Chapter 133 Chapter 133 Qixi Festival

The two of them dressed neatly and prepared to go out to see the lanterns.

Seeing Zhou and Fu Yan returning to the siblings, Yu Li turned around and asked them, "Mom, do you want to go with us to watch the lanterns?"

Fu Yanhui and his sister were playing with rabbit lanterns and were very excited when they heard this.

Zhou held their hands and said with a smile, "You two go ahead, we'll go later."

The young couple went to see the lanterns together, so sweet and happy. How could she be so tactless as to bring her two children to disturb them?

Yu Li heard this and said nothing.

They now live in the county town, unlike living in the village where it is inconvenient to travel back and forth. The county town is very safe, especially during festivals like this. It is said that the police will patrol various places in the county town to ensure the safety of the people.

As long as you don't go to places with few people and darkness, it is still very safe and there is no need to worry about anything.

After saying goodbye to Zhou and the others, the two of them went out together.

Fu Wenxiao held a lotus lantern in his hand.

Zhou made four lanterns, just enough for one person. Yu Li, Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng all chose rabbit lanterns, and the lotus lantern was given to Fu Wenxiao.

Fu Wenxiao didn't care about this and went out with the lantern in his hand.

Yu Li's rabbit lantern was still hanging in the study. She didn't have the lantern in her hand. Fu Wenxiao wanted to give it to her, but she waved her hand to indicate that he didn't want it and let him take it.

She said confidently: "I'm going to buy some food later. It's not convenient to carry the lantern."

After hearing this, Fu Wenxiao smiled and took it himself.

When the two went out, they met people in the alley.

On the rare Chinese Valentine's Day, most people in the county will go to see the lanterns, and people in the alley are no exception.

There were young couples with children, families with children, and young girls who went to see the lanterns together...

When they saw Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao going out together, everyone was surprised.

"Madam Fu!" someone called out, "You, you're back from the city? When did you come back?"

This time when Yu Li went to suppress the bandits, she told the public that she was going to the provincial capital to visit her relatives.

She had been gone for more than a month, so it was inevitable that some people would secretly mutter that she was a daughter-in-law who was not at home. Fortunately, Aunt Fu and Mr. Fu did not care.

However, they only grumbled in private. When they met the Fu family, no one dared to say anything. They were afraid that Madam Fu would hear it when she came back and would come to their house carrying a large stone.

Seeing her at this moment, everyone was surprised and subconsciously tensed up, feeling a little uneasy.

Have they not been gossiping about her lately?

Probably not. Who dares to gossip about the Fu family or Madam Fu now? When they met the Fu family, they were all polite, for fear of accidentally offending Madam Fu.

Yu Li greeted them politely and said, "I just came back yesterday."

Fu Wenxiao nodded to them with a smile.

It was already dark, and there were many lanterns hanging in Shuying Lane. In the night, the light from the lanterns fell on people, making them seem better looking than in the daytime.

Not to mention that Fu Wenxiao has a handsome appearance, and a simple blue robe cannot hide his charm.

He stood under the light, and everyone was stunned when they saw him smile.

After the couple left, those people finally reacted.

"Oh, this Mr. Fu is so handsome."

"That's right. I have never seen a man more handsome than him in my life. Just now, I saw him suddenly smile, and his smile made me nervous."

Someone asked in confusion: "Why are you so nervous?"

Shouldn't I be blushing and having my heart beating fast?

Many young girls and wives in the alley blushed and felt shy every time they saw Mr. Fu. Fortunately, Mrs. Fu was so powerful and she was also a beauty, otherwise there would be so many women thinking about Mr. Fu.

"It's because Madam Fu was away. Every time I saw him, he looked cold and unkind. I never thought he would suddenly smile like this. It looks good, but it's so scary."

After hearing this, many people reacted.

In the past month or so, every time I saw Fu Wenxiao, he had no smile on his face and looked particularly cold, which made people inexplicably afraid and they didn't even dare to say hello to him.

But after watching him for a long time, they got used to him.

Just now, when he was standing with Madam Fu, he actually showed a cold attitude that kept strangers away and even smiled at them.

Not only does he smile, he also looks gentle and approachable.

Isn’t this a huge change?

"From what I see, I guess it's because Madam Fu is back, so he's happy."

Otherwise, why would he smile like this?

This statement was agreed by many people, and their expressions were a little subtle. They really didn't expect that Mr. Fu, who looked like an immortal, had such unique preferences. He liked women like Ms. Fu. As soon as she came back, his mood became better.

**

Soon after walking out of Shuying Lane, there is a main street.

There are shops lined on both sides of this street, with many lanterns hanging. The whole street is brightly lit, with people coming and going, and it is very lively.

Yu Li looked left and right, his face full of curiosity.

The lights gathered in the depths of her eyes, like twinkling stars, making her eyes exceptionally bright.

Fu Wenxiao held the lotus lantern in his hand, ignored the gazes around him, and followed her slowly.

"Ali."

He suddenly shouted.

Yu Li turned his head and found that he seemed to have fallen down, so he quickly took a few steps back and took the initiative to hold his hand.

"Follow me. If I walk fast and you can't keep up, just tell me." She reminded him, remembering that he was still sick and she had to take care of him.

Fu Wenxiao responded with a smile. Looking at the hand she was holding, he felt very happy and took the initiative to hold her hand back.

The two walked hand in hand on the street.

Shanping County is located in the southernmost part of Daqing Dynasty. The people here are open-minded and there is no strict separation between men and women. Even if men and women hold hands on the street, it will not seem strange.

Not to mention that during such festivals, there are already many young men and women coming out together to see the lanterns, and many of them walk hand in hand. The two of them walking among them are not conspicuous.

They first went to see the lanterns, then went to see acrobatics, and then went to guess lantern riddles.

When guessing riddles, Fu Wenxiao was the one who guessed, and Yu Li was responsible for collecting the prizes. One prize could be collected for guessing twenty riddles.

The prize is the lantern.

Because he guessed so quickly, he guessed twenty at once and continued to guess.

Seeing that he was about to guess all the riddles at his stall, the owner of the riddle stall was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and wished he could send this talented man away quickly.

Although Yu Li was very happy, he did not embarrass the boss and said, "Give us this palace lantern and we will leave!"

The most beautiful item in this riddle stall is a palace lantern, which is the most exquisitely crafted.

This is also the most valuable lantern in this stall.

The owner of the lantern riddle stall was eager for the two to leave quickly, so he took down the lantern and handed it to her, saying, "My dear, I only run a small business here. If you want to guess lantern riddles, you can go over there. There is a lantern riddle meeting held by the government, and the rewards are very generous. You should go quickly."

The purpose of his stall is to make a little money. As long as you can guess twenty riddles, you can take the lantern you like. If you don't guess twenty, you have to pay.

He specially asked a scholar from his relative's family to help him write a lot of riddles. The scholar also vowed that these riddles were very difficult. But how were they difficult?

Yu Li held the beautiful palace lantern and said with a smile: "Okay, let's go over there and guess the lantern riddles."

The stall owner breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sent the two away.

Then the two of them went to a lantern riddle party held by the government, where many scholars gathered and were all guessing lantern riddles.

When they saw Fu Wenxiao, someone shouted, "It's Case Master Fu!"

"Mr. Fu is here too!"

"Hurry up, hurry up, let him guess with me! There's a very difficult one here, I really can't guess it."

Fu Wenxiao's arrival was welcomed by these scholars.

He frowned slightly when he was called over.

Yu Li looked over there and suddenly got a little excited. He came close to him and whispered, "Xiao brother, look at the reward over there. It says that the person who guesses the most riddles can get a table of food from Zhiweizhai as a reward."

She looked at him with sparkling eyes. This was a free table.

A table of food at Zhiweizhai is very expensive, costing ten taels of silver.

But there is a reason for its high price, it is indeed delicious and the portion is large. It is the signature dish of Zhiweizhai. If you want to eat it, you have to make a reservation in advance.

Fu Wenxiao met her gaze and said, "I'll go win it back for you!"

If she wants it, then go for it.

He rolled up his sleeves, walked calmly over with the group of scholars, and started guessing riddles.

Yu Li stood not far away, staring at him closely. Seeing him guessing the riddles one by one faster than the people around him, he knew he had it figured out.

In just two quarters of an hour, Fu Wenxiao took the reward personally given to him by the county magistrate, said goodbye to the people around him, and left leisurely.

Yu Li came over and said happily: "Xiao brother, you are awesome!"

Fu Wenxiao's eyes were gentle, and seeing her happy, he felt a surge of joy in his heart.

It was obvious that he used to dislike such noisy places and was unwilling to guess riddles with those so-called scholars. He thought it was just a show of attraction and really boring.

However, when he saw her smiling face, he suddenly felt that everything before his eyes was so vivid and interesting. No matter what he was asked to do, he would be happy to do it and did not feel that it was just a way to attract attention.

It seems that even the most boring things will become interesting as long as I'm with her.

Fu Wenxiao handed her a sign with the Zhiweizhai logo on it and said, "Take this sign and you can go to Zhiweizhai to eat the banquet noodles."

Yu Li looked at it happily and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, I'll ask mom to go with us then." Then he said with some regret, "It would be great if there were lantern riddle activities like this every day."

Fu Wenxiao laughed, "I heard that there is also a Lantern Festival during the Lantern Festival, so it should be held then."

"Then let's come together then!" she said without hesitation.

He smiled and nodded.

After the riddles were guessed, Yu Li pulled him forward and said, "Xiao brother, you are really well-educated."

She also looked at the riddles. She could guess some of them, but not some of them. She just felt confused.

So when she saw that Fu Wenxiao could guess it easily, she admired him in her heart. He was indeed a rare genius with a smart brain.

Fu Wenxiao felt a little embarrassed by her praise, and said implicitly: "I just read more books. If you read more books, you can guess it."

He was not lying. He had indeed read a lot of books and had a good memory, so guessing riddles was not a difficult task for him.

Then he said that if she was interested, he could teach her.

Yu Libai touched his belly and said casually, "Let's talk about it when we have time."

Seeing her actions, Fu Wenxiao knew that she must be hungry, so he accompanied her to eat.

The two came to an alley selling all kinds of food and ate their way along the street.

Fu Wenxiao held two lanterns in her hands to make it easier for her to eat.

When she ate delicious food, she would share it with him and ask him with sparkling eyes: "Xiao brother, is it delicious?"

"It's delicious." Fu Wenxiao said, "But I'm full, you can eat more."

Upon hearing this, Yu Li stopped feeding him and concentrated on tasting the delicious food on the street.

Suddenly, Yu Li stopped and looked at a stall selling rice balls in surprise. Sun Fangniang was selling multi-grain rice balls with a strange girl.

"Fang Niang!" she called out over there.

Sun Fangniang was busy. When she heard the voice, she turned around and her eyes lit up when she saw the two people.

"Li Niang!" she shouted excitedly, "When did you come back? Hey, wait a moment."

She called out to Yu Li and quickly made rice balls for the guests.

The multi-grain rice ball business is very good, and there are quite a few people coming to buy rice balls. Probably because they think it is cheap, comes in large quantities, and comes with braised meat, which tastes pretty good, so everyone is willing to buy it.

Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao waited patiently on the side.

She held a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts in her hand, peeling and eating them while waiting. She also fed one to Fu Wenxiao and said, "The chestnuts here are very fragrant and taste better than the previous one."

Fu Wenxiao smiled and nodded.

When Sun Fangniang was almost done with her work, she asked another girl to look after the stall and she gave a rice ball to Yu Li who was waiting on the side.

"Li Niang, cousin-in-law." She greeted them.

Yu Li took her rice ball and asked, "So you guys are setting up a stall here, why aren't Jin Niang and the others here?"

Sun Fangniang smiled and said, "Jinniang, Second Aunt, and Zheng Ge'er are setting up stalls in other places. Today is the Qixi Festival, and there are many people coming to see the lantern festival. We will set up stalls separately, and we can make more money this way."

Then she introduced to Yu Li that the girl who was helping over there was from the same village as her, a sister of the same clan as Sun Fangniang. Because their business was getting better and better and they were short of manpower, they asked someone they knew in the village to come and help.

She asked Yu Li again when he would come back.

"I came back yesterday."

Yu Li chatted with her and saw that Sun Fangniang had a bright smile on her face and looked very confident. It was obvious that after coming to work in the county, she had been transformed and became cheerful and confident.

After asking where Yu Jin's stall was, Yu Li said goodbye to Sun Fangniang and went to look for Yu Jin with Fu Wenxiao.

Yu Jin’s stall is on another street, which is also very busy.

However, Yu Jin's stall does not sell food, but some lanterns, embroidery, and toys from the capital city. The styles are very novel and attract many people to buy.

Yu Li was a little surprised that this business was actually quite good and no worse than selling food.

Seeing Yu Li, Yu Jin's eyes widened in surprise, and he handed the stall to Sun Zheng and Liu and hurried over.

"Big sister, when did you come back?"

As she spoke, she looked at Yu Li. Seeing that she was in good spirits and didn't seem to have lost weight, she felt relieved.

Yu Jin didn't know where her sister had been for the past month and a half. Although the Fu family told others that her sister had gone to the provincial capital to visit relatives, she didn't quite believe it.

If the Fu family really had relatives in the provincial capital, she would have heard about it long ago. And even if they were going to visit relatives, her sister couldn't be the only one going, right? Why didn't the rest of the Fu family go?

That's why she knew her sister must be doing something else.

Yu Jin was somewhat worried, knowing her sister's ability. She reluctantly comforted herself that her sister would be fine. However, seeing that Yu had been gone for so long, she couldn't help but miss her, but she didn't dare to ask anything.

Now that her sister is back safely, she is very happy.

Seeing her happy look, Yu Li couldn't help but touch her head and asked, "Are you not doing the rice ball business anymore?"

"I still do!" Yu Jin said hurriedly, "Now the rice ball business has expanded. I cooperate with the manager at the dock. Every night when a cargo ship arrives and the porters are needed to work overnight, the manager will buy rice balls from me and give them to the porters for free..."

The dock is sometimes very busy at night, and loading and unloading are not time-sensitive.

It's okay during the day, but if they work at night, many porters will be very hungry after work, but there is no place to buy food because the dock does not sell anything at night.

After the manager knew this, he prepared rice balls made of whole grains for them to fill their stomachs, which would earn them the gratitude of the laborers.

Ever since County Magistrate Zhang made up his mind to revamp the docks last year, the dock managers have been replaced. These new managers are relatively honest and unlike the previous ones, they were eager to exploit the dock workers to death.

The manager who worked with Yu Jin was a man of great ability. He wanted to perform well in front of Magistrate Zhang, so he planned to start with these laborers.

This is the steward's first step to improve the lives of the boatmen at the dock.

This multi-grain rice ball is cheap, contains meat, vegetables and staple food, and is easy to take.

The manager naturally did not have to pay out of his own pocket. When cooperating with those merchant ships, he could deduct some fees from them and use them to pay for the multi-grain rice balls.

After Yu Jin negotiated the deal, the business of multi-grain rice balls became even better.

However, she felt that no matter how good the multi-grain rice ball business was, it was limited, so she prepared to start a new business, targeting things in the provincial capital.

"Big sister, look at these things, I brought them back from the city." Yu Jin pointed at the goods on the stall and said happily, "Half a month ago, Fang Niang and I went to the city and brought back some goods. We planned to sell them on the night of the Chinese Valentine's Day..."

Yu Li was a little surprised, "You went to the capital city?"

"Yes." Yu Jin was a little embarrassed. "Things from the capital have always been popular in the county. I have always wanted to bring some things back from the capital to sell..."

The last time Yu Li came back from the provincial capital, Yu Jin had heard her talk about the provincial capital and had always wanted to go and take a look.

The provincial capital is relatively close to the county town and can be reached in half a day, which is quite convenient.

Yu Jin was a bold girl. She had been practicing physical skills for almost a year and finally achieved results. After testing her own strength, she decided to go to the provincial capital and followed Sun Fangniang on a merchant ship to the provincial capital.

They stayed in the city for three days, bought a lot of things, and found a merchant ship to ship them back.

She was not in a hurry to sell the things she brought back, and only put them out today, the Chinese Valentine's Day. Because they were from the provincial capital, business was better than expected.

Yu Jin said excitedly, "Sister, after I sell this batch of goods, I can save some money. I plan to rent another house in the county town and open a store to sell other things."

She already had a plan in mind, but it needed to be perfected.

When I saw her sister, I couldn't help but excitedly want to tell her about my plan.

Yu Li listened patiently. Although Yu Jin only spoke briefly, he was still surprised by her bold idea.

Such a sister is really a joy to have.

Yu Jin is no longer the farm girl trapped in Qingshi Village. She is now confident and bright, dares to think and act, and will definitely become a very successful businessman in the future.

After talking for a while, Yu Jin finally reacted. Her sister had just come back, and it seemed that she came to see the lanterns with her brother-in-law.

She felt a little embarrassed and said hurriedly, "Sister, brother-in-law, you are here to see the lanterns, I won't disturb you."

Seeing that the stall was indeed very busy, Yu Li said, "You go ahead and do your work. I'll come see you tomorrow."

Fu Wenxiao also nodded to Yu Jin and let her get busy.

Yu Jin sighed and said happily, "Big sister, I'll wait for you in the store tomorrow."

"OK."

After Yu Jin left, Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao also left.

While walking on the road, Yu Li said, "I didn't expect Jin Niang to dare to go to the city and bring things back from the city to sell. She's quite impressive."

This sister is growing up faster than she imagined.

Fu Wenxiao held two lanterns in his hands and said with a smile: "Your sisters are all very capable."

"really."

Yu Li nodded. She felt happy when she heard him praising her sister.

The two continued to stroll around until it was almost time, and they finally went home.

When I got home, Zhou and the two children had already gone to bed.

The two of them tiptoed to the study with the lantern.

Arriving at the study, Yu Li went to the cabinet and took out a box.

When Fu Wenxiao saw this, his heart skipped a beat and he already knew what was in the box.

"Xiao brother, this is the Qixi Festival gift I prepared for you." Yu Li handed the box over, "Happy Qixi Festival."

Fu Wenxiao reached out to take it, his heart was filled with excitement, the corners of his lips couldn't help but rise, and a smile filled his eyes.

He opened the box and found an exquisite concentric sphere inside.

This made him a little stunned. He didn't expect that she would give him a concentric sphere. Didn't she know what the concentric sphere represented?

"This thing is pretty nice. I heard it's called a ghost ball. I bought it at Xu Jiang Mansion." Yu Li said, "Do you like it?"

When she saw someone carving this thing, she was very curious.

After seeing the other party finish carving, she bought it directly.

Fu Wenxiao smiled and nodded, and suddenly asked: "Li Niang, do you know that this ghost ball has another name?"

Yu Li nodded, "I know, it's called the Concentric Sphere."

He then asked, "Then do you know what the concentric spheres represent?"

This involved Yu Li's blind spot, and she looked at him with confusion.

This thing looks very exquisite. She originally bought it for herself to play with. Later, when she heard that gifts were required for Chinese Valentine's Day, she decided to give it to him as a gift.

Seeing this, Fu Wenxiao felt a little regretful, but he was still happy in his heart.

He smiled and said, "Then I'll accept it. Thank you, Li Niang."

Then he also gave her the gift he had prepared.

"You're preparing a gift for me?" Yu Li was very surprised. She heard that he had been sick for several days and she thought he didn't have time to prepare it.

She could understand if he wasn't prepared.

Fu Wenxiao said, "This is our first Chinese Valentine's Day since we were together, so of course I have to prepare." Then he smiled and sighed, "I thought you wouldn't be able to come back and I couldn't give this gift away. Fortunately, you're back."

When Yu Li heard him say this, he inexplicably felt guilty.

She coughed lightly, opened the gift he gave her, and found it was a jade hairpin.