The passenger ship stopped at the Dongting Town Pier outside Wuxi City. Zhao Hao received another grand welcome.

Grand Tutor Hua, who was already in his seventies, went to the dock in person to greet them despite his advanced age.

Of course, it could also be that she missed her dear little son too much.

After all, this was the first time Hua Shuyang returned home to visit his family after passing the imperial examination.

Zhao Hao hurriedly paid great tribute to Grand Tutor Hua.

"No, etiquette cannot be abolished." Grand Tutor Hua was white-haired, old and frail, and his movements were slow.

The eldest son Hua Bozhen supported Zhao Hao for him.

"Although Shuyang is my disciple, I am on the same level as Brother Zhitai, so I should be the younger generation to meet Lord Hongshan."

Zhitai was the name of Hua Zhongheng, the second brother of Hua Shuyang. Hongshan was the name of Grand Tutor Hua in his later years.

"Is that so?" Master Hua smiled understandingly and did not force it.

Zhao Hao then greeted Hua Bozhen, the real head of the Hua family, and then got on a carriage to Jiadun Garden in Dongting Town.

The town is not big and you can reach the government gate in the blink of an eye.

Because the Hua family's ancestral home was in **kou, and Dongting Town was where Hua Cha lived in seclusion in his later years, only a four-pillar and five-story stone archway was built in front of the mansion, with the words "Hua Xue Shi Archway" inscribed on it.

Moreover, the gate of the mansion is very low-key. It is not the red door commonly used by wealthy families, but just the black lacquered door of ordinary scholars' homes.

The courtyard walls were simply painted white, without any exquisite carvings. Even the tiles on the walls were ordinary Wuxi black tiles, without the carved tiles commonly seen in wealthy families.

But the height of the wall stands out from the crowd, about two meters high...

But Zhao Hao knew that all this was just a cover-up.

Even the name of this town was changed to Dongting to cover up the truth.

~~

This place was originally called Longting, also known as Dragon Pavilion.

After Master Hua retired to his hometown, he spent three years and a huge amount of money to build an ultra-luxurious mansion here, named "Jia Dun Garden".

However, because it was built too luxuriously, people were afraid to look up at it. Even the palaces of marquisates and kings could not compare to it. As a result, it attracted the attention of political enemies.

Zhao Wenhua, who was touring the southeast at the time, arranged for people to impeach him for "living in the Dragon Court and building the Imperial Palace", which showed that he had violated the rules and was disloyal.

Fortunately, Grand Tutor Hua had extensive connections and his students and former officials were all over the world. He learned about this matter early on and quickly painted all the gates black, painted the courtyard walls with lime, and replaced all the roof tiles.

After discussing with the government, the name of Longting Town, which had been called for hundreds of years, was changed to Dongting Town.

This is how he was able to deal with the imperial censor who came to investigate and escape the disaster.

It was after that that Grand Tutor Hua realized that the Yan Party was still targeting him, and he began to return land and liquidate property on a large scale.

So he didn't suddenly realize it right away...

Of course, later on, Grand Tutor Hua used the same method to defeat Zhao Wenhua, which was considered revenge.

As for Zhao Wenhua, he suddenly felt an itch in his abdomen during exile, so he scratched his belly with both hands, causing his internal organs to rupture and die... It had nothing to do with the lawful and good Master Hua.

~~

As expected, the original shape of the garden was revealed as soon as he entered it. Zhao Hao saw a scene every five steps and a pavilion every ten steps. It was a palace of beauty and gardens that was out of this world. It was much more luxurious and magnificent than Yanshan Garden and Wang Xijue's garden.

The welcome banquet was even more exquisite. The utensils did not use any gold or silver, but they were far more valuable than gold and silver. It was the first time that Zhao Hao saw someone use porcelain from the official kiln as tableware to entertain guests...

If it accidentally bumps or falls, I will be heartbroken.

But the owner had obviously gotten used to it.

During the banquet, Grand Tutor Hua toasted Zhao Hao to thank him for his care and cultivation of Hua Shuyang.

Zhao Hao also raised his glass, wishing the old master a long life, and then thanked his second son for his help in Nanjing.

Of course, there is still juice in the glass.

Young Master Zhao doesn't even drink when he has dinner with Mr. Zhang. I'm afraid no one in the world can make him break his vow, right?

Grand Tutor Hua was old, and after three rounds of drinks he excused himself and left the table with the help of Hua Shuyang, leaving his eldest son Hua Zhongheng to accompany Zhao Hao for dinner.

~~

After lunch, the next step should have been to visit the gardens when visiting the rich man’s house.

But suddenly there was a heavy downpour, which ruined the garden tour and also ruined Zhao Hao's mood.

So they changed their place to drink tea and watch the rain in the "Zhuoying Pavilion" on a high bridge over the water.

The pavilion has a unique design of curved roof. Although the windows on all four sides are open, not a drop of rain can fall into the pavilion.

Sitting in this pavilion, surrounded by water, you can only hear the sound of heavy rain drops hitting the lotus leaves, making a soothing rustling sound.

"I saw that you were feeling uneasy, so I chose to have tea in this water pavilion." Hua Bozhen is actually nearly fifty years old, but he looks very well-maintained and doesn't look his age. "Every time it rains, I like to stay here. I will soon forget my worries and feel very peaceful."

"Well, white noise is a good thing." Mr. Zhao thought to himself, and then said to the dog owner... oh no, Hua Bozhen with a wry smile:

"This rain has been going on for the last half of the month, and instead of stopping, it's getting heavier, which is very worrying."

My father still lives on the embankment, I hope he doesn't get washed away by the flood.

This young master has nowhere to find a father...

"My dear brother, you have a deep father-son relationship." Hua Bozhen praised him and comforted him, "Zhao Zhuangyuan is the incarnation of Wenquxing. He has the protection of gods and will be fine. Besides, you are far away in Wuxi, so worrying is useless."

"That being said, I still worry about it." Zhao Hao said with a wry smile: "I am eager to go home, but I still have to go to Yangzhou next. It's really helpless."

"If you are really worried about my uncle, just turn back." Hua Bozhen said with a smile, "Go south from Taihu Lake, follow the Xu River and Lou River, and you can go downstream all the way to Kunshan in one day."

"Well, to be honest, I still have an important task on my shoulders and I can't turn back." Zhao Hao waved his hand, stood up and looked at the distant lake.

"Isn't it just relief food?" Hua Bozhen stood up, patted his shoulder, and said, "My Hua family has taken care of it all. You can get as much as you want. If Wuxi is not enough, there are Wujin and Zhenjiang. If it doesn't work, just buy grain directly. How can it not feed a small Kunshan?"

Zhao Hao thought to himself, if you had said this earlier, I wouldn’t have to act, right?

Of course, I am really worried about Erye.

He turned around, tears in his eyes and said, "Brother, you have helped me so much on our first meeting. I don't know how to thank you."

"Hahaha! That's really too formal." Hua Bozhen put his arm around his shoulders and laughed heartily, "We hit it off right away. We've known each other for a long time."

"Yes, when I saw you, big brother, I felt like I had met a half-brother." Zhao Hao also smiled happily.

Both of them felt nauseous, so they moved away from each other unnoticeably and returned to their seats.

"In this emergency, I won't be polite to you, big brother." Zhao Hao went straight to the point and said, "But there is one thing I need to make clear to you, big brother. This batch of grain was not purchased directly by me or the county, but through a company called Jiangnan Company..."

"Jiangnan Company?" Hua Bozhen's eyes lit up and he asked, "The kind of Xishan Company?"

"That's about right." Zhao Hao nodded.

"Will you accept the investment?" Hua Bozheng asked immediately.

"Uh..." Zhao Hao's mouth twitched, thinking, "Don't be so impatient, okay? Give it a little difficulty, okay?"

This way, I have no sense of accomplishment and I feel very stressed!

After all, our company's profit model only exists in Pipikie... Oh no, in the plan, and has not been actually verified.

Whether it can be successful or not is still unknown...

Oh, being too popular is also a pain!

ps. Second update. Shame on me for only managing to update twice in two days... I'll continue at noon.