All these wishes remained unfulfilled when she passed away.
Ye Shiqi drew down with a pen the fishing rod she once went fishing with her companions; of course, its parts were various and different.
She could only draw what she knew, believing that people’s minds are powerful and able to deduce by analogy!
Li Zhijun watched his young niece sketch, growing more and more excited as a grown man.
He was thrilled like a little boy, remembering how he had once fished with a rod he had crafted himself.
After Ye Shiqi finished her drawing, she handed it over to Li Zhijun and said,
"Uncle, keep this drawing of the fishing rod safe. First, make me a fishing rod out of purple bamboo, then we’ll see if we can do business with this rod, depending on whether Uncle can craft it well!"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhijun understood clearly what his young niece was saying; if he didn’t, he’d truly be a fool. The thought of having a superior fishing rod that might become a business opportunity to make money indeed could bring more income to their estate.
The previous worries about the estate not bringing in revenue were now replaced with a bit of confidence, and he hurried out.
When Ye Shiqi and her elder sisters prepared to return to the room where they had been drinking tea, they were met by the Gatekeeper, who greeted them respectfully,
"Ladies, your guests have now arrived at the gate of the estate. Just now, Steward Li said to find him when the guests arrived, but he was nowhere to be found after taking a round."
Ye Shiqi understood that Uncle must be busy making the fishing rod, so she said to the guard,
"Uncle, those are our friends, we can receive them. You go open the gate and let them in."
The gatekeeper nodded and hurried off, while Ye Shiqi and her elder sisters, accompanied by six maids, also reached the front gate.
They saw many carriages lining both sides of the road, along with guards leading horses.
Since their estate was by a main road, there was a space of several dozen meters within the estate just for parking carriages and horses.
However, this time there were so many people and horses, they spilled out onto both sides of the main road outside.
Ye Shiqi was a bit surprised by the imposing manner of the wealthy people when traveling; most importantly, Tang Shunyan was very impressive this time.
He possibly brought along all their little friends and some family and friends too.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many people and such a grand scene.
Tang Shunyan got out of the carriage, and upon seeing the Ye family sisters welcoming them at the gate, he ran over first, followed by people climbing down from the carriages.
Among them were boys and girls, maids and old women.
The guards stood by the horses, some following their masters.
Ye Shiqi thought that it would be impossible to receive so many people in a single guest room.
Considering this, since their estate had so many guest rooms with drawing rooms, today was a great opportunity to show off her estate’s hospitality.
"Ru Mei, I’m very punctual, aren’t I?"
Ye Shiqi, facing the happy smiling boy before her, spoke for her elder sisters, "You are welcome; please, everyone, come into the estate."
Then she gave a signal to her elder sisters that, apart from the servants, they were the hostesses, and it was their responsibility to arrange for the male and female guests to be seated in different drawing rooms of the estate for temporary accommodation.
Her elder sisters understood and ushered the guests brought by their hosts into various rooms in the estate to rest for a bit.
Tang Shunyan always followed Ye Shiqi, and half-grown boys and girls followed behind the two children.
With the elder sisters settling the others, those welcomed into the drawing room to sit and have tea were just the teenagers and the young girl.
Ye Shiqi noticed among them a little girl she had not seen before, who looked to be only six or seven years old.
Tang Shunyan had brought little friends many times before, including those he was somehow related to at his birthday party.
She had never seen this little girl, who also wore a dress different from what they were accustomed to.
Ye Shiqi’s curiosity was piqued. Could this little girl belong to a small ethnic minority? Or maybe she was a girl from the grasslands?
The six or seven-year-old girl was naturally shorter than the boys, yet this little girl was about as tall as some of the boys.
Perhaps even a little taller, standing at nearly the same height as Tang Shunyan.
Noticing Ye Shiqi’s gaze, Tang Shunyan introduced her,
"Ru Mei, let me introduce you; this is County Magistrate’s daughter, Si Ma Roumei."
Ye Shiqi smiled sweetly, "So it’s the County Magistrate’s daughter. Welcome to our estate."
Si Ma Roumei laughed heartily, the little girl taking charge, with the elder sisters all listening to her.
She had already observed this and grew more and more interested in the girl whose manners were nowhere like a farmer family girl. Speaking a dialect different from the Southern people, she said,
"Little sister, don’t be too polite, I’m very happy to meet you!"