A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together."

Mu Nanzhao lay on the bed with his eyes closed, the words still swirling in his mind.

Different paths?

Is he going to forcibly drag her onto his path?

Or will he abandon his own path and go down hers?

If you force someone to sacrifice themselves, how can that be considered a good choice?

……

For the next two days, Gu Xixi continued to take An Qinghe out for tea during the day.

Among them are several teahouses of varying sizes recommended by He Jinglan.

He Jinglan herself was busy with the renovation of the dessert shop.

That evening, the two of them took a bath together in a wooden tub and shared what they had gained that day.

Gu Xixi has visited more than a dozen teahouses and tea shops of different levels.

With her eyes half-closed, she smiled and said, "These past two days haven't been a waste of time. Although loose-leaf tea is popular in the capital, brewing tea is also quite popular and is associated with elegance."

"Moreover, the rich flavors of Fu tea, black tea, and Pu'er tea are available in every teahouse and have a considerable following, so they are not considered novel or exotic."

"I have decided to go back and prepare for the tea plantation, and I will leave the establishment of the tea-making workshop to An Qinghe."

He Jinglan leaned against the tub, tilted her head back comfortably, and sighed, "Seeing you so confident makes me happy too."

"My progress is also going smoothly, and construction will begin tomorrow."

"So don't rush back. Wait another half month, and you'll see our dessert shop."

Gu Xixi replied lazily, "Don't worry, I won't be leaving for the time being either."

"Firstly, we need to find a way to acquire the land, and it will take some time to communicate with the county government."

"Secondly, the spring planting season is definitely too late. It's best to wait until early autumn when the weather cools down to propagate and transplant tea trees by cuttings. You can't rush it."

"And Lü Jing..."

"We'll have to wait until she complains and gets a response."

He Jinglan nodded with a smile, "It's good that you're not leaving. You're welcome to stay at my house for as long as you like."

A large black lacquered tray inlaid with gold was placed next to the bathtub.

The plate contains a glass self-pouring pot, teacups, and two kinds of sweet and sour candied fruit.

He Jinglan heated the teapot and poured two cups of it. The water was light red and had a sweet rose fragrance.

She handed a cup to Gu Xixi, saying, "This is a tribute rose dew from the southern border, made with honey. Its color is like rouge. Just one teaspoon of this dew is enough to make it very fragrant."

Gu Xixi took a bite and found it to be delicious; the floral fragrance also helped to relax her mind.

He Jinglan smiled again, "He has already tried the two tea cakes you gave my brother, and he likes them very much."

Gu Xixi said, "It's good that Lord He can drink it."

"When I came to the capital, I only wanted to go and return quickly. I did not intend to bother your brother in person, so I did not bring any gifts."

"These two tea cakes are the only ones I made myself; they're just a small token of my appreciation."

He Jinglan said, "This gift is good enough, and you can't buy it anywhere else. He plans to take it with him when he goes on a spring outing, and before the weather gets too hot, he'll invite his close colleagues to brew tea and drink together."

Gu Xixi glanced at her with a smile, "Fu tea is mild in nature, neither hot nor cold, and it also helps with digestion. It's actually suitable for summer too."

"However, when it's hot, lighting a fire to brew tea is ultimately unpleasant due to the smoke and fumes. You can brew the Fu brick tea elsewhere and let it cool. When drinking it, you can add ice cubes, or you can soak dried citron and dried tangerine peel in the cold tea for flavor. It will definitely be refreshing and delicious."

He Jinglan exclaimed with delight, "This is a great idea, and it's novel too. I'll tell my brother about it later, and he'll definitely be happy."

"If one cannot come up with something unique and interesting about food and drink, how can one live up to the name of a scholar and literati?"

The sound of splashing water was heard.

He Jinglan turned towards Gu Xixi, gripping the edge of the bucket with both hands and laughing:

"So you don't have anything else to do next? I mean, the important things you were originally supposed to do."

Gu Xixi replied, "This trip was only for a preliminary understanding, and that's enough."

He Jinglan's smile deepened, and her expression clearly showed that she had already planned something.

"That day, I had my brother and the others taste it, as well as my maids and servants. Although they gave feedback afterward, I felt it wasn't enough."

Gu Xixi said, "Can you find even more people to be guinea pigs?"

He Jinglan replied slyly, "Of course."

"However, I need to come up with a respectable reason so that they not only get to drink, but they can't drink for free."

"It would be best to kill two birds with one stone and take this opportunity to build up the reputation of our dessert shop!"

Gu Xixi understood. "You want to treat us?"

He Jinglan nodded, "It's the perfect time to enjoy the flowers in spring, so let's hold a flower appreciation and poetry gathering at my house."

"Anyway, there are always banquets like this at the Dahe Mansion around this time of year."

"It just so happens that I've seized this opportunity this year."

Gu Xixi thought for a moment and said, "Those who can accept the invitation from your He family are naturally young masters and noble ladies from the capital. They are mostly rich and have plenty of free time, so they need novel experiences."

"A banquet would indeed be a good opportunity for promotion. But..."

She had some concerns, "After all, this involves social interactions and is quite troublesome to prepare for. What about Lord He's side?"

He Jinglan was prepared. "Don't worry, I already gave my brother a heads-up, and he has no objections."

"Since no sister-in-law has joined the family yet, I am the lady of the house."

"We can discuss and decide on the specifics of how to organize the banquet."

Gu Xixi smiled faintly, "Okay."

He Jinglan pondered and said, "Besides figuring out the format of the banquet, we also need to write the invitations in advance."

"With the imperial examinations approaching, why not set the date after the results are announced?"

"Now everyone will be at ease, regardless of whether they passed the exam or not, so we can invite more people to the banquet."

“And send an invitation to your relative Jiang Mingyuan as well.”

Gu Xixi nodded, "That makes everything perfect."

The imperial examinations are, after all, the biggest and most discussed event in the capital city right now.

Only after the examinations are settled will the flower viewing banquet and tasting event have a chance to gain widespread attention and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan are not people who dawdle.

They immediately began to discuss it:

Gu Xixi: "There shouldn't be too many sweet soups on the day of the banquet, three to five kinds at most will be enough, to be used as appetizers, drinks to accompany the meal, and desserts during the meal, and to be written into the menu for the day."

He Jinglan: "We must choose something that no one has ever tasted before, something that will be the most impactful and leave them wanting more."

Gu Xixi: "We have to choose the one with the highest acceptance and the widest audience, otherwise it's easy to backfire."

He Jinglan: "Hmm, that makes sense. It seems that it's not enough to just let my family try it. I'll also let the people from the Regent's Palace try it; they have more people there."

"Oh, I'm doing this myself. It's my decision alone, so you don't need to owe them any favors!"

……

Two days before the imperial examination, Gu Xixi and An Qing bought some things and went to the inn to visit Jiang Mingyuan.

Gu Xixi hasn't seen Mu Nanzhao in the last few days.

He Jinglan also found it strange that before, either Mu Nanzhao would go to the He residence or He Jinghui would go to the Regent's residence. In short, they were always visiting each other, either at one place or another.

But this time, Mu Nanzhao didn't come to the He residence for several days, which truly broke the record.

He Jinglan recalled her conversation with Mu Nanzhao that night and cursed inwardly, wondering if this guy was really backing down.

She couldn't discuss it with Gu Xixi, so she had to ask her own brother in private.