Chapter 48: The large group outside the shop, mostly composed of scholars…
The outer area of the shop was mostly filled with scholar's clothes, but the inner area had a much wider variety of ready-made clothes, especially clothes for young women, which made up a large portion of the inner area.
Since they have a wide selection of clothes here, Qiu Yuruo decided to buy her two younger sisters' clothes here as well.
The shopkeepers sell ready-made clothes in this area, mostly to the scholars of the academy. These men don't usually haggle when buying clothes, and the shop wants to do business for the long term, so the prices of the clothes are not high, and are at a price that the scholars can accept when buying them as gifts for their families.
Qiu Yuruo picked out two sets of clothes for herself and her two younger sisters, and then went to the outer room to have Su Yunting pick out two sets for herself and Yun Che.
After buying the clothes and putting them back at the inn, the two of them went out to continue their investigation.
It was called an inspection, but it was really just shopping. They walked through several streets. Qiu Yuruo was initially unwilling to talk to Su Yunting, but she couldn't stop him from taking the initiative to talk to her.
When they arrived at a new street, as Su Yunting continued to tell her about the origin and history of the street's name, Qiu Yuruo finally asked him, "How do you know all this so clearly?"
Su Yunting: "It's written in the county annals. I read it years ago and remembered it."
Qiu Yuruo: I remembered it after watching it many years ago!
She regretted asking him; she felt like she had been hit hard by a top student.
Qiu Yu didn't want to pay attention to the top student, but the knowledge he gained from reading books still attracted her.
He spoke, she listened, and they walked through street after street. Her mind gradually relaxed, and as she looked at him explaining earnestly, she couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be bad if they could keep walking like this together forever.
The idea was quickly suppressed by reason.
The road ahead is long. He has performed well on this part of the journey, in fact, you could say he has done very well. But I can't guarantee that he will still be the same person he is now on the road ahead.
Once she calmed down, Qiu Yuruo realized that they were already quite far from the inn, so she said, "Let's stop here on this street. It's getting late, let's go back."
Su Yunting naturally wouldn't object. On the way back, Su Yunting asked her, "Do you think there are any suitable places on these streets?"
Qiu Yuruo: "I haven't decided yet whether to open a restaurant or a workshop."
Su Yunting's eyes lit up after hearing this: "We can stay in the county for a couple more days. Once you've thoroughly investigated the market, you'll have your answer."
He said this partly because he wanted to spend a couple more days alone with her, but if Qiu Yu wanted to decide what to do in the end, she really needed to stay in the county for a few more days.
...
After resting at the inn for one night, I got up and tidied up. Today I'm going to visit Sun Ruimin's house. First, I went to the largest pastry shop and bought two catties of the best pastries, and then I went to the tea shop and bought two ounces of the best tea.
When the two arrived at the gate of the Sun residence carrying pastries and tea, Sun Ruimin was already waiting at the door.
Upon seeing Su Yunting, Sun Ruimin hurried over to greet him: "I've been waiting at the door since early morning, but you're only arriving now."
Su Yunting smiled and said, "I came early because I was worried you hadn't gotten up yet."
Sun Ruimin: "Don't ruin my reputation while you're with your sister-in-law. When have I ever slept in? You're just talking nonsense!"
The two chatted and laughed as the servant accepted the gifts, and Sun Ruimin invited them inside.
As soon as he entered the gate, he saw a beautiful girl with a maid behind her, standing by the screen wall, looking at Su Yunting with shy and resentful eyes.
Qiu Yuruo: "..."
This girl probably knows that Su Yunting is already married!
Although Qiu Yuruo is always more tolerant of girls, she has no intention of being tolerant of the girl in front of her.
Su Yunting's expression changed instantly, his gentle demeanor replaced by icy coldness.
He didn't look at the beautiful girl by the screen wall, but said to Sun Ruimin, "I suddenly remembered that I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I won't bother you today, Brother Sun."
Sun Ruimin was taken aback by his sister's appearance, and then he heard Su Yunting say goodbye. He grabbed Su Yunting's arm.
He really didn't know how to explain his sister's behavior, especially since Su Yunting had brought his family with him, and he dared not open his mouth to explain.
All I can say is, "If you have something urgent, I'll go with you. It's easier to handle things with more people."
Su Yunting didn't want to argue with him here. He glanced at him indifferently and said, "Then let's go."
The beautiful girl by the screen wall burst into tears. She wanted to call out to Su Yunting to say something, but a nanny came out from behind the screen wall, followed by two old women.
The old woman called out to Su Yunting first: "Young Master Su, please wait."
Then he said to his young lady, "What are you doing here, young lady? Madam is looking for you."
After she finished speaking, the two old women stood next to the beautiful girl, their meaning clear: if she didn't go back, she would be forced to go back.
Not wanting to lose face in front of her beloved, the girl could only turn away with tears in her eyes.
Seeing his younger sister return, Sun Ruimin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly gave the nanny a meaningful look.
The old woman gave him a reassuring look, then said to Su Yunting, "Madam heard from our master yesterday that Young Master Su is coming to visit with his wife today. Madam has long wanted to meet the kind and virtuous Lady Qiu, and she waited all night last night."
"Young Master Su, for the sake of our lady, will postpone even the most urgent matter and allow our lady to meet Lady Qiu."
The appearance of the nanny represents Sun Ruimin's mother, and her praise for Qiu Yuruo reflects Sun's mother's attitude.
Su Yunting's hands clenched tightly under his sleeves. Although Sun's mother seemed to have controlled her daughter and even gave Yu Ruo a lot of affirmation, she actually showed a complete lack of respect for her husband and daughter.
She should know what her own daughter is thinking. If she does know, why didn't she stop her beforehand today?
While we can't prevent it in advance, we can appear just in time when she's about to lose her composure.
This wasn't something we didn't anticipate; it was something we anticipated and were testing our reaction!
Actually, Su Yunting didn't care about his own disrespect; what bothered him was Sun's mother's disrespect towards Yu Ruo!
Testing someone else's husband in front of his wife—this arrogant attitude, completely disregarding Yu Ruo, filled Su Yunting with resentment.
But now, he could only bury his resentment deep in his heart, turn around and put on a humble smile, saying to the old woman, "If the elders want to see us, we must postpone even the most important matters."
The old woman nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Qiu Yuruo beside her and said, "This must be Lady Qiu. Please come with me."
Su Yunting walked directly to Qiu Yuruo's side, took her hand, and said to the nanny, "Let's go and pay our respects to Auntie together."
The old woman's smile remained unchanged: "Young Master Su, please."
Qiu Yuruo's hand was held by Su Yunting until they reached the courtyard where Sun's mother lived, at which point he finally let go.
Upon entering the house, a well-maintained middle-aged lady sat in the main seat.
Qiu Yuruo greeted Su Yunting, and Sun's mother looked at Qiu Yuruo with a smile and said, "What a good child."
Then he said to Su Yunting, "It's your good fortune to have married such a wonderful wife!"
Su Yunting: "Auntie is right."
He looked at Qiu Yuruo, his eyes filled with deep affection that anyone could see: "Being able to marry Yuruo is a blessing I've accumulated over many lifetimes."
After hearing this, Sun's mother's smile deepened, and she said, "Good, you know how to cherish what you have, unlike Ruimin, who only knows how to make me worry!"
Su Yunting's expression turned somewhat sad: "It's a blessing that Ruimin has people who care about him."
My nephew is not blessed, but he is fortunate enough to receive a bit of good fortune from Heaven, which he naturally cherishes immensely.
Sun's mother was very satisfied with Su Yunting's response. She gestured to the maid behind her, who brought over a box.
Sun's mother then said to Qiu Yuruo, "I couldn't attend your wedding ceremony, so this is a gift from your aunt."
Since entering the Sun family, Qiu Yuruo has always been a background figure. Su Yunting also intends for her to continue to be a background figure. After Sun's mother finished speaking, before Qiu Yuruo could react, he said to her, "What is given by elders cannot be refused."
Since he said so, Qiu Yuruo obediently accepted it.
After accepting the gift and exchanging a few brief words, Su Yunting took his leave.
After leaving Sun's mother's room, Su Yunting took Qiu Yuruo's hand again and held it all the way to the front door. He asked Sun Ruimin to stay, but he didn't let go.
Sun Ruimin glanced at the couple holding hands tightly and could only stop at the door. He said to Su Yunting, "Since you have urgent business, I won't insist that you stay. I suppose you'll be done with your business tonight. I'll talk to you at the inn then. You won't be unhappy, will you?"
Su Yunting patted his shoulder with his other hand and laughed, "Have you forgotten what you said? Our relationship will never change, no matter what."
These were the words Sun Ruimin said to Su Yunting when both sets of parents opposed the marriage between the two families.
Upon hearing this, Sun Ruimin's troubled and uneasy heart finally settled down.
He patted Su Yunting on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Go ahead and do your work. I'll come talk to you tonight."
After saying goodbye to Sun Ruimin, Su Yunting still held Qiu Yuruo's hand.
The Sun family was wealthy, and their neighbors were also wealthy, each owning a large, multi-courtyard house. As a result, there were no other pedestrians on the street in front of their house.
Just now at the Sun family's house, Qiu Yuruo was held by Su Yunting's hand, and she knew that he was protecting her and also expressing his attitude to Sun's mother.
Now that they've left their house, he's still holding her hand, which makes Qiu Yuru a little uncomfortable.
She tried to let go and struggled.
Su Yunting not only didn't loosen his grip, but instead pulled even tighter.
He didn't want to let go, so he gave himself an excuse: "There are servants at the entrance of the Sun family's house."
Qiu Yuruo couldn't turn around to see if the Sun family's servants had gone back, so she could only let him continue to pull her along.
She stopped struggling, and his grip loosened.
The two continued walking forward, but her attention was focused on the hand that was enveloped by his.
When he was still in a coma, she was most familiar with his hands; she had compared his hands to her own more than once.
Compare sizes, compare black and white.
His hands are still fair and slender, and after recovering from walking, he has slowly taken over the rough work at home. His once delicate and smooth skin has now developed thin calluses.
Qiu Yuruo felt that his hands were even hotter than when he was unconscious, so hot that her own palms started to sweat.
She unconsciously moved her fingers, causing him to tighten his grip even more.
She felt that his hands were not just warm, but were starting to burn.
Just when she felt her body temperature rising because of his scalding hands, she heard an apology from the person next to her.
"Yu Ruo, I'm sorry, I've made you suffer because of me."
Qiu Yu looked at him and met his gaze. His eyes were full of solemnity as he assured her, "This is the last time I will let you be humiliated."
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