Since the door wasn't closed, Yang peeked out.
She didn't bother Zuo Li either.
Instead, they closed the door.
"This child, it's rare for an iron tree to bloom, and it's been torn apart by someone, sigh." Madam Yang sat in the yard picking vegetables, muttering to herself.
In the waterside pavilion on the other side.
After finishing their busy work, the Chang sisters sat on the second-floor balcony to rest.
Chang Yi raised her eyebrows and said to Chang Yu with a mischievous smile, "Sister, did you see the way Brother Zuo looked at you just now? Oh my, it was like a pack of wolves seeing a rabbit, his eyes never left you."
"You naughty girl, don't talk nonsense." Chang Yu's face turned slightly red, and she turned her head away, not daring to let her sister see.
This girl, who is a year younger than her, is usually carefree, but she has such a delicate mind.
No one can escape her eyes.
"Why aren't you wearing the jade bracelet that Brother Zuo gave you? I think I just saw his eyes sweep over your wrist, and he seemed a little disappointed." Chang Yi crossed her arms behind her head, leaned back in her chair, and acted like a boss.
His lips never left his mouth while he was speaking.
She was smiling like a happy old lady.
“We were helping to carry things, running around doing everything. It’s a jade bracelet, after all. What if it broke? Not only the jade bracelet, I wasn’t even wearing any hair ornaments, just a few silver hairpins.”
Chang Yu explained.
She touched her hair; because she had moved things so vigorously, there were quite a few stray hairs at her temples.
"Oh!! You're reluctant to wear it, huh? Look, Brother Zuo didn't understand your intention. I saw him leaving, and he was very unhappy. Tsk tsk."
Chang Yi narrowed her eyes and smiled mischievously.
“I have nothing to do with Brother Zuo. If you keep making fun of me, I will stop talking to you.”
Chang Yu blushed deeply, and pretended to be angry.
This stopped her sister from continuing to tease her.
evening.
The two sisters returned to the Yan residence just in time for dinner.
Feng Lanlan and her daughter, who lived in the second courtyard, felt that they were living under someone else's roof, so they helped the maids clean up the empty dishes.
Yan Xia grabbed him.
"Alright, the maids are taking care of things. Chang Yu and Chang Yi, you two take your younger sister to play in the courtyard and have a stroll. Sister Feng, come to my room. I have a book that I don't understand. Could you please explain it to me?"
"Okay, Mother. Yu-meimei, come with me. I'll take you to pick autumn fruits." Chang Yi pulled Yu-er out, and Chang Yu followed behind, watching them play.
Feng Lanlan looked at her daughter, who was usually silent and always kept her head down, but since coming to the Yan residence, she had been smiling every day. She felt relieved and much more at ease.
The shadow cast by the He family seemed to vanish at that moment.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the He family's home in Shuxian County was tense.
Looking at the three vegetarian dishes and the thin rice porridge on the table, He Shanhu, the head of the family, had no appetite.
He Shanhu loves meat, especially pork belly with various spices and a good balance of fat and lean meat. When you bite into it, the oil sizzles and it's incredibly delicious.
Take a bite of meat, then a mouthful of perfectly cooked, chewy rice.
All the gloom of the day vanished.
After a busy day at the shop with hardly any customers, he was left with nothing but meager meals at home. He felt like he was worse off than a stray dog on the street.
At least a stray dog might get lucky and manage to find a chicken's rear end to eat.
And him?
There wasn't even any meat in sight.
"Is your family really this poor? You haven't eaten meat for three days in a row. What, are you starving?" He Shanhu slammed his chopsticks heavily on the table.
He started cursing at the maid.
"Master, we have no money left in the account. I really have no choice. Although you gave the kitchen one tael after selling the autumn harvest, some of it was used to buy grain, and then... and so on..."
Qiu Ling glanced at Madam Lu, but dared not continue.
"Add what? Tell me!"
He Shanhu roared angrily.
Qiu Ling was so frightened that she trembled and knelt on the ground.
She was terrified that she would end up like Qiu Wan, getting whipped and sold into a brothel.
In that case, she would rather die.
Qiu Ling thought for a moment and then betrayed her master, Madam Lu.
"Madam said she wanted to eat pastries, so she asked me to take four strings of cash to buy them. That's why we don't have enough money. We only have one string of cash left in the account. You said, sir, that's a month's food allowance. So, I have to be careful with my money. I can't afford meat at all, sir!"
The He family now only has one gatekeeper, one old woman, and two maids left.
As a servant born into the family, Qiu Ling replaced the previous steward of the He family.
She was in charge of the money in the accounts, the purchasing for the kitchen, and all the big and small matters in each room.
Qiu Ling was initially happy that she had been given an important position by her master, but when she actually received the money, she realized that her nightmare had just begun.
She knelt on the ground, not daring to lift her head.
"ah--"
Suddenly, she was kicked to the ground.
Caught off guard, her nose struck the bluestone brick, and blood streamed from both nostrils.
Qiu Ling shouted.
He covered his nose, his face contorted in pain.
"You wretched girl, you betray your family and dare to slander me! I think you're asking for a beating! Master, quickly get the whip and give her a good beating so she won't tell the truth and dares to implicate me. I think she's embezzling money to subsidize her own family!"
Lu withdrew her right foot that had kicked Qiu Ling, and said to He Shanhu with a face full of anger.
But she didn't dare look directly at her man.
His eyes darted around.
He Shanhu saw through it at a glance.
He remained silent.
"Madam, I have no family. When I was sold to the He family, my family was all dead. Sir, I am innocent. I did not embezzle any money. Please investigate."
She heard that Madam Lu was going to whip her.
Qiu Ling didn't care whether her nose hurt or not.
She removed her hand from her mouth and nose.
He placed his hands on the ground and kowtowed to Madam Lu and He Shanhu.
Blood dripped from the nose like a light rain onto the ground.
It looks terrifying.
"Alright, get a rag and wipe the floor clean. You've made it all dirty. Hand over the money in the accounts later. Wan, from now on, you'll be in charge of the household!"
He Shanhu looked at the bloodstains on the ground with disgust.
He took over the management of the household from Madam Lu and handed it over to his granddaughter-in-law, Madam Wan.
"Yes, Grandpa."
Wan was overjoyed.
She accepted it with a smile without even pretending to refuse.
Standing to the side, Madam Lu's eyes were blazing with anger.
Unfortunately, Wan did not notice.
Aunt Liu, sitting in the far corner, ate her rice silently without saying a word.
Looking at the bright green vegetables, He Shanhu lost his appetite.
He flicked his sleeve, his face cold, and strode out of the house.
I headed straight for the wonton stall on the street.
"Hey, isn't this Manager He? Why aren't you eating at home? Why are you out eating wontons?"
Halfway through the meal, we unexpectedly ran into our arch-rival across the street.
Yang Qing.
They also sell incense and candles.
Twelve years ago, Yang Qing was just a waiter at the He family's incense and candle shop.
He worked humbly at the He family's incense and candle shop for three whole years. Then one day, he suddenly opened an incense and candle shop right across from the He family's shop, which infuriated He Shanhu.
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