Perhaps because Jiang Yuchen had given prior instructions, once Shen Yuan arrived at the Jiang family, someone led her into the inner courtyard.
Unlike the mansion of the wealthy man, the Jiang family's main gate and outer courtyard were decorated very simply. After passing through a moon gate and entering the inner courtyard, Shen Yuan saw a completely different world.
The Jiang family is low-key; their luxury is only in their inner courtyard.
The most luxuriously decorated courtyard in the inner courtyard is Jiang Yuchen's courtyard.
An artificial lake has been excavated in the courtyard, and the lake is filled with lotus flowers. It is now October, but the lotus flowers have not yet withered, adding a lot of greenery to the courtyard.
Shen Yuan walked along the boardwalk on the lake, passed through the front hall, and stopped at a room with stained glass windows.
"Miss Chen, the young master is inside!"
The steward led Shen Yuan outside, bowed, and then withdrew.
Shen Yuan pushed open the door, but there was no one inside.
Shen Yuan frowned, her gaze falling on the several pots of flowers on the table, wondering what Jiang Yucheng was up to.
So he called out, "Jiang Yuchen?"
As soon as Shen Yuan finished speaking, a figure suddenly jumped out from behind the door and appeared in front of her.
"Clang clang clang!"
Jiang Yuchen put down the flowers that were covering his face and handed them to Shen Yuan: "These are for you!"
Shen Yuan lowered her eyes and glanced at the roses that Jiang Yuchen was holding in his hands. There were pink, yellow, red and white ones. The colors were bright and they looked quite nice when they were clustered together.
Do you like it?
"Um."
Seeing that Shen Yuan had accepted the flowers he had given her, Jiang Yuchen grinned happily.
He had only known Shen Yuan for a short time, but he noticed that she particularly liked bright colors. Most of her dresses were bright yellow, peach pink, emerald green, and rosy purple—colors that were vibrant and full of springtime.
So he wanted to give all these colorful flowers to Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan accepted the flowers and placed the things she had brought on the table: "This is a gift for you!"
"You even brought me a gift?" Jiang Yuchen asked, looking surprised.
Shen Yuan smiled and said, "It's not proper to come empty-handed on our first visit."
She brought two gifts. One was to pay her respects to Jiang's parents, but they weren't home, so she gave the gift to the housekeeper. The other gift was for Jiang Yuchen.
Jiang Yuchen rubbed his hands together and eagerly opened the gift that Shen Yuan had brought.
After seeing clearly what Shen Yuan had brought, Jiang Yuchen frowned: "Sister Yuan, what are these two big, dark iron balls?"
"It's for you to exercise. This iron ball has handrails welded on it. I specially went to the blacksmith to have it custom-made for you."
Shen Yuan followed suit, took out the two large iron balls from the box, and then stood in a spacious area of the room, swinging the iron balls back and forth.
"Look, just do it like me! Every morning when you get up, carry these two balls and swing them back and forth and side to side. Remember to inhale when you swing the balls and use your abdominal muscles to engage your whole body and help you lose weight..."
Jiang Yuchen: "..."
"Hey! Ha! Yoho!" Shen Yuan raised her arm and vigorously swung the ball to demonstrate to Jiang Yuchen, then asked him, "So? Do you like the gift I gave you?"
Jiang Yuchen forced a smile and said against his will, "I like it very much."
"Come on, give it a try! I'm right here, I can teach you how to flick the ball!"
"Sister Yuan, I don't think...it's necessary..."
Before Jiang Yuchen could finish speaking, Shen Yuan shoved two large iron balls into his hands. His arms suddenly felt heavy, and a downward force pulled at his body, causing him to shudder and almost drop the iron balls.
"Sister Yuan, how much does this ball weigh? It feels so heavy!"
"It's not heavy, only about twenty pounds."
"Twenty..." Jiang Yuchen struggled to hold the ball, grimacing as he asked, "Is that two twenty-pound balls?"
"Each one weighs twenty jin."
"..." Jiang Yuchen's face turned pale instantly. If he had to lift a 40-pound weight every morning to exercise, his arm would break in less than three days!
Seeing Jiang Yuchen's bitter and resentful look, Shen Yuan couldn't help but chuckle.
Jiang Yuchen asked again, "You were carrying such a heavy ball all the way from the restaurant to here, didn't you feel tired?"
Shen Yuan shook her head: "Not tired!"
"Alright!" Jiang Yuchen put the two large iron balls back into the box and instructed the servants to put them away safely.
Shen Yuan sat down at the table and noticed that there were too many fresh flowers on it, which were getting in the way. She pushed the vase further in and said, "Let's talk business!"
"Alright!"
Jiang Yuchen walked to the desk and handed the plan he had written to Shen Yuan.
The two talked for a long time and finally signed a contract. Shen Yuan would provide the formula and marketing model, while Jiang Yuchen would cover all the other expenses. After deducting costs, the profits would be split 50/50 between the two.
When Shen Yuan came out of Jiang Yuchen's Linfeng Garden, the moon was already high in the sky.
Jiang Yuchen insisted on personally delivering the glass cup to Chen Yuan.
The glass cup emitted a bright halo.
Shen Yuan glanced at it and couldn't help but say, "The good stuff you have here is probably something that even the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital don't have."
Jiang Yuchen lowered his eyes, his voice tinged with laughter, but his tone was slightly deep: "Sister Yuan, you may not know this if you've never been to the capital. These common items are piled up in the homes of nobles in the capital; they're not rare at all!"
Shen Yuan nodded noncommittally.
She has been to the capital.
Some low-ranking officials in the capital city couldn't afford to buy such extravagant items as glass cups.
Jiang Yuchen: "There are countless merchant families like our Jiang family in the Great Yan Kingdom. We are not worth mentioning at all. Besides, in the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants are always the lowest class. No matter how rich they are, they can't buy the things that only the powerful and wealthy can enjoy."
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