Cheng Chi had been staying in the cabin, calculating things with Mr. Song. Mrs. Guo hadn't had a good talk with her son for some time. When she heard that Cheng Chi wanted to see her, she was naturally overjoyed and kept saying, "Please invite the fourth master in."
Mrs. Song retreated to the inner room.
Zhou Shaojin's eyes flashed slightly and he hid behind Mrs. Guo.
But Cheng Chi still saw Zhou Shaojin as soon as he entered the door.
For the first time ever, she wore a pink vest with a green plaid brocade edge, which set off her snow-white skin, making her look gentle and beautiful.
Cheng Chi couldn't help but smile and saluted his mother.
Madam Guo pointed to Jinwu beside her and asked Cheng Chi to sit down. She asked him gently, "Have you finished your arithmetic?"
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "Mr. Song and I have been calculating the water flow of the Fuchun River and Qiantang River in spring and autumn over the past ten years. We hope to find a pattern and roughly calculate the years and months of drought and flood."
"This is a great thing!" Madam Guo was very supportive and said, "Have you figured out what the result is? Do you want to invite Mr. Song to stay at your home for a few days? Mr. Song is worried that Mr. Song will be lonely in his hometown. I think if he knew that Mr. Song and you share the same ideals, he would definitely agree."
"We haven't made any progress." Cheng Chi said with a smile, "The capital is full of great scholars, and Liu Qi, the director of the Imperial Observatory, also has some real talents and knowledge. Mr. Song wants to go to the capital to ask these people for advice. I also think it's difficult for the two of us to get any results, so we agreed that I will go to the capital again after Mr. Song makes some progress. It would be a pity to invite Mr. Song to stay at my home for a while."
"All good!" Madam Guo smiled as long as her son was happy. "I heard that there are many talented people in the Ministry of Works. Your eldest brother is from the Ministry of Works. The uncle of Jinling Prefect Wu is now a member of the Ministry of Works. The father-in-law of Zhenjiang Prefect Gao is the Minister of Works and the Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace... Do you want your brother to accompany you personally?"
Cheng Chi knew that his mother had been feeling bad in the past few years, so he tried every possible way to make it up to him. He said to his mother in an effort to make her happy, "If you hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have thought of it! If there's no progress with Mr. Song, I'll ask you to help me smooth things over."
"You just know how to make me happy." Madam Guo pointed at her son and said with a smile, "Isn't Magistrate Gao your good friend? You helped him so much last time, and I think he has been looking for an opportunity to repay you. If you go to him, even if he doesn't accompany you to the capital in person, I'm afraid he will send his advisor to accompany you to meet his father-in-law."
Cheng Chi was a little surprised.
His maternal family owned a school and was known for their loyalty, so naturally his mother knew many people. But his mother had never been the kind of person who liked to brag, so why did she suddenly change her temper
Cheng Chi remembered that the maid told him before he came that Madam Song was talking to his mother, and he immediately understood his mother's intention.
Mother is trying to intimidate Mrs. Song!
It was to tell Mrs. Song that their Cheng family not only had a deep family background, but also had many students and old friends throughout the government and the country. They could find a way to do whatever they wanted to do, and it would not be difficult to do anything they wanted to do.
He couldn't help but feel both amused and confused.
His mother must have heard his comments about Yuan Weichang and Song Jingran, and was afraid that her brother would be wronged if he followed Yuan Weichang, so she decided to find a helper for her in the court...
Cheng Chi raised his eyelids and glanced at Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin was puzzled.
She was determined to bring Cheng Chi closer to the Song family, but he and Mr. Song were interested in river engineering. What did that have to do with her
Zhou Shaojin opened his eyes wide and looked at Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi tried hard not to show any contempt in his expression.
This little girl actually dared to glare at him!
If she hadn't taken the initiative to tell her mother about Mr. Song's desire to go with them, would her mother have said so much
I don’t know how she managed to stand by her mother’s side!
Cheng Chi thought in his heart, without looking at Zhou Shaojin again, but smiled and said to his mother: "We will arrive at Changzhou Wharf soon. Didn't you say before that you wanted to buy some combs from Changzhou to give back to others? Mr. Song and I still have some figures to calculate, I am afraid we don't have time to accompany you shopping. You decide how many combs you want to buy, I will let Qin Ziping go to buy them."
Zhou Shaojin immediately became anxious.
When Cheng Chi was trying to pay for her in Hangzhou, she felt embarrassed and hurriedly bought a few combs and returned. When she returned, she found that those combs were okay for Ah Zhu and Cheng Jia, but not suitable for her widowed grandmother. She also thought that the combs in Changzhou were famous all over the world and were sold in most shops in Jiangnan. It would be the same if she bought the combs for her grandmother in Suzhou. Suzhou was also a very prosperous city, and it was said that the things in Hangzhou were not worse. As a result, Cheng Chi was immersed in arithmetic. When the ship docked in Suzhou, Cheng Chi did not arrange for them to enter the city. She thought that it would be the same to buy in Wuxi. As a result, when the ship docked in Wuxi, they only stayed overnight and left. She was counting on buying in Changzhou... Now Cheng Chi was not going to stay in Changzhou for a long time, and only asked Mrs. Guo to bring a few combs. What about the combs she promised to her sister and aunt? She couldn't ask Mrs. Guo to give her a few combs, right? Of course, the best way is to let Qin Ziping help her bring a few, but this also requires Cheng Chi’s consent!
She just stared at Cheng Chi.
Unexpectedly, Cheng Chi acted as if he saw nothing, and his eyes were all on Madam Guo.
But she was afraid that Cheng Chi would be unhappy about her telling Madam Guo about Mr. Song's intention to travel with them, so she stood behind Madam Guo to avoid Cheng Chi. Now, even if she wanted Madam Guo to notice her abnormality and change the topic to buying a comb, it was impossible...
She now hoped that Mrs. Guo would agree so that she could talk to Qin Ziping.
But Mr. Guo said, "I have already bought several combs in Hangzhou. If you have something to do, just go and do it. You don't have to accompany me to go shopping."
Cheng Chi stood up upon hearing this and said with a smile, "Okay! Just tell Qin Ziping if you have anything to say. We will set off for Zhenjiang tomorrow."
Mrs. Guo smiled and nodded.
Cheng Chi left the cabin.
Mrs. Song appeared from the inner room, and the look she gave Mrs. Guo was different again.
She asked tentatively, "I didn't expect that the Fourth Master is so familiar with the son-in-law of Lord Qu. Why didn't the Fourth Master take on some river engineering work?"
"That's all about people's livelihood." Madam Guo said with a smile, "It's hard to make money; but if we don't make money, we'll still have a bad reputation. It's better not to get involved! Besides, our Cheng family doesn't lack that money."
"You have a far-sighted vision." Mrs. Song flattered Mrs. Guo.
Zhou Shaojin was a little absent-minded.
Or else I can only give that string of 108 red coral Buddhist beads to my grandmother
But she planned to give the pearl flower to her elder sister, and the hairpin to her aunt... Everyone had red coral jewelry and a set of combs, except her grandmother. It would be better for her elder sister and aunt to only give coral jewelry without combs... But she had already promised her elder sister, and she also brought a few sets of combs back... It seemed that she could only choose a set with plainer patterns among these combs.
Zhou Shaojin pondered for a long time in his mind. As soon as he came out of Mrs. Guo's room, he went straight to his cabin and asked Chunwan to take out all the things he bought for everyone. He fiddled with them left and right, but couldn't make this matter work.
Is the only way to seek help from Qin Ziping
Zhou Shaojin went to Jiying.
Jiying is not here.
Nanny Shang told her, "The Fourth Master wanted to eat Liyang Zhagan, and Manager Qin took Miss Jiying to buy some!"
Aren’t they in Changzhou
What to eat in Liyang
Besides, what is this liver-stabbing thing
It sounds like offal or something like that, why would he eat something like that
No need to worry about getting an upset stomach!
Qin Ziping was also sent out.
She couldn't find anyone to help her...
Zhou Shaojin was secretly complaining in his heart.
Nanny Shang smiled and said, "Second cousin, what do you want to see Miss Jiying for? If it's urgent, you might as well come back later. I heard from Steward Qin that the place to buy Liyang Zhagan is a bit far from the dock. Steward Qin only heard where it can be bought. I don't know if it's there or not. I'll have to go back to the place to find it. If it's not urgent, you might as well come back to see Miss Jiying tomorrow morning. She will definitely be there by then."
Zhou Shaojin said wistfully: "Forget it, I'd better think of another way!"
Nanny Shang said, "Mr. Song has been called away by Young Master Huang, and the Fourth Master is just tidying up his manuscripts! Why don't you go and talk to the Fourth Master?"
Go ask Uncle Chi for help!
Will he settle accounts with himself
Zhou Shaojin hesitated, and heard Nanny Shang say again: "Master Song is not with you today? I think he likes the second cousin the most. He pesters you to play with him all day long. We all say that this is really a child liking a child. It's also thanks to the good temper of the second cousin. Otherwise, if it were another young lady, who would have the patience to accompany him all the time..."
What does it mean for children to like children
Zhou Shaojin felt a little displeased when she heard this, but when the thought flashed through her mind, she couldn't help but feel moved.
yes!
How could she forget that she was still a young girl, so what if she was unreasonable? At most, people would say she was "spoiled and willful". But as long as she was well-behaved and sensible in nine out of ten things, and was spoiled and willful in one thing, people would only think that she was in a bad mood, not that she had a bad character.
This was the method her sister told her after she married into the Lin family, in order to reduce her interactions with the Lin family’s relatives—just obey in small matters, but never give in on big matters.
The reason why she was able to move to the farm in Daxing smoothly was that she had once insisted on following her sister's advice.
It seems that this principle is also applicable now!
Zhou Shaojin rolled his eyes, said a few words to Nanny Shang, and hurried to Cheng Chi's cabin.
Cheng Chi cleared out all the manuscripts that were considered useless and threw them into the wastebasket, ready to let Qingfeng burn them. Zhou Shaojin rushed in like a gust of wind without saying goodbye: "Uncle Chi, I have something to tell you!"
This little girl is finally here!
If she is not taught a lesson, she will probably continue to act on her own regarding his affairs!
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "What's the hurry? Sit down and talk!"
His expression was very calm.
※
Sisters, today's update!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)