In fact, if Mr. Fang hadn't mentioned it, Ye Jiao would have forgotten that the lady of the Lu family had told Saburo about marriage.
After all, neither the Liu family nor the Fang family seemed to want to get married. Since her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were not happy, Ye Jiao felt that she couldn't make it, and naturally she would not take it to heart.
Now that she heard it suddenly, Ye Jiao also reacted for a while before she came back to her senses.
Liu Shi held the bead string in his hand, covered his mouth with a handkerchief, tilted his head slightly, and said to them in a soft voice: "Wait a moment, you two, remember how to speak properly, if you can't say it, don't say it."
Fang Shi responded, and Ye Jiao also responded.
Then Little Ginseng saw that Mrs. Liu had put on a smile, and said warmly to Mrs. Wu who came over: "Wu Niang, you're here too, it's a coincidence."
"So Sanniang, you're also here." Mrs Wu stepped forward with a smile, reached out and gently held Mrs Liu's hand, looking very kind, "I originally wanted to take my daughter out to pay homage today. Yes, I didn't expect to meet Wu Niang. This is the seventh girl, she was born with a beautiful beauty and moon, San Niang is very lucky."
Liu's smile was still the same, while Fang's and Ye Jiao were standing behind her, mumbling in a low voice, "What a coincidence, today is not a good day, it would be strange if it were a coincidence."
Fang's words were so small that only Ye Jiao could hear them.
However, after careful calculation, today is indeed not the right day for offering incense. Usually, there are always many pilgrims here, but today it looks a little clean.
Liu Shi still specially picked a clean day, and this can only happen on purpose.
Ye Jiao didn't speak, but looked at Miss Lu Qi who was led by the Wu family.
This Lu Qi girl didn't look very happy, but she still made a shy look when she met Liu's, and her speech and behavior were very disciplined, and she looked like a lady.
It's just that Miss Lu Qi only saluted Liu Shi, but she didn't give Fang Shi and Ye Jiao half of her eyes.
Mrs. Fang is round, but she has a bad temper. People ignore her and don't speak. They obediently follow behind Mrs. Liu, and Ye Jiao also keeps quiet with Mrs. Fang.
Wu Shi didn't find this, she said to Liu Shi with a smile: "It's fate that we met today, why don't we have a cup of tea after the incense? The tea is also particularly refreshing and sweet.”
Liu Shi smiled and nodded, and then they went up the mountain from two different mountain roads.
When she was sure that the other party could not hear her voice, Fang shi frowned: "She is so sure that we will agree to this marriage?"
Mrs. Liu looked more peaceful: "The affairs of other people's families have nothing to do with us." But Mrs. Liu still glanced at Ye Jiao, "Jiao Niang, what do you think?"
Ye Jiao didn't expect Liu Shi to ask herself, she blinked before replying: "Sanlang is going to prepare for the township examination, and the husband also asked him to write thirty large characters every day. I think he is very busy."
Liu Shi felt that this reason was very sufficient, but for a while he did not understand why his youngest son had to write thirty large characters every day...
On the other hand, the Wu family is determined to win this marriage: "They will naturally agree, this is a great deed, who wouldn't be happy?"
The old woman who followed Mrs. Wu first glanced at the seventh girl walking behind, and then said softly to Mrs. Wu, "But I'm not very happy when I see our girls."
Wu's mouth twitched: "Don't worry, she knows the importance. I'm all here to cover up her ugliness. If she said that she was happy with Wu Dalang from my mother's brother's side two years ago, then I would be happy to do them a favor. But now, Dalang is married to the Qian family, my sister-in-law is the idiot of the Zhang family, and my daughter has absolutely no reason to be a concubine."
"But the girl is afraid that she will look down on the Qi family."
Wu shi covered the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief: "Even though the Qi family is a merchant family, and their ancestors were born with mud legs, their Saburo is still good. He reads well and looks good, and he is worthy of my daughter."
The old woman lowered her head and lowered her voice: "But last time we caught in the yard... When we met Miss and Young Master Wu, that scene... If the Qi family finds out in the future, our Lu family's What about fame?"
Wu Shi couldn't help but think of the bad things that day, and the thought of her gave her a headache.
But the Wu family was very calm on the face: "That's why I chose the Qi family. They are small families and can't make waves, and if Qi Saburo wants to enter the officialdom, he must have a personal support. Our family has a Beijing official as a backer, and even if the Qi family knows about it, they must take into account the future and recognize it."
The more she said this, the more confident the Wu family became, and she didn't think the Qi family would reject it from the beginning.
The reason for staring at the Qi family is because the Lu family is now bright on the outside and empty on the inside, and they have to spend money for food and clothing, but the book is empty and can't last for long.
Mrs. Wu is the wife of the Lu family, who is not confident enough, but has no son, only one daughter, and there is no way to conjure money out of thin air after repeated conspiracy.
Later, the Lu family set their sights on the Qi family's wine recipe, while the Wu family set their sights on Qi Saburo. The more they thought about it, the more they felt that the Qi family was the most suitable family to take over their daughter.
She even thought that if she married her daughter, Qi Sanlang would have an official backer, and the Lu family could come to the shop from the Qi family as a betrothal gift to fill the gap, and the daughter could also cover up the scandal with the Wu family. It's a good thing to kill three birds with one stone.
As for Qi Saburo's face, the Wu family never took it to heart.
After the incense was served, the two families met again by chance in front of the stone table in the courtyard.
Ye Jiao looked at the tea set that had been set up there, and knew that her sister-in-law was right. The mother and daughter of the Lu family came well prepared, otherwise they would not have made such complete preparations.
Miss Lu Qi is not as good at covering up as Mrs. Wu, she is still young, and her face always brings out a bit of arrogance.
However, her tea art is not bad, and it is quite pleasing to look at when she sets it down, and even Liu Shi nodded.
But when she was about to hand Mei Ziqing's teacup to Liu Shi, she just got up and swayed slightly.
Ye Jiao quickly reached out and supported her, holding her bowl tightly with one hand and holding her arm with the other, helping her to stand firm without spilling the tea in the cup.
Miss Lu Qi glanced at Ye Jiao and slowly thanked her.
Ye Jiao did not return the salute immediately, but frowned slightly, and waited until she let go of her hand before returning the salute and sitting down again.
Mrs. Liu took the teacup and took a sip, and then said some polite words to Mrs. Wu, mostly flattering each other. As long as it involved Qi Saburo, Mrs. Liu blocked them back.
However, Ye Jiao seemed a little silent, until the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law returned to the carriage, Ye Jiao didn't say much.
Fang Shi couldn't help but ask her, "Brother and sister, what are you thinking?"
Ye Jiao looked up at Mrs Fang, then at Mrs Liu, but said nothing, she reached out and took a piece of red bean cake and put it in her mouth.
Liu Shi smiled: "I'm afraid I'm hungry." Then she pushed the plate towards Ye Jiao, "Eat some, and have a good dinner later."
Ye Jiao nodded and took another piece.
At Qi's house, Qi Yun was counting the things he brought back yesterday in his small room in the courtyard.
Tie Zi is now a very capable person by Qi Yun's side, especially the skill of planning, even Song Guanshi can't compare to him.
But Rao is Tiezi so competent, and after checking the accounts all afternoon, his arm feels sore.
However, his face was always excited. When the last payment was made, Tie Zi's cheeks flushed, and his voice was full of joy: "Second Young Master, this trip has made a lot of money!"
Qi Yun was not too surprised, or rather, he had long thought of the profit of the caravan: "These gouache rouge are not high-quality, but they are worth more than gold when they are sent outside the customs."
Tie Zi nodded again and again, just looking at the book, the rouge of five coins is usually sold for fifty pieces, and this business is very profitable.
Qi Yun's voice was calm: "Ordinary caravans like to bring porcelain tea leaves. Even though these are easy to sell, they are easy to break, and if they are bumped, they are worthless. These rouge gouache are different. They are packed in wooden boxes, which are not easy to bump, and the price is fixed. No matter how high it is, people will buy it, and naturally it will make a lot of profit.”
Tie Zi remembered these words in his heart, and nodded as he listened.
As for Qi Yun, he picked up another roster, the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, he couldn't move his face just now with thousands of dollars, but this roster made Qi Yun smile: "The most rare thing is that this time the caravan Going out, only a few injured, no one lost their lives, and the business will be easy to do in the future."
Ordinary caravans are fighting for their lives when they go out.
Now that the Qi family caravan has returned, it is safe and sound, especially if he is caught by deserters and can be saved. If he forms another caravan in the future, there will be many more people who want to join.
The benefits are bound to be endless.
However, when the two of them were talking about business, one of them felt bored.
Xu Bao looked at Qi Yun with a small face, and threw away the cloth tiger in his hand a little unhappy.
He is good-natured and quiet, and he can find fun playing with himself, but if someone next to him ignores him, Xu Bao will be unhappy.
However, although Xu Bao is small, he has a long memory. He knows that his coquettish tricks are useful to Ye Jiao, but not to Qi Yun.
So Xu Bao chose to strive for attention by himself.
He walked under Qi Yun's desk with his short legs, and under Qi Yun's doubtful eyes, he hugged Qi Yun's calf, and his fleshy little hands grabbed Qi Yun's trouser legs hard.
Then, using both hands and feet, he tried to climb up.
However, the others were short and chubby, and after dawdling for a long time, they did not move.
Qi Yun: …
For a while, Qi Yun didn't know what to do. If he pushed him away, he was afraid of hurting his fat son's heart, but if he ignored him, Xu Bao couldn't climb up.
Just then, there was some movement outside.
Tie Zi went over to open the door and took a look, then turned back to Qi Yun and said, "Second Young Master, Second Young Mistress is back."
Qi Yun got up in a hurry, picked up Xu Bao, who was walking on the spot, and went out the door.
Ye Jiao was carrying a few paper bags in her hand, which she bought when she accompanied Liu's Fang to the shop. The cakes in it were all bought from Fengfengzhai. As for other Ye Jiao, she didn't care much.
Seeing Qi Yun come out with Xu Bao in her arms, Ye Jiao hurriedly walked a few steps and opened the door for them, saying, "Hurry in, it's cold outside."
And Xu Bao stretched out his hand when he saw Ye Jiao, and called out to mother in a soft mouth.
Anyone who heard this voice softened his heart, and Ye Jiao was no exception.
She took Xu Bao and put it in her arms, but she looked at Qi Yun.
Qi Yun understood and knew that it was his wife who had something to say, but he was not in a hurry. First, he and Ye Jiao played with Xu Bao for a while. When Xu Bao fell asleep, they left the inner room lightly. Sit down at the table in the outer room.
The paper bag on the table was still warm. Qi Yun touched it, picked one that was still warm and opened it, and saw that there were round and round hemp balls inside.
Picking the best looking one and handing it to Ye Jiao, the little ginseng didn't reach out, but took a bite from Qi Yun's hand.
The skin is made of glutinous rice on the outside, fried and crispy, and the filling is made of sesame sugar chips.
After taking a bite, Ye Jiao stared at the tooth marks on the hemp ball and said with a smile, "Like the moon."
Qi Yun also took a bite from Ye Jiao's teeth marks, and lifted the remaining hemp ball and shook it: "Then it's a crescent moon now."
In fact, this kind of joke is not funny when it comes out of other people's mouths, but it is too deep, even if it is just being together, it is funny. Now such a joke that is not funny can make the little ginseng bury its face in the face. Qi Yun narrowed his eyes with a smile in his arms.
Because he was holding the hemp ball in his hand, Qi Yun was afraid of soiling Ye Jiao's skirt, so he could only raise his hand slightly, use the other hand to stop Ye Jiao's waist, patted it lightly, and lowered his head to taste Let's see what the lips of the girl who smelled of mussels taste like.
But before that, Ye Jiao had already sat up straight, took a sip from the tea cup, diluted the sweetness in the innermost part with the fragrance of tea, and said to Qi Yun, "I have something I want to tell you. "
It was rare for Qi Yun to hear Ye Jiao speak so earnestly, so he nodded, put the hemp ball in his hand aside, wiped his hands with the handkerchief, and said, "Okay, Jiao Niang said, I will listen carefully."
But the sesame balls were too oily and couldn't be wiped cleanly, so Ye Jiao went to get the soap balls to wash his hands for him, and after washing them, she said, "Xiang Gong, I went to incense with my mother today, and I saw Miss Lu Qi."
Qi Yun took a cloth towel to wipe his hands, and heard the words: "The Lu family is very anxious."
Ye Jiao looked at him and continued, "She even made tea. Mother said it was fine, but..."
"what?"
"Xiang Gong, in fact, I will take the pulse."
Qi Yun was not surprised by this. After all, his wife was full of medicinal herbs in the yard, and rolling a ball can save people. Usually, she often goes to the pharmacy, and it is not unusual to take her pulse.
Ye Jiao gently held Qi Yun's hand and whispered, "I touched Miss Lu Qi's pulse. She seems to be pregnant, more than a month."
As soon as these words came out, Qi Yun immediately frowned.
Ye Jiao didn't tell Liu Shi immediately, because the little ginseng didn't understand why she still wanted to get married when she was pregnant with a child, and she always came back to ask her husband about things she couldn't understand.
But Qi Yun was different. From the beginning, he believed that the Lu family was uneasy and well-meaning. Now that he heard Ye Jiao's words, the window paper that had been blurry before was finally punctured.
Seeing his strange expression, Ye Jiao couldn't help but ask, "Whose is this child?"
Qi Yun hugged her: "No one belongs to Saburo, but don't tell others about this for the time being. I'm afraid that Miss Lu Qi's parents don't know that there is such a child."
If they knew, they would never let this child stay.
This is not a child, but a handle.
Seeing Qi Yun say a word, she fell into silence, Ye Jiao couldn't help but patted him: "Then should I tell my mother?"
Qi Yun lowered his head to face her and smiled softly: "No, don't let mother worry, we don't have to do anything about this, there are people in the Lu family who are more anxious than us."
Ye Jiao really left this matter behind and didn't think about it.
In the next few days, Ye Jiao was dragged by Qi Yun to learn to look after the accounts. After all, Qi Yun was the one who wanted to buy the mountain, and there were two villages on it, so they had to be entrusted to Ye Jiao.
Qi Yun, on the other hand, quietly sent someone out, surrounded the Lu's house, and bought a tea house.
Little Ginseng didn't inquire about this. As long as he took the account book and studied seriously, life passed quickly.
Until the twelfth lunar month, Ye Jiao learned a general idea, and Qi Yun also gave the title deed of the manor on the mountain to his wife, and made an appointment to see it together.
But when they went out, Ye Jiao found out that Mrs. Fang also took someone out.
She couldn't help but ask Qi Yun, "Mr. Xianggong, where is the eldest sister-in-law going?"
Qi Yun kissed her and said softly, "Watching a play."
The little ginseng was a little curious when she heard the words: "My mother asked me once before, and let me follow it, but I can't understand it very well. Is it good this time?"
Qi Yun pinched Ye Jiao's fingertips, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly: "It's beautiful to look good, but it will probably smudge your eyes, so it's better not to go."
Ye Jiao watched Fang's carriage leave with some pity, and then went to the mountain with Qi Yun to see the courtyard.
On the other hand, Mrs. Fang took the person aggressively, holding back his anger and talking, and after getting on the carriage, he gritted his back molars and said to the woman beside him, "Is the news from Erlang accurate? "
"Yes, the second young master of the nearby tea house has already been sold, and someone is watching there, saying that Miss Lu Qi often goes in and out of a garden not far from the tea house, and the elder brother of the Wu family follows him every time. , but now it's started again somehow."
Fang Shi laughed angrily, but he still took a deep breath, held back, and said in a low voice, "Then we handed over to the Lu family's post, did you take it?"
The old woman replied, "Yes, she said that Mrs. Lu will come in person, but Miss Lu Qi occasionally feels cold and should not go out."
"That's right. Doesn't that Wu family from the Lu family like to go to relatives with my family? Then I invited her to have tea this time, which is considered to be her kindness."