Faith is over.

　　Li Da said, “Why did Xing Ge’er still mention how much money he made in the letter? It would be bad if people couldn’t hear it.”

　　”That’s just his personality. He wanted to tell me that I’m not a stranger.” Li Zhouzhou thought for a moment. The teacher who wrote the letter should look down on business. This is not a problem, but there is one thing. “My husband, is it okay for Master of Yuanyuan to copy the two books you brought back?”

　　Gu Zhao said: “It’s okay.”

　　The scholar still has some integrity. The teacher could lower his face and ask for the excerpt book, which shows that he is eager to learn. He understands and values ​​the two notebooks. It is good to have one more person who is making progress. Moreover, the teacher reads books to educate people, and it is good for the children to see more new perspectives.

　　After the family finished talking, it was getting late, so they went back to their rooms and went to bed early.

　　The days that followed passed slowly and leisurely. Gu Zhao went to work early every day because he had tasks to do during work hours, which made his life more fulfilling. On the other hand, Li Zhouzhou would occasionally visit the shop with the broker. When asked, he would say that a relative from the prefecture wanted to come to Beijing to do business and wanted to see a shop not far from home.

　　Li Zhouzhou called Xiaoshu to come over and found out that Xiaoshu was feeling very bored at home.

　　The broker recognized the wives of the two officials at a glance, and knew that they probably didn’t have enough money to buy the yard, otherwise why would they have only one or two servants? Therefore, the shops he introduced were all old shops in ordinary locations. Later, he found that the two of them were just undecided, so when asked, they said there was no rush and would take their time to look around, and then left it to their subordinates to run errands.

　　As soon as the subordinate arrived, he heard that the two were wives of officials, and he received them cautiously and diligently. He heard that they were distant relatives of the wife of the official who were coming to Beijing to do business near here, so he found all the shops in this area and took the two to run around one by one, without feeling tired.

　　”Brother Zhou Zhou, the shop we saw today is so expensive.” Liu Shu came back and sat on the mule cart to talk to Brother Zhou Zhou. The two of them went out together, riding a mule cart, so they didn’t have to walk.

　　”I think it’s pretty good, with a good location, but the two floors are a bit wasted,” said Li Zhouzhou.

　　Liu Shu knew that Brother Zhou Zhou wanted to sell expensive products in Beijing this time, so he couldn’t choose a shabby and cheap shop front. He said, “I’ve seen so many shops. In fact, if the price of braised pork is low, the business will be prosperous. The older shops I saw before have low rents and many people. The people who sell goods and customers next to them are obviously elderly people from the neighborhood.”

　　”Yes, the food is cheap and you make less money, but you sell more, so it’s naturally more difficult.”

　　Willow said, “I looked at the shops on the main street that I visited today. Sometimes the shops were closed and there were servants guarding the door. Although there were fewer people, the shopkeepers smiled and saw us off. The maids and servants following behind them carried more than ten items in their hands and arms.”

　　Although he only received one customer in an hour, the profit he made might be enough for that cheap shop to make in several months.

　　”We have been looking at shops these days. The area where our two families live is called Qingxiang Hutong. It sounds quiet, but we all know what it is like. If we walk forward for about a quarter of an hour, we will reach the main street. There are many houses with three courtyards on the left and right sides of the main street…” Li Zhouzhou followed Xiaoshu’s analysis.

　　He is now running around to look at shops, but in fact he is also looking at the location and the residents nearby.

　　If you run a food business, the most important thing is the customers from the surrounding residents, just like when you were in the prefecture and county. First, the people from Shiliujie came to support you because it was close. Even if Mr. Zhu from the pork shop on the west side liked him very much, he would not come to buy food every day.

　　Liu Shu said, “Brother Zhou Zhou, do you want to open a shop on the main street? It’s the shop we visited today. There are many courtyards over there, so they should have enough money to eat this kind of food.”

　　”That’s what I thought before, but now I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Li Zhouzhou shook his head and explained to Xiaoshu without keeping him in suspense: “Look at the shop fronts over there today. The shopkeepers inside have sharp eyes and are all shrewd. They must have touched the families of officials in Beijing. Even if they don’t know them, they can tell the difference from their clothes. My relative grew up in the mountains. Even if you bring it up, we will teach him later. But when it comes to dealing with people, you and I are sometimes afraid of seeing nobles, let alone them.”

　　Willow nodded, “Yes, yes, yes. If I were to talk to a high-ranking official’s wife now, I would have no rules to follow and would be afraid. This would not work. The price would be too high, and the people I would be dealing with would no longer be ordinary people. If I said something unkind, it would cause trouble.”

　　Yes. Li Zhouzhou also thought so.

　　”I can’t stand out too much, nor can I follow the path of the previous prefecture and county. I have to think carefully about how to keep a low profile and still make business successful.”

　　Liu Shu also thought to himself, “Brother Zhou Zhou, I’ll go back and think about this carefully.”

　　”Well, no rush, let’s wait until next spring.”

　　That’s why Li Zhouzhou was not in a hurry to visit the shops. People were one thing, but the most fundamental thing was that Li Zhouzhou wanted to get to know the surrounding environment well and take a look at the prices and consumption in Beijing, because the approach was different from that of the prefectures and counties, and he cared more about the diners, while the purchase of ingredients was put aside.

　　Because the prices are high, things are easier to buy.

　　The days passed quickly and it was January.

　　The Chinese New Year is coming at the end of the month. In the Dali Dynasty, there was a custom that the emperor would stop writing. On the 29th day of the lunar year, all officials held a ceremony in front of the Taiji Hall. After this event, the officials in the capital of Dali would take a complete New Year holiday. They would not go to the government office to work, and would wait until the Lantern Festival. This day was very lively, and there was no curfew.

　　There was also a curfew in the capital. No one was allowed to go out on the streets after 10 p.m. Those who violated the curfew were punished with 20 strokes of the cane. There were only a few days in the year when there was no curfew, and the Lantern Festival was a fixed day.

　　The streets were bustling with lanterns and car lights all night long.

　　The most important thing is that the emperor and empress would climb to the highest point of the palace wall to bless the people.

　　After the Lantern Festival is over, a grand court meeting and ceremony to open the pen is held on the first day to announce the new beginning of a new year, and all civil and military officials in the capital can then operate normally.

　　In fact, people do not really stop working during the Chinese New Year. It’s just that only important departments can operate. For example, the cabinet will continue to operate as usual, but may work later and more relaxed than usual. Some unimportant memorials will be put aside to be dealt with after the Chinese New Year, and the important ones will be sent to the Xuanzheng Hall for the emperor’s approval.

　　There is an old saying that goes, “Let’s talk about anything after the Spring Festival.” From ancient times to the present, the Spring Festival is really important. Even in the past, in the village, families with poor conditions would buy some meat to eat. If they were stingy during the Spring Festival, then the new year would definitely be a poor fate.

　　So no matter what hardship you have, the New Year cannot be hard for you.

　　On the 10th, the Hanlin Academy became restless. No one’s mind was on revising books and working, and the Eighth Prince had not appeared in recent days. It was estimated that they would not meet again until after the New Year. The royal family’s New Year celebrations were not like those of ordinary people. They hung lanterns and posted couplets, and had various family banquets of all sizes. The princes visited each other, kowtowed and paid New Year’s greetings when they entered the palace, and the princes who left the palace to build their own palaces also received New Year’s greetings from people below in their own palaces.

　　In short, since the Eighth Prince didn’t show up, everyone continued to slack off and be lazy.

　　Gu Zhao was packing up book boxes. It was not a task assigned by Lord Shi, but rather a task for him and his second brother to organize and revise the books. He had been doing it openly for two months without trying to hide it, and all his colleagues knew about it.

　　At first, Lord Zhao and Lord Tian found it incomprehensible. They were already busy enough with the assigned tasks and books, so why did they do other things? They were really ambitious. The word “ambitious” was somewhat mocking. Lord Zhao finished joking and said to Gu Zhao with good intentions: “Promotion in our Hanlin Academy depends on the five-year exam. It’s useless for you to do these things.”

　　What I mean is that it’s a waste of time to light a lamp.

　　Everyone is editing books, and you won’t be appreciated by the emperor if you do more. When it comes to the emperor’s birthday, the emperor will see the eighth prince’s achievements and at most say that the Hanlin Academy is good. It’s not that they haven’t edited books before. If nothing unexpected happens, it’s probably because the eighth prince has been praised by the emperor, and their monthly silver salary will be increased by one or two taels.

　　As for a small review by an individual in the Hanlin Academy?

　　There is no way His Majesty would know this, so all my efforts would be in vain.

　　Gu Zhao smiled and thanked Lord Zhao for his kind reminder, saying, “Anyway, just read the book several times and integrate some of it in your spare time. You gentlemen don’t know that when I was in the village, I went to school in the prefecture and county. It was difficult to buy books for the teacher and fellow scholars. I was short of money and couldn’t buy them all. Now I integrate the content, which is cost-effective and convenient for them.”

　　After listening to this, Lord Zhao nodded and said nothing more. He just hoped that Gu Zhao didn’t mind the trouble.

　　He really comes from a poor family, but he always thinks about other poor scholars. He is a good person.

　　Gu Zhao was not doing this for promotion, so other colleagues didn’t care much about it. They just focused on their own tasks and revised the books. Sometimes they would ask about the progress of Master Gu while drinking tea in their spare time. If Master Gu asked them about two paragraphs from two books, the colleagues would also debate about it, which was quite interesting.

　　Having obtained some new angles and new content, Gu Zhao asked, “Master Tian, ​​can I write down the angle you just mentioned, add it to the end of this paragraph, and add your name at the end?”

　　”Can my words be put together with the sage’s book?” Lord Tian was happy. After all, it wasn’t his fault, so he agreed immediately, “Okay.”

　　This happened more often. Initially, it was Gu Zhao who wrote the article. Later, as the debate became more intense, several adults wrote articles themselves and argued with each other. Finally, Gu Zhao revised the articles.

　　Even now, everyone still supports and respects Mr. Gu’s integration and revision of the book. The key point is that they don’t need to do it, and it’s not troublesome.

　　Gu Zhao moved the book box home. Li Zhouzhou had cleared out a room in the east wing early on, made a bookshelf, and turned it into a study for his husband, so all the books were put in it. Gu Zhao planned to organize the books and articles of several colleagues in the study since he had nothing to do during the New Year.