Chapter 160: The Circle

 Chapter 160: The Circle

"Come on, tell me, why did you come back a day late? Did your little sister keep you for an extra night?" 

After talking for a while with Daohua and her siblings, Li Xingchang had the children take them out to play. Once they left, he turned to Li Xingnian and asked.

Li Xingnian gave a mysterious smile and said, "Big brother, guess where we stayed last night?"

Li Xingchang shot him an annoyed look. "How old are you, still acting so unserious? Just say it."

Both Fan Shi and Jiang Shi looked at Li Xingnian with curiosity. 

Li Xingnian cleared his throat, cleared his voice, and said, slightly excited, "Last night, we stayed at the Royal Palace of Wuhua Mountain."

"What?!"

Li Xingchang and the others were all taken aback. "Quick, tell us what happened!"

Li Xingnian didn’t drag things out and immediately explained Daohua’s visit to see Xiao Yeyang.

Hearing that Daohua and the young prince were quite familiar with each other, Li Xingchang couldn’t help but sigh, "Looks like your little sister has really made it." 

Li Xingnian nodded. "Yes, as long as these three kids are around, even if my brother-in-law doesn’t respect merchants, he still has to give Little sister some face."

Fan Shi and Jiang Shi exchanged a glance and quietly said, "This woman, in the end, has to rely on her children. When the children are successful, her own position becomes strong."

"Men, with their three or four wives, always chasing after new things and forgetting the old—most unreliable."

Li Xingchang said, "I never expected the Yan family to have such a turn of events."

Li Xingnian replied, "This is all thanks to Daohua. If it weren’t for her, I think our brother-in-law would probably still be stuck at the county magistrate level."

Fan Shi chimed in, "Daohua really doesn’t seem like someone raised in the countryside. Her looks and demeanor are even more outstanding than some high-born noble girls."

She hadn’t expected Daohua to be so stunning, and what was even more surprising was her graceful, composed, and calm demeanor. Before, she’d worried that the illegitimate daughter of the Yan family would overshadow her, but now she could see Daohua was truly exceptional.

Li Xingnian laughed. "Old Madam Yan really dotes on Daohua. Even though she was raised in the countryside, she’s been given the best upbringing."

Jiang Shi smiled. "I think it's because your little sister’s foundation is good that she has such a clever daughter."

Fan Shi eagerly asked, "Quick, tell us more about the royal palace. What’s it like?"

Li Xingnian immediately began describing everything he had seen and experienced at the royal palace.

Once he had finished describing the palace, Li Xingnian took a sip of tea and moved on to another topic.

"By the way, on this trip, my sister privately told me that Daohua has developed a new high-yield strain of grain. Brother-in-law is currently experimenting with it. If it succeeds, brother-in-law’s achievements will soar."

Li Xingchang’s eyes lit up. "Really?" The higher his brother-in-law’s position, the better it would be for their Li family.

Li Xingnian nodded. "It’s still in the experimental phase, but it’s very likely to succeed. The Yan family has already done some trials before."

Li Xingchang was excited. "Increasing grain yields would be a huge accomplishment! If this is successfully promoted, our brother-in-law will rise even higher."

Li Xingnian continued with a smile. "Little sister also mentioned that since last year’s watermelon sold so well, she’s saved some seeds for us to plant on our own farms."

Li Xingchang’s face lit up. "That’s good news! Last year’s watermelon was in high demand, and we ran out of stock when people came looking. At the time, I thought we missed a good opportunity. If we can plant some this year, we’ll definitely make a nice profit." 

Li Xingnian then asked, "By the way, big brother, what do you think of the wine Daohua made from grapes?"

Li Xingchang immediately responded, "Of course, it’s delicious! Why, did Little sister say something about it?"

Li Xingnian shook his head. "It wasn’t Little sister. It was Daohua. She offered to sell us her winemaking recipe and asked if we were interested."

At this, Li Xingchang, along with Fan Shi and Jiang Shi, froze in shock.

After a long pause, Li Xingchang finally smiled and scolded, "This girl, how old is she, and she’s already starting her own business?"

Li Xingnian thought of the serious way Daohua had talked business and couldn't help but chuckle. "She said she wants to buy a manor but lacks silver. The winemaking process is complicated and needs someone professional to oversee it, so she can't handle it all by herself."

Fan Shi curiously asked, "How much silver does she need?"

Li Xingnian laughed again. "That girl said we can give whatever we like, and she trusts that her uncles and aunts won't let her lose out. When I heard that, I couldn't resist and gave her a tap on the forehead."

Li Xingchang laughed for a moment before asking, "Does Little Sister and her husband know about this? Selling the recipe for making grape wine is a big deal."

In this era, whether it's for winemaking, medicine, or even a recipe for a dish, if it involves a formula, every family treats it as a precious heirloom, passed down from generation to generation.

Li Xingnian replied, "Little Sister said this is Daohua's own business and that she should decide for herself. As for her husband, he never interferes with such things."

Li Xingchang thought for a while. "Grape wine is a fine product. Once it's brewed, it won't be hard to sell. This plan is feasible." He smiled. "I'll talk to Daohua about this business in a little while."

Upon hearing this, the three of them chuckled.

Fan Shi sighed. "At least we haven't wasted all those years sending gifts to Daohua, doting on her. She understands gratitude and knows how to help out her maternal family."

Jiang Shi smiled along. "Yes. Just the fact that Daohua willingly sold the grape wine recipe to the Li family shows her closeness to us."

In the Li family's courtyard, Daohua was watching Li Zixuan and Li Zixin perform, her face filled with amazement.

Li Zixuan was playing the konghou, and Li Zixin was dancing. They worked in perfect harmony.

The music was beautiful, and the dance was graceful and pleasing to the eye.

Yan Wenkai clapped in approval from the side and said to Daohua, "Big Sister, you should learn this too."

Daohua was about to nod when Yan Wenxiu, standing beside them, said, "Sister doesn't need to learn these things."

Both Daohua and Yan Wenkai froze, looking at the elder brother in confusion.

Yan Wenxiu didn’t explain and walked toward the Li brothers to talk about other matters.

"What did Big Brother mean?" Daohua asked, puzzled.

Yan Wenkai, equally confused, scratched his head and said, "Could it be because dancing is just for entertaining and amusing others?"

Daohua's face lit up with realization.

Yes, in ancient times, dancing in public didn't seem like a respectable thing.

She had attended several banquets at other noble ladies' homes, where everyone gathered for tea, admiring flowers, composing poetry, but there were hardly any performances or talent shows.

Daohua looked up at her two cousins, who were performing earnestly, and reflected that the social circles in ancient times were quite distinct. At the same time, it was evident that merchants held a lower social status.

Yan Wenkai was still lost in thought. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that public dancing for amusement wasn’t proper. He said, "Since dancing isn't good, why do Uncle and Aunt still have the two cousins learn it?"

Daohua sighed. "Because their circle requires it."

As long as the Li family had to interact with other merchants, they couldn’t avoid attending gatherings within the business community. If other merchant's daughters were learning to dance, then if Li Zixuan and Li Zixin didn’t learn, they wouldn't fit into the circle.

Yan Wenkai thought for a moment and realized that Daohua was right.

Take their own martial arts training with the young prince, for example. If he and the third brother didn’t work hard enough and fell behind, then during sparring, they wouldn’t be able to keep up. Even if they had known the young prince longer, they wouldn’t be in the same class.

"Since dancing in public isn't good, should we warn the two cousins and tell them not to dance?"

Daohua quickly shook her head, looking around to ensure no one was paying attention to them before whispering, "Definitely not. Fourth Brother, do you think Uncle and Aunt don’t know? They know, but they still had them do it. They must have their own reasons and ideas."

"If we bring it up suddenly, it might upset them, and they might think we look down on them." She knew her mother always had reservations about her merchant background.

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenkai immediately nodded, signaling he wouldn’t say anything further.

"Little Cousin, what are you and Fourth Brother whispering about? Aren’t you watching our performance?" Li Zixin’s voice called from the stage.

Yan Wenkai blurted out, "We were just saying how beautiful your dance is!"

Hearing this, Li Zixin lifted her chin proudly. "Whenever I perform at other people's banquets, my dance and Big Sister's music always win first place."

Watching the two sisters up on stage, confident and radiant, Daohua clapped and smiled.

Different circles, different pursuits—there was no need to judge with a worldly perspective.

(End of Chapter)