Chapter 50: Heavenly Machine Divine Calculation
"Is brother going to stay up all night again?" Huang Yue glanced at the bamboo slips under the lamp and said casually.
Huang Quan smiled and said, "No need, it'll be done soon. Thanks to the invention of this steel pen by Governor Liu, writing is much faster than with a brush. Otherwise, I'd really have to pull an all-nighter." The steel pens made by Liu Zhang were different from modern ones. Since Han people used bamboo slips, the nibs of the steel pens were not pointed but were round and made of water-absorbing material, which allowed writing on bamboo slips.
Huang Quan's face wore a smile, but Huang Yue's tears fell into her heart. Indeed, with the fountain pen, he no longer had to write for himself. And since Xiao Fu Rong arrived, although he complained of headaches every day, his headaches never recurred, and he didn't need to massage them himself either.
"Thank you."
These two words pierced Huang Yue's heart like a sword, even if Liu Zhang directly refused, Huang Yue wouldn't have felt so much pain. Hearing these two words, Huang Yue finally realized how far apart the two of them were. Liu Zhang had always treated himself as a guest, and all along, it was just his own one-sided feeling.
A wave of chill swept through his heart, if he no longer needed me, then this city didn't need me either.
"Brother, I want to go back to Langzhong," Huang Yue said to Huang Quan.
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"So anxious?"
Huang Yue didn't respond and just hung her head low. Huang Quan let out a sigh and said, "Alright, you can go back now. Also, help your brother with something."
"What's wrong?"
Huang Quan said solemnly, "I'm telling you this, but you can't mention it to anyone, including Father and Mother. While the master is busy with the commercial workshop and the four arts, he's also doing something big. Many of the wealthy families in Yizhou are dissatisfied with the master, and if they become desperate, they may collude with the Taishou of Bashu, Pang Xi. The master has already made arrangements for Zhang Ren and Yan Yan's troops. As long as Pang Xi dares to rebel, he will take him down."
"Go back and watch the old master and our people. No matter how other tribes make trouble, no matter what conditions Pang Xi promises, you must persuade our people to stay calm. The Huang family cannot have any involvement with Pang Xi, not only because I am an official in Chengdu, but also because Pang Xi is absolutely not a match for our master. Our master's eyes are not blind, if the Huang family gets involved with Pang Xi, it may be a disaster that will lead to the extinction of our clan."
"I understand." Huang Yue quietly listened to Huang Quan's words, faintly responded, and then walked into the house. Huang Quan looked at her back with some curiosity, his sister was not usually like this, did she have something on her mind?
Huang Quan thought for a moment and couldn't think of a result, so he continued to tidy up the book.
Liu Zhang returned to the mansion after playing mahjong all night, and by this time the sky was already bright. He only saw Liu Xun writing in the living room. As soon as he saw Liu Zhang return, Liu Xun happily ran over with a bamboo scroll, "Dad, I've written seven more poems, take a look."
Liu Zhang touched Liu Xun's head and said: "Xun'er is well-behaved, don't worry for now, where is your sister Furen?"
"Huh?" As soon as Liu Xun heard the name Xiao Fu Rong, his eyebrows furrowed. This sister was not as good as Yu sister at all. Not only did she look unappetizing, but she also bothered him to practice martial arts every day, saying that one's tendons and bones had to be trained from a young age. Little Liu Xun endured it each time, but he was very unhappy in his heart.
"Sister seems like she didn't sleep all night and went out early in the morning."
"Has she gone out?" Liu Zhang sighed and shook his head as he went out the door. If they didn't hurry to bring Xiao Fu Rong back, who knows what kind of trouble she would stir up again.
Liu Zhang walked to the gate with his personal soldiers, and behind him came Liu Xun's shout: "Dad, why didn't sister Yue come?"
Xiao Furong walked alone on the street, with steaming food stalls on both sides. She involuntarily approached a stir-fry stall, and the owner, seeing it was her, hastily covered the wok and held up his spatula, stuttering: "Flying Female Knight, you... don't come over."
"I should have eaten before coming out."
Xiao Furong was thinking to herself, her ears filled with the cries of peddlers and her nose filled with the aroma of food. She kicked at a stone in front of her, unable to help but curse: "That dead man, not even giving an apology and staying out all night, it's infuriating! He sold our horse, now we can't even leave, and yet staying is also embarrassing, what to do?"
Her stomach growled again, Xiao Furen crouched in the corner holding a forget-me-not flower, tearing off the petals one by one, gritting her teeth and cursing: "Dead Liu Zhang, dead Liu Zhang, let you not come back for a night, dead Liu Zhang..."
"Those who scold people early in the morning will grow long fangs."
A voice entered her ears, Xiao Fenger suddenly turned her head, only to see Liu Zhang standing beside her, with a smile on his face that seemed to be asking for a beating. Xiao Fenger's expression changed, and she quickly looked away, turning her head to the side.
"Alas, that Wang Xi, these meat pies can't be finished, you take them away and throw them out." Liu Zhang opened a paper package (before Cai Lun invented paper, there was already rough, hard paper), inside were thin pancakes still emitting white steam, looking very appetizing. Xiao Fu Rong couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, her stomach again uncooperatively growling.
"Yes, sir." Wang Xie walked over and was about to take the package.
"Hey......" Xiao Furen blurted out. Only after saying "hey" did she realize she had lost face, and she quickly looked away.
"Alright." Liu Zhang squatted down and handed a piece of bacon to Xiao Fu Rong: "Come on, I was wrong yesterday, have a piece of bacon, if you don't eat breakfast your face will turn yellow!"
"Hmph." Xiao Furen snatched the roasted meat pie and started devouring it, still not looking at Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang smiled, dealing with a foodie was really too easy.
Liu Zhang handed over the entire package of paper, and Xiao Furen took it in her hand and said: "How did you find me?"
"There's just this one snack street near our provincial capital, it's easy to find you."
"Hmm." Xiao Furen still looked angry, Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Don't eat too much, today I'm treating you, everything on this street is yours to eat, as much as you want."
"Really?" Xiao Furan finally couldn't help but forget her anger, and excitedly looked at Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang was stunned for a moment, then grabbed Xiao Furan's hand and ran onto the main street.
Liu Zhang was like a young master, leading Xiao Furan to sweep through the entire snack street. Almost every guard had two paper bags in hand, containing scallion pancakes, beef pies, five-spice beans, miscellaneous cow balls, tofu pudding, spring rolls, crab roe noodles, red sauce eggs, cold sugar congee, and skewers of meat. They almost bought one of everything the snack street had to offer. Xiao Furan was eating happily in front.
It's said that Governor Zhou brought a disheveled woman to eat snacks on the street, and the people of Chengdu who loved excitement came to watch. Xiao Furen ignored them, and Liu Zhang pretended not to see. When Xiao Furen was finally full and her mouth was hungry but her stomach wasn't, the two finally left Snack Street.
"Can I go back with you now?" Liu Zhang said to Xiao Furan.
"No, I'm still a bit angry, you have to stay with me for a while longer."
Xiao Furan's chubby hands grasped Liu Zhang's hand, walking to a fortune-telling stall in front of them. The fortune teller was an old man with a messy beard, standing next to him was a banner that read: "Tianji Shen Suan".
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