After leaving the Cheng family’s ink shop, Zhen Niang entered the Li family’s ink shop.
Li Zhengyan, her second cousin who had been managing the Li family’s ink shop, had recently been assigned to collect pine resin oil from the pine yards. Unable to attend to the ink shop, the operations were now handled by Manager Zheng and two assistants.
“Miss Zhen has arrived?” At that moment, Manager Zheng was taking inventory at the counter with his two assistants. He looked up and greeted her as she entered.
“Don’t trouble yourself, Manager Zheng. Please continue with your work while I look around,” Zhen Niang replied with a smile.
“Ah, go ahead then.” Manager Zheng responded with a complex expression. He felt somewhat uncomfortable around Zhen Niang. Initially, when she first started making smoke ink, he had tried to pressure her. Yet surprisingly, in just a short year since then, Miss Zhen had taken over the ink workshop and was running it with remarkable success.
It truly embodied the saying that life’s circumstances could change like moves on a chess board. Now a mere girl had risen above him, while he had declined in status. Currently managing the ink shop with only two assistants under him, he had none of the authority he once commanded at the ink workshop.
Lost in these thoughts, he hurriedly returned to his tasks.
The ink workshop had sent over their first batch of reprocessed ink to be sold at the shop. The delivery person was Zheng Fuli.
Zheng Fuli, who had been helping store the counted ink in the small warehouse inside, heard his father greeting Zhen Niang. He came out and cupped his hands in greeting, “Good day, Miss Zhen.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Master Zheng. Why are you personally delivering goods today?” Zhen Niang asked casually, knowing that such deliveries were usually handled by regular workers, not an ink master like Zheng Fuli.
“I wanted to gauge customers’ reactions to the reprocessed ink, so I took the opportunity to deliver it myself,” Zheng Fuli replied, casting a meaningful glance at Zhen Niang. He couldn’t help but acknowledge her expertise—not just with the previous ink binding process, but how did she know to keep some old glue for awakening the ink?
Compared to her, he felt his mastery of ink-making had fallen short yet again.
“Customers don’t yet know the benefits of our reprocessed ink. It’s too early to talk about reactions,” Zhen Niang said, then looked at Zheng Fuli and continued, “By the way, Master Zheng, I have a favor to ask.”
“No need for formalities, Miss Zhen. Please tell me how I can help,” Zheng Fuli promptly replied.
“I’d like you to help me prepare a gift and deliver it to Master Dongtu,” Zhen Niang responded. Although the Cheng family had agreed to introduce Master Dongtu, their Li family ink workshop needed to show their sincerity. Upon leaving the Cheng ink shop, Zhen Niang had been thinking about sending a gift to Master Dongtu first, to avoid appearing discourteous when the Cheng family made the introduction.
“Master Dongtu?” Zheng Fuli sought confirmation.
“Yes, I just spoke with Third Elder Cheng, and he agreed to introduce Master Dongtu to test our ink. We should send a gift first to show proper courtesy,” Zhen Niang explained.
“That would be excellent, but I’m surprised the Cheng family agreed?” Zheng Fuli asked with curiosity.
“How could they not agree? They solved their pine smoke ink material problem without spending a single coin,” Zhen Niang replied with a faint smile.
By now, all the workshop managers and masters knew about the pine resin oil situation. As an ink master himself and Manager Xiao’s grandson, how could Zheng Fuli not be aware?
Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, Zheng Fuli was first surprised, then understood. Such matters couldn’t be kept secret forever, so it was better to exchange them for practical benefits.
Miss Zhen was truly sharp-witted.
“Very well, I’ll go handle this right away,” Zheng Fuli agreed.
“Also, please select several pieces of reprocessed ink. Send some to Master Dongtu and some to Young Master Nanyu,” Zhen Niang added.
“Young Master Nanyu? You mean Ding Nanyu?” Zheng Fuli sought confirmation again. Zhen Niang’s approach made him somewhat uncomfortable. Young Master Nanyu’s given name was Ding Yunpeng, Nanyu was his courtesy name. As Master Dongtu’s disciple, he would naturally attend when Master Dongtu came, so there was no need for additional gifts.
After all, he was merely a disciple.
“Yes, no need for formal gifts, just send him some ink specifically. I hear he has studied under Master Dongtu for several years and his painting skills are quite accomplished. Perhaps we could have master and disciple test the ink together, which would make for a fine story,” Zhen Niang explained.
Zheng Fuli was surprised again. It was well known that ink workshops used famous people’s endorsements to promote their ink, so they would never let a mere disciple test it. Yet now Miss Zhen planned to have Ding Nanyu test alongside his master, which was essentially helping promote Ding Nanyu’s name.
In this arrangement, Ding Nanyu would benefit the most.
“Miss Zhen, is this appropriate?” Zheng Fuli asked for confirmation.
“It’s fine, just follow my instructions,” Zhen Niang said. Her reason for wanting Ding Nanyu to test ink alongside his master was because this Ding Yunpeng, styled Nanyu, would become an extraordinary painter in the future. During the Wanli era, his illustrations would appear in both the Fang family’s Ink Manual and the Cheng family’s Ink Garden. He would even serve in the imperial court for over ten years due to his painting skills, becoming a top figure in Huizhou’s painting circles.
Zhen Niang’s gesture was simply to establish a good relationship early on.
“Alright then, I’ll get going,” Zheng Fuli nodded. Since Miss Zhen had decided, he wouldn’t say anything more.
“Very well,” Zhen Niang nodded, watching as Zheng Fuli left.
By now, Manager Zheng had finished his inventory. Zhen Niang discussed some shop matters with him, and seeing the sun setting, decided to head home rather than return to the workshop.
After bidding farewell to Manager Zheng, Zhen Niang left the shop.
“It’s getting dark, Miss Zhen. Let me escort you part of the way,” Just as she reached the intersection, she heard Zheng Fuli’s voice from behind.
Zheng Fuli had just returned from buying the gifts and, seeing Zhen Niang from afar, had caught up to her.
Zhen Niang turned to look at Zheng Fuli and replied, “No need, thank you, Master Zheng. I live just ahead.”
“Oh, very well then. Take care, Miss Zhen,” Zheng Fuli responded, looking somewhat disappointed.
Zhen Niang nodded again before turning to leave. It wasn’t that she was being discourteous to Zheng Fuli, but in this era, proper distance between men and women had to be maintained. While it was unavoidable for workshop matters, it was better to avoid it in private settings when possible.
Moreover, beyond the matter of propriety between men and women, she needed to maintain appropriate distance from Manager Xiao’s people, as he was still the main family’s steward.
If she became too close to Manager Xiao’s people, others might think she was overreaching—not content with taking over the workshop but trying to interfere with main family affairs as well. At that point, not only would she suffer, but her mother and grandparents would also be caught in an awkward position.
Zhen Niang understood this perfectly well.
Zheng Fuli watched Zhen Niang’s departing figure, his eyes filled with complicated thoughts, before turning to leave himself.
The sunset stretched the long alley even longer.
Zhen Niang soon arrived home, where the city gate passage was darker than other places. Inside, the oil lamps were already lit.
To Zhen Niang’s surprise, Du Da was at her home.
“Zhen Niang, the Du family’s eldest has been waiting for you for quite a while,” Zheng shi whispered to her.
“Oh, what brings Elder Brother Du here? Why didn’t someone come to fetch me?” Zhen Niang asked with a mild smile as she approached.
“No need for that, it wasn’t urgent. I just came by to see little Xiaoguan,” Du Da quickly replied.
“We can discuss matters later. It’s dinner time now. Elder Du, please stay for a simple meal,” Old Shopkeeper Li spoke up. Although the Li family wasn’t particularly fond of the Du brothers, Du Da was still Xiaoguan’s uncle, and certain courtesies had to be maintained.
Subsequently, Du Shi and Zheng Shi served the dishes. Old Shopkeeper Li, cousin Li Zhengsheng, elder brother Li Zhengliang, and Du Da sat at one table, while Zhen Niang accompanied Wu Shi and Zhao Shi. Du Shi ate in the kitchen with Xiaoguan.
“Sister-in-law, what business does Elder Brother Du have with me?” Zhen Niang asked.
Her grandfather’s earlier interruption of her conversation with Du Da and immediate call to dinner had a deeper meaning.
It was to give her time to understand the situation so that when Du Da stated his business, they could either proceed if feasible or have a buffer if not, avoiding immediate awkwardness. Though this approach seemed simple, it reflected the life wisdom gained from the elder’s years of experience in dealing with people.
“My elder brother’s oil press recently produced a batch of tung oil, and knowing that the Li family ink workshop uses tung oil for smoke production, he wanted to ask if the workshop needs any,” Du Shi explained with an awkward smile.
She had been scolded by her mother-in-law in the kitchen earlier about this matter, which explained her current discomfort.
“Hasn’t your elder brother’s oil press always only pressed edible oils? How did they suddenly start pressing tung oil?” Zhen Niang asked curiously. Hadn’t the Du brothers recently lacked even the money to buy rapeseed? How were they now expanding into tung oil?
What Zhen Niang didn’t know was that the Du brothers, always chasing the next opportunity, had borrowed money from the bank to buy rapeseed for pressing oil. Then, due to the pine disease causing tung oil prices to rise sharply, they saw more profit potential there. They used their pressed rapeseed oil as collateral to borrow more money and buy tung nuts for pressing tung oil.
However, unlike cooking oil which every household needed, tung oil was mainly used by merchants who already had established supply channels and wouldn’t easily change suppliers. Thus, despite the high price of tung oil, the Du brothers couldn’t sell their stockpile. The two were desperate and, after much thought, remembered that the ink workshop also used tung oil, hence their current plea.
“It’s nothing but greed that caused this. They saw others making money from tung oil and got itchy fingers. They didn’t know their limits, and now they can’t sell it, so they’re eyeing the ink workshop,” Zhao Shi cut straight to the heart of the matter.
Du Shi’s expression grew even more uncomfortable.
At the mention of profitable tung oil sales, Zhen Niang understood and internally criticized the Du brothers for their overambition.
“Sister-in-law, I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll check at the workshop tomorrow. If we need some, we might buy a bit,” Zhen Niang said, then added seriously, “However, let me be clear upfront—if the quality doesn’t meet our requirements, the workshop won’t take even a drop.”
“Of course, of course. If the quality isn’t good enough, don’t feel obligated on my account,” Du Shi hurriedly agreed.
She understood well that Zhen Niang was already doing her a favor.