Jiang Yushu had no idea that her so-called "half-sister" had come to Heqin. In her rare free time, she devoted all her thoughts to her child.
The afternoon sun was scorching hot and the heat was unbearable.
The baby was lying flat on his back, waving his arms and kicking his legs, laughing happily. He rolled over and happened to be next to her, so he turned his head and bit Jiang Yushu's sleeve with a "Ah Wu".
"Hey, clothes can't be eaten. No matter what you grab, just stuff it into your mouth." Jiang Yushu couldn't help laughing. She didn't dare to pull it back hard for fear of hurting the child's tender gums. She asked helplessly, "How about the sleeves? Are they delicious?"
The baby made a few "mumbling" sounds and sucked instinctively, appearing to be enjoying the food very much.
"Be good, you can't eat your sleeve. Spit it out!" Mammy Pan pinched the child's white and tender cheeks, coaxing him to open his mouth. The nanny beside him said, "All children are like this."
The three of them tried their best to coax the children and finally got them to open their mouths, but they saw the two fat kids clenching their fists and grabbing their sleeves, refusing to let go.
After a while, the adults didn't dare to force him, and Jiang Yushu was helpless. She said angrily, "Forget it, let him be. This child probably thinks he is playing. The more we try to stop him, the happier he is."
"Hahaha," Nanny Pan beamed. The nanny shook the stuffed tiger and said firmly, "Your neck will get sore if you keep your head up while lying down for too long. He'll get tired of playing and let go."
The next moment, there was a knock on the half-open door. Cuimei leaned in and asked, "Madam?"
"Come in." Jiang Yushu reminded, "The weather has been extremely hot and humid lately. Be careful not to get heatstroke if you go out in the middle of the day."
"Young Master Yu wanted to eat chestnut cake, so I went to the street and bought two pounds of chestnuts. I also stopped by a cloth shop and picked out some cloth." Xiao Tao reported respectfully.
Nanny Pan was cheerful and asked jokingly, "Are you buying dowry again? You buy from the county to the prefecture, and then come back from the prefecture and go shopping every day."
"Mammy, please stop making fun of me." Xiaotao blushed.
Jiang Yushu tried to smooth things over, "The auspicious date has been chosen. Xiaotao is getting married in September. I'm free now anyway, so I asked Cuimei to help her arrange it."
Xiaotao and Cuimei came closer, their cheeks flushed from the sun, each holding a windmill. As they walked, colorful papers of different styles turned, bright and eye-catching.
Cuimei squatted down, looked at the baby straight in the eye, and said with a smile, "Look, a windmill!"
"Young master, look, isn't it fun?" Xiao Tao also squatted in front of the couch and blew air towards the windmill.
Brightly colored things that rotate quickly attract the baby's attention.
Guo Ye let go of his mother's sleeve, turned his head, his big eyes full of curiosity, supported his upper body with his right elbow, raised his left arm, and stretched his left hand forward, meaning that he wanted to catch it to play with it.
Jiang Yushu picked up the child and let him sit in her arms.
"Young master, come here and watch." Cuimei took a deep breath and blew the windmill to make it spin.
The baby's eyes were very bright and eager, his body leaned forward and he raised his hands to grab something.
"Give it to him." Cuimei had just handed it over when Jiang Yushu hurriedly stopped her. "Don't give it to him. Ye'er is stuffing everything he grabs into his mouth now."
"Okay." Cuimei had no choice but to withdraw her hand and took turns blowing the windmill with Xiaotao to entertain the child. One of them had just gotten married, and the other was about to get married. Both of them hoped to have a big fat boy, so they sincerely liked to be close to Guo Ye and wanted to share in his good fortune.
As Madam Pan and Madam Qiu were picking up the cloth tigers scattered across the bed, she casually remarked, "Last month, we bought a bunch of colorful windmills to put in the window. Our little master loved them. But, after just a few days of playing with them, Master Yu and Baozhu took them and broke them all."
Jiang Yushu was about to speak when she heard a lazy voice from outside the door: "Yu'er broke something."
Everyone was stunned and turned their heads at the same time
Wang Qiaozhen stood outside the half-open door, smiling.
Nanny Pan suddenly came back to her senses, feeling regretful and uneasy, and looked at Jiang Yushu anxiously.
Jiang Yushu quietly waved her hand to appease him, and replied nonchalantly, "Sister-in-law, come sit down. We were just chatting."
"What are you talking about?" The maid pushed open the door, Wang Qiaozhen walked into the room, sat down beside the couch, and touched her nephew's cheek.
Jiang Yushu replied seriously, "The old lady is celebrating her sixteenth birthday, so the dishes must be discussed in advance. I wonder what your sister-in-law thinks of the menu I drew up yesterday."
"I've taken a look and it's basically correct. I've handed it over to the housekeeper. They are familiar with the rules of birthday parties. Our family is different now, so just make some changes where necessary." Wang Qiaozhen said slowly.
Housework, unless it is necessary to refute, otherwise Jiang Yushu never takes it seriously, and said frankly, "I have never hosted a birthday party, and I will trouble you again, sister-in-law. I will follow you and take the opportunity to learn."
"Oh, I don't dare to accept that." Wang Qiaozhen waved her round fan and raised her chin. "As a female official, you have performed countless tasks. How could you be frightened by a mere birthday banquet? You are too modest."
Jiang Yushu held the child in her arms and answered frankly, "If I know, I know. If I don't know, I don't know. I haven't done it before, so I really don't understand."
"You'll have to go out on official business again soon."
Jiang Yushu shook her head. "Don't worry. No matter how busy I am, I have to wait until after my mother-in-law's birthday. In the past few years, our family has been separated. I have never celebrated her birthday. It's a great regret."
Wang Qiaozhen was playing with a round fan and fanning her nephew. Suddenly, the wind hit her face, and the baby rubbed his eyes vigorously. "At that time, the whole family was prisoners. It's not your fault."
The mother-in-law’s birthday cannot be neglected by the daughter-in-law.
Jiang Yushu was afraid the child might catch a cold and get sick, so she quietly moved aside. "Old Madam's birthday party won't be as lively as before, but there are still many relatives and friends to invite. Invitations have already been sent out to Changping, the county, the town, and Yongzhou. I just don't know how many of them will be free to celebrate."
Wang Qiaozhen sat up straighter, counting on her fingers, and said seriously, "Uncle Mu is busy with military affairs in Changping and probably won't be able to spare the time, but he will probably send someone to celebrate the birthday. The county magistrate and his family, as well as the neighbors, will probably be in attendance. Yongzhou is too far away, and Honglei can't help himself. If he can't take leave, the old lady will definitely be disappointed." Then, her eyes flashed, and she frowned and asked
"As for the town, do you mean Xiaodie and her husband? If Liao comes to my house again, I won't be able to live like this.
Jiang Yushu nodded and replied, "Yes. The last time I passed by Liu Village, I learned that my cousin's husband was a teacher in the village private school, which seemed a waste of his talent. So I told him that if he wanted to be a teacher, there was an academy in the county. But he had other plans, so I didn't force him."
"What are Yipeng's plans?" Wang Qiaozhen smiled.
Jiang Yushu briefly informed him, "Yongzhou is in a state of disrepair and talent is in short supply. He intends to cross the river to try his luck on the other side and is currently planning. However, he should be able to attend the old lady's birthday celebration."
Humph, Liao Xiaodie is shameless. It's easy to invite guests, but it's hard to send them away. Wang Qiaozhen didn't want to invite her at all. Due to superficial etiquette, she gritted her teeth and agreed, "We are stranded in the frontier and don't have many relatives and friends. If Xiaodie and her husband are absent, the old lady will be deeply disappointed."
While the adults were discussing household chores, Guo Ye was carefree, nestling in his mother's arms, concentrating on playing with the stuffed tiger.
Before I knew it, the cicadas had stopped chirping.
Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound of thunder. Before everyone could come to their senses, a flash of lightning flashed and the sky was filled with crackling thunder.
The baby was caught off guard and trembled with fear, and the cloth tiger fell to the ground. He opened his eyes wide, turned his head and looked out the window.
Without hesitation, Jiang Yushu quickly covered the child's ears, lowered her head and asked nervously, "Don't be scared, it's just thunder."
"Oh, what a strong wind!" Cuimei and others hurriedly closed the window.
Wang Qiaozhen happily stood up and walked out the door, fan in hand. "It's finally raining. These past few nights, it was so hot I couldn't sleep."
There was a strong wind, first with flying sand and rocks, then lightning and thunder, and then heavy rain, which made the roof tiles rattle, and the sky gradually changed from gloomy to dark.
At the city gate in the evening
"drive"
The heavy rain had not stopped yet. The escort leader wiped the rain off his face and was the first to enter the city, shouting, "Hurry, hurry up, find an inn to take shelter from the rain."
So, surrounded by escorts and with the coachman whipping the horse-drawn carriage, it rushed into Heqin County.
"Oh my!" Dark clouds covered the city, the car was dark, and the two maids were swaying from side to side.
It was a stormy day, and the big raindrops soaked the curtains. The wind blew the rain into the car.
Jiang Yushan grabbed the handrail with her right hand to steady herself, and raised her left sleeve to cover her face, but she was still soaked. Her face was dripping with water, and she looked miserable. She angrily asked, "How can you drive the car? I almost fell off the chair. Steady yourself!"
Her voice was drowned out by the sound of wind and rain, and no one paid any attention to her.
In fact, the escorts were scolded several times on the way, but they endured it for the sake of their livelihood and the generous reward. Even if they heard it at this moment, they would pretend not to hear it, and shout "God, we are finally here" while riding their horses.
"Hahaha, here we are."
“This is Heqin County.”
As dusk fell, the group checked into the inn.
As usual, Jiang Yushan lived in the upper room with two maids. She hurriedly ordered hot water for a bath and changed into clean clothes. When she was about to eat, two escorts knocked on the door.
"Bang bang bang" the escort said in a rough voice, "Master Jiang"
"Master Jiang" was very hungry and almost choked while drinking his soup.
The maid hurriedly said, "I'll go and ask."
"Hmph." Jiang Yushan put down the bowl, looking down on them with great disdain, muttering, "A bunch of roughnecks, they don't know the slightest bit about etiquette, I'm afraid none of them can even write the word 'civilized'."
After a while, the maid bolted the door and came back. Xiaoli happily reported, "Miss, they found out that the Guo family is in Guangchang Lane."
Xiaoxi responded, "I heard it's not far from the inn, and it only takes half an hour to get there by car. Why don't we pack up and go visit him?"
"What's the rush?"
"I have my own ideas." Jiang Yushan interrupted the maid and thought for a moment. She stood up, picked up the diamond-shaped mirror, and looked at her face in the mirror.
I've become thinner, tanned, haggard, and my complexion is yellow. I even have two fine lines at the corner of my left eye.
Jiang Yushan bit her lip, slammed the diamond-shaped mirror onto the table, took a deep breath, and said calmly, "No hurry. I'm exhausted from the journey. I need to rest for two days and calm down before visiting you. I'll avoid making my sister feel sad when I see you."
Her face was gloomy and her eyes were fixed on the candlelight. She didn't want to meet her sister in a shabby manner, but wanted to appear radiantly.
Who do you want to shine on?
Jiang Yushan never showed any regret, but in fact she was in great pain and regretted it so much that her intestines turned green. She had never let go of Guo Honglei in her heart and always believed that only Mr. Guo was worthy of her, and all other men were toads.
The author has something to say
Jiang Yushu, it's too late for you to regret.
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