After a day of sailing and riding in sedan chairs, everyone in the Zhou family was very tired. After dinner, they went back to their rooms to rest.
The next morning, the Zhou sisters woke up at 6 a.m. as usual. Before they could get up, Chixiang, who was on night duty, heard the noise and walked in. He said with a smile, "Miss, Miss, the master just sent Ma Fushan's family to tell you that you two worked hard yesterday. You should rest well today and don't need to go to the master and the mistress for the morning visit."
In other words, they can sleep in today.
Zhou Shaojin smiled when he heard this and said, "Home is still the best!"
Zhou Chujin looked at her innocent and naive appearance, smiled and pinched her nose, and said, "What's good about home? It's okay to do this occasionally. If you do this every day, I'm afraid you will be indulged and have no rules."
Zhou Shaojin laughed and fell asleep for a nap.
Zhou Chujin asked Chixiang: "Where is the wife?"
Chixiang was indeed Zhou Chujin's confidant, and said with a smile, "My wife hasn't gotten up either."
Zhou Chujin finally felt relieved, yawned, and continued to sleep.
When the two sisters opened their eyes, the sun was already high in the sky.
"Oh no!" Zhou Chujin hurriedly urged his sister to get up and asked Chixiang, the waiter, "Did you send someone to the study to ask?"
"No." Chixiang hung up the curtains swiftly and said with a smile, "The master went out. Several of his classmates knew that he was back, so they took him out to drink."
"Ah!" Zhou Chujin was a little dumbfounded.
Wouldn't they then have to face Li alone
Zhou Chujin couldn't help but frowned and looked at Zhou Shaojin hesitantly.
Zhou Shaojin didn't care and whispered to his sister: "Maybe he is worried too!"
Zhou Chujin laughed, put his arm around Zhou Shaojin's shoulders, and said, "No wonder father said you are so clever!"
Zhou Shaojin pursed his lips and smiled.
The two sisters washed and dressed leisurely, had breakfast, and went to pay their respects to Mrs. Li.
Li was very enthusiastic and kept the sisters to talk.
Zhou Chujin then knew that the Li family was the richest in Jiangxi. Li was the youngest daughter in the family. She had four older brothers, all of whom married daughters of merchants. The eldest brother was the most stable and managed the family business with his father. The third brother was the most courageous and opened a kiln outside to burn blue and white porcelain. He also laughed and said, "... When you get married, I will ask my third brother to burn a set of porcelain for you to get married."
Wedding porcelain ranges from one pair to one hundred and eight pairs, depending on the family's wealth. Its characteristic is that everything comes in pairs, and all the patterns symbolize fertility and longevity or a harmonious marriage.
Zhou Chujin's face turned slightly red, but he felt a little unhappy in his heart. He felt that Li was from a merchant family after all, and all he knew how to do was bribe people with small favors.
This might be a favor to others, but to Zhou Chujin, who came from Jiuru Lane, it was a bit offensive.
She smiled perfunctorily and said, "Thank you very much, ma'am."
Li was not a person without tact. On the contrary, although she was the youngest in the family, her mother was old and her eldest sister-in-law was the head of the family. She knew that even after getting married, she would still need the support of her brothers and sisters-in-law from her mother's side, so she was very good at reading people's expressions.
The disdain that was faintly revealed in Zhou Chujin's bones made her heart twitch.
Her husband was not at home, and she thought that she could take this opportunity to curry favor with her two stepdaughters, so Mrs. Li kept the two sisters to talk. However, she failed to curry favor with them, and instead was looked down upon.
Li's face turned red.
Zhou Shaojin hopes that his father can enjoy his later years.
Sooner or later, she and her sister would get married, and her father would have to rely on Li to take care of him in his later years.
She smiled and said, "Madam, I like pastels. Can I ask Uncle Li to make me a set of 108 pairs of pastels?"
Li was stunned, and her heart suddenly felt warm.
No wonder the old ladies in the Cheng family like Zhou Shaojin. This child is so well-behaved, pretty and considerate.
She smiled and said, "Okay, okay, okay. My third brother is in this business. Even if his kiln doesn't produce porcelain, he can find experts. I'll ask them to give you some patterns to choose from. I'll make you the best wedding porcelain so that you can leave it to your descendants."
Zhou Chujin also saw her sister's intention. She sighed secretly in her heart and lowered her head to drink tea.
Li saw that Zhou Shaojin was innocent, but Zhou Chujin was shrewd and capable. Her instinct of seeking profit and avoiding harm made her dare not say anything more to Zhou Chujin, and she only focused on talking to Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin was not born to be a social person, and after a few words, she felt quite exhausted.
She looked toward her sister for help.
Zhou Chujin felt unhappy when she saw her talking passionately with Li, but pretended not to see it.
Zhou Shaojin had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue chatting with Li. When the conversation was about to end and the atmosphere became dull, Zhou Shaojin glanced at the rattan basket on the flower table and found a half-finished children's clothing in it. Her eyes lit up and she pointed at the rattan basket and said, "Is this the clothing that Madam made for my brother?"
Although she knew that Li was pregnant with a daughter, in her previous life, she had dreamed of having a son, and she did not want to shatter this beautiful dream.
Li smiled happily upon hearing this, her voice softened, and she said, "Yes! It's a small piece of clothing."
Zhou Shaojin walked over to take a look.
Li stood up and moved over.
The two of them talked about embroidery and cutting, and finally it was time for lunch.
After having lunch with Li, Zhou Shaojin and his sister returned to the upper room.
As soon as Zhou Chujin entered the room, she pointed a finger at Zhou Shaojin's forehead and said angrily, "You little ungrateful bastard! Your mother gave birth to you with great difficulty, but you were so passionate about talking to that woman. You are not your mother's biological daughter!"
It turns out that my sister can't accept another woman as their mother!
Zhou Shaojin was ashamed.
She really didn't feel anything... It was like there was a new guest in the house, who would be leaving in a few days, so as the host, she had to be polite. Her elder sister grew up in her mother's arms, so naturally she couldn't accept Li as easily as she did... From this point of view, her elder sister seemed to be her mother's biological daughter...
Zhou Shaojin felt happy for his mother, but also a little sad.
She has no memory of what her mother looks like.
To her, mother is just a name, not as close to her as her sister!
She hugged Zhou Chujin tightly and said coquettishly, "Don't I feel sorry for her? I will never talk to her again!" She was afraid that her sister would be angry.
Zhou Chujin sighed helplessly.
In the afternoon, she took Zhou Chujin to the greenhouse that Zhuang had taken care of during her lifetime, and unexpectedly met Nanny Yu.
Nanny Yu was very happy and made them some fruit tea, saying that it was her mother's favorite drink when she was alive. She also told them which flowers were left by her mother, which flowers were re-potted later, which flowers were grafted from the flower trees left by her mother, and which were added later... Zhou Shaojin originally liked planting flowers and plants, so not only did he find it interesting to listen, but when he encountered something he didn't understand, he would ask Nanny Yu.
Seeing that Zhou Shaojin's questions were all about insider knowledge, Yu Ma Ma felt that Zhou Shaojin was worthy of being Zhuang's biological daughter, and even had the same temperament, so she talked even more excitedly and took her to pick a few pots of orchids, saying, "... They are all rare varieties, and they will bloom one after another when the autumn wind blows." Afraid that she didn't know, she also asked the gardener who was over 60 years old to find some red paper strips, "I will write one, two, three, and four, and the eldest and second young ladies will place them according to the instructions, and these pots of flowers will bloom from mid-autumn to the beginning of spring. After the flowers bloom, if there is no one to take care of them over there, the second young lady can send the flowers over. After the beginning of spring, I will send another batch to the second young lady."
Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly.
After the old gardener found the red paper, Zhou Shaojin and her sister helped write it.
Nanny Yu sighed, "These words were told to me by Madam Zhuang back then. She was afraid that I would confuse her flowers, so she pasted these words on the flowerpot and told me to recognize them. Since then, I have never made a mistake again."
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin were melancholy for a while after listening to this before they started writing the note.
After the calligraphy was done, Zhou Shaojin saw that Nanny Yu was old, so he wanted Shi Xiang to find a servant to help Nanny Yu move the pots of flowers to the flower stand. But when he turned around, he saw his father Zhou Zhen.
He leaned against the door frame of the greenhouse, looking at them quietly, his eyes somewhat sad, as if he saw something sad through them.
When did the father come
Zhou Shaojin called out cautiously, "Dad!"
Zhou Chujin also discovered Zhou Zhen.
She also called out "Dad" in surprise.
Zhou Zhen said "Oh" as if he had just woken up from a dream, stood up straight, and the sadness in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a warm smile and an expression as cheerful as the summer sun.
"Why did you come here?" He said as he walked in and lovingly touched the leaves of the orchid that his mother had left behind, saying, "I didn't expect this flower to grow so well!"
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin didn't know what to say for a moment.
Nanny Yu quickly knelt down and saluted, thus breaking the silence.
Zhou Zhen asked Zhou Shaojin: "Do you like growing flowers?"
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "When I have nothing to do, I just grow flowers randomly. They are not as good as my mother's flowers."
"That's because you live in Cheng's house." Zhou Zhen smiled, "Your mother said the same thing when she first married me. Later, this place became her home, and her flowers became better and better."
Didn’t my mother consider this place as her home from the beginning
Don’t you treat the banker as your own home
Zhou Shaojin looked at his father suspiciously.
Zhou Zhen had already forgotten about this and said, "Shao Jin, play here for a while. I have something to say to your sister."
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin were both very surprised, but they still agreed obediently. One followed Zhou Zhen to the study, and the other waited in the greenhouse.
Zhou Shaojin sat with his elbows on the floor in the greenhouse, watching the sun gradually set, but he did not feel lonely.
This is my home.
I never get tired of watching it.
My sister is already eighteen years old. It would be great if I could convince my father to let her and her move back home!
She was having wild thoughts there when Zhou Chujin came over with a face as bright as the morning glow and said to her shyly, "Daddy asked you to go to the study!"
What did my father say to my sister
She curiously took Zhou Chujin's arm.
Zhou Chujin refused to say anything and just urged her: "Go to the study quickly, Daddy is still waiting for you in the study!"
Zhou Shaojin chuckled and decided to ask his sister before going to bed at night.
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Today's update, sisters!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)