The coachman hurried the carriage over and before he reached the Song family carriage, Qin Qian raised his voice and shouted, “Brother Song, you’d better take this carriage of mine.”
Master Gu and Madam Gu were exchanging pleasantries with Song Lin and did not look over, but Qin Qian remained undeterred and waited for the coachman to stop and jumped off the carriage.
Song Si was already looking this way, inadvertently blocking his view, and Qin Qian slightly tilted his head, instantly meeting Song Wan Yue’s gaze as she looked over.
Qin Qian’s pupils jerked in shock and subconsciously tilted his head, the corners of his mouth also took on the usual smile, “This carriage of mine is spacious and can still hold several people.”
Song Si pointed to his own carriage, “Eldest Uncle’s wind chill is just about gone, I have to catch my own carriage.”
“Oh, good.”
Qin Qian got into his own carriage and told the coachman to move back.
Song Si also took the reins from Xiao Si’s hand, waited for Song Lin and Xu to sit firmly, politely said goodbye to Master Gu and Mrs Gu, and instructed Song Wan Yue a few more times before rushing the carriage out.
Qin Qian let down the curtain of the carriage with abandon and clenched his fist in remorse, he should not have hesitated just now, he should have followed them in. As soon as he saw the faces of Master Gu and Madam Gu, he would be able to determine if Gu Yi was the one they were looking for.
On the way, the two carriages did not go very fast, and by the time they reached home it was almost time for the noon meal. Grandma Song was preparing to cook and said that she wanted to keep Qin Qian for dinner.
The workshop had not yet finished work and Song Shen had not returned, so the house was still tidy.
Qin Qian took a curious look around, “Brother Song, how many brothers do you have?”
“One.”
“The one who went to pick you up with your little sister last time? How come I haven’t seen him?”
Only then did Song Si remember that she hadn’t made herself clear that day, “The one who went that day was Gu Yi, not my brother.”
“Not your brother?”
Qin Qian feigned surprise, “Didn’t you say ……”
“It’s kind of a brother.”
Qin Qian was confused by his words, “What, what do you mean, why don’t I understand?”
“He is my future brother-in-law.”
Qin Qian’s mouth grew, “You, you, you ……”
“It’s a long story, it started when my little sister saved him, and then the two were betrothed.”
Song Si said briefly.
Qin Qian was obviously interested, closing his mouth and then quickly opening it again, “It’s not his house we’re going to today, is it?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh my God!”
Qin Qian couldn’t help but exclaim, “I was thinking today when I saw that large mansion, I wonder which wealthy family is so rich, but it turns out to be your brother-in-law’s family. If you have such a rich relative, then why did you still go to copy books in the first place?”
“They weren’t engaged to be married yet.”
Qin Qian suddenly understood, “If your family has such a relative, you will surely be prosperous in the future, no, when we go back to the academy, I have to pay more attention to you, so that you can get some glory in the future.”
Song Si lost his smile, “Come on, you.”
“Seriously, your brother-in-law is really nice, I’ve never seen a boy that good looking, he looks like a man in a painting.”
“He’s nice, and he treats our family well, but…”
Song Si paused, thinking that Qin Qian was not an outsider, and besides, it was no secret that Gu Yi was stupid, “He’s a bit silly.”
“Huh?”
Qin Qian also paused, “It doesn’t look like that, I even think he’s pretty smart.”
“Not too stupid, a little.”
Qin Qian nodded in understanding, “So that’s it, has he been injured in some way?”
“It’s from birth, it’s said that it was caused by Mrs. Gu’s difficult delivery back then.”
Qin Qian nodded, so he changed the subject, “The Gu family has such a large estate, so I’m sure that Master Gu is also extremely resourceful, it’s really admirable. Has Brother Song heard how long it took him to earn this property?”
At his words, he pretended to look at Song Si carelessly, but his heart lifted with excitement; with a definite year, they would be able to determine whether Gu Yi was the one or not.
“I don’t really know about that, that’s been the case with Master Gu’s family business for as long as I can remember.”
Not the answer he wanted, Qin Qian’s heart fell back in disappointment.
……
After eating at the Song family’s home, Qin Qian couldn’t wait to take the carriage back to the dart board.
“Aunt and uncle, I’m going to the Gu family today.”
Madam Qi stood up in a misty voice, “Really?”
“The Gu family’s mansions are linked together, saying that they are in the Gu family village, yet they are independent of the Gu family village, which is very unreasonable. Moreover, the family’s underlings are very vigilant, I originally wanted to take the opportunity to check out something, but I was stopped after only walking a short distance.”
“And with what suspicious?”
Qin Qian shook his head, “That’s all I saw, I didn’t spy anything else, and it’s even more of a pity that I didn’t see the faces of the two masters of the Gu family when they were close at hand, otherwise I would have been able to determine if he was the one we were looking for.”
“No.”
Qi Wu said, “Your aunt and I went to the Song family’s banquet when it was set up, and met the Gu family masters, not the person we are looking for.”
“Auntie is sure?”
Qi Wu looked to his wife.
Mrs. Qi slowly sat back down, her excitement from earlier vanishing, “Indeed it is not, they are all rootless people, even if they are pretending to be someone, your aunt’s husband and I looked over carefully that day, he is indeed just an ordinary person.”
“Then ……”
“There is no hurry, take your time, we will always find a chance to confirm it.”
……
Master Chu’s injuries were getting better day by day, and by the time the twenty-eighth day of the waxing moon came, he was basically completely healed. Taking a tree branch as a sword, he and Song Wangyue went back and forth, going through dozens of moves in the courtyard.
“However, there is progress compared to before, but the internal strength is still poor, need more practice.”
“My disciple knows.”
“Then I won’t say anything more, it’s almost New Year’s Eve, let’s rest for a few days and you can come back on the eighth day of the lunar month.”
“Good.”
Little Four was poking his head around outside the courtyard door, and only when he saw Master Chu enter the house did he run in, “Miss Song, Master and Young Master ask you to come over.”
Song Wangyue followed him over to the flower hall in the main courtyard.
Gu Yi smiled and placed a pile of silver cheques and three account books in front of her, “This is the money from the sale of the hotpot base, we have sold a total of 200,000 taels in the past few months, after all the expenses, our family has made a net profit of 60,000 taels.”
There were several tens of thousands of taels of income in a month, Song Wan Yue was a little surprised, “That much?”
It was rare to see such a surprised expression on her face, Master Gu stroked his beard and smiled, “I didn’t expect to make such a large profit either, I was also shocked when I saw the account book, especially after the Chinese New Year, sales have skyrocketed, in these few days alone, we have sold a month’s worth.”
Song Wan Yue really didn’t know, she came every day after breakfast and only went back after dark, without asking about Song Shen’s workshop.
“Then I’ll be polite.”
Song Wangyue stuck the silver cheque in her account book.
Master Gu said, “The workshop will be closed tomorrow, we have prepared some things for the people in the workshop, let Yi’er go back with you later and give them out.”