Chapter 165 [VIP]
The next day, Wang Ying did not go to open the shop; he planned to wait until the storm had passed before doing so.
Chen Qingyan had originally arranged to continue lecturing with the dean, but after what happened yesterday, she decided to stay home with him.
Wang Ying said, "You should go about your business; you don't need to stay with me."
"I'm worried."
"What's there to worry about? At most, it'll just mean earning a little less money."
Chen Qingyan hesitated for a moment and said, "Then I'll go to the prefectural school and try to find some connections to see if I can resolve this matter."
"No, focus on your studies, you don't need to worry about anything else."
As the two were talking, Lin Sui came over and brought back the money she had earned from selling vegetables yesterday.
The vegetables we brought back yesterday were put on the table when customers arrived. They were sold out in just two hours, not even a single leek was left. We made a total of thirteen strings of cash.
Wang Ying felt even worse after hearing this. A few days ago, in order to open on time, he had specially opened the crop growth simulator for several hours.
As a result, we can't sell them now. Although other vegetables can be temporarily stored in the experimental field, we don't know when we can reopen. This is truly a case of the blind lighting a lamp and wasting our time.
Seeing that her sister-in-law was troubled by the shop, Lin Sui couldn't help but say, "How about I go and ask the Marquis for help again?"
"Don't go. You two aren't married yet. Don't bother him too much and annoy the Marquis."
"What should we do then?"
Wang Ying was also worried, "Let's wait a little longer."
The gatekeeper, Xiao Fang, rushed over. "Young master, a few people have suddenly appeared outside. They want to apologize to you!"
"What are you apologizing for?"
The three of them got up and walked to the front door, where they saw several people carrying a man on a stretcher outside.
Wang Ying had never seen Xue Wang before, and asked in confusion, "May I ask who you are?"
Xue Wang clutched his chest and said, "My surname is Xue, and I am the chief rider of the patrol guard. I have come to apologize to you today."
Before he came, Magistrate Zhao instructed him to keep a low profile. If he dared to act arrogantly as before, he should not blame Zhao for disowning his brother-in-law.
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyan's expression immediately changed. He stepped in front of Wang Ying and said, "You beat my servants to a pulp, and you still dare to come here?!"
Xue Wang quickly said, "I was blinded by greed and know I was wrong. Please forgive me."
Lin Sui snorted coldly, not believing his words.
Wang Ying also looked at him with a wary expression. Logically speaking, given his status, he shouldn't need to be so humble towards her. What exactly did this person want to do?
Seeing that none of them intended to forgive him, Xue Wang became anxious and broke out in a cold sweat. He had no choice but to continue begging for mercy, "I am willing to offer two hundred strings of cash as compensation. Please forgive me, Scholar Chen and Young Master Wang!"
Seeing his pale face, Wang Ying realized that his injuries didn't seem fake. Could it be that he was beaten by the Marquis yesterday? Did the Marquis say something to him that frightened him into coming to apologize? Otherwise, it just didn't make sense.
Believing that it's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester, Wang Ying didn't want things to get too tense. "Since you've come sincerely to apologize, let's let this matter drop. However, you can't impound our carriages and horses in the future."
"Don't worry, my lord, it will never happen again!"
"Since you're injured, go back and recover. That will settle the matter."
Xue Wang grinned, but accidentally aggravated the wound in his chest, causing him to wince in pain. "Quickly put the money down for the young master, let's go back."
Two servants carried a load of money to the door. Wang Ying said, "Forget about the money. Let each person treat their own injuries."
"It's just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it, my lord." This amount of money meant nothing to him. Over the years, Judge Zhao had amassed a fortune, and his sister had secretly contributed a considerable amount to support her family. Therefore, Xue Wang was never short of money.
After everyone left, Chen Qingyan said, "Aying, are we just going to forgive him like this?"
"What can we do if we don't forgive? After all, we still have to do business in the prefectural city. If we really fall out, we'll probably be in trouble with Judge Zhao."
Lin Sui nodded in agreement, "That's right, it'll be great once I marry into the Marquis's family, then I'll stand up for you!"
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan were amused by him. "Okay, then we'll rely on you from now on!"
“Even if you don’t marry, you can still have someone to rely on.” Just then, Xue Wang left, and Li Mu rode over with Qing’er, just in time to hear Lin Sui’s words.
This made Lin Sui extremely embarrassed; her face burned like fire, and she wished she could disappear into the ground.
Seeing that he was shy, Li Mu stopped teasing him, picked up his daughter, and dismounted. "Was it Xue Wang who came by just now?"
Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan stepped forward and bowed, pointing to the load of silver at the door and saying, "We also sent two hundred strings of cash as compensation."
Li Mu snorted coldly, "He's quite generous. If it's free money, you should just accept it. Otherwise, they'll just be squandering ill-gotten gains."
Hearing what the Marquis said, Wang Ying felt relieved and quickly told Xiao Fang and Tian Ju to move the money into the courtyard.
Qing'er dismounted and ran to Lin Sui's side, tugging at her clothes and pointing at Li Mu.
Lin Sui understood that the Marquis must have told her that he had made her new clothes.
"The new clothes are in my room, come with me to try them on in a bit."
Chen Qingyan invited the Marquis in for a cup of tea.
Li Mu waved his hand and said, "I still have some things to do at the military camp, so I won't have any tea. I'll leave Qing'er here with you for now, and I'll come back to pick her up tonight."
Qing'er jumped for joy; she loved being with Lin Sui the most!
After seeing off Marquis Wuping and the others, they entered the courtyard in high spirits. Lin Sui took Qing'er to the backyard to try on clothes, while Wang Ying put away the money that Xue Wang had just brought. Chen Qingyan could finally go to the academy to teach with peace of mind.
Wang Ying decided to give Er Shun thirty strings of cash as compensation for his injury, as Er Shun's injury could not be suffered in vain.
Wang Ying planned to use the remaining silver as a dowry for Lin Sui, since it was Marquis Wuping who had put in the effort from beginning to end. Without him, not only would Er Shun have been lost, but her own shop would also have been unable to continue operating. Giving the money to Lin Sui was, in effect, giving it to Marquis Wuping.
I didn't expect this matter to be resolved so quickly; the weight on my heart was lifted, and I felt much lighter.
On the other side, Lin Sui took Qing'er to the bedroom, where Chen Rong was also there. The two had met once before at the restaurant.
Chen Rong teased her deliberately, "Whose child is this? How come he's so handsome!"
Qing'er was embarrassed by the praise and hid behind Lin Sui, only peeking out her head to secretly observe Chen Rong.
Lin Sui said, "This is my mother, go ahead and don't be shy."
Xiao Qing'er stepped forward and bowed slightly in greeting. Chen Rong liked her more and more as she looked at her, and reached out to hug the child in her arms, saying, "She's a lovely child. I'll call Xiaomai and Yuanbao over to play with you later."
Lin Sui found the clothes she had made and had Xiao Qing'er try them on. The sleeves were a little long, but they could be altered.
Before long, Lin Qiu arrived carrying Erbao and leading Xiaomai. Yuanbao, upon hearing the news, also ran over.
It was Qing'er's first time playing with so many children. She was a little reserved at first, but gradually she opened up and ran around the room with her two younger brothers until she was covered in sweat.
Chen Rong looked at her son and said, "This child is just like any other normal child, except that she can't speak. She's so close to you, so you have to treat her well."
Lin Sui looked up at the frolicking children and smiled happily. "I understand."
*
The vegetable shop reopened, and this time, with Marquis Wuping backing them up, no one dared to stop their carriages.
Business was even better this year than last year. In addition to old customers, many new customers came. Perhaps because Chen Qingyan had passed the imperial examination and gained status, everyone was exceptionally polite. Those customers who used to like taking advantage of others were now behaving themselves and never dared to take more food than necessary.
Wang Ying noticed that not only had the guests become more polite, but even the neighbors had changed their attitude.
When he first opened last year, the shop owners next door always ignored him and spoke to him with their noses in the air, looking down on him.
Since the shop reopened this year, these people have changed their attitude and are now speaking with respect. Most people are like this, praising the powerful and belittling the weak.
However, Wang Ying didn't take it to heart. Making money was the most important thing. With more than ten strings of cash a day, she made a profit of more than 350 strings of cash in just one month. She could keep this business going until February next year!
Once they had saved enough money, they exchanged it for silver at the bank and stored it in the experimental fields, saving it for Qingyan's expenses to go to the capital for the imperial examination next year.
Before we knew it, the end of the year was approaching, and it was time to start preparing New Year's goods for various places.
This year we have more money in hand, so we prepared more things. We prepared five bolts of cloth of various colors, two bolts of silk, two baskets of dried fruit and seafood, fifty catties of wild boar meat, thirty catties of venison, and a jar of wine brewed by Wang Ying herself from Tianyang County.
The same things were prepared in Shanzhou as well. Wang Ying even specially marinated braised meat and salted garlic, which are all things that Old Liang likes to eat. I just don't know if he is still in Shanzhou now.
The weather is cold, so it won't spoil on the way there.
On the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year's goods from Tianyang County arrived, along with a letter from my eldest uncle, Li Shen. The letter mainly thanked him for taking care of my two cousins during this time, and expressed his regret that Bingchen had failed the imperial examination.
He was already old and probably could not continue to participate in the imperial examinations, so his uncle used his connections to arrange a minor official position for him.
The letter also reads, “In the year of Jia Chen, it was my father’s 66th birthday, so we held a grand banquet and invited many relatives. All my uncles, brothers and sisters were present, and the hall was full of guests. Only my younger sister was far away and could not come. Whenever I think of this, I feel sad and unable to let go. Looking north in the wind, I only hope that my sister takes good care of herself and that we can meet again soon.”
After reading the letter, Li couldn't help but cry again. Wang Ying comforted her, saying, "Next year, after the Qingyan provincial examination is over, we'll go back to our hometown and visit all our relatives."
"Can we go back?"
"Yes, we have to go back and show off this glorious achievement so everyone knows!"
Li burst into laughter through her tears, "Good!"
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, accompanied by a heavy snowfall, New Year's gifts from Shanzhou were delivered.
Along with the New Year's gifts came two letters, one written by Elder Liang and the other by Qinghuai.
Old Master Liang's letter mainly mentioned that he knew Chen Qingyan had come in third place in the provincial examination, which made him very proud. He encouraged Qingsong to catch up with his elder brother and achieve the highest rank in the imperial examination in three years.
The letter also inquired about Yuanbao's birthday next year, as it would be impossible to celebrate it for him. A friend had specially painted a picture of children playing with a cat, and the letter included a poem: "The first snow of winter heralds the new year, orchid buds unfurl in the small courtyard in spring. With Tusu wine and a touch of red on our lips, grandfather and grandson drink together in the deep hall. From now on, I only wish for freedom from misfortune, and for our family to remain a treasure of scholarly tradition."
Wang Ying showed the painting to Yuanbao, and the little guy loved it so much that he insisted on hanging it next to his bed in his bedroom.
Qinghuai's letter was quite long. The first part introduced the local customs and culture of Shanzhou. This was his first time visiting Shanzhou since his father was demoted there, and the father and son had not seen each other for more than three years.
When they met, Chen Jing pulled his son aside and said, "When you left, you were only as tall as my nose, but now you're taller than your father."
My sister's cough has been cured; the prescription Chen Guang brought from Laizhou was very effective.
His younger sister still recognized him, but his younger brother didn't. It took Chen Qinghuai several days to get to know them. That's how blood is thicker than water; no matter how much time passes, family ties can never be severed.
The letter also said that he would be going to the capital after the New Year, and that he would take the imperial examination in March. He was afraid that if he left late, it would cause delays, and that they would meet again when he arrived in the capital.
A note from the author:
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