Cheng Chi and Song Min stood steadily at the bow of a black-sailed boat, watching Qin Ziping and others on the neighboring boat repeatedly placing wooden boards on the river surface according to their instructions, and using pocket watches to compare the time and distance it took for the boards to flow from upstream to downstream.
Huang Yijun, who was standing behind them, whispered, "Can we calculate the size of the water flow in this way? But what's the point of measuring the size of the water flow? Anyway, August 18th of every year is the time when the Qiantang River surges the most, and there has never been a mistake since ancient times. Even if it is calculated that the tide will come a few days in advance, there will still be a tide on August 18th, but the difference is that the size is different. Who will notice this..."
They were having a great time drinking last night, but Mr. Song and Cheng Zichuan suddenly decided to go to Hangzhou Bay on the Qiantang River. He was entrusted by his brother-in-law to "invite" Song Min to the capital safely and smoothly, so he had no choice but to put down his chopsticks and follow them to Hangzhou Bay.
Mr. Song and Cheng Zichuan walked around Hangzhou Bay for most of the night. He sat aside and watched his eyelids fighting each other. He didn't know when he fell asleep. When he was awakened by Cheng Zichuan's followers, it was already dawn. Mr. Song and Cheng Zichuan immediately rushed back to Baiyang Village. Manager Qin found several black-sailed boats from somewhere. They had a quick breakfast and squatted on the black-sailed boats. Then they watched Manager Qin float the wooden board from one boat to another according to the instructions of Mr. Song and Cheng Zichuan. Manager Qin took Cheng Zichuan's pocket watch and checked the time.
Mr. Song did not look like the father of a top-ranking official at all. He looked like an old country man who had never seen the world. Ever since Cheng Zichuan took the cloisonné pocket watch out of his sleeve, his eyes seemed to be glued to the pocket watch. He asked Cheng Zichuan with a lecherous look, "Where did you get this pocket watch from?" He did not know that although pocket watches like this were rare, they were also sold outside Dongzhimen in the capital, and my brother-in-law had one, which he usually kept in his storage. My brother-in-law seemed to like it very much. But Mr. Song was my brother-in-law's father. If he asked, would my brother-in-law not give it to him
Staring at someone else's pocket watch like this... is so humiliating!
When Cheng Zichuan said that he got it from a Westerner and admitted that he would get him a piece, Mr. Song's expression was so grateful that he even called Cheng Zichuan "Mr. Cheng". If my brother-in-law heard this, how could he put his face
No wonder my brother-in-law was determined to "invite" Mr. Song to his side.
They have been watching the wooden board floating back and forth for nearly an hour. When will it end
The sun was shining on the river and the weather was extremely hot. He felt dizzy and wanted to get off the boat immediately.
But Mr. Song was having a great time “playing” with Cheng Zichuan, so what else could he say
Huang Yijun looked at Cheng Chi's young face and muttered a few words in a low voice. Because his voice was too soft, no one could hear clearly what he was muttering.
Lang Yue, who was serving nearby, rolled his eyes.
Huang Yijun was quite humble at the beginning, but later he started to feel uncomfortable when he found out that the Fourth Master was only five years older than him while he was still a scholar and the Fourth Master was already a Jinshi. When Mr. Song wanted to be friends with the Fourth Master on an equal footing, he started to feel confused, as if Mr. Song being friends with the Fourth Master on an equal footing was a heinous act.
However, this cannot be blamed on Huang Yijun.
He looked like an honest, law-abiding scholar, so naturally he couldn't understand what the Fourth Master and Mr. Song were doing!
Lang Yue sympathized with him and said, "Mr. Huang, would you like to sit in the cabin? The sun is too strong outside."
Okay!
Huang Yijun thought, Mr. Song didn't need him anyway, so there was no point for him to stay here.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, young man!" he said politely.
A small boat paddled towards us vigorously.
Cheng Chi and Song Min frowned at the same time, and Cheng Chi even ordered his followers: "Where did that boat come from? Tell them to change their route!"
Mr. Song also said: "This will affect the floating speed of the wooden board. We don't know how much time it will take!"
Cheng Chi's face was as gloomy as water.
A quick-witted guard shouted to the boat, "Where are you from? We have something to do here. Can the boat go to the riverside?"
The people in the boat laughed and said, "Butler Qin, I am from the Zong family's other courtyard. I am here on the orders of the old lady to bring tea to Master Cheng and Mr. Song."
Qin Ziping looked towards Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi smiled bitterly.
Qin Ziping hurriedly packed up his things, sent someone to pick them up, and delivered them to Cheng Chi's black-sailed boat.
Cheng Chi bowed to Mr. Song and said helplessly: "It seems that we can only drink a cup of tea and continue to measure the water flow."
Song Min laughed and said, "Old people are always wise! If she hadn't sent someone to bring us some refreshments, I'm afraid you and I would have been standing at the bow of the boat until we returned." He sighed, "Don't think the old lady is troublesome. When I was your age, I wanted to travel all over the rivers and lakes of our dynasty in one day. I was always impatient when there was something going on at home, and I felt that they were a burden. When my first wife was gone, there was no one nagging me anymore, and no one cared about me. Instead, I felt empty inside, as if I had nowhere to go. In the end, no matter where a person goes, he needs a home, where there are people waiting for him and thinking about him, so that he won't feel lonely when he is alive. However, even if you listen to what I say now, you may not understand it. You have to wait until you are older and have experience to understand it."
Cheng Chi said nothing.
He lowered his eyelids and looked at the cloud cakes, peach cakes, rose paste, radish cakes, and assorted candied fruits neatly arranged in the black lacquered box with a red background and sprinkled with gold crabapple flowers... As if trying to avoid Song Min's words, his mind suddenly drifted far away.
This snack was definitely not prepared by his mother.
If his mother prepared snacks for him, they would be freshly made. The cloud cakes and peach cakes bought from outside shops would definitely not be put in the storage box.
An exquisite little face emerged in Cheng Chi's mind, with watery eyes, looking at her eagerly, full of trust... Like a kitten eager to be praised by its owner, she would be happy for a long time as long as he patted her head.
Apart from her mother, she was the only one in the family who could order the servants around.
He drank his tea and tried all the snacks in the box, finally eating the radish cake.
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In the Zong family's villa, Zhou Shaojin sat below Old Madam Guo, listening to the conversation between Zong Lao Anren, Old Madam Guo and Madam Song with a smile.
When the old lady of the Zong family saw that there was suddenly another old lady, she was so excited that her voice trembled. The flattery made Mrs. Song, who did not often socialize with others, feel at a loss and was not used to it. Fortunately, Mrs. Guo was there to guide her, and she gradually returned to normal.
Mrs. Song couldn't help but cast a grateful glance towards Mrs. Guo.
The reason why she didn't often go out for social events in Beijing was partly because Song Jingran's first wife had a reputation for being virtuous among officials from Huguang in Beijing, and partly because she was not good at socializing, and others always compared her with Song Jingran's first wife. She became more and more afraid to go out.
With Mrs. Guo, there was no comparison, and she felt that socializing was no longer something that made her nervous and fearful, and the atmosphere quickly became light-hearted.
Mrs. Zong'an warmly invited Mrs. Guo and Mrs. Song to visit her home.
Mrs. Guo politely declined, but said that Cheng Chi had plans tomorrow and invited Zong Lao'an to visit Jinling when she was free.
Zong Laoan naturally agreed readily.
After having lunch at the villa, Zong Lao'an thought that Mrs. Guo would still entertain Mrs. Song, so she tactfully took the women in her family and said goodbye.
Mrs. Song breathed a sigh of relief.
Cheng Chi and Song Min are back.
The villa became busy again.
The servants brought in water and helped the two of them wash up. The kitchen prepared a new banquet, and Mrs. Song packed her things and prepared to go back to Hangzhou.
As for Zhou Shaojin, knowing that Cheng Chi had eaten all the radish cakes, he smiled broadly and asked Chunwan to give a reward to the kitchen.
Chun Wan asked, "Should we write down the recipe for this radish cake and take it back with us?"
"Of course!" Zhou Shaojin said with a smile, "We will make some more tomorrow to see if the old lady likes it. Then we can ask the kitchen of Hanbi Villa to make it accordingly."
Chunwan nodded repeatedly and helped Zhou Shaojin grind the ink.
Madam Song came to say goodbye to Madam Guo, reluctantly saying, "I don't know what the father-in-law is planning. It would be my blessing if I could go with the old lady."
No one had ever taught her how to treat people like Mrs. Guo did, and she learned a lot today.
Mrs. Guo had no intention of going with them, and said with a smile: "It depends on what your old master thinks!"
Mrs. Song nodded repeatedly and sincerely invited Mrs. Guo to visit her home in the capital.
Mrs. Guo agreed.
The two had been separated for a long time, but Cheng Chi and Song Min did not show up for a long time.
Mrs. Guo was stunned and asked someone to find out.
It turned out that Cheng Chi and Song Min went back to the study after lunch and had not come out for more than half an hour.
Now, not to mention Madam Guo, even Zhou Shaojin was puzzled and asked, "What happened to Uncle Chi and Mr. Song?"
Mrs. Song was at a loss as to what was going on.
Song Sen said loudly, "Sister Zhou, I know what grandfather is doing—he must be calculating with Uncle Cheng! Grandfather told me that if you want to control the flood, you must know how fast the water is flowing. If you want to know how fast the water is flowing, you must learn to count. Grandfather must have seen that the Qiantang River's tidal surge almost swept people away, so he counted the numbers so that father could control the flood and prevent the Qiantang River from surging every year."
If the Qiantang River no longer has tidal surges every year, apart from anything else, the first thing that will happen is that all the literati and poets in the world will scold Mr. Song bitterly.
Song Sen's innocent words made Mrs. Guo and Zhou Shaojin laugh out loud.
Mrs. Song covered Song Sen's mouth with a red face.
However, Song Sen turned around and hid behind Zhou Shaojin.
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Sisters, today's extra update.
I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day!
PS: I was so excited to win the lottery on Qidian that I kept logging in… Σ( ° △ °|||)︴…
※(To be continued)