In the study, Zhuo Xiao and Geng Kan were discussing how to withdraw from the marriage tactfully, so as not to hurt the friendship between the two families and not to make the emperor suspicious. Zhuo Ruoning took a pair of transparent and warm gold-inlaid unicorn jade and stuffed it into Geng Kan's hand.

"This pair of jade pendants looks worth a little money, you take it, the price negotiated before, say as much as you want, I won't fool you for nothing."

Geng Kan was stunned: "Isn't this still your thing?" ”

Zhuo Ruoning: "It's mine, the jade pendant can be worn by both men and women, and the mortgage will not cause misunderstanding if it is mortgaged to you." I bought the quartz mine, and I don't want you to go back in the future. ”

Geng Kan couldn't cry or laugh, and said to Zhuo Xiao: "Why is your sister so screwed?" ”

"Since you have to break off the marriage contract, it is better to calculate the money and things, and she has done nothing wrong."

"But where did she get five hundred taels of silver? Don't say five hundred taels, it's fifty taels, can you take it out now? ”

Zhuo Xiao said: "Niannian bought crystal stones to make glasses for her grandfather, this money can't be paid by her alone, I also contribute, you see what I have in this study, take it to pay off the debt." ”

"You two brothers and sisters are really amazing, okay, I'll take one of the jade pendants, don't force me anymore, obviously I'm a moneylender, but I'm led by your nose."

After sending Geng Kan away, Zhuo Xiao asked Zhuo Ruoning: "How are you going to pay back the five hundred taels of silver?" ”

Zhuo Ruoning didn't have a score in her heart, she had never had a concept of money, and there was nothing in her life when she needed to spend money.

"That quartz mine is quite big, cut the remaining scraps to see if I can polish a few crystal gems and sell them for money, if not, I will think of another way." The living will not be trapped to death by money.

Zhuo Xiao was skeptical of her self-confidence, and his sister seemed to have some misunderstanding of the rules of this world.

After having dinner in the Lin family's house, Zhuo Ruoning went to the west to find the fourth sister.

Zhuo Ruozhen's room is the same as her, with a strong smell of books, with sketches of flowers, plants, insects and fish hanging on the wall, and the desk by the window is not the rouge gouache commonly used by girls, but a pen stand and spread out drawing paper, and the wind blows from the window, blowing the fragrance of ink all over the room.

Leaning against the west wall stands a small camphor wood shelf, on which are stacked with books and scrolls. Zhuo Ruoning flipped through it casually, there are difficult ancient books and popular books, it seems that the fourth sister has a wide range of knowledge.

Zhuo Ruozhen hurried back, still gasping a little when he entered the door.

"If the fifth sister wants to read a book, just take it to read." She seemed pleased.

Zhuo Ruoning turned her head, "Where did the fourth sister go, panting so much?" ”

"I brought ginseng tea to my father and helped organize the manuscript by the way."

Zhuo Ruoning thought to herself, I will also go to offer a courtesy another day, it is not enough to buy my grandfather, I have to have a good relationship with my cheap father, so that it can be convenient.

"What hobbies does Daddy have?" Zhuo Ruoning asked.

Seeing that Zhuo Ruozhen was puzzled, she simply opened up and said, "How can I please him?" ”

Zhuo Ruozhen was stunned for a moment, and smiled awkwardly: "Why does my sister ask that?" Fathers are our fathers, so why bother to please them? ”

A silver bell-like laughter came from outside: "You can ask the right person, my father likes the fourth sister the most, and when it comes to how to please my father, she knows best." ”

Zhuo Ruoling came in from outside the door, shook a fan and passed in front of Zhuo Ruoling, she stopped in front of Zhuo Ruoning and looked her up and down: "What did you do wrong?" ”

Zhuo Ruoning shook his head: "No, I just want to make a pair of glasses for my grandfather's birthday, but I don't have enough money to polish the lenses, so I want to find my father to sponsor some." ”

Zhuo Ruozhen asked: "How much is the difference?" Since it was a birthday gift for my grandfather, my eldest sister and I also got together. ”

"I don't know yet, I asked Geng Kan to find a craftsman who polishes the gemstones, and I have to ask how much the salary is."

Zhuo Ruoling: "You want to cut that crystal stone?" Does General Xiao Geng agree? ”

"The ore has already been bought by me, what does he disagree with?"

Zhuo Ruoling hesitated: "If you don't have much money, count me in, but let's say it, our family is not as good as those big families, and we can only receive red envelopes during the New Year's holidays, and it's not easy to save money, and I can't take it out if I have more." ”

Zhuo Ruoning originally wanted to raise money to make glasses by herself, but she didn't expect that the second brother and the third sister were willing to pay, so she was immediately moved, and promised: "Okay, you can give as much as you can, if it's not enough, I'll coax my father to make some." ”

As for the Lin family, she didn't dare to mention it again, five hundred taels of silver had already made her menopause early.

Geng Kan was reliable, and soon asked the craftsman who could process quartz ore, and as for the salary, he had to quote according to the specific situation.

Zhuo Ruoning drew the drawings, listing in detail what they would be polished, the drawings were full of calculation formulas, as well as unintelligible numerical symbols, and she made a simple vernier caliper, so that they could polish it strictly according to her size.

Geng Kan was dizzy and refused to take on such a difficult task: "It's too complicated for you, so let's talk to the craftsman yourself." ”

"You think I don't want to go on my own? The second brother entered the palace to accompany the second emperor's grandson to study, and my grandfather only had one day off on the day of his birthday, and I couldn't go out by myself. ”

Geng Kan picked her up and left: "I'll take you and talk to the eldest lady." ”

"You're not my brother, my mother's thinking is conservative, and she definitely doesn't agree."

Who knew that when she saw the Lin family, she just said that she wanted to go to the gem shop with Geng Kan, and the Lin family readily agreed: "Go ahead, go ahead, with General Xiao Geng with me, I can rest assured." ”

Zhuo Ruoning couldn't believe that it would go so smoothly: "Didn't you say that women can't be alone with foreign men?" ”

Lin secretly pinched her, and said to Geng Kan with a kind smile on his face: "How can General Xiao Geng be regarded as an outsider? With the friendship between Geng Zhuo's two families, you grew up together as childhood sweethearts, and you are not outsiders. Besides, with General Xiao Geng by my side, I am also relieved in terms of safety. ”

"The younger generation must take care of Niannian."

"I just think you're changing your attitude soon......"

"Are you going to go out?" Lin finally turned his face.

"Go, go!" Zhuo Ruoning hurriedly hugged her head and confessed, her eyes rolled and said: "But it's not good for lonely men and widows to be outside, or I'll call my sister together." ”

The corners of Geng Kan's mouth turned up, and he lowered his head to give her an appreciative look, obviously very satisfied with her cleverness.

"Then call your big sister with you."

"Three sisters in the family, you let the eldest sister accompany me, don't the other two say that you are partial?"

The Lin family wanted to speak and stopped, glanced at Geng Kan, and glared at his daughter who was not angry, "Going to so many people, isn't it making trouble for General Xiao Geng?" ”

Geng Kan immediately said: "It's not troublesome, they are not children, I am just guarding the side and not having an accident, I miss you to inform the three sisters." ”

The two sang and harmonized, and successfully won the opportunity for everyone to go out together. After coming out of the Lin family's house, Geng Kan poked her arm and whispered, "Thank you this time." ”

"Let's offset your favor for me to find a craftsman."

The house where the Zhuo family lives is an official house, just near the Baichuan Bridge, this area is the most concentrated residential area for officials from various ministries of the imperial court, and you can see various official yamen buildings when you go out. Because some officials are old or in poor health and it is inconvenient to walk, the imperial court has set up official transportation rental shops nearby, and there are sedan chairs and carriages, which officials only need to pay a small amount of money to rent.

Geng Kan said that he was going to rent a carriage, and the Lin family had already arranged for someone to go. The four girls sat in the car, and Geng Kan rode a horse to escort them out. The carriage goes south from Tongjimen Street, crosses the Dazhong Bridge, turns to Taipingli, and enters the most prosperous commercial area in Nanjing.

Zhuo Ruoning and the third sister sat next to each other, when passing through Dazhong Street, the noise of the small vendors outside tickled her heart, and several girls usually didn't go out, only came to the neighborhood when there were floats parading the street during the festival, or when they were sick. Zhuo Ruoling lifted a corner of the car curtain, and even guessed that she explained the place she had passed, Zhuo Ruobing and Zhuo Ruoling listened with a smile on the side, occasionally interjecting to correct a few sentences.

When he arrived at the shop in the gem shop, Geng Kan asked the other three girls to wait in the car, and he led Zhuo Ruoning into the shop to talk to the craftsman about cutting and polishing.

The shop is called "Huaiyufang", the boss's surname is Song, and the craftsmen in it don't understand what spherical mirror degree, cylindrical mirror degree, axis position, curvature, and the numbers she marked can't be understood, Zhuo Ruoning had to explain to them one by one, and replace the abbreviated symbols with Chinese characters, so that Geng Kan and a few girls would have to wait too long, Zhuo Ruoning thoughtfully asked them to go shopping first, and then come to pick her up later.

The craftsman has never done such a difficult job, cutting crystal is a very difficult job, because the quartz ore texture is relatively brittle, easy to chop, she also requires to cut into four pieces, and then polish to the required thickness, the thickness of a lens in different positions is not the same, the thickness is accurate to microns, it is simply a challenge to the limit of the process.

As soon as Boss Song opened his mouth, he asked for fifty taels of silver, and he didn't pay for chopping it. Zhuo Ruo condensed for a moment, and the money that their brothers and sisters had put together added up to only eleven taels of silver.

Zhuo Ruoning discussed with Boss Song: "You see that my vernier caliper is quite accurate, your industry needs such a measuring instrument, or I will sell you the ruler, and you can give me a discount on the salary." ”

The craftsmen in the shop couldn't put down her calipers and persuaded the boss to buy them.

Boss Song was very bold: "Okay, five taels of silver to buy you this ruler." ”

"That's made of bamboo, my craftsmanship is not good, it's rough, if you use iron sheets, it can be more accurate, I'll draw the details for you, you're cheaper?"

The boss gritted his teeth: "Twenty taels, I'll give up to twenty taels." ”

I can't make up the remaining thirty taels, Zhuo Ruoning thought for a while and said: "The lenses I want to make are for the eyes of scholars, most of the officials who were born in the imperial examination, most of them are a little short-sighted, they are all rich, I will teach you how to calculate the spherical lens degree and the curvature of the lens, when the time comes, you make glasses and sell them to them, the only business in the world, it will definitely be very profitable." ”

The boss looked at her: "Girl, did you bring any silver?" ”

Zhuo Ruoning was straightforward: "If you bring it, you just say if you want to make this deal, right?" ”

The boss's face changed instantly: "Deal!" Trade! Girl, sit inside, I'll ask the old woman to make you a cup of strong fruit tea, let's sit down and talk slowly. ”

"Boss, take a look at the thunderball?" There are people peddling things on the street.

Zhuo Ruoning's ears moved, and he turned around sharply: "Thunderbolt? ”