Chapter 48: This Bad Boy, Don’t Play with Him.

Since the official was on business, Jiang Shiyuan, the little servant, didn’t need to be on duty and had a satisfying sleep.

Upon waking up, the first thing Jiang Shiyuan did was go to the mirror.

Hong Dou brought her the face-washing water and said sympathetically, “Miss, you were so hungry yesterday, you bit your lip so hard. Next time, please eat more slowly.”

Jiang Shiyuan blushed, murmured in response, and went barefoot to the next room, the fragrance room.

She hadn’t touched her treasure in several days, her hands and nose itching with desire.

She stood in front of the rack full of incense ingredients and took a deep breath.

“What fragrance should I use today?”

Jiang Shiyuan sniffed each item one by one, each one her favorite, and each one hard to choose.

“Hong Dou, I can’t decide, help me pick one.”

Hong Dou came in holding Jiang Shiyuan’s shoes and laughed, “Miss, you look much happier.”

Hong Dou wasn’t talking about Jiang Shiyuan looking happy, but rather that she had become happy.

“Wasn’t I happy before?” Jiang Shiyuan asked in return.

Hong Dou thought for a moment, “I can’t really say. How to put it… before, Miss’s happiness was very quiet, but now it’s as if even the strands of your hair are dancing with joy. This feeling, Miss, you only had when you were riding horses outside the city.”

“Miss, is it because of Master Pei?” Hong Dou leaned in and asked curiously, “Is this what the old lady meant by, being with good people will make you shine?”

Jiang Shiyuan wasn’t sure if she had changed, but the old lady’s words were definitely true.

Master Pei was like the sun, you didn’t even have to get too close for it to make you shine.

It was like that before, and still was now.

“Miss should have left that Shen Luchu long ago, he’s just bad luck!” Hong Dou couldn’t hold back and scolded.

Jiang Shiyuan suddenly remembered that Shen Luchu had appeared at Ruyi Tower last night and even called her name outside the carriage.

He seemed to have said something, but in that situation, she didn’t hear anything.

What did he say? Jiang Shiyuan thought.

Forget it.

Jiang Shiyuan shrugged it off; after all, he wasn’t an important person.

He probably saw her with Pei Che last night, so there wouldn’t be any entanglements between them anymore.

After some effort, Jiang Shiyuan finally chose the fragrance powder for the day. After dressing and having breakfast, she took a carriage to the Incense Workshop.

The carriage stopped at the back door. Jiang Shiyuan got out, pushed the door, and walked in.

The workers in the back yard of the Incense Workshop immediately stopped what they were doing and came out, greeting her in unison, “Master.”

Jiang Shiyuan nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, “I’m pressed for time today, so please report the important matters first.”

Several masters immediately brought over their items as if they had found their anchor.

“Master, a lady ordered a batch of Shuangjing Chen Yun incense, but no matter how I adjust it, it’s still missing a certain fragrance.”

Jiang Shiyuan cleaned her hands, took it, sniffed, and then rubbed it with her fingers.

“The materials are fine, but it was dried incorrectly. It needs to be soaked in dragon brain incense solution for an hour and a half, then dried in the shade.”

The master sighed in relief, “Okay, I’ll go re-adjust it immediately.”

Another person came forward with a box of incense. Jiang Shiyuan checked it as usual, focused and unhurried.

In a blink of an eye, the entire morning passed. Issues that had troubled the staff for a long time were easily resolved by Jiang Shiyuan.

“You’re getting more and more like the head of the workshop,” said the shopkeeper, Hui Niang, as she brought tea forward.

Jiang Shiyuan, feeling thirsty, took the tea and drank deeply.

“If you like something, you naturally have to do it well,” Jiang Shiyuan smiled.

Hui Niang nodded. Indeed, this young master of theirs had lived up to the words.

With her dedication to excellence and a natural talent for scent, she had, in just three years, created many innovative and bold new fragrances, gaining a foothold in the capital.

“Recently, many incense shops have been imitating our Lingxi fragrance. It smells similar, but their price is only one-tenth of ours, so our business has declined a lot,” Hui Niang said with some worry.

“Again?” Hong Dou said angrily, “Why is it that every time we release something, they follow like pests, are we just setting the standard for them?”

“It’s fine. When they imitate us, it only means we’re faster than them and higher than them,” Jiang Shiyuan said carelessly, almost enjoying it.

Being chased was a compliment to the strong.

This was something Pei Che had taught her.

What should she start with? Jiang Shiyuan’s thoughts drifted far back—

Before Su Liluo appeared, there was someone who had always liked to compete with her since childhood.

That was Jiang Xingzhuo, the young master of the Chengxuan Bo family. Her father was friends with the Bo family, so they had known each other since childhood, and later, fate led them to study together at Luming Academy.

From the time she could remember, Jiang Xingzhuo had always tried to oppose her. When she recited three chapters of a book, he would immediately raise his hand and recite three and a half chapters. When she wrote twenty characters in fifteen minutes, he would boast about writing twenty-one. Even when skipping stones, he had to make sure he skipped half a circle more than her.

Not more, not less, just half a circle more, intentionally humiliating her, more annoying than Su Liluo.

Later, when her parents had their accident, she couldn’t care less about all this, but Jiang Xingzhuo didn’t let up, constantly comparing and boasting, even chasing her to Pei Che’s villa, where Pei Che found out.

Pei Che disdainfully told her that being pursued was a compliment to the strong, and the reason she felt humiliated was that she wasn’t fast enough, not good enough. If she were strong enough, no matter who it was, Jiang Xingzhuo or Li Xingzhuo, they wouldn’t be able to touch her.

Perhaps feeling his tone was too harsh, the next day, Pei Che brought it up again, telling her to focus on her work and not to play with Jiang Xingzhuo.

That day, Pei Fuzi’s tone was unusually gentle.

At this moment, Jiang Shiyuan wondered where Pei Che was. Had he reached Yuzhou?

Realizing her wandering thoughts, Jiang Shiyuan paused and quickly refocused, bringing her attention back to business.

“Don’t worry about others. As long as we run fast enough and stand high enough, they will never catch up.”

Saying that, Jiang Shiyuan took out a delicate inlaid incense box and handed it to Hui Niang.

“The Lingxi fragrance has been on the market for a while. It’s time for a new one.”

“Has the master created a new fragrance again? What’s the scent this time?”

Hui Niang’s eyes lit up as she took the incense box and sniffed it. “Hmm, it has a sweet citrus scent, and a fresh tea aroma. Not bad, not bad.”

Hui Niang praised endlessly, “What’s the name of this fragrance?”

Jiang Shiyuan smiled, “It’s called ‘Huanxi’.”

“It’s a good name,” Hui Niang praised.

Jiang Shiyuan handed over the recipe. “As usual, I’ll personally send the first batch to Madam Ru. The others can be made into batches for the workshop people.”

Madam Ru was the first customer of the Incense Workshop.

In a city full of incense shops, Jiang Shiyuan’s workshop had been unknown, and it was thanks to Madam Ru that she had survived the last three years.

It was Madam Ru who bought her first box of incense powder and recommended it to other noble ladies, saving the Incense Workshop from closing down three years ago.

Jiang Shiyuan was grateful, so every time she released a new product, she would always send the first batch to Madam Ru.

With the new product settled, it was time to deal with the unsold items.

The Incense Workshop used solid materials, and every unsold box meant wasting real gold and silver.

“How much unsold stock do we have this month?” Jiang Shiyuan asked.

Hui Niang answered, “Not much, about 300 taels of goods.”

Jiang Shiyuan looked up at Hui Niang, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Then let’s use the old method.”

“Go to the Shangshu Mansion and invite Miss Su.”