Original subtitles

[The Heir]

[Episode 28]

Mother.

Why are you here?

The weather's gotten chilly,

so I came to meet you on your way back.

Are you still thinking about your Fourth Aunt?

Mother,

I should keep hating Tian Jiangyue,

shouldn't I?

For more than 10 years now,

I've been having the same dream over and over.

In that dream, I keep knocking on the Li family's door,

as if, once the door opens,

your father would still be alive.

But no matter how hard I knock,

the Li family's door just wouldn't open.

Why have you never told me any of this?

You were too young before.

I was worried

telling you would upset you.

But now that you've grown up,

there's nothing left for me to hide from you.

Let me tell you—

I hate the Li family.

I even secretly swore

that for the rest of my life,

I'd never set foot inside the Li family's house again.

But yesterday, the moment I heard

that you and Zhengyou got in trouble

and that you were bullied,

I just rushed into the Li family's house

without even thinking about it.

Only when I was standing in the courtyard did I realize—

how did I just walk in like that?

But really, it wasn't such a big deal after all.

Mother.

Everyone in the Li household

seems to be trapped in place

by regret

and resentment.

Yeah.

That's why only by taking this step forward

can I finally let go of the past.

Let go of the past...

Go on then.

How do you plan to deal with me?

I'll give you time to pack your things.

In an hour,

we'll leave for the western outskirts.

Why don't you take this opportunity

to crush me completely?

Don't you hate me the most?

You're right.

I do hate you.

But I don't want to keep hating anymore.

You've lived with hatred

all these years.

Have you ever truly been happy for even a single day?

Fourth Aunt,

I'm going to move on now.

From here on out,

take care of yourself too.

You can stop hating just because you say so,

but I'm not as magnanimous as you are.

Li Zhen!

I'll hate you for the rest of my life.

I'll hate your entire Eighth Branch for the rest of my life!

This...

Isn't this Shize Ink?

This isn't Shize Ink.

The ink goes down quickly,

the color is glossy and deep black,

the brushwork flows smoothly,

and the ink structure is well-formed.

Its quality is indeed no different from Shize Ink.

Could this be

reprocessed ink made from Shize Ink?

Reprocessed ink?

Methods of reprocessing ink are fairly common enough,

but since it's reprocessed,

there are naturally many limitations.

To make reprocessed ink

as good as newly made ink—

that's even more difficult.

Zhen,

how did you manage to do it?

In the past, when making reprocessed ink,

people would try to steam and extract

as much of the spent glue from the discarded ink as possible,

then add fresh glue

to make a new stick of ink.

But fresh glue and old ink are difficult to fully blend together,

which makes the ink brittle and prone to cracking.

However, if you leave behind a small amount of the old glue

in the discarded ink and use it as a binding agent

to revive the ink,

then the resulting reprocessed ink

can be equal in quality to newly made ink.

Interesting.

Truly interesting.

Since that's the case,

Steward Shao,

for this new batch of orders,

we'll deliver with reprocessed ink.

Hurry and have the workers rush the production.

Manager Zhen, Master, Eighth Master Li.

Although the reprocessed ink has been successfully made,

we've still lost quite a bit of time.

Even if we work day and night,

I'm afraid we still won't be able to deliver the entire order by the deadline.

Mr. Xiao,

your Master Qi...

Master is sleeping.

Sleeping?

Master saw you were developing new ink

and was worried someone might come sabotage things again,

so he's barely slept for the past few days.

He insisted on keeping watch himself.

I've got some invitation cards here

and wanted to trouble him to deliver them to the ink workshop.

I'll go in and check on him.

What did you say?

What was that?

Benchang!

Benchang.

The workers at Li Ink said Li Zhen had produced reprocessed ink.

Why panic?

Reprocessed ink isn't anything remarkable.

It's just taking unusable old ink

and refurbishing it.

The ink produced can only be considered barely usable.

That's not the case.

Those ink-makers said

the quality of their reprocessed ink is identical to new ink,

or even better.

How is that even possible?

You're just boosting their morale and diminishing ours.

I'm not...

Taking a step back,

even if Li Zhen

has now produced top-quality ink,

there are only a few days left

before they have to deliver the order.

At this point, nothing they do will change anything.

You're right!

So it's like every potter praising his own pot—

simply blowing their own horn.

Eldest Young Master.

I just heard

that Steward Shao of Li Ink

had invited the managers of all ink workshops

to Li Ink,

saying there's an important matter to discuss.

Keep an eye here.

Elders.

Regarding the recent events at Li Ink,

I assume you elders already know.

I invited you all here today

because there's something

I want to share with you.

Steward Shao,

please distribute this to everyone.

This is...

The recipe for reprocessed ink?

That's right.

Zhen,

you've improved this recipe?

Third Grandfather, you have a keen eye.

Don't you all find it strange?

Why would the Li family

make such a valuable recipe public?

You Tian family brat.

Get out of here,

-or I'll break your legs! -Uncle Jingdong.

Eldest Young Master Tian,

you really came uninvited.

Young Master Tian is actually right.

I do have a favor to ask

of you elders.

Zhen,

please go ahead.

I'd like to use this recipe

in exchange for 5 days' use of

each ink workshop and its workers.

To borrow 5 days' use of them?

To assist me in reprocessing Shize Ink.

Li Zhen, oh, Li Zhen.

You really are quite calculating.

Using others' ink workshops for free for 5 days

to produce ink for your Li family.

How much money will that cost each of them?

Only borrowing our ink workshops for 5 days,

but this reprocessing method

can bring the old and discarded ink in our workshops

back to life.

Whether this deal is worth it or not,

I believe everyone here knows it very well.

Third Master, you're mistaken.

Take our Tian Ink Workshop as an example.

The Styrax resin ink produced in one day

can easily earn at least 50 taels of silver.

What a joke.

We earn an honest 20 percent profit

from selling one stick of ink.

But as for your Tian family's Styrax resin ink—

the production cost is already high,

and under the name of Tribute Ink,

the price is set at more than 5 times the cost.

And even then, 10 percent of the profit

goes straight into the pockets of ink merchants and tutors.

The bad practice

of compulsory ink usage in academies before

was also caused by your Tian family!

Who opens a business without seeking profit?

Our Tian Ink has so many

ink-makers who need to feed their families.

Of course I have the responsibility

to make sure everyone can live a good life.

How interesting.

Interesting.

Young Master Tian,

it's one thing you showed up uninvited,

but you even insisted on getting scolded here.

Isn't that a losing deal for you?

Thank you, elders, for speaking up.

I also have some words to say from the bottom of my heart.

Ink recipes

are the foundation of each ink workshop.

It's only natural that they are not passed on to outsiders.

But I think,

if we rigidly stick to old conventions,

in the end,

we'll only bind our own hands and feet.

By making this reprocessed ink recipe public now,

Li Ink is indeed addressing an urgent crisis.

But at the same time,

I also hope to use this opportunity

to break down sectarian barriers

and set a new trend,

so as to help our Hui Ink

restore its prosperity.

Well said.

Zhen.

Li Ink offering the reprocessed ink recipe

benefits the entire Huizhou ink industry.

Our Chen Ink is willing to take on an order of 300 sticks.

Thank you, Third Grandfather.

Everyone,

with me, Chen Jiru, as a guarantor,

you can all rest assured.

Pan Ink is willing to take on 150 sticks.

Thank you, Mr. Pan.

I also dare to guarantee with Pan Ink's reputation.

You all needn't worry.

Huang Ink will take on 100 sticks.

Yu Ink will take on 50 sticks.

I, Zhen,

thank you all, elders.

Seventh Grandmother.

All the backlogged orders for Shize Ink

have now been delivered on schedule.

Beautifully done.

Zhen,

you've worked hard.

The crisis of Li Ink

has finally been overcome.

Zhen.

You managed to get so many ink workshops in Huizhou to follow your lead.

What you've brought together isn't just ink anymore,

but the hearts of the people in the Huizhou ink industry.

Zhen,

what is this about?

Seventh Grandmother.

This whole series of setbacks

was due to my negligence.

I failed to manage this household properly,

caused our Li family to lose its cohesion,

and allowed the Tian family to take advantage,

almost causing a disaster.

I've failed to live up to your trust, Seventh Grandmother.

Today,

I'll return this seal to you, Seventh Grandmother,

and step down from the authority over the inner household and the ink workshop.

Zhen.

Stand up.

Stand up.

I have something to say to you.

I won't allow you to speak of yourself like that.

I, your old grandmother, had a long, good sleep,

and when I woke up,

our Li Ink

and Li family

were doing wonderfully.

We have so many orders now we can hardly keep up with them.

And look at your Uncle Jingdong.

He's like a completely different person now.

Over at the Literary Association,

whenever people mention you, Manager Zhen,

everyone knows your name and admires you.

This situation was opened up

by your own hard work.

But if I hadn't managed this household,

it wouldn't have provoked Fourth Aunt's hatred.

And that Li Decai—

it was also because I softened for a moment

and let him into the ink workshop

that I gave him an opportunity to take advantage of us.

Zhen.

People's hearts

all have their wrinkles and twists.

But you

are an open and straightforward person,

without all those hidden schemes and winding thoughts.

You treat others

with genuine sincerity.

I only want to remind you of one thing:

in the future, whenever something happens,

think just a little bit further ahead.

I understand.

I know

my own condition.

It's impossible

for me to recover completely.

Zhen.

I want you

to continue

holding this family together.

Can you do that?

If the Li family needs me,

then of course I'm willing.

It's just that for the position of manager,

there's Eldest Aunt overseeing the inner household

and Uncle Jingdong managing external affairs.

It wouldn't be right for me to keep holding onto the position.

Zhen.

It was mainly your credit that Li Ink

managed to avert disaster this time.

I, Jingdong, thank you

on behalf of the Li family.

So this position of manager

must be yours.

I've made countless mistakes over the course of half my life.

I'm too ashamed to be the manager.

And your Eldest Aunt

has Zhengyou to take care of,

so she has no time to spare.

So,

please continue to be the manager, okay?

Today, it's not just your Seventh Grandmother asking you—

I'm asking you too. Is that alright?

Since Seventh Grandmother and Uncle Jingdong trust me so much,

I will continue to do it.

In this whole world,

besides my mother,

only you and Seventh Grandmother

still remember what I like to eat, Eldest Aunt.

I'll make it for you often in the future.

Eldest Aunt.

It's actually perfect timing.

I have something to discuss with you today.

What is it?

The children of our Li family

are different from other families.

Since childhood, besides going to school,

they also have to work in the ink workshop.

Even if they don't enter the ink industry in the future,

they should have an understanding of the foundation of the Li family.

I was thinking,

Zhengyou has now come of age.

If you're willing,

how about letting him enter the ink workshop?

I'd be willing to teach him personally.

Zhengyou is a fine child raised under your guidance.

He's kind-hearted,

thoughtful,

and gracious in the way he handles things.

If you're willing to let him endure some hardship, Eldest Aunt,

he'll surely carve out a place of his own

in the ink industry in the future.

I'm willing. How could I not be?

I'm relieved that he can learn from you.

It's just that kid is naughty,

and you've been so busy lately.

I'm worried he'll cause you trouble.

It's okay.

Let him first follow me

around the ink workshop, observe things, and learn.

The skill I have for identifying ink today

was learned this very way—

by following my father and grandfather around when I was young.

When he grows a bit older,

I'll teach him how to twist lamp wicks and make lampblack.

This craft of mine was taught to me personally by my grandfather.

No one in the entire ink workshop can compare to me.

Of course I know.

I'm truly ashamed.

I did things that wronged you,

yet you still think of us all the time.

Zhen.

I came here today

to formally apologize to you.

It was my fault.

I made a mistake.

It's all in the past.

Eldest Aunt,

I never took it to heart.

Isn't being a family

all about owing and repaying one another?

Whether it's gratitude

or resentment,

the more entangled it is,

the more it makes us family.

Please sit, Eldest Aunt.

Come on.

Please sit.

Your cooking skills

are even better than my mother's.

I'll make it for you often in the future.

No crying, Eldest Aunt.

Today is a happy occasion.

Let's both be cheerful.

Okay.

It's delicious.

Zhengyou, let me see it first.

This is the first time I've ever successfully made lampblack.

Of course I have to show it to Zhen right away.

I want to learn lampblack-making too.

You?

Wait until you grow tall enough

to reach the lampblack-making table first.

Zhen.

-Zhen. -Zhen.

I made my own lampblack.

You made this yourself?

Zhengyou made this lampblack himself.

Zhengyou.

I once taught you

what makes good lampblack.

It must be deep black in color

and fine in texture to be considered good.

Zhen,

my heat control isn't good enough,

is it?

You still have a long way to go.

Oh, you.

Zhengyou.

Although this lampblack

isn't top-tier,

it's your first time making it.

It's worth remembering and encouraging.

Very good.

Come on.

Today, I'll tell you

the stories of our grandfathers making ink.

How about that?

-Great. -Great.

Zhen.

Just because they didn't make good lampblack,

did Eighth Master really make Uncle Jingdong

and Uncle Jingfu stand in the snow

for a whole day?

Yes.

Zhengyou, tell me,

why did they fail to make good lampblack?

Uncle Jingdong and Uncle Jingfu failed to make good lampblack

because it was snowing outside.

When it snows, it's colder than usual in the smoke shed,

so when lighting the soot,

the oil temperature has to be a bit higher than normal.

Exactly.

I get it now.

I'll go make another bowl.

No need to rush.

Zhen, I get it too.

I'll go make lampblack together with Zhengyou.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Be careful.

Slow down.

Eldest Aunt.

Zhen.

Did Zhengyou cause any trouble?

I was just about to tell you.

Look.

Zhengyou made this.

Is this really Zhengyou's work?

It's thanks to how well you taught him before, Eldest Aunt.

He's smart and learns quickly.

It's because you taught him well.

Zhen.

It's the Start of Winter today.

When you go home,

invite your Grandfather and Mother over.

Your Seventh Grandmother prepared a winter-welcoming feast personally.

Let's all have a proper

reunion meal together as a family.

Aunt Rujun.

I, Jin,

am back.

It's great to have you back.

Rujun.

I knew you'd be here.

You've only just come back—

why did you run off to busy yourself in the kitchen?

You should be spending time talking properly with Mother instead.

Sister-in-law.

If I let you serve me food and tea,

then I'd still feel like an outsider.

Only when I'm working in the kitchen

and making dishes

do I truly feel like

I've come home.

No, you have to listen to me today.

Come on.

Sister-in-law.

To be honest with you guys,

it's been years

since I last cooked in a kitchen this big.

Today,

leave the cooking to me.

You go wait outside.

Go wait outside.

Just wait to eat.

Go on ahead.

You can trust me.

Thank you for your trouble then.

It's no trouble.

The reunion hot pot is here!

The reunion hot pot is here!

This chicken was killed by my mother.

The winter bamboo shoots inside

were picked by Zhengshen from the mountains.

The ham was brought from my mother's hometown

in Yi County.

And these cured ribs

were personally marinated by Eldest Aunt.

Come on, try them.

Manager Zhen,

may I say a few words?

Of course, Seventh Grandmother.

Okay.

Then I...

I-I'll stand up to speak.

Alright.

Today is

the Start of Winter.

On such a special day,

our Li family

is all gathered together,

sitting here in one place.

I just hope everyone can drink this cup

and share in this moment of harmony and joy.

-Hear, hear. -Hear, hear.

Alright, drink up.

Okay, everyone sit down.

Come on.

Let's start eating.

Start eating.

Try these dishes.

Okay.

Qiu'e,

when are you due?

Counting the days,

it should be sometime after the Start of Spring.

That's a good time.

This child will surely be blessed.

Indeed.

Zhengliang,

your inkstone-making is top-tier.

People have even approached me saying they want to buy inkstones from you.

Not at all. It's just passable.

It's not just passable.

You're a chief manager now.

Zhengliang's business is doing really well.

I heard

an inkstone this big

had been ordered by someone.

Is that so?

Learn from him, will you?

Well,

on this joyous day,

my father

has a big announcement to make.

Am I right, Father?

Yes.

I've held this in my heart for a long time.

I've been thinking about this ever since the ink workshop was repaired.

Aunt Rujun,

Eighth Uncle.

It's time

to let the Eighth Branch return to the clan.

Jinshui,

think about it.

Now that Jingdong's come to terms with it,

shouldn't you

give him an answer?

Rujun,

Jingdong.

Thirteen years ago,

the failure of the Tribute Ink

was indeed the fault of the Eighth Branch.

The Eighth Branch requested to be removed from the clan.

I, Li Jinshui, failed the Li family first.

I once made a vow:

unless this sin is redeemed,

the Eighth Branch

will never return to the clan.

Jingdong,

Rujun.

It's not that I'm stubborn or unreasonable.

For the past 13 years,

do you think I haven't thought about it day and night,

dreaming of the day

I could lead the Eighth Branch

to acknowledge our ancestry and return to the clan?

But besides guilt,

there's also resentment in my heart.

Our Li family's calamity began with the Tribute Ink case.

Over these 13 years, we've endured countless hardships.

Though I, Jinshui,

am already old

and once swore never to make ink again,

now

I'm willing to stake what remains of my life

to help Jingdong

and our Zhen

regain the right to produce Tribute Ink.

The day the right to produce Tribute Ink

returns to the Li family

will be the day I, Li Jinshui,

return to the clan.

Sit.

Grandfather,

Seventh Grandmother,

Uncle Jingdong.

No matter when we formally return to the clan,

the fact that we can all sit together

and share this meal now

already means our hearts

have long since come home.

Isn't a family

simply the hearts of people gathered together?

Don't you agree?

Zhen is right.

And Uncle Jingdong,

you must promise me.

After eating this reunion pot,

you have to join me in the next Tribute Ink selection.

I'd be delighted to. Truly delighted.

Zhen, I want to join you too.

You want to join me too?

Sure.

Zhen,

I want to eat too.

Do you want to eat or join?

Little Run.

Hurry up and eat.

Once you're done, I'm going to test you

on ink-making.

If you win first place,

there'll be a huge reward for you.

Okay.

Run,

you'd better identify the ink carefully.

Back when I was identifying ink,

I recognized the ink

my father made the moment I saw it.

I'll drink a cup as punishment.

Master, the ink workshop has paid out the money.

Manager Zhen told me to collect all of it and bring it over.

Master,

look.

This portion here is Li Ink's share of the profits.

Manager Zhen specifically asked me to give it to you.

Manager Zhen also said

that these past days,

you worked so hard to buy pine yards and get ink orders everywhere.

It's been exhausting both physically and mentally.

You've truly worked hard

and rendered great service to Li Ink.

So Manager Zhen

specially awarded you a large bonus on top of everything else.

I didn't expect a bonus.

That's really generous of Zhen.

Master,

with this bonus,

plus the dividends from Li Ink,

it's more than enough to cover the military funding gap.

We even have some to spare.

Now we can report back to General.

Where's Miss Li Zhen?

Today is the Start of Winter.

Of course she went to reunite with her family.

By the way, Master.

Just now, Cuiqiao sent someone with a message,

asking you to visit her tonight

to discuss the follow-up matters

regarding Yihousheng.

This is the ejiao

you told me to buy for Cuiqiao.

I went through a lot of trouble

to get this from a local traveling merchant.

With the end of the year approaching,

this stuff

is really hard to find.

Alright.

We're leaving this little room,

and we're leaving Li Ink.

With Miss Li Zhen here,

what's there to worry about?

Master,

are we going back to Yihousheng or not?

I didn't expect you to make up for

the military supplies deficit in such a short time, Wenqian.

I wasn't wrong about you.

Neither was General.

Now that you're returning to Yihousheng,

what are your plans?

Of course I'll find a way to keep bringing down the Tian family

to avenge Master, Eldest Young Master,

and Young Mistress.

Even wontons can't keep your mouth shut.

Sister wasn't asking you.

I was asking you.

So say something already.

You're hesitating.

Having spent all this time with Zhen,

you can't bear to leave her, right?

Sister.

Zhen

is kind and pure,

like a suxin orchid,

growing tenaciously even in adversity.

After the storms pass,

she blooms even more brilliantly,

as if there has always been a beam of light shining on her.

And that light…

makes me deeply envious.

But with an identity like mine, one that can never stand in the light,

how would I dare expect anything?

Actually...

Actually, I also quite like Zhen.

Logically speaking,

since you like her,

I should support it wholeheartedly.

But just as you said,

when you know it won't work out,

it's better not to fall in too deeply.

The deeds.

Give me all of Yihousheng's deeds.

Wait here.

[Hui Ink, Loyal Heart]

Seventh Old Madam, please take a look.

[Invitation from the Princess's household for the Birthday Inkstick Commission]

This is an invitation from Princess Shouyang of Nanjing.

The birthday of Princess Shouyang's birth mother, Noble Consort Du,

is approaching,

and Princess Shouyang

wants to find an ink workshop that is both capable

and innovative

to produce a special batch of birthday inksticks.

As soon as this news came out,

every county with an ink-making industry

is fighting for this opportunity.

I figured that

since the Tian family

holds the Tribute Ink rights,

they'll naturally have a share in it.

But as the Ink Affairs Official,

I'm also allowed to recommend one more workshop,

so I came specifically to ask you this—

would the Li family

be willing to make a trip to Nanjing for this?

Thank you for your care, Lord Yan.

Since you're sincerely recommending us, Lord Yan,

of course our Li Ink is willing to do its part

for Huizhou's ink industry.

However,

going to Nanjing

to compete for the birthday inkstick commission

is a major matter.

Lord Yan.

We'll need to carefully discuss

and weigh it within the Li family

before we can give you a proper reply.