Traveling to Daliang Kingdom starts from falling into the water

Chapter 1004 Didn't we just arrive yesterday?
Indeed, even today, all unused paper with writing on it in the county school must be collected and burned in the "paper furnace" and must not be thrown away carelessly, let alone used for wiping one's bottom.

Regarding the respect and cherishing of written words, there is an ancient saying: "Written words on paper are like scriptures; those who see them should put them in the fire or place them in clear, flowing water, and their blessings will be endless."

The respect for written words is for the words themselves, not the paper, hence the term "cherishing words".

Influenced by Confucian culture, respecting and cherishing written words was not only a daily compulsory course in county schools, but also had a certain element of folk belief. Therefore, collecting written words to make pulp was indeed impractical.

However, his father seemed to have misunderstood. The matter of collecting waste paper that he had mentioned before actually meant that he wanted to see if the oil paper could be made into pulp.

If the paper mill masters succeed in their experiment, even if they only produce toilet paper, it will be a good thing, otherwise the oil paper cut from the oil paper mill will be wasted a lot.

Gu Wenxuan nodded honestly, "It is difficult to collect. I haven't given the orders yet. I mainly want to see if the paper coated with tung oil can be made into pulp."

"I'm not in a hurry, Dad. Even if it could be turned into pulp, it would just make toilet paper for wiping your bottom. How much profit could there be? I misunderstood before."

Gu Erlang wondered if his father had a headache after hearing this. He certainly did. He couldn't continue making those two kinds of paper properly, and now he was fussing over what kind of paper to make!

They still think that toilet paper isn't profitable enough? Let's not talk about the distant past, but just look at the nearby past. Do you know how many households in our village can afford toilet paper?
You're so bored!
"The provincial examination is approaching, Liu Lang."

“I know. No rush. If you don’t pass this year, you can take the imperial examination in three years. Otherwise, even if you pass this year, you’ll have to wait for more than three years, which is a lot of suffering.”

Do you know what will happen if outsiders hear you saying this?

"Get hit by a club?"

"He's not stupid."

"If I'm stupid, then nobody's smart."

"Dad, you should teach your youngest son. I can't argue with him anymore. You'd be better off not saying anything; the moment you open your mouth, you're just asking for a beating."

You and your wife talk like that too, why doesn't she sew your mouth shut with a needle? Aren't you afraid you'll get beaten up and have a black eye when you go out?"

"So my wife always tells me to take more money with me when I go out. She says, 'Sixth Brother, if you offend someone outside, you can't escape, so just throw some money at them.'"

"Is this for real? Dad, quickly help me hold down Liu Lang and let him pelt me ​​with silver. I really love being pelted with silver."

Amidst the laughter and conversation, the carriage that was approaching slowly came to a stop ahead of time. Stepping out were none other than Manager Wu, who frequently came to the Gao family to pick up goods, and Manager Wang from Yunlaike.

It's not surprising that Manager Wu came; he was originally coming to pick up goods. Why did Manager Wang come along too? Didn't he just arrive yesterday? Yunke, aren't you busy?

Gu Erzhu was very curious. After they exchanged greetings, Manager Wu got into the carriage and went to the workshop to find Gu Dachang. He then asked his brother Wang what important matter he had to discuss.

They are all people I know very well.

He was direct, and Manager Wang didn't beat around the bush either. He first said that he had many distinguished guests and that sending someone over might not be clear, and asked if they wanted a chef to come and help.

No need to prepare lunch today, as there will also be a dinner banquet. If our distinguished guests decide to depart early tomorrow morning to return home, then the dinner banquet will serve as a farewell banquet.

He wasn't worried that the Gu family wouldn't be able to prepare a proper farewell banquet, but since he knew about it, he could still make arrangements for the guests. He could send a chef to prepare some special dishes, or lend a hand if any ingredients were temporarily lacking. Of course, this was also the old lady's wish.

This time, the old lady sent him a letter, in which she mentioned that she told the third-year master and mistress and others not to personally come to congratulate him on the third day of the baby's birth.

In her letter, Madam Gao stated that the Third Master Gao from the prefectural city had just seen off his brother-in-law, the Venerable Gao, in February. The whole family had attended the funeral, so it was not appropriate for her to personally come to offer her congratulations now.

She could only prepare a small gift for the steward to offer her congratulations. A few months later, when the child was 100 days old, she would most likely return to the prefectural city in person and come to Qinghe Village.

Absolutely not (I dare not)!

Following closely behind Gu Erzhu, Gu Wenxuan quickly added, "How could we trouble the old lady to travel such a long way? If so, it should be us who go to pay our respects to her."

Please tell the old lady that I am deeply grateful and that my father promised to let me bring my wife and children to Beijing to pay my respects to her when the children are older.”

Yes, yes, Gu Erzhu nodded hastily, not yet realizing that his youngest son had already used "a father's command cannot be disobeyed" to show his status as the head of the family.

Of course, he wasn't surprised that he only realized this belatedly. Not to mention his youngest son, even his daughter-in-law always had to see what his parents said.

At this moment, he only knew that Manager Wang's purpose in coming was to explain why no one from the Gao family had come to congratulate him on the third day after his grandson's bath yesterday.

You're too kind.

The fact that during the couple's stay in Beijing, Lord Gao still managed to visit his in-laws twice despite his busy schedule, showing no airs whatsoever, suggests there must have been a reason.

Without needing a special explanation, he could guess that if the master of the Gao family in the capital couldn't come, the master of the Gao family in the prefectural city would also be unable to come even if he wanted to.

Just like Manager Hu of Ruyifang and Aunt Mei of Sanya, the couple knew in advance which month Sanya would give birth, but unfortunately, their elders passed away in the first month of the lunar calendar.

Having just finished the funeral, Manager Hu and his wife were very particular about not coming to offer their congratulations. They even tried to keep the passing of their elders during the first month of the lunar year a secret from him.

In the end, it was his sixth son who learned of this from the head of the manor in the prefectural city. Fortunately, the head of the manor was shrewd and knew that he couldn't make it in time for the previous head of the family to go to the funeral.

However, the fact that the Gao family, whose husband is the third master of the Gao family, could be seen off by the master of the Gao family in the prefectural city suggests that the two families must live not far apart. Who is that family?

As expected of a father and son.

Gu Wenxuan also had a question. Comparing the families he had visited for funerals in February of this year, he wondered if it was the Wen family in Dingzhou.
But no, I really haven't heard anyone mention that Uncle Wen and Third Master Gao are brothers-in-law. Could it be that one of Uncle Wen's brothers is a brother-in-law of Third Master Gao?
If it's not the Wen family, then in February, among the prefectural cities and surrounding areas, it seems that no other family with a high-ranking member has passed away.

It's impossible to be mistaken about what happened last month. A family that could mobilize the entire Gao family in the prefectural city must not be a small or insignificant one.

Which family is it?
Could it be that we've neglected to do anyone a favor?

Asking wouldn't be good; if he did, it would seem as if he didn't believe that none of the masters of the Gao family in the prefectural city could come. Oh well, he'd better go back and ask his wife.

Only his wife could connect all those complicated in-law relationships.