Chapter 12 — 30 Whips Change Retirement, I Take You and Leave Brilliantly

He also looked at me. The distance is only three steps. He was much thinner than half a year ago, and his cheekbones were also clearly visible.

“Thanh Hoa.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I have nowhere else to go.”

"The Marquis doesn't need me anymore. There's nothing left in the capital that's worth keeping. I've thought about it over and over again. Only where you live—I can still go."

I looked at the poor clothes on his body.

“Where is your cottage?”

"Paid it. Bac gave it to Anh Nguyet. She is about to give birth and needs money."

“The child is innocent.”

I was silent for a moment.

“What are you planning to do in Lam An?”

“Find something to do.”

"Anything is fine. Carrying goods, driving carts, tending shops, I have the strength."

“A young man from the Marquis Palace like you, has he ever carried goods?”

He laughed a little. The smile is very painful.

“Never. But I can learn.”

We turned around and went inside. Walk a few steps, stop.

“Come in and drink a bowl of porridge and then continue talking.”

He paused for a moment, then followed in. Y Nhi is in the playground with the rabbit. Seeing him, he first froze, then put down the rabbit and ran over.

“Father!”

Co Hanh sat down and picked up the baby. Y Nhi hugged his neck.

"Father, why are you thinner? Is it because you refuse to eat?"

"Deceive people! People defraud me every time!"

“No deception this time.”

"Then father, eat my cinnamon flower cake! Uncle Tham made it, it's especially delicious!"

The girl pulled his hand and ran into the kitchen. Co Hanh was pulled away by it and turned to look at me. I leaned my back against the hallway pillar and did not follow. Thuy Van stood next to me.

“Dong master, he really left empty-handed.”

“Looked out.”

“How are you going to arrange him?”

I think a bit.

“The weaving ward lacks one person to carry goods.”

Thuy Van almost dropped the tea cup.

“The servant of the Marquis—carrying the goods?”

"He said it himself, anything is fine. Then carry the goods."

The corner of Thuy Van's mouth twitched.

“Dong, are you punishing him or testing him?”

"None of that. If he wants to stay in Lam An, he must have a job. People are sitting idle, I won't feed them."

That afternoon, Co Hanh went to the weaving village in the east of the citadel to report his name. The butler looked at his hands that were used to holding swords and hesitantly gave him a bunch of brocade.

“Move this over there.”

He took it, then did it. Worked all afternoon. At night, when I returned to the alley, my arms were shaking. Y Nhi stood waiting at the door.

"Father! Where are you going?"

“Go to work.”

“Do what?”

“Carrying cloth.”

“Is carrying cloth fun?”

He thought for a moment.

"That's OK."

Y Nhi pulled his hand into the yard. I stood at the second floor window looking at them. He walked slightly hunched over, clearly exhausted. But he didn't complain a single word. Just do that. You owe me money, you don't have to kneel for a few days to pay it off. Co Hanh worked in the weaving ward carrying goods for a month. On the first day, he carried fifty panels (large rolls). On the seventh day, he carried eighty rolls. By the thirtieth day, he was able to carry one hundred and twenty rolls. Manager Truong Thuan—the person who had previously stolen the ingredients that I had discovered—one day secretly said to Tham Khanh Son: "Master Shen, does that new person who came to carry the goods have any background?"

"The guy carrying the goods didn't say a word, but his eyes looked at the brocade incorrectly—like he was studying the pattern. Yesterday he told me that weaving table number seven had two parts of the warp loose, and the brocade surface would be woven. have blemishes. I'll go check—it's really loose.”

Tham Khanh Son returned and told me this story. There's nothing surprising to me. Co Hanh is not a stupid person, he has a family's educational background. He used to manage the procurement of weapons, armor, and military supplies for the Marquis' Palace. He already had a foundation in textile and manufacturing technology.

“Let him learn how to weave. Letting him carry the goods is a waste.”

“Dong master, is this rising too fast?”

"It's not about promotion, it's about using it in the right place."

In the second month, Co Hanh went from being a goods bearer to becoming an apprentice in the weaving workshop. The third month, he brought along a weaver to improve the new pattern of the brocade - more than twice as sophisticated, but the cost only increased by one-tenth. After this new type of brocade was released to the market, a large silk shop in Tung Giang ordered five hundred rolls at a time. When Truong Thuan came to report to me, he scratched his head and said: "Dong, is he really here to carry goods?"

“It used to be.”

“What now?”

“Now your partner. Learn from him well.”

Truong Thuan left awkwardly. The more Co Hanh worked in the weaving ward, the more comfortable he became, but he never mentioned his work in front of me. Every day when I return at sunset, I will first play with Y Nhi for an hour, then go to the next room to read books until late at night. He lives in the heavenly courtyard of No. 16 Tu Lane—arranged by me, a small room, a bed, a table.