Poor Lady

Chapter 18: Cross-dressing (minor repair)

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"Are you planning to recruit another group of embroiderers?" Qi's mother looked at her daughter in surprise.

Qi Surong nodded: "Nowadays, Xiuzhuang does not have many big customers, but as its reputation increases, we alone may not be able to cope with it. So I want to buy two nearby private houses for the embroidery ladies to work on. In the future, my mother will also You don’t have to work so hard.”

"But does our family still have enough money to buy a house nearby?" Although the neighbors are all ordinary houses and the houses are old, this is the capital after all, so the house prices will not be too low, and people may not be willing to sell them.

"Don't worry, mother. Since my daughter proposed it, she will naturally be prepared." Not only did Su Bao successfully become Mr. Xu's disciple the day before yesterday, but he also did not ask for the two thousand taels to be paid as Qi Su Rong expected. This amount of money alone is enough to purchase two small houses.

"Then you decide what to do. Mom will listen to you." Qi's mother was not a person with independent opinions. Now that her daughter took the initiative to seek her opinion, she was so pleased that she would not object.

With his mother's approval, Qi Surong began to deal with the matter.

She does not plan to recruit too many embroiderers, and she cannot recruit them in the name of the Qi family, otherwise it may cause unnecessary trouble.

After thinking about it, the only ones who can help her now are Zhuang Qiao'e and Gu Jinyun. After all, Aunt Qiao is Zhongcheng's wife, so she shouldn't get involved too deeply. And Gu Jinyun is a businessman, so it is not a bad idea to put Xiuzhuang under his name. I just don't know if Gu Jinyun will be implicated in this in the future, which is what Qi Surong doesn't want to see the most. But now she is really weak and unable to develop the family business on her own. As a woman, there are so many rules that need to be followed.

Woman... What if she is not a woman? A flash of light suddenly flashed in Qi Surong's mind. He took the bronze mirror over and took a closer look at his facial features. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, her appearance has not yet been completely formed, and her delicacy is a bit childish.

Qi Surong spread her hair and then tied it into a man bun without makeup. At first glance, she looked like a boy of 12 or 13 years old, but she still couldn't hide the unique beauty of a woman.

She picked up the eyebrow pencil, thickened her eyebrows, and made her eyes slender to look smaller. She also used powder to darken her skin color and added a few light spots... After some processing, she looked at the person in the mirror. She was already seventeen years old. appearance. If you don't look closely, it might be difficult to recognize her at a glance. She is also a woman who has lived in a boudoir for a long time, so it is impossible for ordinary people to know her, and other noble ladies will not have casual contact with men, so the possibility of her being exposed is greatly reduced.

The rest is sound.

It's not difficult to change her voice. When she was with her master in her previous life, she got to know a lot of weird medicinal herbs. Among them was a plant called "Qihe". After being mixed into a decoction and drank, her voice would become hoarse and deep. , like the voice of a teenager in the period of voice change. To restore your original voice, just drink a bowl of specially brewed mint water.

Qi Surong looked down at her breasts again. They were quite plump. She could get away with it by wrapping them flat with a strip of cloth.

Fortunately, she is only sixteen years old now. In two years, I am afraid that she will no longer be able to hide her appearance as a woman.

However, this matter must be kept hidden from the family, otherwise her father's temper will definitely scold her and force her to be grounded.

Qi Surong, who has experienced a lifetime, has long lost the concept that women cannot show their faces freely. In order to make a living in her previous life, she had done almost every dirty job. She had lost the elegance and reserve of a well-known lady. She was confident that her little daughter's coquettishness would not show up, and she would act in a leisurely manner.

"Miss, come and see..." Ping'er walked into the room, his excited voice fell silent the moment he saw Qi Surong.

"You, who are you? Why are you in my lady's boudoir?" Ping'er pointed at Qi Surong and asked in shock. Then she immediately noticed that the clothes on the other party were exactly what the young lady usually wore, so she said "Huh" and stared at Qi Surong's face hesitantly with her eyes wide open.

Qi Surong smiled and said, "You're right, it's me."

As soon as she spoke, Ping'er breathed a sigh of relief, walked to her side, and said angrily: "Miss, why are you dressed up in such a weird way, looking at men and women."

Qi Surong whispered: "I plan to show myself like this when I go out in the future."

"Young lady, you... you are a lady, how could you be like this, like this..." Ping'er didn't know how to describe it. The Qi Surong in front of her still had exquisite facial features, but she was a little less beautiful and a little more heroic. Her skin was slightly darker, and she looked like a slender boy of twelve or thirteen years old. With such a disguise, even she, a girl who had been with the young lady for ten years, did not dare to recognize her easily.

Qi Surong smiled: "I will go out often in the future. There are too many restrictions on women's status, so this is a last resort."

"Whatever the young lady wants to do, you can ask the servants to do it." Ping'er did not agree with Qi Su's easy move.

"What I have to do cannot be left to others at will." Qi Surong said seriously, "The current situation in the capital is complicated, and staying behind closed doors is never a good idea. It is inconvenient for my father to do things, but I don't have to worry too much."

Ping'er's face was a little confused, and he struggled for a long time before saying, "Then what should Ping'er do?"

Qi Surong put her finger to her lips: "Keep it secret for me."

She had no intention of letting Ping'er pretend to be a man, as this would easily reveal her identity. It is not surprising that a young man who looks similar to Miss Qi appears, but it is not a coincidence that this young man is accompanied by a book boy who looks similar to Miss Qi's personal maid.

She plans to hire another boy, who will not bring him into the home, but will be placed in a house she bought separately and will be responsible for taking care of the embroiderer on weekdays.

Carefully prepared, she began to plan secretly, taking into account all possible situations one by one, and making sure nothing went wrong.

She couldn't pretend to be a teenager for long, and she had to revert to being a girl in two years at most.

She must make good use of these two years.

The next day, Qi Surong sent a letter to Gu Jinyun, asking him to help purchase two houses near Qi's house and hire about ten embroiderers.

Within three days, two house deeds and fifteen work contracts were given to Qi Surong, along with two nurses, two cooks, and two maids.

Qi Surong thought that the cost would be at least four to five thousand taels, so he helped her do it without blinking an eye.

So she wrote another contract, repaying it in the form of profit sharing, but she did not mention Gu Jinyun's real name, but called her Songyue instead.

"Why not use the name Jinyun?" Gu Jinyun wrote to ask.

"Take precautions before things happen." Qi Surong wrote back.

Gu Jinyun: "Who are you guarding against?"

Qi Surong: "Villain."

Gu Jinyun: "Do you need help?"

Qi Surong: "No need for the time being."

Gu Jinyun: "Yeah."

After a few simple conversations, the two of them actually used four or five pieces of rice paper back and forth. Especially the last one, only one word was written.

Gu Jinyun, do you dare to write a few more words? Qi Surong was speechless.

The house that Gu Jinyun bought for her was adjacent to her home. She had someone secretly open the woodshed connected to the house next door and build a secret door.

She entered the house next to her through a secret door, then changed clothes in the room and pretended to be a teenager.

The first time he appeared in front of others as a young man, Qi Surong was still a little nervous. After meeting the embroiderers, his mood gradually stabilized and he became calm and composed.

The embroiderers didn't expect that their boss was actually a handsome young man. Seeing his bright eyes, white teeth, and elegant temperament, he looked like a noble prince, and they unconsciously felt good about him.

Qi Surong used the pseudonym "Zhuo Fan" and claimed to be the son of a businessman. He came out to practice alone and was mainly responsible for managing some matters of Xiuzhuang.

Although "he" is young, his words and deeds are quite typical of everyone, which does not make people feel strange.

After getting acquainted with the embroiderers, Qi Surong left the house with a nurse and went to the market, intending to buy a thirteen or fourteen-year-old servant boy.

When walking on the street dressed like this, you don't need to worry about a woman's identity or the eyes of others. You can look at people, things and scenery openly, hold your head high, and your line of sight seems to be open and unrestrained in an instant.

This feeling is so good.

Qi Surong smiled, and her already handsome appearance became even more eye-catching, attracting the attention of many passers-by.

"Young Master, what kind of slave do you want to buy?" Qi Surong, led by the tooth seller, came to a slightly dilapidated courtyard. There was an unpleasant smell here, and Qi Surong frowned unconsciously, not wanting to stay any longer.

"I want to buy a 13-14-year-old boy to be a servant. He must be in good health and have no bad habits." She replied.

"Okay, I will take the young master to have a look. There is definitely someone that the young master wants." The tooth seller has a deer head and rat eyes, and his smile is a bit vulgar.

"Young Master, it's a mess inside. You'd better not go there. I'll help you bring the right person out," said the guardian.

Qi Surong thought for a while, nodded in agreement, and stayed alone in the hospital waiting for the nurse and the tooth dealer to bring the person out.

While he was deep in thought, there was a sudden noise outside the door. Qi Surong looked around and saw several people dragging a young man in. The leader looked like a steward from a wealthy family, bossing around and looking arrogant.

"Hey, it's Manager Zhao. I wonder what you want to pick now?" A tooth seller came up to him and asked flatteringly.

"In addition to buying some good-looking boys and girls today, I also want to sell this boy to you." Manager Zhao grabbed the young man's collar and roughly pushed him to the ground.

"This is..." The tooth seller pulled up the young man and saw that he looked about thirteen or fourteen years old. Although there were scars on his face, his outstanding handsomeness could not be concealed. There was a cold light in his deep eyes, like a wild wolf. He looked a little breathtaking, "Manager Zhao, wouldn't it be a pity to sell such a handsome person?"

"No matter how handsome you are, it's useless if you have an unpleasant temperament." Manager Zhao seemed unwilling to explain more and said, "You can set the price as you please, and you can sell him like a lowly slave."

Qi Surong looked towards the young man and met his gaze.

What a pair of sharp eyes! However, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, he actually has such impressive momentum.

Although he looked embarrassed, he showed no sign of weakness. How could such a young man with extraordinary temperament become a slave