Mrs. Song reached out to pull Song Sen.
Madam Guo smiled and said, "Children speak without restraint. Madam Song does not need to blame him."
Mrs. Song had no choice but to give up in embarrassment.
Madam Guo sent Madam Lu to see what Cheng Chi and Mr. Song were doing, and said with a smile: "Maybe Brother Sen is right!"
Song Sen said affirmatively: "Grandfather must be calculating."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and touched his head.
Everyone sat down again.
Nanny Lu came back and smiled, "Young Master Song is right. The Fourth Master and Old Mr. Song are sitting around the big desk, calculating. From what Old Mr. Song said, if there is a flood in the Fuchun River next year, the tide in the Qiantang River will definitely not be as spectacular as this year... Old Mr. Song invited the Fourth Master to come to Qianyong to watch the tide tomorrow."
"Okay, okay!" Mrs. Song said happily, "This way our two families can meet again in the future."
Mrs. Guo smiled and nodded.
At 4 p.m., if Mr. Song and his companions did not return to the city, they would have to rest in the Zong family's courtyard for another day. Cheng Chi and Mr. Song came out of the study room with a sense of unfulfilled desire. Mr. Song repeatedly reminded Cheng Chi, "... Don't forget to get me a pocket watch like yours - it's really accurate!"
Cheng Chi smiled and agreed, and said to Mr. Song: "Please think carefully about what I said. The court has not dealt with the floods in the south of the Yangtze River for ten years, while Chun'an and other places have frequent floods. In two years at most, the court will definitely deal with river works. Why don't you write a book and publish what you have learned in your life, so that future generations can also know how to prevent floods and how to repair river embankments?"
Song Min's expression was slightly gloomy, and he said, "Let's talk about this later!"
After all, they were just strangers but spoke too deeply. Although Cheng Chi felt sorry for Song Min's behavior, he also respected Song Min's decision. He personally escorted Mr. Song out of the villa, then turned around and went to the study. He stayed in the study alone until the second watch drum struck, and then he went to bed.
Mrs. Guo ordered everyone not to wake Cheng Chi up.
As a result, Cheng Chi woke up early the next morning before daybreak, walked half a circle on the pond embankment, and then returned to the villa.
Madam Guo asked him, "What difficulties have you encountered? Do you want me to say hello to your brother?"
"Then I need my brother's help to solve it!" Cheng Chi laughed and accompanied Madam Guo for breakfast.
Zhou Shaojin helped him place the chopsticks and bowl before he sat down.
Cheng Chi glanced at Zhou Shaojin and said with a smile, "You were the one who asked for the snacks to be delivered yesterday, right?"
Madam Guo asked curiously, "What kind of snacks?"
Zhou Shaojin said a little embarrassedly, "I thought Uncle Chi and Mr. Song would be bored sitting on the boat, so I asked the kitchen to make some snacks."
Madam Guo smiled and nodded, saying, "I was busy socializing with the Zong family yesterday. Fortunately, you are by my side, so I don't have to worry a lot!"
Zhou Shaojin said shyly: "I have learned a lot from you."
"That depends on your willingness to learn!" Mrs. Guo said with a smile, "Don't be polite with me. If there is anything I don't think carefully about in the future, just help me remember it."
Apart from matters of eating and drinking, she had no ability to help Mrs. Guo remember other things.
Zhou Shaojin pursed his lips and smiled.
After breakfast, Mrs. Guo kept Cheng Chi to talk.
Zhou Shaojin guessed that Mrs. Guo was definitely going to ask Cheng Chi what he and Mr. Song did yesterday, but Mrs. Guo had no intention of keeping her, and she was embarrassed to just sit there and listen, so she had to get up and say goodbye.
Outside, Qingfeng and Langyue were standing in the middle of the yard, talking in low voices.
Zhou Shaojin walked over lightly, and heard Qingfeng say unhappily: "Mr. Song is the father of Lord Song. What a good opportunity! Mr. Song wanted to go north with us, but our Fourth Master was afraid that Miss Second Cousin would be wronged, so he didn't agree..."
She was startled and asked in a deep voice: "Qingfeng, what is going on?"
Qingfeng and Langyue looked back in panic and said hurriedly, "Nothing! Nothing!"
Zhou Shaojin said: "If you don't tell me, I will go ask Uncle Chi."
"Don't go." Qingfeng said hurriedly, "I'll tell you. Mr. Song knows geomancy. The fourth master and Mr. Song got along very well, so the fourth master invited Mr. Song to go north together, and Mr. Song readily agreed. But when the fourth master came back and heard that the young master of the Song family had made a fuss at the old lady's place, he changed his mind and asked Steward Qin to find an excuse to report to Mr. Song. Steward Qin felt it was a pity. He said that the fourth master had refused the court's selection at the beginning. If he wanted to be an official again, it would be impossible without the recommendation of the provincial governor. Even if it was recommended by the provincial governor, it would be divided into different levels..." When he said this, he glanced at Zhou Shaojin cautiously and whispered, "It is said that the emperor thinks highly of Mr. Song..."
Zhou Shaojin knew.
Not only did the emperor at that time highly value Song Ge Lao, but the emperors after him also highly valued Song Ge Lao.
They want Cheng Chi to follow Song Jingran's path!
Zhou Shaojin said without thinking: "No matter whose idea it was, I will go tell the Fourth Master right now. I won't hold the Fourth Master back." After saying that, he returned to the upper room.
Qingfeng and Langyue looked at each other.
Lang Yue complained to Qing Feng, "I told you not to play so many tricks with my second cousin. She is a gentle person, not stupid! Look, you have offended my second cousin, haven't you?"
Qingfeng still refused to admit defeat and said stubbornly: "How could I know that the second cousin was so easy to talk to? We haven't finished what Manager Qin taught us to say, but the second cousin has decided to persuade the fourth master..."
"Anyway, you can't treat your second cousin like this anymore." Lang Yue said, "She is a very nice person. You can't act recklessly in front of her just because she is a nice person!"
"When did I become unscrupulous?" Qing Feng retorted, "I just don't like getting in front of her as much as you do!"
"What are you talking about?"
The two of them quarreled in low voices.
Standing in the hall of the upper house, Zhou Shaojin could faintly hear the low laughter of Old Madam Guo in the banquet room to the east.
She took a deep breath, thought again and again, then smiled and signaled the maid on duty next to her to report to Old Madam Guo.
The maid quickly took her into the banquet room.
She smiled and asked Cheng Chi: "Uncle Chi, are we still leaving as planned? Then where should we wait for Madam Song and the others? Should they take our boat? Or should we take their boat?"
Mrs. Guo was surprised and asked, "What's going on?"
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "I heard Madam Song say that she would go with us, and just now I heard Qingfeng say that we and the people of the Song family will go our separate ways, so I wanted to come and ask when we will pack up our boxes."
As she spoke, she snorted in dissatisfaction in her heart.
Qingfeng dared to plot against her, so she might as well plot against Qingfeng. Who made him think he was a soft persimmon!
Cheng Chi's eyes flickered slightly, and he said slowly: "Mr. Song said so. I was afraid that my mother would find it troublesome, so I politely declined."
Madam Guo obviously had her own calculations. She smiled and said, "It's rare for you to have someone you can talk to. Madam Song is gentle and kind. Although the fifth young master of the Song family is naughty, he is not an unreasonable child. Having them as company is just right to relieve the loneliness of our journey. Why do you refuse them?" As she spoke, she called Madam Lu in loudly and said, "Take my name card to Madam Song and ask her if she is willing to go with us?"
Nanny Lu smiled and replied “yes”.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "Mother, please don't worry about this matter. I will go and answer Mr. Song's question."
"That's great." Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "One more friend means one more way. Sometimes you are just too aloof."
Cheng Chi smiled and said nothing. However, when he went out, he glanced at Zhou Shaojin and motioned for her to come out with him.
Zhou Shaojin would never run up to him and scold him when he was angry!
She pretended not to understand and stayed in Madam Guo's room until she went to bed. She went back to her room before dawn the next day to serve her.
Cheng Chi held his forehead and laughed.
In the afternoon, they set off for Hangzhou Prefecture, and in the evening, the Song family members boarded the Cheng family's sand boat.
Zhou Shaojin vacated her own cabin and moved into Madam Guo's cabin. Because Huang Yijun was on board, she dared not walk around on the deck. She mostly sat in the cabin doing needlework, listening to Madam Song and Madam Guo talking or playing with Song Sen for a while. She was no longer as relaxed as when she came.
Especially after arriving in Suzhou Prefecture, Zhou Shaojin originally wanted to go to the city for a look, but Cheng Chi and Mr. Song were in high spirits and had no intention of getting off the boat. Zhou Shaojin looked at the bustling crowd on the dock and felt it was too unsafe without Cheng Chi, so she simply stayed in the cabin to do needlework.
Even so, she did not regret it.
The longer she interacted with Cheng Chi, the more she felt that Cheng Chi was very powerful. She felt that with Cheng Chi's ability, if he wanted to become an official, the Cheng family would not be able to stop him. And the reason why he did not become an official was mostly because of the constraints of family affection.
If Cheng Chi could start with Song Jingran, it might not be a bad thing.
She would do anything that was good for Cheng Chi.
Otherwise, how can I repay Cheng Chi
Mrs. Guo had originally come here to accompany the younger generations for a walk. Since Zhou Shaojin had no intention of watching the fun, she was even less interested. Mrs. Song had already visited Suzhou Prefecture before going to Hangzhou Prefecture. Seeing that Zhou Shaojin and Mrs. Guo had no intention of strolling around the city, she followed the host's wishes and naturally stayed on the boat. In this way, Chunwan and others had to stay on the boat as well.
Everyone was in a low mood for a while. Especially Chun Wan, who muttered quietly, "Mrs. Song doesn't have no boat. It's inconvenient for all of us to follow her like this."
Several maids nodded repeatedly, and they couldn't help but become a little cold towards Madam Song.
This matter soon reached Zhou Shaojin's ears. She said to Chunwan and others in a suggestive manner: "When I was copying the scriptures, I didn't expect that Mrs. Guo would take me to Putuo Mountain to burn incense. When I went to Putuo Mountain, I didn't expect that the Fourth Master would send someone to take us shopping and buy things at will. Now that the Fourth Master is busy, I think that people can't just take care of themselves and ignore others. When the Fourth Master takes us to eat and drink, we are grateful one by one. When the Fourth Master has something to do and can't take care of us, we are dissatisfied and complain one by one. The Fourth Master doesn't owe us anything. Letting us go out to play is a favor, and not letting us go out to play is our duty. Why can't everyone stand staying on the boat? In this way, it's better not to give any grace in the future, lest it becomes hatred!"
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Today's update, sisters.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)