"It's almost noon, and all the invited guests should have arrived. I have arranged for the servants to hold a banquet in the hall downstairs. The common people will introduce the young talents of Black Earth City to the Crown Prince."
? .
The hall downstairs is already very lively.
More than a dozen boys and girls, ranging in age from thirteen to sixteen, were already sitting in the hall, most of whom Ding Kui knew.
When Nie Ling saw Ding Kui coming downstairs, she walked over first, bowed and said, "I misunderstood the prince last time. I was reckless. I hope the prince will not take it to heart."
"Haha, the situation was special at that time. It's not that Senior Nie was reckless. What's terrible is that we didn't catch the peeping thief. If I encounter him again, I will definitely catch him." Ding Kui was in a happy mood when he saw the long-legged beauty again.
"Junior brother, it turns out you have been here a long time ago." Another beautiful girl approached Ding Kui.
Ding Kui took a closer look and found that it was senior sister Lin Bi.
Lin Bi is two years older than Ding Kui. She is very pretty, but her face is a bit long. She is taller than Ding Kui, but standing next to Nie Ling, she is not so conspicuous.
"We haven't seen you for a few months. Senior sister, you have become so much more beautiful that I can't even recognize you." Ding Kui was even happier to see his fellow student Ding Kui.
"Junior brother, please stop teasing me. Junior sister said that you won't go back to see her, leave her to train hard by herself, and come here to play. If you don't bring a gift next time, she will ignore you." Lin Bi.
His face turned slightly red.
Among Ding Kui's former classmates, Lin Bi was the youngest girl. The only ones she could call her junior sister were Ding Kui's little tail and Lu Ying, the beloved daughter of Baron Lu Ji.
"This Apple, I really miss her a little bit." Ding Kui thought of the chubby little girl.
Roger, Han Rui and Shuiyu also gathered around at this time.
Not everyone came forward to say hello to Ding Kui. Gong Lei, Bu Dun and Sun Ting were sitting in a corner, embarrassed to come forward because of what happened before.
Dou Ning, the son of the director of the Public Security Department, sat quietly aside and ignored everyone.
There were also two young men whom Ding Kui didn't know. They were separated by others. They wanted to come forward but were a little afraid, so they stood on the outside.
Ding Kui glanced at the two teenagers and then looked back at Shi Heng. Shi Heng motioned to his daughter to bring the two men over.
The person wearing a blue and white gown is Xie Kuan, the son of Xie Hui, the largest grain merchant in Black Earth City, and the young man in colorful clothes and brocade robes is Yu Shuang, the son of Yu Ji, the shopkeeper of the bank.
Shi Heng pointed to the corner where Gong Lei and the others were sitting and said, "That's over there..."
"I've met some of them before, so I won't bother my uncle to introduce them." Ding Kui interrupted Shi Heng.
Shi Heng looked at the expressions of Gong Lei and others, and seemed to understand something. He smiled and said: "Okay, everyone here knows each other, and I, an old guy, won't be an eyesore here. You guys sit here for a while, servants."
The food will be served soon.”
After saying that, Shi Heng left the hall. This party was actually held for the younger generation of the powerful people in Black Earth City. To put it bluntly, these powerful people wanted to have a relationship with Ding Kui and sent their children who were similar in age to Ding Kui.
Originally, the city lord Lei Gae asked Red to come, but Red did not have a good relationship with Ding Kui and did not want to see Ding Kui steal the limelight, so he pretended to be sick and hid at home.
These young people have been together since they were young, and they have left behind a certain friendship, which will help them support each other when they grow up, and they can always fight as a team against outsiders. This is something that all local nobles attach great importance to.
Ding Kui didn't like hanging out with this group of boys and girls. He really couldn't find any common hobbies or common topics to talk about.
However, he knew that no matter where in human society, things like interpersonal relationships were very important. He worked hard and chatted with everyone, leaving a gentle and polite impression on everyone.
After everyone was taken care of, Ding Kui pretended to go to the toilet and left the Guanhu Building lobby with Lao Qiantou.
After asking several servants, Ding Kui found Shi Heng.
"Uncle, in addition to enjoying the scenery of Wanfang Garden this time, I also have some things I want to talk to my uncle about." Ding Kui raised his eyebrows as he spoke.
Shi Heng had been in business for many years and was a thorough man. He immediately invited Ding Kui and Lao Qiantou to a remote pavilion. He dismissed all the servants and personally made Ding Kui a cup of tea. He asked curiously and expectantly: "
Isn’t it the prince? What do you want to tell Shi?”
Ding Kui looked around, then looked into Shi Heng's eyes and said, "I want to discuss a business deal with you."
Shi Heng's eyes lit up, and at the same time a complex expression of anxiety, excitement and surprise flashed through his eyes. He asked: "I wonder what kind of business the prince wants to do? What do you like about our Shi family?"
Very few nobles would go into business. They had the output of the territory and the taxes paid by their subjects. Especially the nobles with the inheritance of knights. They only focused on the training of knights, and no one would want to do business.
"I want to cooperate with you to start a magazine." Ding Kui said straight to the point.
Shi Heng and Lao Qiantou, who was standing behind Ding Kui, were dumbfounded when they heard this.
Magazine? What the hell is this?
"Shi is ashamed, what is this 'magazine'? What kind of business does it do?" Shi Heng couldn't find the word "magazine" in his mind.
Ding Kui was not surprised at all by the reactions of Shi Heng and Lao Qiantou. If these two people could understand, he would be the one who was dumbfounded.
"The 'magazine house' is similar to the 'book printing bureau'. Simply put, it prints books and specializes in printing books like 'magazines'.
‘Magazines’ are gossips and rumors, which tell anecdotes that are of interest to everyone, especially the affairs of some well-known people.
For example, what do I look like, what color clothes do I like to wear, and what kind of food do I like to eat.
Another example is that boss Gao of the pawn shop fell in love with whose daughter-in-law, whose wife he had an affair with, etc." Ding Kui explained briefly.
Shi Heng seemed to understand. He picked up the tea cup, held the lid with two fingers, and gently stirred the tea leaves floating on the water, his mind racing rapidly.
Ding Kui wasn't in a hurry, he sat on the chair and looked at Shi Heng quietly.
After a while, Shi Heng seemed to have straightened out some of his thoughts and asked: "Who is this 'magazine' sold to? How many words does it have? How many copies are printed at a time? Where do these news and rumors come from?"
Shi Heng quickly grasped the key points and asked a series of questions.
"The wealthy households in Black Earth City have a 'magazine' with tens of thousands of words. They only need to print 500 copies at a time in the early stage. They hire special people to find out the news. Such people are called 'journalists'." Ding Kui was confident and answered one by one.
Shi Heng's question.
When he heard the word "reporter", Old Qiantou's eyes flashed. He couldn't understand other things, but he was very familiar with people who specialize in inquiring about information.
He had been in charge of the secret service in Lu State for many years and was very sensitive to this aspect. He seemed to understand what Ding Kui meant at once.