Cheng Jia very servilely asked Cui Huan to brew a pot of West Lake Longjing tea before the Qingming Festival.
Zhou Shaojin teased her, "So you have such good tea here! Why did you treat me with Da Hong Pao last time I came? You even said that I could take anything I liked from you, but you couldn't even give up the tea leaves. You still said such big words!"
It's not that West Lake Longjing is worse than Dahongpao, but West Lake Longjing is spring tea and Dahongpao is autumn tea. Now it is summer, so last year's autumn Dahongpao is naturally not as good as this spring West Lake Longjing.
Cheng Ji chuckled and said, "No, no. Those were all the old women's decisions. You know, I'm detained here, how can I have the heart to drink tea!" At the end of his words, there was a hint of resentment in his tone.
Zhou Shaojin didn't believe it.
"How can you doubt me?" Cheng Ji pretended to be angry and rushed over.
Zhou Shaojin stood up and ran away.
The two played around for a while.
Cheng Ji asked about the scene when Zhou Shaojin visited Gu's family.
Zhou Shaojin knew that she was bored, so he told her in detail about visiting the Gu family.
Cheng Ji listened with great interest. One moment he said, "According to what you said, Wu Baozhang was rejected by Miss Sun and the others." Another moment he said, "What does Miss Ah Zhu look like? What's on her necklace?" Another moment he said, "How many young ladies are there in the Gu family? Is Miss Seventeen really as good as you say?"... When it came to the topic of Old An asking them to play cards, Cheng Ji laughed and said, "It seems that not being good at playing cards has its advantages. Old An will definitely remember Sister Chu Jin. Maybe one day when she remembers her, she will specially post a message to invite Sister Chu Jin to play cards!"
That would be nice.
The Gu family is very famous in the southern literati circle. The Liao family is also a family with a long tradition of poetry and literature. It will only benefit my sister if she is close to the Gu family.
Zhou Shaojin thought about it and decided not to tell Cheng Ji about the ghost marriage. Instead, he took the opportunity to ask about Cheng Chi and said, "... According to Old An, Uncle Chi often visits her... Do you know about Uncle Chi?"
"I don't know." Cheng Ji didn't care and smiled, "I just heard from my father that Uncle Chi is very powerful and good at doing business. There are ships going north and south. If our shop receives good medicinal materials, we will ask Uncle Chi to ship them back." She blinked at Zhou Shaojin and said, "Anyway, the eldest house is very rich. Madam Guo is even richer. You help Madam Guo copy the scriptures well, and she will not treat you badly."
Zhou Shaojin didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Cheng Ji called the maid over, handed the invitation to her, and said, "Go and show it to my mother and ask her whether I should go or not."
The third room has always been keen on power and wealth.
Zhou Shaojin was absolutely sure that Jiang would agree to let Cheng Ji visit the Duke of Liang's mansion, which was why she asked Azhu for an invitation.
The old woman ran away.
Zhou Shaojin didn't want to meet Jiang, so she stood up and said goodbye.
Cheng Ji held her tightly and said, "You helped me get this post, so you have to see my mother before you leave."
In her opinion, her mother has always been a bit vain. Zhou Shaojin was able to help her get an invitation to the Duke of Liang's mansion, which was a very respectable thing for her mother, and she should thank Zhou Shaojin. In Zhou Shaojin's opinion, Jiang was not only face-conscious and competitive, but also very hard-hearted. When there was no conflict of interest, she was very nice to Cheng Jia, but when there was a conflict of interest, she was ruthless. She didn't like this kind of person, so it was better to have less contact with him.
"Who knows what Aunt Lu will say?" She joked, "I don't want to stay here and watch you two quarrel. Should I help you or Aunt Lu? I'd better go back to Wanxiangju first. When you have made up your mind, send your maid to tell me."
Cheng Ji felt that what Zhou Shaojin said made sense, so he had to let her go.
But on the way, she still met Jiang, who was surrounded by a group of maids and old women.
"Shaojin!" Jiang greeted Zhou Shaojin from a distance, "I heard that you helped Jia girl get an invitation to the Duke of Liang's Mansion. You are really thoughtful! No wonder our Jia girl always says that you are her good sister and you didn't forget her when good things happened." When she came closer, she pulled Zhou Shaojin's hand with a smile on her face, "I don't know what the rules of the Duke of Liang's Mansion are? What should we prepare for her? Don't lose face for Jiuru Lane." She added, "Shaojin, your aunt got a few pairs of jade hairpins a few days ago. The carving and jade quality are also pretty good. I will ask the maid to send them to you and your sister later. Wear them for fun."
Zhou Shaojin was slightly stunned.
In her previous life, she and Cheng Ji were so close, and she did so many things for Cheng Ji, but Jiang never thanked her or gave her a single needle or thread.
She suddenly understood why Old Lady Guan didn't like dealing with the Third Wife - in the eyes of the Third Wife, there was only profit, no family affection. Even if there was family affection, it was subordinate to profit. It gave people a feeling of being too cold.
Zhou Shaojin felt that he and Jiang Shi were not on the same page, so he smiled and thanked her, saying, "My aunt helped me and my sister prepare the clothes, and I don't know what the rules are."
Let my aunt deal with her, she doesn't think she has the ability to do so.
"Is that so?" Jiang said with a smile, "Then I'll go ask your aunt later."
Zhou Shaojin and Jiang broke up.
When she returned to Wanxiangju, her sister had not come back yet, but Ma Fushan's family brought her a letter from her father to her and her sister.
The letter I sent in mid-June didn't arrive until mid-July.
It took almost a month to go back and forth.
But usually, when my sister wrote to my father, she would get a reply within half a month at most.
Could it be that my father found this letter difficult to answer
Zhou Shaojin stroked the envelope for a long time before cutting the seal with scissors.
Her father briefly answered her question about what color and style of clothes she liked to wear, but spent two-thirds of the article talking about the Zhuang family’s old house on Guan Street.
He did not mention the dispute between the Zhuang and Cheng families, but only told Zhou Shaojin that which property of the Zhuang family would be inherited by the Zhuang uncle and which would be left to the Zhuang family was decided by her grandfather, Old Master Zhuang. Although Old Master Zhuang was only a scholar, he had traveled far and wide and had a brilliant mind. There was naturally a reason for him to do so. As a junior, he should not question Old Master Zhuang's decision. So no matter how the Zhuang uncle finally dealt with the house, Zhou Shaojin was not suitable to intervene, nor was it suitable to buy the house back. And the Zhuang uncle was a man of bad conduct, so it was best for her not to contact him. If there was anything, she could tell him directly or ask him directly. Rumors stop at the wise.
Her father must have understood what she said, so he told her not to worry about the house on Guan Street...
In other words, my father knew about my mother's affairs.
His mother was honest and frank with his father, which made Zhou Shaojin feel relieved. His eyes fell on the letter his father wrote to his sister.
What would my father say to my sister
Zhou Shaojin was eager to try and really wanted to see the letter.
She picked it up and put it down, put it down and picked it up again, and finally thought of a way to have the best of both worlds - she kept the letter her father wrote to her, and when Zhou Chujin came back, she could read her father's reply to her sister with her sister.
She felt uneasy when she thought about hiding the secret from her sister, but Zhou Chujin did not doubt it and smiled as he read the letter with her.
In the letter, Zhou Zhen had a different tone on the matter.
He told Zhou Chujin not to let Zhou Shaojin leave the house casually, and not to buy a house on Guan Street. Finally, he said that after the autumn harvest, when the government office would be less busy, he would send one of his aides back to Nanjing, and they would talk about anything then.
Zhou Chujin and Zhou Shaojin looked at each other.
It was just a house near the Cheng family, but my father actually sent his staff back to Nanjing.
Zhou Chujin didn't understand, but Zhou Shaojin knew that his father was becoming suspicious and wanted to send his confidant back to see it with his own eyes.
That's fine.
Maybe she could find out some things through her father's staff, so she wouldn't have to rush around aimlessly.
Zhou Shaojin took the letter with a smile and comforted his sister: "If that's the case, just give it to father, so that you and I don't have to worry about it."
Zhou Chujin was very disappointed and said, "This is our own business. What's the point of handing it over to others? You just muddle through and don't worry about anything."
Zhou Shaojin chuckled, changed the subject, and asked about the gift for Ah Zhu: "…What is it?"
"This is a set of unique brushes, inkstones, paper and inkstones from Wende Pavilion." Zhou Chujin showed it to her and sighed, "I found it in Uncle Mian's study. It was said that only 100 sets were sold at that time, and each set was different. Uncle Mian originally intended to pass this set on to cousin Gao, and he chose the Three Friends of Gentlemen. This time he gave it to us as a gift, saying that we are a family that has passed down poetry and books, and these things are the best."
"Isn't this a bad idea?" Zhou Shaojin was very grateful to his uncle and aunt, and asked, "Isn't this taking away cousin Gao's things?"
"That's what I said, too." Zhou Chujin said helplessly, "But my aunt said that things are dead, but people are alive, so she told me to find a better one to give to my cousin Gao later."
Zhou Shaojin asked worriedly, "Where can we find it? Why don't we write an envelope to father and let him think of a solution?"
My sister blushed and said vaguely, "Don't worry about it. I've already agreed. Just take the things and give them as gifts when the time comes."
In my heart, I was thinking about my aunt's half-joking and half-serious words: "If we send gifts to others today, there may be others to send gifts to us tomorrow. As long as you can marry a good husband, a set of pens, inkstones, and paper is nothing. Even antiques and gold and stone will not be a pain for my aunt."
Zhou Shaojin thought, if it really didn't work, he would find a way to buy one from someone else at a high price.
The two sisters each had their own ideas, and no one mentioned the topic for a while. They invited Mrs. Mian to come and help them choose the jewelry to wear on the Ghost Festival.
Guo Er was sent by Jiang to deliver the jade hairpins, and said with a smile: "… It is said that the eldest lady will get two pairs, and the second lady will get two pairs."
The red lacquer box is engraved with exquisite lotus patterns, which makes people feel that the things in the box are very valuable at first glance.
Zhou Shaojin thanked him with a smile and invited Guoer to have tea and snacks.
Guo Er refused and said with a smile, "The eldest lady is selecting clothes and jewelry for the Ghost Festival for the eldest daughter, and she is waiting for me to go back and open the storeroom!"
Zhou Shaojin did not force Guo'er to stay, and asked Shi Xiang to take a purse containing a pair of silver ingots with the meaning of promotion and send Guo'er out.
※
Sisters, today's extra update.
Pink ticket, pink ticket...
※(To be continued)