Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 32

The white figure flew further and further away, disappearing into the distant blue sky.

Qi Zhenshu turned her head to look at Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng blinked at her, with a cunning smile, “Do you want to watch a good show?”

A flash of interest crossed her eyes, and Qi Zhenshu looked at the teahouse opposite, “Do we need to find a good spot?”

“Of course.” Hearing this, Lu Sheng smiled even wider.

Seeing the large sign with the character for ‘Tea’ on the opposite side, she was reminded of something else.

The two came to the teahouse, specifically went to the second floor, and found a private room directly facing the eatery across the street.

“What would the two ladies like to drink?” The tea waiter wiped the table and asked with a smile.

“At this time of year, the autumn tea should be ready, right?” Lu Sheng looked at the tea waiter, “Does the waiter have any recommendations?”

“It is ready. Our house has white tea and oolong tea, both are new teas that just arrived recently. The white tea is sweet, and the oolong tea is rich and fragrant. Both are the favorite flavors of our female guests.” The tea waiter introduced them carefully.

“If the young lady likes flower tea, we also have chrysanthemum tea and sweet-scented osmanthus tea. Chrysanthemum clears heat and brightens the eyes, and osmanthus nourishes the stomach and produces saliva.”

“The waiter really knows a lot about tea. Have you been in this business for many years?” Lu Sheng was delighted and asked with a smile.

“I’ve been doing it for seven or eight years.” The waiter raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Qi Zhenshu listened to her conversation with the tea waiter, her eyebrows slightly raised, guessing her intention.

This person really has a lot of ideas.

“Chrysanthemum tea is quite good.” Lu Sheng flipped through the wooden sign in her hand and said, “I’ve been feeling a bit overheated these past few days.”

“Huh? Waiter, your Imperial Chrysanthemum Tea is twenty wen per pot?”

“Imperial Chrysanthemum Tea is twenty wen per pot, and Premium Golden Silk Imperial Chrysanthemum is fifty wen per pot.”

“Waiter, are you sure you didn’t remember it wrong?” Lu Sheng asked suspiciously.

She silently did some calculations in her mind and then said, “I just bought two liang of Imperial Chrysanthemum the day before yesterday, which cost two hundred wen. Are you perhaps selling wild chrysanthemums from the mountains as Imperial Chrysanthemum?”

“Or do you only put one Imperial Chrysanthemum in a pot of tea?”

“Young lady, you can’t say that carelessly. Those small wild chrysanthemums in the mountains are tiny, bitter, and astringent. Our Imperial Chrysanthemum is this big, how can it be compared to wild chrysanthemums?” The tea waiter said, cupping his hands together to show the size, “Every bloom is an authentic Qin-zhou large Imperial Chrysanthemum, and each pot of tea contains five qian of Imperial Chrysanthemum.”

One liang is equal to ten qian, meaning the teahouse’s Imperial Chrysanthemum also costs two hundred wen per liang, the same price as the loose tea Lu Sheng casually mentioned.

“Then why are you selling it so cheaply? Logically speaking, the loose tea sold by the tea shops should be cheaper than the teahouse, shouldn’t it?” Lu Sheng asked puzzled, then suddenly realized, “Could it be that I was ripped off by the tea shop owner?”

“That’s not exactly the case. The tea in our teahouse is personally sourced by the owner from the production area, so the price is naturally not high,” the tea waiter relaxed his expression, “The price of loose tea in the tea shops and the price of the brewed tea in our teahouse are actually not very different.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Has the young lady heard of the Hengchanglong Chamber of Commerce?” The tea waiter lowered his voice and asked.

“I have heard of it.” Lu Sheng asked with curiosity, “Is there some secret to it?”

“All the tea shops in our Binhe County are managed by them. They are the ones who decide how much the tea is sold for,” the tea waiter said cautiously.

This point from the tea waiter was basically consistent with what Lin Shuqing had mentioned last time.

“If they manage the tea shops, and the loose tea costs the same as your teahouse’s brewed tea, then wouldn’t people all come to the teahouse for tea, and their tea leaves won’t sell?” Lu Sheng asked.

“Haha, the young lady is joking. Their loose tea is still usually a little cheaper.”

“Then is the tea sold in your teahouse not managed by them?”

“It used to be managed by them too,” the tea waiter smiled and said.

Seeing Lu Sheng so curious, the tea waiter also became interested and chatted freely with her, even mentioning things that Lin Shuqing had not told her.

The Hengchanglong Chamber of Commerce was jointly founded by the six major merchants of Qing-zhou: Xinming Tea House, Jinxiu Cloth Store, Qingfeng Restaurant, Dingnan Grain Store, Lifeng Money Exchange, and Yuanbao Hall. The president of the Chamber of Commerce was also rotated among the owners of these families.

These six major merchants were originally the leaders in their respective industries. Led by them, many smaller merchants also joined the Hengchanglong Chamber of Commerce.

Later, as the Chamber of Commerce grew stronger, Hengchanglong essentially controlled all tea houses, tea shops, cloth stores, dyeing workshops, grain stores, restaurants, teahouses, eateries, breweries, pawnshops, money exchanges, jewelry stores, general stores, and a dozen other scattered industries within Qing-zhou.

Until seventeen years ago, some friction occurred among the six major merchants, and the young masters of Qingfeng Restaurant and Dingnan Grain Store even got into a big fight.

Later, the young master of Dingnan Grain Store went missing, and the whole family of the third young master of Qingfeng Restaurant died in a carriage accident, after which Qingfeng Restaurant withdrew from the Hengchanglong Chamber of Commerce.

Afterward, restaurants, teahouses, eateries, and breweries were no longer managed by Hengchanglong. This is why Hengchanglong could control the pricing of tea leaves in tea shops but not the price of tea and drinks sold in teahouses and restaurants.

Three more years passed, and Lifeng Money Exchange and Yuanbao Hall also withdrew from the Chamber of Commerce.

Since then until now, Hengchanglong has been jointly controlled by Xinming Tea House, Dingnan Grain Store, and Jinxiu Cloth Store.

After hearing so much from him, Lu Sheng specifically ordered a pot of Premium Golden Silk Imperial Chrysanthemum, also packed a few tea snacks, and gave the tea waiter twenty wen as a tip.

The tea waiter happily accepted the tip and gave her a small plate of roasted nuts.

After he left, Qi Zhenshu slightly furrowed her brows and said in a deep voice, “If I remember correctly, the owner of the Qingfeng Restaurant has the surname Lin.”

“Mhm, Qingfeng Restaurant is the business of Lin Shuqing’s family.”

Lin Shuqing had told her this when they met for the second time.

Also, the carriage accident that the waiter just mentioned, which killed the family of the third young master of Qingfeng Restaurant, should be the carriage accident where Lin Shuqing’s father, his original wife, and child fell off a cliff.

Presumably, this is also why Lin Shuqing did not tell her directly, as it involved family private matters.

Jiu~ Jiu~

A crisp bird call interrupted their conversation. Lu Sheng’s eyebrows lifted, and she walked happily to the window.

While they were talking to the tea waiter, a dense flock of more than ten little sparrows had stopped on the roof of the eatery opposite, and in the middle of them was a round, white parrot.

‘Sister!’

‘Sister!’

‘Sister!’

‘Sister!’

‘Sister!’

Yuling was the sharpest-eyed, and immediately spotted Lu Sheng in the teahouse opposite. It chirped happily, and then the other little sparrows all looked toward her and chirped along.

Lu Sheng rubbed her forehead helplessly, and extended a hand to make a shushing gesture. The birdsong instantly stopped.

Chirp!

The next moment, a short bird call came from the branches in front of the eatery.

The sparrows on the roof immediately shook their feathers, poised to take flight.

Chirp! Chirp!

Yuling flapped its wings and flew behind the plaque of the eatery.

The stick-thin man swaggered out of the eatery with his feet splayed, humming a tune as he walked.

Burp~

He patted his overly full stomach, picked his teeth with his finger, and let out a loud burp.

“Look! Money is falling from the sky!” Yuling stretched its neck and yelled.

The stick-thin man looked up. Before he could see how money was falling from the sky, his eyes went black as he was showered with thick, warm bird droppings.

“What is this?!” The stick-thin man shouted in surprise. A clump of bird droppings fell directly into his open mouth, clinging to his throat.

“Ugh~ Ugh~ Cough, cough, cough, cough.”

The fishy stench immediately made the stick-thin man grab his waist and vomit, frantically wiping the bird droppings from his head and face.

‘You like taking advantage so much; today, I’ll let you have your fill.’

‘A free bird-dropping feast, do you like it?!’

Yuling stood on the plaque, retracted its pouting little butt, and mockingly chirped.

This bizarre scene drew the attention of diners and passersby at the eatery.

Some wrinkled their noses in disgust, looked at the food on their plates, and could no longer eat. Others couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“I say he must have played a rogue just now, so he got his retribution the moment he walked out.”

“Stinky rogue, lying and being overbearing, even the birds couldn’t stand it!”

“I think it’s the Gods manifesting, sending the birds to punish him!”

“Saying that, it really seems like it. Why else would that flock of birds specifically fly over to deal with him for no reason?”

“Amitabha.”

“For a person like this, getting covered in bird droppings is getting off easy. They should chop off that dirty hand of his to see if he dares to do it again!”

“Let’s go, let’s grab him and report him to the authorities!”

“I think that’s a good idea! Maybe the Gods will see it and credit us with a good deed!”

Hearing the crowd’s discussion, the stick-thin man ignored the disgust in his mouth, turned heel, and ran away quickly. Two nosy people immediately chased him into the distance.

“Hahahahaha~” Lu Sheng held her stomach and laughed heartily.

Qi Zhenshu turned her head to look at her. The woman’s beautiful eyes were crescent-shaped, and the smile on her face was radiant, carrying an unrestrained ease and vibrant energy.

With just a glance, Qi Zhenshu was affected by this sun-bright, brilliant smile. Her gaze suddenly softened, and a hint of a smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, a feeling of envy arose from her heart. She suddenly envied Lu Sheng, who could laugh so unrestrainedly.

The moment this thought emerged, it grew and spread like a vine in her heart, finally tightly winding around her heart, urging her to approach the source of the bright nourishment.

A light breeze blew through the window lattice. The wisps of hair on Lu Sheng’s forehead fluttered in the wind, catching specks of light. Qi Zhenshu unconsciously took a step toward her.

Lu Sheng seemed to sense something and was about to turn her head to look at her.

“Sister!”

Yuling whooshed through the open window, flapping its wings and flying up and down in front of Lu Sheng.

“Sister, Sister.”

“Isn’t Little Yu awesome?”

Qi Zhenshu’s footsteps halted, her half-raised arm slowly lowered, and she narrowed her eyes, taking a step back to widen the distance between the two.

Interrupted by it, Lu Sheng didn’t notice anything unusual about Qi Zhenshu at all. She raised her hand to catch Yuling and praised with a smile, “Very awesome, especially the last one, perfectly precise.”

“That’s a given.” Yuling twisted its bird butt and proudly tilted the crown feather on its head, “Hits the target every time!”

“Come on, I’ll buy you something good to eat.”

Lu Sheng poured the plate of roasted nuts into a small cloth bag. Yuling saw it, chirped happily, and burrowed inside.

“Let’s go.”

She casually picked up the packaged tea snacks, waved her hand at Qi Zhenshu, and said with a smile.

“Mhm.”

Qi Zhenshu’s expression had long returned to normal, calm as water, but the hand behind her back unconsciously clenched.

Leaving the teahouse, Lu Sheng specifically went to the grain store to buy a large bag of millet.

The night grew deep, with heavy dew, and everything was silent.

Qi Zhenshu put away her paper and brush, blew out the lamp, and left the study.

The bright moon hung clearly in the ink-blue sky. The Milky Way was vast and boundless, and the sky was full of sparkling stars.

A smile as brilliant as starlight surfaced in front of her eyes. Qi Zhenshu withdrew her gaze, lightly pursed her lips, and walked toward the east wing.

Before entering the door, she still subconsciously glanced at the room whose lights had long been extinguished.

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