Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 217 Going to Yongjia Prefecture

Hua Lei was worried that Pei Jingxuan would not be able to handle these trivial matters without the help of someone familiar with the bookstore.

After all, opening a bookstore is a private matter for Pei Jingxuan, and he has to go to the government office to work every day. Pei Jingxuan's wife, Gu, has no experience in this area. If the stall is too big at once, Hua Lei is worried that she will not be able to handle it.

Although the success of Pei Jingxuan and his wife had nothing to do with Hua Lei, Hua Lei thought that it was she who asked them to fight for the agency sales rights, and it was she who suggested that they open a bookstore. Now that things have really started, she just stood by and watched. This is definitely not okay.

And she also had her own little calculations. Gui Jijiu gave her a 10% profit on the local prefectures and counties' rice-shaped and field-shaped grids. If she didn't go there in person, these field-shaped and rice-shaped grids would probably have to be sold in Pei Jingxuan's bookstore. Pei Jingxuan and his wife probably wouldn't be able to control the many other bookstores.

So Hua Lei wanted to go there in person. On the one hand, she wanted to help Pei Jingxuan sort out the affairs of the bookstore. On the other hand, she wanted to get the contracts for the Mi Zi Ge and Tian Zi Ge books. She had promised Gui Jijiu that she would recommend the Mi Zi Ge and Tian Zi Ge books to him. She couldn't just talk about it without doing anything. She had to go there at least. This time, she happened to have her own ship to take her there, so it would be relatively safe for her to go with them.

Even if she could only get 20% or 30% of the contract, she could give an explanation to Gui Jijiu in return for the right to deliver the books used for the imperial examination.

Moreover, the transportation rights of Liang Xiangyi were obtained by Gui Jijiu for Hualei's sake, and Hualei also wanted to give something back, so Hualei decided to go to Yongjia Prefecture on the ship herself.

Such a decision was completely unexpected to Old Madam Pei. Although Hua Lei's going to Yongjia Prefecture would definitely be a great help to Pei Jingxuan in opening a bookstore, Hua Lei was only fourteen years old after all, and was a girl, so it would definitely be inconvenient.

She tried to persuade Hua Lei for a long time, but Hua Lei didn't change her mind. Hua Lei had also discussed it with Xiao Yuan. Although Xiao Yuan was worried about Hua Lei going alone, he reluctantly agreed after Hua Lei's lobbying. However, he asked Hua Lei to bring two more guards, and Hua Lei agreed.

Mrs. Pei had no choice but to agree with Hua Lei's decision, but she also made a request that Qingying and Qinglian must go with Hua Lei this time, and Pei Zhongsheng, the son of housekeeper Pei, must also go with them. Hua Lei thought that she would indeed need manpower there, so she agreed.

Hua Lei and Gui Jijiu also told them that they were going to Yongjia Prefecture. They also asked Gui Jijiu to help look after the delivery of food from their farm to the Imperial College, and they could discuss any problems after they returned.

Hua Lei's decision also shocked Gui Jijiu. Of course, Hua Lei was also a scheming person. She said that this trip to Yongjia Prefecture was mainly to get the contract for Mi Zi Ge Tian Zi Ge so as to repay Gui Jijiu for his help. The matter of helping Pei Jingxuan to organize and settle the bookstore was just mentioned in passing.

After hearing Hua Lei's words, Gui Jijiu felt mixed emotions. "Miss Hua, I only give you 10% profit. You don't have to work so hard. You are still a child, an underage girl." "You work so hard, which makes me feel petty and unkind." Gui Jijiu was silent.

After a cup of tea, Gui Jijiu decided to let Manager Liu go with Hua Lei to Yongjia Prefecture and obey Hua Lei's orders. Hua Lei thought about it and did not refuse. After all, the goal was the same, which was to get more contracts for the rice grid and the field grid. There was no reason for her to refuse, so Manager Liu was added to the team going to Yongjia Prefecture.

Hua Lei went to Liang Xiangyi's shop in Xicheng District in person, but was told by the shop assistant that Liang Xiangyi was going to take the boat to Huai'an Huaiping Prefecture in person, and was arranging things at the farm in the past two days.

Hua Lei couldn't wait for Liang Xiangyi to come back. She thought that she would meet Liang Xiangyi when she went to the Ministry of Rites to pack books, so she gave a packet of information to the clerk, left her a short note, and went straight back to the Marquis' Mansion.

On June 3, the ship bound for Mobei officially headed north. In addition to Madam Pei's rice wine, the ship was also loaded with pork pickled with flower buds, braised meat, cured chicken, cured duck, cured goose, tofu strips, salted duck eggs, and the last batch of chopped pepper sauce. The last batch of chopped pepper sauce this year was not completed until early March, and the horse-drawn caravan of the Marquis's Mansion could not carry it all, so it was also put on board this time.

Soap, toothbrushes, quill pens, and goose feather fans were also shipped over, as the people of Mobei also needed to improve their quality of life. Old Madam Pei sent Lao Fang, who had been to Mobei on the boat with Liang Xiangyi last time, to go north again to help guide the way.

On June 6, after the ship bound for Wuling Prefecture, the capital of Chengyun Prefecture, had loaded all the books required by the Ministry of Rites, there was still half a space left. Hua Lei also loaded the gridded and square practice papers she got from the printing house onto the ship, and also packed a small batch of toothbrushes and soaps to send to Ruyi, preparing to explore the market in Wuling Prefecture.

Tian Xiaocheng and Zheng Xiaomai from Baihua Manor followed the boat westward. Hualei had not originally planned to send them, but Tian Changmu was worried, and he and Tian Changshui could not leave the big pile of things in Yuanying Manor, so he asked several sons and nephews who were willing to go with the boat, and several sons and nephews with the surname Xiao were willing to go.

Tian Changmu thought that delivering food to the Imperial College was also very important. Now Tian Xiaoan was responsible for the food delivery to Class A, and Tian Xiaoquan was responsible for the food delivery to Class D. They did not move them because they were afraid of mistakes if they changed people temporarily.

Instead, he sent Tian Xiaocheng, who was in charge of the tofu shop, to go with the boat. Anyway, Tian Xiaocheng's job could be taken care of by Tian Xiaocheng's wife Wang. If she was too busy to take care of the children, he could take care of it himself. If he was busy, he could still do it with Tian Changshui and others.

After Tian Changmu told Hua Lei about this arrangement, Hua Lei thought that since Tian Xiaocheng was willing to go, it would be good for him to go out and have a look. He had relatively less responsibility on the farm, so she agreed.

After all, Tian Xiaozhen is now in charge of the Hua Qianbian Shop and the Roast Duck Shop. The pressure of roasting dozens of ducks every day is not small. Tian Xiaozhen's wife, Zhao, is in charge of the braised food shop and is also very busy and cannot spare any time.

Hua Lei was worried about letting Tian Xiaocheng, who had never been far away, go alone, so she asked Uncle Zheng's youngest son from Baihua Manor to go together. At this time, she carefully instructed Tian Xiaocheng and Zheng Xiaomai, asking them to take her letters with them. She also instructed the four guards who went with the boat to take good care of everyone before leaving the shore and heading west.

On June 7, a ship loaded with books and exercise papers headed directly to Huai'an Prefecture and Huaiping Prefecture. Liang Xiangyi personally went south with a few maids and servants. Before boarding the ship, Hua Lei talked to her for a long time.