Ye Haohai was filled with mixed feelings. To be honest, he had never really cared about this son, but he was very fond of the child's mother, Zhong, who was beautiful and gentle.
Unfortunately, Zhong was short-lived and did not have the fortune to enjoy wealth and honor with him. Her son was born with a weak constitution and many doctors said he would not live long.
Thus, he was prepared to lose the child. So when the old clan chief said that the child was separated from the refugees during the escape, he never investigated further. He even thought that after such suffering, the child would probably just die.
But no one expected that he was so intelligent. No, he should have known. Back then, Zhong Qingyi had approached him and said that the child was precocious and a genius.
His response was to tell Guard Zhong to step back. He said that no matter how intelligent the child was, he wouldn't even live to adulthood, so there was no need to waste time nurturing him.
Ye Moxun didn't care what the Ye family thought of him. He continued living his life as usual, occasionally visiting the cement workshop. He generally ignored the paper mill unless the person in charge came to him.
Xifeng now has several cement roads, and the formula for making cement has been presented to the new emperor by the prefect. Presumably, the court will soon send people to survey the stone mines.
Then they'll have to conscript labor again. The Great Jin Dynasty is already short-handed, and the main force for farming is now women and the elderly. Anyone who is physically strong has been conscripted into the army.
Therefore, it's probably not so easy to set up this cement plant. If you want cement, you can buy it from Xifeng first. That's right, Xifeng cement workshop is Ye Moxun's private workshop.
If you want his things, you naturally have to buy them with money. The emperor can't expect to get something for free.
He doesn't need to worry about the workshop now; he just needs to wait to collect the money each month. However, he still has other things to do. He bought a lot of people back in the last two years.
These children are trained separately, with about ten children in each area. For example, Fangcaoyuan only has eight children now. Ye Moxun asked Zhao Zhongnian to teach them kung fu.
They also hired an old scholar to teach them to read. Besides practicing martial arts and learning to read, they spent their other time helping to take care of the flowers and plants. Many varieties of flowers cultivated in Fangcao Garden could be sold.
Song Tantan didn't care about any of this and left it all to Hong Meigui. Apart from bringing back flower seeds from outside at the beginning, Song Tantan never took care of anything else.
I never expected to make a name for myself here. I just thought of this place as my backyard, a place to come and admire the flowers when they bloom. I never thought I could make money from it, and the income is actually quite good.
In this way, Song Tantan would reward Hong Meigui and the other two. As the manager, Hong Meigui would receive two taels of silver more per month than Bai Mudan and Yu Meiren.
Bai Mudan somehow discovered this, and she was resentful, but she didn't dare to show it in front of Hong Meigui, let alone talk to Song Tantan about it.
So he took his anger out on Yu Meiren. Yu Meiren endured it a few times, but then she couldn't take it anymore. She was rather simple-minded, always thinking about food and drink, and also very fond of sleeping.
But she wasn't stupid; how could she let herself be bullied forever? After a big fight with Bai Mudan, they broke up. Now, when they eat together, they don't say a word to each other and are in a cold war.
Hong Meigui watched coldly. Bai Mudan was ambitious and unwilling to accept the status quo, but her abilities were limited. She could never make any significant progress and was only good at bullying her own people. She was boring.
That day, after Zhao Zhongnian finished teaching, he was about to leave when Bai Mudan suddenly jumped out from the side and blocked his way.
"What does Miss Bai mean by this?"
Zhao Zhongnian has been coming over frequently lately, so he knows her, but they're not exactly close. They usually just exchange greetings when they bump into each other.
What's going on here?
"Master Zhao, you just made some pastries, and they taste pretty good. Take some home and try them." As she spoke, she handed over a package of oil paper.
Zhao Zhongnian did not accept it, but said with a straight face, "Miss Bai, you are too kind. I don't like to eat these. You should keep them for yourself, or you can share them with the children."
After saying that, he turned to leave.
Bai Mudan clutched the oil paper package in her hand, her expression shifting several times before she finally gritted her teeth and stopped him again, "Master Zhao, I want to learn kung fu from you. Can you teach me?"
“I was invited by Young Master Ye to teach those children kung fu at Fangcao Garden. If you also want to learn, you can ask Young Master Ye. It’s no use talking to me.”
After speaking, he turned and left quickly, as if a ferocious beast was chasing him.
"That old geezer won't even help with this little thing. Does he think nobody cares about him?"
Bai Mudan was furious and almost threw the pastries in her hand, but after shaking them a few times, she couldn't bear to waste them.
“He won’t eat it, so give it to us! You heartless bastard, you secretly made pastries to give to that stinky man, but you won’t share a single piece with us.”
At this moment, Hong Meigui and Yu Meiren walked out from the corner. It was unclear when they had been hiding there or how much they had overheard.
"Stop guessing, we heard everything." Hong Meigui knew what she was thinking just by looking at her.
"What are you eating for? You're just laughing at me. Are you satisfied now?"
Yu Meiren gave a soft snort and did not reply.
Hong Meigui scoffed, "Who cares about your affairs? My beauty and I just happened to be pruning a peony in that corner when you suddenly appeared and blocked Master Zhao's way."
"So what? I just wanted to learn some kung fu to protect myself, so I wouldn't be bullied again. Who knew that old man would be so unreasonable?" Bai Mudan stomped her foot, her face turning red with anger.
After more than a year of raising her, she and Yu Meiren were no longer the bean sprouts they once were. She had gained weight in her face, grown much taller, and her skin had become much fairer, making her a beautiful young lady.
The poppy is naturally plump and loves to eat, so she appears somewhat chubby. Her skin is several shades lighter than that of the white peony, giving her a very auspicious look.
Every time Song Tantan came over, he liked to pinch her cheeks. They felt bouncy and nice to the touch. Yu Meiren never dodged or flinched when she was pinched, and always looked at him with a flattering expression, begging for a reward.
Song Tantan found it amusing but didn't argue with her. Instead, she gave her half a tael of silver to buy something delicious.
"How can you blame Master Zhao for this? He's paid a monthly wage to work here. He's no relation to you, so why should he teach you? How dare you!" Hong Meigui rolled her eyes, disapproving of her behavior.
"I figured it was just something I did on the side. When he teaches those little brats inside, I just learn a few moves too. It's not like I have to do anything. Why can't I?"
Bai Mudan didn't think she was wrong. The young master and young lady were biased, not letting the three of them learn to read and write or learn kung fu, only making them do the work of servants. How could they ever get ahead like this?
"If you want to learn to read and martial arts, just talk to the young master or young lady directly. What kind of behavior is this in private? Master Zhao will never give you face. Give up."
Hong Meigui also had the desire to learn martial arts and literacy. She had been thinking about this for a long time and hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to ask the young lady for permission.
Forget about the young master; if you dare bother him with such a trivial matter, you'll surely be punished, and might even be sold off. The young lady is much easier to talk to.
“Then the three of us will go to the Zhong residence together and talk to Miss about this. We’ll beg her and say a few kind words, and she’ll definitely agree,” Hong Meigui said.
Yu Meiren nodded, agreeing with her.
White Peony: "Since you had already made up your mind, why did you only say it now? Are you deliberately trying to make a fool of me?"
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