Cheng Yi was still about 17 or 18 years old, and when Cheng Nuo asked him about it, his face immediately turned red, and he said, "Just take care of your own business, why are you meddling in my business?"
Cheng Nuo chuckled, with a hint of complacency in his brows.
He was unhappy with this marriage at first.
Wu Baozhang likes to flatter the powerful and bully the weak, and his reputation in their circle is not particularly good. But his mother also said, who doesn't flatter the powerful and bully the weak? Just like their fifth and fourth houses, don't they also have to flatter the first and second houses to make a living? It's just that some people do it well, and some people are straightforward and are seen through. Moreover, if he can become the son-in-law of Magistrate Wu, with the support of the Wu family, no matter how powerful the women outside and the children he has, they will not have a share when the property is divided. Even among brothers, they will look up to him.
He didn't know about others, but Cheng Ju was very envious of him.
He was also asked to keep an eye out to see if he could help Cheng Ju find a job in the government.
So Cheng Nuo now thinks that it would be a good idea to marry the eldest daughter of the Wu family. Besides, he has seen the eldest daughter of the Wu family before. She is good-looking, eloquent, and good at socializing. It would not be embarrassing to take her out.
Cheng Yi felt a little guilty.
Her mother called her over and gave her a good scolding. Finally, she said, "If you weren't so disobedient, I would have asked your uncle to marry Shao Jin for you!"
He was so embarrassed at the time, and hurriedly asked, "You didn't tell your uncle, did you?"
The mother was very angry and said angrily, "What do you mean? Does it mean that Shao Jin is humiliating you if he is worthy of you?"
"No, no." He waved his hands repeatedly, "I, I always treated her as my sister..."
The mother angrily said, "She is not your biological sister!"
He just laughed dryly.
If he could choose, he would rather marry Jiying.
He felt his heart tremble at the sight of it.
Shao Jin, he watched her grow up since she was a child... When she grew up, she treated him like a younger brother... It was really hard to imagine the two of them becoming husband and wife.
What's more, he had just been beaten up by Jiying. Shao Jin must be very disappointed in him, so how could she marry him
Cheng Yi was in mixed feelings, unable to tell whether he was annoyed or regretful.
In the upper room of Hanbi Mountain Villa, before the party at Tingyuxuan was over, Old Madam Guo had already received the news.
The old man was silent for a long time, and then he said to Zhou Shaojin who was happily selecting fabrics outside, "Shaojin, just help me make the decision about my Qiushang. I'm a little tired, so I'll go back to my room and rest for a while."
Zhou Shaojin and others immediately sensed something was wrong with Madam Guo. Although they all responded "yes" with a smile, they gathered together when Madam Guo entered the inner room.
"What's wrong, old lady?"
"It was fine just now! It must be that Madam Lu said something to the old lady?"
"Could it be that something happened to Ting Yuxuan? Our old lady didn't attend the family dinner this time. Could it be that she angered the ancestor of the second house?"
"Bah! So what if he's angry? With the Fourth Master here, how dare the Second House's ancestor scold our old lady?"
"I didn't mean that... I just felt bad..."
Zhou Shaojin listened quietly to Biyu and the others' whispered discussions, and gently lifted the curtain of the inner room.
Old Madam Guo leaned against the head of the bed with her eyes closed and her brows furrowed. She was lying on the royal blue quilt with a crane pattern on it, and was rapidly turning the eighteen-bead sandalwood Buddhist rosary in her hand.
Zhou Shaojin waved towards Chunwan and told her to go to the kitchen and get a bowl of lotus seed and red bean soup - the small kitchen of Hanbi Mountain House always had various desserts on hand.
Chunwan rushed over and soon brought a bowl of lotus seed and red bean soup on a tray with red lacquer and gold-painted crabapple flowers.
Zhou Shaojin took the tray and gently called "Old Madam" at the door.
Zhenzhu and others in the room had already noticed Chunwan's actions when she came in. When she spoke, they all looked at Zhou Shaojin with bated breath, as if they were afraid that any noise would disturb Zhou Shaojin.
There was no sound in the inner room.
Zhou Shaojin called out softly again.
Still no sound.
She turned around disappointedly and shook her head at Pearl and others.
The expressions of Zhenzhu and others became solemn.
Zhou Shaojin's eyes dimmed, and he turned around to hand the tray to Chunwan, but the majestic yet kind voice of Madam Guo came from the inner room: "Is this Shaojin? Come in?"
She immediately perked up, winked at Pearl and the others, said "yes" softly, and smiled, "Then I'll come in!"
Zhenzhu and the others were delighted and looked at Zhou Shaojin, indicating that she should persuade Mrs. Guo.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and nodded, then carried the sweet soup into the inner room.
Mrs. Guo had put down the Buddhist beads in her hand, her brows were calm, and she asked her with a smile: "What did you bring? We just had lunch, and I can't eat anything."
"It's lotus seed and red bean soup." Zhou Shaojin smiled sweetly and sat on the brocade stool at the head of the bed. "I only asked them to serve half a bowl. Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood, I eat some sweets and my mood improves quickly."
Mrs. Guo was very surprised. After thinking for a while, she picked up the sweet soup and took a few sips.
Zhou Shaojin breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Why don't you lie down and rest. Can I massage your legs? Or your shoulders. This way you can fall asleep quickly."
"No need!" Mrs. Guo held her hand and sighed, saying, "Just let Zhenzhu and the others do these things."
But Pearl and the others were not as brave as she was.
And I'm afraid of being implicated.
I can't help but feel a little timid when doing things.
"I know Zhenzhu and the others are definitely more skillful than me," Zhou Shaojin deliberately distorted Madam Guo's meaning and said, "I just want to accompany you."
Accompany her!
Mrs. Guo was stunned.
How many years had it been since someone had said something like this to her
Her heart warmed and she nodded slowly.
Zhou Shaojin was overjoyed. He put down the bowl, waited for Old Madam Guo to rest, and gently massaged her legs.
After a while, Mrs. Guo really fell asleep.
Zhou Shaojin was very pleased.
When the incident in the garden just happened, she couldn't sleep all night. It was only through Mrs. Fan Liu's massage that she could barely sleep for an hour or two.
She tucked in Mrs. Guo's feet and stood up quietly.
But when he turned around, he saw Cheng Chi.
He stood tall at the door of the inner room, one hand holding up the curtain, his eyes staring straight into the room with a blank expression.
Zhou Shaojin was shocked.
This was the first time she saw Uncle Chi like this.
She couldn't help but call out "Uncle Chi" quietly.
Cheng Chi came back to his senses, immediately regained his calm and reserved self, smiled and nodded at her, then lifted the curtain higher.
Zhou Shaojin said "thank you" with a red face and left the inner room.
Pearl was the only servant outside; everyone else was nowhere to be seen.
"Sit down!" Cheng Chi pointed to the Luohan bed in front of the window.
Zhou Shaojin thanked him softly and sat down.
Cheng Chi hesitated for a moment and sat down opposite her.
Pearl served the refreshments and retreated.
Cheng Chi then said, "I heard from Zhenzhu and the others that you were comforting my mother... Thank you very much."
"No, no." Zhou Shaojin felt his face burning, and said shyly, "I, I didn't do anything!"
Cheng Chi said softly, "My eldest brother and second brother are not at home, and my mother is alone most of the time. It would be good if you could sit with her for a while."
Zhou Shaojin felt unworthy of this honor.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Uncle Chi, did anything happen in Tingyuxuan?"
"Nothing!" Cheng Chi perfunctorily replied, but when Zhou Shaojin's black and white eyes came into his sight, he couldn't help but think absentmindedly that Geng'er's eyes looked like Shaojin's, and suddenly felt that this was a bit bad, so he paused and told Zhou Shaojin about Tingyuxuan. As for Cheng Xu's feelings, he thought Zhou Shaojin might not want to know, so he didn't tell him. He would not tell Zhou Shaojin about having someone keep an eye on Cheng Xu.
Zhou Shaojin was so angry that her face turned red. She said, "How could the ancestor of the second house be like this? As children, you should naturally respect your parents and elders. It's no wonder that he oppresses you like this..." She wanted to say that it was no wonder that he wanted to open the Cheng family, but she was afraid that someone next door would hear it, so she hurriedly swallowed the second half of the sentence, "I don't like staying at home!" She said, her eyebrows like distant black frowned slightly, and she said worriedly, "Uncle Chi, is there no way to deal with the ancestor of the second house?"
Cheng Chi laughed and said, "How do you want to deal with the ancestor of the second branch?"
Zhou Shaojin said embarrassedly, "That's not what I meant! I meant, is there any way to make the second branch's ancestor never interfere in your affairs again... What exactly does the second branch's ancestor want to do? The second branch used to be prominent, but now it is declining. The second branch's ancestor is confused, but doesn't the second branch still have Uncle Yi and Cousin Shi? Can we start with them..."
It's so funny to see her with so much on her mind!
Just like a little girl who is pretending to be sad in order to write new poems.
Cheng Chi couldn't help but reach out to touch her head, but when he stretched out his hand, he found that there was a coffee table between them. He had no choice but to push the snacks placed next to Zhou Shaojin's hand towards Zhou Shaojin and said, "Don't worry about them. This time I contradicted the old ancestor of the second house, he will definitely find a chance to trip me up. I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid that he will reach out to Hanbi Mountain House. You'd better not go anywhere these days, stay with my mother. If my mother wants to go somewhere, you have to help persuade her. It will be fine until September."
One force can defeat ten skills.
Even if Cheng Jiashan has countless schemes, he will have no way to see Shao Jin if Shao Jin doesn't go out.
Zhou Shaojin repeatedly assured: "I will listen to Uncle Chi and not go anywhere."
"Good boy!" Cheng Chi smiled with satisfaction and asked about Zhou Shaojin's daily life. "Have you had lunch? What did you eat? When I came in just now, I saw a lot of cloth piled up in the room. Are you going to make clothes? Who are they for? The tributes from Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Songjiang should all be out. I will ask them to send a few pieces over in a few days..."
Zhou Shaojin answered them one by one.
The two of them chatted about daily life here and there.
Zhou Shaojin felt particularly at ease, peaceful, and secretly happy.
Cheng Chi sat there and didn't want to move.
When he saw Cheng Xu pretending to be serious at Tingyuxuan, he almost couldn't eat.
Knowing that his mother must be paying attention to what was going on in Tingyuxuan, he sent Cheng Xu away and immediately rushed to Hanbi Villa.
His mother's peaceful sleeping posture, Zhou Shaojin's tranquil expression, and the way he moved quietly all instantly calmed his originally agitated mood.
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Sisters, please give more updates for Zhimeng!
I have to attend meetings and study at night recently, so the update will be a bit late. Please get up tomorrow morning and take a look!
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)