Qi Yiyang wanted to take the imperial examinations to become an official, so of course, he would not follow Xi Rui and the others to become a hedonist.
However, he had also trained himself to be a little thick-skinned. “I’ll follow Qingluo.”
How could he have a “a bright future ” with the hedonists compared to being with Shi Qingluo?
Although he was a young master of the public administrator house, he was still short of money!
Moreover, if this was successful, he could make his grandfather and father think highly of him and make his brothers envious.
Liang Youxiao rolled his eyes at him. “Previously you called him ‘Mdm Shi’, and now you’re calling her ‘Qingluo’?”
Xi Rui also said, “That’s right. You changed your mind too quickly.”
Qi Yiyang thought to himself, could these two of them not go against him?
He snorted. “I’m also Qingluo’s friend. Why can’t I address her as Qingluo?”
He then looked at Shi Qingluo shamelessly and said, “Qingluo, I’ll follow you.”
Ever since Xi Rui and Liang Youxiao followed Shi Qingluo, they had been in the limelight for the past six months.
Even his own father sighed about it when it came to skateboards, Mahjong, chess cards, corn, sweaters, and iron stoves.
Although Xi Rui and the others were dandies, they were still somewhat useful.
For example, Xi Rui and the others had planted corn.
When they harvested it next year, it would be the only one in the imperial court.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment. “It’s fine if you want to follow suit, but you have to sell me thirty percent of the rubber produced in the previous three years. The price cannot be higher than the market price.”
1
There were many uses for rubber that she could use, but she did not want to find it herself to plant it.
It was too troublesome, so it was not bad to get someone to provide it.
The second prince’s recent doings were quite satisfactory to her, so she did not mind giving him some sweets.
Since the Qi family had taken action, the second prince naturally wouldn’t lose any benefits.
Of course, they wouldn’t be doing this competitively.
They were just enjoying benefits from each other, which was insufficient to catch the emperor’s attention.
After all, Xi Rui and the other families also wanted to take action.
The key was that once Xi Rui and the other families took action, how could a family like the Qi family not keep an eye on them?
Once they discovered it, they would definitely follow the trend.
Since the Qi family was bound to follow suit sooner or later, it would be better for her to do Qi Yiyang a favor first.
As long as they got some benefits, the second prince and the Qi family would not think of finding trouble for her and her young husband.
Let Xiao Hanzheng’s scumbag father play by himself.
Qi Yiyang was delighted. “No problem.”
Actually, he could also choose to have his family keep an eye on Xi Rui’s family after he went back, and then secretly build a few manors to make rubber.
But all in all, he couldn’t do this openly.
If he was met with an obstacle, it would be difficult for him to solve it himself.
He was not stupid.
Shi Qingluo dared to say in front of him which kinds of plants could make rubber, and even let him see her drawing.
But the key was that even if he knew, he did not know how to extract rubber.
There must be a special method.
At that time, he would have to secretly spy on Xi Rui and a few others.
It wouldn’t be as good as following Shi Qingluo.
If he didn’t know anything, he could ask her by giving her some benefits in return.
Because of that, when she proposed to buy 30% of the rubber’s output, he agreed without hesitation.
On the contrary, he was afraid that she wouldn’t mention the conditions.
With no desires or demands, she might have a bigger goal in mind.
When Xi Rui saw that Shi Qingluo had agreed, he curled his lips at Qi Yiyang. “You’re really lucky.”
“By the way, only our families know about this.”
Liang Youxiao emphasized to them, “Don’t leak the secret to others. We have to make rubber first to show off and earn money. In the future, even if others follow the trend, they won’t earn as much as us since we have already gained the spotlight.”
The others rolled their eyes at him. “Do you even need to say that?”
Only fools would leak information that could show off and earn a lot of money.
Shi Qingluo chuckled and said, “Then let’s split our ways after we finish eating. You guys should hurry back and do this. If you’re a step slower, you’ll suffer a huge loss.”
The others nodded in agreement. “Of course.”
Liang Youxiao picked up a piece of paper that Shi Qingluo had drawn. “I’m already full. I’ll go home first.”
Xi Rui and the others were speechless.
They knew this guy was the most cunning. He actually wanted to be one step ahead of them.
Xi Rui also took a piece of paper. “I’m full too.”
Then, Xi Rong, Fei Yuzhe, and Qi Yiyang stood up. “I’m full too.”
Shi Qingluo was speechless.
“Alright, all of you go home. I’ll go back slowly after I’m full.”
The dishes had not been served yet. It would be too wasteful not to eat at all.
Later, she would get the waiter to pack it up.
“Then you can eat slowly. We’ll leave first. We’ll contact you later.”
The few of them were afraid that others would be one step ahead of them, so they hurriedly went downstairs and left.
At this moment, the masters of these few families had already gone down to the yamen.
The Liang family was relatively closer to the restaurant, so Liang Youxiao went home first.
Old Master Liang happened to be in the study with his sons and grandsons discussing some of the shufflings in the court.
For example, Xiao Yuanshi’s position in the Ministry of War was vacant, so everyone wanted to fight for it.
Old Master Liang also wanted one of his sons to give it a try.
It would be best if his son could get it, but it was fine if he couldn’t.
There were too many males in the family and resources were limited, so once there was an opportunity, they had to fight for it.
Otherwise, they would be letting others off easily.
Of course, the other aristocratic families had similar thoughts.
Liang Youxiao went straight to the study room.
He knocked on the door and entered.
He saw all the promising males in their family in the study room.
A few of his cousins who were still schooling were also called over by their biological fathers to join in.
In other words, in the entire family, other than Liang Youxiao and a few other males who were too young, most of them were here.
Liang Mingcheng saw that his son had rushed over at this moment, so he said snappily, “You’re here so early!”
His son was the most ridiculous one in their family.
Just now, he had been secretly ridiculed by a few of his brothers, saying that his son did not care about family matters at all.
1
They even added that his son was a hedonist, did not enter the civil service through imperial examinations and also did not want the old master to arrange a position for him to muddle along.
It was fine if he did not come.
Liang Mingcheng was naturally unhappy when he heard this.
Even if he was the crown prince in a big family and was the future heir of the public administration house, there were still some tensions among the brothers.
If there were conflicts outside, they would naturally be united against the outside world.
However, if they lived together, there would always be some conflicts.
After that, the easiest thing for him to be ostracized was when his youngest son was mentioned.
How could Liang Youxiao not see that his father was unhappy? He did not care.
Thus, he walked in with a cheeky smile and sat down. “It’s not too early. It’s just right.”
Liang Mingcheng’s hands itched again.
“Youxiao, are you that busy all day?”
“That’s right, we have to go to town all day, but we’re not as busy as you.”
1
“Where did you go today? You’re only back now.”
Liang Youxiao’s cousins were teasing him one after another.
It was because this fellow had made the old master and old lady happy recently and received many good things.
They were unhappy.
Liang Youxiao poured himself a cup of tea and took a leisurely sip before saying, “Of course, I went to do something important.
“Then, I found another good thing that made our family shine.”
Those who were just about to continue to bully him were suddenly choked.
How should they continue this conversation?
1
Qi Yiyang wanted to take the imperial examinations to become an official, so of course, he would not follow Xi Rui and the others to become a hedonist.
However, he had also trained himself to be a little thick-skinned. “I’ll follow Qingluo.”
How could he have a “a bright future ” with the hedonists compared to being with Shi Qingluo?
Although he was a young master of the public administrator house, he was still short of money!
Moreover, if this was successful, he could make his grandfather and father think highly of him and make his brothers envious.
Liang Youxiao rolled his eyes at him. “Previously you called him ‘Mdm Shi’, and now you’re calling her ‘Qingluo’?”
Xi Rui also said, “That’s right. You changed your mind too quickly.”
Qi Yiyang thought to himself, could these two of them not go against him?
He snorted. “I’m also Qingluo’s friend. Why can’t I address her as Qingluo?”
He then looked at Shi Qingluo shamelessly and said, “Qingluo, I’ll follow you.”
Ever since Xi Rui and Liang Youxiao followed Shi Qingluo, they had been in the limelight for the past six months.
Even his own father sighed about it when it came to skateboards, Mahjong, chess cards, corn, sweaters, and iron stoves.
Although Xi Rui and the others were dandies, they were still somewhat useful.
For example, Xi Rui and the others had planted corn.
When they harvested it next year, it would be the only one in the imperial court.
Shi Qingluo thought for a moment. “It’s fine if you want to follow suit, but you have to sell me thirty percent of the rubber produced in the previous three years. The price cannot be higher than the market price.”
1
There were many uses for rubber that she could use, but she did not want to find it herself to plant it.
It was too troublesome, so it was not bad to get someone to provide it.
The second prince’s recent doings were quite satisfactory to her, so she did not mind giving him some sweets.
Since the Qi family had taken action, the second prince naturally wouldn’t lose any benefits.
Of course, they wouldn’t be doing this competitively.
They were just enjoying benefits from each other, which was insufficient to catch the emperor’s attention.
After all, Xi Rui and the other families also wanted to take action.
The key was that once Xi Rui and the other families took action, how could a family like the Qi family not keep an eye on them?
Once they discovered it, they would definitely follow the trend.
Since the Qi family was bound to follow suit sooner or later, it would be better for her to do Qi Yiyang a favor first.
As long as they got some benefits, the second prince and the Qi family would not think of finding trouble for her and her young husband.
Let Xiao Hanzheng’s scumbag father play by himself.
Qi Yiyang was delighted. “No problem.”
Actually, he could also choose to have his family keep an eye on Xi Rui’s family after he went back, and then secretly build a few manors to make rubber.
But all in all, he couldn’t do this openly.
If he was met with an obstacle, it would be difficult for him to solve it himself.
He was not stupid.
Shi Qingluo dared to say in front of him which kinds of plants could make rubber, and even let him see her drawing.
But the key was that even if he knew, he did not know how to extract rubber.
There must be a special method.
At that time, he would have to secretly spy on Xi Rui and a few others.
It wouldn’t be as good as following Shi Qingluo.
If he didn’t know anything, he could ask her by giving her some benefits in return.
Because of that, when she proposed to buy 30% of the rubber’s output, he agreed without hesitation.
On the contrary, he was afraid that she wouldn’t mention the conditions.
With no desires or demands, she might have a bigger goal in mind.
When Xi Rui saw that Shi Qingluo had agreed, he curled his lips at Qi Yiyang. “You’re really lucky.”
“By the way, only our families know about this.”
Liang Youxiao emphasized to them, “Don’t leak the secret to others. We have to make rubber first to show off and earn money. In the future, even if others follow the trend, they won’t earn as much as us since we have already gained the spotlight.”
The others rolled their eyes at him. “Do you even need to say that?”
Only fools would leak information that could show off and earn a lot of money.
Shi Qingluo chuckled and said, “Then let’s split our ways after we finish eating. You guys should hurry back and do this. If you’re a step slower, you’ll suffer a huge loss.”
The others nodded in agreement. “Of course.”
Liang Youxiao picked up a piece of paper that Shi Qingluo had drawn. “I’m already full. I’ll go home first.”
Xi Rui and the others were speechless.
They knew this guy was the most cunning. He actually wanted to be one step ahead of them.
Xi Rui also took a piece of paper. “I’m full too.”
Then, Xi Rong, Fei Yuzhe, and Qi Yiyang stood up. “I’m full too.”
Shi Qingluo was speechless.
“Alright, all of you go home. I’ll go back slowly after I’m full.”
The dishes had not been served yet. It would be too wasteful not to eat at all.
Later, she would get the waiter to pack it up.
“Then you can eat slowly. We’ll leave first. We’ll contact you later.”
The few of them were afraid that others would be one step ahead of them, so they hurriedly went downstairs and left.
At this moment, the masters of these few families had already gone down to the yamen.
The Liang family was relatively closer to the restaurant, so Liang Youxiao went home first.
Old Master Liang happened to be in the study with his sons and grandsons discussing some of the shufflings in the court.
For example, Xiao Yuanshi’s position in the Ministry of War was vacant, so everyone wanted to fight for it.
Old Master Liang also wanted one of his sons to give it a try.
It would be best if his son could get it, but it was fine if he couldn’t.
There were too many males in the family and resources were limited, so once there was an opportunity, they had to fight for it.
Otherwise, they would be letting others off easily.
Of course, the other aristocratic families had similar thoughts.
Liang Youxiao went straight to the study room.
He knocked on the door and entered.
He saw all the promising males in their family in the study room.
A few of his cousins who were still schooling were also called over by their biological fathers to join in.
In other words, in the entire family, other than Liang Youxiao and a few other males who were too young, most of them were here.
Liang Mingcheng saw that his son had rushed over at this moment, so he said snappily, “You’re here so early!”
His son was the most ridiculous one in their family.
Just now, he had been secretly ridiculed by a few of his brothers, saying that his son did not care about family matters at all.
1
They even added that his son was a hedonist, did not enter the civil service through imperial examinations and also did not want the old master to arrange a position for him to muddle along.
It was fine if he did not come.
Liang Mingcheng was naturally unhappy when he heard this.
Even if he was the crown prince in a big family and was the future heir of the public administration house, there were still some tensions among the brothers.
If there were conflicts outside, they would naturally be united against the outside world.
However, if they lived together, there would always be some conflicts.
After that, the easiest thing for him to be ostracized was when his youngest son was mentioned.
How could Liang Youxiao not see that his father was unhappy? He did not care.
Thus, he walked in with a cheeky smile and sat down. “It’s not too early. It’s just right.”
Liang Mingcheng’s hands itched again.
“Youxiao, are you that busy all day?”
“That’s right, we have to go to town all day, but we’re not as busy as you.”
1
“Where did you go today? You’re only back now.”
Liang Youxiao’s cousins were teasing him one after another.
It was because this fellow had made the old master and old lady happy recently and received many good things.
They were unhappy.
Liang Youxiao poured himself a cup of tea and took a leisurely sip before saying, “Of course, I went to do something important.
“Then, I found another good thing that made our family shine.”
Those who were just about to continue to bully him were suddenly choked.
How should they continue this conversation?
1
