Xu Jiang peeled the persimmons one by one, leaving a small section on the stem for tying a rope, and did not throw away the skin, saving it to cover the persimmon frost.
Hu Xu came to help when he had time, and the two of them sat under the tree at the gate, busy for half a day before they finished peeling all the persimmons. Xu Jiang hammered her stiff waist, stood up, found some hemp rope, tied the persimmons together one by one, and hung them under the eaves in the backyard.
The red persimmons hung down in rows, which looked very beautiful. Hu Xu ground the paint into fine powder, spread a chopping board in the yard, and started to draw with his brush.
When Xu Jiang finished drying the persimmon peels and came over to take a look, he saw that he had just painted himself. Although it was only a few ink lines, one could already see the movement.
"What a wonderful painter! If you could finish your painting and sell it in a shop, it would fetch a good price."
Hu Xu paused and said softly, "This painting is not for sale."
Xu Jiang just said it casually, without any intention of forcing her, and said: "Okay, make a collection for yourself, it will be pleasing to the eyes."
"Although I'm not selling it, if you like it, Zhuchun is willing to give this painting to you."
"Are you willing to do that?"
Hu Xu just smiled without saying anything and continued to sketch the woman who was drying persimmon peels.
Xu Jiang did not disturb him. After packing up his things, he went to the front shop to sit down and repair his unfinished collection of elementary school poems.
With the end of the year approaching, she hurried to finish her work, copy it, and submit it to the government office for review along with Hu Xu's collection of poems. She hoped to get the documents approved before the spring semester next year, and then print the collection and put it on the shelves for sale.
Before sending them to the government office for inspection, she wanted to ask Du Hui to check them for her. Even if she didn't deliberately inquire about them these days, she had roughly pieced together the identities of Du Hui and others.
Du Huina is the current director of the Imperial College. With his supervision, this new set of elementary school textbooks will surely be error-free.
Furthermore, from her several interactions with Du Hui, she understood that despite his cold demeanor and harsh words, he possessed a profound sense of integrity and responsibility. With his involvement, once the new Daoist textbook was completed and available, he would proactively take on the responsibility of promoting it without her even having to beg for help.
Given his status and reputation, it was only a matter of time before this set of booklets passed through his hands and circulated in the capital.
Xu Jiang thought about it for a while, then came to his senses and went to look for the book, but he couldn't find it after searching for a long time.
"Where did you go?"
She turned and ran to the small gate to ask Hu Xu, "Zhuchun, have you seen that set of elementary poetry books?"
"It's on the second shelf after you enter the door."
"Oh." Why put it on the top of the shelf? Xu Jiang brought a stool and stepped on it to look for it. Sure enough, she found the book.
"What..." She took the book and looked through it, only to find that it had been re-opened and stapled, and the remaining pages inside had been completed, word for word exactly.
Furthermore, beside the book lay a stack of uncut and unstitched imperial edicts, on which the contents of the book, including the annotations, were copied to exact lengths. Furthermore, the annotations by different authors were copied using different colors of paint, making them crystal clear at first glance.
"Zhuchun!" she shouted excitedly.
Hu Xu was startled and quickly threw down his pen and ran out, "What's wrong?"
When he came out, he saw her standing on a stool, excitedly flipping through the book of poems he had copied. He quickly reminded her, "Be careful! Don't fall!"
Xu Jiang jumped off the stool and ran to him, holding the poetry album, staring at him with burning eyes, "When did you finish binding this album?"
It turned out to be about this matter. Hu Xu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled gently. "I repaired it all yesterday. I had nothing to do anyway. After I finished repairing it, I was afraid of losing it, so I took off the nails again. Speaking of which, the owner of the rice shop was very helpful. So later he asked me to copy a copy for him, and I agreed. However, after I finished repairing the book yesterday, I was busy with the painting, so I was delayed and didn't finish copying it."
Xu Jiang flipped through the copied copy and found that only half of it was copied. This half was already very impressive.
Yesterday, I was repairing books, adding to paintings, and copying books. I did the work of almost two or three people by myself, and the work was done very carefully. Where did this weird thing come from?
"I think you're underpaid."
Hu Xu chuckled softly, his gentle face instantly radiating a bit of brilliance. "It's only been a few days. If my boss wants to give me a raise, he'll have to wait until next month."
After saying this, he went back to the yard to paint.
Xu Jiang stared at him, reminding herself not to let him down. If he ran away, where would she find such a kind person?
While it was still early, Xu Jiang simply copied what Hu Xu had copied. The two of them lived in harmony and peace, one painting in the inner courtyard and the other copying under a tree.
"Manager Xu!" a voice called from the alley entrance. Xu Jiang looked up and saw it was the boy from Lou Mansion who had been picking persimmons. He was carrying a basket filled with a dozen pears and walking happily towards them.
Xu Jiang picked up a piece of paper and pen, then stood up to greet him. "Why are you here?"
"My young master...ah, Master, my master learned that the shopkeeper likes to eat these pears, so he picked some specially and asked me to bring them to the shopkeeper."
Xu Jiang took the basket, weighed it, and found it quite heavy. She quickly asked, "Are you tired from the journey? Would you like some tea and some cakes?"
The boy rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes."
Xu Jiang led him into the inner courtyard. As soon as he entered, he saw the persimmon curtain under the eaves and wondered, "How could they do this?"
Seeing Hu Xu painting again, he walked over to take a look. When Hu Xu saw Xu Jiang leading him in, he just looked up and didn't ask any more questions.
"Isn't this a painting of Shopkeeper Xu?" The servant stared at the woman in the painting and sighed, "It's a really good painting. Even though there's no face, you can tell it's Shopkeeper Xu at first glance."
"Really? Let me take a look." Xu Jiang put down the pear and came over to take a look. As soon as she saw it, she smiled. "It really is similar."
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