Chapter 26 Disputes among Foreigners
At first, Su Shengsheng planned to find a quiet house in the streets near the bookstore and rent it as a study room so as not to disturb their classes.
However, after asking around, she unexpectedly learned that the owner of the house next door was Mr. Sun from the bookstore.
This old man had a unique personality. Because he disliked the hustle and bustle of the fruit and vegetable stall next door, he simply bought it and converted it into a tailor shop.
However, Nanling has been plagued by frequent wars in recent years, causing the street market to become depressed, and the shop has been available for rent ever since.
Mr. Sun already knew that Su Shengsheng was the granddaughter of the emperor's teacher, and when he heard about her helping Envoy Fang catch the counterfeiter, he was quite impressed by her.
After learning about Su Shengsheng's intentions in detail and reading her design drawings, the old man immediately expressed his desire to cooperate with her.
However, in order to become the main operator, Su Shengsheng insisted on giving the old man seventy taels of silver, which allowed him to sell the shop to her.
Of course, if the old man could lower the price, it would be considered as an investment in cooperation.
The old man wanted to renovate the bookstore as well. Since there were piles of books in the bookstore, they decided to move the books to the Su family study first.
When Mr. Sun heard that the book was to be placed in the imperial teacher's study, he was willing to take out even the rare collection of books.
If my grandfather had not been recuperating, I am afraid the old man would have taken the car to visit the Su family.
After the confrontation with the Fan family at noon, Su Shengsheng took Zai Qing and a few others and drove three carriages to transport the bookshelves and books back to the Su family.
The grandfather was recuperating at home due to illness and was feeling bored. When he saw his granddaughter bringing back two carts of books, he was immediately delighted.
"This is Mr. Junshan's 'Game Theory'. I read it when I was young. I didn't expect that someone would still treasure it."
As my grandfather flipped through the pages, he was pleasantly surprised. "There's also this one..."
Seeing that her grandfather was in high spirits, Su Shengsheng asked Zai Qing to move the bookshelf from another carriage into the study.
The grandfather and grandson chatted while sorting and organizing the books.
My grandfather loves books. He hasn't touched a book for two months and he can't put every book down.
The grandparents and grandchildren were busy for the whole afternoon, but they only sorted out half of the books.
In the end, my grandfather simply had dinner in the study, which made my grandmother laugh out of anger.
You say you are old, but now you have really become a child!
Today, the female family members' conditions have improved and they all came to the East Courtyard for dinner.
During the meal
The eldest lady smiled brightly and raised her glass first: "We haven't thanked Sheng girl yet. She saved our whole family. Sheng girl, your aunt thanks you for saving my life. Let me drink first as a token of my respect."
After saying that, she drank it all in one gulp and showed her glass generously.
The other female members of the family also raised their glasses to toast Su Shengsheng.
Su Shengsheng stood up and said, "We are all family, you don't have to be polite."
However, just as she raised her glass to drink, she heard Su Deyong snort coldly.
"Sheng girl, you are now a great contributor to our Su family. Do you want me, your fourth uncle, to toast you as well?"
Originally everyone was the same, and Su Deyong could only complain.
But who would have thought that when he went to the mine today, the clerk came early in the morning and exempted Su Jingshan from the heavy duties and only had to do the record-keeping work.
They had already been assigned a lot of heavy work, and now all the work was transferred to them, so he couldn't even take a break.
He complained all the way and wanted his elder brother to intervene.
Unexpectedly, the eldest brother not only ignored him, but also said that they were helping the third brother so that Su Shengsheng could focus on taking care of the family. Later, even the younger generations such as Su Yuanzheng and Su Wenxuan treated him coldly.
This made Su Deyong feel very suffocated.
Su Shengsheng didn't want to tell them that she had gone to see the Fan family at noon, and she didn't follow through on it for fear that everyone would worry.
But he was also afraid that his father would only report the good news and not the bad news, so he picked up the cup and said, "Fourth Uncle, Sheng'er is a junior, and I hope I will forgive him if I have not acted properly."
After this incident, Su Yuanling kept her mouth shut and just ate her food silently while watching.
Now Su Deyong is the only one left in the Su family who is sarcastic and dissatisfied with Su Shengsheng.
He didn't raise his cup, but said sarcastically, "Why didn't I hear you mention exempting Third Brother from his heavy military service yesterday? But you used the Su family's reward money to secretly exchange it with someone?"
Su Shengsheng put down his wine glass calmly: "Why does Fourth Uncle ask this?"
Hearing her indifferent tone, Su Deyong was immediately irritated. "This is the Su family's money. You shouldn't handle it alone. Besides, who among the guards and other prisoners doesn't need bribes? You gave all the money to your father. What should we do?"
The joyful atmosphere at the table suddenly cooled down.
Su Jingshan felt a little guilty when he saw that everyone was suffering and he was the only one doing the light work.
He said awkwardly, "Sheng was inconsiderate, but there's no need for Fourth Brother to speak so harshly."
Su Hengji had long been fed up with Su Deyong constantly complaining about his sister, and retorted, "My sister also earned this bounty herself, so why can't she use it?"
Brother Heng helped to dry the books in the afternoon and was very tired. He was dozing off at this moment.
Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, Li quickly carried Hengge back to the right room.
Su Shengsheng's eyes swept across the women at the table.
The first lady looked embarrassed, the second lady lowered her head and her expression could not be seen clearly, and the fourth lady looked at her unhappily.
Su Yuanling and Su Wenqian looked at each other indifferently.
Su Shengsheng recalled what her grandfather had said when she was packing up the books. He said he was old and frail, and that many things were no longer within his power. He just wanted to hold on to his old bones and watch them get married...
Looking in front of me again, my grandmother’s cheeks were sunken, and she had been taking care of my grandfather for days and trying hard to keep herself together.
She finally suppressed the harsh words in her mouth.
"I've never heard of an elder asking for money from a younger person." Grandma coughed in anger.
However, Su Deyong no longer took his half-buried stepmother seriously, and even Old Master Su did not take him seriously.
He saw that the Su family could not recover and Su Shengsheng would be married off soon.
By then, if all the money is spent by her on the third wife, or she keeps it all for her dowry, won’t he be left with nothing?
Therefore, he no longer intended to tolerate it and continued, "Mother, there's no need for you to abandon your entire family for a girl from another family, right?"
"You...you..." Old Madam Su was so angry that her face turned blue and she could hardly breathe.
Su Shengsheng's life experience was accidentally exposed during the house search.
Originally, everyone along the way was grateful to her and had no energy to think about this.
But Su Deyong always remembered this incident.
The matter was brought to light again. Li heard Su Deyong's cry from the next room and hurried back: "Sheng'er is my daughter, how can you have the right to interfere?"
After listening to Wan's advice, Mrs. Su managed to catch her breath. Before she could say anything else, she saw Su Deyong throw down his chopsticks.
"The bounty was also given because of the old man's name. I am a member of the Su family, so why don't I have a say?"
Su Shengsheng looked coldly at the silent people from the other two houses: "Do the First and Second Madams think the same way?"
Jiao's face froze slightly. "Sheng girl, your aunt is grateful to you, but even a good cook cannot cook without rice..."
She didn't finish her words, but Su Shengsheng already understood what she meant.
Su Shengsheng turned to look at Second Madam Zhong, who didn't avert her gaze. "All along the way, everything we ate and used was brought by Miss Sheng. Second Aunt is just ashamed."
Although the eldest sister-in-law was not asked, she supported her waist and slowly stood up: "Fourth Uncle's words are frightening. I am also a woman from another family. Does Fourth Uncle think I am an eyesore to you?"
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