Cheng Chi didn't say anything, but sighed in his heart.
His mother is old after all. She knows clearly that he doesn't want to get married, but she has started to urge him in the past two years.
Mrs. Guo was very disappointed with Cheng Chi's reaction, but she didn't dare to say anything more, for fear that if she pressed him too hard, her son would walk away in anger.
It's a rare opportunity for him to come, so don't make him unhappy.
Madam Guo adjusted her mood and said with a smile, "Will you stay for lunch later?"
There was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Cheng Chi felt sad as he watched, and couldn't help but said, "I haven't eaten pickled goose feet for a long time, can you ask the kitchen to make one for me!"
"Okay, okay, okay." The smile on Mrs. Guo's face could not stop. She told Zhenzhu loudly, "The fourth master will stay for lunch today. Go and tell the kitchen to make a pickled goose feet and a mixed vegetarian shredded dish with less sesame oil. Fry some old tofu with some Sichuan peppers, steam the lion's head with more water chestnuts, and pair the crispy pigeon with our homemade five-spice powder. Use the mutton sent by the Shen family a few days ago to make a first-class hotpot and bring it together with some side dishes. For the rest, let them take care of it."
There are so many things, all of which suit Cheng Chi's taste.
Zhenzhu smiled and said "yes". Seeing that Mrs. Guo was in high spirits and wanted to please her, she smiled and said, "What about the wine? What kind of wine do you want to drink? The second master had someone send back the Lihuabai wine a few days ago. He said it was tribute wine!"
"You know how to handle things." Old Madam Guo laughed, glanced at Cheng Chi, and said, "Let's drink Jinhua wine today - I'll drink two glasses with you."
Several senior maids in Hanbi Villa all knew that Madam Guo's words would work just as well in Xinglin Hutong in the capital, let alone Jiuru Lane. However, when it came to the Fourth Master, they would inevitably be discounted.
Zhenzhu couldn't help but glance at Cheng Chi.
Cheng Chi sighed helplessly in his heart, and then a smile appeared on his face. He said, "Just listen to my mother. We will drink Jinhua wine today. Go to Xiaoshan Congguiyuan and tell Nanping to bring the hot wine pot with the painting of a beautiful woman that I brought back from Quanzhou last time."
Now everyone was really happy.
Pearl felt even more relieved and went out happily.
Cheng Chi said, "My sister-in-law is not at home. I should have taken you to my place to celebrate the New Year. But you know that the road to Xiaoshan Congguiyuan is not easy to walk on, and it is also cold. I will just come to your place to eat for free this year."
"Really!" Mrs. Guo was overjoyed, her eyes slightly wet. She pulled his hand and asked repeatedly in surprise and joy, "Are you telling the truth?"
Other children all look at their parents' faces, but his mother only looks at his eyes.
Cheng Chi was almost knocked to the ground by the guilt in his heart. After a while, he said: "Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?"
"I hope you can lie to me more often." Mrs. Guo's eyes were shining with tears, but her face was filled with a relieved smile. "You, you are just too stubborn! But what your father said is right. If you don't have a stubborn temper, how can you study well? Do you still remember when you were a child, you spilled your father's ink and insisted that you were painting. Your father wanted to suppress your arrogance, so he took a paintbrush and gave it to you, saying: Then you finish this painting. At that time, you were only five years old and still writing big characters. I don't know where you found Zhang Qiuying's landscape painting. You painted a piece of mountains and ridges according to the landscape painting, and then you were afraid of trouble, so you painted a few chickens at the foot of the mountain and finished it. Your father asked you, where did the chickens come from in this desolate mountain? . You said: I was afraid of being killed and eaten, so I ran away from home. Your father couldn't help laughing when he heard it. He wanted to punish you severely, but in the end, nothing happened. "As she said that, she sighed and said, "If your father is still alive, he would be 68 years old this year. I don't know how happy he would be to see you like this! He always said that the emperor loves the eldest son, and parents love the youngest son. If your eldest brother and second brother dared to be so naughty when they were young, they would have been punished to kneel in the veranda, but he couldn't bear to be cruel to you. He was afraid that he would spoil you. But he also said that it doesn't matter if you are spoiled, because you two brothers will take care of you and ensure that you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life and can do whatever you want. I didn't expect that your two brothers are now blessed by you..."
As Mrs. Guo spoke, she wiped her eyes sadly.
Cheng Chi no longer remembers much about what happened with his father.
He had no intention of making his mother sad, so he motioned to Feicui to take a handkerchief and hand it to his mother, and comforted her gently: "Isn't it good for me to be like this? At least I'm not a playboy, mother should be happy for me. I don't know how many people act according to my mood!"
But that’s not as good as being an official!
The words lingered on Mrs. Guo's lips, but she swallowed them back.
She suppressed the grief in her heart, smiled, pulled over her handkerchief, wiped her tears, and said, "I heard that you asked Nanping and the others to move to Lixuezhai? Why don't you move in with me? The wing behind me is still empty. If you want to go in or out, you can go through the corner door on the north side. It won't bother you. It will be more lively if we all live together!"
Cheng Chi hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me think about it!"
In the past, her son always refused without hesitation, but this time he thought about it. Mrs. Guo was already very satisfied and said hurriedly, "Then think about it carefully. Jiashan will not be back in the next two years, and your sister-in-law has been separated from your brother for many years. I told her to stay for a year or so before coming back. There are only two of us in the eldest house, and you are not seen all year round..."
"I see!" Cheng Chi said with a smile, and after thinking for a while, he added, "I've been busy with inventory these days, and I don't have time to think about this for the time being. Let's talk about it after I'm done."
Mrs. Guo didn't dare to urge her anymore. She looked at Cheng Chi with a smile and asked Feicui to get her son a cup of tea.
The winter sun shone through the window lattice and fell on Mrs. Guo.
The silver strands mixed in with her black hair sparkled, making Mrs. Guo look older.
Cheng Chi looked at it and felt very uncomfortable.
His mother is old, but she still can't sleep or eat because of him.
But what was wrong with the mother in this matter
It's just a choice made after weighing the interests.
As children of the Cheng family, they were supported by the Cheng family and had to work hard for the Cheng family. If they didn't even have this self-awareness, how could they enjoy the benefits of the Cheng family's ancestors
Cheng Chi couldn't help but hold his mother's hand and said, "Mom, I'll move over in the next two days! Just in time to spend the Little New Year with you."
"What did you say?" Mrs. Guo couldn't believe her ears. Her eyes were as big as bells as she stared at her son blankly.
Cheng Chi felt even sadder.
They are unfilial sons. Why should they make their mother worry so much
He took a deep breath, and the idea of spending more time with his mother became clearer, more lucid and more resolute.
"I'll move in tomorrow." Cheng Chi said with a smile, "Hurry up and arrange for someone to clean out the rooms behind you this afternoon. I still have a lot of stuff over there. I'm afraid we'll have to set up a sedan chair hall at the north corner gate... I'll ask Qin Zian to do all this..."
As he was thinking about it, Mrs. Guo was so happy that she couldn't speak. She just held her son's hand and nodded continuously.
※
When Cheng Chi came out of Hanbi Mountain House, Huaishan couldn't wait to greet him.
"Fourth Master, shall we still leave?" he asked carefully.
When he returned to Jinling from the capital, the fourth master lived in Zaoyuan, but he couldn't stand Mrs. Guo's daily delivery of clothes and food to Zaoyuan, so the fourth master moved back and chose Congguiyuan on the hill, which was the most difficult to walk. Now, the fourth master has decided to move to Hanbi Shanfang...
"There's no need to change what's already been decided." Cheng Chi knew what he was thinking. Once the news of moving to Hanbi Villa spread, there would be many people who would have the same concerns as Huaishan. He intended to let Huaishan explain it all, and said, "I'm leaving in two years. Take this opportunity to be filial to my mother! A son wants to support his parents, but they're no longer around. My parents are still around, but I don't want to support them. These two years should be my last filial respect to my mother!" At the end, he was already feeling disappointed.
Huaishan replied "yes" in a low voice, feeling very depressed.
※
In Jiashu Hall, Mian Da Madam sent Zhou Shaojin away and talked to Old Madam Guan about Cheng Yi: "… If everything goes well, Gao'er can marry Mianzhi's cousin's daughter. I want to ask for Shaojin for Yi'er. You can see that although Shaojin is weak, she is not confused at the critical moment and can control Yi'er. With her helping me to look after Yi'er, I can worry less."
Old Madam Guan pondered and said, "The children are still young. My uncle just went to Baoding and has a lot to do. The new wife is about to give birth. I should find a suitable opportunity to talk to my uncle about this matter."
"Okay!" Madam Mian responded happily, and when she saw Zhou Shaojin again, her eyes became much more eager, which made Zhou Shaojin secretly worried. He couldn't guess whether Madam Mian was so enthusiastic towards him because he helped her speak about Cheng Yi, or because she had other requests for her.
Fortunately, there were many things to do during the New Year, so she didn't run into Madam Mian often. After feeling a little uncomfortable, she quickly got relieved. Seeing that Zhou Chujin was busy following Madam Mian around, she urged the maids in the house to sweep the house and put up talismans.
Chi Xiang smiled and said, "These were all matters of the eldest lady in the past. When did the second lady start to take care of these trivial matters?"
Zhou Shaojin blushed and said calmly, "That's because you guys are lazy this year!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Chi Xiang said shyly, "The Second Miss has also started to joke with us servants."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and pretended to be harsh, "Hurry up and clean these stained glass windows. If I see a little dust, I won't have the braised pork with preserved vegetables for lunch today."
Everyone followed suit and said that Zhou Shaojin was not as generous as Zhou Chujin.
Zhou Shaojin didn't care and went to the study with a smile.
Chun Wan ran over and said, "Second Miss, Fan Qi is back!"
Zhou Shaojin stood up in surprise and said hurriedly: "Let him in!"
Chunwan turned around and called Fan Qi.
He was thinner than when he left, but he was also taller, and his demeanor was a little more steady, like a little adult. It was obvious that the three months of traveling outside had tempered him.
When he saw Zhou Shaojin, he bowed to her respectfully.
Seeing that he was wearing a brand new coarse cloth robe, which was clean and tidy, Zhou Shaojin knew that he had changed his clothes at home, so he asked Chunwan to bring him a stool.
※
Today's update, sisters!
O(∩_∩)o
※(To be continued)