Another spring has arrived, and in the blink of an eye, Zhu Jiayu and Wei Qinglou have been married for a year.
During that year, all of Qiu's cousins were betrothed to men from wealthy and well-educated families in Heling City. Zhu Jiayu sent people to deliver generous dowries to them.
My cousin Songdao failed in his studies and turned to business, where he achieved remarkable success. My cousin Lingyan even sent a letter to Zhu Jiayu a few days ago, saying that the Qiu family mansion had expanded by more than half again.
My cousin Zhu Qing was sent to Fuyuan to serve as an official. He married a young lady from a prominent local family, who was said to be a very virtuous and intelligent woman.
After marrying into the Wei family, Zhu Jiayu didn't particularly enjoy gatherings among the ladies of prominent families. She mostly associated with Song Jiangmei and Gu Heguang.
In their spare time, the three of them would often get together for a small gathering, either to have a drink and admire the flowers, or to make clothes and choose jewelry.
That day, the fabric that Gu Heguang was sending to Zhu Jiayu arrived. The fabric was of a light, gauze-like texture, but it was different from ordinary gauze. When the gauze she sent was placed under the sunlight, it could reflect a shimmering light, and from different angles, the light would change colors: vermilion, light crimson, dark blue, milky yellow...
Gu Heguang said that this is called Jiaoxiao, and it is very expensive.
Because Zhu Jiayu had sent her several embroidery pieces, the colors were lustrous and soft, and the stitches were simple and not cumbersome, which could highlight the roundness and fullness of the embroidered flowers, leaves and fruits without being bulky and complicated. In her letter, she also mentioned the stitches used in the embroidery so that Gu Heguang could teach the embroiderers to learn.
Later, the embroidered garments made using this method were indeed a bestseller in both the north and south, making the jade hairpins and phoenix ornaments even more abundant than before.
To express his gratitude to Zhu Jiayu, Gu Heguang ordered people to find several bolts of silk and send them to her across mountains and rivers. Zhu Jiayu then sent a bolt to Gu Jinshu, Song Jiangmei, her mother-in-law and aunt, and Old Madam Xiao.
He left another horse for Jiang Shaoxing to pass on to Madam Jiang.
In this life, she never had the opportunity to become friends with Madam Jiang, which always left Zhu Jiayu with a sense of regret. But Madam Jiang was never one to enjoy socializing; she had only offered her help out of pity and compassion. Now that she was the wife of the Grand Secretary, Madam Jiang naturally no longer felt any affection for her, only treating her with polite formalities.
But Zhu Jiayu thought that this was already good enough. She knew there were such good people in the world, and even if they could no longer have a deep and understanding relationship, it was enough.
Having obtained the new fabric, it was natural to invite an embroiderer to take measurements and embroider a new skirt.
Looking at the measurements the embroiderer had written down, Zhu Jiayu looked at her friend with utter bewilderment: "How did I gain so much weight..."
Song Jiangmei, always good-natured, comforted her, saying, "You're just a little plump, not fat."
Gu Jinshu nodded: "It's normal to feel this way when you eat more in winter. It will be fine when summer comes."
Zhu Jiayu suffers from the summer heat; once summer arrives, she loses her appetite and naturally loses weight.
But summer is still a long way off! How is she going to get through this time?
Gu Jinshu yawned and mumbled, "There's nothing to worry about. Anyway, I'm not going to lose weight anytime soon. You'd be better off thinking about what to eat for lunch."
Song Jiangmei said, "I heard that a new restaurant called Rongxueju has opened in the capital. The chef comes from the north and makes dishes of hot pot. The copper pot is dark yellow, filled with red broth, which is fresh, fragrant, spicy and numbing. The meat slices are three parts fat and seven parts lean, so thin that they can be seen through them. What do you think?"
Gu Jinshu thought it was good, so the two of them looked at Zhu Jiayu together.
Zhu Jiayu shook her head: "I don't want to eat."
"Let's go to Xiangyuanzhai. They recently added crab roe vermicelli, pounded pepper preserved egg, and pickled bamboo shoots with cured meat. I haven't tried any of them yet," Gu Jinshu suggested.
Song Jiangmei was somewhat intrigued, but Zhu Jiayu shook her head again: "It doesn't sound appetizing at all."
She has recently lost her appetite and finds it difficult to eat anything.
"So what do you want to eat?" the two asked in unison, sounding helpless.
Zhu Jiayu thought for a moment and said, "Pickled cabbage fish?"
"Hot and sour shredded potatoes?"
"If all else fails, sour soup pig's feet is also acceptable."
Gu Jinshu got married last winter. She had a governess serving her. She was already aware of her mother's pregnancy back then. When she heard Zhu Jiayu say this, her eyes changed slightly, but she suppressed her inner thoughts and asked gently, "Have you been eating less lately? You used to love to eat, but lately you can't seem to bring yourself to eat them?"
Zhu Jiayu immediately perked up: "How did you know? Could it be that you've recently learned some skill in judging people by their appearance?"
Since it wasn't a big deal, Zhu Jiayu didn't bother to see a doctor. Even Wei Qinglou didn't know about it, and she couldn't imagine how Gu Jinshu could have heard about it.
Gu Jinshu asked her again, "Did you have your period last month?"
Zhu Jiayu was slightly taken aback: "No...no."
What about this month?
"It's not time yet this month."
As Zhu Jiayu answered her question, she gradually understood what she meant. Her earlobes flushed slightly, and she said, "Then I'll go and ask Lüzheng to invite Dr. Liu, the renowned gynecologist, to take a look?"
Gu Jinshu gave her a reproachful look: "You're usually so shrewd, why are you being so foolish today? If you go and invite Doctor Liu, everyone will know what you're up to. If you're really pregnant, that's fine, but what if you're not? My governess is also skilled in medicine. Wait a moment, I'll have Mulan go and invite her over to take your pulse."
About fifteen minutes later, the governess arrived. She placed her hand on Zhu Jiayu's wrist, checked her pulse, and then congratulated her with great joy: "Congratulations, Madam! Congratulations, Madam! You are pregnant! Judging from your pulse, you are almost two months along."
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