Chapter 275: It is the times that have held Mr. Ou back

After get off work, Cao Yu, the miserable subordinate, took Ou Zanghua to the Dongying Tonghui Hall on Chongwenmen Street.

As no one had lived here for three years, it was already somewhat dilapidated. According to Cao Yu, the Honglu Temple would be repaired before the envoys arrived.

Ou Zanghua walked in and asked, "This place is still a little small. Which country's envoy's hall is next to it?"

Cao Yu's heart trembled, and he slowly said, "It's the Ryukyu Association."

As if he was worried about something, he added: "The Ryukyu envoys are still living there and have not left."

"I'll leave this matter to you, Ayu."

Ou Zanghua patted Cao Yu on the shoulder and said seriously: "Whether our Honglu Temple can enjoy a good life in the future depends entirely on you!"

"Dong Qing."

Ou Zanghua raised one hand to stop Cao Yu, and then talked about his plan: "Ayu saw that if we knock down this wall, we can turn the two guild halls into a large courtyard, covering an area of ​​two acres, which is enough."

"Then on the first floor, we knocked down these partition walls, leaving only the load-bearing walls, so the area is much larger. The second floor needs to be repaired in all aspects, starting with this handrail, which is shaky and unsafe."

"Tear down the front wall of this house and turn it into a stage."

"The pine tree in the yard is a good idea. We can build a water channel around it to give it the feeling of trickling water."

"These two walls cannot be wasted. Find a few painters to paint the sunrise in the east on one side and the mountains and rivers on the other side."

Cao Yu followed behind Ou Zanghua and carefully wrote down the boss's requirements.

After walking around for a few times, Ou Zanghua stopped to think for a while, and added: "Tomorrow you will take my letter to the Ministry of Works to find a craftsman, but before you start, ask them to draw a sketch first. I will confirm that it is correct before you start."

"Yes!" Cao Yu responded weakly.

Then, Ou Zanghua took the carriage back to his home. After having dinner with his wife, he locked himself in the study and used his painting skills to draw several bags from his previous life.

They are mainly divided into three categories: cloth bags, cowhide bags and crocodile leather bags.

Crocodiles were considered a scourge in the Ming Dynasty. Local officials always regarded expelling crocodiles as a top priority for people's livelihood, and there were many "good recipes" for killing crocodiles in the local prefecture and county annals.

The most famous of these is the quicklime poisoning method invented by Xia Yuanji, which was later promoted on a large scale.

Books such as "Lingnan Congshu" and "Chaozhou Fuzhi" all recorded the incident of Xia Yuanji killing the crocodile.

It’s just that crocodiles live in the Lingnan region and are very rare in the north, so crocodile leather bags can only be made when the Huangzhuang store opens in the south.

A few days later, Ou Zanghua first received the store modification sketch sent by Cao Yu at the Honglu Temple official residence. He checked it carefully, then found the craftsman in charge and talked to him in detail, explaining the effect he wanted.

The craftsman manager's surname was Lu. He had worked in the Ministry of Works for decades. Even several buildings in the Leopard House were built by him. His skills and expertise were top-notch at that time.

After listening to the various ideas proposed by Ou Zanghua, he first rejected the automatic elevator and artificial fountain.

"It's fine if the automatic elevator doesn't work, but why can't we make an artificial fountain?" Ou Zanghua asked in surprise.

Manager Lu said seriously, "I have been in this business for 30 years and have never heard of an artificial fountain."

Ou Zanghua was stunned. He remembered that the artificial fountain was invented by people in the Ming Dynasty!

What's that person's name? Zhu?
Suddenly, Ou Zanghua remembered that the first artificial fountain in China was invented by Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao, more than 90 years ago.
He was speechless for a moment, and could only say, "Let's ignore the artificial fountain for now, let's talk about other things later."

The two of them wrote and drew on the sketch and communicated for two full days before they reached a consensus.

When Ou Zanghua returned home, he received the first batch of cloth dyed with tie-dyeing method sent by Liu Zhengfeng. In the study, he and Liu Qing opened one of the scrolls together.

Their eyes immediately lit up. The first piece of cloth had a blue background with white flowers, which blended in with nature like the blue sky and white clouds, giving a sense of elegance like "blue and white porcelain".

"This is so beautiful! It will definitely be gorgeous if it's made into a horse-faced pleated skirt." Liu Qing looked at the cloth and immediately fell in love with it.

"Yes, if you make it into clothes and wear it, you will definitely be the most eye-catching guy on the whole street." Ou Zanghua also said in agreement.

Then, he flipped back and saw the sapphire blue cloth with ice cracks. The pattern was like cracked ice, with overlapping cracks, giving it a three-dimensional feel.

Liu Qing turned her head and said in surprise, "This fabric is also beautiful! Husband, is this the fabric that you and Dad have been researching recently?"

"Yes! What do you think, Qingqing?" Ou Zanghua looked at Liu Qing, and when he saw the joy in his wife's eyes, he knew the answer.

"Yeah, I like it very much."

Liu Qing nodded and said with a smile: "I want to take it away directly and give it to the embroiderer to make a few clothes."

Ou Zanghua smiled and continued to flip through the pages, his words full of doting: "Then I'll give these pieces of cloth to Qingqing, but don't rush to wear the clothes after you make them. Wait until the store opens before wearing them out."

Liu Qing thought about it, shook her head and refused: "Forget it. I can't wear it right after it's made. Just thinking about it makes me feel very entangled!"

"Okay, Qingqing, wait a little longer." Ou Zanghua did not force him and finally turned to the Four Gentlemen series that he valued.

He opened one of the scrolls and found that the bamboo copied on it was still a little different from his own painting, but it was better than that of other merchants of the same period.

Liu Qing came over to take a look and said, "This picture is suitable for making clothes for my husband. Others probably can't wear the temperament of the bamboo gentleman."

"Qingqing is right. I think so too." Ou Zanghua nodded seriously in agreement, which made Liu Qing laugh uncontrollably.

Ou Zanghua was stunned. His wife was so beautiful when she smiled. He suddenly moved closer.

The next moment, Liu Qing felt her cool lips being covered by a warm hand, followed by an equally warm hand pinching her chin, gradually deepening the kiss.

"Husband."

In the summer night sky, the moon is exceptionally white, like a silver mirror, reflecting the tranquility and beauty of the night.

A breeze blew through the clouds and gently brushed past the window. Two martial artists sang along with the song. Their voices were mournful, full of resentment, longing, sobbing, and complaining. The lingering sound lingered.
".It's endless. The hidden dragons dance in the deep valley, and the widowed woman weeps on the lonely boat." Liu Qin's small round face was almost wrinkled. He looked at his mother pitifully, but did not dare to open his mouth to beg for mercy.

Mrs. Ouyang took the book and saw that Liu Qin really couldn't think of it, so she prompted: "Su Zi is sad."

Liu Qin immediately followed up, "Sitting upright, he asked the guest: Why is it so?"

".We lay together in the boat, not knowing that the east was already bright!"

After many twists and turns, Liu Qin finally finished reciting "Preface to the Red Cliff".

"This article only has 643 words in total. I gave you a day to memorize it, but you still stuttered. Your brother-in-law only read it twice and was able to recite it word for word."

Madam Ouyang looked at her son and couldn't help but sigh and said, "Mother doesn't expect you to be like your brother-in-law, but you shouldn't be so careless. What did you learn from playing with Lingsong today?"

Liu Qin lowered his head and whispered, "I learned a set of Huashan swordsmanship."

"What did you say?!"

(End of this chapter)