Pei Yuan, his younger brother, paused his chopsticks, raised his head and looked at Li Nian apologetically: "My mother is outspoken, don't mind it, young lady."
Li Nian was puzzled for a moment, then realized that he was referring to Aunt Pei who was talking about the dog. He smiled lightly and said politely, "It's okay. Aunt Pei is straightforward and a very good person."
Aunt Pei was so flattered that she couldn't stop smiling. The more she looked at the two of them, the more she liked them: "Miss Nian Nian, if you can't eat anymore, don't eat. Give it to my Yuanyuan later."
Li Nian glanced at the chubby yellow dog, then returned his gaze to Aunt Pei's face. "Okay, don't call me so unfamiliar next time. Just call me Nian Nian."
"Oh, okay," Aunt Pei responded happily.
The midday sun shone in from outside, fine dust danced in the golden light, and people were chatting and laughing naturally at the dinner table, creating a happy family scene.
After dinner, elder brother Pei Yanli returned to the government office to work, while younger brother Pei Yu'an went out to see patients.
The two best friends helped Aunt Pei clear the table and wash the dishes.
Aunt Pei was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. While working, she chatted with Li Sisi about her family situation. She wished she could get all the money out of her two sons.
Seeing that the kitchen was almost clean, Aunt Pei went to pour out a bowl of Chinese medicine that was warming on the small stove: "It's almost time, drink this medicine while it's hot."
She walked towards Li Nian with the medicine in hand, rambling on and on: "This Chinese medicine must be taken while it's hot. Don't leave it alone just because it's bitter. Once it cools down, you'll find that it becomes more bitter the colder it gets."
Li Nian held the medicine bowl in both hands, and the strong bitter taste rushed into her mouth and nose.
"Thank you, Auntie."
She took a deep breath, tilted her head back and drank the Chinese medicine in one gulp.
Just as he put down the bowl, a piece of candy was handed to him. Aunt Pei's kind voice rang out: "I bought this candy specially this morning. Your mouth is full of bitterness after taking the medicine. You need to eat a piece of candy to relieve the bitterness."
Li Nian looked at the randomly shaped and waxy yellow sugar cubes in Aunt Pei's hand, and her eyes couldn't help but feel hot.
She took the candy and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste instantly spread throughout her mouth and penetrated into her heart.
Before she was ten years old, she loved eating candy. After all, which child doesn’t like the sweet taste?
Until she was ten years old, she was locked in the basement by some children in the orphanage because of a few candies. Since then, she no longer likes to eat sweet things.
But this candy is very sweet.
"Thank you, Auntie."
Seeing her red eyes, Aunt Pei hurriedly took out another candy and said, "Oh, is this medicine too bitter? I'll ask Yu'an to change to a sweeter prescription later."
Li Nian shook his head: "No."
Aunt Pei kept nagging at herself, "Don't worry, even if the recipe is changed, the effect will definitely not be any worse!"
Her tone was filled with pride. "My youngest son is a military doctor. I wouldn't boast about anything else, but his medical skills are recognized as excellent throughout Dong'an City. He's been unemployed at home recently, and I don't know when he'll be able to return to the barracks. Don't worry about your health. Leave it to him to take care of it. I promise to keep you plump and healthy."
Li Nian was amused by her words and responded softly with a curved lip: "Yeah."
After drinking the medicine, the two left the Pei family's front yard and took the money to go to the street to buy things.
Li Sisi drove the carriage: "Niannian, should we go buy daily necessities first or clothes? Auntie said that daily necessities are on East Street, and the clothing stores are all on Chengzhong Street."
Li Nian lifted the carriage curtain with one hand, glancing at the shops along the street as she responded, "Shops that sell clothes should also sell accessories, right? Let's go buy a thank-you gift first. We need to choose carefully."
"Okay, let's go to the city street first." Li Sisi drove the carriage directly to the city center.
The carriage stopped at the door of a Sanlian store on a street in the city.
The shop assistant noticed the two of them and immediately came forward to greet them.
"What would you two ladies like to buy? How about I introduce you two?"
"We want to buy a silver hairpin," Li Sisi said bluntly.
Upon hearing this, the clerk smiled and led the people into the store: "Yes, ladies, please follow me."
As he walked into the shop, he introduced, "You two girls, you've made the right choice to come to my shop to buy hairpins. A batch of fine goods just arrived from the south. The styles are all the favorites of the young ladies of the imperial families in the capital."
The two followed the waiter to a low wooden cabinet and listened to the waiter praising the ornaments to the sky.
Li Nian lowered her head, her eyes carefully scanning each hairpin, and finally her delicate fingertips pointed at a simple silver hairpin with a white magnolia pattern: "How much is this?"
"Miss, you have good taste. This is the favorite of the daughter of the Taifu family in the capital. The price is not expensive, only two taels of silver."
Li Nian: …
Looking up at the confident guy, Li Nian really wanted to say, is the young lady from the Taifu family only worthy of wearing a two-liang silver hairpin?
Li Sisi pursed her lips and tried to suppress her smile. If the heroine knew that people said she was wearing a silver hairpin weighing two taels, would she be so angry that she would puff out her beard and glare? Ah, she doesn't have a beard.
"That's it," Li Nian said.
Li Sisi's eyes fell on Li Nian's head, which was only tied with a headband. "Niannian, why don't you pick one too?"
"No, we will have many expenses in the future, so we should be frugal." Li Nian looked up and saw a light pink gilded flower bag.
She was slightly surprised. Isn't this the bag she often used when she was in the Xiao Mansion?
The clerk, with great discernment, began to introduce the items: "You have good taste, young lady! This gilded flower pouch is a unique craftsmanship of the Nanhe Liu family. In the entire Dong'an City, only my family has such a product! Although it is expensive, it is absolutely worth it!"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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