Chapter 187: Chapter 186: Mistaken Identity
Lin Wanwan took the jade pendant, turned it over and examined it for a while, only to feel that the craftsmanship and texture immediately gave off an air of high sophistication. This little fellow actually exchanged a box of glass beads for a piece of mutton fat white jade! Not bad, quite the business prodigy!
Lin Wanwan smiled, gave her a kiss, and praised, "Darling, you did the right thing. When interacting with friends, it’s all about reciprocity."
Yun Shang and Hong Yan exchanged glances on the side, feeling it was inappropriate and wanting to speak up, but seeing Lin Wanwan and little Qingyu’s happy expressions, they ultimately said nothing.
After a while, Lin Wanwan stood up and said, "Yun Shang, take little Qingyu for a nap. Hong Yan, bring me my brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, I want to write a recipe."
"Understood." Yun Shang and Hong Yan replied in unison, then went about their tasks.
Little Qingyu didn’t fuss about not napping and obediently followed Yun Shang; naturally, her personal maid Rongrong also followed.
What Lin Wanwan wanted to write was a simple recipe for making activated charcoal. The hardest part for the people of the Great Tang was obtaining calcium chloride.
She straightforwardly included calcium chloride in the recipe and even thoughtfully added a method for extracting calcium chloride using the mother liquor technique. After all, she had a master of the outside world, and she could speak about chemistry and physics with ease. In the future, she also planned to teach the children of Lin Family Manor!
The Taoists of the Great Tang were very obsessed with alchemy, and many Daoists had some chemical knowledge, so Lin Wanwan wasn’t afraid of being questioned. As for whether Madam Yuan, who got the recipe, could make the activated charcoal, that was none of her concern.
Madam Yuan, who received the two recipes from Lin Wanwan, soon sent Lin Wanwan a magnificently crafted gold ornament featuring two peacocks in flight. Lin Wanwan placed it along with the phoenix rhinoceros hairpin given by Madam Lu Xiao.
The jewelry made by the craftsmen of the Great Tang was particularly soulful, in no way inferior to that of modern jewelry stores.
Actually, Madam Yuan was quite taken aback upon receiving the recipe. She always prided herself on having noble literati origins and considerable learning, but she couldn’t understand what the recipe meant by calcium chloride or the ammonia-soda process. When she handed it over to her servants to handle, they were equally clueless.
It was her husband, Xiao Yan, who, after looking at the recipe, commented, "Doesn’t this seem like something Daoists use for alchemy? I heard our niece also knows how to make alkaline powder, and now it seems it’s not just a rumor."
Madam Yuan replied in frustration, "The people in this mansion are useless, can’t even produce something with a recipe in hand."
Xiao Yan dismissively said, "It’s just for purifying some water. Buying spring water doesn’t cost much, why bother."
Madam Yuan was exasperated; how could this be a mere issue of buying water or not? She found it impossible to communicate with her husband, who spent his days reading and amusing himself with birds and ignored all other affairs.
A few days later, Lin Wanwan still followed Elder Sun around during the day, healing and saving lives, even tasting herbs together, and returned to Xiao Mansion at night to stay. Little Qingyu was left at Xiao Mansion’s private school to attend classes with her cousins.
Since the day of the matchmaking, the Xiao family had been waiting for the He family to come with a marriage proposal. But now, in the blink of an eye, several days had passed, and there was no movement regarding the proposal, leaving the main house of Xiao family quite frustrated.
The ever-cheerful Xiao Shulian smiled less, and her younger sister Xiao Liwei, who used to tease about it daily, gradually dared not mention it anymore.
Their mother was furious about this matter, often taking out her anger on the maids in her room.
Madam Yuan found it strange and sent a trusted person to inquire. She did manage to find out—it was mainly because He Wenyu was causing a fuss openly. The servants in the He family all knew about it, so it would be strange if it didn’t get out.
After getting the news, Madam Yuan wasn’t very pleased. Although He Wenyu’s status was higher than He Wenqi’s, he was ultimately an idle dandy with no learning.
Her two stepdaughters could clearly marry into good families, and yet that dandy from the He family fancied the idea of marrying both legitimate daughters together.
Initially, she felt uncomfortable upon receiving the news, but after careful analysis, Madam Yuan realized it might not be a bad thing.
He Wenyu was the legitimate son and grandson and would always be the heir, despite having an older half-brother. With the He family’s influence in Qiantang, no matter how idle He Wenyu was, he would still live his life as a wealthy man without any problem.
If Xiao Shulian could marry him, it would indeed be considered a step up, and their Xiao family could truly count as the He family’s relatives by marriage.
Under such circumstances, the Xiao family received an invitation from Mistress Zhu of the He family, inviting several young ladies from the mansion to a flower-viewing banquet.
In such events, the nominal purpose is to view flowers, but in reality, it’s about observing people, and everyone knows it well.
On the day of the flower-viewing banquet, even Xiao Xianghua, who had been staying indoors, was taken out by Madam Yuan.
Xiao Xianghua had only suffered a bruise, which had long healed after resting. She stayed indoors because she was annoyed that she had to apologize to He Miao despite not being in the wrong that day.
Now that so much time had passed, she had stopped holding a grudge. Continuing to sulk would only make herself unhappy, so why bother! As it happened they were going to the He family, she might as well check on He Miao to see how he was doing and whether he’d turned lame. Just thinking that He Miao had indeed broken a leg made her less angry.
Happiness, after all, is derived through comparison.
Madam Yuan and her sister-in-law Wang each brought their children and paid a visit to the He Mansion. Madam Yuan also invited Lin Wanwan, but she politely declined. Lin Wanwan had already attended a noble evening banquet at the County Government and found it quite boring, so she wasn’t interested in attending another.
Today at the He Mansion, besides the flower-viewing banquet, there was also a soccer match between the young boys.
Both He Wenyu and He Wenqi took the field, one eager to show off, the other simmering with anger over the stolen marriage proposal, leading to a very intense and exciting match.
But what came after was even more dramatic. Mistress Zhu was smiling and ready to have He Wenyu greet the sisters, but upon seeing the young ladies of the Xiao family, He Wenyu’s expression drastically changed. Disregarding etiquette, he exclaimed they made a mistake, that it wasn’t her, and then ran off, leaving everyone present in an awkward situation.
The Xiao family was naturally bewildered, while the He family understood well.
Especially Mistress Zhu, upon seeing the Xiao family’s twin sisters, she understood. With the twins’ looks, it was impossible for them to have ensnared her son; it was likely a mistake, so she didn’t bring up the matter of adopting them as god-sisters she originally intended to mention.
In the evening, after dining with Xiao Guangqin and Xiao Haolin, He Wenyu used the excuse of taking the drunk duo home to step into the Xiao Mansion. He didn’t even need to think up a plan to investigate further, coincidences being what they were, he happened to meet Lin Wanwan, returning on horseback after a busy day, at the gate, and everything fell into place!
Luoshen, far and near, here before his eyes.