People who are not familiar with you will be afraid of you, and people who are familiar with you will only want to make a wish to the King of Hell.
Although Shen Qing had inexplicably felt a sense of sudden enlightenment in his heart after beating Shen Zhigao, as if some shackles had been removed from him, and he became light and lively. But he was not the real King of Hell after all, and he waved his hands repeatedly in response to Lian Rong's wish: "Although your aunt is indeed very bad, her crime is not punishable by death, right? The punishment should be of the same magnitude as the crime she committed, otherwise what will I become?"
Shen Qing even had some doubts as to whether he had set a strange example for the boys and girls in the village. Look at Lian Rong's voice that was calling for war and killing.
"That's true." Lian Rong sighed deeply and looked at Shen Qing again: "Who are you? You are the living king of hell."
Shen Qing: "...Not really, don't talk nonsense."
He looked carefully at the straw butterfly in his hand, which looked like a real thing even if it was crushed. He thought for a moment and smiled mischievously: "But I can help you vent your anger a little. Just consider it as fulfilling your birthday wish."
Although Lian Rong’s birthday wish was to “take Wang away”, it had nothing to do with Shen Qing’s little trick.
A big reason why Wang targeted Aunt Lian everywhere was because of jealousy. Since she is such a jealous person, let her be more jealous.
Lian Rong looked at him with a confused look. Shen Qing had already taken her little hand and brought her to Miao's room.
Now Miao's room looks a bit like that of a wealthy lady, while also having the rustic atmosphere of the village. There was a newly built kang cabinet against the wall above the kang, filled with brand new bedding and endless new clothes.
The windows were covered with thick, snow-white paper, making the room look clean and bright.
There was a large table on the floor next to the window, which served as a dressing table. In the middle was a bronze mirror the size of a washbasin, with some simple patterns carved on it. There were several jewelry boxes stacked on the left side of the bronze mirror. When I opened the first jewelry box, I saw a small round mercury mirror on the lid. On the right is a pile of bottles and jars, some for facial cleansing and some for hair cleansing. There are also two combs with different tooth spacings next to it.
Lian Rong looked at everything on the table curiously. Her family didn't even have a brass mirror. If she wanted to see her own appearance, she could only look at her reflection in the water.
Shen Qing made her sit down in front of the dressing table and looked at her two tightly tied little buns. Considering his own ability to do things with hands, he did not dare to take them off. She rummaged through the jewelry box, pulled out two headbands, and placed them on her head.
Miao and Aunt Lian were sitting on the kang chatting. Seeing Shen Qing's behavior, they found it interesting: "What are you doing?"
"Today is Sister Rong's birthday, so I bought these two headbands. But mother thought the colors were too bright and didn't like them, right? So I might as well give them to Sister Rong as a birthday present." The two headbands in Shen Qing's hand were bought when he went to Cuihua's shop next door. The thin braided silk rope comes in three colors: peach pink, gouache, and goose yellow. There are also two small beads of unknown material hanging on it, which are also pink in color.
Miao thought it was too fancy and the color was too tender. She thought it was something a little girl would wear and not suitable for her age. Although Shen Qing always praised her for being young, Miao never took her with him.
Hearing Shen Qing say this, she naturally agreed without hesitation, and then she scolded Second Aunt Lian, "Sister Rong's birthday is today? Why didn't you tell me!" Seeing that Shen Qing didn't know how to do it, she got down from the ground and took it over herself. She untied Lian Rong's bun and applied a little hair oil on it, making it fragrant and shiny. The loose hair is tucked in, not looking frizzy at all.
"She's still so young, how can there be any discussion about whether to celebrate her birthday or not!" Second Aunt Lian said, "We're still sending her birthday gifts. We come to your house every day to eat and take things. I feel embarrassed!"
"You helped me when I was poor in the past. Now that I'm financially secure, giving such a small amount to the child is nothing." As Miao spoke, she nimbly used her fingers to make two buns with four-petal flowers for Lian Rong. The hair rope was tied into a bow in the middle, making it look like two beautiful little flower buds on her head. It was very pretty.
Seeing Lian Rong dressed up so beautifully, Miao felt extremely satisfied and said to Second Aunt Lian, "Qing'er has never liked dressing up or flowers since she was a child. I have a lot of skills but nowhere to display them. Today I finally got the chance!"
Ever since the cause of Shen Zhang's death was revealed, Miao didn't say anything, but she was visibly depressed for many days. Lian Rong looked more energetic now after dressing up, and Shen Qing was also happy. Under the pretext of going to his room, he actually took out a box of velvet flowers from the space.
These were made by a few hairpin ladies that Shen Qing hired at the end of the world. There are various exquisite styles in them. Miao chose a peach blossom and a small peach, which complemented each other perfectly. Lian Rong was given two small flower buds, one on the left and one on the right, which made the already cute little girl look even more delicate and beautiful.
"Oh my God, this is not cheap, we can't afford it!" Aunt Lian waved her hands quickly. The hairband was fine, but this velvet flower looked exquisite! When she was with Miss Miao, they would go to the market and buy something with flowers on it to wear, but that was just a cheap item costing a few cents, nothing like the precious box that Shen Qing took out. He quickly picked it for Lian Rong. "She's just a kid, why would she need to wear something so expensive?"
Lian Rong protected the little peach on her head and hid behind Miao: "I like it! I'll wear it for two days, and I'll do the work for Brother Qing!" She had only seen people wearing flowers before, but had never seen anyone with a little peach on their hairband. If she wore it outside, her sisters would be so envious!
Shen Qing was happy: "What can you do for me?" He turned his head and looked at the squashed straw butterfly: "But, call Ou Ge'er to come to my house for lunch. I'll make you an egg feast."
Lian Rong felt a little upset when she heard about eggs: "I don't want to eat eggs anymore. I want to eat meat. I want to eat the sausage made in our workshop."
"What whole egg feast?" Miao and Aunt Lian had no idea what the two were talking about. The atmosphere was good at the moment. Lian Rong was dressed up and she was no longer upset. She told him about how Wang had snatched her bowl of eggs and gave it to Lian Bao, and how her straw-woven butterfly had been stepped on.
Miao and Aunt Lian then understood why Shen Qing suddenly thought of dressing up Lian Rong. It turned out that he wanted to make the little girl happy.
But now Lian Rong stopped crying and was quite happy. After hearing this, Second Aunt Lian was no longer upset: "Forget it, let's not bother with that fool."
Seeing that their second branch had Shen Qing's support, their lives were getting better and better. Even if all the money earned had to be turned over to the public treasury, Miao gave her a handkerchief today, a pair of shoe uppers tomorrow, and asked the children to come over for a good meal the day after tomorrow. The whole family had distanced themselves from the eldest wife in terms of spirit and dress. It would be strange if Wang didn't feel jealous.
But now even Second Aunt has come to terms with it. Although all the money she earns now has to be turned over to the public, some things cannot be shared, such as the relationship between her and Miao. When the family splits up, she will still be Miao's good sister. If any children in the family want to work in the workshop, Qing'er will let them go and will work hard to promote them to be managers.
As for the Wang family, who will continue to send them money after the family is divided? What if she gave birth to another boy and held him in her arms every day as if he were a treasure? Sooner or later, Wang's family would not be able to catch up with them.
I just don't know when we can split up. Second Aunt Lian sighed and started whispering to Miao again. The rule in this village is that the family can only be divided when the elderly pass away. She is not so cruel as to hope that her parents-in-law will die soon, but she really wants to divide the family quickly: "It would be great if we can divide the family now. We are willing to support my parents-in-law, even if the elderly can't get a share."
She sighed like this for the umpteenth time.
Lian Rong wore the hairband and the small peach with velvet flowers given by Shen Qing and showed off in the village. She was envied by all the girls and boys of the same age in the village. Only then did she return to the Lian family leisurely. When she went out, she was just an ordinary country girl, but when she came back, her hair was full of bright hair, which made it hard not to attract people's attention. Everyone in the family was staring at her head.
Wang was just as Shen Qing had expected, she was burning with jealousy. Lian Rong was already cute, and after being dressed like this she looked like a lady from a wealthy family, which made her want to pull Lian Rong back to earth. Wang forced out a very twisted smile and reached out to touch Lian Rong's head: "Hey, Rong Jie, what is that on your head? It's so rare. It's good to be able to work in a workshop and earn money. Your mother is willing to buy you such an expensive hair ornament."
This is an implicit hint that the second brother's family has hidden some private property.
Lian Rong had just experienced the straw butterfly incident, and had been on guard against Wang. She bent her waist to avoid it, and ran behind Old Lady Lian with her head covered. "This was not bought by my mother. Brother Qing saw that my straw butterfly was broken. He felt sorry for me because I couldn't even have a bowl of eggs to eat on my birthday, so he lent it to me. It's okay for my own things, but if this aunt accidentally breaks it again, I can't afford to compensate Brother Qing!"
Lian Rong complained to Old Lady Lian about Wang's case, then poked her head out and said to Old Lady Lian, "Grandma, Qing said he would make me an egg feast, and asked me to call my second brother to eat together. When I come back, I'll bring you some delicious snacks!"
The old lady glanced at Wang, whose face had turned purple, with displeasure. How could anything going on at home be hidden from her eyes? As the second daughter's family became more and more prosperous, the first daughter's family became more and more noisy, and the fighting between the two families made her head hurt. She knew that Wang was taking her anger out on Rong Jie'er today, but if she were to blame Wang for this, Wang would surely cause a lot of trouble, and she would be very annoyed!
After all, he is just a child. How big a deal can he make if he suffers a little injustice?
I didn't expect Qing Ge'er would take the lead in doing this for Rong Jie'er. She also knew that Lian Rong had suffered injustice on her birthday today, so she said, "Go ahead, you don't need to bring anything for grandma. You are lucky to have a cousin like Qing Ge'er who cares about you, but don't be too tactful. If you eat and take things every day, people will hate you after a while." She glanced at Lian Ou next to her and said, "Ou Ge'er, go too."
Wang bit her lip and said, "Mother, it's almost noon. Who will do the work of the second house now that Ou'er is gone? We can't push all the work of the whole family to our first house. This is too bullying..."
Old Madam Lian couldn't bear it any longer, her face fell immediately, "I'll do it, can I do it for him? He's always looking for trouble, the second son and Lian Shi are eating in the workshop, the second son's wife took the children to Qing'er's house, they don't eat at home, and I still have to cook? Should I do the work of the second room or serve you? It's okay for normal times, but today is Rong'er's birthday, Qing'er invited people over, and you're making a fuss about it just for this day. Do you really care about this little work or can't stand seeing others have a good time?!"
Wang didn't expect that Old Lady Lian would suddenly attack her and expose her face so rudely. She was extremely embarrassed and muttered hatefully, "In the end, mother saw that the second wife was climbing up the social ladder, so her heart also leaned towards that side and looked down on our first wife. I think she understands it." After that, she turned around and hugged Lian Bao and went into the house.
Even the old lady was so angry that she laughed. She still favors the second wife? If she favors the second wife, can the money she earns be turned over to the public? She is so partial to the first wife that she has lost all her face! But there is one thing that is true: the second branch of the family has climbed up the social ladder, and whether the Lian family can get up depends on the relationship between the second branch's wife and Miao Chunlei and Qingger.
Now that what happened to Shen Zhiwei in the village has happened, the elderly people in the family have become much more vigilant. Although it is common sense to value the eldest son in the village, there must be a limit. It would be bad if one is too partial and forces Shen Zhiwei to appear.
Although they don't think that the unfilial Shen Zhiwei is right, which family wouldn't be afraid of having such a person?
Therefore, even the old lady and her husband reflected on themselves. Seeing Shen Qing value Lian Rong and Lian Ou, Old Lady Lian was rarely friendly to the little girl and boy at home and said, "Go to Qing'er and learn more from him. Don't worry about the housework. I have milk for you."
Wang was secretly watching from inside the house. Lian Rong and Lian Ou finally left hand in hand. Her behavior was no longer effective in front of Old Madam Lian. She was so angry that she almost tore the handkerchief in her hand.
She was angry and jealous, but she had no place to vent. She turned around and saw her little brother Lian Ye, and she started to vent her anger: "You useless guy, look at Lian Rong, she is so cunning, her heart is all over her face, she is clinging to Shen Qing like a lapdog, how old is she but she knows how to find a way out for herself and find a backer. What about you? You can't even speak a complete sentence, no wonder the village head's wife looks down on you and won't let you enter the workshop! Why am I so unlucky to give birth to a useless person like you!"
Lian Ye was changing Lian Bao's bib. The child is not small anymore, but because he is held in Wang's arms every day, he learns to speak and walk later than other children of the same age, and now he drools frequently. Suddenly, Wang scolded him, and Lian Ye could only lower his head and shed tears silently.
Why do Qing'er and Aunt Guixiang like him? He is not Qingger's cousin, and his mother is not a sister of Aunt Miao, and he has no friendship with Aunt Miao. Why should they let him into the workshop?
It was obviously his parents who failed to give him the same good background as Lian Rong and Lian Ou, but now they blame him. How could there be such a thing in the world?
He shed tears silently, but didn't even dare to sob out loud. Unlike Aunt Lian, Wang was always very harsh to her own brother. She only loved the boy who could give her face. When she saw her crying, Wang would scold her even more fiercely.
Lian Ou was dragged by Lian Rong to Shen Qing's house. She looked back every few steps, feeling very uneasy: "What does Qing'er want to see me for? Otherwise, I'd better go back. My aunt will make trouble at home again."
"Afraid of her?" Lian Rong's son became proud again. "I just saw that grandma seems to be different from before. It may be that grandma values Qingge more and thinks that Qingge's words are much more important than those of aunt." She was very keenly aware of the change in Mrs. Lian's attitude, and this change would have a great impact on her and the entire structure of the Lian family. It was hard to say what would happen in the future.
Lian Rong thought to herself, he really is worthy of being called the living King of Hell, even her grandma has to listen to Brother Qing!
Lian Ou thought about it and said, "It seems a little different." His eyes fell on the velvet flower on Lian Rong's head. "It's really beautiful. Qing Ge'er is so generous to lend you such expensive jewelry."
Lian Rong touched her hair and laughed happily: "This is the birthday gift that Brother Qing gave me! I was just trying to scare my aunt!"
Lian Ou was a little surprised, "Qingge'er is such a nice and generous person." He carefully touched the velvet flower on Lian Rong's head. This time Lian Rong did not hide, and the brother and sister happily went to the courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
Shen Qing joked about making an egg feast, but he would not really feed only eggs to the birthday boy. Miao killed a chicken, stewed half of it for soup, braised the other half for cooking, and used the chicken soup to make a bowl of longevity noodles for Lian Rong, with a fried egg on top. Everyone was eating with grease dripping from their mouths. Even Second Auntie slapped her forehead as she looked at the chicken bones on the table and said, "I almost forgot. Li Yanzi asked my brother to tell her that a very smart dog in her mother's village had given birth to puppies. She asked you to go back and pick one. It would be best if you could pick a puppy that is destined to be with you."
Shen Qing's family had planned to raise a dog a long time ago to guard the house and the workshop. I had entrusted it to Liu Yue'e and Li Yanzi before, but it's not easy to get a puppy, so I finally got it now.
After hearing this, Miao said, "Qing'er, go pick one someday."
Shen Qing shook his head: "I'm not at home often, and I will have to go out for business in a few days. You should let mother choose. Pick the one that will protect you the most." Due to a series of events recently, he had not returned to the end of the world for several days. He had already anticipated how resentful Song Kaiji would be.
"Brother Qing is going to do business again." Second Aunt Lian had heard a lot about doing business and had seen all kinds of good things Shen Qing brought out, so she was a little curious, "What is it like outside? It must be bigger than the county town, right? How come there are all kinds of good things?"
The farthest place she had ever been to was Anping County, and she might not go there once or twice a year. Many people in the village didn't even dare to enter the county. To her, doing business was so mysterious and distant.
"When my business grows bigger, I will take you all out to play and see it with your own eyes." Shen Qing said with a smile. Of course he couldn't take them to the end of the world, but it would be nice to take them to the next county town or provincial capital just for fun.
Second Aunt Lian immediately retreated again, waving her hands repeatedly: "No, no, I'm going to be scared to death if I can't even get to the capital."
However, Lian Rong and Lian Ou next to them showed some longing looks on their faces.
Shen Qing didn't say any more about the business trip. Instead, he changed the subject and took out the squashed straw butterfly and asked Lian Ou, "Was this woven by Brother Ou?"
Lian Ou nodded.
“Can it be woven with other materials?”
"Is it okay?" Lian Ou didn't quite understand why Qing Ge'er asked that, but still answered honestly, "I made this with the stems of dogtail grass. It's thin and tough, so it works well. I also used thin willow branches and purple-leafed locust trees before, and I could make it, but it wasn't as pretty as this."
Lianou was very thoughtful in making this birthday gift for my sister.
Shen Qing took out two bundles of jade thread, one pink and one purple, and handed them to him: "Why don't you try to braid it with this?"
Lian lotus root:! ! !
No matter how slow he was, he realized that Qing Ge'er was going to pull him and his family out again! But looking at those shiny silk-like strings, Lian Ou curled up her fingers and didn't dare to take them. "Can I do it? I have calluses on my hands, and I will damage the silk thread."
"It's okay, you can try to weave it first. This kind of rope is not worth much. If you can weave it well, I will train you and teach you new tricks. From now on, you just need to weave this thing. I plan to open a Cuihua shop in the county town, and you will supply me with goods." Shen Qing said. This time he didn't say that a nobleman was going to open a shop, but said that he was going to open one himself. However, even none of his family members questioned it. I don't know whether they didn't realize it or felt that it was not surprising that Qing Ge'er now had his own shop.
This will gradually allow the villagers to accept that he has a lot of money and a lot of property, which is good.
Lian Ou looked at Shen Qing in a daze, and Second Aunt Lian's gaze was also hesitant.
Lian Rong was the first to stand up and encourage Lian Ou: "Brother, just give it a try! You are so deft, you can weave butterflies, little swallows, gold and jade, they all look beautiful, you can definitely do it! It's not that your aunt doesn't want you to work in the workshop, but that's why you can't make money. Just weave things for Qing Ge, you can also make money at home, don't let her be jealous!"
Aunt Lian patted her on the shoulder and said, "What nonsense are you talking about." She looked at Lian Ou with a complicated look.
Lian Ou is about to get married. If Qing'er hadn't said that if she waited another year or two, she would be able to find a better family, Second Aunt Lian would have probably already agreed to the Shiqu Village chief's proposal to marry Lian Ou to his youngest son.
Qing'er is a very good person. He is capable, sensible and can make money. He is good in every way, but he is too opinionated. Even Second Aunt doesn't know how to describe such a boy.
Maybe it just doesn't conform to current mainstream values.
It would be fine if he just worked in the workshop, but if Ou'er followed Qing'er to work, would he be influenced by Qing'er and become opinionated and disobedient? Even Second Aunt loves her own children regardless of their personalities, and she is afraid that this personality will delay Lian Ou's marriage.
Doesn’t Qingge just want to not get married? She mentioned it a few times when she just came out of Old Shen's house, but now she doesn't even mention it. Chunlei is not in a hurry and looks like she can't do anything about it.
In Aunt Lian’s mind, how could people not get married? You have to get married when you reach a certain age. It's wrong not to get married. She was afraid that if Lian Ou followed Qing Ge'er to work, Lian Ou would become like this.
But she looked at Lian Ou for a long time, struggling in her heart, and in the end, her mother's love for her son prevailed. She took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and encouraged Lian Ou with a smile: "Qing Ge'er is praising you and letting you try, so just give it a try!"
We’ll talk about the future in the future. What if I'm just overthinking it?
Even my mother said so. Under everyone's smiling gaze, Lian Ou finally plucked up the courage, nodded, and took the two rolls of jade threads from Shen Qing.
Later, Lian Ou thanked Shen Qing and God many times, thanking himself for not backing down at that moment, which changed the life of a confused and chaotic young man.
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