Li Duan, on the other hand, was in a state of panic.

Because of the Yutu matter, he and Lin Jue had hardly gone out during this period. Even the family's New Year gifts were arranged by Lin, but some families insisted that he, the eldest son, go out of respect. Unfortunately, the painting matter was not progressing smoothly.

They finally found out that there was a master named Qian in Hangzhou, but he had moved away long ago and his whereabouts were unknown. He asked his father for help and invited a master from Rizhao. It was not known whether the master's skills were not good or they were just unlucky, but the painting was indeed divided into three parts by this master, but a small section of the middle part was destroyed when the painting was separated.

If it were any other map, it would be fine, but this is a road map, a small section. In actual sailing, a slight mistake could lead to a thousand miles, and there is no way to guarantee safety.

As the Spring Festival was approaching, the Peng family sent someone to deliver New Year gifts.

Although the person who came was just a small steward of the Peng family, he was calm when he came, and the gift he brought was also very ordinary, but he still heard the meaning of urging from the steward's words. Thinking deeply, it even revealed that "if you Li family can't do it, there are many people who want to rush to help the Peng family."

No wonder the Peng family got impatient waiting.

It has been more than half a year since their family took the initiative to take over this matter.

After the Spring Festival, they had to send the painting to the Peng family no matter what.

If they fail to deliver the map to the Peng family before then, their ability will be questioned.

Not only did they have to find a skilled craftsman to repair the damaged part, they also had to restore the painting to its original state before sending it to the Peng family.

Finding someone to repair it became a big problem.

Lin Jue had not left yet, as the Chinese New Year was approaching. If he delayed any longer, he would not have time to return to Fujian before the Spring Festival. Moreover, the affairs of Yutu were much more complicated than he had imagined, and he could not help but become a little restless.

"How about sending this painting to the Peng family as a New Year's gift before the New Year?" He suggested to Li Duan, "Anyway, we got the painting as they wanted. As for the damaged part... the fleet belongs to the Peng family, maybe they can figure out how to go. Can we still form a fleet? Since the majority of the business belongs to the Peng family, even if there is a loss, they will lose more."

That's a shameless thing to say.

And in this way, the Li family will not be so important in the eyes of the Peng family.

To work with tigers and wolves, you have to be more ruthless than them, only then can you stand firm and gain their respect.

Li Duan's eyebrows were wrinkled into the shape of the Chinese character "川".

Lin Jue said, "How about you go and deliver the New Year gifts first? You won't be able to see a single flower if you stare at it like this every day. Just take it as a way to relax."

That's all we can do.

Li Duan originally wanted to go to Pei's house first, but when he thought of Pei Yan's attitude towards their family, his heart sank and he decided to go to Prefect Tang first.

After all, Magistrate Tang is a parent official and an outsider. It is not wrong to respect the outsiders first and then the insiders.

Li Duan pondered for a while and went to see Governor Tang.

Magistrate Tang was whispering to his trusted teacher in the study: "Did you see clearly? Is he really from the Huzhou Wu family?"

"He is really from the Wu family of Huzhou." When the master mentioned the Wu family, his voice became a little softer, "And the one who came is the eldest master of the Wu family, the head of the family."

Governor Tang raised his head.

The prefect of Huzhou was his classmate. They served in similar places and were of the same rank. They had more common language than others and were in close contact. Others did not know, but he had heard from the prefect of Huzhou that the ancestors of the Wu family were from the canal transport business. That was true since the daughter of the Wu family married into the Jiang family and raised their family. The Wu family used to be bandits in the lake. It has only been three generations since they were cleansed. Now it is common for them to kill people. Even the prefect of Huzhou had wiped their ass several times.

The Wu family is a big killer.

How come they have any contact with Pei Yan?

He asked his master: "What do you think? Should I go to Pei's house to wish Pei Xiaguang a happy new year?"

Prefect Tang didn't like Pei Yan very much either. He felt that compared to Old Lady Pei who had gone west by crane, Pei Yan simply didn't take him seriously. He always called him "Pei Yan" and "Pei Lao San" behind his back. But now that he knew that Pei Yan actually had dealings with the Wu family in Huzhou, he didn't even dare to call him "Pei Yan" or "Pei Lao San".

Since he is a confidant, he must be the one who knows Magistrate Tang best. The master hurriedly said, "You must go and pay your respects to Master Pei San! When Master Zuo was an official in Zhejiang, he once said that if you want to be a good official, you must build good relationships with the local gentry and aristocratic families. Master Zuo, such a powerful person, said such a thing, so ordinary officials like us should follow suit."

Prefect Tang heard what he wanted to hear, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Then there is no time to waste, go there early, otherwise Pei Xiaguang will think I am arrogant. In fact, I am the most people-friendly!"

Just as he finished speaking, a servant came in and reported that Li Duan had come to give him a New Year's gift. Although he was a little impatient that Li Duan had disrupted his plans, the Li family's New Year's gifts were always generous, so he was still quite happy to see Li Duan.

Prefect Tang exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Duan, then served tea and sent him away. Li Duan felt that Prefect Tang was not as warm to him as usual.

He couldn't help feeling a little strange, so when he came out of the yamen, he stopped the sedan chair at the corner of the yamen, lifted the curtain and waited for a while. Then he saw Magistrate Tang and his teacher going to Xiaomei Lane.

Li Duan felt a burning pain in his heart).

Pei Yan was only three or four years older than him, but there seemed to be a huge gap between them. Others would never compare them, and even always regarded him as Pei Yan's junior. In the end, it was just that the Pei family was more powerful than the Li family.

This time, he had to find a way to get on board the Peng family's big ship.

Li Duan sent people to keep an eye on Prefect Tang.

An hour later, he learned that Prefect Tang was turned away by the Pei family - Pei Yan did not meet Prefect Tang, but sent Pei Man to accompany Prefect Tang for a cup of tea and then sent Prefect Tang away.

Li Duan looked at the cluster of square bamboos in front of his study, which were still green as before, and felt mixed emotions in his heart, not knowing what to feel.

Pei Yan did not intend to avoid meeting Prefect Tang, it was just that Prefect Tang's arrival was a bit unfortunate.

The Yu family's lacquerware shop opened at No. 12, and the Yu family came to send an invitation to the Pei family.

Of course, Yu Bo and Yu Yuan did not dare to think that Pei Yan would care about such a thing, nor did they dare to think that the note would be delivered to Pei Yan's desk. They only hoped that the Pei family would send a servant to deliver a congratulatory note to them, and they would put it in the most conspicuous place in the shop, so that the merchants passing by would know that the shop was under the protection of the Pei family. Who knew that Yu Bo and Yu Yuan had just delivered the note to the manager who was in charge of their exchanges with the neighbors, and they ran into Hu Xing when they went out.

Hu Xing has been feeling very proud these days.

Those who came to send New Year gifts to the Pei family were all some of the most wealthy and powerful families in the Jiangnan area. Those who came to send gifts were all the heads or people in power in those families. The majority of the New Year gifts were given to the Third Elder himself, and a small portion was given to the Pei family.

Doesn't this prove that these people were able to send New Year gifts to the Pei family only because of the Third Elder and because of their personal relationship with him!

It was the right decision for him not to listen to the former steward and not to question the old lady's decision.

Therefore, when he saw Yu Bo and his son, he immediately thought of Yu Wen and his daughter, as well as the bronze door knocker that the Third Elder had placed on the bookshelf and which he had accidentally seen when he went to ask the Third Elder for advice today.

Hu Xing has observed carefully and seriously during this period of time and feels that the Third Elder has some quirks. For example, even if the Third Elder likes a new piece of clothing very much, he will put it away for ten days or half a month before wearing it, and some will even be put away until the next season. Things like this appear in his study within a few days of being delivered, and they are in a place where he can easily get them. It can be seen how satisfied the Third Elder is with the gift from the Yu family.

He is the one who serves the Third Elder. Since the Yu family has won the favor of the Third Elder, he naturally has to respect and value the Yu family.

"Hey, isn't this the eldest master of the Yu family?" He walked forward with a smile and bowed, and said in a caring and intimate tone, "What are you doing here? Why didn't you ask the servant to tell me? You are being too polite!"

Yu Bo and Yu Yuan were both a little dumbfounded.

The chief steward Hu of the Pei family often accompanied Doctor Yang Yu to check Chen's pulse. If there was anyone in the Yu family that the chief steward Hu was close to, it was Yu Wen. When did they become so familiar with Hu Xing? Especially Yu Bo, who had just returned and didn't know what happened. In the past, if he had something to do in the Pei family, he had to find a way to get close to the stewards. Not to mention a chief steward like Hu Xing.

He glanced at Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan was also puzzled, but he knew more than his father, so he guessed the reason.

He quietly reminded his father, "It's your uncle," then smiled and walked forward to return the gift to Hu Xing, explaining his purpose, and politely asked Hu Xing to come over to join in the fun.

Hu Xing immediately agreed, talked to the Yu father and son, and asked them to wait for a while on his own initiative, saying, "I will go and ask the Third Elder for a word for you before you leave, so that you won't have to make a wasted trip."

Yu Bo and Yu Yuan were both surprised when they heard this.

Hu Xing ignored them, smiled and went to the reception room, asked for the Yu family's invitation, and then went to Pei Yan. With a smile on his face, he greeted Pei Yan, who was practicing calligraphy, and handed the invitation to Pei Yan. Then he said respectfully, "The Yu family's lacquerware shop is about to open. Master Yu and Master Yu are here to give you the invitation. Do you have any instructions?"

Yu family?

Pei Yan's mind flashed with the image of Miss Yu seriously waving the Pei family flag to scare Lu Xin, and then he thought of the bronze beast ring worth two taels of silver.

He said coldly: "Do I need to tell you what to do in this matter? Of course, it's just the custom."

According to the Pei family's custom, they would send the person in charge of this matter to give him two taels of silver and a red envelope.

But it was Old Master Pei's custom that a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Since the Pei family had settled in Lin'an City, they had to build good relations with these country gentlemen and neighbors. In addition to giving gifts, he would also ask a few words to those families when they came to send him invitations to show his concern. If they were valued by the old man, he would go to their homes in person to congratulate them.

The Yu family is obviously following Old Lady Pei’s custom!

If he hadn't called out to the Yu father and son, how could the Yu family have known Pei Yan's decision in the first place?

Hu Xing secretly applauded his own wit.

"Okay! I'll go tell Master Yu right away." He left happily.

Pei Yan felt that something was wrong with his mood, but when the servant came to tell him that Tao Qing had rushed over from Guangzhou, he did not think much about it and went to see Tao Qing.