All the ladies in Fengxin County were like Lu Yunxi. Even though they knew the opera was great, they could not go out to join in the fun.
If there are brothers in the family, I will buy books for them.
On the contrary, men like Lu Yunqing can watch plays and read novels, and live freely and at ease.
Lu Yunxi didn’t know many words and couldn’t understand the storybook.
Lu Yunqing told her the story attentively. When he finished telling the story, he found that many people came into the room.
Even Mrs. Lu was attracted by the story.
"It's an interesting story, with ghosts and gods. It looks scary, but they are just like people, some are good and some are bad. Since you all want to watch it, and Yunqing's birthday is coming soon, why don't you contact the troupe and invite them to the mansion to liven up the atmosphere."
When Lu Yunxi heard that Mrs. Lu was willing to hire a troupe, she jumped and danced with joy.
"That's great, thank you ma'am, happy birthday, second brother."
Lu Yunqing also smiled shyly: "Now the family needs to keep a low profile. My eldest brother is so busy, my father is still in the capital, and mother, why don't we just forget it."
In this extraordinary period, Lu Yunqing didn't want to celebrate his birthday because he knew that his family didn't have much money left.
Something happened to the Lu family and many of their shops were closed down.
Now, even though they have all been released from prison, the government has not returned the confiscated shops and silver to them.
Their food, clothing and other daily necessities are all provided by Lu Yunzheng.
As far as Lu Yunqing knew, Lu Yunzheng's money all came from that music house.
Some of their grain shops and restaurants also made money, but... it seemed that other places needed money more, so the people of the Lu family didn't have much money to spend, only one hundred taels a month.
One hundred taels is enough for an ordinary family to live on for many years.
However, the Lu family is large and has maids, so it is enough to use them if you plan on using them.
Just hiring a troupe... forget it.
"Second Master's birthday is coming soon? Then I have to prepare a birthday gift as well."
At some point, Liu Qiaoer also came into the yard, holding a storybook in her arms, and looked at them with a smile.
"Sister Qiaoer, why are you here?"
Lu Yunxi skipped and jumped in front of Liu Qiaoer, who went forward and hugged her. However, she keenly noticed that except for Lu Yunxi, the expressions of other people did not seem so enthusiastic.
"Xiaoxi, I heard you came to see me. I don't know what happened, so I came to see you. Here, your favorite wontons."
Lu Yunxi took a deep breath as she smelled the fragrance: "It smells so good. I haven't eaten it for a long time. The cook at home can't make it taste like my sister's."
That is, even when they were the poorest, Liu Qiaoer would always use the best pork belly to make wontons for them, with alternating fat and lean meat to make a good filling.
There was not much money to buy meat for the cook, and the meat she bought was cheap, so of course she couldn't make delicious wontons.
Lu Yunxi took the wontons and ate them aside. The maid Dong Ling couldn't help curling her lips and muttered softly: "Miss, it's not like we haven't eaten delicious food before. You are bribed by just a bowl of wontons."
Lu Yunxi glared at Dong Ling unhappily and continued eating her wontons.
Mrs. Lu understood the ways of the world. She smiled slightly, stepped forward magnanimously and took Liu Qiaoer's hand.
"Qiao'er hasn't been here for a long time. Xiao Xiyang'er misses you very much. The day after tomorrow is Qing'er's seventeenth birthday. Come along then and we'll have some fun."
Aunt Sun carefully tugged at Madam Lu, and the two looked at each other. Madam Lu nodded slightly, indicating that she understood.
Liu Qiaoer didn't know what they were conveying to each other. When she looked up, she saw Lu Yunqing's big, sunny smile.
"Qiao'er, you must come the day after tomorrow. Mother plans to invite the Qixi Opera Troupe. They recently filmed a new play called A Chinese Ghost Story. The singing is very good."
The name of the troupe is Qixi, because the troupe's owner is called Qixi.
What Lu Yunqing didn't know was that this play was actually written by Liu Qiaoer.
But they are so busy recently that they may not necessarily invite the Lu family to perform alone.
"Please invite them. I heard that they have increased their price now. It will cost one hundred taels to invite them to sing for one session."
If Liu Qiaoer remembered correctly, Lu Yunzheng spent one hundred taels of silver on the Lu family every month.
The Lu family is not as good as they used to be and are much more frugal in everything. Liu Qiaoer guessed that Lu Yunzheng had used some of the money for other things.
Of course, Liu Qiaoer had a share in all these businesses, and Lu Yunzheng was very conscious and only took his own share.
Although Zui Le Fang, Fu Yun Restaurant and the grain shop all had their own managers, all the accounts were handed over to Lu Yunqing since he was released from prison.
He has several people under him who are very capable, careful and meticulous in both business and account management.
Even so, Lu Yunzheng did not let him know that Liu Qiaoer had a share of the business. Lu Yunzheng did not want more people to know anything about Liu Qiaoer.
Hearing Liu Qiao'er's question, Lu Yunqing also felt that something was wrong: "Yes, mother, we don't need to invite a troupe, we can just have a reunion dinner at home."
Unexpectedly, Aunt Sun stepped forward and grabbed Lu Yunqing's arm. She smiled politely at Liu Qiaoer with her wrinkled eyes, and then stared at Lu Yunqing straight away.
"Second Master, Madam has good intentions. Besides, Madam also wants to take this opportunity to contact old friends..."
Lu Yunqing was smart and quickly understood what Mrs. Lu meant. He pursed his lips and agreed.
"Oh well."
He would not touch the money in the inner house, but could think of other ways.
Liu Qiaoer saw that the atmosphere was awkward standing here, so she quickly said goodbye: "Madam, if there is nothing else, I will leave first."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Liu Qiaoer turned around, Lu Yunqing called her: "Miss Qiaoer, wait a minute..."
Liu Qiaoer was slightly startled, then slowly turned around, her eyes quickly scanning everyone's faces one by one, finally landing on Lu Yunqing.
Mrs. Lu frowned slightly, and Aunt Sun pinched Lu Yunqing's arm with great concern. Xia Ying's surprise and Dong Ling's unwillingness were all focused on Liu Qiaoer.
I only heard Lu Yunqing say warmly: "It's hot, I'll take you there."
After saying that, he picked up a pink parasol without saying a word and opened it to block the scorching sun, but it couldn't block his scorching eyes.
"Girl, please."
Although Liu Qiaoer knew that everyone present was not happy with Lu Yunqing treating her like this, they could not object given Lu Yunqing's persistence.
A pink oil-paper umbrella covered Liu Qiaoer's tender face. Lu Yunqing's eyes were full of affection. Even a blind person could see that he liked the woman around him.
Liu Qiaoer thought for a while before she mustered up the courage to refuse.
"Well, Second Young Master, I'm sorry, I can't marry you."
Although Lu Yunqing had a pair of peach blossom eyes like Lu Yunzheng, his eyes were brighter and less gloomy.
"Why? Is it because mother doesn't agree? Don't worry, just because you saved my eldest brother, you are the savior of our Lu family. As long as I insist, mother will definitely agree."
Liu Qiaoer smiled awkwardly, but her eyes were firm: "Lu Yunqing, I don't like you. Therefore, I can't marry you. It has nothing to do with anything else, do you understand?"
It has nothing to do with anything else, just because I don’t like it.
That's it.