You are unlucky and I am tough

Zhao Xiuwen was invited to the backstage of Baixi Garden, and waited outside the door for more than half an hour just to wait for Mr. Lan to remove his makeup.

Lin Zelan moved slowly in the house, removing the makeup on her face bit by bit. Her eyes, which seemed to be born with charm, also gradually became indifferent as the makeup faded away, as if a layer of human skin mask was peeled off, and in the blink of an eye, she became a completely different person.

His ink-black hair was scattered casually, with a few strands falling on his fair neck. His face was more delicate than a girl's, with thin and rosy lips and a soft yet firm jawline.

With slender white fingers, she picked up the jade hairpin on the table, casually tied up half of her hair, and stood up to open the door.

Zhao Xiuwen was tired of standing, so he found a chair to sit on. When he heard the door open, he quickly got up and went over. When he saw the person coming out, he was slightly stunned.

Her eyes were clearly charming and graceful when she was on stage, but now they were as cold and aloof as a plum blossom in the snow.

This person hides his thoughts very deeply.

Lin Zelan looked at him and said calmly, "Come with me."

The two walked to the backyard one after the other, quietly crossed a long corridor, and came to a secluded place. Lin Zelan pushed open a door and walked in.

Zhao Xiuwen looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he followed in.

Tea and a chess game were already prepared in the room. The two sat opposite each other. Lin Zelan looked at the man opposite her and said, "You are Zhao Xiuwen. It was you who confirmed that the Liu family was the son of the wife's brother of the Duke of Anguo. It was also with your help that we obtained the account books."

Zhao Xiuwen raised the corner of his lips, "I'm just trying to do my bit."

"Mr. Zhao is so modest."

"Mr. Lan's way of connecting is also very unique."

"Ze Lan."

"Ok?"

"My name is Zelan."

Seeing the puzzlement on Zhao Xiuwen's face, he chuckled, "People outside call me Master Lan, but they're just using me as a joke for their amusement. Since you and I are going to work together in the future, we're family. No matter what our purpose is, we're all working for the higher-ups, aren't we?"

"Then Brother Lan, please don't call me Master Zhao anymore. Call me Ziqi."

Lin Zelan chuckled when he heard the voice of "Brother Lan" and stood up and said, "Okay, the time is almost up, let's go, Ziqi."

He stood up and walked to a cabinet. He turned an ornament on it, and the floor under his feet began to loosen, revealing a secret passage.

The two men went down the secret passage one after another and entered the underground dark room. The passage became wider and wider until they came to a secret room.

There were three people inside. A masked man was sitting on a throne, followed by two guards holding swords in their arms.

The two men stepped forward, clasped their fists, and saluted, saying in unison, "Greetings, sir."

The masked man raised his hand. "No need to be polite."

Then his eyes fell on Zhao Xiuwen's left hand, which was wrapped in gauze. "Ziqi, your hand?"

"It's okay. I accidentally got hurt while working at home." Zhao Xiuwen pulled up his sleeve to cover it.

The masked man looked at him and said, "Zi Qi, you are a brilliant writer. You hid your talents in the provincial examination last year so that you could make a splash in the academy examination. If you can take first place, you will be halfway to success. The higher-ups have high hopes for you."

Zhao Xiuwen cupped his hands, "Ziqi will definitely give it his all."

The academy examination is approaching. Every year, those people start looking for candidates from various states from the academy examination. After sending the list, people in the capital will start to prepare. After the spring examination, these people will fail and disappear without a trace.

Poor students who study hard eventually become stepping stones for the children of powerful and wealthy families.

Under the feet of the emperor, people are being confiscated and human lives are being taken lightly. The people in power have been doing this for more than ten years. How cruel they are.

After learning about these things, Zhao Xiuwen thought over and over again and decided to join the game himself, for his parents who had worked hard for more than ten years, and also for the poor students all over the world, to die without regrets.

In addition to allowing Zhao Xiuwen and Lin Zelan to get to know each other, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the college entrance examination. After a conversation, the masked man gave Zhao Xiuwen a list and asked him to secretly observe the students on the list and make friends with them, and cooperate with Lin Zelan to pass on the message.

Lin Zelan just stayed quietly and didn't say anything the whole time. When the masked man was about to leave, he turned around and looked at him deeply, and said, "Zelan, remember this: if you are cautious, you will succeed, but if you act rashly, you will fail."

After the three people left, there were only two people left in the secret room. Zhao Xiuwen couldn't help but feel a little more curious about the people in front of him.

Lin Zelan disagreed and said calmly, "Let's go. The chessboard is set up outside and the game hasn't started yet."

—

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang came out of Taibai Tower after dinner and returned to the inn when they calculated that it was almost time.

Peng Jiang had finished his work and was leaning against the carriage, chewing a steamed bun. When he saw the two men return, he immediately ran over with the order, "My dear, three hundred molds have been ordered. You can pick them up in three days. This is the money left over from the deposit."

Wei Qinglang handed the purse to Cheng Shuang and collected the invoice. "Well done! We have another important task for you to do when we get back."

They planned to let the two brothers Peng Jiangpeng and Penghe take charge of the soap matter. This was what they discussed on the way back.

Peng Jiahan smiled and nodded, "My dear, if you have anything to tell me, I will definitely do it."

Seeing that he was still holding a half-eaten black-faced steamed bun in his hand, Cheng Shuang grabbed a handful of copper coins from her purse and gave it to him. "This is your salary for today's work. Go buy something else to eat on the street, and then meet us at the city gate."

Peng Jiang was flattered and accepted the money without asking them what they were going to do. The rules taught by the brokerage were that they should not ask about the owner's affairs.

Wei Qinglang drove a carriage with Cheng Shuang to the market. They wanted to buy lard for making soap and large vats for storing materials.

The price of pork fat at the market is six coins per pound, which is about the same as that in the mall. They will be buying pork fat in large quantities for a long time in the future, so there is no need to save a little money and buy it in the mall, so Cheng Shuang decided to find a pork shop to cooperate with.

The two of them first went to buy two water vats that were more than one meter high, and then they unexpectedly met Yang at the market. Yang had been setting up a stall at the morning market every day recently to sell braised food. The reason why she hadn't returned to the village so late today was because the braised food business was good, and she wanted to find a shop to open a shop on the morning market street, so that she could make braised meat directly in the shop without having to run back and forth every day.

Upon learning that the two wanted to buy pork fat, Yang took them to a pork shop.

The butcher in that shop was a woman. She said that the husband of her family had passed away, and she took over the butchering business to support her children.

Yang chose this shop to supply meat daily because she knew it was not easy for a woman like her. After working together for a while, she also felt that the boss was a good person. So when she heard that Cheng Shuang wanted to buy pork fat, she introduced her there.

Cheng Shuang trusted Yang's character and vision. When she arrived at the shop, she asked the female boss how much lard she had. Then she took more than 50 kilograms of it from her shop and negotiated a long-term supply cooperation.

After buying the lard, Cheng Shuang asked Yang, "Aunt, I was busy before and didn't ask you which restaurant Uncle Zhengyi is cooperating with for the braised meat."

Yang said, "There's Yixianlou and Wangjianglou. We're currently delivering 50 kilograms to each of them every day, still at the same price as before. I heard they're selling well, so we might increase the supply later."

"Uncle Zhengyi has cooperated with Taibai Tower in the county before, so why didn't he go to Taibai Tower?" Cheng Shuang asked puzzledly.

"We did." Yang sighed. "The first place we went to was Taibailou, but the owner there was no match for Manager Meng. They wanted to buy the formula, but your uncle refused. He then looked down on us and said harsh words, so the deal didn't go through."

Cheng Shuang nodded to show that she understood. "You decide how to sell the braised meat. Since Taibailou's attitude is not correct, we will not sell it to them."

Yang still had to find a suitable shop, so the two said goodbye to Yang and went to buy some gauze, and unprocessed soapberries and soapberries, preparing to take them back to research new soap.

After buying everything, they left the city to pick up Peng Jiang, and the carriage went straight back to the village. When they arrived at the village entrance, they happened to meet Zhao Xiuwen who was returning by water.

Zhao Xiuwen got off the passenger boat with a book in his hand. When he saw Wei Qinglang sitting outside the carriage, he went up to greet him.

Wei Qinglang looked at him calmly, "Brother Zhao, are you going into the city? You've caught a cold and should rest at home."

Zhao Xiuwen smiled and said, "I've been bored at home for a long time, so I went to the city to buy a book. The scenery along the Luo River is so refreshing, it's worth the trip."

Cheng Shuang in the carriage lifted the curtain and stuck her head out. "It's a good thing Zhao Tongsheng is here. Go back and tell your mother that I have a business and would like to ask her to help with some work. I wonder if she's willing to come."

"Ask my mother to work?" Zhao Xiuwen was slightly stunned. "But my mother is not in good health and can't do heavy work. Madam Wei doesn't need to take care of her specially just to help my family. My father followed you into the mountains to dig a ginseng and was given more than 60 taels of silver. You have already taken good care of my family."

Cheng Shuang said, "It's not a hard job, just making lard by lighting a fire. Why don't you go back and ask your mother, if she's willing, she can come to my house later."

Zhao Xiuwen thought about it and nodded. Although the family had some money now, his parents were unwilling to spend a penny except on him. They were afraid that he would not pass the imperial examination. They would feel more at ease if he could have a job to make money.