Li Ying opened the letter and found it was from the youngest daughter of the Zhang family.
Although the handwriting was inevitably a bit childish, every stroke was written neatly. Li Ying took a quick look and was extremely gratified.
It was really worth it for Su Buchi to teach her. If all the children in the fishing village school were as hard - working as the youngest daughter of the Zhang family, the future of the fishing village would be promising.
"Sister Li, I hope this letter finds you well. Since you went to the capital, everything in the village has been fine. But everyone misses you and Granny Sun very much as they haven't seen you for a long time. Mother and Aunt Li told me to tell you that they will take care of everything, so you don't have to worry about anything."
Li Ying couldn't help smiling. This little girl from the Zhang family was really interesting. She had just come of age, at an innocent and carefree age, but she had learned Su Buchi's sophisticated manner to perfection.
She thought that learning knowledge was secondary. The most important thing was to be well - educated, polite, and able to distinguish right from wrong. Therefore, when hiring a female tutor, she had chosen one with an extremely upright character.
The principles of being a person taught by Su Buchi and the female tutor were undoubtedly very good.
However, it seemed that she really should hire another enthusiastic and straightforward female tutor. If all the girls in the fishing village grew up to be rigid little scholars in the future, their lives would be a bit boring.
While thinking about this, she continued to read. After the Zhang girl exchanged a few more pleasantries and inquired about everyone one by one, she finally got to the point.
"Father went into the port the other day and had a bountiful catch. What's even more amazing is that when he was shelling and stir - frying several big conchs caught in the net, he found a pearl inside. It was very smooth and round. Although it was not as dazzling as the cultured South Sea pearls, it had a very bright color, like a brilliant cloud.
"Father didn't know the origin of this pearl, so he didn't dare to make a big deal out of it. The pearl is now quietly hidden at home, waiting for Sister Li to decide whether it can be used."
Li Ying originally thought this letter was just a family letter, but unexpectedly, it contained such amazing good news. She was immediately overjoyed.
The emperor and the concubines in the palace loved flawless pearls very much, and most of the common people in the capital also thought it was beautiful to wear pearl jewelry.
Among them, soft pink, smoky purple, and mica gray were the most popular.
However, the cultivation of natural colored pearls almost completely relied on luck and could not be artificially intervened. Moreover, even pink pearls only had a faint pink halo in the white.
A bright and pure sunset - like pink was even harder to obtain.
Conch pearls were different.
Natural conch pearls were called "Conch pearls" in later generations. Their colors were mostly scarlet, orange - yellow, and bright pink, with faint flame - like patterns, looking radiant.
What Zhang Lu had obtained must be the even rarer and sky - high - priced conch pearls!
Li Ying felt that the thin family letter from the Zhang girl had now turned into stacks of silver notes in her eyes, making her eyes and heart burn with eagerness.
"Sister, what good news is it? Tell me quickly!"
A Man couldn't hold back her impatience and leaned on Li Ying coquettishly. Li Ying didn't hold back either and told her about the conch pearls in detail.
A Man's eyes also lit up.
"Sister, does that mean we can go back to the village soon?"
Xikang was desolate and the capital was bitterly cold. The winters in both places were very hard to endure. It was not as good as the fishing village with its moist sea breeze.
Li Ying smiled.
Indeed.
If she remembered correctly, even in the modern era before her time - travel, conch pearls were extremely difficult to cultivate artificially.
The reason was simple. The mother shells that produced conch pearls were mostly queen conchs, which were extremely rare. After being implanted with a pearl nucleus, they were very likely to die.
Li Ying wasn't worried about this.
In this current era, there was no other jewelry merchant dealing in conch pearls. As long as she didn't blindly pursue the size of the pearls, even the common red conchs caught during beach - combing might produce pearls with bright flame patterns.
It was said that only one conch pearl could be produced from 50,000 conchs.
But with Maomao, the little spiritual cat, to guide her to the waters where big conchs lived, a constant - temperature and constant - humidity space as a breeding ground, and the good fortune of her lucky daughter, Li Ying secretly thought that it might not be an impossible dream to increase this production probability.
Even if, in the worst - case scenario, all her efforts ended up in vain, the big conchs could still be shelled, sliced, and served as cold - dressed conch slices with scallions or stir - fried quickly to entertain the guests who came to the fishing village for vacation. At least she wouldn't suffer a loss.
The New Year was approaching. Business in the capital was booming. The old shopkeeper was taking care of the tea and snack shop, and the restaurant had newly trained chefs. With more hot - pot dishes on offer and Ruyi staying in charge, there probably wouldn't be any problems.
As for the court, the Supreme Court was thoroughly investigating the evidence of the tea - tax censor's years of exploiting the common people and bending the law for personal gain. The salt - tax censor was also involved. With Granny Ling's testimony, his crimes of raising death squads, bullying men and women, and taking human lives casually were all exposed one by one.
Inspector Lin had lost his right - hand men and was struggling to take care of himself. He would surely behave himself recently, lie low, and stop causing trouble. He probably didn't have the guts to provoke them anymore.
Li Ying put away the letter and told A Man that this matter was confidential and should not be disclosed for the time being.
A Man beamed with joy and quickly patted her chest to promise.
"Sister, don't worry! I know what to do!"
Later in the day, Granny Sun came back with Mianmian after sunbathing. When she heard Li Ying say that they were going back to the fishing village for the New Year, she was also overjoyed.
"A Ying, that's great!"
"Although the capital is bustling and lively, there's no sense of human warmth. The neighbors are all so cold. They keep their doors tightly shut every day, as if they're afraid others might peek into their little worlds. It's so boring!"
Granny Sun had never left the fishing village before. She was initially fascinated by the capital when she first came here for more than a month, but soon she began to miss her old sisters.
"We should go back to our fishing village for the New Year. Everyone can celebrate together in a lively way. Even if we eat bran and swallow vegetables, we'll feel comfortable in our hearts."
Li Ying couldn't help laughing.
"How could we eat bran and swallow vegetables? Every family in the village has earned a lot of silver this year. We'll surely have a prosperous New Year."
Granny Sun smiled from ear to ear. Maomao was even more excited. It perked up, ran around everyone's ankles, rubbing against them. Then, as if remembering something, it dug out a lot of things like wool balls and shell fragments from the cracks of the tables and chairs. Presumably, these were its "treasures" on normal days, and it was preparing to take them back together.
Its cute and naive appearance made everyone burst into laughter.
It took Granny Sun a while to come to her senses. Suddenly, a look of worry appeared on her face.
"A Ying, if we go back to the fishing village for the festival, what about A Xun? His family is in the capital, and he just came back with great difficulty..."
Li Ying frowned. Indeed, it was the first year for the Lu family to make a comeback. As the new head of the family, he had to stay and feast with the Lu family's retainers and the members of the horse - caravan. On the one hand, it was to boost morale, and on the other hand, it was to show his authority as the head of the family.