Traveling through time and space to become a child, supporting the family by catching fish and shrim

After dinner, Chen Lang was about to go back to his study to continue looking at the account books when the cloth shop's manager, Hou, came hurriedly to visit.

"Mr. Chen, how is Miss Xu?" Shopkeeper Hou asked breathlessly, "I was delayed today by something, so I only just now learned that Miss Xu had an accident."

Chen Lang said, "The doctor has examined me. It's nothing serious. I just need to rest for half a year."

Shopkeeper Hou's expression suddenly changed: "So long? Then it's over."

"Mr. Chen, can I go see Miss Xu? It's extremely urgent."

Chen Lang called Xiao Qi and asked him to ask Hong'er whether Miss Xu had woken up.

After a cup of tea, Hong'er came in person to report that the young lady woke up for a short while during dinner, and fell asleep again after taking the medicine prescribed by Doctor Sun.

"Dr. Sun said that the medicine he prescribed contains herbs that can calm the mind. Miss will sleep well all night after taking it."

Shopkeeper Hou asked anxiously, "Can you wake him up? It's really important."

Hong'er looked embarrassed and said, "Shopkeeper Hou, it's not that I don't want you to see the young lady, it's just that her current condition is not optimistic. Divine Doctor Sun also said that we should try not to irritate her."

"You're making it sound so serious. What if the young lady's condition gets worse?"

Chen Lang waved his hand and let Hong'er go out first. "Shopkeeper Hou, I will take over all the affairs of the cloth shop now. If you have anything to say, please tell me."

Shopkeeper Hou gritted his teeth, went over to close the door, and then took out a cloth bag from his arms.

After opening it, there was still a piece of cloth wrapped inside.

Chen Lang picked up the rag, looked at it in front of the oil lamp for a long time, and said, "Why is it this color?"

Shopkeeper Hou sighed, "Mr. Chen, this is the problem."

"Because we want to be imperial merchants, Miss Xu and I both think that when choosing the color of the fabric, we should start with the preferences of the Liao people."

"After all, other colors have already been developed to the extreme by other cloth shops. If you want to be a royal merchant, you have to be creative."

Chen Lang nodded: "That's right, go on."

Shopkeeper Hou said, "The Liao people are fond of deep colors, and the main colors are black, red, and green."

"There's also yellow, but we don't dare touch that color. So I discussed with Ms. Xu and decided to settle on black and green."

"After a period of blending, we created a dark green color, which is the color you see now, Master Chen."

Chen Lang said: "You...are not dark green either."

Shopkeeper Hou sighed, "That's the problem. When it was first dyed, it was a dark green. We've tried many methods, such as sun exposure, burning, and washing, but there were no problems at all."

"But this morning... it suddenly faded, catching me off guard."

"I've been busy all day trying to find the problem and get the color back. I strictly followed the dye formula given by Miss Xu throughout the whole process, but I just can't get the dark green color I had before."

"Mr. Chen, you only have two more months left as the Imperial Merchant. I'm afraid it's unlikely that you'll be able to come up with a completely new color."

There were many uncertainties in dyeing and weaving in ancient times, because the ancients did not have equipment that could accurately control the proportions, and the mixing of pigments was entirely done by manpower.

To put it simply, the mixing of pigments is a chemical reaction, and mathematics, physics and chemistry are all very rigorous subjects. A flash of inspiration may bring about a miracle, but to turn the miracle into reality, extremely rigorous logical calculations and experiments are required.

Obviously, neither Xu Mengru nor Manager Hou currently possesses this ability.

The most likely reason they were able to produce the dark green color was by chance. If they didn't understand the chemical reaction involved, it would be impossible to reproduce the original dark green color.

Chen Lang rubbed the cloth in his hand slowly and said, "I will find a way to solve this matter. You don't have to worry too much."

Shopkeeper Hou was stunned: "Mr. Chen, do you know about dyeing and weaving?"

"I don't mean to disrespect you, but Mr. Chen... aren't you a wine shop owner?"

Chen Lang smiled and said, "I know a little bit about everything."

Shopkeeper Hou's mouth twitched slightly. He tasted an extremely strong sense of "unreliability" from Chen Lang's words.

Chen Lang said: "Don't worry, being a royal merchant is my desire, not Miss Xu's."

"For you and Miss Xu, even if you can't become a royal merchant, you can still continue to run the cloth business."

"But if I can't become an imperial merchant... I might have to consider reincarnation."

"So I will take this matter with the most serious attitude."

After hearing this, Shopkeeper Hou finally felt relieved and said, "Since Master Chen has said so, I have nothing to worry about."

"It's getting late, I'll take my leave now."

"Mr. Chen, please give Miss Xu a message for me."

Chen Lang nodded: "Wait a moment, I have something else that I need from Shopkeeper Hou."

"Mr. Chen, please tell me what you want me to do," said the shopkeeper Hou.

Chen Lang said, "Starting tomorrow, Shopkeeper Hou must clearly tell any business partners that our cloth shop wants to be a royal merchant."

"At the same time, we also need to tell them that becoming an imperial merchant has been Miss Xu's dream since she was a teenager and started working in the cloth business. She has been preparing for this ever since. By this year, the cloth business has mastered a brand new dyeing and weaving color. We are determined to become the imperial merchant."

Shopkeeper Hou was a little panicked and said, "Mr. Chen, being an imperial merchant is a very secretive matter. Aren't you afraid of backlash if you publicize it so widely?"

Chen Lang said, "If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it. Just do your job."

Shopkeeper Hou sighed inwardly, thinking that Chen Lang's behavior was too bookish, as if he was just sulking with someone.

But then again, it is really hard to argue with the fact that such a scholarly person could create such a rare and exquisite wine as Hongyanzui.

"Well, since it is Master Chen's request, I will do as he asks."

Chen Lang cupped his hands and said, "Manager Hou, I will work with you to get this done in the next month or so."

Shopkeeper Hou returned the greeting with a bow, "Mr. Chen, you are too kind. If you have no other instructions, I will take my leave."

Chen Lang said, "Xiao Qi, send Shopkeeper Hou off for me."

Manager Hou was indeed efficient. The next morning, the news that Xu's Cloth Shop wanted to become the royal merchant spread throughout the city.

This news even overshadowed the current wave of disaster victims.

Especially those colleagues in the cloth business were extremely surprised by the news.

Xu Mengru and Shopkeeper Hou are both well-known figures in the cloth business circle.

But Chen Lang...you are a winemaker, why are you joining in the fun at the cloth shop?

Although the wine you brew is very good, weaving and dyeing cloth have nothing to do with brewing wine.

Chen Lang wanted to recreate the glory of Hong Yanzui in the cloth shop, but it was absolutely impossible.

Colleagues in Linshui County were all waiting to see Chen Lang make a fool of himself.

This joke happened on the third day after Xu's Cloth Shop announced that it would become a royal merchant.