Yan Mingli didn't even have time to attend to Shen Baozhu. He rushed up in big strides, put the food box on the table, and said in a tough tone, "Miaochun, eat mine! Ignore this old curmudgeon."
Shen Baozhu strolled up to the second floor. When she saw the Prince of Rui, she greeted him politely, "Hello, Grandpa Gu."
Hearing Shen Baozhu greet him, Chen Miaochun also followed suit, "Hello, Grandpa Gu."
Then Yan Mingli received a contemptuous look from the Prince of Rui.
Previously, the Prince of Rui didn't think there was anything wrong with Yan Mingli's attitude. Instead, he thought he was straightforward and honest. But now, comparing him with Shen Baozhu and Chen Miaochun, he suddenly realized how rude Yan Mingli was.
When Yan Mingli heard the Prince of Rui's remark, he felt as if the sky was falling. He explained to Chen Miaochun, "Miaochun, it's not that I'm rude. It's just that this old curmudgeon is so troublesome. You mustn't dislike me."
Dragon King: [Huh, is this how the fool and Chen Miaochun get along in private? It's fun.]
Dragon King: [The fool is quite polite in dealing with people. It should be this old man's fault.]
Lin Yu: [I agree.]
It turned out that Yan Mingli had saved the Prince of Rui on a snowy night. That year, he imitated the chivalrous heroes in the storybooks. He carried some money and roamed the world on a snowy night.
The Prince of Rui couldn't help but interrupt in a low voice, "Wasn't it because you quarreled with your father and were spanked in public, so you ran away from home in a fit of anger?"
Dragon King: [Hahaha.]
Yan Mingli couldn't continue. He simply retaliated against the Prince of Rui, "Then is it very glorious for you to leave your guards in a huff, trip over a stone, and lie on the ground for a long time?"
Dragon King: [Hahaha.]
Seeing his embarrassing incident exposed, the Prince of Rui got angry too. He started to expose each other's embarrassing incidents with Yan Mingli.
Amid the bickering, Chen Miaochun calmly opened the food box and started to eat.
Shen Baozhu propped her chin up and curiously watched the two of them escalate from bickering to physical contact, but it was just the childish behavior of poking each other.
After Chen Miaochun finished eating, Yan Mingli took out a handkerchief from his bosom and handed it to her, "Miaochun, use mine."
The Prince of Rui sat there with his legs crossed and sighed, "What a person who forgets the old for the sake of beauty."
"Baozhu didn't forget Grandpa Gu. Grandpa Gu, use mine." Shen Baozhu handed out her small handkerchief. She also didn't forget to thank the Prince of Rui, "Brother Mingli told me. Thank you, Grandpa Gu, for the ointment and medicinal materials you sent."
The Prince of Rui was used to bickering with Yan Mingli. When he met a well - behaved girl like Shen Baozhu, he felt extremely comfortable.
He said sincerely, "Baozhu is much more considerate than this stinky boy!"
Yan Mingli didn't refute this. Firstly, he didn't have time to refute because he was busy talking to Chen Miaochun. Secondly, it was the truth and there was no way to refute it.
Chen Miaochun said a few words in a hurry. She told Yan Mingli to take good care of Shen Baozhu and told Shen Baozhu not to run around. Then she left.
The Prince of Rui asked curiously, "Is she your fiancée, Chen Miaochun? I often see her in the Drunken Poet Tower. She seems much busier than you."
"Of course! Shen Heqing asked the people in the poetry club to teach Miaochun to read. Reading is a hard job. Miaochun is not only busier than me but also more tired. I have to work hard too so that Miaochun doesn't have to worry about anything!" Yan Mingli suddenly became highly motivated, which startled the Prince of Rui.
Dragon King: [Others work hard to make achievements, but the fool works hard so that his wife doesn't have to worry.]
Apart from the rented stores, Yan Mingli also had an embroidery workshop. All the women rescued from the brothel were placed in this workshop.
Today happened to be the day when the workshop shipped out its products. Originally, as the big boss, Yan Mingli didn't need to be present in person. But now, Yan Mingli planned to go there.
The embroidery workshop was very large, three times the size of the Su family's workshop. Because of its large scale, it was built in the suburbs.
Yan Mingli first sent someone to spread the news. When he arrived at the workshop with Shen Baozhu, the women in the workshop had already lined up, waiting to get their silver according to the number of pieces they had embroidered.
There were quite a few people in the workshop, including the supervisor, the accountant, the maids, and the embroiderers.
Yan Mingli sat in the front with Shen Baozhu. He watched as the maid in the workshop calculated how much silver each embroiderer should get, reported the amount to the accountant, and then the accountant distributed the silver.
Shen Baozhu sat on the chair, swinging her legs, and ate the sweet melon that Yan Mingli handed her in small bites.
Yan Mingli helped Shen Baozhu tidy up her hair ornaments, "Baozhu, is it delicious? If it is, I'll ask someone to buy more and let the servants in the Princess Mansion taste it too."
The sweet melon was sweet and refreshing. It was also chilled, so it was not only delicious but also relieved the summer heat.
"Delicious. Baozhu has money. Use my money to buy it for everyone!" Shen Baozhu remembered the gold in her treasury and was very generous.
Yan Mingli also took a bite of the sweet melon. He thought it tasted good and told the servant to buy more.
"It's unfair, unfair! My embroidery is much better than theirs. Why do they all get half a tael of silver while I only get three copper coins?" A disheveled - haired girl about fifteen years old suddenly shouted. She also scratched the supervisor with her hands.
The originally orderly queue was in a mess because of the girl.
Seeing this, Yan Mingli frowned and asked, "What's going on? Who is causing trouble there?"
The general supervisor of the workshop quickly checked. After understanding the reason, she explained, "It's the girl who was sent to the workshop a few days ago. To encourage their enthusiasm, the supervisor used her own silver to apply for a reward for them."
"If they get up at dawn and work until dusk, with a rest time of no more than half an hour, they can get a reward of half a tael of silver. Maybe this girl didn't get this reward."
From dawn to dusk, there were seven hours, which meant that these girls had to work from morning to night without a break to get the reward.
Shen Baozhu calculated the time and felt respect for the girls who got the reward, "They are more hard - working than big brother when he studies!"
Lin Yu: [The time is really too long, but this is an extra reward. It's normal to be a bit strict.]
The girl also got the explanation, but she stared with wide eyes and was still not convinced. She persisted, "What about these three copper coins? The handkerchiefs I embroidered were even praised by the official. Who are you insulting with these three copper coins!"
When there was a problem in the workshop, Yan Mingli still looked at the general supervisor.
The smile on the general supervisor's face was almost gone. Yan Mingli was a generous boss. As long as there were no problems in the workshop, he basically didn't come and didn't interfere in the affairs of the workshop. It was rare for him to come once, and he just happened to encounter such a thing. Wouldn't it make the boss doubt her ability?
Thinking of this, the smile on the general supervisor's face was almost gone. She strode up to the girl and patiently explained again, "Hongyun, your embroidery is really excellent, but your situation and Lingyun's are special... So your wages and Lingyun's are temporarily withheld. The steward told Lingyun. Didn't she tell you about this?"
The madam of the brothel was heartless. Most of the girls in the brothel were abducted. They couldn't remember their homes. They were all happy to come to the embroidery workshop from the brothel.
Only Hongyun and Lingyun were different. Hongyun sold herself into the brothel because of her elder brother's illness. So when she came to the embroidery workshop, she was worried about her brother's medicine money and looked very indignant.
She and Lingyun asked the supervisor together when they could go back to the brothel.
It was also for this reason that the supervisor withheld their wages, fearing that they would take the money back to the capital and then return to the brothel.
The general supervisor comforted Hongyun, "Yesterday Lingyun told us about your family situation. Your embroidery is really good. The wage for the three handkerchiefs is five taels of silver. Three taels of it were used to pay the medical fee and medicine money for your brother. One tael is deposited in the pharmacy, and one tael is withheld in the workshop."
After learning that her wage had been used for her brother, Hongyun's anxious mood disappeared. She stopped making trouble and murmured happily, "So that's how it is. Lingyun didn't tell me. There is still some silver saved. My elder brother will be saved."
Hongyun was very skillful. Moreover, unlike the madam in the brothel who always found reasons to deduct the silver, if she embroidered handkerchiefs seriously, she could earn more than in the brothel. Thinking about this, Hongyun's resistance to the embroidery workshop disappeared, and she forgot all about the brothel.
It was only after Hongyun said this that the people in the embroidery workshop realized that Lingyun was not there. They quickly started to look for her.