Zhao Shouzheng and his brother worked hard for several days before they bought all the furniture and furnishings for the new house. They also hired a housekeeper and a cook, and bought servants and maids, spending money like water.

When I counted at the end of the month, I actually had a surplus of 5,000 taels...

After Zhao Shouzheng passed the imperial examination, people came to him almost every day to ask to be his teacher, fellow townsmen came to give him gifts, and all kinds of people came to make contributions. Especially the Huizhou merchants, who wanted to repair the previously broken relationship, first rushed to Caijia Lane to congratulate him on his passing, and then came to Zhao's house to celebrate the Zhao family's move to a new house, which really cost them two lives.

There were also many matchmakers who came to propose marriage to Zhao Hao and his son. Many people knew that the position of the main wife was out of reach, so they set their sights on the position of the concubine. If all of them agreed, the father and son would have ten concubines each...

However, Zhao Shouzheng rejected them all on the grounds that his father was not around.

As the saying goes, once bitten by a snake, one will be afraid of ropes for ten years. Zhao Shouzheng now gets a headache whenever he hears someone proposing marriage.

But the more worried you are, the more likely you are to get away from it.

Early this morning, someone came to the door again...

Outside the gate of Zhao's mansion, two sedan chairs landed behind the screen wall, and getting out of one of the sedan chairs was Zhou Jijiu, the Imperial College's chief academic officer.

The other person in the sedan chair was reluctant to get off.

Zhou Jijiu was getting impatient and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, urging him, "Now that you're here, why aren't you getting off yet?"

"I'm not going."

The person sitting in the sedan chair was Mr. Liu, the president of Suzhou Chamber of Commerce and the second most important person of Dongting Merchants. He crossed his arms and said gloomily, "That guy made me lose face. How can I go up to him and let him humiliate me again?"

"Then what are you doing here?" Zhou Jijiu asked angrily.

"You dragged me here by force." Liu Yuanwai curled his lips and said, "I just want to see how you can turn this situation around."

"Okay, I admit that I was gambling," Zhou Jijiu couldn't help but smile bitterly, "but what if I win the bet? Then I can get all my money back with interest."

"Okay, I wish you good luck." Mr. Liu pointed to the plaque of "Zhao Mansion" that was hung again on the gate, and let down the curtain of the sedan chair.

"I don't understand why a businessman cares so much about face." Zhou Jijiu shook his head. He had to ask someone to pass the visiting card and went to the door alone.

~~

In the backyard, Zhao Hao pushed down his bowl and ran to the side courtyard to work.

Zhao Shouye couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is this kid doing all day? He's so mysterious."

Zhao Shouzheng flipped through the gift list and said casually, "Who knows? The other day, we hired a mirror-grinding master from the Confucius Temple shop. The two of them have been tinkering in the house. I don't know what they are doing."

After a pause, Zhao Shouzheng said proudly, "I guess my son has found a way to make money again..."

"Oh my, smoke is coming out of our Zhao family's ancestral grave." Zhao Shouye couldn't help but sigh again: "Half a year ago, I wouldn't have dared to think about it..."

While the two brothers were talking, the housekeeper came in and reported that Zhou Jijiu was here to visit.

"Now that you have passed the imperial examination, all kinds of monsters and demons have come out." Zhao Shouye sighed and asked curiously, "What is he doing here?"

"How would I know? He can't be proposing marriage again." Zhao Shouzheng sneered.

“How thick-skinned one must be…” Zhao Shouye curled his lips, and the two brothers burst into laughter.

Having said that, Zhou Jijiu is, after all, Zhao Shouzheng's teacher. Now that Zhao Shouzheng has one foot in the officialdom, he is not as willful as before.

The two brothers went to the gate together to greet him and invited Zhou Jijiu to the flower hall for tea.

Seeing that the Zhao brothers were so polite, Zhou Jijiu, who had been feeling very nervous, felt much more at ease.

But he looked around and just spoke some polite words, reluctant to get to the point.

Zhao Shouzheng understood and asked, "Is Dasicheng looking for my son?"

"Uh, haha, yes." Zhou Jijiu nodded awkwardly and said, "Can you please come out and talk with me, Master?"

"Okay." Zhao Shouzheng and his brothers were not surprised, because Zhao Hao had always been the backbone of this family.

He asked the butler to invite the second young master over quickly.

~~

In the small courtyard, Zhao Hao was sitting there, watching Gao the blacksmith using a small hammer to hammer a piece of brass thinner and thinner.

The mirror grinder couldn't make what he needed by himself, so he had to ask Gao the blacksmith to come and help.

Fortunately, Weijixian is back on track and Xiaocangshan has not started construction. Gao Tiejiang has nothing serious to do except working at the construction site in the back, watching Zhao Hao's new house.

Gao the blacksmith hadn't touched a hammer for a long time, and his hands were itching to get back to work. Naturally, he was very excited to be able to do his old job again. While banging the hammer, he said with a look of dissatisfaction: "This brass is too light and soft, there's no need to over-fire it, just keep banging it like this, and you can make it into whatever shape you want."

"The simpler the better, isn't it?" Zhao Hao smiled and glanced at Master Lu who was grinding a mirror next door. He thought that having money was good, and all you had to do was talk, and there were professionals who would do it for you.

"That doesn't show off my craftsmanship." Gao the blacksmith felt unsatisfied and suggested, "I'll carve a flower on it for you later."

"Whatever you like." Zhao Hao smiled and pointed at the drawings hanging on the wall and said, "Just don't get out of shape."

"Sir, what you said is true. I am an old hand at shooting gun barrels. Doing this is a piece of cake..."

The two were chatting idly when Gao Wu came in and reported that Zhou Jijiu had arrived.

"Okay." Zhao Hao had no choice but to leave Old Man Gao behind and follow the housekeeper waiting outside to go to the flower hall to meet the guests.

~~

In the flower hall, seeing Zhao Hao coming in, Zhou Jijiu actually subconsciously stood up to greet him.

But suddenly realizing that this was inappropriate, he quickly stopped himself and bowed instead.

Zhao Shouye couldn't help but marvel at this. He wondered what method Zhao Hao had used to make the chief academic officer of the Imperial College eat so much?

Zhao Hao was also very polite. He performed the teacher-student salute to Zhou Jijiu, and then was willing to sit at the last seat.

"Would you please allow me to have a private chat with your young master?" Zhou Jijiu looked at the Zhao brothers. They knew that he was here to see Zhao Hao, so they tactfully left.

When there was no one else in the hall, Zhou Jijiu stood up suddenly, as if there were needles on the chair.

"Mr. Zhao..." Zhou Jijiu bowed deeply to Zhao Hao, bowed his waist and said, "I have done what I should do. I have also cut off contact with Shao Fang. Can we just leave this matter at that?"

"The Grand Secretary is very suspicious. I told you clearly that day that we have done what needs to be done and we are even now." Zhao Hao sat back in the official hat chair, brushed off the dust on his brocade robe, and said calmly, "Why bother asking again?"

"I feel uneasy." Zhou Jijiu took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, and then he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I would not be at ease if I didn't hear from you that you forgive me."

"Can you rest assured now?" Zhao Hao stood up, straightened Zhou Jijiu's wrinkled sleeves, and said with a faint smile: "If you have nothing else to do, please go back. I'm still busy."

"Uh, there's one more thing..." Zhou Jijiu gritted his teeth and met Zhao Hao's gaze.

ps. This is the seventh update. I am exhausted from checking and posting. 300 votes for an extra update. Please give me monthly votes and recommendation votes~~~