"Second brother, what are you looking at?" Chu Huibao asked while yawning.
Chu Chengmao retracted his gaze and said, "Look at the stars."
"Stars?" Chu Huibao also looked up at the sky. After the fireworks exploded, the entire night sky was brilliant. Only when the fireworks burned out did the night sky return to its original darkness.
There are indeed stars in the night sky, but they are not very bright because of the clouds.
Liu urged Chu Huibao: "Huibao, go back to sleep, aren't you tired?"
The New Year's Eve dinner was prepared by Xue and Jiang Yanyi's sisters. As the head of the family, she was completely stripped of her power, and the servants had to ask Xue for everything. She had been a daughter-in-law for her whole life, and soon after Xue married into the family, she followed Chu Chengbai to Yongzhou, so she didn't get to enjoy the power of a mother-in-law at all.
The daughter-in-law finally came back. However, because of the trouble caused by her son, the old lady simply handed over the power of housekeeper to Xue. Liu felt heartbroken just thinking about it.
In any family, there is a mother-in-law as good as her. In other families, the daughter-in-law would coax the mother-in-law, but in her case, it was the old lady who gave the housekeeper power to Xue. Not to mention that Xue was a thoughtful person who handled everything properly, even if she found a mistake, she could not offend old lady Chu and teach Xue a lesson.
Unfortunately, none of the children could understand her painstaking efforts. Since the eldest daughter was difficult to teach, Liu wanted to teach the youngest daughter well to prevent the two sisters from being ungrateful. But the youngest daughter was so naive that she only cared about eating all day long. Liu felt tired just thinking about it.
Everyone was laughing at the New Year's Eve dinner, but Liu just felt uncomfortable.
Old Mrs. Chu was old and could not bear it any longer at night, so she went back to her room with Old Mr. Chu to rest. She couldn't leave immediately, so she called Chu Huibao and wanted to leave under the pretext of taking Chu Huibao back to her room.
Chu Huibao was indeed sleepy. When Liu called her, she looked at Chu Shubao again and asked, "Where's the elder sister?"
Chu Shubao rubbed her hands and said, "I have an appointment with my sister-in-law, Ayi and Jiabao to play mahjong together to stay up all night. Huibao, if you are sleepy, go back to your room with mother and sleep first."
Although Chu Huibao loved to play, he was really sleepy, so he had to yawn as he walked away with Liu.
After watching the fireworks, Jiang Yanyi sent Chu Yan back to his room first.
Jiang Yanyi was eventually able to detect the atrophy of his leg muscles. The doctor would come to his house every few days to give him acupuncture and hot compresses. Jiang Yanyi also instructed Chu Zhong to give him massages and acupressure frequently to relax his muscles and promote blood circulation. Now the muscle atrophy was not obvious.
But even during the Chinese New Year, he didn't look very happy, and Jiang Yanyi had hardly ever seen him smile.
After entering the courtyard, Jiang Yanyi asked him, "Yan Gui, are you worried about something?"
Chu Yangui pulled the corner of his mouth and revealed a somewhat pale smile: "This time last year, I came back from Pingkangfang with the son of Minister Liu. My mother chased us around the yard with a feather duster. This year, there are only two of us left..."
Mrs. Jiang’s death has always been a hurdle that he cannot get over.
Jiang Yanyi sighed softly and comforted him: "Mother is over there, and she also hopes that you will live a peaceful and happy life. Today is the New Year, don't think about these sad things."
Chu Yangui nodded, stroking the thick pile of books on the table: "Sister, how good would it be if I had studied harder earlier?"
Jiang Yanyi said: "It's not too late now."
She had long seen that Chu Yangui did not like staying in the Chu family. Although they were adopted by Chu Changping and had a good relationship with the younger generation of the Chu family, there was still one less layer of blood ties between them. Also, because of the family's move to Xizhou, they did not want to cause any more trouble for the Chu family.
"I will buy you a house in the spring. When the noodle shop and Ruyi Building's business grows, I will buy you a few more shops." Jiang Yanyi has already made plans to buy more real estate deeds for Chu Yangui in the future. Even if he doesn't know how to do business, he will never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life just by collecting rent.
Chu Yangui heard this and said hurriedly: "I don't want a house, sister, don't worry about me, I will have a promising future."
He doesn't want to be a burden to Jiang Yanyi, he will work hard to grow up and become a helper to Jiang Yanyi.
Jiang Yanyi knew that this teenager had a strong sense of self-esteem, so he agreed with him and said, "Of course, my Yan Gui will definitely have a bright future."
Chu Yangui felt a little embarrassed after being praised by her, and said, "I'll read for a while and then I'll rest. Sister and Sister Shubao have made an appointment to play mahjong. If you don't go, they will probably blame you."
Jiang Yanyi said, "Okay, I'll be there soon. Don't read too late, go to bed early."
Chu Yangui nodded obediently.
When Jiang Yanyi returned to the front hall, the servants had already set the table. Chu Shubao's sisters and Xue sat on each side, eating melon seeds and chatting about family matters.
Seeing Jiang Yanyi coming, he asked the servants to remove the fruit plate on the table and quickly bring up the mahjong cards.
"I've been waiting for you, Ayi." Chu Shubao dealt mahjong cards while spitting out melon seed shells.
Chu Jiabao echoed, "Second sister, you have to give us some money later."
Jiang Yanyi smiled and sat down: "I'm not good at playing cards, and I'm counting on you to let me win later."
What Jiang Yanyi said was true. Her card skills were indeed terrible. She had been losing money after several rounds. Chu Shubao was only slightly better than Jiang Yanyi. Xue and Chu Jiabao won more.
***
During the New Year holiday, the Chu family's guards relaxed their vigilance and had a couple of drinks. When a dark shadow quietly climbed over the wall, no one noticed.
The black shadow found the yard where Jiang Yanyi was with familiarity, and was about to climb in, but suddenly hid his presence.
Huo Jianjia kicked open the door and walked into the yard, carrying her big sword which was tightly sheathed with a cloth belt. She looked around vigilantly, twitching her nose like a small animal, as if trying to identify the smell in the air.
After a while, Huo Jianjia didn't find the source of the smell, so he returned to the room carrying the sword.
The black shadow jumped from the roof to the back of the house and climbed into Jiang Yanyi's room through the back window.
Although there was no light, one could still see at a glance that there was no sign of bulge on the bed.
She's not in the room
Feng Shuo frowned his handsome eyebrows.
At this time in the front hall of the Chu family, Jiang Yanyi and Chu Shubao, who had been losing money, were as excited as chickens and vowed to win back a game. Xue and Chu Jiabao, who had won money, seemed calm and composed.
Once the game of Majiang starts, time becomes meaningless.
When the night watchman sounded on the street, Jiang Yanyi woke up from his dream and asked, "It's only a quarter of an hour until midnight, right?"
Mrs. Xue was already feeling a little sleepy. She covered her mouth with her hand and yawned, "Well, it's almost midnight."
This round was the one Chu Shubao lost the most. When she reached into her purse for money, she found it was empty. She couldn't help but say with a sad face, "I don't want to play anymore. I'm so tired. I'm going back to my room to sleep."
Chu Jiabao laughed at her: "Ayi has lost the most but he still hasn't given up. Big sister, you should not be unable to accept defeat."
Chu Shubao said: "If I had the businesses that Ayi has, I wouldn't be afraid of losing."
Jiang Yanyi quickly said, "Don't do that. I'm also afraid of losing."
This made everyone laugh. Xue yawned the whole time. "It's already this late. Let's all go back to our rooms. Nian An should be awake by this time. I have to go check on him."
Although Chu Chengbai's eldest son Chu Nian'an is now fostered by Xue, Xue has never given birth to a child, so the wet nurse usually takes care of the child. She can take care of him when she is free.
As soon as the card game was over, Jiang Yanyi felt very tired. She rubbed her sore neck and went back to her residence.
When she entered the yard, Huo Jianjia heard the sound again. She probably recognized it was her from the footsteps. This time, she came out of the ear room without the sword on her shoulder. She stood at the door, rubbed her eyes and asked Jiang Yanyi, "The boss is back."
Jiang Yanyi said "hmm" and asked, "Why haven't you slept yet?"
Huo Jianjia said, "I will sleep after the boss comes back. Did the boss win money playing mahjong?"
"Don't mention it. I keep losing." Jiang Yanyi felt warm at heart because of Huo Jianjia's words, but he felt a little discouraged when talking about playing Mahjong. He said, "It's so late. Go inside and rest."
Huo Jianjia responded and then closed the door.
After Jiang Yanyi returned to her room, she didn't notice anything unusual in the room. She lit the candle on the candlestick, took off her cold-proof cloak and hung it on the rack. When she turned around to pour water at the low table, she found someone sitting on the mahogany chair.
Jiang Yanyi shuddered reflexively and almost screamed in fright, but luckily he held it back.
"When did you come?" she asked in a low voice.
"When you're playing mahjong."
Feng Shuo's voice was calm, but Jiang Yanyi inexplicably had the illusion that he was squeezing her.
She laughed awkwardly and said, "I didn't know you would come here secretly. I didn't hear that you would come to visit me after dinner. I thought you would come tomorrow."
Today is New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow is the first day of the new year.
Feng Shuo didn't respond, he just raised his eyelids and looked at her.
He had beautiful eyes. Under the orange candlelight, his narrow and long eyes revealed a bit of laziness and casualness. He was truly charming whether he had his eyes open or closed.
He said, "Come here."
Jiang Yanyi walked towards him uncontrollably.
Feng Shuo took one of her hands, took out a jade bracelet from his arms and put it on her hand.
Her fingers were slender and long, as if they had no bones, and her wrists were as white as snow. The jade bracelet matched perfectly with the emerald ring on her index finger. The overly cold color gave people a sense of noble aloofness.
It has a kind of elegant and noble aura of "to be admired from a distance but not to be played with".
As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Jiang Yanyi had to deal with some noble ladies in her business. No matter what era, the topics that women could quickly get along with each other about were either rouge and powder or clothes and jewelry. Jiang Yanyi naturally put a lot of effort into these.
Jade can be divided into two types. Among hard jade, jadeite is the best, and among soft jade, the most famous is Hetian jade.
The bracelet Feng Shuo gave her was made of a rare dragon stone, which was the best part of the entire piece of jade. It had a transparent and pure color and excellent water content. At first glance, it looked warm, crystal clear, and the water was bright and transparent.
She raised her hand and looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and said with a pained look, "You really don't treat silver as money. You might as well use the money to buy this bracelet to recruit soldiers."
A bracelet made from such a flawless piece of dragon stone jadeite would probably cost tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Feng Shuo had not expected that the New Year gift he had carefully prepared would receive such an evaluation from her. Knowing that she was worried about military supplies, he found it funny but also felt apologetic - he had not treated her well enough.
She always put him first in everything. The losses of Ruyi Tower and Noodle Shop had to be raised to raise money for the military camp. He saw a lot of things, and the fact that she didn't say anything at the time didn't mean she didn't know.
After letting his subordinates take over the porcelain kiln business, he had already made arrangements early on that Jiang Yanyi would definitely make the biggest profit, which could be considered as a little compensation he secretly gave to Jiang Yanyi.
Seeing the distressed expression on Jiang Yanyi's face, Feng Shuo felt his heart soften. He said, "Someone gave me a piece of raw stone a few years ago. I just found a jade craftsman to polish it a while ago. It didn't cost much."
Hearing him say this, Jiang Yanyi's eyes lit up.
She couldn't stop fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist and couldn't stop looking at it.
Seeing her happy, Feng Shuo also smiled. When the night watchman's call at midnight sounded again, he said slowly, "Yanyi, Happy New Year."
Jiang Yanyi also raised his head to look at him, smiling: "Happy New Year."
Feng Shuo pulled her over and held her in his arms: "My mother said she wants to see you. I'll take you to see her another day."
Jiang Yanyi was slightly startled: "The Grand Concubine..."
Feng Shuo curved his lips and said, "I'm well again."
Fang Qing had been dead for more than three months. The Grand Concubine was no longer controlled by drugs and had slowly regained her consciousness. Although she sometimes forgot who she was while talking to Feng Shuo, she was no longer as hysterical as before.
The doctor in the mansion said that the Empress Dowager's condition would gradually improve as the medication time went on. In a year or two, she might be able to be like a normal person.
Jiang Yanyi was happy to hear Feng Shuo say this, and immediately agreed: "I will go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings in a few days."
Feng Shuo grabbed the hand that had the bracelet on it. The snowy back of her hand was so attractive that Feng Shuo couldn't help but peck it. He raised his eyes and said mischievously, "Keep the other hand for the bracelet your mother gave you."
The author has something to say: Jiang Yanyi: This is how my life as a rich woman started
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