Mingyu wanted to run, but the man held her wrist tightly. There was a crowd of people watching the circus noisily around her, and no one paid attention to what was happening nearby.
The man wearing the bamboo hat slowly raised his head. Mingyu saw the face under the bamboo hat clearly. His thick black eyebrows and slightly wheat-colored face made him feel relieved. "You..." Mingyu looked around and asked, "Why are you here?"
Sima Hong didn't even dare to blink, looking at Mingyu greedily, answering irrelevant questions, and slowly said: "Why haven't you gone out these days?"
Mingyu was startled, then she narrowed her eyes. Was this idiot standing guard at the door of Xu's house to monitor her? "How do you know I didn't go out?"
Sima Hong saw that the little girl was angry again, and he panicked. He stammered and explained, "I'm not spying on you... I just want to see you. I... I'm leaving soon, and I don't know when I will be back. I... I don't mean anything else, don't be angry."
Seeing how he was accompanying Xiao Xin, and thinking that he was about to leave the capital to continue fighting, and not knowing whether he would be alive to come back, Mingyu's heart softened inexplicably, and her tone softened, and she said, "I'm not angry."
Sima Hong's face lit up, and he wanted to say something else, but he heard Mrs. Xu calling Mingyu through a few people. Sima Hong immediately became nervous, stuffed something into Mingyu's hand, winked at Mingyu, and immediately turned around and ran away. He hadn't figured out how to face his "former mother-in-law", so he decided to hide first.
Mingyu subconsciously clenched the thing Sima Hong stuffed into her hand, and looked at Sima Hong's fleeing back in surprise. Just as she was about to open her hand to look, Madam Xu had already pushed through the crowd and walked up to Mingyu. Mingyu quickly dropped her hands to her sides, trying to act as if nothing had happened.
Madam Xu held her daughter, and was relieved to see Mingyu was safe and sound. She tiptoed to the direction where Sima Hong "fled", but did not see the man in green clothes and bamboo hat who had just stood in front of Mingyu. Mingyu was frightened by her mother's actions, afraid that Madam Xu would see something, and hurriedly said, "Mom, let's go quickly."
The crowd was bustling, and Madam Xu couldn't find the man in the green hat in the crowd. She pulled Mingyu towards the shop and asked, "Who was talking to you just now?"
“Ah?” Mingyu smiled guiltily, “I don’t know him. He asked me for directions, but I’m not familiar with Beijing either, so I didn’t know. So he went to ask someone else.”
Mrs. Xu nodded and sighed, "If a stranger talks to you in the future, don't pay attention to him. I heard from the owner of the cosmetics shop opposite yesterday that several young girls in Beijing have been abducted by kidnappers these days!" When the girl whom she raised like the apple of her eye is gone overnight, and she doesn't know whether she is dead or alive, the mother must want to die.
Seeing Mrs. Xu's concerned and worried face, Mingyu felt guilty for lying just now, and quickly promised obediently: "Okay, I will never talk to strangers in the future."
Madam Xu had already fired the original shop assistants and hired two young men, one named Feng Quan and the other Liu Xi, both of whom were about sixteen or seventeen years old, smart and likable, and spoke enthusiastically. Seeing Madam Xu holding Mingyu's hand and entering the shop, he hurriedly came up to greet and smiled, "The boss lady is here, meet the young lady!"
The business in the shop was much better than when Mingyu came to check the accounts that day. There were three or four groups of customers choosing fabrics. After greeting Feng Quan and Liu Xi, they went to greet the customers. When the shopkeeper saw Madam Xu again, his attitude was respectful and cautious. According to Madam Xu, the shopkeeper got up earlier than the chickens and went to bed later than the dogs every day, and he wanted to devote all his heart to the shop. He was no longer in the state of doing nothing until noon.
Mrs. Xu was temporarily satisfied with this more sensible shopkeeper, and had no intention of changing him for the time being. It was easy to find a clerk, but it was hard to find an experienced shopkeeper. Although Xu Changqian was not a high-ranking official, she was still an official's wife after all, so how could she do the job of a shopkeeper and stand behind the counter
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the shopkeeper, Mrs. Xu carefully inquired about the business of the shop in the past two days. Seeing that the shopkeeper answered clearly, including how much of each kind of cloth was sold and which kind of cloth was the best-selling one, Mrs. Xu nodded with satisfaction and took Mingyu to the backyard.
The warehouse in the backyard was filled with cloth that Mrs. Xu had ordered in large quantities from various major businesses in the past few days. The heavy cloth almost bent the board on which the cloth was placed. Mingyu looked at the room full of inventory and was afraid that it would cost a lot of money, so she secretly thanked her second aunt for her "friendly sponsorship".
"Come here and touch the material." Mrs. Xu couldn't help laughing when she saw Mingyu looking up with her little face, almost stunned.
Mingyu followed her instructions and touched the material. It was very thin and soft to the touch.
"Can you feel what material this is?" Mrs. Xu asked.
Mingyu was unsure and asked, "Is it cotton?"
Mrs. Xu nodded and brought over another roll of cloth. Mingyu saw that the cloth was dark yellow in color and you could almost see the thick warp and weft threads. It felt a little prickly to the touch.
"What kind of cloth is this?" Mingyu asked with a frown.
Madam Xu carefully put the cloth back, reached out and tapped Mingyu's head, and said with a smile: "Little fool, this is linen. Poor people who can't afford cotton can only buy linen to make clothes. Many people also buy it to make shoe uppers. Although it's cheap, many people buy it, so if you sell it in large quantities, you can make a lot of money."
Mingyu smiled awkwardly. She remembered that in the snack bar in Tianshui, the waiter threw her a sack as a blanket. It felt the same. Seeing a roll of cloth on the upper shelf, covered with cotton cloth, with only a bright yellow section showing at the mouth, and there were patterns printed on the cloth, Mingyu smiled and said, "This is silk, right!"
Madam Xu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She nodded Mingyu's head again, "Silly girl, this is satin. Although people often say silk is satin, silk and satin are two different fabrics. Silk feels soft and not so shiny, while satin feels hard and has bright colors. It is not as valuable as silk. Silk and satin can be subdivided into at least ten types."
Mingyu didn't expect that a simple cloth could have such a big name. She spent the whole day in the warehouse with Madam Xu, learning to identify various cloths and memorizing the advantages and disadvantages and uses of the cloths. Mingyu knew in her heart that she didn't know what would happen in the future. There was no guarantee that she would not be able to get married or be despised and picky. These two shops were the capital left by her parents for her to make a living. As the owner, if she only relied on the shopkeeper and the accountant, she would be cheated out of everything sooner or later. Although her brother loved her, after a few years or more than ten years, Xu Mingye had his own family and wife and children. Even if he was willing to continue to take care of his sister, it was not certain that his future sister-in-law would not have any objections. She could only learn to run the business by herself. Even if she was really despised in the future, she would not have to look at anyone's face for food.
Mrs. Xu didn't take Mingyu home until the sun was setting. She was quite satisfied with her daughter's diligence and seriousness. Sometimes, Mrs. Xu also felt strange. Girls of thirteen or fourteen are lively and innocent, and it is difficult for them to calm down and learn something. However, Mingyu was not like a child at all. She was so calm and quiet that it was annoying. Thinking of her daughter marrying into the Marquis's Mansion and going through a lot of hardships to become like this, Mrs. Xu felt distressed.
"Don't worry, take your time to learn. After a year or two, you will be able to do it." Madam Xu said with a smile, "The other shop sells incense, candles, paper and pens. I have never done this business before. I want to keep this shop open first. If the cloth here sells well, I will change the shop over there to the cloth business as well."
Mingyu smiled and nodded, "I'll listen to my mother."
When they got home and had dinner, Lixiang went to help Liu's mother wash the dishes in the kitchen. Mingyu used the excuse that she was tired and hid in the house and closed the door. With her slightly wet hands, she took out the thing Sima Hong had stuffed in her sleeve. It was a neatly folded hard paper. In the candlelight, Mingyu unfolded the paper, which had a few words written on it, "Meet at the west wall of the City God Temple at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow."
The handwriting was bold and majestic, exactly the same as the handwriting in the divorce letter, definitely from Sima Hong's handwriting. Mingyu was sweating profusely, this was just like a meeting between underground party members.
At this moment, Lixiang's footsteps were heard outside the door. Mingyu quickly stuffed the note under her pillow, undecided whether to go out and meet her.
Ordinarily, she had divorced Sima Hong, and whether Sima Hong lived or died, whether he was rich or poor, had nothing to do with her, but Mingyu couldn't bear to do it. She felt sorry for him and was grateful for him standing up to defend Tianshui. After thinking about it, Mingyu felt confused, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, lay down on the bed, pulled down the quilt and covered her head, and decided to pretend that she had never received the note and had never met Sima Hong.
After Li Xiang entered the room, she glanced at Ming Yu, who was wrapped up like a silkworm pupa, and asked curiously, "Miss, why did you go to bed so early today?"
Mingyu hid under the quilt and hummed, "I'm tired and sleepy!"
Li Xiang said no more and quietly tidied the bed. When she reached a small wooden box under the bed, she called out softly, "Oh, Miss, look, the two bracelets are still here!"
Mingyu pushed aside the quilt, sat up and looked over. In the wooden box in Lixiang's hand, there were two bracelets as clear as a pool of green water, emitting a beautiful halo under the candlelight.
When they returned to Jiangnan that year, Mingyu had forgotten about the two jade bracelets that the old lady of the Marquis's Mansion had awarded her, and threw them to Lixiang to keep. Mingyu really couldn't feel any fondness for these properties that Lixiang had risked her life to save. No matter how valuable the things were, they were not as precious as human life, so she simply let them gather dust in a corner.
"Miss, how should we deal with this?" Lixiang asked.
Ming Yu's heart started beating fast, but she looked calm. She yawned and said, "Let's go and return it to the Marquis' Mansion. It wasn't ours in the first place."
The next morning, Mingyu went out with Lixiang and a wooden box, and happened to run into Xu Mingye who got up early to study. Xu Mingye looked at Mingyu suspiciously, this girl usually slept like a piglet when she had nothing to do, why did she get up so early today.
"Hey, stop, what are you doing?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to subscribe and reward on Qidian Mobile Network (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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