The next morning, he went to see Marquis Changxing to check the feng shui, but he was distracted and kept asking Marquis Changxing whether he had eaten fish the day before.
Marquis Changxing knew what he wanted to ask, so he just smiled and said that he had eaten and that the fish soup was very delicious.
Su Xiu was puzzled; why hadn't she noticed the white silk inside the fish's belly after eating it?
But after asking a few times and arousing the suspicion of the Marquis of Changxing, he dared not ask any more questions and went back to buy fish.
He stuffed the white silk into the fish's mouth and sold it to another fishmonger at the market. The fishmonger watched him leave, puzzled.
It's been almost half a month now, and this person sells him a fish at a low price almost every two days. Several times he's come over to ask if the fish has been sold. How would he know? After the fish is put into his fish tank, it looks just like the other fish.
Just then, a woman came by wanting to sell fish.
The fishmonger began to greet the customer. After the woman picked and chose, the fishmonger, at her instruction, scooped out a fat and large fish for her. However, the fishmonger frowned when he looked at the fish, as it looked a bit like the one that strange man had bought for him at a low price earlier.
Without thinking much about it, he strung the fish on a straw rope and handed it to the woman, saying, "Here you go, please come again, all the fish here are plump and fresh!"
After paying, the woman looked at the other fish in the fishmonger's fish basket. Seeing that they were indeed swimming happily, she said, "Could you give me a discount? I might come here every day to buy a fish!"
The fishmonger was a little embarrassed, mainly because he was afraid the woman would use this excuse to cheat him out of money, so he asked, "Do you run a business?"
If it's a restaurant, they shouldn't only need one fish a day, especially since restaurants usually have fishmongers delivering to their door.
The woman noticed his hesitation and leaned closer to him, whispering, "What business? It's just for home cooking! My young lady makes amazing fish soup; she'll probably have to make it every day for the next two weeks."
Why?
The fishmonger became curious. Even if the fish soup was delicious, wouldn't he get tired of drinking it every day?
The woman laughed and said, "Don't worry about that. Just tell me if you can lower the price. I think your fish is really good. If you can lower the price, I'll come back to buy from you tomorrow."
The fishmonger looked at the fish and thought that since he had bought it at a low price anyway, he might as well give the woman a discount of two copper coins.
The woman smiled as she accepted the coins and fish, made an appointment with the fishmonger to return the next day, and left with a beaming smile. When she reached another street, she used the two coins to buy a sugar pancake.
Seeing that it was still early, and knowing that she would be bossed around by that meddlesome young lady if she went back, she simply sat down next to the pancake stall and slowly ate her pancake while chatting with the stall owner.
"This girls' school is getting better and better!"
The woman gazed at the imposing gate in the distance and sighed with envy. Her daughter-in-law had given birth to five sons, which made her happy, thinking that her family was thriving. Unlike the neighbor's family, who only had two daughters.
But now those two girls next door have gone to the girls' school. Before, they only learned to read, but now they work for the imperial court and bring money home every month. Those good-for-nothing girls can actually make money now. It's infuriating!
It was midday, and business was slow, so the stall owner started chatting with the woman. "That's right," he said. "Before, it was just a few tiled houses, and there weren't many students. Now, with so many students, they've all moved out!"
Before the girls' school, there were few students, and the few rooms rented on Plum Blossom Street were enough for teaching. But later, with the establishment of the research institute, the Great Jin Dynasty began its construction, and the first batch of students joined. However, they couldn't work for free; they all received wages.
When everyone saw this good opportunity, whether they wanted their daughters to earn money or to expand their networks and connect with the imperial court, they all sent their daughters to the girls' school when it reopened.
So Plum Blossom Street couldn't accommodate so many students, so Zhang Qing simply moved the girls' school to the suburbs. Rows of teaching buildings were decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, and electricity was provided, making it bright and well-lit both day and night.
Bang!
The two were chatting when a loud noise came, shaking the ground and startling the people nearby. However, when they stopped what they were doing and looked towards the source of the sound, they saw it was coming from the women's school and went back to what they were doing, assuming that the women in the research institute were probably working on some strange and unusual things again.
The woman looked at the sugar pancake she had dropped in fright, which had landed on a wet patch of ground. She assumed it was water spilled by the stall owner, so she picked up the pancake and brushed off the dirt and dust.
When the stall owner tried to stop her, the woman had already taken a bite, chewed it, and rolled her eyes at the smoking area. "You know, a bunch of women who don't stay home and take care of their husbands and children are always showing their faces in public. They've completely disgraced their families!"
That sounds so sarcastic!
The stall owner silently swallowed the words that reminded the woman that the wet patch was dog urine, and laughed, "What's so shameful about that? If it weren't for these women, would we have electric lights? Would we have trains to ride? Even the emperor said that women are no less than men!"
The stall owner clicked his pipe and glanced sideways at the woman who reeked of sourness.
The woman's face turned somewhat pale after being choked by the stall owner. Just then, the gate of the girls' school opened, and several women walked out. People near the school gate were stunned when they saw them, because it seemed that these women were still emitting smoke.
I suppose they were the ones who made that explosion!
The woman's words were harsh, but now, looking at those women, she couldn't hide the envy in her eyes. She only regretted that she was born a few decades too early, otherwise, with her intelligence, she would definitely have been able to enter the girls' school, and she could have figured out anything she wanted immediately. Unlike these women who were so stupid and always making a fuss!
Just as she was feeling indignant and jealous, she saw someone suddenly appear out of nowhere and greet the women.
"This must be the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changxing's family, Miss Chuan."
Zhou Shuqin blocked their way with a smile on her face. After looking at them, she finally fixed her gaze on a woman who was beautiful but dressed simply.
Chuan Yu and the others had just conducted the experiment according to the pre-set method, but it exploded again. They reviewed the situation and still felt that their method was correct, but it still exploded. They were so frustrated that they were going bald from thinking about it and urgently needed to go to Chuan Wen to discuss it.
So when Zhou Shuqin blocked their way, they all frowned.
However, one shouldn't be rude to someone who's smiling, so Chuanyu nodded and asked, "What do you want from me?"
Zhou Shuqin's smile widened, becoming so exaggerated that it felt uncomfortable, almost obsequious.
"I've heard that Miss Chuan is not only unparalleled in beauty, but also possesses unmatched talent. Seeing her today, I realize the rumors don't live up to the hype. Compared to her, I'm ashamed to even go out, let alone a commoner like myself. I'm utterly inferior to her..."
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