In the blink of an eye, a few days have passed and more than a week has passed.
That evening, Zhang Mei returned home carrying a vegetable basket and humming a tune softly.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Zhuo Yan and her children weaving bamboo baskets under the eaves. She smiled and said, "Master, why did you come back so early today?"
"Well, the work on the construction site ended early today, so I came back early."
While talking, Zhuo Yan saw the unstoppable smile on Zhang Mei's face and asked with some confusion.
"What's wrong? The market has reduced prices today? Does it make you so happy?"
"The price reduction is ridiculous! The tofu has increased by 3 molars today!"
"Then what are you so happy about?"
This simple question and answer made Zhuo Yan even more curious, and he even stopped what he was doing.
After being married for many years, and now even the child is over three years old, he still knows what his mother-in-law is like.
No matter how much the price of food ingredients goes up when shopping for groceries, I will always feel unhappy, but looking at the situation now, I don’t seem to be angry at all.
"Did you pick up Maura when you went out today?"
"That's not true."
First shaking her head in denial, Zhang Mei went to the kitchen to put the vegetable basket away, then happily returned to the eaves and stood next to Zhuo Yan, saying with a smile.
"Today I met my brother when I went shopping for groceries. Guess what? You still remember Mr. Ouyang, the head of the noble family who lived in Yujingtai five years ago, right? He has been promoted now and has become a seven-star! Now is the day
Lord Shuxing!"
"No, I've become a Seven Star, why are you happy here?"
"Of course I should be happy. Having said that, how can you, a man who runs outside all day long, be worse than me, a woman who stays at home? There is no news at all.
If I hadn't heard my brother say it today,
I didn’t know that Mr. Ouyang did two practical things for the people of Liyue just after he took office!"
Although he said that his man was ill-informed, he took the half-woven bamboo basket from Zhuo Yan's hand and continued to weave it.
"Let me tell you, Lord Ouyang helped Prince Yan seal the disaster in the Layeryan Abyss as soon as he took office as Qixing, and saved many people. I heard from my brother that at least tens of thousands of them were saved!"
Seeing that his wife's interest in chatting was obviously aroused, Zhuo Yan felt a little toothache. He suddenly recalled that his mother-in-law was also like this five years ago when the leader of the Xuanmen, Lao Shizi, framed your family.
Am I your man or is he your man?
It was a bit unsettling, but Zhuo Yan still asked honestly: "This is one thing, what about the other one?"
"Another one? The other one is even more powerful!"
Glancing at Zhuo Yan, Zhang Mei's expression was dancing and she continued with an exaggerated expression.
"My brother said, isn't the Strata Rock Abyss sealed? Then the price of the ore will definitely increase, and if the price of the ore increases, then the price of other daily necessities in Liyue Port will definitely increase as well!
At that time, how can we, the common people, survive?
But Mr. Ouyang is unusual. He asked people from Huishan Hall to purchase all the ores on the market in advance.
What kind of purchase restrictions or other methods were used to stabilize prices?
You see, after so many days, the vegetables in this vegetable market have not increased much. Today, the price of tofu has increased by 3 molars.
Do you think this is a big deal?"
"Yes Yes Yes..."
Zhuo Yan nodded like a fool, looking at Zhang Mei who was very proud and had no temper at all.
He also heard that the other party's words were scolding him for arguing with her at home about whether to stock up on vegetables a few days ago.
Although the news that the Strata Rock Abyss was sealed was announced at the beginning, the specific situation only came out later.
A lot of speculation and panic also slowly fermented.
At first, the people were just a source of conversation. Except for someone in their family who worked as a miner in the Rock Abyss, no one else thought that this incident would affect them.
Later, after learning that Qixing had rescued more than 800,000 miners, the people no longer felt anything was wrong.
But slowly and from nowhere, word came out that there were more than 800,000 miners gathered in the suburbs of Lisha. People ate what horses chewed. How much food was consumed?
As word spread, it turned into panic. Although the situation was explained immediately on the bulletin board, Zhuo Yan still felt uneasy at that time. Seeing that some people had gone to stock up on groceries, he wanted to come back and discuss it with his wife.
The result was a good argument, not a quarrel, but it just didn't look good on the face.
Zhang Mei's conclusion at that time was very clear: I go shopping for vegetables every day, and I haven't seen anyone increase prices in the past few days. The people in Yinyuan Hall are guarding the vegetable market every day, so why are they anxious?
Now it seems that Zhang Mei's conclusion is still correct, so now he pretends not to see the other party's pointed look, which is considered as acknowledgment that he is stupid.
"So what, what did you buy today? I'm going to work in the kitchen."
Holding a piece of cloth and wiping his hands, Zhuo Yan prepared to get up and leave.
But Zhang Mei would not let him go.
Zhang Mei glanced at him again and said proudly.
"What can you do in the kitchen? Can you still cook? Let me tell you, when I came back and passed by the alley, the boss of the Wang family was sitting at the gate crying!"
"Why is he crying? His home was robbed?"
"Why are you still crying? Didn't you clamor to stock up on vegetables some time ago? The boss of the Wang family has stocked up a lot, and now he sees that the vegetables are almost rotten and the price has not increased, so he is crying because of the loss."
"This... okay, okay, everything you said is right, okay? Can you spare me?"
After circling for a long time, they finally came back, and Zhuo Yan surrendered directly.
"Hmph, in all these years, the Seven Stars have never treated us badly. Besides, Emperor Yan is still here! I see, now that Mr. Ouyang has become the Seven Stars, our lives will be better in the future. But that's
What a good man!"
Seeing that Zhuo Yan surrendered, Zhang Mei stopped pressing him and after saying a few more words, he let the matter go.
On the Qunyu Pavilion.
Three little secretaries are busy.
On the intelligence wall, the latest reports that have been verified are posted on it.
Ship arrangements, profit and loss status of each shop, warehouse storage, road security...etc. are densely covered on the entire wall.
Bai Xiao came to the wall with the latest information, ready to post it.
But when I passed Baishi, I was pulled silently.
Um?
Because he was at work, Bai Xiao didn't say anything, but just gave the other party a puzzled look, which meant clearly - what are you doing?
Unexpectedly, Baishi looked around carefully and found that no one was nearby, neither the guard nor the cleaner was nearby, so he leaned into Baixiao's ear and asked softly.
"Bai Xiao, have you noticed that something is wrong with Lord Ningguang these days?"
"No."
Bai Xiao, who also answered in a low voice, looked around a few times and saw that there were only three of them left here before continuing to ask.
"What's wrong? I don't think there's anything wrong?"
"Baiwen said that she felt that Master Ningguang has been acting strange these days, so I came to ask you."
A hundred stories?
Upon hearing this, Bai Xiao looked at Bai Wen who had already raised his head and looked up.
The two looked at each other,
Then the three people, who had a tacit understanding of each other, moved naturally and carefully to encircle the city.
Started chatting.
"Bai Xiao, didn't you notice it too?"
"I don't think there's anything wrong? Isn't it always good?"
"Don't you two wonder why Master Ningguang has been running to the platform to rest recently?"
Um???
Hearing what Baiwen said, Baishi and Baixiao became even more confused. Lord Ningguang is so busy every day, isn't it normal to take time out to rest?
The three of them have been secretaries with Ningguang for many years, and they have a thorough understanding of Ningguang's character and hobbies.
We also understand Ningguang's habit of walking around the Qunyu Pavilion and sitting in the corridor overlooking the scenery of Liyue Harbor to decompress after being tired from work.
Moreover, it has been a troubled time in Liyue Port recently. Ningguang has to meet a lot of foreign businessmen and envoys every day.
In addition, it is necessary to go through various information on this intelligence wall and think about countermeasures overall, which naturally consumes more mental energy.
Therefore, although the rate of light-concentrating rest is higher these days, it is not to the point where it needs to be suspected, right?
Thinking of this, Bai Xiao asked doubtfully.
"Master Ningguang has been so busy recently, isn't it normal for him to want to take a break? Is there anything strange about this?"
"But..."
As soon as the conversation started, Baiwen realized that the voice was still too high, and he looked around guiltily before whispering his guess.
"But don't you think that Master Ningguang has taken a break recently and only stayed on the platform of Qunyu Pavilion?"
"Is there something wrong with this?"
"Oh, what's wrong with you? Why is that shrewd look you usually have when verifying information completely gone?"
Baishiyibaiwen suddenly dismissed people without mentioning the key points, and whispered angrily.
"Stop being so pretentious, just tell me!"
"Isn't it written in the intelligence? Master Ouyang has been training the Qianyan Army on the playground recently!
It's not far below our Qunyu Pavilion, and you can see it clearly from the platform!
Do I need to say more about my guess?"
!!!
As soon as these words came out, Baishi and Baixiao were stunned for an instant!
The two of them covered their mouths with their hands, looked at each other with wide eyes, and then looked at Baiwen. Although Baiwen didn't speak, the look of certainty on their faces already answered the surprise in their hearts.
After a while, Baishi was the first to speak.
"Isn't this impossible? Baiwen, are you just imagining it? Although Lord Ningguang is special to Lord Ouyang, it's not to the extent you said, right?"
Before Baiwen could explain, Baixiao reacted and said hesitantly: "Uh... what Baiwen said may be true..."
Um?
Bai Xiao thought for a while and said uncertainly before the two of them asked.
"When Lord Ningguang and Captain Beidou discussed cooperation for the second time, I saw Lord Ningguang looking in the direction of Yujingtai in a daze after the meeting.
Although I felt strange that time, I didn't take it seriously. I just thought the adults were thinking about things.
But two days ago, when I went to the platform to meet you, I found that Master Ningguang was indeed looking down at Liyue Harbor with his head down. Now combined with Baiwen's guess,
I think that might be the case.”
!!!
This time it was Baishi and Baiwen's turn to be surprised.
Unlike Baishi who was simply surprised, Baiwen was really shocked.
I was just guessing, but now there is even side evidence?!
"So...what is really going on between Master Ningguang and Master Ouyang?"
"Although I think there must be something, it's really hard to guess this. Everything doesn't look very familiar, right?
The notes sent by Mr. Ouyang recently are very formal, even business-like, and they don't look like they have a good relationship at all."
"this..."
Just when Bai Xiao and Bai Wen were unsure, Bai Shi interrupted them in a low voice, and then whispered his guess.
"You see, Master Ouyang and Master Ningguang had a very good relationship for a period of time five years ago. This is certain.
But now it seems like everything is business-like. Do you think there was a conflict between them at some point?"
"It seems that this is the only way to explain it."
"So Lord Ningguang is secretly feeling sad when he peeks at Lord Ouyang on the platform of Qunyu Pavilion every day?"
"If you are really secretly sad...then the rumors from five years ago...are they true?!"
Wow!!!
This time all three of them covered their mouths, and even Baiwen, who spoke last, was shocked by his guess.
The so-called rumor from five years ago was news that was only spread within a small area. It was also news that they always thought was true but had no definite evidence.
Five years ago, Ningguang stayed at your home for several days. There were many rumors spread at that time, and knowing some inside stories, they believed in another guess.
Ningguang was impressed by Mr. Ouyang's talent, so something really happened between them in those few days.
However, there is no empirical evidence for this speculation, and there is a lot of side evidence.
For example, even now, Ningguang still hangs the poem "Looking at the Mountains" in the most conspicuous place in her office.
For example, after that, Ningguang has always been more concerned about Ouyang's news. The three of them can clearly feel this.
For another example, this current guess...
After the atmosphere was quiet for a while, Baiwen said hesitantly: "If...if there is really a conflict between them, should we find a way to help?"
Snapped--
Baixiao patted Baiwen's head gently and glared at Baishi who was eager to try.
"Damn it, is it our responsibility to take care of your business? Okay, let's finish the work quickly. There are still a lot of things to put on, which Master Ningguang will use later."
After saying that, the three of them looked at each other again, which was the end of this gossip.
On the platform of Qunyu Pavilion, just as the three secretaries said, their eyes were staring in the direction of the playground in trance.
Unlike what the secretaries had guessed, she was not secretly sad, but thinking about Ouyang's plan.
To put it simply, it is learning.
With the collection of intelligence bit by bit these days, the outline of the crisis resolution has slowly emerged.
Although she was convinced from the beginning that Ouyang's method was much better than hers, with the development of the situation, Ning Guang can now see more clearly.
Everything was just as Ouyang said at the meeting,
Work piece by piece, step by step, grasp the core points, lay out bit by bit, start from the bottom, like cutting sausages, cut off bit by bit, quietly reducing the economic crisis that will sweep Liyue.
to the lowest point.
Later, due to the seal of the layered rock abyss, the price of ore would inevitably increase. Her mentality was very good.
Different from Ouyang's relatively pessimistic expectations, Ningguang felt that the current result was already the best.
The lives of ordinary people have not suffered violent shocks. Although they will still be affected by the increase in ore prices, they have reached this point and gradually turned the shocking waves into small waves.
What more could you ask for?
As for the price spent now, the massive amount of mola that was consumed in the Golden House?
She doesn't care about this!
In her opinion, even the emperor would not care about spending mola to save more lives.
The reason is very simple. If the emperor felt that this was not possible, he would have stopped it long ago in the face of such a big matter.
Even if he doesn't show up, Gan Yu will stop him.
Liyue’s history proves that
In Liyue,
In the face of great right and wrong,
The emperor will never be ambiguous.
So she reviewed all Ouyang's arrangements in her mind, hoping to learn something from them that would be helpful to her.
But Ning Guang, who was thinking like this, didn't realize that in her heart, her treatment of Ouyang had quietly changed from being unconvinced at the beginning to now that she was studying.
On the playground, in the military camp.
Ouyang is very glad these days that he found a reason to detain Xingqiu and Chongyun to help.
He didn't expect that Ningguang would be so busy that he now had to deal with all aspects of Liyue's affairs. Even Gan Yu had temporarily set up an office next to his military tent.
Of course, things don't require him to make decisions, but there are a lot of things that require Qixing's signature to proceed.
According to Gan Yu, Ningguang is so busy now that he has not even left Qunyu Pavilion. He has been working 24 hours a day.
Therefore, Ouyang was forced to sign various documents.
He still didn't know that the reason for this was that Ningguang wanted to know more about him, so he found a reason to blame Ouyang.
"Why does the Dew Hall come here every day to urge the opening of the giant abyss of stratiform rock? Don't they know where the seal is placed?"
Ouyang, who was already a little irritable, saw another report from Shenglu Hall asking for the opening of the Strata Rock Abyss, and asked Gan Yu angrily.
"I've gone back twice, why are you still coming today?"
"There is nothing that Shenglu Hall can do. The colored glaze industry really needs the materials from the Strata Rock Abyss, otherwise we won't be able to make those exquisite colorful colored glazes."
"Is there such a rush? Am I the Seven Stars or is he the Seven Stars?
Are they teaching me how to do things?”
Obviously, Ouyang was so upset that he couldn't stop talking.
Of course he knows the importance of the Strata Abyss. Not only colored glaze, but many porcelains also require materials there.
But does this mean that it is open?
Seeing that Ouyang was still angry, Gan Yu smiled softly and pretended that he had not heard what he just said.
She turned around and took out a document at hand, smiled and said to Ouyang: "Then take a look at this first, it's from Keqing."
Um?
Glancing at Gan Yu suspiciously, Ouyang took it.
It is said to be a document, but it is actually a simple report.
These days, Keqing has arranged for the remaining hundreds of thousands of miners to return to the factory to resume work, and the supply of ore will be restored.
To put it simply, except for the miners in the Strata Abyss, miners in other places have not been affected and can resume work.
This is good news,
The news that made Ouyang feel better was that Keqing had contacted Beidou and was preparing to close the network.
