Qiao Mingjin stood in front of the bed and watched Yue Zhongyao holding the bowl in both hands and drinking the ginger soup one bite at a time.
The hot ginger soup slid down his throat and into his stomach, stimulating Yue Zhongyao's limbs with heat.
Yue Zhongyao's eyes were sore, and he secretly looked at Qiao Mingjin while drinking.
Qiao Mingjin didn't speak, her expression was calm, she just waited for him to finish drinking and put away the bowl.
Yue Zhongyao was slightly disappointed.
After drinking, he handed the big bowl to Qiao Mingjin and stared at Qiao Mingjin.
Qiao Mingjin took the bowl and said calmly: "If you feel uncomfortable, just take a nap in the side room."
He also told his daughter: "Wan'er went to play with my cousin. If your father is not feeling well, let him rest and don't disturb him."
Wan'er pursed her lips and shook her head.
She leaned against Yue Zhongyao, her eyes were watery, and she reached for Yue Zhongyao's forehead with her little hand: "Dad, is it hot or not? Is it still uncomfortable? Wan'er wants to talk to dad here."
Yue Zhongyao stroked his daughter's head with his big hand, rubbed it twice, and said: "Wan'er is good, let's play outside. Dad, lie down for a while and then talk to our Wan'er, okay? Don't let dad get over his illness."
"It's cold outside. I have to stay here with daddy." He said and snuggled into Yue Zhongyao's arms.
Qiao Mingjin watched the two of them hugging each other and talking quietly. Thinking that she had been busy with the workshop and neglected her daughter during this period, she couldn't say anything more, so she turned and walked out.
When Yue Zhongyao walked in vainly, his face was still abnormally flushed. What else didn't Qiao Mingjin understand?
She doesn't lack the piece of ginger either. That girl Mingqi ran away and Wan'er is not here? Maybe that little girl can really go to the kitchen to cook ginger soup for her father Zhang Luo.
That little thing is not as tall as a stove.
I don’t know if it was because he got up too early or because Wu had skipped all his breakfast. After Qiao Mingjin served him porridge, she watched him drink two large bowls and cooked him a bowl of ginger soup.
It was still cold outside, so I sent the father and daughter to the side room to play.
Qiao Mingjin was listening to the children's voices coming from the wing in the yard, occasionally mixed with the deep voices of men.
After listening to it for a while in the courtyard, I turned around and went to the workshop...
Nowadays, the workshop is getting more and more tense.
The Chinese New Year is just over a month away, and the end of the year is the time for giving gifts. After learning that Yayi Workshop has produced novel root carving works, many people have made up their minds to buy one or two of them as gifts.
It's both novel and grand, and it looks good in action.
Isn't it grand? Some wooden piles are dug out and are six or seven feet wide and high. Even if the branches and beards are removed, the difference is not much different.
To transport such a large amount of stuff, doesn't it require a dedicated horse-drawn carriage or an ox-cart?
When the red cloth is covered, the recipient of the gift will be surprised if he lifts it up. Isn't it high-end and elegant?
During this period, a lot of orders were received. The thirteen masters in the workshop were busy and did not sleep for more than a few hours at night.
Yue Dalei has learned a lot from many masters now. Sometimes he can come up with excellent works without even looking at Qiao Mingjin's drawings. He is also able to create independently.
Qiao Mingjin was very happy when she saw the enthusiasm of the masters. She seemed to see the white money flying towards her...
At early noon, Zhou Yanqing, who had not been here for several days, arrived.
Pushing open the door of Qiao Mingjin's workshop, a chill swept in along with him. Qiao Mingjin couldn't help but shudder.
Zhou Yanqing quickly covered the thick curtain again with quick eyes and hands.
He sat directly on the chair opposite Qiao Mingjin and pushed the charcoal basin in front of him with his feet. He stretched out his hands on the charcoal basin.
"It's not that cold, right? Isn't it said that your carriage is as warm as spring? It has a charcoal basin and it belongs to Mrs. Yu. Even Shitou said they are worried that you have been poisoned by charcoal in it. Are you so afraid of the cold?"
Zhou Yanqing glanced at Qiao Mingjin and said casually: "You came here in the cold wind to take a look? When you come back later, the car's outer cover will probably be covered with a layer of ice."
Qiao Mingjin saw that his sleeves and neckline were now covered with big fur, and he was afraid that in a few days, he would be able to wear the big fur cloak. How cold is this guy?
"Then how did you spend your time in the capital in the past?"
"Who has nothing to do and rushes to the capital in the middle of winter? It's not my turn to even send New Year's gifts. Besides, I'm not that afraid of the cold."
Qiao Mingjin curled her lips. Yes, you are not afraid of the cold. It’s because you like to wear big sweaters.
"Why doesn't my cousin come back with you? My little nephew talks about his father every day."
"Yunjin can now stand on his own without me. It's the New Year's Eve. I asked Manager Zhou to take him around so that he can understand some of the regulations under the festival. I can't ask Manager Zhou to help with everything.
Yes, Manager Zhou was temporarily seconded by me from the mansion, and he is still in charge of a lot of things in the mansion. During the New Year, he has to worry about purchasing everywhere in the mansion, and giving New Year gifts everywhere."
Qiao Mingjin grabbed a blue and white teapot on the tea table, poured a cup of tea for Zhou Yanqing, held it in both hands and handed it to him.
"Thank you Mr. Zhou for cultivating my cousin. I don't need to say any words of thanks, it's all in this tea."
Zhou Yanqing took the tea, glanced into the yellow and steaming tea, stared at Qiao Mingjin and said, "Is your gratitude too insincere?"
Qiao Mingjin looked over with a smile, her lips curved: "You still expect me, a village girl, to give you any big gifts? And you expect me to pledge myself to you?"
After saying that, he laughed.
The more familiar she became with Zhou Yanqing, the more she seemed able to make harmless jokes without any scruples.
Zhou Yanqing held the tea cup and looked at Qiao Mingjin's smiling face. The room was too warm, and the woman's face was stained with a blush. She was as fair and pink as ever. It was impossible to tell that this was what she said.
The look of a village girl.
Zhou Yanqing looked at the picturesque woman in front of him, and his heart moved. He just looked at her with a faint smile.
Qiao Mingjin also took a sip of tea and found that the room was much quieter, so she turned to look.
Why is this guy staring at her blankly? Why doesn't he say anything? Why is he so quiet?
"I have flowers on my face? Are you looking at me like this?"
Zhou Yanqing smiled, took a sip of tea, and said, "It's not like I have flowers on my face."
Seeing the woman curling her lips and giving him an angry look, it seemed like someone had plucked a string again.
Zhou Yanqing turned her head and coughed, and said with a straight face: "Some time ago, I sent a letter to the capital, talking about the root carving, and also drew a drawing of a 'Peacock Spreading Its Tail' and sent it along.
Do you know?"
"You told me."
"Yes. I wrote back the day before yesterday and I am very interested. I heard that there is a master who can use root carvings to make the Buddha's appearance. I asked him to carefully prepare a few statues and send them to Beijing. It can also be used as gifts for my family at the end of the year."
"Did you tell me how much money you would give?"
Zhou Yanqing glanced at her sideways: "Can I still lose you?"
"You won't lose me. So how do you calculate the master's bonus?"
Zhou Yanqing said: "I will forget it and leave it to them."
After saying that, he leaned on the high-backed chair and said: "You still expect Beijing to give money? Every year, we send New Year's gifts, and they don't send carts of money? Every year, Qingchuan sends a lot of money to Beijing.
Most of the money I earn will be sent to my family to help them establish various relationships."
Qiao Mingjin looked at his face with confusion and said, "You have worked so hard for someone else to wear a wedding dress?"
Zhou Yanqing glanced at her and said: "You can't say that. If we didn't have our family to connect all kinds of relationships, how could we, a merchant, be so big? Since ancient times, if merchants want to be connected in all directions and have a bright future for money, official support is indispensable.
, otherwise this tax and that tax will be enough for you. Farmers can only draw one out of twenty, and merchants can sometimes draw four out of five. Sometimes, the treasury is short of silver, and if you want to keep your shop open, sometimes you have to pay even if you don’t have money.
I have to give it. So there is no management of my family, and there is no current Zhou family."
Qiao Mingjin felt confused.
These days, the status of merchants has always been the lightest. Most of the various taxes are collected from them. If you meet good local officials, they may charge less. If you meet the greedy ones, they will set up names every day to collect various taxes.
kind tax.
When new officials are appointed, there is a long line of people waiting in front of the county government office, aren't they all businessmen?
If there are people in the court who are more powerful than the local officials, everything will be fine. This is probably the reason why officials and businessmen have been clamoring to be tied together since ancient times. They all have their own agendas.
Merchants need officials to clear the way, and some businesses cannot even get out of the city gates without the guidance and approval documents issued by officials. In order to be promoted, officials need to open up connections, which all require large sums of money.
It's not something she can separate clearly.
Qiao Mingjin didn't speak, she just drank a pot of tea with him silently, and made two more pots. The two of them talked about the workshop and some innocuous words...
"It's already noon, are you not going to treat me to dinner? Or is it that the weather is cold and you don't even want to cook? Are you going to kill me with this tea?"
After Zhou Yanqing drank three pots of tea in a row, he finally lost his temper.
Qiao Mingjin laughed.
"I can't wrong myself by sending you away. If you don't want to eat, I will still eat."
With that said, he got up and walked outside.
Zhou Yanqing glared at her, opened the thick curtain and followed her out.
Mr. He happened to come out of the kitchen, saw them, and asked hurriedly: "Master Liu, where are you eating? Why don't you have a meal in the workshop? You can get this meal soon."
Zhou Yanqing raised her voice and said, "No, I'll go to Jin Niang's place to eat. They don't feel comfortable eating when they see me here."
He nodded in agreement and turned around to get some ingredients from the workshop to Qiao Mingjin, but Zhou Yanqing pushed him away. He brought his own food every time he came, so he didn't have to compete with the people in the workshop for food.
The two of them talked all the way to Qiao's house, but did not see Mrs. Sun beside the workshop wall.
Mrs. Sun glanced blankly at the two of them. The handsome man and the pretty girl were really eye-catching.
This is a good thing for Ms. Qiao, because this woman has the ability to seduce people. She can be with such a wealthy man even if she has no legs.
I rolled my eyes and ran home in a hurry. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
