The Heir

Chaрtеr 57: Тhе Сheng Family's Intеntiоns

In the evеning, Zhen Niang wаs disсussing thе mаttеr оf re-blendеd ink with Old Master Li at homе.

Сurrentlу, pinе wооd wаs in short suррlу, but thе Li fаmily's stоreroom соntainеd a large аmount of wаste ink. If theу соuld suссеssfullу produсе re-blеndеd ink, it wоuld not оnly sаvе materiаls but аlso sеrve as a highlight, рotentiallу hеlрing the ink wоrkshop ovеrсоme its diffiсultiеs.

Соinсidеntallу, shе had bеen rеsearсhing re-blеndеd ink fоr somе timе аnd сould now put thаt knowledge to use.

Оld Master Li wаs also vеry suррortivе of this idea.

"Well, you should focus on this matter next. Getting this done will help alleviate some of the pressure on the ink workshop," Old Master Li concluded.

"I understand," Zhen Niang nodded.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Xi Ge'er scurried to open it, and in came Huaide's Wife from across the street.

"Oh, it's Huaide's Wife! Come in and have a seat," Zhao Shi said as she emerged from the kitchen. Seeing Huaide's Wife, she warmly greeted her.

"I'm here to borrow a saw and a chopper. I wonder if your family is using them?" Huaide's Wife asked.

"No, we're not. You can take them," Zhao Shi quickly replied.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll just borrow them for two days," Huaide's Wife said gratefully.

"Don't mention it," Zhao Shi said straightforwardly, instructing Du Shi to fetch the saw and chopper. She then asked curiously, "What are you planning to do? Go up the mountain to chop trees?"

"Not at all. The Tian family is recruiting workers near the city gate. They say they're going to the pine fields to cut pine wood. They can't even wait until tomorrow—they're setting off for Huangshan tonight. The workers need to bring their own tools. Both Huaimin and Huaihan from my family are going, but we don't have enough saws and choppers, so I came to borrow from you," Huaide's Wife explained as she took the saw and chopper handed to her by Du Shi.

"The pine fields in Huangshan? Aren't those owned by the Luo family? The Tian family has already signed an agreement with the Li Family Ink Workshop. The rights to the Luo family's pine fields for the next ten years belong to our Li family. How dare they cut trees there?" Zhao Shi exclaimed angrily.

"We don't know the details. Everyone is gathering outside the city gate right now," Huaide's Wife said.

"I'm going to confront the Tian family about this," Zhao Shi said indignantly.

Truth be told, Zhao Shi had never been particularly concerned about the Li Family Ink Workshop. Even when Zhen Niang took over the workshop, Zhao Shi had more complaints than approval. In her view, it was best for a girl like Zhen Niang to make some ink on her own to earn dowry money. Now that she had taken over the Li Family Ink Workshop and was burdened with the entire seventh branch of the Li family, it seemed like nothing but trouble.

With this mindset, Zhao Shi wouldn't have been so angry even if the ink workshop suffered some losses. However, since the matter involved the Tian family, it was different. The eighth branch of the Li family had been at odds with the Tian family ever since the broken engagement.

Now that the Tian family was taking advantage of the situation, how could Zhao Shi let it slide?

"Mother, forget it. The handover hasn't been completed yet. The exchange will only take effect after the handover is finished," Zhen Niang said, holding her mother back. Originally, the handover was supposed to happen today, but Steward Fang from the Tian family kept delaying it, finding one problem after another.

Zhen Niang understood their intentions perfectly—it was all for this tree-cutting scheme.To be honest, Zhen Niang truly didn’t mind those pine trees. For one thing, most of them were more or less diseased. The soot pigment produced from burning such sick pines was of very poor quality. To make good ink with this kind of soot, one would have to spend several times more effort on the glue, which would actually increase the cost of the ink. It wasn’t necessarily a worthwhile endeavor. Therefore, the masters at the Ink Workshop had argued fiercely over how to handle the diseased pines, with most of them believing they couldn’t be used and should be discarded. Now, with the Tian family taking this action, it saved Zhen Niang the time and cost of cutting down the trees herself.

“I’ll be going now,” said Huaide’s wife.

“Take care, Auntie,” Zhen Niang said with a smile as she saw her off. Then she turned to console Zhao Shi: “Mother, getting angry is punishing yourself for someone else’s mistakes.”

“What kind of strange talk is that?” Zhao Shi waved her hand dismissively. “If you don’t care, why should I?” With that, she turned and went back inside to chat with Zheng Shi.

“The Tian family really has no sense of propriety in how they do things,” Old Shopkeeper Li said with a grim expression.

“If you walk the night path too often, you’ll eventually run into ghosts. Who knows, one day the Tian family might end up hurting themselves with these diseased pines,” Zhen Niang remarked.

“There’s some truth to that,” Old Shopkeeper Li nodded.

And so, the Tian family’s petty schemes were left to their own devices.

Two days later, the handover between the Tian and Li families was completed, and the ten-year usage rights of the Luo family’s pine forest now belonged to the Li family.

Taking advantage of the Tian family having just finished cutting down the pines and with it being late spring, the Li family purchased a batch of tung oil saplings and hired villagers near the pine forest to start planting them. Additionally, they sent Li Zhengyan, the second cousin from the ninth branch, along with a few Ink Workshop assistants, to specifically collect pine resin oil dug up from the ground.

The villagers, not understanding the deeper implications, simply thought it was a side task. As a result, the rumors circulating outside were all about the Li family planting tung oil trees.

“Ah, after all, she’s just a woman with no grand vision. Is it really worth planting so many tung oil trees just for a bit of tung oil?” Third Master Cheng sighed.

Ever since the Cheng family lost the Tribute Ink Privilege, Third Master Cheng had fallen ill. After resting for these past few days, he had finally recovered somewhat. At the moment, he was chatting with his nephew.

“When the lips are gone, the teeth will feel the cold, Third Uncle. Should we join forces with the Li family? I’m afraid that after targeting the Li family, the Tian family might come for us next,” Cheng Dayue said with a somber expression.

“For now, the Tian family wouldn’t dare. To be honest, the Li family’s move of ‘delivering pine wood while in mourning’ was well played. Nowadays, everyone in the county is talking about it behind their backs. I’ve heard that even some officials from the Ink Affairs Bureau and the Ink Supervision Bureau seem to have taken issue with it. They called Tian Benchang in and gave him a stern warning. The Tian family is now in a difficult position both inside and out, so they should quiet down for a while,” Third Master Cheng said gravely.

Eunuch Yan’s warning to the Tian family was because he still owed the Li family a favor.

As for Lord Huang of the Ink Affairs Bureau, he could be considered part of the upright faction and was particularly wary of such matters. Therefore, the Tian family’s reprimand was not undeserved.

Taking a sip of tea, Third Master Cheng continued, “Let’s not worry about the Li and Tian families for now. During this period, everyone should calm down and carefully reflect on why we failed in the Tribute Ink competition. Learn from the shame, gather strength, and regain courage. We, the Cheng family, will surely reclaim our standing from the Tian family one day.”As for whether the Cheng Family should ally with the Li Family, although Third Master Cheng greatly admired Zhen Niang's ink-making skills, business was business. In his view, although the Tian Family was currently thriving, their foundation was weak and unstable. Therefore, while their momentum was strong now, if no trouble arose, it would be fine, but once trouble struck, their momentum would inevitably collapse completely.

In contrast, although the Li Family was currently facing difficulties, their foundation and core remained intact, and they had not suffered any severe damage. Thus, Third Master Cheng preferred to wait and observe—when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits.

"Mmm." Cheng Dayue nodded.

...

Li Family Ink Workshop.

"Jingdong, Miss Zhen, take a look at this soot... it's truly excellent soot, definitely of the quality of Huangshan century-old pine soot." Steward Shao hurried in from outside, holding a tube of soot.

This soot was precisely what Li Zhengyan had produced from the pine resin oil brought back from the Luo Family's pine forest.

"Let me see." Li Jingdong took a pinch of the soot and rubbed it carefully between his fingers. It was glossy, deep black, and exceptionally fine, with a rare hint of softness—a sign that the soot had been ground to an extremely fine consistency.

"Good, good." At this point, Li Jingdong was completely reassured.

"Excellent. With this, our Li Family Ink Workshop can be considered temporarily freed from the constraints of raw materials." Zhen Niang also smiled.

Steward Shao and Li Jingdong both nodded.

Steward Shao was now truly convinced by Zhen Niang. Looking back, when Li Zhenniang had insisted on acquiring the Luo Family's pine forest and planting tung oil trees, he had been quite displeased and somewhat disheartened. It wasn't until this pine resin oil was delivered that he understood the reasoning behind Miss Zhen's actions.

For this, Miss Zhen had even apologized to him, explaining that she hadn't disclosed her plans earlier because the pine forest had not yet been secured, and she feared that if the news leaked, the Tian Family might change their stance.

Now, with such excellent soot obtained, any lingering displeasure in Steward Shao's heart had completely dissipated.

"Uncle Shao, Uncle Jingdong, the next step is to ramp up smoke generation. Since Ma Shifu, who was in charge of smoke generation, has left, I would like to take over the task. After all, I've only made homemade ink at home before and am unfamiliar with the workshop's processes. This would be a good opportunity to learn from the beginning." Zhen Niang said at this point.

This was something Zhen Niang had thought about for a long time. After all, she had just taken over the ink workshop. Previously, she had stepped forward in every matter out of necessity due to urgent circumstances. Now that raw materials were secured and the workshop was returning to normal production, with Steward Shao and Li Jingdong managing the workshop, it would be inappropriate for her to continue interfering in every detail. Moreover, although she knew how to make ink and had managed her family's small ink workshop in modern times, it was incomparable to a large workshop like the Li Family's. Therefore, she could not afford to slack off in learning what was necessary.

Hearing Zhen Niang's words, Steward Shao and Li Jingdong exchanged a glance.

If Steward Shao had initially been convinced, now he truly viewed her in a new light—she was intelligent, calm in her actions, and now demonstrated such a humble and diligent attitude toward learning. The old madam's judgment was indeed exceptional.

However...

Steward Shao thought for a moment and said, "Miss Zhen, the smoke generation shed is full of rough men. For a young lady like you..."

The implication was clear without further elaboration.

Zhen Niang smiled and replied, "Now that I've entered the world of ink-making, I can't afford to worry too much about such concerns. Besides, my main role will be to oversee the progress of the entire smoke generation shed. I'll only need to interact with the shed managers. I plan to bring Ma Sao over so that if anything needs to be communicated, she can handle it. That way, there won't be too many taboos."Ma Sao was the auntie who used to buy ink from Zhen Niang's stall every day. Her husband was a master pestle pounder in the workshop, and she had often run errands for the old madam in the past, so Zhen Niang wanted to bring her over to make things more convenient.

"Alright, let Ma Sao assist her," Li Jingdong nodded on the side.

With that, Steward Shao had no objections either. Truth be told, Miss Zhen's smoke generation technique was excellent. Thinking of those lads in the smoke generation shed who, relying on their smoke generation skills, even gave him, Steward Shao, dirty looks—now he’d get to see those lads suffer under Miss Zhen’s command.

With that thought, Steward Shao nodded and went to call Ma Sao over.

Afterward, Zhen Niang discussed with Steward Shao and Uncle Jingdong her plan to develop Re-blended Ink. This matter required the Ink Mixing Workshop and the Glue Boiling Workshop to prepare in advance.

"You’re confident about this?" Upon hearing "Re-blended Ink," both Li Jingdong and Steward Shao widened their eyes. Which ink workshop didn’t want to produce Re-blended Ink? But all along, small trial batches were feasible, while large-scale production always encountered one problem or another, and the quality couldn’t be improved, ultimately forcing them to abandon it.

"At the very least, I’ve thoroughly studied this inkstick," Zhen Niang took out the Re-blended Ink that Third Master Cheng had given her last time.

Li Jingdong took it and examined it with Steward Shao. Then, both of them looked excited: "Good, then I’ll instruct the Ink Mixing Workshop and the Glue Boiling Workshop to prepare. Besides the smoke generation tasks, Zhen Niang, focus your efforts on Re-blended Ink during this period. Let’s give it another try."

"Mm," Zhen Niang nodded.