Seeing Wu Jingzhi's happy expression, Yan Qingqing suddenly felt a little guilty towards the child, but she still said, "Auntie can go, but Auntie has a condition."
Wu Jingzhi quickly said, "What are your conditions, Auntie? Please tell me."
Yan Qingqing sighed and said, "You should know that besides cooperating with your Jinsheng Pavilion, I also do some other small businesses. Before you came, I was planning to travel far away to find other partners, hoping to find more partners for the family's other businesses. So I can do my best to cooperate with the Chamber of Commerce you mentioned, but I also have to take care of other businesses."
After hearing Yan Qingqing's words, Wu Jingzhi smiled and replied, "Oh, I see. Auntie, why didn't you say so sooner? To be honest, the Wu family is one of the initiators of this chamber of commerce. I'll write you an invitation later so you can attend openly. But I hope that your other products won't conflict with the headdresses we make."
Yan Qingqing was overjoyed and quickly said, "Thank you so much, Auntie. Don't worry about the products; they will definitely not harm Jinsheng Pavilion's interests."
Just as the two were discussing when to depart and what preparations the Chamber of Commerce needed to make, Li Xiangping and Li Xiangan returned. Yan Qingqing introduced them to each other, and since they were all young people, they felt more comfortable chatting.
Li Xiangping and Li Xiangan admired the Wu family's large business. Wu Jingzhi was not yet twenty years old and was already the young master of the Wu family, so his abilities were naturally not to be underestimated.
Wu Jingzhi admired these two self-made young men from this remote mountain village. Apart from their slight lack of academic knowledge, they were no less intelligent or insightful than him, especially Li Xiang'an, who was very knowledgeable when it came to business.
Seeing that she had finished discussing everything she needed to say, Yan Qingqing said to Li Xiangping and Li Xiangan, "It's rare for Jingzhi to come all this way, so why don't you show him around our village? Although our place can't compare to the bustling capital, the unique scenery of this small mountain village has its own charm."
Wu Jingzhi had the same idea. It is said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Perhaps he really has some special insights here.
After Wu Jingzhi left, Yan Qingqing needed to revise her travel plans.
Since she was attending the Chamber of Commerce, she naturally had to bring the samples she wanted to display. With that in mind, Yan Qingqing instructed Ada: "Take my token to the workshop and have them pack up some samples of all our products and send them over. When you go to the embroidery workshop, call the eldest daughter back and tell her I need to see her."
Upon hearing this, Ah Da quickly took the pair of cards and went to collect them.
Upon hearing Yan Qingqing's instructions, Yuan Huiniang's eyelids twitched. She looked at Yan Qingqing and asked in a low voice, "Mother, do you want to take my younger sister with you?"
Yan Qingqing nodded and replied, "It would be good to take Xinniang to broaden her horizons. Besides, the Wu family needs a professional to explain things to them, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it all if I went by myself."
Although having more people to look after her would be helpful, Li Xinniang was still an unmarried young woman, and Yuan Huiniang, as her sister-in-law, couldn't help but feel a little worried about her showing her face in public like this.
Li Xinniang is already fourteen years old. In their area, most girls that age are already engaged and getting married. Matchmakers have come to propose marriage to Li Xinniang, but Yan Qingqing always refuses on the grounds that Li Xinniang is too young.
To be honest, given their current financial situation, Xinniang could choose any family in Chengyang County she wanted, but since her mother-in-law wasn't in a hurry, there was nothing she could do.
Yan Qingqing glanced at Yuan Huiniang and said, "I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, I can have Xinniang dress up as a man. As Xinniang's sister-in-law, you can also keep an eye on her marriage. If there's a suitable match, you can have Xinniang meet him when we get back. But I still don't approve of getting married too early; it's not good for her health."
Life expectancy was generally shorter in this era, especially for women. While medical conditions played a significant role, premature childbirth also damaged their health.
When Yuan Huiniang saw that Yan Qingqing had spoken, as the eldest sister-in-law, she naturally had to do her best in her sister-in-law's marriage. Yuan Huiniang immediately went through all the unmarried young men she knew in her mind, and then realized with a start that there was not a single suitable one.
The main reason is that the Li family is now well-off, and Xinniang is also very outstanding. Ordinary young men are really not good enough for her. This discovery made Yuan Huiniang feel both happy and worried.
Wu Jingzhi was accompanied by Li Xiangping and his brother. Wu Jingzhi suggested visiting the embroidery workshop, and the two brothers naturally agreed. They had just arrived and hadn't even entered the workshop when they saw their sister rushing home from the workshop's gate, with A-Da by her side.
However, Li Xinniang did not see the three of them. As she walked, she was talking to Ada, but they were too far away for Li Xiangping and the others to hear what they were saying.
Over the past year, Li Xinniang has had no shortage of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Her embroidery skills are currently the best in the entire embroidery workshop. She has fully inherited the true teachings of Old Madam Yan. Moreover, Yan Qingqing has been more attentive to her teaching than to Li Yueniang. Now she also manages the embroidery workshop, and her overall demeanor is completely different from before.
The two Li brothers looked at their outstanding younger sister (or older sister) and wondered which lucky boy she would end up with. Wu Jingzhi also saw this from afar. He really didn't expect that such an inconspicuous little mountain village could produce such an exceptional girl.
Over here, Xiao Mochen was training relentlessly with a group of people, not relaxing his self-discipline just because he was the master. In particular, the group of people sent by Yan Qingqing further motivated Xiao Mochen and Li Xiangjian, as they were training themselves to the point of being reckless.
Their relentless training methods terrified Lin You and the mysterious masters who taught them various skills, but because these were Yan Qingqing's people, they didn't dare to ask too many questions.
Finally, Li Xiangjian managed to find a moment to ask, and Mu Xi replied: "My master said that life is only one step, and one should not look back on life, death, honor, or disgrace. The glory of the future comes from the efforts of today, and the more sweat one sheds today, the less blood one sheds tomorrow."
After saying that, he threw himself back into training.
Li Xiangjian remained silent for a long time after listening. He now fully understood his mother's intention in leaving him on the mountain. So, like Mu Xi and the others, he worked like a workaholic every day. Lin You and the others were a little scared when they saw this. They couldn't bear the responsibility if someone died.
More importantly, Xiao Mochen was also infected by them and acted like he didn't care about his life, so these masters prayed every day that they could get some rest.
A man in black finally managed to whisper a few words in Xiao Mochen's ear during a break. Xiao Mochen frowned and said, "I understand. Go and investigate whether there's anything fishy about the Wu family. Don't let Aunt suffer any losses."
The man in black accepted the order and left.
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