The weather was still hot, so after dinner, Anle came out and sat in the courtyard to cool off in peace and tranquility.

Two of Qiao's cousins ​​were also chatting with An Jing's sisters in the pavilion in the courtyard.

Anning pointed to the embroidered handkerchief in Anjing's hand and smiled.

"Little sister, look at this, our eldest sister's embroidery skills are getting better and better."

Upon hearing this, Anle looked up and peered at the butterfly that Anjing was embroidering. Its lifelike appearance was indeed exquisite.

"Wow! It really is!"

Anjing smiled gently, lowered her head and continued her embroidery, "It's all thanks to Cousin Zhiyi's excellent teaching."

"Let me see what my cousin Zhiyi is embroidering." Anle smiled and tilted her little head to look at Qiao Zhiyi's embroidery.

The embroidery fabric was amber-colored brocade, and the pattern on it was not flowers, plants, mandarin ducks, or butterflies, but rather several auspicious clouds.

"Cousin Zhiyi, who did you embroider this for? It's not for women, is it?" Having become familiar with Qiao Zhiyi and her siblings, Anle no longer called her "elder cousin" but used her name instead, and their relationship became much closer than at the beginning.

Qiao Zhiqin pouted and snorted, "Who else could it be? Of course, it's for her sweetheart. But he's not even in Jincheng, so why are you embroidering it, Zhiyi? You can't give it away anyway."

Anle blinked. Her beloved?

Are you talking about that guy surnamed Duan?

She remembered that her cousin Zhiqin had mentioned it before, and her cousin Zhiyi, needless to say, naturally liked this person surnamed Duan quite a bit.

Qiao Zhiyi's face showed the shyness unique to young girls.

"Whether he is in Jincheng or not, it is still the thought that counts. Didn't he also have someone send me a lot of things?"

She thought that if she ever met him again, she would personally deliver everything she wanted to give him.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhiqin glanced at Qiao Zhiyi's wrist, only to find it empty. She sighed and smacked her lips.

"Hey, if you like the gifts people give you so much, why do you never wear them?"

I think that garnet bracelet is the prettiest. I gave it all to you, but I've never seen you wear it out. It's probably all hidden away.

"Oh dear, what a pity, what a pity!"

Qiao Zhiyi pursed her cherry lips, her smile both shy and sweet.

"You don't understand. The more you like something, the more you should cherish it. The things he gave me, I naturally can't bear to take out and wear. I've kept them all carefully."

"You'll understand when you find someone you love, Zhiqin."

Qiao Zhiqin pouted, "Well, I don't understand, and I don't want to understand. I don't want to like someone as humbly as you, Zhiyi."

You know, such a big thing happened in Jincheng, and we haven't even heard the Duan family send a message to inquire about our well-being.

This family is really getting worse and worse at interpersonal relationships; they've probably already forgotten about you, Zhiyi.

Qiao Zhiyi's face stiffened and gradually turned pale. She lowered her head and embroidered flowers, looking dazed and somewhat absent-minded.

Anle blinked. She really understood now. Her sister Zhiqin really didn't have high emotional intelligence. She would always intentionally or unintentionally poke at people's sore spots and stab them in the heart.

However, she had never seen the garnet bracelet before. She had heard about it from her fourth sister and wanted to find some time to take a look.

However, I was so busy that I forgot about it for a moment, but Qiao Zhiqin reminded me of it.

"Cousin Zhiyi, can I take a look at that garnet bracelet your sweetheart gave you?" Anle asked innocently, resting her chin on her hands with a grin.

Qiao Zhiyi paused in her daze, looked up at An Le, and smiled gently.

"Okay, little cousin, come with me to the room to see in a bit."

When the topic turned to the garnet bracelet, Qiao Zhiqin perked up, "Little cousin, that garnet bracelet is very valuable."

I remember once when I went shopping in the next town with my sister Zhiyi, I saw a similar bracelet in a jewelry shop. When I asked, I found out that the garnet bracelet was worth fifty taels of silver.

It's ridiculously expensive!

I never expected that the guy surnamed Duan would be so nice to my sister, even giving her such a valuable string of beads.

"Becoming rich really changes things; they're so generous now."

Anning stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"What! Fifty taels of silver? Wow... that's really expensive. This person is too good to my cousin Zhiyi. If someone treated me this well, I would want to marry them."

Anle glanced at her fourth sister with disdain.

"Look at you, so pathetic. You think you can sell yourself for fifty taels of silver?"

"What? Little sister, do you know how much fifty taels of silver is for an ordinary farming family like ours? It's an astronomical price, you know?"

Little sister, although our family is wealthy now, not every family is like ours, able to come up with so much money. This person is truly kind-hearted!

Anle glanced at Qiao Zhiyi, and considering Qiao Zhiyi's feelings, she didn't say anything more. In fact, fifty taels of silver was really nothing to those wealthy families.

It's probably just a small amount of money that someone casually tosses around for fun, not worth mentioning.

If they had the chance to go to an auction house, they would know just how extravagant the wealthy are.

The sisters played in the pavilion until it was completely dark before going to the room of their cousins, Qiao Zhiyi and Qiao Zhiqin, to look at the garnet bracelet.

"Wow, I never expected that my cousin Zhiyi would have so many good things here. It turns out that the jewelry box I saw before was only part of it."

An Ning covered her mouth, her eyes wide open, staring at Qiao Zhiyi's three jewelry boxes.

Qiao Zhiqin grinned and put her hands on her hips.

"These were all gifts from Zhiyi's sweetheart. He's been sending gifts to Zhiyi in Jincheng."

After a pause, Qiao Zhiqin's face darkened, and her tone changed, becoming somewhat resentful.

"However, ever since the incident in Jincheng, they have not sent anything or any letters here."

I don't know if something really happened or what.

Anle tilted her head and said.

"Could it be because you moved here and haven't been receiving letters?"

Qiao Zhiqin sighed.

"Where? A few days ago, the gates of Jincheng reopened. After that, we sent a letter to Baicheng through someone, so they know we moved here. But they haven't said anything or replied."

I don't know what they're thinking, they're just keeping Zhiyi hanging like this.

If they really intend to marry Zhiyi next year, they should come over to express their feelings and discuss everything properly.

After expressing his desire for Zhiyi to be his concubine once before, there has been no further news regarding the marriage.