Chapter 553: The Payoff
Chapter 553: The Payoff
Lin Xuan Qi began to open his mouth and recited a poem by Nalan Xingde from the Qing Dynasty.
"We meet in silence, nothing said, like lotus drenched in rain.
"A faint red blush upon her face arises and wanes again.
"Her hairpin, tipped like phoenix wing, hang from tangled hair; A shy and trembling light of thought is gathering softly there.
"I almost call her name to her, yet hold the words inside; For deep emotion, once exposed, has nowhere left to hide.
"She turns behind the winding rail, where private thoughts remain, and lightly taps her jade hairpin, concealing love’s refrain."
Liu Shi Shi put her hand together in front of her and she mumbled the last line over and over again, "Lightly taps her jade hairpin, concealing love’s refrain..."
It made her blushed from what it meant.
Her heart was hanging there for so long like the phoenix’s pin in the poem before he took her in as his concubine.
The wait for a new poem from him was worthwhile for her.
She was finally able to experience the lingering emotions from his poem for one more time.
When would be the next time that she would get another poem from him?
She didn’t know the answer but she wasn’t one to be greedy.
Liu Shi Shi wanted to immerse herself in the emotions from the poem at the moment.
Among the others, Yue Jie was the only to also appreciate it.
She blushed and lowered her head, taking it that it was a love poem from him to her.
Yue Xin was munching on her food while trying to understand everything that he had said.
As for Xue Cong, even though she wasn’t educated since young like the others, she could make out some words of the poems and that it was about love in spring.
She couldn’t help but lower her head and held her hands onto her belly.
Things were going well for the clan, and she wished for it to be the same in the future.
"So, how was it? All of you liked the poem?" Lin Xuan Qi sat back onto the mat and asked.
Liu Shi Shi nodded her head at him, even though she knew that he was most likely going to boast and tease her for it.
But she didn’t mind this time.
She was the one who kept requesting for it.
Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin also nodded their heads at him.
Their agreement came unexpected for him.
And it gave him no opportunity to tease them with his prepared speech.
Lin Xuan Qi sighed and downed the cup of wine he had in his hand.
They went on to play a few games of poker, with him losing out to Xue Cong and Yue Xin again.
He couldn’t believe his luck and attributed it to the good luck of his sons.
Then they sat around, enjoying the scenery and chatted about the future.
It was about his expansion of the businesses so far and how he planned to ramp up production in the coming days.
Yue Jie did a mental calculation from what he had said and she couldn’t believe it when it came up to a possible nine hundred taels of gold every month.
And that was without the Lin Clan Taste Transcendent Essence.
It might be even more if the kelp was in supply.
Finally, when the sun began to get too hot for them in the afternoon, they decided to pack up and headed back for the mansion.
...
For the next two months, Lin Xuan Qi focused on the construction of the new production lines.
Things went smoothly for the most part.
There wasn’t much for him to worry about.
Old Shao and his team of carpenters and iron smiths were now experienced enough with it.
And after they were done, he got more workers for the production line, bringing the total number of people under the Lin Clan to five hundred.
Twenty people were added to each factory for the new production lines.
Production ramp up after that and the produce were then supplied to the retail shops in Hong Feng, Bian Jing and Gui Feng.
When the end of the month came, Lin Xuan Qi got back to the mansion eagerly to check on how much he had made after all of the hard work he had put in.
"You are back early, Master Lin."
"Head Mistress Xue Cong and Mistress Yue Jie is in the main hall."
"They say that they have a surprise for you."
The guards and servant girls greeted him with a smile when they saw him.
He could feel that the mood in the mansion was joyous and he fastened his pace to see what Xue Cong and Yue Jie were up to.
"What’s the surprise..." Lin Xuan Qi stopped himself after he entered the main hall.
He had to shake his head to double check if he was seeing things.
The main hall was now illuminated in a golden glow coming out from a few chests that were in the middle of the main hall.
Usually, there were only a few chests when he received the profits and payments.
But this time, there were about thirty chests filled with gold ingots inside them.
Lin Xuan Qi expected this but when it was right in front of him physically, it was still stunning to see so many gold that belonged to him.
He composed himself after a moment, glanced at Yue Jie and asked, "How much have we got?"
Yue Jie was full of smile and lifted up her hand with only one finger down.
"Nine hundred taels of gold?" He asked and Yue Jie nodded her head vigorously at him. Xue Cong, who was standing beside her also did the same with a huge smile on her face.
Nine hundred taels of gold.
It sounded like music to his ears.
Lin Xuan Qi walked up to them and pulled them into his arms.
He didn’t have flowery words to express himself and the best way to share his joy with them was to do it the primitive way.