Вut how could shе gеt closе to Unclе Сhi?
Еvеn if shе triеd to squeеze in, she had to be ablе tо squeеze in first!
Zhоu Shаоjin sаt at thе lаrgе раinting desk in thе study, proррing her сhin on her hand аs she pоndered.
Sеnd shоеs аnd sосks?
Тhat didn’t seеm fеasiblе.
Unсlе Chi hаd Nanрing bу his side, whosе nеedlеwork might even surрass her own. If shе wеrеn’t cаreful, the things she раinstаkingly mаdе might раlе in сomраrison tо Nanрing’s work.
Send fоod?
Shе hаd аlreаdу triеd thаt.
And failed!
Аt this thought, she couldn’t helр but sigh.
Uncle Chi didn’t sеem verу interеstеd in snaсks.
Cook for him?
Wouldn’t that be overstepping her bounds... and too obvious? He might even think she had gone mad.
Just thinking about it made Zhou Shaojin feel disheartened, unsure of any good methods.
After much deliberation, she asked Cheng Jia, “If you wanted someone to take a liking to you, what would you do?”
Cheng Jia replied, “Who do you want to get along with? Old Madam Guo? I think she already likes you quite a bit.”
“No,” Zhou Shaojin naturally wouldn’t tell the truth. Otherwise, Cheng Jia would keep asking endless questions and might even tell Madam Jiang, which would complicate matters. “I’ve just been thinking about this lately and wanted to know if you have any experience in this area.”
“Oh!” Cheng Jia considered seriously. “My father, my mother, my grandmother, and my brother—do they count? I don’t think I did anything special. I just acted a little spoiled, and they all gave in to me...”
Acting spoiled?
No.
Zhou Shaojin immediately dismissed the idea.
Just imagining the scene felt utterly awkward.
“Don’t you have any other methods?” Zhou Shaojin asked unwillingly.
“No,” Cheng Jia found Zhou Shaojin strange. “We’re girls. Why should we take the initiative? Just get along well with others. Taking the initiative would lower our status too much.”
Zhou Shaojin fell silent.
She didn’t want to either!
But lowering her status seemed unavoidable.
Uncle Chi was almost impervious to persuasion.
Most importantly, he could go to the capital anytime.
This meant he could see Cheng Jing at any time.
That evening, while resting in her room, Shi Xiang knelt beside the bathtub, helping her wash her feet.
Zhou Shaojin’s heart stirred as she watched, and she asked Shi Xiang, “What do you think is the best way to make someone take a liking to you?”
Shi Xiang smiled and said, “Of course, by serving them wholeheartedly.” After a moment’s thought, she added, “And by being utterly loyal.”
Alright!
Zhou Shaojin had to admit she had asked the wrong person.
She went to ask her sister.
Zhou Chujin smiled and said, “Just cater to their interests!”
“Cater to their interests!” Zhou Shaojin pondered thoughtfully.
Zhou Chujin smiled but didn’t engage further.
The next day, Zhou Shaojin arrived at Cold Green Mountain House half an hour earlier than usual. After paying her respects to Old Madam Guo, instead of going directly to the Buddha hall, she went to Liyin Pavilion.
Cheng Chi had gone to the capital, leaving only Nanping and a few young maids at Liyin Pavilion.
When Zhou Shaojin arrived, Nanping was leading the young maids in making autumn robes for Cheng Chi. Seeing Zhou Shaojin, she put down her work and greeted her with a smile. “Second Young Miss is here! Although it’s already spring, the sun feels warm but can easily burn the skin. Please sit over here, Second Young Miss, where it’s cooler.”
It was midsummer, and the sun already carried warmth.
Zhou Shaojin sat down with a smile.
Nanping personally served her tea and snacks.Zhou Shaojin exchanged a few polite words before getting down to business with Nanping: "My father's birthday is coming up in a few days, and I'd like to make him some clothes. Everyone says that since you joined Uncle Chi's household, even the manor's sewing room pales in comparison. So I thought I'd come over and see if there are any special styles or fabrics—I want to try making something for my father."
Many people knew of Nanping's excellent needlework. At first, many sought her out to make things for them. As a maid, she couldn't afford to offend anyone, so she almost always obliged. In the end, Cheng Chi couldn't stand it any longer and made his displeasure clear. Only then did those people dare not come to her anymore.
Perhaps Zhou Shaojin didn't know about this?
Nanping thought to herself, smiling as she went to fetch a few newly tailored garments.
At a glance, Zhou Shaojin could tell Nanping was a master. The sleeves and shoulders were cut with exceptional finesse—a technique she had only learned about once by chance during a visit to the palace.
It just goes to show that hidden talents abound among the common folk. The emperor's life might not even compare to the joy of those long-established, century-old noble families.
Thinking of her father's physique, she selected a wide-sleeved, narrow-waisted style and a boat-neck design—both dignified yet with a touch of liveliness.
Nanping smiled and praised, "Second Miss Zhou has excellent taste. These are the styles popular in Hangzhou Prefecture earlier this year. No one in Jinling City has worn them yet, right?"
You never step outside the inner courtyard—how would you know if anyone in Jinling has worn them?
Zhou Shaojin really wanted to ask, but she could never feel as at ease with Nanping as she did with Jiying. She simply smiled and asked if there was any fabric here that would match these two styles.
Nanping then took her to the adjacent side room.
The cabinets were packed full of bolts of cloth.
"These are all newly produced fabrics from Songjiang, Huzhou, and Hangzhou this year. These are from Guangdong and Qinghuan..." Nanping introduced them, pulling out a bolt of vibrant blue Songjiang three-shuttle cloth. "I think this bolt would be perfect for the wide-sleeved style you liked earlier. That autumn robe has an ethereal, immortal-like quality when worn, and this fabric suits it best. Moon-white Songjiang three-shuttle cloth is quite common, but dyed this vibrant blue, it looks like a Taoist robe from afar, yet up close, it's a straight-collared gown—quite intriguing."
Speaking of her familiar domain, Nanping's eyes brightened noticeably.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "I think the reason Miss Nanping excels at needlework isn't just talent—you've also put a lot of effort into it."
Her acknowledgment made Nanping very happy. Coupled with the fact that she rarely had anyone to discuss these things with, she became much more talkative than usual.
Zhou Shaojin occasionally chimed in with "Mm" or "Ah" to keep the conversation from stalling. When Nanping showed her some treasured embroidery patterns, Zhou Shaojin smiled and asked, "When did you enter the manor? How many years did it take to develop such skill? Where did you work when you first arrived?"Nanping was a hereditary servant. The questions Zhou Shaojin asked were things that could be easily found out with a little inquiry, so Nanping didn’t take them to heart and said, “I entered the mansion at the age of seven. When I first arrived, I worked in the tea room of Cold Green Mountain House. Later, when Fourth Master returned to Jinling City, the old madam noticed that Fourth Master didn’t have anyone attentive to take care of him. By chance, I shared a room with Jincheng, the former senior maid in the old madam’s quarters. She was in charge of the old madam’s clothing and jewelry and was exceptionally skilled in needlework. The old madam then gifted me to Fourth Master, and I’ve stayed in his quarters ever since.”
In other words, Nanping hadn’t served him since childhood either.
Yet, aside from Jiying, Nanping was the one closest to Cheng Chi.
Zhou Shaojin felt somewhat disappointed, but she persisted in chatting with Nanping. “I never imagined there was someone even more skilled than Miss Nanping! Where is she now? Can I meet her?”
Nanping shook her head with a bitter smile. “She passed away long ago. Otherwise, how could it have been my turn to serve Fourth Master? Fourth Master doesn’t choose people based on appearance; he only cares whether you’re suitable or not.”
The two of them chatted back and forth, and the topic soon shifted to the pastries Zhou Shaojin had sent a few days earlier.
Zhou Shaojin said apologetically, “I originally wanted to add a bit of fun, but I never expected Uncle Chi not only avoids fish but also dislikes pastries. It made me feel quite embarrassed!”
Nanping laughed. “Don’t feel embarrassed. When I first came to serve Fourth Master, I made plenty of mistakes too. For example, Fourth Master always wears Taoist robes. At first, I thought it was because he liked wearing them, so I put a lot of effort into making many different ones for him. But then he asked me why each robe was different? He likes wearing Taoist robes simply because they’re convenient and identical… In the end, all my hard work was wasted, and I had to make ten identical Taoist robes for him. And those two autumn robe designs you picked—if I had actually made them, Fourth Master wouldn’t have said anything, but he definitely wouldn’t have worn them.” By the end, she sounded a bit wistful, unsure whether it was because her talents had gone unused or because she found Cheng Chi’s temperament peculiar.
Zhou Shaojin thought the former was more likely than the latter.
The conversation gradually expanded to topics of daily life. By the time she left Liyin Pavilion, it was almost dusk, but she felt even more confused than before.
It turned out Uncle Chi didn’t avoid fish entirely—he only ate cold-water fish.
He didn’t dislike sweets altogether—he just preferred rock sugar over granulated sugar.
He wasn’t averse to soft, glutinous foods either—he simply liked them thinly coated… In short, his lifestyle seemed simple yet had its luxuries, and while luxurious in some ways, it was remarkably simple in others…
She felt that some of the things he liked were things she had only heard of in both her lifetimes… She probably wasn’t even as knowledgeable about them as he was, so how could she possibly please him?
Zhou Shaojin felt her future looked bleak.
Far away in the capital, Cheng Chi didn’t stay in Xinglin Alley but instead resided in Cheng Shao’s residence in Shuangyu Alley.
With elders present, after Cheng Fen completed the fifth seventh-day memorial rites, the white cloth hanging in the house was taken down.
Cheng Shao had always been a rather silent person, and now he was even more withdrawn. With his wife having passed away two years earlier, he lived alone in his study, ignoring everyone.
Cheng Chi didn’t force the issue. As usual when he came to the capital, he met with the managers of Yutai Bank in the morning and, in the afternoon, met with Li Sanjiang, the chief manager of Weihao Bank.Li Sanjiang was in his forties, having risen from being an attendant to the old master of the Li family in She County. Given his age, reaching his current position was widely recognized in the industry as an impressive achievement.
Yet, in front of Cheng Chi, he only dared to sit on half the seat.
This wasn’t just because Cheng Chi was not only a major shareholder of Yutai Bank but also the fourth-largest shareholder of Wei Hao. It was because Cheng Chi had never made a mistake over the years, earning him such respect.
Cheng Chi was already tired of such formalities and went straight to the point: “Our second branch’s patriarch wants to collaborate with the Luo family of She County to establish a bank?”
“Yes!” Since this might involve internal strife within Nine Prosperities Lane, Li Sanjiang replied cautiously, “At first, the Luo family thought it was your idea, but later they learned it was your family patriarch’s intention. Unable to meet you, the Luo family specially sent someone to visit our old master, hoping to convey a message through him. They said that since they had promised you to withdraw from the banking business, they would honor their word and asked you not to misunderstand!”
Cheng Chi sneered, “They’ve been officials for too long!”
Li Sanjiang remained silent.
Officials often believed that merchants pursued profit and would break their promises as long as there was gain to be had. In reality, merchants were the most trustworthy—their status was already low enough, and if they didn’t keep their word, how could they establish themselves?
※
Sisters, here’s today’s bonus update!
o(n_n)o~
PS: I was a bit busy today, so the update was moved to around 11 p.m.
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
!!
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