Chapter 15: First Meeting with Lin Daiyu
"How did third brother find his way here?" Yingchun stood up and asked in confusion.
The other girls also looked at Jia Cong with curiosity! What happened last night was widely spread, and the guy in front of them was the 'culprit'.
"Jia Cong is coming here in a presumptuous way, please don't blame me, sisters! I had the trouble of borrowing books from Sister Lin before, and I wanted to return them to you, but you didn't come here! I thought I owed Sister Lin a favor by borrowing books, but I didn't thank her in person, which was really wrong, so I came here directly just now!"
As he said this, he bowed in the direction of Daiyu.
Daiyu returned the gift, "Third Brother Cong is very polite. Considering the relationship between me and my second sister, a few books are worth nothing."
Jia Cong smiled and asked Xiao Que'er to give the books and fruits he brought to Xueyan. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Tanchun ask, "Did the second master promise that Third Brother Cong could go to Mengpo Zhai to study?"
"Yesterday, the Second Master asked me to go and test my knowledge. Perhaps he felt that I had made some progress recently, so he showed me mercy!"
"Brother Cong, why do you have to belittle yourself? The Second Master has always valued talent but is cautious. It must be that Brother Cong has studied hard and achieved success!"
Jia Cong smiled and said, "Studying is not a one-day job. Many great scholars dare not claim to have achieved success in their studies, so how can I be so arrogant? Moreover, since you want to pass the imperial examination, you should work hard and never stop!"
After saying this, Jia Cong bowed again and said, "I am sorry for coming here so abruptly today and disturbing you sisters. I will apologize to you when I have time! The Second Master urged me yesterday, so I dare not slack off, so I will leave first!"
Looking at Jia Cong's straight back, the sisters either admired or praised him. They stayed in the mansion all day and had never seen any other men. Before this, they thought Baoyu was the best. However, recently, as Jia Cong's reputation spread, they suddenly discovered that there were such men in the world.
Listening to the sisters whispering about Jia Cong, Baochai, who was sipping her tea, suddenly felt a little secretly happy. You know, she and this Cong brother have a little secret...
Yes, Baochai listened to her mother that day, but did not send the documents back to Jia Cong. Instead, she went to her brother to find a few available people and secretly set up the workshop. Moreover, Baochai kept this matter very secret, even Xue Pan and Aunt Xue did not know about it. Everything was controlled by Baochai behind the scenes, and her trusted maids ran in and out to watch.
These days, shops selling ice cubes have also opened in the city, and they are indeed making a lot of profit, with several hundred taels of silver coming in every day.
This was because Baochai only set up a workshop and chose only two shops in the capital to sell her products in order to keep the business secret. If really expanded her business to all parts of the country, it would not be an exaggeration to say that she would make a fortune every day.
Jia Zheng was not exaggerating. Mengpozhai's collection of books was indeed extremely rich! In addition to the most common Four Books and Five Classics, it covered almost everything from astronomy to geography, including many articles and annotations on the imperial examinations of past dynasties!
In addition to these, Jia Cong's greatest gain was a set of spear skills and boxing skills passed down by the two masters of the Jia family, Ning and Rong!
These two sets of Kung Fu are not routines, but real killing skills on the battlefield. Moreover, in recent days, Jia Cong's strength has increased greatly, and he can dance with stone locks weighing dozens of kilograms up and down without any effort.
However, what Jia Cong was most interested in was the military tactics passed down by the two lords Ning and Rong!
It has to be said that the fact that Duke Ning and Duke Rong were able to become the leaders of the Eight Dukes at the time of the founding of the country and have power comparable to that of a prince was indeed a result of their hard work!
However, Jia Cong now only had some insights , which were truly empty talk.
The first month's account was personally delivered by Ying'er! Careful Baochai exchanged most of the silver for banknotes, amounting to more than 6,000 taels, and also kept 100 taels of loose silver for easy spending.
Jia Cong also looked through the accounts and found nothing wrong. As for the fact that the Xue family only opened this business in Shenjing, Jia Cong did not ask much. After all, based on the current income, it was enough to make a living.
That night, Xiao Que'er held the box of banknotes and stared with eyes wide open all night! The next morning, Jia Cong couldn't help laughing when he saw the little girl with dark circles under her eyes. Fortunately, the master and servant discussed it and wrapped the banknotes in several layers and put them at the bottom of the box containing clothes. The little girl was finally relieved.
But even so, the little girl couldn't fall asleep unless she took out the silver bills and counted them at midnight every day .
With sufficient silver, the two of them were not short of food. On weekdays, when Jia Cong was tired of studying, he would go to the back street to buy some food. Fortunately, he had silver. Since he practiced martial arts, Jia Cong's appetite increased greatly, and the food he brought every day was not enough for him.
In this way, Jia Cong mostly , and went to Mengpozhai to study in the afternoon! Occasionally, he studied late and met Jia Zheng who came down from the government office. After a test, Jia Zheng was naturally more satisfied with this nephew.
I was an invisible person who went to and from work every day, and occasionally went to Yingchun's yard for a walk, which reduced a lot of disputes and troubles.
In the second month, Baochai personally delivered the account! This month's income nearly doubled, and Jia Cong received a full 10,000 taels.
The two had a lively chat, and Jia Cong also told Baochai about some of his business methods in his previous life, which made Baochai's beautiful eyes shimmer!
After September, the weather turned cold, and the business naturally stopped. However, Jia Cong had saved nearly 50,000 taels of silver.
With such a large sum of money, he can definitely be called a wealthy man!
When Baochai came again, the topics of their chat were no longer limited to business! Astronomy and geography, poetry and songs, essays, economics and official career, naturally, every time Baochai came, she stayed longer and longer.
When the business was over, Baochai would occasionally find an excuse to come and chat with Jia Cong.
Originally, Jia Cong had some other businesses! For example, perfume. In fact, at this time, there was already perfume, but it was not exquisite and the craftsmanship was rough. With Jia Cong's knowledge, if he thought carefully, it would be easy to make a few perfumes. Including colored glass, this thing is a real luxury in this era.
However, Jia Cong was not in a hurry. He had enough money now, and he would make plans for the rest after he had established himself.
Before I knew it, half a year had passed and it was already the New Year.
When Jia Cong returned to the courtyard from Mengpozhai, it was already dark! When he entered the house, it was steaming hot! In the courtyard, apart from the master and servant and Baochai who occasionally visited, no one came. Jia Cong was not a thrifty person, so he asked Baochai to buy some good charcoal. According to Xiao Que'er, their room was a bit warmer than the girls' rooms.
