Hearing Qi Younian’s clearly praiseworthy words, Jinrong turned to the clerks and asked, "Did Old Master Qi really say it like that?"
The two clerks were startled and quickly nodded their heads, but what they said was, "Replying to Sixth Master, Old Master Qi has over-praised us, we have only followed Lady Qi and Brother Wong, learning to do our best, just doing our best." If they didn’t agree now, where else could they go to boast their achievements to His Highness in the future?
Jinrong nodded noncommittally, saying, "Lady Qi and Ah Qiao’s skills are not superficial. You two should pay attention. If you can learn even a fraction of their tact and thoughtfulness, that wouldn’t be too bad."
The two men agreed repeatedly, and although their expressions showed no reluctance, they looked rather anxious.
Jinrong asked with a smile, "Why such expressions, have Lady Qi and these two been ill-treated by her in recent days?"
"Dare not, dare not," the clerks and Qi Younian responded in unison, surprisingly quickly.
Turning his head towards Qi Younian, Qi Younian hastily said, "It is the old fool’s idle talk, Ye Zi is a good child, she wouldn’t ill-treat the two gentlemen."
Jinrong nodded, saying, "Hmm, although what Old Master Qi said makes sense, the anxious look on the old master’s face is indeed quite doubtful."
"..." Qi Younian’s face showed embarrassment, indeed, his Ye Zi was really not polite to the adults.
Jinrong then asked the two clerks, "What do you mean by ’dare not’?"
One clerk looked at Qi Younian. Old Master Qi could really be protective, they hadn’t said much yet, and he was already anxious.
The clerk wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a forced smile, "What I meant was, any improvement we have is all thanks to Lady Qi’s wholehearted teaching and strict supervision, we dare not slander Lady Qi for ill-treatment." That was true, even though Lady Qi’s teaching methods were detestable, the sad part was, such harsh criticism and disdain actually worked wonders, and they really improved a great deal.
Jinrong nodded, turned to Jiang Yifan with a smile, and said, "It seems everyone is caught up with the word ’strict’. Ah Qiao, when you first started working with Lady Qi, did she supervise you this strictly?"
Wong Qiao hesitated, then said, "That’s not exactly the case, I was not in a hurry when I first arrived, and it wasn’t such a novel situation. Ye Zi usually discussed the steps with me, and all I had to do was follow through. Although Ye Zi was not very strict, when I worked with her, she still pushed me hard."
Wong Qiao omitted the fact that Ye Zi had observed his work and praised him as a prodigy, but Jinrong, upon hearing this, seemed to have a realization and nodded, "It’s also because Ah Qiao was able to keep up with Ye Zi’s steps. It seems like my household could indeed benefit from more encouragement."
Qi Younian laughed dryly, saying, "Even Sixth Master knows that Ye Zi, in a hurry, forgets proper respect and manners. Usually, without someone to supervise her, she probably offended the two gentlemen quite a bit. I hope that Sixth Master and the gentlemen will not hold it against her."
In the Qi household, one maid accompanied Ye Xinyan to inspect two properties, and the other looked after Qi Jiaer playing outside, so it was still Nanny Liu leading an old woman servant to change the tea.
Nanny Liu couldn’t help but laugh upon hearing Qi Younian’s words. With Nanny Jin absent all day, and Old Master Qi preoccupied with the construction site work, there was indeed no one left who could control the young lady.
Jinrong stopped Nanny Liu and asked, "Whose advice does Lady Qi usually listen to?"
Caught off guard by the prince’s question, Nanny Liu hesitated before she reluctantly said, "Lady Qi does take in some of what Old Master Qi and Nanny Jin say."
In fact, the eldest miss didn’t really take anyone’s advice seriously. It was just that when Nanny Jin and Old Master Qi spoke, she would agree quite readily, just like how she would become a bit more restrained and willing to heed the Old Master’s counsel in his presence. As for when the Old Master turned his back, it would depend on how the two minor officials conducted themselves.
With just a glance at Nanny Liu, Jinrong knew her words were insincere. It seemed necessary to ask Ye Zi about her strict methods of supervision; if Ye Zi truly had her own approach to instruction, it would be worthwhile to regularly send people over to learn from her expertise.
Jinrong inquired in detail about the progress of the railway transport and the reconstruction of the courtyard documents, and Ye Xinyan had not yet returned.
Qi Younian was about to get up and send someone to look for her when Jinrong stopped him, "Yuanfan and I were just planning to go see the experimental fermentation of the cheese. No need to search for her, it would be a waste of effort. Let’s go take a look ourselves. Old Master Qi need not accompany us either, considering the weather is getting cooler and there are still many urgent matters to attend to. You two and Ah Qiao can go about your business, we will be fine with Nanny Liu leading us there."
Qi Younian didn’t object, replying, "Let’s accompany Sixth Master and Lord Jiang there together, and Wusi and I will hurry back to the construction site. The two of you go on to the cheese fermentation workshop."
Nanny Liu led Jinrong and Jiang Yifan to the now completed and operational dairy product workshop. After asking a worker, they learned that Ye Xinyan had just gone to the fermentation workshop, with Nanny Jin guiding people towards a solidly built and squat workshop.
The wooden door of the workshop looked thick, heavy, and was slightly ajar.
Nanny Jin stopped at the workshop entrance, peered inside and called out before standing still and turning to explain to Jinrong, "This is the cheese fermentation workshop. The Young Lady said that the place where food is stored can be affected by too much foot traffic, potentially compromising the quality of the dairy products. Therefore, ordinary people are not allowed to enter at will, and even those working in the workshop must be clean before entering."
Jinrong nodded, "That’s appropriate. When making food products, it’s better to be cautious. This is especially true during the experimental phase, where one cannot allow miscellaneous tasks to cause interference."
As they were talking, Ye Xinyan came out in response to their voices.
With the heavy wooden door pushed open, Ye Xinyan stood inside dressed in a mid-length covering gown with a headscarf wrapped around her bun. Seeing Jinrong and Jiang Yifan standing at the door, she was startled and quickly greeted them, "Madam greets Sixth Master and Lord Jiang. You two are..." How did you find this place?
Jinrong smiled, "I heard from Zhang Baokui that the fermented cheese here has been stored for nearly a month. I’m curious how it’s made to last that long without spoiling. Yuanfan and I took the opportunity to come have a look."
Jiang Yifan paused and asked, "Nanny Liu just said that this place has strict rules, and ordinary people are not allowed inside. Do we also need to change and clean our hands before entering?"
Ye Xinyan sized them up and replied, "There’s no need for you, just wear some shoe covers when you come in." Turning back, she called over a worker, "Liu Chang, bring five pairs of shoe covers here."
A young lad hurried over, holding several indigo coarse-cloth items in his hands. The youngster was dressed in a plain, narrow-sleeved coat with indigo cloth covers on his feet, which were made of the same material as those he was holding.
Ye Xinyan took the cloth covers from him and handed them to Nanny Liu, then said to Jinrong and Jiang Yifan, "We have placed a good amount of cheese here, and we’re unsure how to store it better, so we are just being more careful with our daily tasks. These are a few shoe covers. If you intend to come in to have a look, just put these covers over your shoes."