Sights To See

Heading out for the very first time ever, Fan Ling was curious about everything and excited to see what would be out there for her to interact with. She felt as if she was a young child learning about the world once again. Fan Ling seemed to remember that this was a feeling she had felt in who-knows-how-many-years.

Sitting beside her, Fan Ping could also see her excitement. Looking at her carefully, he could see the innocence in her eyes and only felt as though he could spoil her once again.

Fan Ping wondered, 'How long has it been since I've seen this side of my sister?'

A long time ago, she also used to smile and laugh curiously about the world. She used to wonder about everything as she was now. Probably because of this history, Fan Ping pondered for how long she would remain this innocent before she once again lost the innocence in her eyes.

"Da-ge, what is that store selling?" Fan Ling asked curiously while taking a glimpse of the outside through the window veil as she pointed to a specific little tiny store.

Hearing her question, Fan Ping turned to look at the store.

Seeing the sign bright red sign, he answered, "That's the bank."

With that answer, Fan Ping remembered a book that Scholar Yuan had her read. The book spoke about the history of the existence of banks in this country.

When she first read this book, she was a bit shocked. Fan Ping had graduated from university and gotten many degrees. One of those was a Master's diploma in Chinese Language and Culture. While studying for her diploma, she did not remember learning that in Chinese history banks existed as many people simply carried their money to their residents.

In the past, there was no such thing as a bank that existed. Later on, though, a merchant felt that by establishing a bank in the country, he would gain much more monetary benefits. Many of his colleagues did not agree with him because when he stated his plans, they felt that he was losing out on money rather than gaining money.

Why was this? After all, in the modern world, majority of the banks are still existing even after many economic crashes. Well, this was because the merchant made his bank a bit different from the modern banks.

Rather than just storing money and loaning money, the merchant decided that he should create a tier system. The more money someone put in the bank, the more benefits they would have in businesses that partnered with the merchant or were owned by him. These benefits were merely discounts and having first-rate customer service or managing to get VIP rooms or even services. However, many people flocked to put money into his bank.

If a normal person were to create such a bank, people would not flock about. Only, this merchant was someone with a good name and was incredibly famous for his wealth. Thus, he not only had a good name but a good reputation to establish a bank.

With the establishment of the bank, the merchant started raking in even more gold because people believed that they were losing less money when spending after gaining the discounts. Though, Fan Ling knew that those people were losing more money than previously because they were spending more with the belief that they got a good deal.

Of course, they did have a good deal. Although, they could still save more with these benefits and spend less. However, after reading through the book, Fan Ling already understood that when people were brought to luxury, they are unable to go back to poverty.

"Da-ge, do I have a bank account?" Fan Ling asked with her cute eyes staring at him.

Even though she was doing nothing more than asking him a question, Fan Ping almost felt like giving the world to her with just her cute doe-like eyes.

However, he made sure to hide his expression from Fan Ling and answered, "You don't have a bank account since you don't have an income. We've always given you money when you asked for it. Only after you started chasing that man did we limit your spending and give you a monthly allowance."

'Great… There's another mention of that man,' Fan Ling internally sighed. 'Who the hell's this man that you're so attracted to? Even causing me shame?'

Although, on the outside, Fan Ling replied, "Da-ge, what if I grow some food on a farm and sell it? If I make some money, can you guys open a bank account for me?"

At this moment where Fan Ling was incredibly cute, Fan Ping could agree with anything as long as her request was not for him to commit atrocities.

Thus, he said, "Of course. That's if you manage to make any that is."

"Da-ge, don't worry. I'll take good care of my plants and then see how they sell," Fan Ling told him with an adorable smile. "If they sell good, you have to invest in my farm."

"Yes, yes, we'll talk about that when it happens," Fan Ping patted her head with a smile on his face.

Taking after his father, he seldom smiled and always made sure to hide his expressions as he was a part of the political scene. Anything could be used against him and people would always try to manipulate him, so he needed to learn how to hide well. Although, against this little innocent sister, he could not stay straight-faced.

Passing by another building, Fan Ling asked the same question again, "Da-ge, what's that building there?"

"That's the infirmary," Fan Ping answered with a patient expression, different from his usual indifferent self. "Physician Jia used to work there before he came to work for us."

"Is the infirmary a good place to work?" Fan Ling questioned with a curious expression on her endearing face.

"The infirmary in the capital is funded by the government and taxes. Anyone who works there not only gets good pay, but they also get good bonuses depending on their work experience and fame," Fan Ping told her.

"Then why would Physician Jia come to work with us?" Fan Ling gave him an inquisitive stare. "Did you guys bribe him with more money?"

Hearing her question, Fan Ping gave a light chuckle before saying, "No. Physician Jia wanted something from us, but we wouldn't give it to him unless he could give us something in return."

"What did Physician Jia want from us?" Fan Ling gave another inquisitive stare.

"Physician Jia heard that we attained an extremely rare plant from the north that would be extremely useful to healing people. Although, I'm not sure how useful the plant is when applied topically because we only tried to get the plant for Mother since she wanted it," Fan Ping shrugged as he spoke.

"Oh, what's the plant called?" Fan Ling raised a brow while looking out to not miss the sights of the world.

"Well, the foreigners called it 'lavender'," Fan Ping thought hard, trying to remember the name as he did not really care for flowers or whatnot.

"Da-ge, when we get back home, can I see the lavender?" Fan Ling excitedly asked after hearing about the existence of lavender.

Lavender did not originate from Asia and was exported to other countries only after the establishment of a trade route. Originally, they came from Europe and then soon spread out. Not only that, lavender was indeed extremely helpful to the health of a person.

Seeing her excited about something as simple as flowers which she did not originally have, Fan Ping finally asked her a question, "So excited about a flower?"

"Da-ge, you don't know. Lavender flowers aren't only beautiful! They also have a soothing fragrance that can be used in aromatherapy and treat people with stress, anxiety, tension, and many other body aches. Not only that, the flower buds can be used as a spice when cooking while the lavender oil can be used to treat burns and wounds," Fan Ling excitedly listed the usefulness of lavender, completely forgetting about the fact that she should not really have any of this information.

"So useful?" Fan Ping placed a finger on his chin to think for a while. "Xiao Ling, where did you learn all of this? From Scholar Yuan?"

Hearing his question, Fan Ling remembered that she was supposed to be an idiot and answered with a tiny blush on her chubby cheeks, "I stole a look at a book…"

With this answer, she was not really answering, but also answering at the same time.

'Well, it's not like I'm lying,' Fan Ling thought in her head. 'I did read a book about lavenders once.'

As time passed and they continued to flow through the road, Fan Ling asked more questions about the places in the city and the market.

If Fan Ping was a normal person, he would get annoyed with the number of questions she was asking. However, as a brother who dearly loved his younger sister, he patiently answered all of her questions about any and all of the sights to see in the capital.

In fact, Fan Ping would rather Fan Ling be annoying in an innocent manner like this rather than the same annoyance that got her to almost die.