The financial crisis troubled Zhou Shaojin.
In her previous life, she stayed at home most of the time, rarely used money, and had no worries about it. The only time she was short of money was when she ran away from Cheng's house and encountered a heavy snowstorm in Tongzhou, which delayed her for a few days. She had spent all her money, but Fan Liu soon pawned the Fan family's ancestral bracelet and took her to find her sister. Later, she married Lin Shisheng. She had her own dowry, and Ma Ci helped her manage it. Her major expenses were to donate incense money to the temple. She could buy whatever she wanted, so she was no longer short of money.
But she didn't expect that after her rebirth, she would have no money!
Zhou Shaojin sat in the Buddhist hall of Hanbi Mountain House. The more he thought about it, the more upset he became. He even messed up writing two words.
She simply put down her pen and decided to calm down first, then she heard Xiao Tan, who was sitting at the door sewing, say to Shi Xiang: "… I turned Liu Ting Zhai upside down and finally found the Xian Yang Basin that Master Shi mentioned."
Liutingzhai is the house of Cheng Shi, the second son of the family.
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but listen carefully.
Shi Xiang asked, "Xian Yang basin? Master Shi wants to grow daffodils? This thing is not rare, right? We have several in our courtyard. Every year at this time, we take them out and place daffodils for the eldest and second daughters." She said, "Ouch," and said, "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. I have been busy these past two days and forgot to ask the woman in the greenhouse to save a few good daffodils for our eldest and second daughters. Last year, we asked too late, and the good daffodils were picked by others."
Xiao Tan said, "The daffodils in our yard blossomed beautifully last year. Even the eldest wife of the Gu family praised them when she came to pay New Year's greetings."
Shi Xiang smiled and said, "When did the things in your courtyard become bad?"
"That's true." Xiao Tan smiled, "But our sister Zhenzhu knows how to grow flowers. The stems of the daffodils here are all carved by sister Zhenzhu herself. Sister Zhenzhu said that the Xianyang basin that Master Shi mentioned is trapezoidal, and Master Shi is most likely going to put daffodils in the shape of a successful scholar. It's different from our ordinary Xianyang basins, which are either round or square, or have a purple purlin frame. If you want to put it in the shape of a successful scholar, it will take a lot of effort. Master Shi is probably going to give it to someone!"
"Give it to someone?" Shi Xiang asked curiously, "Who else could make Master Shi spend so much time on this?"
"I don't know." Xiao Tan smiled, "Uncle Shi and Grandma Shi are both people who like to socialize. Look, Grandma Shi is not even one month old yet, but she's already preparing to invite relatives and friends to her home to drink Laba porridge during the Laba Festival."
Shi Xiang knew about this, and she smiled and said, "Speaking of which, Grandma Shi is really a good person. Since she married into the Cheng family, she would personally cook Laba porridge every year and send it to each room."
Xiao Tan curled her lips upon hearing this and said, "No matter how virtuous she is, what can it matter? Our master is the eldest son and grandson, and our master's grandmother is the clan wife."
Shi Xiang then realized that she had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly said with a smile: "That's right! I just said that. Don't take it to heart."
Xiao Tan had been getting along with Shi Xiang like a sister these days. After hearing what she said, she suddenly felt that she had spoken too bluntly. She couldn't help but regret it secretly and explained, "I said that because I couldn't stand the second branch's flattery and bullying. Sister, you don't know, wasn't Mr. Min's brother the top scholar in the Renchen year? The fourth master of our branch also passed the imperial examination that year, but he was ranked twelfth in the second class. Mr. Shi was bent on currying favor with Mr. Min, as if currying favor with Mr. Min meant currying favor with the top scholar, and that he would trample on the fourth master of our branch under his feet."
Zhou Shaojin was not surprised.
Shi Xiang was surprised and asked, "Is there such a thing?"
Xiao Tan was half angry, and half wanted to make up for the rift between her and Shi Xiang. She said indignantly: "Not only that! Last time, Master Min and Master Shi went to visit Gu's family in Meihua Lane. Master Shi somehow found out and insisted on following them. After they went there, the Gu family hosted a banquet for Master Min and brought out the family's treasured wine to entertain the guests. Master Min joked at the time, "It's a pity that I don't have the chance to see the luminous cup." Master Shi hurriedly got a so-called "luminous cup" from somewhere and gave it to Master Min. Unfortunately, Master Min looked down on Master Shi. Not only did he return the "luminous cup" to Master Shi, he also told Master Shi something like "the friendship between gentlemen is as light as water," which made Master Shi blush.
“We were really relieved when we heard about it.
"Master Shi relies on his age to boss me around. But he never thinks that even if he is older than me, it doesn't matter. It will be our master who will be in charge of the Cheng family in the future."
Shi Xiang nodded repeatedly.
Zhou Shaojin was thinking: Yuan wanted to marry Min's daughter, and Min Xingqiang was a guest at home. It was a good opportunity, so why shouldn't she take advantage of it? Min Xingqiang offended Cheng Shi so much, did he know something? And he had a good impression of Cheng Xu, and wanted Cheng Xu to be his brother-in-law
She stood up and drank some hot tea.
No matter what, it had nothing to do with her. She only prayed for the blessing of the Buddha, so that she could spend the next two years in peace and tranquility. As for who Cheng Xu would marry and what would happen to Cheng Lu, it had nothing to do with her.
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Over there in Lixuezhai, the huge courtyard was silent without a single voice. The cold had not yet set in, but a huge brazier had been placed in front of the desk in the academy, with top-quality silver frost charcoal burning brightly, lighting up the room.
The bookshelf in the room was empty, but the floor was littered with notes, books, and sketchbooks, creating a mess.
Cheng Chi was tall and slender, wearing an indigo-blue fine cloth robe and standing in front of the brazier. His straight figure was like a white birch tree in the northern plains, and his quiet face was like an unchanging statue. From time to time, he opened the account book on the desk, took a few glances at it, and threw it into the brazier.
The flames jumped up quickly and devoured the account books he threw into the brazier.
Huaishan came in holding a large pile of account books. He was slightly stunned when he saw the scene in front of him, and hesitantly asked: "Fourth Master, are these all burned?"
"Burn them all." Cheng Chi continued to throw account books into the brazier without moving his eyebrows.
Huaishan put the account book on the big desk, hesitated for a long time, and said: "Fourth Master, these are the account books of the mansion for decades. Once they are burned, they will be gone. Even if you want to check something in the future, there will be no place to check."
The firelight illuminated Cheng Chi's face, and his brows looked a little cold: "I just left the account book for them, can they understand it?"
Huaishan choked.
Cheng Chi threw another account book into the brazier and said calmly, "What did Fang Xintong say?"
Huaishan said: "He said that he couldn't handle two thousand looms by himself, so he asked if he could find a few colleagues to work with him..."
The veins on Cheng Chi's horns twitched.
Huaishan's expression changed slightly.
The Fourth Master seems to be in a bad mood.
Did something happen after he left the study
He lowered his eyelids, and heard Cheng Chi's gentle voice: "He, the richest man in Jiaxing, can't afford my two thousand looms. I think others are even less capable... How about this, last time there was a man named Zheng Si who wanted to take some work from us. I think he is a clear-headed person. Go and ask him if he has the courage to take over my two thousand looms and three hundred skilled weavers. I don't want a penny from him now, and I will pay him in two years. But I have a request. In these two years, he must help me to bring down Fang Xintong. I don't like him to be the richest man in Jiaxing."
"Yes!" Huaishan said sweating.
"Anyway, the money that Thirteen Hongs owes me can only be settled in two years, so I'm just sitting there doing nothing." Cheng Chi threw another account book into the brazier. The silver frost charcoal seemed unable to withstand the force of the account book. With a "bang", dust flew everywhere and was about to fall on Cheng Chi.
Huaishan's sleeves drew an arc as fast as lightning, and all the dust seemed to have hit an invisible net and fell into the brazier.
Cheng Chi threw another account book in.
This time the account book fell lightly into the brazier and was burned obediently.
Huaishan heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Fourth Master, you asked me to investigate the matter of the second cousin of the Zhou family..."
"What's going on?" Cheng Chi flipped through an account book nonchalantly.
"The second young lady of the Zhou family has never traveled far since she entered the mansion at the age of six months. It can even be said that she has never gone out alone before March 24 this year." Huaishan said, "After March, she went out several times. One time was in April, before the Dragon Boat Festival, she and her sister returned to the Zhou family's ancestral home to worship their ancestors; another time was when someone from the Zhuang family who had served her grandfather in the past asked for her grace..." He reported everything Zhou Shaojin had done since March to Cheng Chi in detail, and said, "Fourth Master, I can be sure that she is really the daughter of Prefect Zhou, the second cousin of the fourth room."
Cheng Chi asked: "Is there any news from the capital?"
"Yes." Huaishan said, "The boy was very clever. The Ji family sent him to the capital, but they lost him in a blink of an eye. He hired a foreign merchant, who lied that he was his uncle and was going to Tianjin to collect goods, and sent him to live in Shangqing Palace near Chongrenfang..." Perhaps everyone likes clever children. When he said this, Huaishan smiled slightly and his voice became lively. "People who stared at him said that he seemed to have nothing to do every day. He either went to operas or went to restaurants and strolled on the streets. He also got involved with a little Taoist priest in Shangqing Palace and helped the little Taoist priest pay back twenty copper coins for snacks. But in fact, he would pass by an alley in Chongrenfang and Hu Shangshu Hutong every day to talk to those neighbors. Among them, the ones he asked about the most were the Lin family in an alley and the Mu family in Hu Shangshu Hutong..."
Cheng Chi was also a little surprised when he heard this, and asked, "Is there anything special about these two families?"
Huaishan's eyes flashed with confusion, "The Lin family is a hereditary third-rank commander. Although the Mu family is a scholar, they serve as censors in the Censorate. The two families are in-laws... Although they are not well-matched, the Lin and Mu families are old neighbors and are close friends. The son of the Lin family is handsome and has a good character. He is of the same age as the daughter of the Mu family and they are childhood sweethearts. It can barely be considered a good match... Now I don't know why the second cousin of the Zhou family asked the servant to inquire about the Lin and Mu families?" After speaking, he added, "The servant's name is Fan Qi, and he is the second cousin of the Zhou family's brother."
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Sisters, there are only two updates today.
O(∩_∩)o
※(To be continued)