Chapter 209: Returning to the Forest Mansion at Night
On the first day, business did not improve. Bai Song asked a few people to close the door, and then went back with the two little girls.
When he got home, Bai Song only said to the two girls that he was going back to Mang County tonight.
Bai Rou led Xiao Hei out, looked at the dark night and yawned: "Brother, why are you going to Mang County so late? And it's so far away."
Bai Song did not explain, but rubbed his sister's head: "Sleep peacefully, and I'll be back early tomorrow morning."
Xiaohei travels thousands of miles in a day, but the distance between Mang County and Jixian County is only a few dozen miles. One person and one horse can make three round trips in one night, which is no big deal.
Riding on his horse, Bai Song galloped all the way, daring to leave the city before the city gate closed.
When we rushed back to Mang County, it was just three o'clock in the morning.
At the third watch, the servants of the Lin Mansion happened to come out to turn off the lights.
When the servant saw that it was Bai Song, he stepped forward to lead the horse and asked eagerly and enthusiastically: "Why did you come here in the middle of the night? I think the young lady has already fallen asleep."
"Is Mr. Lin here?"
"The master is not asleep yet, I will go and report it right now."
Lin Ting was getting ready to go to bed when he heard Bai Song come looking for him in the middle of the night, which was a little strange.
Then he met Bai Song in the living room.
"My dear son-in-law came here in the middle of the night. What's the matter?"
Bai Song took a sip of water and said, "Mr. Lin, I have a business here that I want to discuss with you. I wonder if Mr. Lin is interested."
Ever since they learned that their son-in-law was related to the military, the Lin family's attitude towards him had changed completely. In addition, the Lin family's life was difficult and they no longer had the arrogance of the past.
When he heard about the business, Lin Tingzheng felt a little excited, but with a smile on his face he said: "Hey, we all have family members, so how can we talk about business? Whatever my good son-in-law has in mind, it doesn't matter. The Lin family will definitely support it fully."
"How is Lin Xuan's sales recently? I heard that the Lin Xuan Paper Factory has been transferred to Mr. Lin, I don't know if it is true or not?"
"Xian son-in-law, you are just like Mr. Lin, haven't you seen him outside?" Lin Ting was looking at him, and suddenly he cared about his title of Bai Song, "In the past, it was the elders who were so neglectful towards you, but this time
It’s been so long, and my virtuous son-in-law still remembers the anger of his elders!”
Bai Song frowned when he heard this. He didn't like Lin Tingzheng's behavior, but he was Xiang'er's father after all, and he didn't want to care too much about it.
After thinking about it, Bai Song still endured the change and called him "father-in-law."
"That's right!" Lin Tingzheng said with a smile, "This Lin Xuan belongs to the Lin family, and sooner or later he will belong to the virtuous son-in-law. The small paper factory is not that big of a deal. It has indeed been neglecting business recently, and the business is not very good.
Okay. If your good son-in-law wants to use it, then he can use it. Does the military need paper? Then we must do our best to support it."
"It's not needed by the military."
"Not the military?"
"I want to make books."
"Book making?"
Bai Song nodded seriously and took out the prepared manuscript: "Making books requires a lot of paper. Since my family is a paper maker, I naturally have to leave this business to my family."
Lin Tingzheng frowned, feeling that the business brought by his son-in-law was not as easy as expected, so he picked up the manuscript and flipped through a few pages.
"What's this?"
"Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
"I have heard people say that a good son-in-law will bind the affairs of the Three Kingdoms into a book?"
"That's right. My father-in-law is here to set a price and see how much this two-chapter booklet will cost. I have ten chapters of manuscripts and need to bind a total of five hundred books within ten days."
"Xian son-in-law, could this matter..." Lin Tingzheng was a little doubtful.
But Bai Song was already attentive and took out fifty taels of silver and put it on the table: "This is the deposit."
"A good son-in-law... this... isn't this just an outsider... How can our family be like this?
Lin Ting was speaking seriously, but his hand unconsciously placed on the silver and took it over indifferently.
Bai Song pretended not to see him and continued: "Be sure to keep these manuscripts and do not leak them out. I will ask my father-in-law to take care of the deposit and hire some craftsmen who know how to make rubbings, printing, and plate making to make a set of engraving plates for the manuscripts."
Don't throw away these engravings after they are made, they will be used for printing in the future."
"Understood, I promise to make proper arrangements with my worthy son-in-law within ten days."
The book-making plan of the Bai Song Dynasty was very urgent. He remembered that woodblock printing became popular in the mid-Tang Dynasty, but recently he discovered while walking around the streets that woodblock printing had already appeared during the Zhenguan period, but printing should be relatively limited in contemporary times.
, and there are very few private individuals who specialize in making plates and printing books like the Bai Song Dynasty.
The Bai Song Dynasty gave a lot of money, so it was not difficult to find a few engraving craftsmen.
This way you don't have to worry about it yourself.
But recently I have started my own business and am spending money everywhere.
And this silver consumes a lot of spiritual energy. Recently, the space energy has become increasingly thinner. If it continues to be consumed like this, Bai Song will not be able to withdraw much silver.
Lin Tingzheng took the money and didn't care about his son-in-law's plans.
With these fifty taels of silver in their pockets, the whole family felt much more at ease.
After talking about business, Bai Song remembered Xiang'er, but it was dark now and Xiang'er had fallen asleep again, so it was hard to disturb her anymore.
Bai Song did not hesitate to rush back to Mang County overnight, just to take advantage of the opportunity of selling books to win over the Lin family.
He wanted to save face. Last time he saw Xiang'er, his face was dull. He thought that if he could pull up the Lin family, it would be a way to show Xiang'er what he was capable of, and it would be a kind of apology. Even if Xiang'er felt that
The knot couldn't be untied, and Bai Song felt more at ease when we met again in the future.
After several hesitations, Bai Song stood up to say goodbye and returned to Jixian at night.
Watching Bai Song come and go in such a hurry, Lin Tingzheng felt a little emotional.
The son-in-law of a poor family at the beginning is now a man who can easily take out fifty taels of silver.
"Master, why did Song'er leave again?"
Mother Lin also came out of the inner courtyard out of curiosity, looked at Bai Songgang leaving the door, and asked anxiously.
Lin Tingzheng shook his head and did not respond.
Mother Lin asked again: "Why is Song'er here?"
"You said you want to make a book into a volume... As soon as it comes, you need the Lin family's paper factory to make 500 volumes."
"Why does he need so many books? It's not a small expense..."
Lin Ting frowned and took out the silver left by Bai Song: "Look, this is the deposit."
"Fifty taels? So much?" Mother Lin was slightly surprised.
"Hey... I'm afraid that he is using the name of bookmaking as an excuse to show favor to our Xiang'er. This boy... is really infatuated with Xiang'er."
"Father, mother... let your daughter take care of this matter." A familiar voice came from under the small tree in the courtyard.
Lin Tingzheng was startled: "Xiang'er, are you awake?"
"Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and took a walk."
"Then just now..."
"My daughter listened to his conversation with her father."
"Why didn't you meet me too?"
"It's enough for me to look at him outside the window. It's just that we can't be careless about the things he delivers, lest people make a joke."
…
Bai Song returned on horseback and went to Ji County before the city gate was opened. He rested for a while in the post house and returned after the city gate was opened.
There was no one at home, so when I went to the restaurant, I saw the two girls and Wang Xiaohua started preparing for a new day.
It was open on the second day, and there were three customers in the store at dusk.
While drinking free tea, I listened to Wang Xiaohua talk about the fourth chapter of the Three Kingdoms.
It was uneventful and didn't cause any disturbance.
No teacups were lost today, it was another wasted day.
At noon on the third day, two of the three guests who listened to the book yesterday came to wait early, and more and more guests came to ask for free tea.
In the meantime, the two tea guests also asked five or six people to sit down, saying that there were so many people on the other side that they couldn't hear clearly, so it would be just as interesting to listen to the Three Kingdoms here.
Just like that, at noon on the third day, Donglai Restaurant seated ten customers one after another, and opened its first business, selling a stack of boiled green beans for ten coppers. Some people wanted to order wine and food, but Bai Song
There was no preparation, no wine, no food, no food, which made the two girls very disappointed.
After noon, the guests all dispersed.
The four members of the family worked together to clean up the mess left in the living room.
Although only ten copper coins were credited, everyone was very motivated.
Bai Rou was wiping the table while humming a tune, as cheerful as an elf.
Sang Sang swept the floor next to Bai Song and whispered: "Brother Bai, when will we sell wine and food?"
Bai Song thought for a while: "I think we can try to prepare it tonight. After we clean up the shop, we will buy some ingredients and come back."
"Yeah." Sangsang responded crisply.
"Ahem..." A soft cough attracted the attention of several people in the hall.
The Dongfang Bai girl dressed in white arrived at the door without any warning, followed by a little maid with a sign, standing there as calmly as a white lotus.
"Who is your sister?" Bai Rou looked at her, seemingly amazed by her beauty, and her voice became much softer.
Wang Xiaohua was shocked and ran over immediately: "Sister Bai! Are you back?"
Sang Sang looked at Bai Song: "Is this the real owner of the restaurant?"
Bai Song nodded and greeted with a smile: "Oriental girl."
"Mr. Bai, does the shop look good?"
Before Bai Song could say anything, Wang Xiaohua shouted excitedly: "Sister Bai, we finally opened today! We sold it for ten cents, and Donglai Restaurant will get better sooner or later!"
"Hahahaha..." There was a burst of laughter in the middle of the street. It was the waiter from Shangyuan Restaurant across the street who heard Wang Xiaohua's excited shout, "Ten cents,...did I hear that right? It only sold for ten cents after being open for three days."
Money? You can’t even drink a sip of our tea, and you’re licking your face and saying you’ll get better sooner or later... Hahaha, it’s really hilarious.”
"That's right, you think you can steal our customers with free tea. We don't bother to serve those customers who can't even pay a hundred cents for tea. Even if you give them to us, you'd better close the restaurant early.
, don’t struggle to your death anymore.”
"You..." Wang Xiaohua was so angry that she wanted to rush over, but Bai Song held her back.
Bai Song didn't care about the buzzing sound of those flies.
Then he made an inviting gesture to let Dongfang Bai in.
Dongfang Bai gradually frowned after listening to Wang Xiaohua's words.
In three days, I sold it for ten cents.
This is obviously not good news.
"Mr. Bai, you should understand the current situation, right? It's really not easy to open this store. The little girl came here just to see how the business is doing, and she also hopes that Mr. Bai can help Donglai Restaurant recover. No.
Thinking about it, the situation seems to be worse than the little girl thought. If the young master goes back on his word, our bet can be canceled. The little girl is not a cheap person."