!【4500】
Ziyang blinked her beautiful eyes a few times and gave Qingdeng long, curious eyes. These eyes are very soft, as if they are caressing you.
Her pretty face was wrapped with a green scarf to protect her from the wind. The area from the root of her nose to her chin was completely covered, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
If she hadn't called out, Qingdeng, who was not very familiar with her, would not have been able to recognize her at a glance.
After a brief daze, Qingdeng came to his senses.
Now that we have met, there is no reason not to come up and say hello.
There are always one or two benches outside the teahouse shop for guests who come to rest - Ziyang is sitting here.
Qingdeng walked towards him in three steps and two steps at a time.
"Miss Ziyang, hush..."
Just as he had done to dissuade Dengshi just now, Qingdeng stretched out his right index finger, put it against his lips, and let out a "shush".
"I am currently conducting a private visit incognito, please don't reveal my identity."
After saying that, Qingdeng glanced around cautiously.
Fortunately, Fushimi, which was developed due to river transportation, is a fast-paced town.
Looking up, the pedestrians on the street are all walking in a hurry, running for their livelihood.
Everyone was busy doing their own thing, and the volume of Ziyang's voice just now was not loud, so it did not attract anyone's attention.
Qingdeng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this.
If his identity is exposed and passersby rush to watch him, then he will definitely not be able to stay in Fushimi any longer today.
"Ah, that's it...I'm sorry, I didn't think about it. Ren...ah, no...ummm..."
Ziyang fell silent and looked troubled - she was seriously thinking about the new name for Qingdeng.
Qingdeng made a timely rescue and said:
"Just call me 'Your Excellency'."
"Then...Your Excellency, please call me 'Miss Zi'!"
As she spoke, she flicked her eyelashes a few times, with a playful smile in her eyes.
"Like you, I am also traveling secretly!"
As she spoke, she pointed at the scarf on his face.
After Qingdeng heard this, he subconsciously swept his eyes and looked at the other person carefully from head to toe.
I saw that Ziyang was not wearing a geisha's overalls (gorgeous furisode + swinging sash), nor was she wearing a complicated headdress in her hair.
She only wore a green dress that was ordinary in both style and color.
The bright white belt lightly wraps around the willow waist.
Wear a fluttering silk scarf around your soft neck.
A pair of delicate little feet without socks were holding a pair of green buttoned flat-soled wooden clogs - this should be due to her professional habits. Geishas and wandering girls did not have the habit of wearing socks.
——Zanako likes to wear blue clothes, Awu likes to wear red clothes, Xiaosi likes to wear purple clothes, Tianzhangyuan likes to wear green clothes, Elodie likes to wear yellow clothes, Ziyang likes to wear green clothes...these beauties who love the country,
Why do you only like to wear one color of clothes?
Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but secretly laugh.
——Why is the most dignified beauty in Kyoto here?
With such doubts in mind, Qingteng took a big step and sat next to Ziyang - the seat on her right happened to be vacant - Kinoshita Mai followed suit and sat down, and she and Qingteng were shoulder to shoulder.
"Miss Ziyang, are you... taking a rest?"
Ziyang smiled:
"Yes! Because the weather is very good today, I went to the street to bask in the sun."
After saying that, she paused and then added:
"The work of a geisha is mainly concentrated at night, so I have quite a lot of free time before the sun goes down."
Qingden raised his eyebrows:
"If you're just here to bask in the sun, why do you need to come all the way to see me?"
Although Fushimi is located in the southern suburbs of Kyoto and is very close to Kyoto, a round trip between the two places takes at least 2 hours.
Zi Yang narrowed his eyes and smiled:
"This is my personal hobby."
"I just like to go to strange places that I rarely visit in my spare time to see, walk and hang out."
As she spoke, she stretched out her hands to support the stools on both sides of her body. Her two little feet swung back and forth like rowing boats, her toes raised and raised, and her pair of green clogs also swayed.
"Whenever I see the bustling scene of people coming and going, I feel happy in my heart."
As she spoke, she looked towards the street ahead.
Children playing around, peddlers and footmen carrying vegetables on their backs, women carrying vegetable baskets... all kinds of living things can be seen in his eyes.
Although she was wearing a hijab that covered her face tightly, Qingdeng could feel the smile flickering on her cheeks based on her eyes and the aura emanating from her body.
"Today, on a whim, I wanted to take a brief 'trip to Fushimi.'"
"Unexpectedly... when I was tired from walking and was about to rest in this tea house, I just looked up and saw you... What a wonderful fate."
Qingdeng laughed dumbly:
"It's really amazing."
As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something, a thoughtful look flashed across his cheeks.
After a while, he spoke quietly:
"Miss Zi, I want to ask you a... question that may be a bit abrupt. I wonder if you have time now?"
"Question? Okay, feel free to ask! I have plenty of time now. As long as it is a question that I can answer, I will tell you everything I know!"
As she spoke, she sat up straight, with her two catkins neatly stacked on her legs, and looked at Qingdeng with a smile.
This look in her eyes and her appearance make her look like a gentle, amiable and caring elder sister.
Although Ziyang's every move exuded pure kindness, a certain woman still became alert for a moment.
"..."
Mai Kinoshita, who was sitting on the right side of Aotomo, said nothing. She stretched out her left hand calmly and reached into Aotomo's right sleeve - Haori's sleeve was very wide, hiding her little hand - and grabbed it.
That rough right slap.
Looking from Ziyang's point of view, she couldn't notice her little move at all.
Qingden was stunned for a moment, then turned his head slightly and looked at Kinoshita Mai out of the corner of his eye.
She was puffing up her cheeks in an awkward manner, just like a cat's unhappy expression when claiming ownership of an item.
Seeing this, Qingdeng couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.
Although Kinoshita Mai's reaction was a little extreme, it was not that he couldn't understand her feelings.
It must be said that Ziyang's title of "the best geisha" is truly well deserved.
Even if she wears a hijab that covers most of her face and loses the blessing of her peerless beauty, she can still exude incredible charm.
Qingden silently turned his right wrist and adjusted the position of his right palm so that his right hand could be tightly clasped with Kinoshita Mai's left hand.
Because of the tricky angle and the obstruction of the haori sleeves, even Ziyang, who was very close to them, could not detect the pair of palms that were holding each other tightly.
After completing this small set of actions, Qingdeng cleared his throat and asked Ziyang word by word:
"Miss Zi, what kind of products can attract the attention of your geishas the most now? Or let me ask another question: What kind of products do you need most now?"
During the Edo period, geisha and wandering girls could be said to be the most fashion-savvy people.
The higher the level of geisha and geisha, the more they need to spend huge sums of money to maintain their glamorous image.
In order to retain customers, they think of new hairstyles and dressing styles in various ways.
It is no exaggeration to say that geisha and wandering girls were the fashion trendsetters of the Edo period!
Zi Yang, who is known as "the most beautiful woman in Kyoto" and "the best geisha in Gion", is equivalent to a popular actress in modern times.
A geisha of her level definitely knows the current fashion trends very well!
Her opinions may bring some inspiration to you!
Ziyang blinked and asked:
"Is it the product we geisha need most right now?"
"That's right."
Ziyang pondered, thinking seriously.
Er, she replied in a determined tone:
"The product we want most right now...it must be beautiful clothes!"
"As the saying goes, 'A man relies on his clothes and a horse relies on his saddle.'"
"Even an ordinary-looking woman can instantly look like a different person if she puts on decent and beautiful clothes!"
"For us geishas, clothes are the most important thing. Compared with it, jewelry and cosmetics are just the icing on the cake."
“If you don’t have good-looking clothes, no matter how gorgeous jewelry you put on, or the most gorgeous makeup, it’s just a useless effort.”
After Qingdeng heard this, he almost looked discouraged.
Although Ziyang's answer cannot be said to be better than nothing, it can also be said to be useless.
The clothing industry... or rather the cloth industry, has long been a "Red Ocean industry" where competition is fierce and people's brains are reduced to dog brains.
Putting aside the "giant" like Nishijin, which has a history of hundreds of years, the century-old brand alone is already countless, and there is no room for Qingto to intervene in it.
"Sir, why do you suddenly ask about this?"
Before he finished speaking, Zi Yang changed into a joking tone.
"Are you...wanting to give a gift to a certain geisha?"
Seito didn't want outsiders to know that the Shinsengumi general was worried about money.
So, he replied casually:
"Nothing, just asking casually."
At this time, a loud shout intervened in the conversation between the two:
"Your Majesty! Your glutinous rice balls are ready!"
Before the sound came, the person had already arrived - the tea house's hand placed a plate of steaming glutinous rice dumplings next to Ziyang's legs.
"Finally here!"
Looking at this plate of glutinous rice dumplings, Ziyang's eyes shone with excitement.
"Sir, let's eat together! There are exactly three skewers here! Just enough to share!"
After saying that, she took the lead in picking up one and couldn't wait to eat it. Her pretty face under the scarf suddenly bulged up into a small "meat bag".
Qingden happened to be a little hungry, so he was not polite, thanked him and started to eat directly.
After hesitating for a while, Kinoshita Mai also joined the ranks of "seating in a row and eating pills".
The meatballs are cooked very soft and very chewy.
Qingdeng chewed slowly, his mind wandering to the outer world unconsciously.
——It’s really tricky... In addition to clothing, cosmetics, and jewelry, what else are there that women particularly like?
Just when he was thinking about it... Suddenly, Ziyang suddenly said to Kinoshita Mai:
"Oops, miss, you got sauce on your face!"
"Huh? Really? Where?"
Kinoshita Mai handed the unfinished glutinous rice balls to her left hand and freed her right hand to touch her face up and down.
"it's here."
Saying that, Ziyang took out a small silver mirror from her arms and handed it to Kinoshita Mai so that she could find the location of the dirt more clearly.
Kinoshita Mai took the silver mirror and immediately looked at it with a look of surprise on her face.
"Wow, what a beautiful mirror, it can actually illuminate it so clearly...Silver mirrors like this are rare."
Ziyang smiled.
"This mirror was a gift from a distinguished guest. Because it was so expensive, I was too embarrassed to accept it at the time."
--Mirror?
Qingdeng's brows raised sharply.
"Miss Zi, can you let me see this mirror?"
Although Ziyang didn't understand why Qingdeng was suddenly interested in a mirror, she still nodded and said "Of course."
Qingden took the silver mirror from Kinoshita Mai's hand and played with it carefully, looking up and down.
"Miss Zi, in your opinion, if a silver mirror of this quality is put on the market, how much will it sell for?"
"This is a silver mirror imported from the West. It cannot be bought in the local market. If it were sold on the market... it would probably sell for 3,40 taels of gold at least."
Qingdeng's eyes narrowed.
"Silver mirror", "expensive", "illuminated very clearly"...these words danced in his mind like butterflies.
Immediately afterwards, he felt as if a bolt of lightning flashed across his eyes. The messy ball of wool that occupied his thoughts was combed straight one by one and arranged into neat and clear parallel lines.
"...Miss Zi."
While Qingdeng returned the silver mirror, he called out with an extremely solemn expression and an extremely solemn tone.
His sudden solemn attitude frightened Ziyang.
She stammered in response:
"I-I'm here! What's wrong?"
"Thank you... you helped me a lot! Ah Wu, let's go!"
Before he finished speaking, Qingdeng stood up, rushed out, and in the blink of an eye, he plunged into the crowd of people on the street.
His vigorous and resolute manner not only made Ziyang turn away, but also made Kinoshita Mai have no idea what to do.
The girl in red sat in her original position and was stunned for a moment before she came back to her senses and hurriedly "ejected" to catch up with Qingdeng.
"Qingdeng, where are we going?"
"I'll go to the market first, I want to buy some things, and then go directly back to the residence!"
"Buying something? Don't we have to keep looking for products that can make a lot of money?"
"No need! I already have the answer!"
Qingdeng grinned, and there was uncontrollable excitement in his cheeks.
…
…
"So...what's going on now?"
Ziyang tilted his head, his eyes following the smoke and dust kicked up by Qingden and Kinoshita Wu.
"Did he think of something important..."
After talking to herself, she smiled helplessly.
"What a difficult man to deal with..."
His intriguing eyes fell in the direction Qingdeng left.
The emotion contained in this gaze is difficult to grasp...
…
…
That night--
Kyoto, Mibu-go, Shinsengumi station, a certain secret room——
Qingdeng faced a big table with an excited and nervous expression.
I saw that the table was in a mess, with all kinds of things placed on it.
Water, sugar water, salt, large and small bowls and jars...
In 1835, the German chemist Liebig invented the chemical silver plating method, which really made glass mirrors popular.
The shiny thing on the back of this kind of mirror is a thin layer of silver. This layer of silver is not painted on, nor is it electroplated. Instead, it uses a special and interesting chemical reaction - the "silver mirror reaction"
"Plated.
It is made by adding some ammonium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide to the silver nitrate solution, and then adding a little glucose solution.
Because glucose has reducing properties, it can reduce the silver ions in silver nitrate into metallic silver particles. These silver particles are deposited on the glass to make a silver mirror.
In order to enhance the durability of the mirror, a layer of red protective paint is usually painted on the silver layer after silver plating, so that the silver layer is not easy to fall off and be damaged.
The above is how to make a silver mirror.
Although it is difficult, Qing Teng vows to recreate the "silver mirror reaction" with these junk gadgets at hand!
As long as it succeeds...then the financial problems of the Shinsengumi will be solved!
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Leopard is terrible at science, and his high school physics and chemistry test scores have never been higher than 30 points, so I don't know if RB Bakumatsu's scientific level can reproduce the "silver mirror reaction".
Just make do with it~ (Baohan)
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This chapter has been completed!