You are my golden finger

Chapter 129: Monument-building and biography-making in progress (4)

The winter evening sun shines through the clouds and through the branches, casting mottled light and shadows, adding a bit of warmth.

Xingwen finally took advantage of the light and brought Qi Po and his party to the gate of the Princess's Mansion. Looking at the gate standing in the setting sun, everyone fell silent and no one spoke for a while.

"Everyone, please go in. Sister Jin has been waiting for you these two days." Xingwen broke the silence.

Lin Xijin and a few other kids heard the report from the doorman and rushed out to greet them.

"Qi Po, you're here!"

"Qi Po, Uncle Mu Xiong, Uncle Jian An, you are here!"

"Brother Jinlin, Sister Chuntao, we miss you so much!"

……

A few people greeted everyone excitedly, and then the excited crowd swarmed into the gate of the Princess's Mansion.

After dinner, Lin Xijin asked the housekeeper, Nanny, and Qiuyan to take them to the guest rooms and their respective residences, and asked them to settle down, wash up, and rest. All work arrangements would be discussed tomorrow.

Uncle Muxiong, Uncle Jianan, Master Lu, and Captain Sun lived in the guest courtyard at the entrance, each with a separate guest room. Grandma Qi lived in the courtyard of Xijia and Xinlan. Ye Jinglin and Chuntao were also arranged to have a separate courtyard.

Chef Zou also arranged a small courtyard near the servants' quarters because her daughter followed her to Beijing. Although she would work in the pharmacy in the future, she would inevitably come back to visit during her breaks. Lin Xijin was never a master who treated servants harshly and tried her best to take care of them in life.

After a night's rest, everyone washed away the fatigue of the long journey and gathered together to discuss the arrangements for various projects.

Ye Jinlin takes overall charge and is responsible for the scheduling of various projects.

Chuntao is still in charge of accounting and verifying all expenditures.

Uncle Mu Xiong and Master Lu were in charge of various construction projects, arranging craftsmen and recruiting laborers. They started to build the first Hope Primary School, a pharmaceutical factory, and a bookstore...

Uncle Jian'an and Captain Sun were responsible for building the road from Kyoto to the Xishan hunting grounds...

Arrangements were made one by one in an orderly manner, and personnel were dispatched to various construction sites. With multiple projects starting at the same time, there was definitely not enough manpower, so only some craftsmen and laborers could be temporarily hired. However, since there were many poor people now, recruiting workers was also an easy problem to solve.

The breeding group was left in the large farm awarded by the emperor, and the servants who made wine were transferred to the wine shop under the unified management of Li Yue, preparing to expand the scale of wine making. The staff of the pharmacy and toy and children's clothing workshops were temporarily arranged in the Lin Mansion, and some simple equipment was added, and all work was carried out in an orderly manner.

The children's day off arrived, and the boys followed Ye Jinlin to the Xishan construction site. Lin Xijin decided to take Xijia, Xinlan and Anan to visit the various stores under Xinlan's name, and finally go to the selected village to see if it is suitable for building a toy and children's clothing workshop.

Xin Lan and his companions, dressed in ordinary clothes, started to check the businesses under their names like ordinary customers. They first looked at an embroidery workshop and a grocery store. Although the business was not particularly outstanding, it was still normal.

But when they walked into a teahouse, they couldn't help but frown. There was no customer in the whole store, only a waiter who was taking a nap at the counter. When he saw the customers coming, he didn't come out to greet them.

He gestured to Xijia and Anan to stay outside and followed him in.

Lin Xijin said nothing and sat down at the coffee table beside her, wanting to see how Xin Lan would handle it.

"Hey, give me some Biluochun." Seeing that it was a little girl whose clothes were not particularly fancy, the waiter nonchalantly put a handful of tea leaves in a small plate and pushed it to her.

Xinlan picked it up, smelled it, and put it down, neither saying whether to buy it nor not.

"Hey, show me another piece of Longjing." The waiter poured the Biluochun on the plate back into the tea can, and then grabbed a handful of Longjing and threw it into the plate.

Xinlan saw that the tea leaves were burnt yellow in color, broken, and had a musty smell. It was obviously a counterfeit product.

"I also want to take a look at the Tieguanyin..."

But before Xin Lan could finish her words, the waiter became impatient and said to Xin Lan, "Go away, go away. Why are you, a little girl, joining in the fun? Can you afford these expensive things?"

"I want to talk to your boss about business. Where is he?" Xin Lan asked again.

The waiter raised his head and glanced at her with disdain in his eyes. He said lazily, "I'm drinking tea in the tea room upstairs."

Xin Lan went upstairs without saying anything. Lin Xijin followed her upstairs, fearing that something might happen to Xin Lan. The waiter didn't bother to pay attention to her.

Both of them were skilled in martial arts, so they deliberately stepped lightly, hoping to hear something. Sure enough, before they even reached the teahouse, they heard two voices chatting.

"I heard that your shop has a new owner?"

"Who said it wasn't? I've already signed the contract with the government. It's been more than ten days, and no new owner has shown up. That's why I dare to exchange the original tea for you..."

Xin Lan and Lin Xijin suppressed their anger and deliberately slowed down their pace. When they heard the footsteps, they stopped talking.

"Boss, I want to buy your tea, but it looks quite expensive. Can you lower the price?"

"The teas in my shop are all top-quality teas, and the price cannot be lower. These teas are the goods we imported before. This shop used to be the property of the Taifu Mansion, and we are honest and trustworthy..."

It would have been fine if the shopkeeper didn't bring up the Grand Tutor's Mansion, but when Xin Lan heard the words "Grand Tutor's Mansion", she couldn't help herself and shouted outside, "Lin Sheng, Lin Ping!"

Two secret guards quickly appeared in the tea room.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?" the shopkeeper shouted.

"Catch those two guys!" Xin Lan shouted loudly. You know what, she really has the aura of a princess who is intimidating without even getting angry.

Xin Lan walked calmly to the chair and sat down. At this time, the waiter downstairs was also brought up by Lin Ge.

"What have you done against your conscience during this period? Do you want to tell the truth yourself or let the government investigate?"

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into a store?" The shopkeeper still insisted.

"I'm someone you can't afford to offend! I'm the owner of this store."

"Master, you must not believe in slander! I have always been loyal in my work and have never done anything wrong." The shopkeeper was still quibbling.

"Did I hear you fart just now?" Xin Lan didn't give him any chance.

Finally, the waiter couldn't stand the pressure anymore and told the owner that he had removed the high-quality tea and replaced it with inferior tea.

Lin Ping searched the store and finally found some fine tea and secret account books in the secret compartment of the shopkeeper's bookcase in the living room. It turned out that this man had been stealing and passing off inferior goods as good ones, but he was more daring during this period.

Lin Sheng was sent to inform the Taifu Mansion, and soon the Taifu Mansion's chief steward came over. He arrested several people and sent them to the government office, and only then did he drop the case after presenting evidence.