Finest Servant

Chapter 18 Raising the Price (Part 1)

Dong Qiaoqiao spoke without thinking, but to her surprise, Lin Wanrong heard her and agreed. She felt shy but also a bit happy. After all, women loved beauty and being able to preserve their youth on canvas was their dream.

"Thank you, Young Master," Dong Qiaoqiao said shyly.

Lin Wanrong grinned and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He asked Dong Rende, "Uncle Dong, what do you think?"

Uncle Dong gave Lin Wanrong a thumbs-up. "I have nothing but admiration for you, Young Master."

Lin Wanrong confidently finished the remaining illustrations of the fake Xiao family daughter. Each portrait had a different expression, but all were beautiful and enchanting. He guaranteed that these talented scholars would be bewitched.

After he finished the last stroke, Lin Wanrong wiped his face again and stood up, smiling. "Done, let's call it a day."

Dong Qiaoqiao looked at the portraits of the same woman with different poses and expressions in the small booklet, feeling envious. She glanced at Lin Wanrong and suddenly covered her mouth, giggling.

"What's so funny?" Lin Wanrong was stunned by her laughter, but this girl looked pretty when she smiled.

Dong Qiaoqiao took out a handkerchief from her pocket, blushing, and looked at Lin Wanrong. She bit her lip and leaned in close to him, using the handkerchief with a faint scent to touch his face.

Lin Wanrong suddenly realized that he must have smudged his face with charcoal. That was the only reason she would do such a thing. However, her gesture startled him. In this era, men and women were strictly guarded against each other, even if Dong Qiaoqiao was born into an ordinary family. This action was too intimate, and even during Lin Wanrong's time, only couples would do this.

"Is she having impure thoughts about me? Damn, I'm in danger. I'm a born womanizer." Lin Wanrong shamelessly thought to himself. To be honest, he was not ready to start a romantic relationship at this time.

Lin Wanrong quickly stepped back, refusing her offer without thinking. He took the handkerchief naturally, smiling and saying, "I can do it myself."

Dong Qiaoqiao was taken aback and realized that she had acted inappropriately. She blushed and Lin Wanrong immediately smelled the handkerchief and said frivolously, "It smells good!"

Dong Qiaoqiao knew that he was trying to ease her embarrassment and smiled gratefully at him.

However, frivolousness was Lin Wanrong's nature, and he didn't need to pretend to be otherwise.

Dong Qiaoqiao's face was as red as rouge, and she nodded lightly without saying a word.

Lin Wanrong gestured at Old Dong, but he remained unmoved, lost in thought.

Lin Wanrong was somewhat annoyed, thinking to himself, "This little girl is ignorant. You're still so clueless at your age. If you provoke me, I'll eat your precious daughter, and you can't blame me."

This wasn't Lin Wanrong being melodramatic, he was actually quite unfamiliar with this world and wasn't mentally prepared for love. He would have to take it slow.

The father and daughter remained silent, like they were acting in a silent movie. Lin Wanrong wiped the dust off his face and prepared to return the handkerchief to Dong Qiaoqiao. However, it had been stained black by the dust and he felt somewhat embarrassed giving it back to her like that.

Dong Qiaoqiao smiled faintly and took the handkerchief from Lin Wanrong's hand, saying, "Young master, let me do the heavy lifting."

Seeing her natural demeanor, Lin Wanrong relaxed. He thought to himself, "Am I being too full of myself? Is it really that easy for a girl to fall for me? But as a handsome and talented young man, it's abnormal if girls don't throw themselves at me."

After finishing the sketch with the charcoal, Lin Wanrong had Dong Qiaoqiao use a brush to trace over the charcoal black lines to prevent them from being smudged.

It was a meticulous job, and even a slight mistake could ruin the entire painting.

Before Lin Wanrong could tell Dong Qiaoqiao that he was only a half-assed artist and couldn't use a brush, she had already started working. However, she was clever and obedient, and didn't ask why Lin Wanrong wasn't using the brush.

She carefully traced the lines, her face covered in sweat from nervousness, afraid she might accidentally ruin Lin Wanrong's original sketch.

Lin Wanrong felt a faint sense of gratitude towards the father and daughter's unconditional trust in him. He couldn't understand why those scammers who tricked old ladies into giving them money existed in his time. Were they raised eating shit?

Dong Qiaoqiao finally finished copying the entire picture. Her deft hands left Lin Wanrong speechless, and even the curves of her lines were identical to his own.

Shaking his head, Lin Wanrong exclaimed, "Qiaoqiao, you can't marry someone else as a wife. Otherwise, where will I find someone with such skilled hands like you?"

Once they became familiar with each other, Lin Wanrong stopped calling her "Miss" and directly called her Qiaoqiao. After all, she was just a young lady, there was no need to address her formally.

After Lin Wanrong finished speaking, he laughed arrogantly a few times. Dong Qiaoqiao's face turned red and she ran out, not understanding how the charming and talented Lin Wanrong suddenly became so vulgar.

"Hey hey, the little girl surprised me with a handkerchief, so I'll surprise you too. I'm shameless like that, what can you do about it?" Lin Wanrong laughed proudly.

By the time the manuscript was organized, it was already noon. Lin Wanrong handed it over to Old Dong and hurried to the printing house to make copies.

Knowing that the printing technology was outdated, Lin Wanrong was grateful that the booklet was not very long. With overtime work that afternoon and evening, he would be lucky to make 500 copies.

Old Dong had lived in the city for many years and had a quick mind and wide network. That was precisely why Lin Wanrong valued him.

Just as Old Dong was about to leave to make copies, Lin Wanrong suddenly remembered something and hastily stopped him. "Uncle Dong, you have to remind the printing house to keep this confidential. Especially this manuscript, it's extremely valuable. If it falls into the wrong hands, it's easy to counterfeit, so you must be careful. And make sure to return the manuscript promptly."

Lin Wanrong had already promised Old Dong a huge profit. In this era, there was no intellectual property protection, and if the work was plagiarized, he would truly lose everything. Even with intellectual property protection, piracy was rampant. So he had to remind Old Dong about the importance of confidentiality.

They had dinner at Old Dong's house. Lin Wanrong was a lonely man with only a cold stove to go back to, so he might as well chat with the father and daughter. Dong Qingshan had also returned, his face full of excitement. Apparently, he had seen some results.

Dong Qiaoqiao truly lived up to her name. Although it was a simple meal, it was incredibly delicious. Seeing Lin Wanrong almost swallow his tongue, Dong Qiaoqiao covered her mouth and laughed lightly. Her beautiful and simple appearance had a faint feeling of warmth.

After dinner, they went to the printing house. It was true that money could make the devil push the mill. With the promise of double the original price, more than 20 skilled workers worked overnight to produce 500 books. The boss guaranteed that they would finish before dawn.

The printing technology here was very ancient. They first transferred the original manuscript onto parchment paper, and then transferred the ink from the parchment paper onto the paper. The effect was not as good, but the images and text were still clear.

It was truly the limit to produce 500 copies in an afternoon and night in such a manual workshop.