Meet
The person I was thinking about just now appeared before my eyes.
Jiang Nian turned around and saluted Xiao Yingzhu.
"Duke Xiao."
Xiao Yingzhu was still holding the two-colored fan in her hand, just like yesterday, except that the pendant on her ear had changed from a double one to a single one, and the dark pendant was almost invisible among her black hair.
His gaze lingered briefly on the cloth bag in Guizhi's hand, then he retracted his gaze and looked at Jiang Nian with the same deep understanding as usual, but with a slightly different meaning in his eyes.
"Miss Jiang, did you just come out of Yuejiang Pavilion?"
He had just mentioned this teahouse yesterday, and now Guizhi was carrying the pastries that had just been packed from the teahouse. There was no reason to hide it, so Jiang Nian's gentle expression remained unchanged and he nodded slightly at him.
"Well, thanks to Duke Xiao's suggestion, I'm visiting you again today."
As if to prevent him from having other suspicious associations, Jiang Nian deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of "visit again".
A carriage drove over from the cobblestone street. The timing was just right, and now was not the time to test Xiao Yingzhu, so Jiang Nian turned around and raised his hand to signal Xiao Yingzhu.
"The carriage has arrived, I will take my leave now."
Guizhi listened to what Jiang Nian said and silently lifted the curtain for Jiang Nian. Jiang Nian was about to get on the carriage holding Guizhi's hand when he heard Xiao Yingzhu add another sentence slowly.
"I'd like to visit Miss Jiang's shop this afternoon. Is Miss Jiang willing?"
“……?”
Jiang Nian paused slightly as he raised his foot.
They all knew each other's identities, but now he was pretending.
However, Jiang Nian also wanted to find an opportunity to test Xiao Yingzhu, so he naturally would not refuse now and just followed his words.
She turned around with a sweet smile, like a naive girl.
"Of course you are. I will be waiting for you in the shop this afternoon."
Xiao Yingzhu seemed not to understand the meaning of Jiang Nian's words. She curled her lips slightly, and the interest on her face faded a little. Her voice remained the same as usual, just as indifferent and casual.
"Then I'll trouble you, Miss Jiang."
Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu's eyes met but then shifted. Through the thin veil, she could see Xiao Yingzhu standing not far away.
Today he was wearing a light brown suit, and his face was not as charming as before. There was a certain calmness hidden behind his cruelty, which matched the light-colored suit very well.
After completing the superficial formalities, Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze and boarded the carriage. Guizhi followed him up and lowered the curtain. The wooden boards of the carriage wall blocked Xiao Yingzhu's view, and the carriage slowly moved forward.
The gauze of the veil was slightly lifted up by the wind outside the window. Jiang Nian lowered his eyes and reached out to gently smooth it out, breathing a sigh of relief.
The more you know, the more you have to think about it during the conversation. When facing Xiao Yingzhu, whose purpose is unclear, it is always better to be more cautious.
Although she had only met Xiao Yingzhu for the first time yesterday, his dark red attire seemed to be imprinted in her mind, always leaving her with the impression that Xiao Yingzhu only knew how to wear red-colored brocade clothes.
Is this a stereotype...?
The carriage gradually approached Jiang's house. Jiang Nian cleared his mind and stared out the window of the carriage in a daze.
...I didn't expect that Xiao Yingzhu's tea-white outfit actually matched his facial features quite well.
If you don't know his personality, you might mistake him for a gentle and elegant gentleman.
She withdrew her gaze from the window slightly, thinking aimlessly.
It turns out that as long as you have good facial features, you can match any clothes with your taste.
The carriage slowly stopped in front of Jiang's house. Guizhi got off first and then helped Jiang Nian out of the carriage.
Seeing Fuling waiting not far away, Jiang Nian was about to say a few words to Guizhi when he noticed that Guizhi's face turned pale.
She was slightly startled, then raised her hand and placed the back of her hand on Guizhi's forehead.
"What's wrong?"
Guizhi seemed to come back to her senses and shook her head repeatedly.
"No, miss..."
She clenched the cloth bag in her hand, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she met Jiang Nian's concerned eyes.
"Suddenly seeing the Duke... Guizhi is a little nervous."
No wonder Guizhi didn't talk to her about trivial matters as usual on the way back.
Thinking of how Fuling, who had always been calmer than Guizhi, looked like this when she saw Xiao Yingzhu, Jiang Nian couldn't help but laugh.
"It's okay, you won't see it too often."
She gently squeezed Guizhi's hand as if to comfort her, and looked at the cloth bag in Guizhi's hand.
"Let's go put the cakes in Fuling's house first."
Guizhi nodded, regained her composure, and responded.
"Guizhi will do it right away."
Fuling was waiting at the door of the front yard. In order to prevent Fuling from discovering the cloth bag in her hand, Guizhi took a long detour.
Jiang Nian walked slowly, watching Guizhi happily enter from a corner, then he smiled and looked away as he walked towards the place where Fuling was waiting.
Seeing Jiang Nian taking off his veil and walking towards her, Fuling immediately stepped forward. She spoke a little quickly, anxious to report the new news that she had been thinking about telling Jiang Nian all morning.
"Miss... I went to the warehouse today to count the Morinda officinalis and Poria cocos you requested, and found that there wasn't enough. The person in charge of supervising the transportation of the herbs wrote a letter and just delivered it to your residence."
As she spoke, she handed a letter to Jiang Nian.
"This is it. The master gave it to Fuling, asking her to give it to the young lady."
"Morinda officinalis?"
Jiang Nian was slightly startled. She lowered her eyes and took the letter from Fuling's hand. She opened the envelope and looked through it for a few seconds. There were a few short sentences written on it.
The problem was that due to weather conditions, rain washed away the mountain roads used for transportation, and the goods could not be delivered in time.
After closing the letter, she suddenly remembered that she had indeed made a list for Fuling to prepare before she started the deworming experiment, and the experiment on the medicinal herb Morinda officinalis happened to be scheduled for the nearest time.
However, if we count the days for picking Morinda officinalis, it is now the last season for picking Morinda officinalis, so there will naturally be less Morinda officinalis left.
Thinking that he also planted some Morinda officinalis for private use on the mountain, Jiang Nian decided to wait until he was done with his busy schedule and then find some free time to go to the stream to pick Morinda officinalis and use it for experiments to see if he could make it into an anthelmintic and add more different types of anthelmintic products to sell.
Thinking of this, her eyes moved slightly and she changed the subject.
"When will the specially treated tables and utensils in the warehouse be ready?"
Xiao Yingzhu arranged for people to help wholesale anthelmintics next week, so the props that need to be used need to be properly handled this week.
Fuling was slightly stunned. She had not expected Jiang Nian to change the subject so quickly. She looked away and recalled for a while before conveying the other person's words word for word.
"The blacksmith said... the tool Miss wants to make is extraordinary. It's difficult to make and takes a lot of time. You need to pay more money."
The tool that Jiang Nian asked the craftsmen to make was a small spray bottle. She planned to put the finished insect repellent into the bottle and sell it.
In marketing, novel designs always attract attention, sparking curiosity and a desire to try them. Sprays, which have never appeared in ancient times, clearly have enough unique characteristics to stand out from the crowd of similar products.
This also happens to be in line with the trial plan in her marketing.
The blacksmith shop was located near the city gate of Liangdu City, a little far from Jiang Mansion, so one had to squeeze out time to take a carriage there.
We have a lot to do in the next two weeks, but if the spray bottle is not produced by then, it will be a serious problem.
After all, pests and diseases often occur in summer, and this month happens to be when the probability of pests and diseases occurring is higher. When the weather gets colder, people will no longer need them so much.
She needs to make good use of this period of time to restore the reputation of Liangdu Pharmacy.
Seeing that Fuling was a little hesitant about the blacksmith shop, Jiang Nian turned his eyes away quietly and simply added this task to his plan.
"I'll take care of this myself in a few days. You can just go and get the people who will come to the warehouse in batches every week."
As she spoke, she turned and walked towards the wing room.
Fuling followed Jiang Nian in small steps, crossing the long corridor in the forest. Looking at the fair face of her young lady walking in front of her, she paused for a moment and asked, "Should we divide those people into two groups, one to make the croton spray and the other to make the astragalus repellent water?"
Because he was not very used to the novel name given by Jiang Nian, Fuling Nian paused when pronouncing the product name.
"Um."
Jiang Nian nodded.
She felt relieved when she thought about how Fuling needed detailed and step-by-step instructions when she first asked her to handle matters related to anthelmintics, but now she can apply what she has learned and doesn't need her to explain everything.
After lunch, Jiang Nian chatted with Jiang's mother for a while before returning to the inner room to get the recipe to take to the store.
Before returning to the house, I happened to meet Fuling who was just about to finish the pastries.
When she saw Jiang Nian, Fuling's eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"The snacks Miss gave you are delicious. Fuling thanks you again."
In recent days, Fuling has been running around for the business she is preparing to do. Besides, she is her maid, so it is not a big deal to occasionally bring some meals for her to fill her stomach. Therefore, Jiang Nian did not say much, but just smiled at her.
"As long as you like."
At the end of the day, Jiang Nian brought Fuling to Liangdu Pharmacy.
Xu Bo was standing behind the counter, counting money with his head down. When he saw Jiang Nian coming, he quickly bowed slightly.
"Miss."
Jiang Nian responded to Xu Bo with a smile, then glanced around and saw that Xiao Yingzhu was not there, so he went to the storage room to count the stockpiled goods again.
The storeroom was frequently cleaned by hired waiters, so there wasn't much dust. Unsold bottles and cans were neatly arranged on the shelves, one row after another, each marked with the year of production.
However, most of them are from this year and last year, and those older than that have been destroyed.
The layout of the bottles and jars has been adjusted. Each light-transmitting window is built right on the wall facing the gap in the wooden frame. The sunlight at the end of the day can penetrate into the window. The dust particles floating in the air are illuminated by the light and fall to the ground slowly with the wind.
Jiang Nian slowly counted the goods on the shelves, and Fuling followed behind Jiang Nian, memorizing the numbers she had just learned at Jiang Nian's command.
After counting half of the goods stored in the storage room, Jiang Nian, who was walking in front, stopped, took the brush from Fuling's hand, and drew frames on the counting book according to the year. She arranged the goods produced last year at the front, and those produced this year at the back.
Jiang Nian first picked out the rows of shelves from last year. The shelves in the warehouse were merged in pairs, with two rows in one row. She wrote English letters such as "A", "B", and "C" in front of these shelves separately and arranged them in alphabetical order.
The earlier the production time, the closer it is.
She planned to sell all the medicines produced last year first, and then use the goods stockpiled this year to bundle the newly developed anthelmintics for sale.
However, before selling the previous year's products, they should first be tested in a test field.
Jiang Nian was mulling over his next marketing plan while marking letters in his account book. Just as he was reaching up to tap the person next to him with his pen, intending to have Fuling come closer to identify the letters, he noticed something strange about the fabric next to him.
I was suddenly startled and just as I raised my head to look to the side, my eyes were met with a pair of clear and light eyes, yet with a hint of charm.
Xiao Yingzhu's brocade clothes in the afternoon were no different from those in the morning, with white still being the main color. From a close distance, the "false" image of Xiao Yingzhu that she had seen from a distance in the morning became even more apparent.
But his slightly upturned eyes and the teardrop mole under one eye only accentuated his already alluring charm.
It was the first time that Jiang Nian saw a pair of facial features that could harmoniously combine the styles of simplicity and beauty just by changing clothes. He was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses.
She straightened the pen that was tilted towards Xiao Yingzhu, and slightly retracted the account book that was handed to Xiao Yingzhu, her voice soft and gentle.
"I had intended to receive you in the front hall, but I didn't expect to meet you here unexpectedly. This may be a bit abrupt, so I hope you will forgive me."
Although the words were expressed politely, Xiao Yingzhu still keenly noticed the slightly emphasized tone in Jiang Nian's words.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze paused on Jiang Nian's face, and suddenly he chuckled, lowered his head to hide the slight scorn in his eyes, leaned lightly on the wooden shelf next to him, raised his eyes again, spread his hands slightly towards her as if sighing, curled his lips slightly, and spoke in a slow and low tone.
"I will only let Uncle Xu guide the way forward. Miss Jiang's words are truly an exaggeration."
Xiao Yingzhu was tall, and as he leaned to the side, Xu Bo behind him was revealed.
Meeting Uncle Xu's frightened eyes, which seemed to indicate he had sensed something was wrong, the atmosphere in the storage room became awkward for a moment. Jiang Nian then shook his head and smiled gently at Uncle Xu.
"It's okay, Uncle Xu, he's my ally."
Perhaps it was Xiao Yingzhu's sideways glance, a slightly cold gaze, that made his previously subdued aura resurface, a faint intensity that made him feel suffocated. Or perhaps it was because his young lady's expression was different from usual, but Uncle Xu felt unusually nervous.
"Okay, okay, then I will withdraw first..."
Xu Bo bowed to the two of them, as if he was afraid that someone would die if he stayed here any longer, so he hurried out of the storage room.
Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze, but the smile on his lips was still slightly sweet in front of Xiao Yingzhu.
Seeing Xiao Yingzhu's eyes fall on the account book in her hand, she lowered her eyes calmly, glanced at him slightly, and slightly raised her right hand that was hanging casually on the shelf.
The fan he usually brought was not brought in the afternoon, but there was an ink-black jade pendant on his brocade clothes.
As if noticing Jiang Nian's gaze, Xiao Yingzhu raised her eyelids slightly, as if knowing what she was thinking. The sharp smile on her face looked somewhat refreshing against the light-colored brocade clothes she was wearing.
"I have come here today specifically to discuss this with Miss Jiang, so I have no official documents with me."
Jiang Nian suddenly remembered the sharp object hidden in the fan he saw yesterday morning, and couldn't help but look away slightly.
Murder weapons are common tools used in handling official business.
Seeing that he was dressed like a gentle young man today, and his conversation was also elegant, he seemed to be the type that many girls in the city liked. Unfortunately, under this elegant and beautiful appearance, there was a heart that did not sympathize with others.
Xiao Yingzhu's outfit today was indeed too eye-catching, making it easy for people to let down their guard. Jiang Nian straightened his spirits a little and stopped beating around the bush with him. He spoke directly to the point like last time, in a gentle tone.
"Which step are you going to take today?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
