Lin Run didn't dare say this sentence, fearing that Lin Qingyan would pass on the secret formula of bamboo paper.

  He had always been somewhat unable to see through her.

  "The quality of the grass paper is not very good, this thing can only show its effect when it is thin and sold at a low price, but the Lin family's power is limited after all, so it's better to spread the formula out, let those who are interested in making paper be able to make it, isn't that better?" Lin Qingwen saw the patriarch's gloomy face and still explained another sentence.

  Lin Run was even more puzzled, "There are already few people in the world who can afford to use paper, once the formula is spread out, there will definitely be many people doing this business, how can you still make money?"

  "There's always a profit to be made," Lin Qingyan said with an indifferent smile: "Everyone's costs are about the same, they won't sell at a loss just for sales volume, will they?"

  The profit that can be earned is quite different. Lin Run doesn't think Lin Qingyuan would not know this, she said so, obviously no longer caring about the profits brought by grass paper.

  He let out a faint sigh and stopped persuading him, anyway there was still bamboo paper, this was the most important thing.

  Lin Run took away half a box of bamboo paper and went back to discuss with his clansmen.

  Lin Qingwan waited until he left before saying to Lin Guan and Zhong Daguantie: "The profit of bamboo paper is high, but its price is too high, it's not something that ordinary people can afford, the sales volume is limited, so we can't ignore grass paper either."

  "Didn't Old Lady Ke plan on making the recipe for the grass paper public?"

  Lin Qingwan's mouth curled up, "Even if it's made public, we can still do better than others. Moreover, its sales will be very high, and with thin profits and many sales, the profit won't be lower than bamboo paper."

  Lin Guanjia and Zhong Daguanshi furrowed their brows, saying in a low voice: "But the number of people who read books is limited, even if the price of paper is low, the sales volume will not be high..."

  Lin Qingwan's words were profound: "People will always be increasing, so you should prepare first, let Cao Jin and Meng Fu study the grass paper again to see if they can make it better or reduce costs without reducing quality."

  Lin Guan's family and Zhong Daguanshi exchanged a glance, asking: "Where does the young lady want to set up the paper mill?"

  "First set up one in Zhuangzi, and when the sales are stable, set up another one in the other two places. At that time, the bookstore won't need to transport books from Suzhou anymore." Lin Qingyuan spread out the map of Zhuangzi, and finally pointed to a place on the other side of the pasture: "There is a river here, which can be used to divert water flow, and dig a large pond to build a paper mill."

  "Worker..."

  "Let Liu Guanshi go and recruit some, or we can also choose from the existing long-term workers." Lin Qingyan said: "Our family's long-term workers should be increased."

  Lin Guanjia and Zhong Daguanshi exchanged a glance, and they immediately understood that the young lady was going to take advantage of the situation to cultivate her own private army.

  Although the cost of raising troops is high, after being besieged by mobs, neither of them cared about money anymore.

  Anyway, Lin's family can afford it now, but protecting the masters is more important, so let's just keep the private army.

  Lin Qingyan and Lin Guan's steward, Zhong Daguantie, had just finished discussing the specifics when the sun outside was about to set. Lin Qingyan was about to invite them to stay for dinner when Bai Feng flashed past the door.

  Lin Qingwan said: "You all go back and have dinner first, if there's anything I'll look for you again."

  Lin Guanjia and Zhong Daguanshi also saw Bai Feng, knowing that the young lady had something to deal with, and couldn't help but advise, "Young lady should also pay attention to rest, health is important."

  Lin Qingwan nodded and sent the two away before letting Bai Feng in.

  "Bai Feng came in to report: 'Young Mistress, Bi Rong came over twice this afternoon. Eldest Miss returned from the Shang residence, and her mood seems to be not good.'"

  "Let's have someone serve dinner and go invite the young mistress to come and eat."

  Bai Feng nodded and backed out of the room.

  Lin Yuhu came over with a normal expression, she happily shared the gifts she received today with her aunt, and then quietly accompanied Lin Qingwen for dinner.

  After dinner, Lin Qingwan looked out at the starry sky and beckoned to her: "Come on, let's take a walk, just the two of us."

  Bai Mei and the four others were shocked and turned pale. "Auntie, there's already dew outside, let's just stay inside and walk around instead."

  "Don't worry, we won't go into the courtyard, just take a walk in the corridor and avoid getting wet by the dew." Lin Qingyan smiled at Lin Yuhong: "Don't waste such a beautiful starry sky."

  Lin Yuhbin glanced around and followed Xiaojie out.

  Bai Mei and Ying Yan immediately took the cloaks and put them on their respective masters, afraid that they would catch a chill.

  Lin Qingwan waved her hand and said, "No need for you all to follow us, it's not like we're going far, we can walk there ourselves."

  Bai Mei and the four of them could only stop in their tracks with the maids, gazing longingly as the two cousins walked hand in hand into the distance.

  The two of them walked slowly along the corridor, and when they turned their heads, they could see the stars twinkling in the sky. Lin Qingyuan hadn't seen such a starry sky since she grew up.

  She let go of Lin Yubin's hand and leaned back against the railing, turning her head to smile at Lin Yubin.

  Lin Yuhbin saw tolerance and teasing in his little aunt's eyes, and couldn't help but blush, turning his head to look at the sky.

  As soon as she saw her, Lin Qingyuan could only take the initiative to ask, "Was it fun going to your maternal grandmother's house today?"

  Lin Yuhuan didn't show her excitement before dinner again, anyway she also knew that she couldn't hide it from her aunt.

  Lin Qingwan didn't force her to answer, she just leaned against the pillar and quietly looked at the sky. It wasn't until after a long time that she heard her say in a low voice: "Auntie, we've all changed."

  Lin Qingwan looked at her with gentle eyes.

  Lin Yuhong sighed and said, "My grandmother is not as doting on me as before, she will even probe my attitude with a roundabout question, and even use her seniority to suppress me."

  "And I'm not like before either, I'll also be hypocritical and resentful," Lin Yuheng said softly: "This is wrong."

  Unlike her who has read different books and received a different education, she doesn't understand how she became like this, it's just subconscious.

  Lin Qingwan couldn't help but laugh, "I often tease Mingjie for being a bookworm, I didn't expect that our Yubin is also a bookworm."

  "Auntie!" Lin Yubin couldn't help but pout.

  Lin Qingwan smiled slightly, turned her head to look at the starry sky and said: "People who are truly sincere are hard to come by, it's because people like this have a hard time surviving. And in order to survive, one can't avoid scheming, and to live well, one needs even more strategy. The first step of strategy is to not show joy or anger on your face, making others unable to guess the true thoughts in your heart."

  "It's hard for us to achieve this, but we should strive for it." Lin Qingyan pointed at the path outside Zhuangzi: "At least in such a chaotic world, we must have the ability to protect ourselves."

  "If you want to be sincere, do you think your little aunt can still support you? She was swallowed up by the clan and the Shang family long ago."

  "How can it be the same," Lin Yuhbin said in a low voice: "My grandmother is my closest relative, I have always been sincere to her, she has always doted on me, I never thought we would become like this."

  "That's only because there was no conflict of interest," Lin Qingyu analyzed with a hint of ruthlessness: "At that time, you were just the granddaughter of the Shang family who lived in their house temporarily. Your father was still alive, and the two families had a close relationship, supporting each other, without any contradictions. Even if there were, they could be ignored under the premise of interest. In this situation, your grandmother naturally could love you wholeheartedly."

  "Now, your father is no longer here, the Lin family can't help the Shang family, and the exchange of interests between the two families has decreased. There are even disputes over interests," Lin Qingwen said to her: "The old lady is also human, she also has her own preferences in her heart, and naturally she will have to make some choices."

  Lin Yuhong lowered his head in distress.

  Lin Qingwan rubbed her temples and said, "Child, this is a very normal thing, and I'm no exception. If you have conflicts with the younger generation in our clan, which side do you think I'll stand on?"

  Lin Yuhong didn't think much about it and said, "Of course, it's on my side."

  "Yes, why? They are all my nephews and nieces, why shouldn't I stand up for them?" Lin Qingyan said: "Isn't it because you are my own niece, brought up by me myself, with a distinction between closeness and distance."

  "The old lady is the same, for her, Ming Jie and you, she loves Ming Jie more, but between Ming Jie and Shang Jia, she definitely loves Shang Jia more."

  "Doesn't she care about you? She does, but not as much as her own family and two grandsons," Lin Qingyuan said ruthlessly. "If you ask who the old lady cares more about, you or Danlan's three sisters, it's definitely you. But if one day something really happens to all of you together, guess who the old lady will save?"

  Lin Yuhong's face turned pale, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.

  "Danlan and her family are still tied to the Shang family, even if she loves you more, for the sake of the Shang family, even if it pains her, she will choose Danlan's side." Lin Qingwen didn't give her time to react, directly opening up the topic.

  There's nothing wrong with that, everyone has their own relationships, she can understand. But what she doesn't like is that the old lady made a choice but still puts on an act as if she loves Yubin very much.

  She even used filial piety to pressure people, forcing Yubin to accompany her in pretending to be a dutiful grandson, she didn't know what kind of stimulation Yubin had received from the Shang family, but knew that the main force was definitely the old lady.

  Who else could hurt her like this?

  Lin Yuhu's shoulders slumped in exhaustion, leaning against his younger sister-in-law, and after a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "Auntie, please return the jade Ruyi to the Shang family."

  Lin Qingwan was taken aback and asked, "Don't you like Ming Jie anymore?"

  Lin Yuhbin pursed his lips, hugging Xiaogu tightly, and said with a red-rimmed eye socket: "He's great, but his family is not good. Auntie, I don't want you to suffer."

  She vaguely knew that her younger sister didn't like the Shang family either, and only maintained such a close relationship for her sake.

  "Silly child," Lin Qingyan said with a smile, stroking her hair: "You've seen too little, wait until you grow up some more, see more people, and more families before talking about this again."

  Is Shang's family bad, but what about other families?

  The old lady was no longer in good health, but when facing Yubin and Shang Ertao, she would definitely stand up for Yubin. And as for Shang Ertao, who was foolish and impatient, it was too easy to deal with her.

  Not mentioning her, even Yu Bin has many ways to deal with it.

  For her, the real trouble after marrying into the Shang family was Shang Ping and Zhao Jie.

  These two people and Shang Mingjie are the key to determining her status.

  Shang Mingjie and Shang Pinghe and Zhao Jie...

  Lin Qingyan sneered, but Yu Binhai was still young, and her marriage didn't need to be rushed. There's a long way to go, and when the time comes, it'll be clear who's higher or lower between Lin Shang and Zhao San.