Of course Pei Yan is not so broad-minded.

During this time, he was busy improving the craftsmanship of the Yu family lacquerware shop.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, he immediately asked Yu Yuan to meet at Pei's Tea House, which was not far from Yu's lacquerware shop. He gave Yu Yuan the book he had compiled, poured him a cup of tea, and said, "Please look carefully to see if it can be used. If it can, you can solve the problem of insufficient apprentices and the leakage of skills in the future. However, you can't generalize everything. My method may not be guaranteed, but you can use it first. Then you can slowly improve it when you encounter problems in the future."

Yu Yuan was flattered and bowed quickly to thank Pei Yan. He took the booklet and read it carefully.

After I finished watching it, all that was left was a burning face.

He had been the young master of the Yu family lacquerware shop for more than twenty years, but his observations were not as good as those of Pei Yan, an outsider who had only been observing for two months.

Pei Yan broke down all the craftsmanship and had each skilled apprentice teach several apprentices. This not only improved efficiency and effectively guaranteed quality, but also prevented the risk of apprentices learning the craft and being poached.

"Thank you, Third Master!" Yu Yuan poured Pei Yan a cup of tea with admiration.

Pei Yan frowned and said, "Although I am older than you, if I marry Atang, I will be your brother-in-law. You don't have to be so polite to me."

But Yu Yuan couldn't bring himself to call Pei Yan "brother-in-law" when he saw his cold and perfect face.

Fortunately, Pei Yan did not force him, but continued to talk about the topic just now: "Of course, this method also has disadvantages. I see that the masters you hired are all from the same family. Even if each apprentice is proficient in the same thing, if several apprentices have a good relationship and leave together, the result will still be the same. I think that if you really want to run the workshop, the most important thing is to re-establish a reward and punishment system, so that they feel that if they do a good job, they will get money, and if they do not do a good job, they will not get money. They feel that working in your family is safe and secure, and naturally they will not want to leave."

It's not appropriate for him to interfere in this matter.

Yu Yuan, however, was already full of admiration for Pei Yan. He just followed whatever Pei Yan said without thinking about it carefully. Hearing this, he hurriedly said, "I have little education, so why don't you help us make a decision?"

But we can’t always rely on him for the Yu family’s affairs!

It is better to teach someone how to fish than to give him fish.

Pei Yan noticed Yu Yuan's restraint, thought for a moment, and said, "How about you ask Pei Man? Since he took charge of the Pei family, he has re-established some rules for the maids in the family. You can refer to them."

Yu Yuan thought this was a good idea.

It's better than facing Pei Yan.

Facing Pei Yan, he was too embarrassed to ask more questions about things he didn't understand.

Pei Yan said, "Then I'll tell Pei Man later."

Yu Yuan thanked him repeatedly and called the tea master in, asking Pei Yan to try the most famous snack in the teahouse.

Pei Yan didn't want to eat at first, but he thought that Yu Yuan was his elder uncle and they would have many opportunities to deal with each other in the future. The adopted son of Yu Tang family must come from their family, so it was necessary for him to improve his relationship with Yu Yuan. So he sat down with peace of mind, waiting for Dr. Tea to serve them snacks and casually asked about Yu Yuan's business.

In addition to managing the Yu family's lacquerware shop, Yu Yuan also secretly invested in Yao San's grocery store.

He casually mentioned that Yao San had recently bought a salt paint and wanted to try his hand at the salt business, and was looking for him to invest.

Pei Yan's heart moved when he heard this, and he thought of the shopkeeper Gao that Peng Shiyi was looking for.

He asked, "Are there many people doing the salt business here?"

Yu Yuan nodded and said with a smile: "However, we all come together to buy a salt permit. Although this business makes money, if you don't have connections, you will only earn hard-earned money if you go to Jiubian and get the salt permits redeemed according to the rules. Yao San dares to do this business because he has a friend who knows a general in Datong, and that general is from Haining."

Pei Yan was not very familiar with military officers, let alone a general from Datong.

But he was willing to help Yu Yuan, and said, "Don't bother yourself. I'll ask the general's name for you first, and see who has a relationship with him. Then you can decide whether to invest or not."

If this is indeed the case, their business will be a sure win.

This was a real surprise.

Yu Yuan was overjoyed and offered Pei Yan a glass of tea instead of wine.

Pei Yan thought about the matter of Gao the shopkeeper, so he asked Yu Yuan to tell him about the Gao family and asked him to keep an eye on it: "See what this person is doing in Datong."

He now suspected that this shopkeeper Gao was doing the salt business. He just didn't know whether it was Peng Shiyi's own business or a scheme in the Peng family's business philosophy.

Yu Yuan agreed.

The two chatted for a long time and drank two pots of tea before leaving.

From then on, Yu Yuan praised Pei Yan endlessly, saying that Pei Yan respected the Yu family and did not look down on the Yu family just because he was a double-listed Jinshi.

Yu Tang smiled after hearing this.

This guy always manages to put on an act at critical moments. Based on how he behaved in front of her family, Yu Tang felt that she had to treat Pei Yan well after she got married.

The house in Lin'an City could not be sold, and Li Duan was not at peace living in Lin'an City, not to mention that Li Yi was waiting for money to pay for the errands on the road. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Duan personally returned to Lin'an City, and only then did he know that Pei Yan and Yu Tang were engaged.

Li Duan stood in his dilapidated yard, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Such a beautiful girl, like a flower, should not grow up in an ordinary family or bloom in an ordinary courtyard.

He just didn't expect that she could marry into such a solid castle.

Then I thought of Gu Xi, who also married into the Pei family.

It seems that the two girls related to him both ended up in the Pei family.

Li Duan felt sour in his heart.

He sent someone to Pei's house to submit a letter.

Pei Yan was not at home and was said to have gone to Suzhou.

As for what he was going to do in Suzhou, the Pei family certainly wouldn't tell him, and he didn't find out.

Li Duan stayed in Lin'an for two days.

During this stay, he met Peng Shiyi who came to Lin'an specifically to find him.

Peng Shiyi had no other intentions, he just wanted him to return the five thousand taels of silver that he had previously "lent" to Li Duan.

Li Duan was so angry that he was shaking, but the Peng family was still wealthy and powerful, and he had to bow his head under someone else's roof.

"You also know the situation of our family. How can we pay back the five thousand taels of silver to the Peng family?" He said in a deep voice, emphasizing the word "Peng family". "How about, Brother Peng, wait until I sell this ancestral house?"

Now that the Pei family has made their announcement, can the Li family still sell the house?

Peng Shiyi sneered in his heart and said, "Why don't you sell it to me for two thousand taels of silver?"

He planned to buy the house and give it to Pei Yan as a gift, as a request for Pei Yan to spare him.

Li Duan was furious, but he didn't dare to lose his temper. He said, "This price is too low."

The asking price for their house was four thousand taels, and he was prepared to sell it for three thousand five hundred taels.

In the past, he certainly would not have cared about the difference of 1,500 taels of silver. However, the days of running around for his father in the capital made him realize that sometimes even a penny can make a hero fall, not to mention 1,500 taels of silver, which could allow them to live a wealthy life for several years.

Li Duan did not want to appear too weak and let Peng Shiyi take advantage of him, so he said threateningly, "The Pei family has always been kind and generous. If this doesn't work out, I'm going to sell this house to the Pei family. Then I can pay you back more money."

Peng Shiyi didn't want to anger Li Duan, draw the attention of the Pei family, and cause unnecessary trouble. He said coldly, "Okay. Then I'll wait until you sell the house."

Li Duan asked the servant beside him to escort Peng Shiyi, while he stood in the yard without moving.

The loyal servant who followed Li Duan couldn't help but say, "Master, are you just going to let him go like this? The five thousand taels of silver are their tribute to you!"

However, this filial piety was related to the fact that the Peng family asked the Li family to help them get back the painting "Fishing in Songxi".

So Peng Shiyi wouldn't dare to really turn against him, right?

Li Duan looked at Peng Shiyi's back with a cold gaze and said, "If he pushes me too far, I will go find Pei Yan and tell the Peng family's leader that he asked me for money."

He intuitively felt that the Peng family was not so stingy and would ask for the money back after giving it away.

If the news gets out, who can the Peng family count on to help them?

The loyal servant nodded repeatedly.

Li Duan felt that he had to meet Pei Yan, so he quietly waited at the Tiaoxi Wharf for a few days and finally waited for Pei Yan.

But this time, Pei Yan took a small boat with a mast and went directly into Pei Mansion from Tiaoxi Wharf.

Li Duan sent another post.

Pei Yan met him.

He was so shameless that he asked for help directly, asking Pei Yan to buy their house.

Pei Yan wanted to compensate the Li family's ancestral house, so he spent three thousand taels of silver to buy the Li family's old house.

Li Duan was extremely grateful, and said casually, "To be honest, all these misunderstandings were caused by the painting "Fishing in Songxi" of the Yu family. If it weren't for the Peng family's request, my family wouldn't have thought of seizing the Yu family's painting. If it weren't for the painting, the second son of the Wei family wouldn't have lost his life. If the second son of the Wei family hadn't lost his life, Miss Yu wouldn't have been obsessed with it and wanted to kill our family. Now it's our retribution!"

Pei Yan paused while holding the teacup.

I repeated the words "Second Young Master of the Wei Family" several times in my mind.

Li Duan was afraid that Pei Yan didn't understand, so he explained: "Miss Yu was originally engaged to the second son of the Wei family, and they had even met each other. But before the formal engagement, the second son of the Wei family passed away. Because of this, Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Wei became sworn sisters, and Yu Yuan married Mrs. Wei's niece, and the two families continued to be in-laws."

Pei Yan had heard of this matter before, but he didn't think much about it.

But after hearing what Li Duan said, the feeling was different.

It seemed as if Yu Tang was still thinking about the second son of the Wei family.

Pei Yan knew clearly that Li Duan's words were not well-intentioned, but he still felt as if his chest was stabbed after hearing them. Not only did he bleed profusely, but he was also in so much pain that he was unable to speak.

He smiled and served tea to the guest. When he returned to the study, he was so angry that he walked back and forth several times but still couldn't calm down. He simply smashed a few teacups before he suppressed his anger.