Di Ming

Chapter 104 The Mirror Polisher

The autumn night is cool as water, and the moonlight is like a gentle breeze.

Zhu Yin suddenly patted the vermilion railing and sang softly: "A cool breeze carries tidings, the autumn moon is boundless, but I am alone...hehe."

Ning Caiwei secretly rolled her eyes at him, her face radiant as she faced the bright moon.

"I wish to offer my heart to the bright moon, hoping that the bright moon will illuminate my heart."

The young woman said softly.

The autumn wind lifted her clothes, making her flutter like a fairy, as if she were about to ride the wind and return to the Moon Palace.

"It's been almost a year since I arrived in ancient times. Life is truly fleeting."

"Little tiger, look at this starry sky, doesn't it look like a glowing desert?"

Under the soft moonlight, she was like a beautiful elf, with a dreamlike allure.

Zhu Yin leaned on the railing and gazed at the moon, thinking, "The starry sky is like a desert, and the bright moon is like a lonely lamp. It truly resembles a luminous desert."

Ning Caiwei sighed, "Lost in the desert, I can no longer find my way home. But sometimes I think, things might not be so good in the future."

Zhu Yin turned his head to look at her flawless face. "Not good? You are the heir to the Ning Group, with a net worth of hundreds of millions. You have money and power. Why not?"

Ning Caiwei shook her head, her tone clear and sorrowful, "I am the master of the Ning family, and also its prisoner. I bask in the glory of the Ning family, and also bear the burden of its rise and fall."

“Apart from Qingchen, no one in the entire Ning family cares about what I need or how I want to live. Even my grandfather, who carefully taught me and placed high hopes on me, and who gave me great power in the Ning family, only cared about what I could do for the Ning family.”

“I was born into a wealthy family, but I was also very poor and humble. The things that ordinary people are born with are luxuries to me. Sometimes, I feel like a slave, with so many eyes staring at me, which makes me feel suffocated.”

"The richer you are, the more you know how vast the gap between the rich and the poor is, the harder it is for you to imagine the suffering of the lower class, and the more you doubt the meaning of capital appreciation."

“I asked Grandpa, what is the point of all this money? You could spend it all in ten lifetimes, it's just a bunch of cold numbers. But so many people at the bottom of society are struggling to survive. What is the point of the Ning family, a conglomerate?”

Ning Caiwei seemed to fall into thought as she spoke.

After a long while, she continued:
"I haven't found my answer. Actually, the answer has always been there: it's the greed of human nature, the greed of capital. But I'm powerless to be a rebel against capital."

"I have no choice but to increase the charitable fund every year, despite the opposition."

"But when I went back to ancient times and witnessed the accumulation of things from scratch, I suddenly understood. I found my answer."

She turned her head, her bright eyes looking at Zhu Yin, "If capital is used to promote the progress of Ming Dynasty society, save Chinese civilization, and avoid the historical tragedy of hundreds of years to come, then that is its significance."

Zhu Yin was taken aback, looking into Ning Caiwei's bright eyes, where flames seemed to burn.

That was the burning fire of ambition.

This woman wants to make a name for herself in this world!
She was serious.

Originally, seeing that she was feeling a bit down, I wanted to comfort her and offer some emotional support.

But it turned out that it wasn't necessary at all; their understanding of the Dao was very profound.

Zhu Yin suddenly asked again, "Didn't you say that you were only doing the candy business for the first three years? Why did you also acquire Tianyu Pavilion? Tianyu Pavilion is in the jewelry business. Isn't that trying to do two things at once?"

Ning Caiwei shook her head: "Little tiger, why do you become so stupid when it comes to business?"

“Industry planning requires a project preparation period. If you prepare in advance, you can start directly three years later, effectively controlling time costs and sunk opportunity costs.”

"For the first three years, I will focus solely on candy production to build up capital, connections, and human resources. At the same time, I will have three backup projects."

"Preparatory projects do not require much funding, nor do they need to be launched. They remain in the preparatory stage indefinitely."

"A few years later, when the time is right and the project is feasible, it can be launched immediately and put into operation."

"If a project is not feasible, it is cut or cancelled."

"Doing this is to maintain the strategic momentum of cross-industry operations and resource integration with minimal capital, human resources, and time costs."

"Like an arrow. I don't fire it, but I can shoot it at any time."

"Otherwise, if we wait three years to start preparing, we will lose the strategic momentum of the business. If we are slow at one step, we will be slow at every step."

"The business world is like a battlefield. Orthodox and unorthodox tactics, feints and real attacks, backup plans and contingency plans... all require comprehensive planning. OK?"

"Even if you only target one industry, with only one force, it's still a strategic game, not just a single line of fire. In practical terms, business thinking..."

"I understand, I understand..." Zhu Yin quickly covered his ears. "Sister, stop chanting. I know, my head hurts."

It's not that he doesn't understand; it's that he's not interested.

Ning Caiwei was about to give Zhu Yin a business lesson, but the little tiger wouldn't listen!

She opened her mouth, but with a bellyful of knowledge she could not express, she could only abruptly stop the conversation.

The little girl's two small pink fists, hidden in her sleeves, slowly clenched.

She lightly bit her red lips, her eyes narrowed as she stared at Zhu Yin, thinking to herself: Little tiger, are you itching for a beating?
Zhu Yin looked at Ning Caiwei, who had a half-smile on her face, and couldn't help but touch his face. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you angry?"

Ning Caiwei smiled sweetly, revealing a pair of dimples at the corners of her mouth, and gently shook her head, saying:
“Why would I be angry? I was just thinking that you’ll be a student at the Imperial College next month. You’re so small, I wonder if you’ll get bullied there. Like school bullying, where the bigger one takes advantage of the smaller one.”

Zhu Yin said, "Once I entered the Imperial Academy, I went to find Dr. Zhou. With his protection, who could bully me? Every day at 3:45 PM, Lan Cha would meet me at the gate of the Imperial Academy and escort me home."

“Every day at six o’clock in the morning, Lancha would escort me to the gate of the Imperial College. With Lancha picking me up and dropping me off, even if someone bullied me outside the school, it wouldn’t work.”

"If anyone dares to bully me, I'll have Lancha retaliate even more severely after school. I'll beat their face until it's like a pig's head, and they won't be able to find their mother when they go home."

"Even if powerful people bully me, I can only swallow my anger for the time being. But I will definitely avenge my grievances. It's only a matter of time before the Flying General kills the Commandant of Baling."

Ning Caiwei chuckled and, for the first time ever, spoke in Guanzhong dialect: "That's true. You little rascal, with your cunning and shrewish eyes, I was worried for nothing."

She suddenly pointed at the bright moon and said, "Little Tiger, don't you know how to write poetry? Tonight, on the fifteenth, write me a poem, just for me."

This was both a punishment for Zhu Yin's previous refusal to listen to her chanting of scriptures and a way to get Zhu Yin to write a poem for her.

After saying all that, she added with concern, "It has to be original. You can't just use ancient poems to fool me. I'm well-read, don't lie to me."

Zhu Yin thought for a moment, then paced back and forth gently by the railing.

Ning Caiwei chuckled, crossed her arms, and counted, "One step, two steps..."

When Zhu Yin had taken seven steps, he began to recite:
The full moon knows your heart; tonight, for whom does it shine?

Longing is like tobacco smoke, turning white hair into green overnight.

She ascends the vermilion tower with gentle grace, and stands tall and elegant in the empty courtyard.

Why drink for ten days? Just enjoy the light tonight.

A flower that smiles gently, a heart that is quiet and exquisite.

It is truly unique, a star that stands firm amidst ice and snow.

After listening, Ning Caiwei said somewhat carelessly, "Good poem, good poem. I don't quite understand it, but it rhymes quite well. I know it's a compliment."

Zhu Yin: “…”

So, after all this time, I was just talking to a brick wall? You only heard that I was praising you, but could you hear the artistry and poetic beauty in my poem?
Ning Caiwei was delighted. After she finished speaking, she yawned and said, "I'm sleepy, let's take a nap."

"Alas, the Mid-Autumn Festival of the fifteenth year of the Wanli reign has passed just like that."

……

Early the next morning, Zhu Yin prepared to gather intelligence on Tianyu Pavilion.

Zhu Yin was confident that he would be able to obtain the confidential information of Tianyu Pavilion in seven or eight days at most.

He's just too young to do some things himself. He needs an agent.

Although the Kangxi brothers were clever, they were too young to succeed.

Lancha, Mehe, and Niman were Jurchens, and they couldn't speak Chinese fluently, so it wasn't an option.

Hongying is a woman, so that won't work either.

The 21 newly recruited students are all quite young and have never received any training.

After much deliberation, they could only choose one of the four sailors.

These four brothers from Daishan Island were not only skilled at sailing, but also loyal and reliable, making them excellent helpers.

Qi Jiguang and Ding Liyang's careful selection of the four men was certainly not wrong.

Zhang Naizhu, Zhou Desi, Li Jiayi, Liu Shan'a... Zhu Yin pondered the four people and finally settled on Li Jiayi.

Of the four, Li Jiayi was the weakest in terms of martial arts skills, resembling a pale-faced scholar, but he was the most astute and resourceful of them all.

Zhu Yin summoned Li Jiayi, gave him detailed instructions, and then had Ning Caiwei give him ten taels of silver before letting him enter the city.

Ning Caiwei asked with concern, "Can Li Jiayi complete the mission?"

Zhu Yin nodded and said, "Li Jiayi is a very shrewd person. He is educated. I have taught him several methods. As long as he follows them, he will surely find a way to obtain intelligence within seven days at most."

The two were talking in the front yard when suddenly a crisp clanging sound of metal coming from outside, followed by a voice saying:

"Polishing the mirror! Polishing the mirror!"

Ning Caiwei's eyes lit up, "Mirror polishing!"

He quickly instructed Jin Yunniang, "Yunniang, find all the mirrors in the house and polish them!"

As he spoke, he stepped out of the courtyard gate and waved, "Master! Over here!"

The mirror polisher was not old, only in his early twenties, but his eyes already carried a sense of vicissitude.

The mirror polisher held two pieces of iron and struck them together, making a sound called "startling the maiden." When the woman in her boudoir heard the sound of the striking iron, she knew that the mirror polisher had arrived.

There's a poem that's currently popular, and it's about a mirror polisher:
"Clouds yearn for her garments, flowers for her face; a precious mirror reflects her graceful figure in the spring breeze. But the true face of Mount Lu is hard to see; only the old millstone can dispel the fog."

This mirror polisher is a close friend to women in their boudoirs. Women who love looking in the mirror simply can't live without him.

What if your mirror is blurry and you don't want to spend money to fix it? Then you can only borrow a mirror to look at yourself.

Generally, only very close girlfriends can use a mirror to look at themselves.

Ning Caiwei is the kind of person who would never hesitate to spend money to polish a mirror, let alone borrow someone else's mirror to look at herself.

The mirror polisher was dressed in patched clothes, wearing straw sandals, and carrying a load on his shoulder.

This was the first time Ning Caiwei and Zhu Yin had seen people dressed so shabbily in a wealthy village like Qingqiao.

Previously, no one in the village, not even the tenant farmers, seemed to be dressed in such rags.

The young man put down his load at the courtyard gate, picked up a small stool, and asked with a smile, "Young lady, is the mirror blurry?"

He had a very decent appearance, even handsome, but he exuded an air of poverty and destitution.

Ning Caiwei said politely, "It's not that the mirror is blurry, it's just a new mirror that hasn't been polished yet."

The young man bowed, then sat down on a small stool. While rummaging through the mirror-polishing tools in his carrying pole, he smiled humbly and said:

"So that you may know, young lady, that new mirrors are dry and not easy to polish, requiring more than twice the effort and cost. Polishing an old mirror only costs half a coin per inch, but a new mirror... costs one coin per inch."

His smile was filled with trepidation, fearing that Ning Caiwei might find it too expensive and give up.

But the person who rents the Zhou family's villa must be rich, right? Otherwise, how could they afford to rent such a large courtyard?
“My house is full of new mirrors, so let’s make it one coin per inch.” Ning Caiwei didn’t mean to complain about the price; she never cared about the poor.

The young mirror polisher immediately showed gratitude and cupped his hands, saying, "Then thank you for the meal, young lady."

This is the custom among itinerant craftsmen: once they take on a job, they must thank the customer for providing them with a livelihood.

"You're too kind, Master," Ning Caiwei said. "You provide the labor, I provide the money. It's a fair trade. I wouldn't dare say I'm being rewarded."

Upon hearing this, the mirror polisher's smile was quite complicated. "Although the young lady is young, she is a kind and compassionate person."

Soon, all the new bronze mirrors were taken out.

There are four small bronze mirrors, each five inches in size, and one large bronze mirror, each ten inches in size!
Seeing that he could grind a thirty-inch mirror and earn thirty coins, and after deducting the cost of materials, he could make twenty coins, the mirror grinder was filled with enthusiasm.

He took out seven or eight kinds of things, including felt, carbon powder, mirror polishing agent (tin powder), mercury, alum, and silver mother sand, and arranged them one by one.

Then they took out a small wooden bucket filled with clean water.

Looking at his tools, Zhu Yin couldn't help but recall an ancient saying: "A mirror is inherently bright, but it is covered with dust and dirt. Only through friction can its brightness be revealed."

In fact, polishing mirrors is a technical job; it may seem simple, but it's not easy.

Moreover, it also requires expensive materials such as mercury and tin.

Before the Tang Dynasty, mirror polishing was a prestigious profession. Now, it's just a job for struggling artisans.

Ning Caiwei was afraid that he would take advantage of her youth and try to fool her, so she reminded him, "Master, don't rush. Polish slowly, the shinier the better."

The mirror polisher said, "Young lady and young master, rest assured, I have been polishing mirrors for five years and I do a very meticulous job. In the four major neighborhoods of Qingqiao, everyone knows that my mirror polisher, Fang Jian, is excellent."

“I am also from Qingqiao, and I would not fool a young lady.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yin's heart stirred. "Sir, your surname is Fang, and you are from this village. Do you have any connection with the family of Empress Fang of the Shimiao Temple?"

The mirror grinder paused, his expression sorrowful. "Empress Fang of the Shimiao Temple... was my great-aunt. My late father was Empress Fang's nephew."

"Alas, I am ashamed, I am so ashamed."

What? Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei didn't even need to exchange a glance.

Empress Fang's grand-nephew has fallen to such a state?
Empress Fang has only been dead for forty years.

Zhu Yin cupped his hands and said, "So you are a member of the Ming Dynasty's nobility. I have been too disrespectful."

Fang Jian felt extremely ashamed. How could I be some nobleman of the Ming Dynasty? I'm lucky to have survived.

After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, the Fang family suffered a terrible misfortune.

Today, the once-great Fang family is scattered, with some dead and others gone, and their property seized. They are now worse off than even a poor, humble family.

Fang Jian changed the subject, saying, "Young lady, young master, today at the home of a wealthy local gentry, I overheard someone speaking ill of you two and trying to incite you to be dealt with."

After thinking about it, he decided to remind the two children of what he had heard at the Wang family's house.

Zhu Yin immediately knew who it was.

It must be those thugs we dealt with before!
Sure enough, in their retaliatory act, they started spreading rumors and gossip among the wealthy and powerful.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Xie." Zhu Yin's impression of Fang Jian improved considerably.

Fang Jian said in a low voice, "When I was polishing the mirror, I overheard them mentioning a name, Green-headed Monk."

Ning Caiwei frowned and asked, "Who are they?"

Fang Jian said, "I heard he's a mountain bandit or a river pirate."

Zhu Yin suddenly said, "Sir, I would like to discuss a collaboration with you. Would you be interested in listening?"

P.S.: I went out today, so that's all I can share. Happy holidays everyone! May your families be reunited and happy! Thank you!
(End of this chapter)