Zhou Shaojin naturally nodded repeatedly.
But she felt a little nervous.
It was confirmed that Uncle Chi had left the Cheng family.
But when did he leave
Did you come back to check afterwards
Zhou Shaojin walked back and forth in the cabin, regretting why he did not pay close attention to the Cheng family's affairs in his previous life.
She thought of how Cheng Chi would patiently coax Madam Guo to play chess in order to amuse her; how he observed Madam Guo's facial expressions and suggested that she sit down and have a rest without waiting for her to speak; how he supported Madam Guo standing on the beach and encouraged her with a smile to do things that she would never dare to think of under normal circumstances... Her heart ached.
Is everything she is doing now in vain
After returning to Jinling City, Uncle Chi will leave the Cheng family? !
Then who should she go to to inform Cheng Jing
Zhou Shaojin tossed and turned and did not sleep well all night. The next day, when he sat in the side hall with Old Madam Guo and listened to the host's lecture, he felt a little listless.
Cheng Chi, who was sitting next to her, whispered, "Didn't you sleep well last night? Just make do with it for now. We will return to Ningbo early tomorrow morning."
Because the abbot of Fayu Temple was going to personally give a lecture for Mrs. Guo, they had to stay in Putuo Mountain for one more night.
Zhou Shaojin nodded listlessly, wanting to ask him if he wanted to leave the Cheng family, but she swallowed the words and changed them to: "Uncle Chi, will you go back to Jinling with us?"
"Of course." Cheng Chi smiled, "Since I brought you out, I must naturally bring you back safely and smoothly!"
"What about after we go back?" Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but looked at Cheng Chi expectantly with his big, clear eyes. "Are you going out again?"
Cheng Chi sneered and said, "You want to go to Baoding to see your father?"
Zhou Shaojin knew that Cheng Chi had misunderstood her, but she would rather Cheng Chi misunderstand her than let Cheng Chi know about her incredible experience, so she hurriedly asked: "If you pass by Baoding, can you take me with you?"
"I'm afraid I won't be going out these days." Cheng Chi said with a smile, "We have to wait until the New Year. If it's not urgent and your grandmother and your father agree, I can take you to Baoding on the way."
Zhou Shaojin nodded with a smile.
However, Cheng Chi felt that Zhou Shaojin was not as happy as she appeared to be.
What on earth is this little girl trying to do? What on earth is she thinking about
This thought flashed through Cheng Chi's mind, and a pilgrim next to him said dissatisfiedly: "Stop talking, listen to the master's lecture... How can there be such a disrespectful person who talks while listening to the sutra?"
Cheng Chi and Zhou Shaojin quickly dropped the topic and listened carefully to the host master's lecture.
The host master today talked about the story of Buddha sacrificing his body to feed the eagle. Zhou Shaojin had heard this story countless times in his past and present lives, but the host of Fayu Temple told it with special passion, which made it easy for people to be immersed in the story.
Zhou Shaojin was also greatly enlightened.
All the lecturers she met were patient and gentle in their words, and she had never seen any lecturer who was as eloquent as this one.
It can be seen that there are all kinds of people in this world, it’s just that I haven’t seen them.
Zhou Shaojin pondered in his heart, and finally he was not as sleepy as before.
After listening to the sutra, the abbot came over and exchanged a few words with Mrs. Guo before leaving.
They returned to their resting room amid the envious gazes of the pilgrims.
After a sumptuous vegetarian meal, Cheng Chi was invited by the host to have tea, while Zhou Shaojin and Mrs. Guo took a nap. When they woke up, the boxes had been almost packed.
Old Madam Guo drank the tea that Madam Lu brought her and said thoughtfully, "I think we should donate some more money to Fayu Temple to help them build the main hall."
Zhou Shaojin was sweating.
Nanny Lu went to invite Cheng Chi over.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "It's not difficult to help them build a main hall, but people are greedy and we agreed too easily. Maybe they want to build an Arhat Hall... Don't worry about it. Leave it to me. I promise to let them engrave your name first on the monument of merit."
"You kid," Old Madam Guo said angrily, "Is it for the merit tablet? I want the Bodhisattva to bless you three brothers with peace and prosperity, to ensure that Xu Ge'er and Rang Ge'er live in peace and happiness, and marry a virtuous and sensible wife... and also to ask the Bodhisattva to bless our Shao Jin to marry a husband of her dreams!"
Zhou Shaojin's face turned red with embarrassment. He said, "I'll go see if they've packed up for the Spring Festival Gala," and then ran away.
Madam Guo laughed and reminded Cheng Chi again: "If you meet a child from a good family outside, you might as well keep an eye out for him."
Cheng Chi smiled and replied, "I know!"
※
At 9:00 a.m. the next day, they bid farewell to the abbot, the great monk and the receptionist of Fayu Temple.
The abbot of Fayu Temple accompanied them to the dock and made an appointment with Cheng Chi to meet them next time. He watched Zhou Shaojin and the others board the boat and after the boat left the dock, he returned to Fayu Temple with the monks.
Zhou Shaojin leaned against the boat window and looked at the lush green mountains of Mount Putuo, feeling both melancholy of parting and joy of returning home.
She hadn't seen her sister for a long time, and because she was traveling, she couldn't even write a letter to her sister.
At dusk, their ship arrived at Ningbo Pier.
Unlike the pleasure boats and black-sailed boats docked near the Beijiang Bridge in Jinling City, most of the boats docked at Ningbo Wharf are sand boats and Fu boats, and most of them are large ships with four or five masts. When their three-masted sand boats pass by these large ships, they have to look up to see their masts, which is quite a feeling of being overwhelmed by the pressure.
During the Spring Festival Gala, several people crowded in front of the boat window and praised the performance, which attracted Mrs. Guo to stop and look at the window.
Zhou Shaojin, who was supporting Madam Guo, suddenly thought of the day when he was on the boat and looked down at a couple in someone else's cabin window... The people on those Fu ships might also be able to see the scene in his cabin.
She hurriedly ordered Chunwan and others to close all the windows of the cabin.
Several people went to the Spring Festival Gala with smiles on their faces.
Wang Xiao, the shopkeeper of the Ningbo branch, came aboard with several of the branch's employees to pay their respects to Cheng Chi, and said, "I have booked a courtyard in the best inn in Ningbo. If you think the courtyard is too noisy, there is a corner behind the branch, which is usually used to entertain shopkeepers from the main office. It's a little small, though." He added, "Although Ningbo is not as good as Hangzhou, it has more overseas trade. The imported tinware, snuff boxes, clocks, dolls, rouge and powder all have their own characteristics. It's a rare visit for the old lady and the young lady. Do you want to stay in Ningbo for two more days to see the different bustle of Ningbo City from other places?"
Cheng Chi suddenly thought of Zhou Shaojin pouting and blinking his big eyes while mumbling to Jiying, "I want to buy something, too"... His mother has been blaming herself all these years. Although she did not become a Buddhist layperson, she lived a life like an ascetic monk... He thought of how his mother used to dislike wearing red and green but liked the maids around her to dress up beautifully... Since he has decided to make his mother happy, he might as well accompany her properly, even if these things seem a bit absurd and reckless.
"That's a great idea." He smiled. "It's really too noisy to live in an inn. Let's just live in Semicolon!"
Wang Xiao was overjoyed and quickly stood up and said "yes". He told the waiter to go back and clean up again, while he stayed with Cheng Chi and talked, waiting for the women in the rear cabin to clean up.
The rear cabin was in an uproar after hearing the news.
Chun Wan was wearing a green vest with red buds on the edges and asked Bitao anxiously, "How is it? How about I wear this tomorrow?"
"That's fine." Bi Tao conscientiously gave her advice, "Just wear the pair of red gold lilac earrings that the second young lady gave you last time."
"I think so too." Chun Wan decisively put the dress she was demonstrating into her bag and went to look for the pair of red gold lilac earrings that Zhou Shaojin had awarded her.
But a little maid ran in and said, "Sister Chunwan, the young lady wants to wear the moon-white shoes embroidered with butterflies and studded with pearls, and I have been looking for it for a long time but can't find it."
As soon as this one finished speaking, another little maid ran over and said, "Sister Chunwan, the young lady asked if everything has been packed."
Chun Wan didn't care about much else and stuffed the clothes and jacket into Bi Tao's arms, saying, "Help me pack it up, I'll go serve the young lady."
Bi Tao smiled and said "hmm". Just as she was about to help clean up, a maid called her name: "Sister Bi Tao, the kitchen asked what the second young lady's supper would be tonight so that they can bring the ingredients over. Otherwise, the food might not taste good if the semicolon is not well prepared."
She looked at the bundle in her hand, then at the little maid waiting at the door, and had to smile bitterly and tell the little maid: "This is what Sister Chunwan will take off the boat later. You keep an eye on it here, I'll be back soon."
The little maid responded and stood guard at the door.
Bitao hurried to the kitchen.
All this mess had nothing to do with Zhou Shaojin. She accompanied Old Lady Guo to drink tea. "… Nowadays, unlike the founding of the country, the interpersonal relations between court officials are becoming more and more important. But everyone's salary is there. Without money, and not wanting to lose face, they can only find other ways. The imported goods from Ningbo have become good things. So their things are very cheap, but they are just novel and we have never seen them. It's okay to buy them as rare gifts, but not to play with them."
Is Mrs. Guo afraid that they will be dazzled and buy everything indiscriminately and end up being taken advantage of
Zhou Shaojin smiled, and after the Spring Festival Gala was ready, she helped Madam Guo off the boat.
Wang Xiao had already prepared a sedan chair. They got on it and swayed all the way to the Ningbo branch of Yutai Bank.
Yutai Bank not only has a spacious facade, but also has a good location.
The bank faced a bridge, opposite a three-story restaurant, diagonally opposite a pawnshop with a large frontage, and further back a century-old medicine shop. When their sedan arrived at the bank it was already 6pm, and the bridge was bustling with people coming and going.
Zhou Shaojin felt that the backyard of Yutai Bank must be quite large.
When her sedan chair landed, Zhou Shaojin looked up and saw a five-square-meter wing room, with three-square-meter wing rooms on each side and two ear rooms each. The patio was paved with bluestone bricks, and as it was approaching the Mid-Autumn Festival, the two osmanthus trees planted in the middle of the yard were full of golden stamens and had a rich fragrance.
※
Sisters, today's extra update.
The evening update is around nine o'clock.
O(∩_∩)O~
PS: It’s the beginning of another month, please give me the guaranteed pink ticket!
※(To be continued)