"Rong, I have to go on a long trip. There is something wrong with the shop in Liancheng." Jin Yun said to Qi Surong.
"What went wrong?" Qi Surong asked worriedly.
"It's hard to tell the specific situation. You have to go and see for yourself."
"About how long will it take?"
"If there are no accidents, we can come back in ten days and a half."
Qi Surong helped him change his clothes and said warmly: "Be careful on the road. I'll wait for you to come back."
"Yeah." Gu Jinyun looked at her with an expression. If he hadn't cared about her health and not being able to travel long distances, he would have really wanted to take her with him.
"Are you reluctant to leave your wife?" Qi Surong hugged his waist and smiled up at him.
Gu Jinyun nodded honestly.
"A little goodbye is better than a wedding. It's only half a month, and it will pass quickly."
"We are newlyweds now and don't want to say goodbye."
"Hehe." Qi Surong pinched his ears and teased, "Who asked you to be busy? You should train more capable assistants."
"It's hard to find people you can trust." Gu Jinyun grabbed her hand and played with it.
"That's true." Qi Surong leaned in his arms, "It's a pity that I'm a woman and can't share the burden for you."
"If you were a man, I would be in trouble."
"Haha." Qi Surong was overjoyed.
The two of them were about to part ways, and it was inevitable that they would be very entangled in the evening, making it difficult to separate.
Three days later, Gu Jinyun packed up and went out, leaving the business in the capital to Gu Yufeng for the time being.
Qi Surong was a little worried about Gu Jinyun's safety, so he quietly sent a message to the Digital Gang, asking them to send someone to pay attention to the safety of Jinyun and his party.
Jinyun had only been gone for two or three days, and she felt a little worried about him, and she couldn't sleep well at night. To divert her attention, she began to prepare the embroidery promised to the envoys of Alopa. It is a bit difficult for Qi Surong to produce two or three finished works every year. Her energy is limited and she cannot just focus on embroidery for a year and not care about anything else. Qi Surong planned to hire several embroiderers with outstanding embroidery skills from Jiangnan. With a little training, they should be able to do their own thing. Double-sided embroidery was originally popular in Jiangnan, but Qi Surong integrated the experience of later generations and innovated more exquisite embroidery techniques in advance. However, the character of the embroiderer needs time to be tested. In the past two years, Qi Surong had to do it herself.
The training of the servants of the Gu family has been going on for more than two months. Even though there are some complaints, there are generous rewards in front of them, and their performance is remarkable. When all the new clothes are ready, the training will be over.
On the day when new clothes were distributed, everyone in the Gu family was as happy as if they were celebrating the New Year, because Qi Surong distributed eight sets at once, two sets each for spring, summer, autumn and winter. Whether it is the texture, color or cut of the clothes, they are all very good. This made Father Gu and the Gu brothers and sisters a little jealous. How come everyone has new clothes to change into, but they don't have any? Wife, you can’t treat me differently!
"Dad, don't worry. How could my wife forget you?" Qi Surong personally handed two sets of ready-made clothes to Gu Chang and said with a smile, "I asked the old tailor who made your clothes before about your size to see if it fits. "
Father Gu immediately beamed.
Then, Qi Surong gave two more sets to his uncle.
"Me too?" Gu Yufeng pointed at himself, his face full of surprise.
"Of course, how could you favor one over the other?"
"Shuangshuang, there is Shuangshuang!" Shuangshuang raised his hands and shouted eagerly.
Qi Surong pinched her face: "Didn't Shuangshuang already have several sets of new clothes? But they were all sewn by my sister-in-law for you. Shuangshuang doesn't like them?"
"I like it." They both nodded repeatedly, but still looked at their father and second brother eagerly.
"Little greedy devil." Qi Surong whispered, "If both of us have new clothes to wear every day, then my father and brother will be sad. Do you want to see them sad?"
Shuangshuang quickly shook his head, twirled his fingers and said, "That Shuangshuang doesn't want any new clothes."
"Good boy." Qi Surong patted her head appreciatively.
They both laughed happily again.
Gu Chang and Gu Yufeng looked at them with a smile.
In addition to taking care of his family, Qi Surong also did not forget his parents. It was almost late autumn and the weather was getting colder. Qi Surong sewed two sets of autumn clothes for them and bought some supplements by the way.
Half a month passed by, and Gu Jinyun did not return as scheduled. He just sent someone to deliver a letter, telling his family that he would probably have to postpone his return for a while.
Qi Surong was worried, so she could only reply with numerous reminders, hoping that he would come back soon, and asked the messenger to send him two sets of autumn clothes.
"Dad, some ladies are going to be guests at home in the next few days, Su Rong wants to treat them well." Qi Su Rong said to Gu Chang.
"Okay, please treat me well. When is the specific time, I will go out to visit."
"Two days later."
"Well, I'll take that boy Yufeng out too, so that he won't disturb the guests."
"That's not necessary, my brother-in-law has reached the marriageable age..." Qi Surong seemed to be pointing out something.
Gu Chang suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, yes! Hahaha... I'll leave it to you. You young people should communicate more and ignore me."
After saying that, he left happily.
Qi Surong smiled and shook her head. Did her father-in-law really think she was going to introduce her partner to Yufeng in person? That was too abrupt, and at most it would only make him look at it from a distance.
The ladies invited this time included ladies from well-known families, as well as daughters from wealthy families. They were quite curious about the gift given to her by Queen Alopa, so they decided to make an appointment to come and appreciate the treasure.
It was rare for this group of charming guests to take the initiative to interact with each other, so Qi Surong would not refuse and arranged for everyone to be prepared one day in advance.
On that day, all the rich ladies arrived as expected, and the maids respectfully led them to the flower hall.
The flower hall is elegantly decorated, and the hanging beads at the door sway gently in the wind, making a crisp sound. There are vines twining on the window panes and flowers clustered in clusters. There is an incense burner placed in each corner of the room. The green smoke is lingering, making people smell it and giving them a sense of peace and tranquility.
There are no ordinary footstools, tables and chairs in the flower hall, but cushioned lacquer tables, with small cups and exquisite snacks placed on them.
The rich ladies sat down one by one, and the maids respectfully stepped forward to pour tea, with smiles on their faces and smooth movements, without the tea spilling at all. The uniform clothing and light pink color are quite pleasing to the eye.
The guests originally thought that the Gu family was just a merchant's house, and they were all a little careless before coming here. But now they see that these maids are dressed and behaved in a proper manner, and they can't help but feel a little more serious and a little more happy. After all, whether the host values his guests can be seen from a few details.
This kind of small gathering does not have many red tapes. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Qi Surong said: "It's rare that the wind is sunny today. How about we drink a cup of tea before we go to see the treasure?"
"Of course, please follow Madam's arrangements." The guests replied with a smile. Several of them had only heard Qi Surong's name for a long time but had never seen him in person. Now that they saw him, apart from other things, their appearance, bearing and clothing were quite admirable.
Qi Surong ordered people to put the tea sets one by one. A woman in her thirties bowed out, bowed to everyone, and then sat on a soft cushion. After washing her hands, she began to make tea.
Most wealthy people like to drink tea, so the tea ceremony is very popular. They are accustomed to it and don't find it strange. Naturally, Qi Surong would not use the tea ceremony to promote his status, otherwise he would be just trying to do what he does best and make the magnanimous people laugh.
However, the tea she uses is Qingwu tea, which is unique in the world, and the water used to make the tea is Yunwu ice spring. Qi Surong usually couldn't bear to drink it, so he had a few taels left, but now he was using it to entertain this group of charming guests. Although it was heartbreaking, it was worth it. After all, this was the first time she formally received a high-profile female guest after marrying into the Gu family.
While waiting, the charming guests chatted and laughed with each other, mostly about girls' topics. Qi Surong is good at observing words and emotions, adjusting the atmosphere at the right time, and trying his best to take care of everyone's emotions. He can often make people happy with just one or two sentences.
As the ice spring boils, a faint scent of tea fills the flower hall.
After the Qingwu tea was brewed, the maid poured it for the guests one by one.
Just smelling the fragrance of tea makes people feel relaxed and happy. They may not be able to tell the pros and cons, but they can still feel the difference of this tea.
A few people wanted to ask about the name of the tea, but they didn't ask for the sake of face. Qi Surong is just a businessman's wife. If she can afford to drink tea, who else here can't afford it? When you get home, buy a few more tea leaves to try. You can always find out what kind of tea it is, and you won't be rude next time. It's a pity that they are destined to be disappointed. Before the Gu family's tea garden was built, Qingwu tea was not available at all, and the kind they drank was even better.
After tasting tea, the main show finally started. Qi Surong said with a smile: "I am fortunate to have received a gift from Queen Alopa. I don't want to cherish it, so I will show it to you now."
All the girls looked forward to it.
Qi Surong clapped her hands, and several maids filed in holding five gift boxes. They arranged the gift boxes neatly, took off the lids, and stepped aside.
The five treasures are full of brilliance and are not only beautiful in shape, but also have auspicious meanings.
Everyone couldn't help but get up and get closer to watch, marveling and commenting enthusiastically. At the end of the day, I was even more envious of Qi Surong.
Qi Surong smiled and accepted everyone's half-hearted compliments, neither humble nor overbearing.
"Mrs. Gu's embroidery skills are truly unparalleled in the world. Even Queen Alopa is so sought after." A female guest suddenly asked, "My little lady is very interested in embroidery. I wonder if Madam can give me some advice?"
"I would welcome Miss Wang's interest in this. If you have leisure, you can come to the house to have a chat and exchange experiences at any time."
"Thank you very much. I hope Madam will give you some advice." Miss Wang smiled meaningfully.
After hearing this, other people also expressed their desire to ask Qi Surong to "don't hesitate to give me some advice."
Qi Surong nodded in agreement. She never knew what they were thinking, she just wanted to learn some skills from her hands, so that she might be able to embroider amazing embroidery in the future. In fact, each embroidery method has its own characteristics. If you specialize in one, you can achieve success in any one. Double-sided embroidery is not superior to other embroidery, but these ladies probably don’t have the patience. In her last life, Qi Surong had no choice but to study embroidery skills in order to make a living. It's a pity that she was poor at that time, and no matter how good her embroidery was, she couldn't sell it at a high price.
After appreciating the treasures, Qi Surong took the girls to visit the garden. The autumn colors were in full bloom and the chrysanthemums were in bloom, making the garden extremely lively.
While the girls were admiring the flowers, Gu Yufeng was secretly watching not far away. I saw a group of young women chatting and laughing happily in the garden. They are really more beautiful than flowers.
His eyes swept over each woman, subconsciously comparing them to his sister-in-law. Hmm... This one is not tall enough... This one is too plump... This one has too vulgar temperament...
"Tsk, why is there no one who can compare to my sister-in-law?" Gu Yufeng shook his head and curled his lips and said, "Forget it, I won't read anymore, let's go play with Shuangshuang."
Qi Surong looked up and saw Gu Yufeng turning around and walking away. She was not only wondering, was there no woman around her that he could catch his eye with
At dusk, all the girls had fun and said goodbye one after another. Qi Surong said goodbye with a smile. The party ended smoothly without any surprises, which was considered a successful start. As expected, the previous training was not in vain. You can detect one thing or two from the change in attitude of this group of female guests. Presumably, if I invite them to my home again in the future, they will not refuse, and that will be enough.