A few days later, Sun Dahe was escorted to the Songjiang stone quarry, while Sun Dalang was released after his cangue parade and led his family to join the Tian family ink workshop.
In the blink of an eye, spring arrived.
In this season of warming weather and blooming flowers, even the gloomy city gate tunnel had a few rays of spring light filtering in, bringing some vitality.
For Huizhou’s ink industry, the biggest event of the new year was the tribute ink selection.
“What is there to say? Everyone in Huizhou knows that Miss Yan’s illness was cured by Zhenniang’s medicinal ink. Just considering the miraculous nature of this medicinal ink, plus the Li family’s generations of reputation, the tribute ink position must go to the Li family. The Tian family is just delusional—they’ve barely entered the ink business, yet they’re already boasting about securing the tribute ink quota. They shouldn’t make promises they can’t keep. In Huizhou now, only the Cheng family can compete with the Li family.”
Madam Zhao carried a large block of pressed ink mold to dry in the shaded part of the courtyard.
While working, she chatted with Madam Zheng, who was washing clothes nearby. When speaking of the Tian family, she was disdainful—after all, since the broken engagement incident, the grudge between the Tian and Li families had only grown deeper.
Madam Zhao had nothing good to say about the Tian family.
This year, the Li family wasn’t raising silkworms anymore. In recent years, as the textile industry developed, silk prices have risen high. Last year, many people raised silkworms, resulting in silk prices dropping, along with cocoon prices. Last year, Madam Zhao raised three batches of silkworms, making money only on the first two batches—the third batch resulted in a loss.
The heartbroken Madam Zhao cursed in frustration.
Moreover, this year, the coal stove business was even more prosperous. The eldest cousin from the ninth branch, Li Zhengsheng, had now completely abandoned his pursuit of alchemy and immortality, focusing entirely on traveling to develop markets. This year, he planned to expand to Jinhua, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. At home, the workshop relied entirely on elder brother Li Zhengliang to manage everything. As Li Zhengliang couldn’t handle it all alone, Madam Du had to go to the workshop to help cook for the workers and manage the finances, taking care of logistical concerns.
As for Zhenniang, because her medicinal ink had cured Miss Yan’s illness, her reputation for ink-making had spread. Several small merchants had already come seeking to order ink made by her.
Therefore, the family’s small ink-making workshop needed to expand.
So, at the beginning of the year, after a family discussion, they stopped raising silkworms and rented out their mulberry field to others, collecting some rent money annually.
Madam Zhao devoted herself to serving Old Manager Li and Madam Wu, taking care of the household, while Madam Zheng helped Zhenniang make ink.
Madam Zhao declared that everyone should work hard to earn money, aiming to buy back the family property that Li Jingfu had lost years ago.
“Indeed, but the Tian family is quite skilled at scheming. I heard they’ve already found ways to influence the new ink affairs official—we must be careful,” Madam Zheng said, looking up while beating clothes.
After joining the Li family for over half a year, Madam Zheng had changed significantly. Her previous frail appearance was gone, her sallow complexion had become fair and moist, and she looked more energetic. Compared to before, she looked at least seven or eight years younger and had become much more cheerful. She and Madam Zhao got along like sisters.
As for Madam Zhao, over these months, partly because the family’s situation had improved and partly due to Madam Zheng’s frequent counsel, her temper had improved considerably, and she rarely argued with people anymore.
Of course, with Zhenniang and Xi’er at home, she still often threatened to hit and scold them, though each time she’d at most give them a couple of light taps, like dusting off dirt.
As Xi’er put it, “It doesn’t hurt at all—it just makes me itchy all over.”
This comment made the whole family laugh.
At this moment, Zhenniang had just finished tending to the smoke and came out covered in black soot. She stood by the large vat in the courtyard washing her face, listening to her mother’s conversation with Madam Zheng.
Her heart skipped a beat. Master Yan should have stood on the Li family’s side, but the problem was that Master Yan was only the ink supervision official, not the ink affairs official. Moreover, people outside deliberately spreading news about her curing Miss Yan’s illness with medicinal ink would give the impression that if Master Yan chose the Li family, it wasn’t because of the quality of the Li family’s ink, but rather to repay a debt of gratitude. This would inevitably cause the new ink affairs official to develop a prejudice that the Li family was relying on connections to participate in the competition, which wouldn’t help their chances in the tribute ink selection.
Zhenniang frowned, knowing without doubt that the Tian family must be deliberately spreading such rumors outside. Of course, the Cheng family couldn’t be ruled out as suspects either—they were all competitors.
“Cough, cough…” Coughing sounds came from Old Manager Li’s room next door.
In spring, as all things flourish, illness also tends to worsen. Since spring began, Old Manager Li’s lung condition seemed to have become more severe. He coughed through the entire night without rest.
Zhenniang hurried inside to help her grandfather come out to get some sun in the courtyard.
“Grandfather, what do you think are the Li family ink workshop’s chances of securing the tribute ink rights this year?” Zhenniang sat beside her grandfather as they chatted.
“Originally, we had at least a sixty percent chance, but now it’s hard to say. Outside, they’re making such a big deal about you curing Miss Yan, which will inevitably make the ink affairs official wary of Master Yan. When the time comes, they’ll scrutinize the Li family’s ink even more strictly. The Tian family is watching us closely—they’re using our smoke material formula, and they’ve somehow obtained a decent ink-mixing formula, specifically to compete with us. The ink affairs official seems to have some connection with the Tian family and might favor them slightly. As for the Cheng family, they’re watching the tigers fight from the mountain—none of them are easy to deal with.” Old Manager Li said.
It was just as Zhenniang had worried about.
Zhenniang scratched her head in frustration. When she had cured Miss Yan and received Master Yan’s instructions, she had thought the tribute ink position would surely go to the Li family. Unexpectedly, once the matter was exaggerated and spread around, it caused complications, turning something good into something potentially harmful.
“Don’t worry. The Li family participates in the tribute ink selection every three years but hasn’t succeeded yet. It’s not because we lack the ability—sometimes it’s simply bad luck. In the tribute ink selection, ability is only part of it; luck is equally important,” Old Manager Li said. Since the Li family’s incident with tribute ink years ago, they have never succeeded in the selection again.
Zhenniang could only nod—there wasn’t much she could do about this situation.
“Eighth Uncle, Eighth Aunt, Sister-in-law, Zhenniang.” Just then, the half-closed courtyard gate was pushed open as Aunt Jinhua entered with Run’er, carrying a large bamboo basket.
As soon as she entered, Zhenniang caught the smell of something delicious.
“Aunt Jinhua, what good food did you bring in your basket?” Zhenniang stood up smiling to greet her, also waving to Run’er.
“Ha, Zhenniang’s nose is so sharp! Tomorrow is the second day of the second month, so I made some rice flour steamed cakes for everyone to try,” Aunt Jinhua said cheerfully.
“You girl, aren’t you embarrassed? A young lady your age, only thinking about food.” Madam Zhao spoke irritably from the side. Then she said to Li Jinhua: “Jinhua, why are you being so formal?”
“This isn’t being formal at all, it’s just something I made casually. If I were being formal, I wouldn’t dare bring this,” Li Jinhua said with a smile.
Madam Zhao readily accepted the basket.
Just then, Xi’er appeared from somewhere, first grabbing and throwing away several pine branches that were on top of the basket, then lifting the white cotton cloth covering the rice flour cakes. He grabbed a few pieces and pulled Run’er away to play.
“Don’t go too far, we need to leave soon!” Aunt Jinhua called out loudly.
“We know!” Xi’er’s voice came from far away.
That naughty boy, Zhenniang cursed as she picked up the scattered pine branches from the ground—once dried, they could be used as kindling.
Placing some evergreen pine and cypress branches on top of baskets was a Huizhou custom, symbolizing eternal vitality—a sign of good fortune.
As Zhenniang picked up the pine branches, intending to throw them aside, her eyes suddenly caught the broken surface of one branch, which had a faint bluish glow.
Zhenniang’s expression changed instantly.
She quickly examined the pine needles more carefully and found that the tips of the new needles had all turned yellow.
This was bad. If she wasn’t mistaken, this was pine wilt disease, which is fatal to pine trees. This disease existed in ancient times as well, with several historical records of outbreaks—the ancients called it the pine plague.
“Aunt Jinhua, where did you break off these pine branches?” Zhenniang quickly asked.
“Just at the pine grove in the village,” Li Jinhua replied matter-of-factly.
“Zhenniang, what’s wrong?” Old Manager Li, seeing his granddaughter’s unusual expression, quickly asked.
Zhenniang wasn’t entirely sure if it was pine plague, so she didn’t raise an alarm. Instead, she brought the branches to her grandfather’s side, showing him the bluish cross-section, and said, “Grandfather, I think it might be pine plague.”
“Pine plague? Are you sure?” When Old Manager Li heard these words, his mouth twitched. Each outbreak of the pine plague was a disaster for the ink-making industry. Although many workshops had started using tung oil, pine soot remained an important raw material, especially for tribute ink, which emphasized classical dignity and required hundred-year-old pine trees as a key ingredient. The soot from these ancient pines couldn’t be replaced by any other type of soot.
“I can’t be completely certain yet. I want to go with Aunt Jinhua to check the pine grove,” Zhenniang said.
“You shouldn’t go alone for something like this. Take your Ninth Uncle with you—he witnessed a pine plague outbreak before,” Old Manager Li said.
Zhenniang nodded. If she confirmed this herself, the ink workshop would surely send people to check anyway. It would be better to go with Ninth Uncle together, saving an extra trip.
Aunt Jinhua had brought three baskets of rice flour steamed cakes this time, one for each of the seventh and third branches.
Zhenniang accompanied her, first going to the seventh branch’s house, then to the ninth branch. When they met Ninth Uncle, Zhenniang quietly showed him the pine branch and mentioned the possibility of the pine plague.
Upon hearing this, Ninth Uncle’s eyes immediately turned red. He didn’t even exchange pleasantries about tea with Li Jinhua, but immediately asked her to lead him and Zhenniang to the pine grove.