If you don’t pretend to be cool, what’s the difference between you and a salted fish!
Mr. Zheng demonstrated this with his actions. After the poetry meeting, Mr. Zheng seemed to be addicted. He would hang around Zhu Ping'an's courtyard whenever he had time. He would write a poem or a couplet in front of Zhu Ping'an. He even once condescended to teach Zhu Ping'an how to write an eight-part essay...
The fact that Zhu Ping'an felt inferior to others at the poetry meeting was spread throughout the Linhuai Marquis's residence under the intention of Mr. Zheng. As a result, there were many more versions of Zhu Ping'an in the Linhuai Marquis's residence, and even a title of "mediocre son-in-law".
In this regard, Zhu Ping'an seemed as if nothing had happened. He read books as usual and practiced calligraphy. His life was no different from usual.
However, some people couldn't stand it. For example, when the chubby little maid came to deliver clean clothes to Zhu Ping'an, she said a lot with a puffy face. Basically, it was that Master Zheng was not good at literature or martial arts, but he thought he was Pan An all day long, holding a fan and pretending to be a romantic and talented scholar. How shameless; there were many people in the mansion gossiping and saying bad things about the son-in-law, so why don't you write a poem to blind their eyes...
"If you are walking on the road and get bitten by a dog, will you bite the dog back?" Zhu Ping'an asked with a curled lip corner after the little maidservant finished speaking.
"No way, I'm not a dog..." Upon hearing this, the chubby little maid puffed up her chubby face, pulled out an expression of dissatisfaction, and said angrily.
"That's the same for me." Zhu Pingan smiled slightly.
"But, but many people in the mansion say bad things about my son-in-law, saying that he is a gigolo and useless..." The little maid Baozi thought about it and pouted again, filled with righteous indignation, as if those people were talking about her.
"When water is low, it becomes the sea; when a person is low, he becomes the king." Zhu Ping'an said softly without caring.
The little maid thought about it after hearing this, and then pondered for a long time, and finally shook her head and said two words, "I don't understand."
After saying this, the maid looked at Zhu Ping'an innocently, waiting for him to explain to her.
"Well, to put it simply, even if I don't show off, I can still blind their eyes..." Zhu Pingan rubbed his forehead.
Baozi understood this sentence. Her eyes lit up immediately. Although Baozi had never heard of the term "pretending" before, there were also words like "boasting" that made people embarrassed. As for "blinding their dog eyes", it was easier to understand. Anyway, in a few days, the son-in-law would teach those people a lesson.
The maid Baozi folded the clothes that Zhu Ping'an had taken off and put them away, and would take them to the backyard to be washed later. After folding the clothes, the maid Baozi cleaned the room diligently. Although Zhu Ping'an also paid attention to hygiene, he was not as particular as the maid Baozi after all, because this was her job.
Looking at the clean and tidy guest room, the little maidservant clapped her chubby hands in satisfaction, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Zhu Ping'an thanked her generously, which made the little maid's eyes bend more like crescent moons.
When the maid Baozi was leaving with the clothes, Zhu Ping'an put the purse from last time on the clothes and asked the maid Baozi to pass it to Li Shu.
This purse is obviously a girl's purse. It is made of high-quality silk and imbued with a light fragrance. There is also embroidery on the purse, but the embroidery is a bit strange. Usually, it is embroidered with mandarin ducks or something, but this purse is embroidered with two fat ducks with red feet paddling in the clear water!
It can only be said that Li Shu has a unique hobby, because this purse was brought by Zhu Pingan when he went out with Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen last time. Li Shu asked the maid Baozi to deliver it, so it must be Li Shu's. Just when the maid Baozi went back to the backyard, Zhu Pingan returned the money and purse to Li Shu through the maid Baozi.
When Baozi, the little maid, returned to the backyard with clothes and money bags, Li Shu was practicing embroidery in her room. There was an embroidery pattern on the table. The pattern was a pair of mandarin ducks playing in the water, but the half-finished embroidery in Li Shu's hand was a fat duck paddling in the water, and the other fat duck was also half embroidered... ...
Embroidery, also known as women's needlework, was an important way for the Ming dynasty's poetic and ceremonial families to teach girls. In the early years, the wealthy Mr. Li had originally spent a lot of money to hire an embroiderer from the Gu family, which was famous for embroidery. However, Li Shu had no patience for needlework and thread, and Mr. Li felt sorry for her. Instead of making Shu'er feel embarrassed, he might as well buy her a few more embroiderers in the future. As a result, Li Shu's embroidery learning was abandoned.
Li Shu had only recently started learning embroidery, and in the eyes of the maid Baozi, it was just a whim of the young lady. So far, Li Shu had only completed one and a half works, one of which was a purse, and the other half was the unfinished insole in her hand. The insole was a bit big, and it was definitely not for girls.
"Miss, this insole is a little big..." After the chubby little maid came in, she looked at the insole in her mistress's hand and said with her mouth slightly opened.
Li Shu looked up at the maidservant Baozi, put down her needle and thread, stretched her sore wrist, and said casually, "Oh, I just started learning embroidery. I can't embroider well. It's a waste to throw it away. It's better to give it to Zhu Ping'an, that stinky toad."
Oh, it turns out that the young lady was practicing on her son-in-law, and she gave the embroidery to him because it was not good. The little maid Baozi believed the young lady's words without a doubt.
"Miss, this is the uncle who is back."
After the maid Baozi poured a glass of water for her mistress, she gave the purse that Zhu Ping'an had handed over to Li Shu.
When Li Shu saw the purse handed over by the maid Baozi, her expression suddenly turned grim, and mist rose faintly in her watery eyes... She seemed very angry.
"The son-in-law said thank you to the young lady for helping him out last time, and asked me to return the money this time." The chubby little maid did not notice the change in her young lady's expression and spoke to herself.
"He said he wanted to pay back the money?" Li Shu's face looked much better after hearing that.
"Yeah." The little maid nodded when she heard that.
"Put the money away. Give the wallet back to him next time when you go to deliver him some clean clothes. It's not embroidered well, so it's a waste to throw it away. It's better to give it to that stinky toad Zhu Ping'an." When Li Shu spoke again, her expression had returned to normal.
"Okay, miss." The chubby little maid nodded repeatedly.
Baozi, the little maid, was serving tea and water in the room. She went outside during a break and handed Zhu Ping'an's clothes to the little maid who was responsible for washing them. She listened to the maids from the next courtyard chatting for a while, and then trotted back to the room.
"Miss, I heard from Qin'er in the next courtyard that the nephew of the great grandmother is pretending to be a talented person with a fan again. He is obviously not good at all, but he keeps showing off. The third lady and the others are making fun of him behind his back. I heard that the father of the nephew of the great grandmother is a very high-ranking official, so why is his son like this..." The chubby little maid said with a puffy mouth in front of Li Shu.
"If it wasn't like this, why would my aunt be willing to introduce him to me? He was carefully selected by my aunt." Li Shu sneered, with sarcasm on her lips.
"Grandma is so bad..." The little maid pouted. (To be continued.)