Chapter 160, Circle
"Tell me, why did you come back a day late? Did my sister let you stay one more night?"
After talking with Daohua and the other two for a while, Li Xingchang asked his children to take the three of them out to play. After they left, he asked Li Xingnian.
Li Xingnian pretended to be mysterious and smiled, "Brother, guess where we stayed last night?"
Li Xingchang glared at Li Xingnian angrily: "You are so old, but you are still so frivolous. Come on, tell me."
Fan and Jiang also looked at Li Xingnian curiously.
Li Xingnian coughed, cleared his throat, and said a little excitedly: "Last night, we stayed in the Wuhua Mountain Royal Palace."
"What?!"
Li Xingchang and the other two were all shocked: "Tell me quickly, what's going on?"
Li Xingnian didn't waste time this time and told Daohua about going to see Xiao Yeyang.
Hearing that Daohua and the other two were very familiar with the young prince, Li Xingchang sighed, "My little sister has finally made it through."
Li Xingnian nodded: "Yes, as long as these three children are here, even if my brother-in-law looks down on businessmen, he will have to give my younger sister some face."
Fan and Jiang exchanged a glance and whispered, "This woman, after all, still has to rely on her own children. Only when her children are successful can she stand firm."
Men who have three wives and four concubines and who get bored easily are the most unreliable.
Li Xingchang: "I never thought that the Yan family would have such an adventure."
Li Xingnian: "This is all thanks to Daohua. If it weren't for her, I think our brother-in-law would still be the county magistrate."
Mrs. Fan interrupted, "Speaking of Daohua, she really doesn't look like she grew up in the countryside. Her appearance and demeanor are, in my opinion, even more outstanding than some of the ladies from high-class families."
She really didn't expect that Daohua would be so beautiful. What was even more surprising was her graceful, calm and composed temperament. She had been worried that the concubine in the backyard of the Yan family would outshine her.
Li Xingnian smiled and said, "Old Madam Yan really loves the rice flowers and takes good care of them even in the countryside."
Jiang smiled and said, "I think it's because my younger sister has a good foundation that she has such a clever daughter."
Fan: "Tell us what the royal palace looks like."
Li Xingnian immediately described what he saw and heard in the palace.
After talking about the palace, Li Xingnian took a sip of tea and started talking about other things.
"Oh, right. This time, my younger sister told me privately that Daohua has developed some high-yielding grains, and my brother-in-law is trying to plant them. If they succeed, my brother-in-law's political achievements will be top of the list."
Li Xingchang's expression brightened: "Really?" The higher the official rank of his brother-in-law, the better it would be for their Li family.
Li Xingnian nodded. "It's still in the experimental stage, but it's likely to be successful. The Yan family has already tried it before."
Li Xingchang was a little excited: "Increasing grain production is a great achievement. If this is promoted, our brother-in-law's salary will rise again."
Li Xingnian continued to laugh, "My little sister also said that the watermelons sold so well last year that she left some seeds for us to plant on our own farms."
Li Xingchang's expression lit up. "That's great news. Last year, watermelons were in short supply. When many people came to us, we were out of stock. I felt like I was losing out then. If we can grow them this year, we'll definitely make a lot of money."
Li Xingnian: "By the way, brother, what do you think of wine made from rice flowers?"
Li Xingchang immediately said, "Of course it tastes good. What did my little sister say?"
Li Xingnian shook his head. "It wasn't my little sister, it was Daohua. She said she wanted to sell us the wine-making recipe and asked if we wanted it."
At this moment, Li Xingchang, Fan and Jiang were all stunned.
After a while, Li Xingchang laughed and scolded, "How old is this girl? She dares to start her own business?"
Li Xingnian thought about Daohua's serious business talk with her and couldn't help but laugh: "She said she wanted to buy a farm and was short of money. Winemaking involves many steps and requires professional supervision, which she can't handle."
Fan asked curiously, "How much silver does she want?"
Li Xingnian laughed again and said, "That girl told us to give whatever we wanted. She believed that her uncle and aunt would not let her suffer any loss. Listen to what she said. She said it so perfectly that I couldn't help but hit her on the head."
Li Xingchang laughed for a while, then asked, "Do my younger sister and brother-in-law know about this?" Buying and selling wine-making recipes is a big deal.
Nowadays, no matter it is for brewing wine, preparing medicine, or even a recipe for a dish, as long as it involves a recipe, which family would not treasure it well and pass it down from generation to generation like a family heirloom?
Li Xingnian: "My younger sister said that this is Daohua's own business, let her make the decision herself. As for my brother-in-law, I never ask about these matters."
Li Xingchang thought for a moment and said, "Wine is a precious commodity. If it's truly brewed, it won't be hard to sell. This is feasible." He smiled and said, "Well, later on, I'll go talk to Daohua in person about this deal."
Hearing this, Li Xingnian and the other two all laughed.
Mrs. Fan sighed, "It's worth it that we send gifts to Daohua every year and love her so much. This girl actually knows how to be grateful and help her uncle's family."
Jiang smiled and said, "Yes." Just because Daohua took the initiative to sell the wine recipe to the Li family, it can be seen that this girl is close to the Li family.
In the Li family yard, Daohua was watching the performance of Li Zixuan and her sister with amazement.
Li Zixuan played the guzheng and Li Zixin danced, and the two cooperated very well.
The music is beautiful and the dance is graceful, which is very pleasing to the eye.
Yan Wenkai clapped his hands and cheered, and said to Daohua, "Big sister, you should learn a little bit too."
Daohua was about to nod when she heard Yan Wenxiu say, "Big sister, you don't need to learn these."
Yan Wenkai and Daohua were both stunned and looked at their elder brother in confusion.
Yan Wenxiu did not explain, but walked towards the Li brothers and started chatting about other things.
"What do you mean, brother?" Daohua was a little puzzled.
Yan Wenkai was also confused. He scratched the back of his head and asked uncertainly, "Could it be because singing and dancing are just a way to entertain people and add to their fun?"
The rice flowers looked enlightened.
Yes, in ancient times, dancing in public did not seem to be a glorious thing.
She said that she had attended several banquets hosted by young ladies from various families. They all gathered together to drink tea, appreciate flowers, recite poems, and there were no talent shows or anything like that.
Daohua looked up at her two cousins who were performing seriously on the stage, and sighed in her heart that the social circles in ancient times were really clearly divided. At the same time, from the gathering of the girls, it can also be seen that the status of merchants is not high.
Yan Wenkai was still deep in thought. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that dancing in public for the amusement of others was not a good idea. He asked in confusion, "If you are not good at dancing, why did my uncle and his family let my two cousins learn it?"
Daohua sighed, "Because the circle they are in requires it."
As long as the Li family had to deal with other merchants, they would inevitably attend merchant gatherings. Other merchant daughters were learning, and if they didn't learn, they wouldn't be able to fit in.
Yan Wenkai thought about it and felt that this was indeed the case.
Take their martial arts training with the young prince for example. If he and his third brother did not work hard and could not keep up with the progress of the young prince and the others, and could not fight with others during sparring, then even if they knew the young prince before, they could not be in the same class with the young prince.
"Dancing in public isn't a good idea. How about we give our two cousins a heads-up and tell them to stop dancing?"
Daohua quickly shook her head and looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she whispered, "Don't do that, Fourth Brother. Do you think my uncle and aunt don't know? They know, but they still did it. They must have their own reasons and thoughts."
"If we bring it up rashly, it will only annoy them and make them think that we look down on them." She knew that her mother had always been resentful of her merchant background.
Upon hearing this, Yan Wenkai immediately nodded, indicating that he would not speak anymore.
"Cousin, what are you and fourth brother whispering about? Why aren't you watching our performance?" Li Zixin's voice came over.
Yan Wenkai blurted out, "We were just saying how beautiful your dancing is!"
Hearing this, Li Zixin proudly raised her head while standing on the stage: "Every time I attend other banquets, my dance and my elder sister's music always win first place."
Looking at the two sisters on the stage looking radiant and confident, Daohua smiled and applauded.
People in different circles have different pursuits, so there is no need to comment with a worldly perspective.
(End of this chapter)
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