The sun gradually moved westward.
Zhou Shaojin copied six pages in one breath.
She rubbed her aching shoulders, and Jade came in with a melon in her hand. "Xiao Tan said you were here, but I didn't believe it. I didn't expect you to be copying scriptures in the Buddhist hall. I saw you were concentrating on copying, so I didn't disturb you. This is a freshly cut melon. The old lady specially left this one without using well water. Try it!"
After spending a few months together, the people at Hanbi Mountain Villa already knew Zhou Shaojin's habits.
Zhou Shaojin thanked him with a smile and took the opportunity to take a look at Biyu's expression.
She was smiling and talking, just like usual.
Have the maids in Hanbi Mountain House all mastered the ability to remain calm or has she simply no idea what happened in the upper room
Zhou Shaojin muttered to himself as Chunwan helped him wash his hands, leaving Biyu to eat the melon with him.
"No." Biyu smiled and declined politely, "Teacher Lin's wife is here, and the old lady still needs someone to serve her!"
Zhou Shaojin was a little surprised.
Ever since Mrs. Lin spoke up for Cheng Xu on the birthday of the second-house ancestor Cheng Xu, Mrs. Lin and Mrs. Guo have become close. In just three or four months, Mrs. Lin has visited Mrs. Guo three times. Almost once a month.
Biyu smiled and said, "Mrs. Lin, the teacher's wife, came here for her brother from her mother's side. Her brother was a classmate of the fourth master. He passed the imperial examination and became a scholar-official. He is now observing government affairs in the Ministry of Works. He will be dismissed this year. Normally, he should have been sent out in June, but his brother is still in the Imperial Academy. So she wanted to ask the eldest master if he could find a job for her brother."
Government affairs are so complicated that sometimes you can't even figure out who is related to whom.
Many people saved her brother-in-law Liao Shaotang back then, so she was no longer surprised by this.
Since Mrs. Guo knew that she was copying scriptures in the Buddhist hall, Zhou Shaojin sat for a while after eating the melon. She guessed that Teacher Lin’s wife should be leaving, so she went to the upper room to say goodbye to Mrs. Guo.
Teacher Lin's wife had indeed returned home. Mrs. Guo looked calm and it was hard to tell that she had lost her temper at noon.
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said, "The weather is too hot and I feel irritable, so I came here to copy the scriptures."
Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "You are a person of wisdom." She added, "If you want to come, just come, don't worry. Anyway, the scriptures are handed over to you. When you finish copying, we will go to Putuo Mountain and offer them to Fayu Temple."
Mount Putuo is near Zhoushan.
Zhou Shaojin was stunned and asked, "Are you going to Hangzhou Prefecture?"
Zhoushan belongs to Hangzhou Prefecture.
Madam Guo smiled and said, "It's not me, it's us. I'll take you with me then."
Zhou Shaojin was stunned.
Old Madam Guo laughed and said, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. When I was your age, I accompanied my father to travel all over Jiangnan. Now... many people agree that 'a woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent'. Some families with generations of officials don't even let their daughters learn to read and write. I don't know whether this is good or bad..."
Zhou Shaojin had never traveled so far in his two lifetimes.
She suddenly became excited and said, "Old Madam, can I really go with you?"
"Do you want to go?" Mr. Guo seemed to be in a good mood and asked her with a smile.
Zhou Shaojin nodded repeatedly: "I want to go, I want to go. I have heard that people in Hangzhou go to Putuo Mountain to worship Buddha on the first and fifteenth day of every month... I never thought that I would be able to go there once in my lifetime..."
"You are just a kid, how old are you, and you dare to say 'in my lifetime'." Mrs. Guo said with a smile, "Then you should try to finish copying the scriptures this year, and we will go in the early spring of next year."
Zhou Shaojin's smile couldn't stop flowing out of his eyes.
It was different from the usual smile that was a bit reserved or social. It was brilliant, bright, and carried a bit of longing and sweetness, just like a child who suddenly got the candy he had been craving for.
Mrs. Guo couldn't help but sigh.
This child is also a pitiful one!
She asked Biyu to pack a box for Zhou Shaojin: "Take it back and eat it slowly!"
Zhou Shaojin was quite embarrassed.
The box is full of candies.
But she could feel Mrs. Guo's sincere care more.
She bent her knees and squatted, earnestly bowed to Mr. Guo, and then carried the savings box back to Wanxiangju.
Although it was just a box for saving money, it was after all a reward from Old Madam Guo, and it also confirmed that Old Madam Guo was satisfied with Zhou Shaojin. Old Madam Guan was very happy. She opened the box and took a look. She saw that there were almond cakes and pea yellow cakes rewarded by the palace inside. She smiled and asked Zhou Shaojin to put the box away, saying, "If you have time, make a forehead scarf like mine for the old lady."
"The Cheng family has a special sewing room..." Zhou Shaojin hesitated, "I'm afraid I'll be in a position to teach an expert how to do things!"
"Nonsense." Old Lady Guan said with a smile, "Such a bright piece of work, I can't bear to wear it after seeing it, I plan to save it for the New Year and take it out. I'm sure the old lady will like it too."
Everyone expressed their own thoughts.
Zhou Shaojin agreed and told Mrs. Guan that Mrs. Guo wanted to go to Mount Putuo to worship Buddha.
As Mrs. Guan listened, her smile gradually faded and she slowly frowned, not saying anything for a long time.
Zhou Shaojin didn't know what was going on, so he waited with bated breath.
After a while, Old Lady Guan seemed to come to her senses, smiled, and said to her: "In this case, you should copy the scriptures well and try to go out with the old lady to see the world next year."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and said "yes", and asked: "Should I tell my father about this?"
"Of course I have to tell your father." Old Madam Guan smiled, "But there's no rush. Once the eldest son's family has decided on a specific date, it won't be too late to write to your father when he takes up his post."
Zhou Shaojin took the opportunity to talk about returning to the Zhou family's ancestral home during the Dragon Boat Festival: "... If I hadn't met the nanny who served my mother in the past, I wouldn't have known that the Zhuang family had an ancestral home next to my cousin Lu's home on Guan Street, and that it was sold to my cousin Lu."
Old Madam Guan was a little surprised, and a trace of confusion flashed across her face. She said, "There is such a thing. Why haven't I heard of it? Does the Cheng family know that this is the Zhuang family's ancestral home? Was it bought by Master Bai? Does your father know?"
It seems that grandma knows nothing.
No wonder Cheng Lu was able to succeed in his previous life!
Zhou Shaojin decided not to tell his grandmother for the time being.
There are some things that she has to solve by herself. If she can't solve them, it's not too late to ask adults for help.
"I just thought it was a coincidence," she said with a smile, "so I told my grandmother about it."
Si'er came in and asked where the food was.
The topic was interrupted.
After that, neither Mrs. Guan nor Zhou Shaojin mentioned the matter again.
After dinner, Old Lady Guan invited Cheng Mian to come over and talk: "… Shao Jin told me today that the old lady of the first house wants to go to Mount Putuo to worship Buddha. She believes in this more and more. I am afraid that the first and second houses will fall out. You should count the family property and buy more land for sacrifices. If you can give up the business outside, give it up. Don't be greedy."
Cheng Mian agreed cautiously, looking a little solemn.
Zhou Shaojin went back to his room and wrote a letter to his father.
This was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had written a personal letter to her father.
In the letter, she first thanked Li for her personal contribution, then told her father that she was going to make him a few more winter clothes, asked him if he had any favorite colors or fabrics, and then jokingly told her father that Cheng Lu had bought the Guanjie house...
Early the next morning, Ma Fushan's family entered the mansion and took the letter out.
Zhou Shaojin looked at Ma Fushan's family in the distance and breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that the worry that had been hanging in the air for these days had finally settled.
Cheng Ji came to Zhou Shaojin and asked, "You said you could embarrass Pan Qing, what exactly are you going to do?"
She took off her outer jacket and wore only a single Hangzhou silk shirt. She lay on the cool bed in the room and let Cuihuan fan her.
Zhou Shaojin said, "I think she cares a lot about face, and sometimes she can't help but lose her temper." This can be seen from the way she treated Wu Baozhang - as half the master, when Zhou Shaojin pushed things to her, she should be more generous and give Wu Baozhang some face. But because she looked down on Wu Baozhang from the bottom of her heart, she couldn't help but step on Wu Baozhang and made him lose face. "If tea is spilled on her, or the seating arrangement is not good... With her temper, she may not be able to bear it once, but she may not be able to bear it twice. As long as she loses her temper, the elders will see it. With her strong will, she will definitely not be able to stay in the Cheng family... Especially with Madam Yuan present..."
Cheng Ji was greatly encouraged by what she heard. She jumped up and clapped her hands, saying, "That's a good idea! We'll act accordingly. No matter what, we have to let her 'perform' in front of the great aunt..." She giggled, as if she had seen Pan Qing's embarrassed look. "She has been busy preparing clothes and jewelry for Old An's birthday party these days... If she can't wear the clothes she carefully prepared, I don't believe she can bear it..."
"But if she holds back," Zhou Shaojin gave Cheng Ji some leeway, "maybe the ladies will praise her for being magnanimous. You can't be foolish and lose your temper, or you'll be digging a hole for yourself."
Cheng Ji rubbed his hands and promised: "If I get scolded by my mother, Pan Qing will be so happy! Don't worry, I will never make my relatives sad and my enemies happy!"
Zhou Shaojin couldn't help laughing when he saw her expression.
Cheng Ji didn't take it seriously and came over every day to discuss various "unexpected events" with Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin felt that even if Pan Qing didn't want to lose his temper at that time, he would probably not be in a good mood if he was provoked again and again by such a trivial matter.
On the fifth day of July, which was Old Lady Zhuang's birthday, before dawn, Zhou Shaojin and his sister put on the new clothes that had been sewn for Zhou Shaojin when he was just reborn, dressed neatly, and went to Jiashu Hall.
Old Mrs. Guan had just gotten up when Mrs. Mian, Cheng Gao and Cheng Yi had already arrived.
Cheng Gao saw that Zhou Shaojin was wearing a plain jacket made of light ivory, but on the lower right corner of the lapel were embroidered two strange rocks, a bunch of orchids, and two butterflies. The rocks were jagged, the orchids were sparse, and the butterflies were fluttering. It was a rare orchid painting, and he couldn't help but take a closer look.
Mrs. Mian's eyes fell on Zhou Chujin.
She wore a willow yellow jacket and a greasy green skirt. The jacket was plain, but the skirt was embroidered with a foot-wide hem embroidered with pink lotus, white honeysuckle, rose-purple hibiscus, and willow yellow clematis. The colors were very bright but not gaudy. Instead, they had a sense of grandeur and dignity, which made Zhou Chujin look even more dignified and beautiful.
Mrs. Miao hesitated and asked, "Did Shaojin do this?"
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Sisters, today's update!
O(∩_∩)o haha
I still have one more chapter to add, so can I take a rest this Sunday
PS: Tomorrow’s update will still be around 3 pm.
※(To be continued)