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  Before meeting Yang Jianxiu, he had prepared a bellyful of drafts. How to make small talk, how to build relationships, how to introduce topics, and how to make requests - all could be woven into an exquisite article. But unexpectedly, Yang Jianxiu didn't give him such an opportunity at all, instead cutting straight to the point, straightforward and direct. Anything he said other than stating his request would be inappropriate.

  “Ah...” He knelt down with a thud, wanting to squeeze out two tears, but found that he couldn't squeeze them out at all. Moreover, crying on the first day of the new year was unlucky, so he had to wipe his eyes with his sleeve and sniffle twice, putting on a pitiful expression. "Your humble servant and my brother were once as poor as beggars, starting from scratch. I borrowed some dowry from my wife and worked hard, rising early and going to bed late, just to have this small amount of property now. But unexpectedly, that Madam Gōng, in order to raise funds for her son Gōng Shū's gambling debts, actually emptied out our entire warehouse! All the things I accumulated over half my lifetime were sent to the pawnshop by that evil woman, and they're gone forever. Your humble servant has suffered a great loss, and it pains me to death. Please, Yang sir, look at the face of my elder brother and sister-in-law, and help me out this once. Isn't repaying debts a matter of heavenly justice?"

  "Help you? Why should I help you?" Yang Jianxiu sneered, "Just because you abandoned your dignity to curry favor with the powerful, and forced your son to divorce his wife and remarry for personal gain, leaving your own granddaughter no way out? If not for the kindness of the eldest house, she would have been left to guard the lamp alone. Just because you are heartless and unrighteous, living in a grand mansion with servants, while your own brother is poor and ill, yet you didn't lend a helping hand. When the eldest house encountered difficulties, you stood by and did nothing? And just because you and your wife have been making things difficult for my fiancée for over a decade, forcing her to divorce me for the sake of a shameless woman? All these things, one after another, are enough to make me want to punish you. You still have the nerve to come to me and ask for help with collecting debts?"

  Ye Yuzhang was so frightened by these words that he broke out in a cold sweat on this winter day. It wasn't what Yang Jianxiu said that made him ashamed, but rather the thought of Zhengshi from the second branch of the Ye family, who hated them to the bone, whispering into Yang Jianxiu's ear every day. If Yang Jianxiu was unhappy, he could easily destroy the second branch of the Ye family with just a wave of his hand, and Ye Yuzhang was terrified, deeply regretting his own foolishness. Instead of avoiding Yang Jianxiu, he actually wanted to get closer to him.

  Ye Yuqi knew that Yang Jianxiu was willing to come and see Ye Yuzhang, but he was tired of his endless harassment. He decided to put an end to his thoughts with a few words, not really intending to do anything to the second house of the Ye family. He sighed and said to Ye Yuzhang: "Don't you hurry up and kowtow to Lord Yang, then get out? Are you ashamed or not?"

  "Yes, yes... Get out..." Ye Yuzhang hastily knocked his head on the ground several times with a "thud thud thud" sound. Even Jiang Shi didn't have time to call out and quickly exited the door while supporting herself on her servant's arm. Jiang Shi was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly paid her respects and chased after them.

  "That's it, finally quiet. Well done, that's the way to deal with people like that." Guan patted her palm, breaking the awkward atmosphere in the hall.

  Yang Jianxiu liked Gu's straightforward personality, which reminded him of his biological mother who was completely different from his stepmother. Seeing Gu's reaction, he put down his guard and smiled at Ye Yuxi: "I'm not used to this kind of disturbance, so I used this extreme method. Uncle Ye won't blame me for not giving you face, will he?"

  Ye Yuqi let out a long sigh: "One must bring shame upon oneself. Talented people are often humiliated. When one is seriously ill, they must take strong medicine, so why would Uncle Bai blame you? Jian Xiu's words were well said, I hope my useless younger brother can listen and wake up to reality."

  "I think it's hopeless. He'll be like this for the rest of his life." Guan had no hope for Ye Yuzhang's change. She waved her hand at Yang Jianxiu, "Let's go, we're going to make dumplings."

  Although there was such a small episode, under Guan's coordination and Ye Zhuo's distraction, nothing was affected. That night's dinner ended in a warm atmosphere. Yang Jianxiu himself didn't want to show up, so he sent his servants and Yang Zhihui to send Zheng Manwen back, only then did he return home.

  It's already the 16th day of the Lunar New Year, and the Nie family's grand mansion is decorated with lanterns and red carpets, filled with a joyful atmosphere. It's actually the 40th birthday of Nie Kunzhong, the head of the Nie family. As the brother of Imperial Consort Nie and the uncle of the Crown Prince, many prominent families in the capital city have sent their direct descendants to pay their respects. From early morning, horse-drawn carriages have been arriving continuously from all directions. By noon, the roads outside the Nie mansion are filled with carriages, and latecomers have to park their vehicles as far as half a mile away from the entrance. Those who arrive later can only walk for a while before entering the mansion, but no one dares to complain. Inside the vast and luxurious Nie mansion, it's bustling with people, extremely lively. The wealthy and influential Nie family has invited many performers, including opera singers, acrobats, and storytellers, to entertain their guests, keeping all the servants busy.

  Yang Jianxiu naturally followed Yuan Chaolin. However, in the grand hall, there were many royal families and dukes to entertain, so these small officials could only be arranged in a small side hall, have a cup of tea and a table of wine, finish eating and then leave to make way for others. Throughout this process, only one son of the Nie family came to greet them briefly, accompanied them for a drink, and that was it, Nie Zhongkun's face couldn't be seen at all.

  Yang Jianxiu had been the chief steward of Nanyun City for ten years, so he was more familiar with the situation of Nie's birthday banquet than the newly arrived Yuan Chaolin. Therefore, he didn't think much of it, but only worried that the gift he presented might not be valuable enough, and Nie Zhongkun might not even notice it, wasting Ye Zhuo's efforts. However, his status and wealth were limited, and he could only do so much, with no other way out. He just hoped that this special gift of jade carving to Master Yu would catch Nie Zhongkun's attention.

  However, Yang Jianxu's expectation was destined to be disappointed.

  There are many clever people in this world, and what Yang Jianxiu can think of, others can also think of. As early as when Nie Zhongkun took over the position of family head and began to celebrate his birthday, someone wanted to take this approach to attract Nie Zhongkun's attention. At first, it was indeed effective, and Nie Zhongkun, with the idea of promoting younger generations and discovering talents, even enthusiastically read them for two years. Later, he discovered that the consequences of this approach were that jade carvings piled up like mountains in his home, and even on ordinary days, people would send them to his doorstep. He was overwhelmed and simply didn't look at any of them. However, this approach did not work, and many ignorant or lucky people continued to send jade carvings.

  At this time, a room in Nie's house was filled with jade carvings obtained from the birthday banquet, with varying qualities and craftsmanship.

  Nie Zhongkun just took a look at the gift lists of those princes and nobles, made sure he had a rough idea of the social interactions in his mind, and then stopped paying attention to these things, letting his wife lead the servants to put them away in storage.

  Originally, this thing was put away and might be used when visiting the Nie family to give gifts, but now it's been left here for who knows how many years. By then, Ye Zhuo may have already become a mother of children and no longer carve seals.

  However, she was lucky. Since last year, Nie Bowen had started to take over some of the family's industries. Although dealing with relatives and friends was mainly the task of the lady of the house, as the master of the house, he had to be familiar with important families and personally inquire about what gifts were brought. So, taking advantage of Nie Zhongkun's birthday this year, his wife, Sun, specially called her son over to let him see the gift list and get familiar with social etiquette. Nie Bowen found this matter dull and dragged Du Haoran over, making a big fuss.

  As soon as the name Yang Jianxiu was mentioned, it meant that the gift he sent was a piece of agate carving. Du Haoran, who had been sitting lazily drinking tea, suddenly raised his head and looked at him with slightly furrowed eyebrows, but did not speak out loud. It wasn't until he returned to his own residence that he called his attendant: "Go, tell Zhou Jiguan to bring the agate carving sent by Yang Jianxiu for me to take a look."

  His status in the Nie family is extraordinary, and just by helping the Nie family to reserve the original stone, countless top-grade jade materials have been produced, earning the Nie family a lot of money. So, let alone a piece of agate carving, even more precious things would not be rejected by the Nie family.

  So in a short while, the jade carving was delivered into his hands. Du Haoran held the jade carving and looked at it for a long time before putting it down, sighing: "Indeed, there are geniuses in this world."

  His little servant, Du Forget, heard this and laughed: "Young Master says such things, isn't he afraid of being slapped in the mouth? Who doesn't know that you're a genius? With just one glance at an uncut jade stone, you can tell what kind of jade material is inside. You make such remarks, are you still letting others live?"

  Du Haoran smiled and kicked him: "Where did you learn to be so slick? Get out, take the jade carving back to Zhou Ji."

  Du forgot to laugh and put the jade carving back into the wooden box, hugging it as she went out the door.

  In the next few days, Du Haoran brought up this matter again. Until that day when he went to pick stones with Nie Zhongkun, he said: "Uncle Nie, I think one of your longevity gifts, a agate carved jade carving is pretty good, if you don't need it, give it to your younger nephew."

  "What kind of jade carving do you want?" Nie Zhongkun looked at him in surprise. Du Haoran not only had high standards, but also looked down on the works of many jade carvers in the Nie family, and he rarely acknowledged his feelings for the Nie family. He himself wanted to give him a large mansion, give him money, but he didn't want it - of course, with Du Haoran's skills, he didn't need anyone else to give him anything. He could just gamble a few pieces of top-quality jade material and have everything he needed. But now, he actually asked him for a piece of jade carving! What kind of jade carving could meet his standards?

  Nie Zhongkun couldn't help but feel curious.

  No matter what jade carving, even if it's worth a city. As long as Du Haoran asked, he naturally wouldn't refuse. Nie Zhongkun waved his hand to the people below: "Find that piece of jade carving that Young Master Du wants and bring it here."

  It should have been sent directly to Du Haoran's residence, showing that he was generous and willing to give away any jade carving. However, Nie Zhongkun was really curious about the jade carving and couldn't help but ask his servant to bring it here so he could take a look.

  Woe is me. I brought my laptop, but forgot the power cord. I managed to write 1,000 words before it died. Poor me, I had to wait for Yehui Mei from the same dorm room to finish writing her own stuff so I could borrow her power cord (╯_╰). This chapter was written overnight. Thank you for your support, it's my greatest motivation.

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