yu family is very tall, they have a certain obsession with height.
For example, Yu Yuan was satisfied with Xiang Shi the moment she saw him. But in the eyes of outsiders, Xiang Shi was tall and strong, not white, and from the perspective of appearance, marrying Yu Yuan was a bit too high.
Yu Wen immediately fell silent.
Yu Tang breathed a sigh of relief.
She felt that she still had a lot of things to do and didn't want to get married so soon.
According to the agreement between Xiao Tong and the two incense-making masters, as soon as the two incense-making masters settled down in two farmhouses near Ku'an Temple, he personally sent the two masters' travel expenses and tactfully said that it was not that he did not believe in the skills of the two incense-making masters, but that the boss liked to "take out the mules and horses for a walk", and as a small shopkeeper, he could only follow his orders. He also coaxed the two masters, "You must use your best skills and make the best incense, otherwise I, as the recommender, will not be able to give an explanation to the boss."
The two perfume makers naturally overlapped and the sound should be good.
The shopkeeper Xiao Tong brought the prepared spices and went to Ku'an Temple.
The head monk of Ku'an Temple had already followed what Xiao Tong said and found a dozen lay Buddhists who were good at doing things. When Xiao Tong came, he handed them over to Xiao Tong and said as Xiao Tong had said before: "In order to help our Ku'an Temple to stand out, the Pei family not only sponsored the Zhaoming Temple's Sutra Lecture Conference, but also invited two monks to help us make incense. But we can't just stand by and watch. When you go, you must help the two monks."
The two masters' attitudes towards these lay Buddhists also determined who would be hired in the end.
Within a few days, both masters made foot-sized incense coils and child-arm-thick incense sticks. Xiao Tong, the shopkeeper, invited Yu Tang and several young ladies from the Pei family to test the incense to see if the incense would go out or break when lit. This is why foot-sized incense coils and child-arm-thick incense sticks are difficult to make.
Of course, neither Yu Tang nor the young lady of the Pei family could really wait until the incense coils and sticks were burned out - that would take days and nights. But when Xiao Tong, the shopkeeper, brought the incense over, they took a look, then found a passage to light the incense, smelled the fragrance, and ran away to talk in private. The maids and servants in the passage would tell them whether the incense was good or bad.
"What are you going to wear that day, Sister Yu?" This is what the fourth young lady is most concerned about. She said with excitement, "I made three sets of clothes. The second and third sisters just gave me a perfunctory answer, saying that they are all good. Sister Yu, help me take a look later. I'll wear whichever one you say looks good."
The Fifth Miss said angrily, "Sister Yu, don't listen to her. We all said that she looked good in the pink one, but that pink one would look good only with pearl jewelry. But she ended up making a new brocade with a golden phoenix and pearls. She wanted to wear it to Zhaoming Temple and then have a hard time deciding what to wear." She invited Yu Tang, "Sister, you haven't been here for a while. The peonies in our backyard are about to bloom. Are you free these days? I'll ask the maid to send you a letter and you can come and enjoy the flowers! This year, we have a few new green peonies at home. This is the first time I've seen them."
Yu Tang was surprised: "Doesn't the Third Elder dislike flowers?"
The Fifth Miss snorted in dissatisfaction, "Even if Third Uncle dislikes it, he can still take care of it in my grandmother's yard! The green peony was sent by the Song family. My grandmother liked it very much and gave my mother a pot as a reward. But my mother was afraid that she couldn't take good care of it, so she still kept it in my grandmother's greenhouse."
Yu Tang knows the relationship between the Song family and the Pei family.
She smiled and replied, "Then remember to ask your wife to tell me when the time comes. I have only heard of Green Peony, but have never seen one."
The Third Miss sneered and said, "The Song family never come to visit unless there is something important. What are they going to do this time?"
The Fifth Miss hesitated and said, "It shouldn't be a big deal, right? The people who came only said that the Song family had built two new large ships in Taihu Lake, and they wanted to invite Grandma to take a look when the ships were launched. That shouldn't be a big deal, right?"
The third daughter warned the fifth daughter, "We have to be careful about everything they do, and try not to go out if you can." She also sighed, "My great-aunt is good in everything, except this relative."
Yu Tang laughed when he heard this and said, "The emperor still has three poor relatives. You can't expect all your in-laws to be good people!"
The Third Miss blushed and said, "I just think the Song family is too careless in doing things." As for how careless they were, the Third Miss did not say more, and Yu Tang did not ask more, but the fact that the Song family built a big ship left a deep impression on Yu Tang.
I don’t know whether Jiang Chao will be safe during this trip to the sea.
If they can return safely, the Yu family will be blessed with good luck.
Yu Tang was thinking in his heart, but he heard the second lady complaining in his ears: "Can you stop trying to be fancy? On the Buddha's Birthday, we can only watch the excitement in the room. Why wear such nice clothes?"
What does it mean?
Everyone's eyes turned to the second young lady.
The second young lady said, "Don't you know? The rules for the Buddha's Bathing Festival have been announced. Before the lecture, no one should make donations in person. All the donations should be handed over to Zhaoming Temple in advance. The monk in charge of reception at Zhaoming Temple will read out the list. All the women in the family are not allowed to go out to watch the fun."