Xu Weizhi went home for the New Year and also came to greet Zhao Hao. On the contrary, Hua Shuyang and Bei Peijia, who were officials in Nanjing, were not in Nanjing at this time. One went back to Wuxi for the New Year, and the other was in Kunshan to supervise the construction of the water transport astronomical observatory.

"It's not a big deal." After hearing what Old Man Yu said, the young master smiled and said, "In fact, if you ask me, it would be better to find a way to open a water gate on the stone city gate to connect the Furong Pond to the Qinhuai River. That would be wonderful!"

"Nonsense." Zhao Hao gently kicked his butt and said, "You really don't know how high the sky is and how deep the earth is?"

Jinling is the capital after all. Drilling holes in the city wall to open a floodgate? I'm afraid the water from the Qinhuai River will be sprayed to death by the saliva of the censors before it is even brought in!

"Hey, Master, I'm just talking nonsense, what do I know?" Xu Weizi quickly changed his words with a smile. Because his father was not liked by his grandfather, this kid had to find ways to make Xu Pengju happy since he was a child, and after a while he became slick.

No wonder he can mix in the film and television industry...

"By the way, Xiaozhi, is your grandfather feeling better?" Zhao Hao asked, changing the subject.

"Very bad. Alas, he is seventy-three this year." Xu Weizhi shook his head and sighed, his face showing sorrow as he said, "Your Majesty has sent the imperial physician from Beijing, and has also invited Doctors Wan and Li to come for a consultation. They all said that the old man is running out of energy and will not live long."

"My interest will improve when the spring comes and it gets warmer." What else can Zhao Hao say? Great, go die quickly?

"It's very bad. The doctor said that it will only last for one or two months." Xu Weizi lowered his voice and said, "My father never leaves the old man's bedside, otherwise he would definitely come to pick up Master."

"Hey, don't be too sad..." Zhao Hao patted Xiao Zhi's shoulder and said, "Do you need me to visit your ancestor?"

Logically speaking, given the relationship between Zhao Hao and Xu Bangrui, father and son, they should go.

"Father said that grandpa is in such a state now that it would only make him sad if he saw him, so there is no need for Master to visit him." Xu Weizhi said sadly, "If grandpa gets better in a while, I will invite you to come to our house to have a chat."

"Okay, I'll listen to your father." Zhao Hao nodded and said nothing more. He knew that this was what Xu Bangrui was worried about. What if Xu Pengju suddenly came to his senses and asked him to release Xu Bangning?

Although from an outsider's perspective, even if Xu Bangning came back now, he would not be a threat to Xu Bangrui. He might as well be more generous and look good in all aspects.

But Xu Bangrui obviously didn't want to make any more mistakes at this critical moment. Of course, being scolded for being ruthless behind his back was inevitable...

The atmosphere was a bit dull for a while. After a while, Xu Weizhi whispered, "It's still more interesting to make movies."

"Haha." Zhao Hao could guess that this kid probably watched a lot of melodramatic ethics dramas at home. He smiled and said, "You are a young master, of course you can choose the path you want to take."

"What a pity, I don't know when I can go back to Kunshan..." Xu Weizi felt depressed.

Zhao Hao could not help but be speechless, thinking that this old man was a complete failure. At the last minute, his son was trying not to let him see anyone, and his grandson was just thinking about getting away as soon as possible...

All I can say is, it’s what you deserve!

~~

As they were talking, the pleasure boat sailed along the Yulin River, which was lined with shops, and arrived at the Furong Pond at the foot of Xiaocang Mountain.

Then you will see the huge Hibiscus Pond filled with gorgeous cruise ships and pleasure boats, with music and singing and dancing, just like being on the Qinhuai River.

In the pond, there are boats with horse-head bamboo baskets, selling clusters of flowers, incense and sweet soup, and dried preserved fruits. In addition, there are some acrobatic boats with poles more than three meters high. There are lithe young men in the troupe, climbing poles, jumping ropes, pretending to be gods and ghosts, blowing fireworks, and doing all kinds of acrobatics to make the young men and wealthy businessmen on the flower boats smile.

There are docks next to each other by the pool. In just two years, more than a dozen four- or five-story buildings with carved beams and painted rafters have been built around Furong Pond, making the originally outstanding Weijixian no longer so outstanding.

Yu Jiachang excitedly told Zhao Hao that the Qinhuai courtesan Qi Jingyun had also moved to Xiaocang Mountain, and was in the Xiaoxiang Tower not far from the Hibiscus Pond.

"Why are you telling me this?" Zhao Hao glanced at him. This old man was also confused. Didn't he see my five golden flowers behind me?

Yu Jiazhang's impression of Zhao Hao was still at the stage of being a young master, so he naturally didn't think anything dirty. He continued to explain: "This is the status of our Xiaocangshan! The arrival of Miss Qi means that our status has been raised, and all business prices can be increased by 10%!"

"This is quite sad." Zhao Hao coughed twice. He didn't say anything about the bald man in front of the monk. This old man seemed to be really old. He quickly changed the subject and said, "I think Zhuangyuan Street is also very lively."

I saw that the pedestrian street connecting Shichengmen and Yulinheqian Street was filled with rows of shops, a wide variety of signs, and crowds of people. It was even more prosperous than when I came here last year.

To a large extent, it was because a group of sheds had been set up in the open space in front of the mountain behind the street, where various troupes were performing magic tricks, singing and dancing, and the atmosphere was very lively, attracting a large number of spectators. There were also hawkers selling medicine, fortune-telling, flowers and melons, and alchemists wandering around, making the atmosphere as lively as the Confucius Temple fair.

"It's really popular. Jinling is worthy of being Jinling. Suzhou can't compare in this respect." Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh and said, "If I had known that my home was so lively, why would I have delayed on the road?"

"This is because we followed the instructions of the young master and encouraged the shops in Xiaocangshan to open during the Spring Festival, and set up tents to invite theatrical troupes." Yu Jiachang laughed and said, "No one else is open, so naturally everyone is attracted to our place."

"Not bad." Zhao Hao nodded in satisfaction. It was the New Year, and people had both money and free time, so they naturally had a strong demand for entertainment, but all the entertainment venues, restaurants and shops in Nanjing were closed during the New Year. Although the temple fair was lively, people could only stroll around and not sit, let alone enjoy the leisurely and comfortable pleasure of having prostitutes.

Mr. Zhao used this differentiated competition method to improve the status of Xiaocangshan. This is the second year, and the effect is surprisingly good.

But the effect was too good. There were so many people everywhere that they had to change to a horse-drawn carriage and take a two-mile detour before they reached the tree-lined path leading up the mountain.

Knowing that they were an eyesore here, Yu Jiachang and others tactfully did not follow them up the mountain, and Xu Weizi also returned to the Duke's Mansion.

Only after passing the sentry box and going up the private road did the world become quiet.

The convoy drove along the verdant mountain road and stopped in front of a villa halfway up the mountain called "Liuyun Mountain Residence".

Knowing that they were coming after the New Year, Qiaoqiao had already taken the maid to clean the place in advance, replaced the bedding with new ones, and placed flowers and fruits there, making Zhao Hao and the girls feel like they were back home.

"Wow, Sister Qiaoqiao, I love you so much." Li Mingyue happily hugged Qiaoqiao's arm and said, "The world is beautiful with you!"

These words spoke for everyone. Without Qiaoqiao, life was indeed less interesting. No matter how many servants and maids they had, they could not let them experience the fulfillment of being taken care of by family.

"I don't know how to do it either, I just did it randomly." Qiaoqiao felt a little embarrassed by being praised in turn, and quickly waved her hand and said, "You guys sit down and take a rest first, then wash up and eat."

"Finally I can eat Sister Qiaoqiao's cooking again!" Zhao Hao was so happy that he threw himself on the long sofa and said with a look of relief: "I have been starving and losing weight during this period of time."

"You're just talking nonsense." Qiaoqiao rolled her eyes at him and said, "The chef at Weijixian cooks for you every day. Isn't that better than what I cook?"

"Why not!" Before the words were finished, the five of them shook their heads together.

“Puchi…” Qiaoqiao laughed at the pitiful looks of the five people. She rolled up her sleeves helplessly and said, “Okay, okay, you wait, I’ll go to the kitchen.”

"I'll help you." Sister Ma stood up and followed.

"I'm going too." Zhang Xiaojing followed.

"Enough, enough. If there are too many people, it will be chaos." Qiaoqiao quickly stopped the remaining two to prevent the kitchen from becoming a battlefield.

"Then we won't make trouble anymore..." Li Mingyue and Jiang Xueying smiled awkwardly, knowing their own limitations.

"Just wait and eat."

~~

In fact, Qiaoqiao had already prepared all kinds of ingredients and started to get busy as soon as she entered the kitchen.

Ma Xianglan and Zhang Xiaojing also washed their hands, put on aprons and sleeves, and prepared to help in the kitchen.

"You guys make dumplings with this stuffing." Qiaoqiao didn't hesitate and gave orders to the two of them while rolling out the dough. "We'll have steamed shrimp dumplings for lunch."

Ma Xianglan and Zhang Xiaojing hesitated for a moment, smiled at each other, then each picked up a stuffing spoon and started making dumplings with the dough that Qiaoqiao had rolled out. Their movements were very professional.

Moreover, each of the dumplings he made looked very nice and it was obvious that he was not a novice.

"Miss Zhang's cooking skills are very good." Qiaoqiao praised Miss Zhang sincerely.

"I will help mother with some chores at home..." Miss Zhang smiled shyly, "Father has been in the Imperial Academy for many years, and it is already very difficult for him to support a large family, and he cannot let his children have everything they want."

"Then why are you still pretending not to know how to do it on New Year's Eve..." Sister Ma asked with a smile.

"I think the same as you do." Miss Zhang said with a smile: "Good friend."

"I understand, my good friend." Sister Ma nodded, of course not wanting to steal the limelight.

Qiaoqiao was confused after hearing this, so she stopped thinking about it and continued to roll out her dough quickly.

It’s white and round, so tender that it can be broken by a blow... I said it was dumpling skin.

After wrapping almost all the dumplings, Sister Ma put down the dumplings in her hands, waved her hand to let the maids who were preparing the food go out first, and then

She said mysteriously, "Qiaoqiao, the young county lady and Miss Jiang have set up a partnership and invited us to join."

"Oh? What company?" Qiaoqiao said with little interest: "You guys can have fun, I don't know how to do business. When I was counting money for customers at Weijixian, I often made mistakes in calculating the bills for them."

"You must join this company because it doesn't do ordinary business." Secretary Ma said, leaning close to Qiaoqiao's ear and explaining in a low voice: "Its business scope is limited to..."

"Ah, young master?" Qiaoqiao was so shocked that she almost swallowed the rolling pin. "Are you going to sell him?"

"Hi." Ma Xianglan and Zhang Xiaojing didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so they had to talk to her in a broken tone.

Qiaoqiao was stunned for a long time before she nodded blankly. "I don't understand anyway, so just take whatever you say..."