Su Mingyu couldn't help but find it amusing seeing him act so timid. "You can draw it. Why are you still afraid of me seeing it?"
July nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "Of course I'm afraid. I wasn't very confident in the first place. If you scold me after seeing it, I'll be even less confident."
Su Mingyu pursed her lips. "If you don't even have this much resilience, I'd advise you to change your career early."
July pursed her lower lip and looked at Su Mingyu dejectedly. "Can you stop being so harsh on me all the time? Can't you give me some encouragement at least?"
"Will encouragement work? Can encouragement improve your painting skills?" Su Mingyu said as she leaned over the desk and made marks on July's drawing with a pen.
Although Su Mingyu seemed to look down on her on the surface, seeing her working hard to correct her mistakes, July was still full of gratitude. "Hehe, I know you're just bad at expressing your feelings, Master."
Su Mingyu threw the manuscript back at her. "The creativity is good, but your color - matching is simply terrifying."
Is this the so - called straight - laced guy?
Large swaths of pink and large swaths of blue blended together, and there was really not much beauty in it.
July didn't seem discouraged when seeing the numerous corrections. Instead, she became even more motivated. "Okay, I understand."
Rarely did he not argue with her. Su Mingyu looked up at him. "Why? Did you suddenly figure something out?"
July grinned. "Since I've decided to learn, I naturally want to learn well. You're so serious about correcting my mistakes. What else can I say?"
"You've become so understanding after a few days' absence." Su Mingyu curled her thin lips. "Alright, stop flattering me. Go and learn from Xia Mian."
July nodded vigorously. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Su Mingyu suddenly called him back. "There's something I want you to handle."
"What is it?" July's face became solemn. It was rare to see Su Mingyu so serious when assigning something to him.
Su Mingyu raised an eyebrow. "You'll go with me to the brothel early tomorrow morning to talk to the madam. Tell her that our Sinan Pavilion is willing to provide clothes for her grand event for free."
"Ah?" July was stunned and didn't react for a long time. "Why are we so eager to give them clothes?
With the current reputation of Sinan Pavilion, it should be others begging Sinan Pavilion to sell clothes to them."
"You don't understand. According to insider information, the madam of the First Fragrance Brothel is going to hold a grand beauty pageant. There will surely be many wealthy young ladies and playboys coming to join in the fun."
"If they know that the embroidered clothes and silk gowns worn by the girls on the stage are all from our Sinan Pavilion, won't it indirectly boost the reputation of our Sinan Pavilion?"
Hearing Su Mingyu's words, July slapped his forehead in realization. "We've only provided a few sets of clothes. We haven't put in much effort or spent much silver, but we've got a chance to be well - known by the public."
July excitedly leaned in front of Su Mingyu. His clear and bright eyes were full of admiration. "Master! You're so amazing. Is this the so - called achieving success without bloodshed?"
Su Mingyu reached out and knocked on his head. "Alright, stop praising me. I'll start to get carried away."
"Although the opportunity is there, how to negotiate with the madam and get her to put the name of our Sinan Pavilion where the audience can see it is what you need to persuade her about."
July slapped his chest and said confidently, "Don't worry. If I can't handle such a small thing, I'll have lived in vain for so many years."
"Be careful not to bite your tongue." Su Mingyu rolled her eyes. "You have to handle this alone. Don't ask Xia Mian for advice."
July nodded. "Okay, okay, okay! I understand!"
"Alright, go and prepare." Su Mingyu waved her hand to tell July to leave quickly. "I'll come to pick you up after dawn tomorrow. We'll go to see the madam together, but I won't speak for you during the process."
July nodded to indicate that he understood.
After seeing July off, Su Mingyu checked the accounts for a while before returning to the Su Mansion from the Sinan Pavilion.
When she got back to her courtyard, the first thing she did was to check on Zhizhu's injury.
The terrifying sight of her hands being beaten by Wang Manwen, bloody and almost unrecognizable, was still fresh in her memory.
The weather wasn't exactly cool and pleasant. Su Mingyu was really worried that in ancient times without antibacterial and anti - inflammatory ointments, Zhizhu's delicate hands might get infected and inflamed, which would be terrible.
However, when she came to Zhizhu's room and saw Zhizhu chatting merrily with the young servant by the window, the stone in her heart finally dropped.
"What are you chatting about? Do you mind if I join?"
Hearing Su Mingyu's voice, Zhizhu's face immediately lit up. "Miss, you're just in time. Just now, Madam and Master came here respectively and said they had something to talk to you about."
Su Mingyu frowned slightly. "Wang Manwen and Su Zhengyi are looking for me together? When did they come?"
Zhizhu nodded. "Just now. I don't know what they want from you. They just said that if I saw you, I should tell you to go to the study."
"Okay, I understand." Su Mingyu nodded.
Then Su Mingyu fixed her gaze on the young servant who had been silent beside them. "From today on, you're one of the people in my courtyard. Do you have a name?"
The young servant nodded hurriedly. "Yes, yes. My name is Wang Si. Thank you, Miss, for buying me."
Seeing how grateful he was, Su Mingyu couldn't help but rub her forehead. "It's because our Zhizhu likes you that I've kept you. So in the future, just remember to be good to Zhizhu."
Wang Si nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Miss. Sister Zhizhu is extremely kind. She'll speak up for me when others bully me. So I'll definitely be good to Sister Zhizhu. Since I've entered your courtyard, I'll be your servant from now on."
"Although I, Wang Si, haven't read much, I still know that I should be loyal to my master."
Seeing how sensible he was, Su Mingyu nodded. "Actually, there's not much for you to do in the courtyard. Just take good care of Zhizhu."
After saying that, Su Mingyu took out an oil - paper bag from her bosom and threw it to Zhizhu under her eager gaze. "I bought this for you on my way back to the mansion. Share it with Wang Si. I have to go to see Su Zhengyi first."
Zhizhu grinned. "Okay! Thank you, Miss. I knew you were the best to me."