Chapter 19 Guihua's First Change of Opinion about Xie Yunshuo
Jiang Si not only occupied Xie Yunshuo's drunkard's recliner, but also occupied his yard.
She stayed in the yard, reading under the osmanthus tree, eating fruits, and chatting and laughing with the maids. It was inconvenient for Xie Yunshuo to be outside as well.
He returned to his room to find some peace and quiet. Without Jiang Si in sight, he would surely find peace and quiet.
But when he returned to the room, the red curtains, the auspicious fruit plates, the hanging paintings, the couplets, the unburned wedding candles on the incense table, and the red carpet with mandarin ducks playing in the water in the middle of the room, all remained the same as they had been yesterday.
Jiang Si's things were still placed on the kang table, and her dowry box was next to it.
This house, which originally belonged to Xie Yunshuo, has completely changed its appearance. Even though Jiang Si is not in the house, her presence is still there.
The maid was tidying up the tea set that Jiang Si had just used. She carefully took the cups away without touching the other items she had placed on the table.
Xie Yunshuo had nothing to do, so he looked closely at the jade bonsai on the kang table.
The peach is made of pink emerald, the leaves are made of jade, and the pyracantha is made of agate, all of which are polished to look lifelike and finely crafted.
Such a jade bonsai, which symbolizes good luck and fortune, is obviously the product of a lot of thought and money, which is enough to show how much Jiang Si's friends cherish her.
Xie Yunshuo didn't know or understand Jiang Si. He only knew that Jiang Si had a polarized reputation among her friends.
A delicate and noble lady like Liu Weining did not like her flamboyant and gorgeous appearance, but another group of people praised her, saying that she was frank, generous, and righteous.
If you didn't know that these words were used to praise a noble lady from a Beijing official family, you might think they were talking about some rural bandit, the leader of an escort agency, or some other gangster.
One of the most widely circulated stories, which even Xie Yunshuo knew about, was that a pleasure boat capsized three years ago.
In a hurry, there was not enough space on the small boat to pick up people, so some officials' families were evacuated first.
But there were still Lingren, the maids from the painting studio, and other old, weak and poor people on the boat. Jiang Si gave her place on the small boat to a mother-in-law on the painting boat, got on the boat again, picked up a five-year-old girl and another dancer, and jumped into the water with them from the thick smoke.
She dragged the two people by herself, swam several feet away, and brought them to the shore.
At that time, many people gathered on the shore in shock. They all saw with their own eyes that she, the daughter of an official, saved several dying untouchables by relying on her good swimming skills.
People who dislike Jiang Si scold her for showing off.
But she also had a good reputation for being righteous.
Xie Yunshuo was at the border at the time and did not see the incident with his own eyes. He heard many people mention it after returning to Beijing.
Needless to say, his opinion on this matter is obvious.
Jiang Si has a kind and sincere heart. She is not materialistic or worldly. She cherishes the old and the young, cultivates herself and behaves cleanly. She does have the ability to save others, which is worthy of admiration.
This sounds simple, but when faced with such a life-threatening situation, very few people can do it personally.
Even if everyone is good at swimming, who would dare to risk their own life and gamble on uncertainty just to rescue a few people who have nothing to do with them and are destined to get no reward.
Because Xie Yunshuo had experienced many such things, he knew even more how precious what Jiang Si did was.
No matter how much grudge there was between the two, judging by the facts, Jiang Si's character was noble and far superior to many women whose backgrounds and family conditions were better than hers.
Thinking of this, the confusion accumulated in Xie Yunshuo's heart was inexplicably smoothed out.
The woman outside who occupied his lounge chair was not very kind to him, but he was kind to other people, even old men and children he didn't know.
This... this is also okay...
It's better than marrying someone who is obedient to him but cruel to others.
Character is precious and should be put first when judging people.
Just as I was thinking this, bursts of bright laughter came from outside.
The laughter was so loud and cheerful that even though Xie Yunshuo's heart tightened when he heard it, it also made him inadvertently happy.
The maids and servants serving in the room all turned their heads towards the door curiously.
Xie Yunshuo was also curious. He coughed lightly and asked calmly, "What is Madam doing outside?"
Ningshuang went out to check on him and came back to report after a while.
"Master, the lady is picking osmanthus flowers in the yard."
Xie Yunshuo had nothing to do anyway and was feeling bored just now. When he heard that she was picking osmanthus flowers, he wanted to go and take a look.
But... subconsciously I feel a little embarrassed.
After all, they were both outside together just now. He had just come back and went out to see her again.
Back and forth, somewhat baffling.
But his hesitation lasted only a moment.
People with decisive personalities know what is more important.
He walked outside, turned along the corridor outside the house, and stood under the corridor outside the side room. He could just see Jiang Si and her maid shaking osmanthus flowers about ten steps away.
It was inconvenient to pick osmanthus flowers, so the three of them staggered around the tree. Her wet nurse, Zhen, was holding a bamboo winnowing basket to catch the flowers, and there were two large winnowing baskets on the ground.
When this sweet-scented osmanthus tree was planted, it was already as thick as a small embrace. Now it has grown a lot, and the trunk has become even thicker. If you put your two arms together, you can barely circle it, and the branches and leaves are lush.
Every late autumn, the flowers bloom and their fragrance can last for the entire season.
This is the time when osmanthus flowers are in full bloom. It hasn't rained yet, and the flower buds are crowded together on the treetops.
If it were a small tree, shaking it like Jiang Si and the others did would indeed shake the osmanthus flowers down.
But this tree is old, and the three of them pushed it with their hands, so the shaking was too small, and the osmanthus flowers fell like the drizzle of spring rain, and a few of them fell on the tips of their hair.
The osmanthus flowers in the bamboo winnowing basket are as few as the few stars in the cloudy night sky.
Jiang Si and the others laughed because the three of them gritted their teeth and worked hard, breathing heavily with exhaustion, but the osmanthus flowers on the treetops remained motionless.
However, it also shows that these flowers have just opened and are strong. If they are about to wither, they will fall off with a few shakes.
Xie Yunshuo walked out and felt a little uncomfortable at first. He didn't want Jiang Si to find him, so as to avoid her ostracizing him again.
I wanted to keep my distance from her before, but now I come out to see her. She will definitely laugh at me.
Unexpectedly, when Jiang Si looked up and saw him coming out, she immediately called him.
"Xie Yunshuo, don't just stand there and watch the fun, come and help."
Her open and frank attitude of knowing how to appoint people to the right positions stunned Xie Yunshuo and all the servants in his yard.
Qiu Ze, Jiao Shan and the others were still worried and nervous about the quarrel between the eldest son and his wife after they returned from Zhixingzhai.
The situation didn't improve much after lunch, and the anger between the two remained.
At this time, the lady asked the eldest son to help. Her attitude was completely changed, and there was no trace of her previous unhappiness, which surprised everyone.
The lady has a very straightforward and direct temperament, like a summer rainstorm, her mood comes and goes quickly.
The young master was still a little confused, and he was choking on his breath from the bet, and they could all see it.
But the lady seemed to have forgotten everything and was completely healed.
Jiang Si called Xie Yunshuo as if nothing had happened, so Xie Yunshuo had no choice but to give in.
He responded to her as if nothing had happened and walked towards the osmanthus tree.
Now, the servants smiled with relief and came forward to help.
Jiang Si was not pretending, she really had changed her mood.
Xie Yunshuo was not important to her, so why should she keep her heart tied to him and let him control her joys and sorrows?
Not to mention now, her mood had already changed when she was eating just now.
After eating and drinking, I looked at the beautiful scenery everywhere in the garden, and my mood was already cheerful.
When Jiang Si realized that they couldn't shake down the osmanthus flowers, her first thought when she saw Xie Yunshuo was to pull him over to help.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be a pity to leave such a general who is said to be able to pull a six-stone bow unused?
Xie Yunshuo came over and asked her, "Why are you picking osmanthus flowers?"
In fact, he wanted to ask her how many osmanthus flowers she needed, but when he said it, he became asking what she wanted to do.
Because she wanted his help, Jiang Si did not nitpick his attitude and wording.
"The osmanthus flowers on this old osmanthus tree grow well. We pick them to make osmanthus cake, osmanthus honey, and osmanthus wine, and dry them to make sachets."
She was quick-witted and could come up with many solutions to a problem immediately, and she also gave Xie Yunshuo the answer.
Since she had so many things to do, it meant she needed a lot of osmanthus flowers. Xie Yunshuo only had two bamboo winnowing baskets and called Ningshuang, "Go get two larger bamboo baskets."
The new dustpan was taken and placed on the other side, and the space under the tree was almost full.
When the osmanthus flowers fall, there are four winnowing baskets to catch them, and you can catch a lot of them.
After Xie Yunshuo came closer, he found that they had not been able to pick many flowers. Many flowers fell on Jiang Si's head and stuck to her bun, making her look more cute.
He took a look and looked away.
"Get out of the way."
Several people then walked away together and made room.
Xie Yunshuo walked to the tree, looked around the crown for a while, found the end with the densest branches, and kicked the trunk with his foot.
Everyone else was staring at his movements intently, noting that he moved with ease and his kicks weren't very strong. It looked like just a light kick, but his foot actually made the tree tremble violently.
The scene was in sharp contrast to what had just happened. Suddenly, the whole tree was covered with scattered yellow rain, broken osmanthus leaves were like a canopy, and the strong fragrance was like waves.
When the flowers stop falling, a thin layer of them will form on the dustpan, with few gaps.
The ground is also densely covered with osmanthus flowers.
The onlookers were stunned.
Jiang Si is the most straightforward person and never hesitates to praise others. Even if it is Xie Yunshuo, whom she hates, she will praise him when he does something she can't do.
Surprised, she raised her eyebrows, stared at Xie Yunshuo with wide eyes, and exclaimed, "Xie Yunshuo, how did you kick like that? You actually made the tree drop so many osmanthus flowers. That's amazing."
Xie Yunshuo never expected that she would be willing to praise him so much.
Caught off guard, he didn't know how to react and retreated to the back with a blank expression.
"Put these away first." He then asked, "Is this enough? Do you want more?"
Jiang Si, the maids, and the maids beside Xie Yunshuo, the five of them worked together to pick up the osmanthus flowers that fell to the ground.
The women squatted on the ground with their dresses spread out, blending into a patch of fallen petals.
Jiang Si said as she picked up the pieces, "It's still not enough. Collect some more. You can bump into it twice more later."
Having said that, I couldn't help but praise him.
"We shook it several times just now, but it was only a little bit. Fortunately, I called you over."
On the first day of marriage, Jiang Si, who originally had a very bad impression of Xie Yunshuo because of dislike and disputes, changed her opinion of him.
But the change was only one point.
From now on, Xie Yunshuo had the first benefit in her heart - he was a useful tool for shaking osmanthus flowers.
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