When Zhen Niang arrived home, Third Elder Cheng was already at the Li residence.

The Third Elder of the Cheng family had arrived quite quickly. Earlier, Zhen Niang’s conversation with Tian Benchang on Fourth Treasure Street hadn’t been private, and the onlookers naturally overheard about the Tian family’s ink using the Cheng family’s formula. The Cheng family must have learned about this and come to investigate.

“Greetings, Third Elder,” Zhen Niang said respectfully.

Seeing Zhen Niang return, Third Elder Cheng beckoned to her: “Come here, child.”

“Yes,” Zhen Niang responded, putting down her things and walking over.

“Examine these ink sticks and tell me what you see,” Third Elder Cheng laid out several ink sticks on the table.

Ah, Zhen Niang understood. Third Elder Cheng was testing her. After all, every ink workshop kept their important formulas secret. She had openly revealed the Cheng ink formula, and while this exposed the Tian family’s deception, it also raised suspicions about the Li family. The Cheng formula was confidential—how did the Li family know it?

At the time, Zhen Niang had claimed she discovered this through ink examination, so naturally, the Third Elder wanted to test her abilities.

“The first ink stick uses Wei Dynasty Jia Sixie’s ink-making method. The smoke comes from hundred-year-old pine soot, the glue is deer horn glue, combined with ash wood, egg white, pearl, and musk. Third Elder, you’ve put quite some thought into this one,” Zhen Niang pointed to the leftmost piece.

“Continue,” Third Elder Cheng stroked his beard, clearly pleased with this ink stick.

“The second is a blended ink. The base ink seems ordinary, but you’ve added pine resin smoke and lacquer residue smoke, using Song Dynasty Shen Gui’s lacquer smoke ink method. It becomes hard as stone in ten years and black as lacquer with a single dot. This ink has truly captured the essence of Master Shen’s lacquer ink. Congratulations, Third Elder,” Zhen Niang continued.

Historically, lacquer smoke ink had flourished under the Cheng family’s guidance.

“Haha, this girl, I like you more and more. Continue,” Third Elder Cheng laughed heartily, clearly pleased by Zhen Niang’s accurate assessment.

“Third Elder, shall we skip the third ink stick? Isn’t this the formula the Tian family used? Though they have a habit of unnecessary additions—they used our Li family’s super lacquer smoke coal formula but insisted on adding styrax smoke coal. They used your Cheng family’s blending formula but insisted on adding pomegranate skin, which damaged the ink’s texture,” Zhen Niang explained.

“The Tian family had no choice. If they copied everything exactly, wouldn’t that be too obvious?” Third Elder Cheng laughed.

Then he turned to Old Manager Li: “Brother, I envy you. This girl not only makes excellent smoke coal, but she also has keen eyes. Don’t be surprised if your Li family ends up relying on her to run things in the future.”

Third Elder Cheng meant this partly in jest, not knowing how prophetic his words would soon prove.

“Third Elder is too kind,” Zhen Niang smiled sweetly while pouring hot water to refill the elders’ tea.

“Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. Old Manager, tell me why the Li family withdrew from the tribute ink competition. Don’t blame it on the Tian family. If that were truly the reason, well, just this girl alone could have put them in their place,” Third Elder Cheng asked.

“Brother, you’re asking the wrong person. You should ask my Seventh Sister-in-law. I no longer manage the ink workshop,” Old Manager Li chuckled.

“Come now, stop being mysterious. Before coming here, I went to Seventh Madam’s place but didn’t find her. I heard she came to find you. By the time I arrived here, she had already left. I’m tired of running around, so just tell me straight. Don’t deny it—the day before the Li family announced their withdrawal from the tribute ink competition, you and your Ninth Brother went to the ink workshop together. These past few days, Seventh Madam has been coming here often. I assume it’s all about the workshop’s affairs.

I know our Cheng family wasn’t proper, following the Tian family’s lead and stirring up trouble using Zhen Niang’s rescue of Miss Yan. Brother, I apologize for that. But business is business. I’m sure if the Li family had been in our position, you would have done the same,” Third Elder Cheng spoke frankly and directly.

“Very well, we accept your apology. Since you’re being straightforward, Third Elder Cheng, I’ll be equally frank. The Li family withdrew from the tribute ink competition because the pine plague was about to break out,” Old Manager Li replied directly.

“Pine plague? Is this true?” Upon hearing about the pine plague, Third Elder Cheng jumped up.

“What else could make our Li family give up the tribute ink matter?” Old Manager Li countered.

“Indeed, nothing else could make the Li family abandon the tribute ink,” Third Elder Cheng’s face darkened. Then he bowed: “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Brother Cheng, you know our Li family’s internal situation without me telling you. We truly have no choice about the tribute ink this time, but your Cheng family must hold strong. We can’t let the tribute ink fall into the Tian family’s hands,” Old Manager Li said earnestly.

The pine plague was a disaster for ink workshops that primarily used pine soot, but it was an opportunity for those mainly using oil soot to capture market share.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the Li family had struggled just to maintain their position and hadn’t made any progress with oil soot. Zhen Niang’s recent lacquer smoke formula had presented an opportunity, but there hadn’t been enough time—its reputation hadn’t yet been established. The Li family had been counting on the tribute ink; once they secured that, they could have used its prestige to launch their super lacquer smoke ink and quickly gain market share. It could have been their chance for a comeback.

But fate wasn’t on their side, and now came the pine plague.

That’s why giving up the tribute ink competition was so bitter for the Li family.

Both the Cheng and Tian families primarily produced oil-soot ink. While the Pine Plague would affect them, the impact would be minimal. Moreover, the Cheng family had inventory to tide them over, and the Tian family, having taken over the Luo family’s workshop, presumably had substantial stock as well.

Other oil-soot ink workshops wouldn’t let go of the tribute ink opportunity.

That’s why Old Manager Li spoke as he did.

The Tian family’s entry into the industry had been highly irregular. If they were also allowed to secure the tribute ink quota, future newcomers might abandon the proper study of formulas and techniques, instead just trying to acquire them from other houses.

Over time, this would corrupt the entire industry’s standards, leading to the downfall of the ink trade—something Old Manager Li didn’t want to see.

“Hmph, the Tian family? Mere upstarts. How could they be a match for our Cheng family? Besides, the styrax ink they presented, as Zhen Niang said, is full of unnecessary additions. Moreover, it’s made entirely from stolen formulas—neither righteous nor proper. Watch me drive them out of business,” Third Elder Cheng said disdainfully.

“Third Elder, the business world is like a battlefield—we can’t be careless. Something doesn’t feel right. After the Luo family’s downfall, their workshop fell into the Tian family’s hands, and many master craftsmen stayed on. While the Tian father and son might not understand ink, those master craftsmen have decades of experience in the trade—how could they not know better? Having the Tian family present such a flawed ink… I can’t help but feel there might be some trick here. This could be their strategy to deceive enemies. If you underestimate them, you might fall into their trap,” Zhen Niang shared her concerns while helping refill the elders’ tea.

“This girl thinks deeply. Alright, I understand. I’ll be careful. I must go now—the pine plague is a major matter that needs to be discussed with the family,” Third Elder Cheng seemed excited.

The Cheng family primarily produced oil-soot ink, so this represented a major opportunity for them to capture the market share that had belonged to the Luo family.

Since the fall of Luo ink, the Huizhou ink industry has been in chaos, with various houses scrambling for Luo’s market share. Now the pine plague would trigger another reshuffling.

Watching Third Elder Cheng leave, Old Manager Li heaved a long sigh.

“Grandfather, our Li family still has a chance,” Zhen Niang consoled him. Historically, Tian ink hadn’t even warranted a mention in records, suggesting the Tian family wouldn’t amount to much. The Cheng family would only flourish under Cheng Dazuo, and that wouldn’t be until the Wanli period.

If the Li family didn’t give up and started working hard now, there was still time.

Even without the tribute ink quota, Zhen Niang knew that in the first year of Longqing, there would be the Longqing Opening, when maritime trade would develop—this could be another path for Li ink.

In short, as long as they didn’t give up and kept working hard, they could forge a future.

A few days later, news arrived from various regions: the pine plague had broken out in full force. Pine forests were withering and dying in swathes.

Pinewood prices soared, and tung oil prices rose as well.

All ink workshops were scaling back their operations.

Small workshops that primarily used pine soot began closing down one after another, leaving many ink workers unemployed. With so many ink workers in Huizhou, this situation reminded Zhen Niang of the financial crisis in her previous life.

The Li family was barely hanging on.

However, the Li family remained calm. They had Zhen Niang’s super lacquer smoke coal formula, plus the blended ink formula jointly developed by their master craftsmen. If they could weather this pine plague, their signature super lacquer smoke ink could enter the market. When that time came, even if the sky fell, they wouldn’t give up the chance at tribute ink.

But Zhen Niang had a sudden worry because she knew that historically, by the time Cheng ink rose to prominence, Li ink had already vanished.

According to the clan records, their Seventh Grandmother had passed away during this period. It was precisely because of Seventh Grandmother’s death that the Li ink workshop, instead of rising again, had fractured and eventually disappeared completely.

Thinking about the current situation, Seventh Grandmother’s health might have been damaged by worrying about the pine plague. No, they must remind Seventh Grandmother to take care of her health and not worry too much about the pine plague.

Only with Seventh Grandmother’s well-being secured could Li Ink develop steadily.