The Heir

Сhарtеr 128: The Quаlitу оf Тung Оil

“Cousin, helр mе write a lеtter.” In the еvеning, аftеr dinnеr, Нua’er wаlked into Zhen Niang’s room lооking listless.

“Dо yоu wаnt tо tеll yоur еldеr brоthеr abоut the Ge familу’s аffairs?” Zhеn Niang pulled hеr to sit down аnd asked in rеturn.

“Yеs, I’vе thоught it оvеr. Аlthough my еldеr brothеr аnd Gе Qiu Jie аre sерaratеd, it’s bеtter tо inform him about suсh a significant mаttеr.” Нua’еr nodded.

Zhen Niаng thоught fоr a mоmеnt аnd nоddеd аs well. Zhеngрing should indеed knоw about this. Shе then turnеd аrоund. She hаd bееn drаwing Ink Line Diagrams еarlier. The anсient Yumi ink had beеn succеssfully rеsеarсhed, but it would still take some time to produce. The most important step now was engraving the printing blocks, which required first drawing precise Ink Line Diagrams.

Using the freshly ground ink, she took out a sheet of paper, picked up her brush, and began writing the letter. She detailed everything that had happened to the Ge family recently, then read it aloud to Hua’er.

After listening, Hua’er nodded. “Yes, this will do.” She then carefully stored the letter, planning to entrust it to the courier station the next day for delivery to Huizhou.

Over the next few days, there were no further rumors about the Ge family. Ge Dana had been imprisoned, and there would be no news about him for a while. As for Ge Qiu Jie, it was said she had gone to stay with relatives, and eventually, no more news emerged about her either.

Surprisingly, Huang Lang had replaced Ge Dana as the patrol officer for this district. Merchants along the official street shook their heads one after another—they had driven out a tiger only to welcome a wolf.

Fortunately, Huang Lang was aware that his previous targeting of the Ge family had drawn criticism. After taking over as patrol officer, he greeted people with a smiling face. Apart from the usual levies, he did not impose any additional taxes. Compared to Ge Xunlan, he was actually quite reasonable. People are forgetful by nature. Moreover, with Huang Lang now in the position of patrol officer, various merchants inevitably had to curry favor with him. Thus, within a few days, there was no shortage of praise for Huang Lang.

The Li Family Ink Manor, meanwhile, went about its days peacefully, paying taxes on time and avoiding involvement in others’ affairs. Zhen Niang was not afraid of Huang Lang targeting her family. Given the incident during their opening, Huang Lang would not dare lay a hand on them without absolute certainty.

As for the Tian family, Tian Benchang was so busy he was nowhere to be seen, while Tian Ronghua managed the ink shop’s affairs. Refunds were processed, and exchanges or negotiations for goods were handled in an orderly manner. The impact of the Tian family’s liquid ink scandal was gradually fading. As for Tian Er, it was said he had been confined to his home these past few days and would return to Huizhou in a couple of days. In short, his duties in Nanjing had come to an end.

Meanwhile, the Cheng family, after acquiring the Zhu Family Ink Manor, took advantage of the Tian family’s turmoil to aggressively attract a large number of customers, firmly establishing a foothold.

Truly, ginger is spicier when it’s old.

As for the Yi Hou Sheng Firm, Luo Jiu had also been busy during this period. In Nanjing, apart from running the money exchange, he was also purchasing goods, mainly Songjiang cloth and grains. It was said these were military supplies for the Qi Family Army. In the end, he was so occupied that he was rarely seen, no longer leisurely strolling around and occasionally popping up to startle people as he had before.

As for Sun Yuejuan, she seldom went out. Occasionally, when passing by the Li Family Ink Manor, she would drop in to greet Zhen Niang but never mentioned ink matters, keeping things natural.

It must be said that although Sun Yuejuan had lost some of her former straightforwardness, she had gained a sense of tact—the essence of life’s experiences.

After all, she had grown as well.In the evening, Zhen Niang returned from the Ink Manor to the wooden building in the rear courtyard.

"Ah, you wouldn’t know, but raising silkworms this year hasn’t earned a penny. The yamen took the cocoons from every silkworm-raising household to cover taxes. If they took them, fine—at least it settled one tax. But those yamen officials are rotten to the core! They deliberately downgraded perfectly good first-grade cocoons to poor quality, making them worth next to nothing. In the end, some families even had to pay extra from their own pockets to make up the shortfall in taxes. Isn’t that just extortion? Anyway, mark my words, no one will raise silkworms next year. Even this last season of the year, no one will bother."

Zhao Shi and Huang Shi were sitting in the room chatting, with Zhao Shi talking about the plight of silkworm-raising households in Huizhou.

"Ah, the court has become more and more unreasonable these years. The northern Tatars are causing trouble, and banditry keeps flaring up everywhere. If things go on like this, life will be hard for the common people, and it won’t be easy for us merchants either," Huang Shi remarked.

"Exactly," Zhao Shi responded bitterly. Mentioning the Tatars reminded her that Li Jingfu had died at their hands. Zhao Shi wished she could tear those bandits apart with her own teeth.

Zhen Niang had just come over to hand the Ink Line Diagram to her second aunt. Seeing her mother’s expression, she knew her mother was thinking about her father’s death again. The topic was always painful, so she changed the subject: "What has big brother been up to these days? I hardly ever see him."

"Oh, he’s still running around about tung oil. Someone introduced him to a major tung oil merchant, and he’s been trying to meet him lately, but he’s been turned away several times. Your big brother is stubborn—if someone refuses to see him, he just keeps going back day after day," Zhao Shi said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Well, Zhenliang has a persistent streak when it comes to work," Huang Shi chimed in.

"What persistence? I think it’s foolishness, plain stubbornness. If this merchant won’t see him, why doesn’t he try another? Is there really only one tung oil merchant in all of Nanjing?" Zhao Shi retorted irritably.

"Mother, if big brother is being this persistent, he must have his reasons," Zhen Niang defended her brother.

"You always stick up for your big brother," Zhao Shi said, tapping Zhen Niang’s forehead in mock annoyance.

Zhen Niang rubbed her forehead. "Of course. Back when I was making ink at home and working so hard, big brother would go hunting in the mountains to bring me wild game to build up my strength."

Back when times were tough at home, Zhen Niang had focused entirely on smoke generation to earn money. During that period, she became thin and dark-skinned from exhaustion. Li Dalang had specifically gone hunting to bring her wild game to nourish her. Thinking back on it now, her heart still warmed at the memory.

"You silly girl, at least you know what’s good for you," Zhao Shi scolded affectionately, though her eyes shone with pride.

Zhen Niang rolled her eyes. Honestly, what was her mother implying? As if she were some ungrateful wretch.

Just then, the front courtyard gate creaked open, and they heard the voice of her eldest brother, Li Zhenliang, greeting the gatekeeper.

Clearly, Li Dalang had returned.

"I’ll go see big brother," Zhen Niang said, clapping her hands lightly before taking her leave and heading downstairs. In the front courtyard, she found her brother leaning against a pillar in the corridor, scratching his head with a troubled expression.

"So, big brother, still haven’t managed to see him?" Zhen Niang asked as she approached."I saw him today. But..." Li Zhenliang said, frowning with evident frustration. Actually, when he went to find the tung oil merchant today, he unexpectedly ran into the Bai family's shopkeeper right at the entrance. That manager from the Bai family tung oil workshop was utterly unreasonable. Knowing Li Zhenliang had come to promote tung oil, he immediately ridiculed him at the door, calling him a country bumpkin who didn't know his place, coming to Nanjing to "show off his treasure."

This phrase "show off his treasure" is rural slang, meaning to make a fool of oneself.

In short, he was mocked until his face flushed red, and he retorted by saying the Bai family's tung oil was adulterated with impurities, not as good as the Li family's.

He had recently studied the Yunnan Bai family's tung oil specifically—its color and clarity were top-notch, even slightly clearer than his family's oil. But sometimes, things that look good aren't necessarily truly good. With years of experience in oils, his eyes were sharp and discerning, and his nose was exceptionally sensitive. He distinctly sensed that the Bai family's tung oil had been mixed with something to achieve that clarity.

So, in his anger, he blurted it out.

The problem was, he was clumsy with words and couldn't explain clearly. In the end, he left Boss Xi with the impression of being unreasonable and making trouble.

It truly left him feeling rather dejected.

Her elder brother was an honest man, and Zhen Niang didn't need many words to coax out what had happened to him today. Hearing her brother recount this, she understood perfectly.

Such tricks were common in later times. For example, with goji berries, some unscrupulous merchants would often fumigate them with sulfur to make them easier to preserve. Not only did this aid storage, but it also made the color more vibrant and appealing—yet it was harmful.

So, judging things solely by appearance is useless.

However, when it came to testing tung oil quality, Zhen Niang had indeed researched it in her past life, since burning oil smoke always used tung oil. She naturally needed to know a bit about it. There was a simple method for testing tung oil quality.

"Brother, wait a moment," Zhen Niang said, then dashed back to her room and brought out a sheet of white paper. She asked her brother to bring out both their family's tung oil and the Bai family's tung oil.

She cut the white paper in half, smearing one piece on both sides with their family's tung oil and the other with the Bai family's tung oil.

"Little sister, what are you doing?" Li Dalang asked curiously.

"You'll see in a moment," Zhen Niang replied.

Tung oil dries quickly, almost as soon as it's applied. After a short while, Zhen Niang picked up the two pieces of paper. First, she took the one smeared with their family's tung oil, holding it by both ends and pulling gently. It showed great flexibility, almost like elasticity, and the paper remained completely undamaged.

Then she picked up the paper smeared with the Bai family's tung oil, pulling it with both hands. It made a crisp sound, and some parts broke apart.

"This... this..." Li Dalang was stunned.

To be honest, their master had passed down the tradition of judging quality solely by keen eyesight. He never knew there was such a simple testing method.Li Dalang understood oils, so after Zhen Niang went through this process, he naturally grasped the underlying reasons. This tung oil was all pressed from roasted tung seeds, making it a type of cooked tung oil, primarily used for waterproofing, anti-corrosion, and adding luster to furniture, ship planks, and other maintenance tasks. One of its key characteristics was its permeability—tung oil would penetrate through the wooden surface into the interior. The better its toughness and elasticity, the longer its effectiveness and shelf life. In this regard, pure cooked tung oil was naturally the best, while oil mixed with impurities was inferior.

This was also why paper coated with the Bai Family’s impure tung oil became brittle—the impurities reduced the oil’s toughness and elasticity.

“I’ll go find Boss Xi again,” Li Zhenliang exclaimed, leaping to his feet with excitement.

“Don’t rush, Brother. It’s almost dark now. Let’s go tomorrow. I’ll go with you to take a look.” From her brother’s attitude today, Zhen Niang could tell he had been thoroughly mocked. Tomorrow, she wanted to see what the Bai Family Shopkeeper had to say.

“Alright, sounds good,” Li Zhenliang patted his head. Sometimes, he could be a bit single-minded in his actions.

And so, the night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, Li Zhenliang called his sister to join him, making sure to bring all the necessary inspection tools.