Both Cheng Chi and Old Madam Guo maintained composed expressions. Only Zhou Shaojin privately remarked to Chun Wan with a sigh, “I imagine the Hangzhou branch office heard that Old Madam Guo praised those two osmanthus trees at the Ningbo branch office, so they deliberately transplanted these here. At this season, I wonder if these two osmanthus trees will survive.”

Chun Wan’s eyes widened as she asked, “What if they don’t survive?”

Zhou Shaojin thought for a moment and replied, “They’ll probably transplant two similar ones to replace them. After all, we wouldn’t recognize the difference anyway.”

Chun Wan was left speechless.

A maid came to invite Zhou Shaojin to the main hall for the evening meal.

Zhou Shaojin changed into a pink plain vest with grass-green piping, arranged her hair in a double flat bun, wore a South Sea pearl circlet, and went to the main hall.

Old Madam Guo had already changed her clothes. Her graying hair was neatly coiled into a round bun with a pair of red gold羊脂玉双桃 hairpins inserted, wearing an autumn-fragrant colored vest with cranes carrying lingzhi mushrooms in lake silk. Her complexion was rosy and she looked quite spirited, conversing with a woman in her forties wearing a parrot-green silk vest.

Seeing Zhou Shaojin, Old Madam Guo beckoned her over with a smile and pointed to the woman, saying, “This is Madam Wang, wife of the second manager at the Hangzhou branch office. I’m afraid we’ll have to trouble Madam Wang with our food, clothing, and accommodations these next few days.”

Since they were temporarily staying here as strangers to the area, the Hangzhou branch office would, like the Ningbo branch office, send someone familiar with the local affairs to attend to them. Zhou Shaojin hadn’t expected the Hangzhou branch office to send the second manager’s wife.

She smiled and curtsied to Madam Wang, respectfully addressing her as “Madam Wang.”

Madam Wang quickly turned sideways, repeatedly saying “I wouldn’t dare,” while a flash of amazement and curiosity passed through her eyes as she looked at Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin pretended not to notice. After greeting Old Madam Guo, she stood properly behind her.

Madam Wang smiled and asked, “The evening meal is already prepared. Would you like it served now, or shall we wait until Fourth Master returns?”

Old Madam Guo turned to Zhou Shaojin, “Are you hungry?”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and shook her head, saying, “I ate many snacks this afternoon, so I’m still quite full!”

Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “Very well then. We’ll wait for Si Lang to return before having the meal served—as soon as he arrived, several managers who rushed over upon hearing the news surrounded him. Who knows when they’ll finish talking!”

Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, “Business matters are important! Why don’t I accompany you for a walk around the courtyard? When I came in, I noticed there seemed to be an artificial mountain and pond behind the courtyard. We could go take a look there.”

Old Madam Guo had napped all afternoon on the boat and was in good spirits. Hearing this, she smiled at Madam Wang and said, “Madam Wang, shall we all go for a walk together?”

Madam Wang naturally was delighted to accompany them.

The group went to the back of the courtyard.

Taihu stones had been piled into an artificial mountain. At the summit stood a red-lacquered hexagonal pavilion. Beside the mountain was a pond with several lotus plants. A pair of mandarin ducks swam leisurely in the lake.

Zhou Shaojin stared intently at the mandarin ducks.

Old Madam Guo laughed and said, “No wonder you’re curious. Our mansion keeps two cranes, but none of the households raise mandarin ducks. This is your first time seeing them, isn’t it?”

There were cranes at Jiuru Lane?

This was the first Zhou Shaojin had heard of it.

She nodded bashfully and said, “I’ve heard people say that if one mandarin duck dies, the other absolutely will not live alone. I wonder if that’s true or false?”

“It’s true!” Madam Wang said with a smile. “Previously this pond had two pairs of mandarin ducks. Later one died, and its mate refused food and died as well. Now only this pair remains.”

As they were talking, a school of koi fish swam over.

Madam Wang broke off a branch to tease the koi.

Perhaps because people often played with them this way, the koi weren’t shy at all, opening their mouths to nibble at the branch playfully.

Madam Wang instructed a young maid to break off a branch for Zhou Shaojin as well.

Zhou Shaojin felt this was something young maids should do and handed the branch to Chun Wan.

Chun Wan was quite clever and imitated Madam Wang’s manner of teasing the koi.

Zhou Shaojin and Old Madam Guo simply watched from the side.

Cheng Chi returned.

He asked with a smile, “What are you all gathered here for? I was wondering why there was no one in the hall!”

Zhou Shaojin stepped forward to greet Cheng Chi.

Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “We’ve been waiting for you to have the evening meal!”

Cheng Chi replied, “I never keep regular hours. Why wait for me? Are you afraid I’ll go hungry!” After speaking, he nodded at Madam Wang and said courteously, “We’ll trouble Madam Wang these next few days.”

Madam Wang apparently hadn’t expected Cheng Chi to treat her with such courtesy. Excited, she could barely speak properly, “Fourth Master flatters me. This, this is what I should be doing. I dare not accept Fourth Master’s word ‘trouble.'” She quickly asked, “Should the meal be served now?”

Cheng Chi looked toward Old Madam Guo.

Old Madam Guo glanced at Zhou Shaojin and said, “Let’s have the meal served. We only had some snacks on the boat this afternoon.”

Cheng Chi smiled and nodded, asking Madam Wang to serve the meal.

Madam Wang hurried off to make arrangements.

After Cheng Chi and the others began their meal, she went to the tea room to instruct the maids in preparing tea. Looking up, she saw a young girl dressed as a maid but adorned with gold and silver jewelry. The girl had an unfamiliar face, with eyes that sparkled with rippling light, naturally conveying a certain charm.

Someone of such quality was most likely a senior maid serving Old Madam Guo.

She quickly approached with a smile and asked, “Miss, is there something you need?”

“Nothing much,” Zhenzhu said with a smile. “Old Madam has been on the boat these past days. Second Young Miss is concerned that Old Madam might feel unwell, so these days she’s having Old Madam use Laojun Mei tea. She specifically sent me with the tea leaves to inform the sisters in the tea room.”

Madam Wang quickly said, “Rest assured, we’ve made note of it.”

Zhenzhu smiled her thanks and returned to the hall.

Cheng Chi was telling Old Madam Guo and Zhou Shaojin the arrangements for the coming days: “…The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth of the eighth month. Tomorrow we’ll first go into the city to look around. On the fifteenth, during the day there will be a temple fair at Lingyin Temple—we’ll go see that. In the evening we’ll go to Slender West Lake. I’ve had Qin Ziping arrange a pleasure boat where we can drink wine and admire the moon. Then we’ll go to Qiantang River to watch the tidal bore. We’ll depart for Jinling on the twentieth of the eighth month.”

Hearing this, Zhou Shaojin’s heart immediately felt like it held a little rabbit.

Admiring the moon on a pleasure boat at Slender West Lake…this was something she wouldn’t dare dream of even in her dreams.

If she could really go, she felt this rebirth wouldn’t have been in vain.

Old Madam Guo smiled and nodded, saying, “This will be my first time admiring the moon at Slender West Lake. It’s sure to be very interesting.”

Clearly, she was very satisfied with these arrangements.

Seeing his mother satisfied, Cheng Chi was naturally in good spirits. When the young maids brought in tea, he personally helped Old Madam Guo sit down in the adjacent rest room.

After drinking tea, Cheng Chi urged Zhou Shaojin and Old Madam Guo to rest, “We still need to go shopping in the streets early tomorrow morning.”

Old Madam Guo followed her son’s arrangements in everything, smiling and agreeing “Very well,” letting Zhou Shaojin help her back to the inner chamber.

Zhou Shaojin attended to Old Madam Guo as she washed up before leaving the inner chamber.

The maids and servants had all gone to rest. It was still a bit early for the night watch, so several pozis had gathered in the second courtyard waiting for the watch drum.

The courtyard was quiet and still.

Cheng Chi stood alone in the middle of the courtyard beneath the osmanthus tree, hands clasped behind his back.

Zhou Shaojin paused, thought for a moment, then walked over quietly on light feet.

But before she could approach, Cheng Chi had already turned around.

His features were handsome, his expression stern and cool. The moment he recognized who was approaching, that stern expression melted away like ice and snow, immediately becoming warm and gentle, “You’ve just come out from Old Madam’s room? Has Old Madam gone to sleep?”

Zhou Shaojin suspected she had seen incorrectly.

She smiled and said, “Old Madam should fall asleep very soon. Why is Uncle Chi standing here alone? Is something troubling you?”

“Nothing troubling me,” Cheng Chi said with a smile. “I was just looking at how well these two osmanthus trees are growing, so I stopped here for a moment.”

Zhou Shaojin couldn’t help but giggle, tilting her head to ask him, “Does Uncle Chi really think these two osmanthus trees are growing well?”

These two osmanthus trees were things others had curried favor with him using.

She felt Uncle Chi wasn’t the type of person who paid much attention to such matters.

Uncle Chi must be thinking about something else!

Cheng Chi looked at her bright, sparkling eyes, as if they were reflecting the stars in the summer sky, and couldn’t help but smile.

Who would have thought this little girl could be quite perceptive sometimes.

He asked, “Would you like me to accompany you shopping tomorrow?”

And then buy a whole pile of useless things?!

Zhou Shaojin quickly waved her hands, saying, “Didn’t Uncle Chi say he has business to attend to? You go ahead with your affairs. With Madam Wang accompanying us, we’re sure to buy things we like.”

Cheng Chi felt a slight itch in his heart.

This girl always had such an air of making a fuss over everything. It was quite amusing. Unfortunately, tomorrow he really did have serious business to attend to, otherwise teasing this little girl would make the day pass quickly.

He smiled and bid farewell to Zhou Shaojin.

Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief. Early the next morning, she sent someone to ask Ji Ying if she could join them shopping, and if not, whether there was anything she wanted them to bring back.

Ji Ying said she wanted to sleep, and if convenient, asked Zhou Shaojin to bring back some Xiong’s Jinhua crispy cakes.

Zhou Shaojin dressed herself anew and took a sedan chair with Old Madam Guo to the famous Qinghefang in Hangzhou.

After alighting from the sedan chair, she saw the streets crowded with people, shop signs swaying, no fewer than a hundred shops—selling silk, ready-made clothing, rouge and powder…even selling false hairpieces. It truly was as Cheng Chi had said, “only things you can think of, nothing you can’t buy”—everything was available.

Madam Wang asked, “What would Old Madam like to buy? I have shops I’m familiar with—I can take you directly there.”

Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “We’re just looking around casually. If we see something pleasing to the eye, we’ll take it back. Just lead us through the shops you’re familiar with.”

Madam Wang agreed and first took them to a silk and fabric shop.

The shop was doing brisk business. Young ladies and young wives were packed inside picking out fabrics. With five bays of storefront, over a dozen clerks couldn’t keep up. When the shopkeeper saw Madam Wang, he immediately left the abacus he was calculating and rushed forward, squeezing past those young ladies and wives to lead them to the courtyard at the back.

The courtyard had bluestone paving, spotted bamboo growing in the four corners, and grapevines overhead. Under the vines sat black-lacquered square tables and grand armchairs. Before they had even sat down, maids with dignified appearances brought over tea and refreshments.

Madam Wang briefly and clearly stated their purpose. The shopkeeper personally brought two clerks who carried over a large pile of fabrics. He pointed to one bolt of mud-gold colored brocade and said, “This came from Jiaxing, woven on the Du family’s looms. This year it was selected as tribute. We only got a few bolts because our proprietor and Master Du of the Du family are old family friends, kept specifically to take care of our regular customers.” He then pointed to a bolt of jade-green fabric and said, “This came from the Yangzhou area. To be honest, when it comes to weaving, if Hangzhou Prefecture claims second place, no one dares claim first. But when it comes to style, Yangzhou still has the newest designs…”