Cheng Chi had been cooped up in the cabin with Old Master Song doing calculations, and Old Madam Guo hadn’t had a proper conversation with her son for quite some time. When she heard that Cheng Chi was requesting an audience, she was naturally delighted, repeatedly calling out “Quickly invite Fourth Master in, invite him in.”
Madam Song withdrew to the inner chamber.
Zhou Shaojin’s eyes flickered slightly as she hid behind Old Madam Guo.
But Cheng Chi still spotted Zhou Shaojin the moment he entered.
She was wearing a peach-colored vest for once, trimmed with green checkered brocade borders that made her skin appear snow-white, graceful and gentle.
Cheng Chi couldn’t help but smile slightly as he paid his respects to his mother.
Old Madam Guo gestured to the brocade stool beside her, indicating that Cheng Chi should sit, and asked him warmly, “Have you finished all those calculations?”
Cheng Chi said with a smile, “Old Master Song and I are calculating the spring water flows of the Fuchun River and Qiantang River over the past ten years, hoping to find a pattern and roughly determine which years and months will have droughts or floods.”
“This is an excellent endeavor!” Old Madam Guo was very supportive and said, “Have you calculated any results? Should we invite Old Master Song to stay at our home for a while? Master Song worries that Old Master Song is lonely by himself in his hometown. I think if he knew that Old Master Song and you share the same aspirations, he would surely agree.”
“We haven’t made much progress,” Cheng Chi said with a smile. “The capital is filled with great scholars, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory, Liu Qi, also has some real knowledge. Old Master Song wants to go to the capital to consult these people. I also feel this matter is difficult for just the two of us to achieve results, so we’ve agreed that when Master Song makes some progress, I’ll make another trip to the capital. It wouldn’t be appropriate to invite Old Master Song to stay at our home for now.”
“All good!” As long as her son was happy, Old Madam Guo smiled and said, “I’ve heard that the Ministry of Works also has many talented people. Your elder brother came from the Ministry of Works, and the brother-in-law of Prefect Wu of Jinling currently serves as a Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Works. The father-in-law of Prefect Gao of Zhenjiang is even the Minister of Works and Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Hall… Should your brother personally accompany you on this trip?”
Cheng Chi knew his mother had been feeling troubled these past few years and was trying every way to compensate him. He humored his mother cheerfully, saying, “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I really wouldn’t have thought of it! If Old Master Song doesn’t make any progress on his end, I’ll ask you to help smooth things over for me.”
“You just know how to humor me,” Old Madam Guo said with mock reproach, pointing at her son with a smile. “Isn’t that Prefect Gao a good friend of yours? Last time you did him such a great favor, I see he’s been looking for an opportunity to repay that debt. If you went to find him, even if he doesn’t personally accompany you to the capital, he’d probably send his secretary to accompany you to meet his father-in-law.”
Cheng Chi was somewhat surprised.
His maternal family ran an academy and had a reputation for loyalty and righteousness, so naturally his mother knew many people. But his mother had never been the type to show off. Why had she suddenly changed her nature?
Cheng Chi recalled that before he came, a maid had told him that Madam Song was talking with his mother, and he immediately understood his mother’s intention.
Mother was putting Madam Song in her place!
She was telling Madam Song that not only did the Cheng family have deep roots, but their students and old friends were spread throughout the court and beyond. Whatever they wanted to do, they could find connections; whatever they wanted to accomplish wouldn’t be difficult.
He couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
Mother must have heard his assessment of Yuan Weichang and Song Jingran and was afraid that his elder brother would single-mindedly follow Yuan Weichang, causing him to suffer, so she decided to find him a supporter in the court…
Cheng Chi then glanced up at Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin was baffled.
She had made up her mind to let Cheng Chi grow closer to the Song family, but what did his and Old Master Song’s interest in river works have to do with her?
Zhou Shaojin stared wide-eyed at Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi barely managed to restrain himself from showing a disdainful look.
This little girl actually dared to glare at him!
If she hadn’t taken it upon herself to bring up Old Master Song’s desire to travel with them to his mother, would his mother be speaking in such a disjointed manner?
How on earth had she managed to gain a foothold by his mother’s side!
Cheng Chi pondered this inwardly, not sparing Zhou Shaojin another glance, and said to his mother with a smile, “We’ll be arriving at Changzhou dock shortly. Didn’t you say before that you wanted to buy some Changzhou combs to bring back? Old Master Song and I still have some numbers to calculate, so I’m afraid we won’t have time to accompany you shopping. How many combs do you want to buy? I’ll have Qin Ziping go buy them.”
Zhou Shaojin immediately became anxious.
When Cheng Chi had competed to pay for her purchases in Hangzhou Prefecture, she had felt too embarrassed and hurriedly bought just a few sets of combs before returning. Only after she got back did she realize those combs were suitable as gifts for Azhu and Cheng Jia, but not appropriate for her widowed grandmother. She had thought that since Changzhou combs were famous throughout the realm and most shops in Jiangnan sold them, she could buy the combs for her grandmother when they reached Suzhou Prefecture. Suzhou was also a very prosperous city, supposedly no worse than Hangzhou Prefecture. But then Cheng Chi became absorbed in his calculations, and when the boat stopped at Suzhou Prefecture, he didn’t arrange for them to enter the city at all. So she thought she could buy them in Wuxi just as well. But when the boat stopped in Wuxi Prefecture, they only stayed overnight before leaving. She had been counting on buying them in Changzhou… Now Cheng Chi also didn’t plan to linger in Changzhou, and he only asked Old Madam Guo how many combs she wanted to bring. What about the combs she had promised her sister and eldest aunt? She couldn’t very well ask Old Madam Guo to spare her a few, could she? Of course, the best solution would be to have Qin Ziping buy a few for her as well, but that would require Cheng Chi’s agreement!
So she stared fixedly at Cheng Chi.
But Cheng Chi acted as if he hadn’t seen her, his gaze entirely focused on Old Madam Guo.
What’s more, she had previously stood behind Old Madam Guo specifically to avoid Cheng Chi, fearing he might still harbor resentment about her bringing up Old Master Song’s desire to travel with them to Old Madam Guo. Now even if she wanted Old Madam Guo to notice her distress and shift the conversation to buying combs, it was impossible…
She could only hope that after Old Madam Guo agreed, she could speak to Qin Ziping about it.
But Old Madam Guo said, “I already bought several combs in Hangzhou Prefecture. If you have matters to attend to, go ahead and be busy. You don’t need to specially accompany me shopping.”
Hearing this, Cheng Chi stood up and said with a smile, “Very well then! If you need anything, just give your orders to Qin Ziping. We’ll depart for Zhenjiang tomorrow morning.”
Old Madam Guo nodded with a smile.
Cheng Chi left the cabin.
Madam Song emerged from the inner chamber, looking at Old Madam Guo with different eyes.
She said somewhat probingly, “I didn’t expect Fourth Master to be so familiar with Grand Secretary Qu’s son-in-law. Why hasn’t Fourth Master taken on some river works projects?”
“Those are all matters of the people’s livelihood,” Old Madam Guo said with a smile. “To profit from them troubles the conscience; not to profit would still earn a bad reputation. Better not to get involved! Besides, our Cheng family doesn’t lack that money.”
“Your insight is truly far-reaching,” Madam Song flattered Old Madam Guo.
But Zhou Shaojin was somewhat distracted.
Should she just give only that string of one hundred and eight red coral prayer beads to her grandmother?
But she was planning to give the pearl hairpin to her sister and the hairpin to her eldest aunt… Everyone would get red coral jewelry plus a set of combs, but grandmother wouldn’t have any. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to give only the coral jewelry to her sister and eldest aunt without the combs… But she had already promised her sister, and she had brought back several sets of combs… It seemed she could only choose one set with a relatively plain design from these combs.
Zhou Shaojin pondered this for a long time in her heart. As soon as she left Old Madam Guo’s quarters, she rushed straight to her own cabin and called for Chun Wan to bring out everything she had bought for everyone on this trip. She rearranged them left and right but couldn’t find a way to make it work.
Could the only option be to seek help from Qin Ziping?
Zhou Shaojin went to Ji Ying’s quarters.
Ji Ying wasn’t there.
Nanny Shang told her, “Fourth Master wanted to eat Liyang braised liver, so Manager Qin took Miss Ji Ying to buy some!”
Weren’t they in Changzhou?
Why eat Liyang braised liver?
Besides, what even was this braised liver?
Just from the sound of it, it was some kind of organ meat. How could he eat such things?
Wasn’t he afraid of getting an upset stomach!
And he had sent Qin Ziping away too.
She couldn’t even find someone to help her…
Zhou Shaojin grumbled inwardly.
Nanny Shang said with a smile, “Does Second Cousin Miss have something urgent for Miss Ji Ying? If it’s very urgent, you might come back in a while. Manager Qin said the place selling Liyang braised liver is quite far from the dock. Manager Qin only heard there was a place selling it, and whether it’s actually there still needs to be confirmed when they arrive. If it’s not very urgent, you might as well come find Miss Ji Ying early tomorrow morning—she’ll definitely be here then.”
Zhou Shaojin said listlessly, “Never mind, I’ll think of another solution!”
Nanny Shang then said, “Old Master Song was called away by Young Master Huang. Fourth Master is idle right now, tidying up those manuscripts! Why don’t you go talk to Fourth Master?”
Go ask Uncle Chi for help!
Would he settle accounts with her?
Zhou Shaojin hesitated, then heard Nanny Shang continue, “Isn’t Young Master Song with you today? I see he likes you best, Second Cousin Miss, always clinging to you to play together. We all say this is truly children liking children. It’s fortunate that Second Cousin Miss has such a good temperament. Otherwise, with any other young lady, who would have the patience to always keep him company…”
What did she mean by “children liking children”?
Zhou Shaojin felt slightly displeased hearing this, but as the thought flashed by, she suddenly had an idea.
That’s right!
How had she forgotten—she was still an un-capped young girl. So what if she acted unreasonably demanding? At worst, people would say she was “spoiled and willful.” But as long as nine out of ten things she did were obedient and sensible, and only one thing was willful, people would just think her temper had flared up, not that she had a defective character.
This was the method her sister had told her after she married into the Lin family, to minimize contact with those relatives—on small matters, just go along with them; on big matters, absolutely cannot yield.
She had successfully moved to the estate in Daxing precisely by following her sister’s advice and insisting once.
Looking at it now, this principle was universally applicable!
Zhou Shaojin’s eyes shifted, and after hastily exchanging a few words with Nanny Shang, she hurried to Cheng Chi’s cabin.
Cheng Chi was clearing out all the discarded calculation papers, preparing to have Qingfeng burn them, when Zhou Shaojin swept in like a gust of wind without announcing herself: “Uncle Chi, I have something to tell you!”
This little girl had finally come!
If he didn’t teach her a proper lesson, she would probably continue making decisions about his affairs on her own!
Cheng Chi said with a smile, “What’s so urgent? Sit down and tell me!”