The next day, Jin Hua got dressed up early.

She was wearing a pink double-breasted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with her hair styled in a single bun and adorned with a silver hairpin, making her look bright and pretty.

"I seem to remember that the dress I bought for you was lilac-colored," Xiaoyan said.

Jin Hua blushed slightly: "I made this set myself."

Xiao Yan nodded.

Soon after, Ye Yong and Hu Xiuxiu arrived.

Ye Peng didn't go, feeling it would be pointless without Jin'er and Huan'er.

“This… Jinhua, how do we get there? I’ll go back and hitch up an oxcart!” Ye Yong said.

It wasn't early or late, but Ye Daquan hadn't returned from taking the younger children to class yet, while Ye Erquan had already returned from delivering goods, and the ox was parked at Ye Caiping's house.

"Well... someone from our fabric shop is also going. They said they'd come to pick me up, and they should be here soon," Jin Hua whispered.

Hu Xiuxiu raised an eyebrow.

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves rang out, and a large carriage slowly approached.

The village children, who rarely saw horse-drawn carriages, gathered around laughing to watch the spectacle.

The carriage stopped, and Zhou Ziyang got off. His eyes immediately fell on Jin Hua, and he was momentarily stunned.

Not wanting to praise him in front of everyone, he cupped his hands towards Ye Yong and the others, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My surname is Zhou, and my given name is Ziyang. I'm from Jixiang Cloth Shop."

"Today is the Flower Festival, and my younger sister kept asking to go out with Jinhua, so I went along."

As they were talking, a little girl of about eight or nine years old climbed out of the carriage and smiled at everyone.

Jin Hua smiled and said, "This is our young master and his sister Ting'er. Young master, this is my elder brother and sister-in-law and my cousin."

After a brief chat, everyone got into the car.

Only after the carriage left did Old Lady Ye and Madam Du, who had been hiding at the door, come out.

"Is that the boy in the blue shirt?" Old Mrs. Ye raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it's Jin Hua's young master." Madam Du nodded.

"He's really handsome!"

"Absolutely!"

Grandma Ye, however, was a little worried: "Let's take another look. I feel that such a family is too well-off, always traveling by horse-drawn carriage."

...

At noon, Shunkelou Restaurant—

Ye Caiping had booked a private room on the second floor and was having tea with Ye Daquan.

"Little sister, it's the Flower Festival today. You're not going shopping, you're just here drinking tea?" Ye Daquan said.

"Let's wait a little longer!" Ye Caiping said, sounding nervous and apprehensive.

Today is a very important day! We'll run into the Duchess on our way back after lunch!

As expected, Li Jiaojiao actually went out.

This morning, Ye Caiping waited at the entrance of the town and actually saw Li Jiaojiao and Li Ziming enter the town. After strolling around for a while, the siblings came to Shunkelou for a meal.

Ye Caiping couldn't help but admire Li Jiaojiao's sensitivity to the plot.

They're already so poor, yet they still want to go to the Flower Festival.

In the book, Li Jiaojiao was shopping with Gu Han, but now it's Li Ziming instead. Gu Han must have a limp, and Li Jiaojiao is too embarrassed to take him.

Just then, Manager Chi came over: "Madam Ye, is that the young couple sitting in the corner of the lobby? They just called to settle their bill."

"Then go now."

"good."

Manager Chi responded and went downstairs.

Arriving at Li Jiaojiao and Li Ziming's table, he smiled and said, "Congratulations!"

Li Jiaojiao was taken aback: "What is it?"

"Well, young lady, you are the ten thousandth customer since our shop opened. So we've prepared a special gift for you."

"What?" Li Jiaojiao was pleasantly surprised. They were actually going to give her a gift. It was like a pie falling from the sky.

Furthermore, I've never heard of the claim that the 10,000th customer on opening day should receive a gift.

Never mind, she's lucky anyway.

Li Jiaojiao instantly stood up!

During this period, she was somewhat listless, and her mysterious self-confidence was worn down considerably.

Even now, she feels that her good luck has returned!

Could it be that her feeling this morning was about receiving such a wonderful gift?

She felt restless when she woke up this morning and felt she had to go to town for a stroll, so she took two hundred coins with her and went out.

Now, she's actually encountered such a good thing.

"What amazing gift?" Li Ziming asked excitedly. He was desperately short of money!

Manager Chi clapped his hands, and soon the waiter brought over two large bowls of noodles, each so big that it would take three people to finish!

Li Jiaojiao's face darkened: "What is this? Are you giving us food for free? We've already finished it, so this 'gift' of yours is really insincere."

Manager Chi laughed and said, "No, no, no, what I mean is, if you can finish these two bowls of noodles, not only will you get your meal for free, but you will also receive a reward of five taels of silver."

Five taels? Li Jiaojiao and her brother's eyes immediately lit up.

God knows how tight their lives are these days. They would light up at the sight of even a penny, let alone five taels of silver.

“But… there’s so much food! We’re already full, and the shopkeeper just brought it over…” Li Jiaojiao gritted her teeth.

"So, are you going to eat or not? If not, that's fine too."

Li Jiaojiao is so angry she could die.

Manager Chi added, "Don't worry, you have one and a half hours. If you can finish eating within the time limit, you'll be exempt from paying for the meal and will also receive a bonus of five taels!"

An hour and a half later! The contents of her stomach had almost disappeared! Li Jiaojiao cheered up again.

"I'll eat it!"

Two bowls of noodles were immediately placed in front of the two of them.

The brother and sister picked up their chopsticks and buried their faces in the bowl of noodles, slurping them down as they began to eat.

Ye Caiping stood in the corner and chuckled, "Big brother, let's go back."

The brother and sister left the restaurant and rode in an oxcart out of the town.

Ye Daquan frowned: "Little sister, why did you spend five taels to treat them to noodles?"

"I have my reasons. Let's go back and catch the train at a normal pace."

The book describes how Li Jiaojiao met the Duchess of the Duke on her way home after having dinner in town.

Given Li Jiaojiao's strong sense of the plot, she was just about to pay the bill, meaning that if she walked back now, she would probably run into them.

Lijia Village is very close to the town, only three miles away, and the oxcart moved slowly forward.

Shunkelou—

Li Jiaojiao ate for a while, but she couldn't eat anymore.

For some reason, she suddenly felt unwell all over. The feeling was very familiar, just like the feeling she had after digging up ginseng.

"Bang!" Li Jiaojiao slammed her chopsticks on the table: "This is so annoying, I'm not eating!"

He stood up and turned to leave.

"Hey!" Manager Chi stopped her. "It's only been a quarter of an hour. Look, she's already eaten a quarter of it. Finishing it in an hour and a half is no problem at all."

The onlookers chimed in, "Yes, eat up!"

"I... I don't want to eat right now, I'm leaving!" Li Jiaojiao scratched her head in frustration, the feeling in her heart urging her to go home quickly.

“Jiaojiao, that’s five taels…” Li Ziming thought Li Jiaojiao was too willful.

"Then...you can eat mine too!"

After Li Jiaojiao finished speaking, she rushed out like lightning.

"Jiaojiao—pfft—" Li Ziming, with a mouthful of noodles in his mouth, kept calling out, but then, overwhelmed by the urge, he spat it out with a pfft, with three or five strands even sticking out of his nostrils.

Rolling her eyes, she fell straight backward.