The Madame stared at Su Rong for a moment, temporarily suppressing her doubts, and started discussing today’s gift list with her.
All the gifts for your Coming-of-age Ceremony were more generous than those for your sisters, some were twice as abundant, some even two or three times more," she said with a radiant smile.
"It has nothing to do with me," Su Rong laughed, "They are all aimed at the Duke Residence and Zhou Gu."
The Madame corrected her displeasedly, "That’s not entirely true. Even without this marriage, your gifts would still outshine your sisters. Have your father and I, and your elder brother, lost face?"
Who in Jiangning County doesn’t know that everyone in the Residence pampers Su Rong?
Su Rong laughed openly, embracing the Madame’s arm, "I was wrong. What mother said is absolutely right."
Whatever, it was not because of her—she was not likable since childhood.
"These gifts, since they are for your Coming-of-age Ceremony, I let someone take them to your warehouse," The Madame pushed Su Rong away. "As for the gift money listed on record, I’ll keep it for you, so you don’t waste it."
Su Rong had no objections, "Fine."
The Madame looked at her curiously, "Previously, you used to nitpick with me over two tael of silver, but now for these tens of thousands, you say nothing."
Of course, Su Rong wouldn’t say that she currently didn’t lack silver, she asked back instead, "If I say I want to keep it, would you allow me?"
"No way, you absolutely can’t keep it." The Madame was truly afraid she would squander it all in no time.
"Isn’t that what I just said? My words are useless, so why say them at all." Su Rong shrugged.
Instantly, the Madame had no doubt anymore, mumbling, "That’s true."
Walking into the Eastern Compound was Zhou Gu. As the housekeeper heard his footsteps, she peered outside, proclaiming with a smile, "Lady, Miss Seven, Young Master Zhou is here."
The Madame was taken aback, "Why didn’t he go to rest?"
She turned to Su Rong.
Su Rong had no idea and shook her head.
Seeing Su Rong’s improper way of sitting and her messed-up hair, the Madame whispered, "Go tidy up a bit, I’ll go see."
Su Rong nodded.
The Madame stood up and left the inner room, entering the Drawing Room.
Zhou Gu stepped across the threshold, bowing to the Madame, "Auntie."
The Madame smiled kindly, "You’ve been busy all day and drank a lot of alcohol. Why didn’t you go to rest? Did you come to talk with Xiaoqi?"
Today, there were loads of guests. Zhou Gu and Xie Lin were the esteemed princes from reputable families, and many people were toasting them. Both had drunk quite a lot.
Zhou Gu shook his head, smiling, "I’m not too tired. I found a travelogue from the library this morning. I hardly read two pages before I found it very interesting and kept thinking about it. So, I came over."
After he finished speaking, he noticed the travelogue on the table and picked it up, "This is the one."
The Madame laughed, "I’m almost done here. Why don’t you read it here while waiting for Xiaoqi? There’s also something I wanted to discuss with you."
Zhou Gu initially planned to leave after getting the travelogue, but upon hearing this, he said, "Please tell me, Auntie."
The Madame gestured for him to sit down, and she also sat down. "It’s like this, the gift from the Inspector Residence of Jiangzhou is extremely generous..." She repeated what had been gifted and continued, "Among these, your compensation gift is included. You did not accept it last time, so Mistress Jiang and Jiang Sheng used Xiaoqi’s Coming-of-age Ceremony as an excuse to offer everything together as a congratulatory gift. I received it without hesitation. As for your compensation gift..."
Zhou Gu refused, "As the gift is meant to be a congratulatory one, you can accept it, Auntie. There’s no need to give it to me."
Madame looked at him, "The gift is truly extravagant. Normally, not even those who gave dowries to their daughters would be this generous. Although I accepted it for Xiaoqi, I understand it’s because of you that the Inspector Residence of Jiangzhou spent so lavishly."
Zhou Gu didn’t care, "Auntie, you don’t need to feel uneasy about accepting it. The Inspector Residence of Jiangzhou is nothing to be afraid of."
Seeing Zhou Gu’s casual expression as he mentioned the Inspector Residence of Jiangzhou, Madame realized he didn’t take them seriously. She felt assured, "Since you don’t want it, I’ll have everything stored in Xiaoqi’s warehouse. It will serve as her dowry in the future."
The implication being that they also didn’t want the Governor to have anything. If it’s said that it’s for Su Rong’s Coming-of-age Ceremony, then it’s for Su Rong.
Zhou Gu coughed slightly, "As Auntie arranged."
"Just this matter, there’s nothing else. I’ll call Xiaoqi out." The Madame laughed as she rose.
Zhou Gu also stood up, stopping her, "Auntie, no need to call her. She’s also had a long day. Let her rest. I’m going back to read this book."
Madame looked at the book in his hand, "That works."
Zhou Gu took the travel notes and left the East Crossing Courtyard.
The Madam returned to the inner room. Seeing Su Rong sitting in the chair without getting up to clean, she glared at Su Rong, "You’re so lazy."
With such a careless attitude, she really doubted whether Su Rong could win her husband’s affection in the future. Even though Su Xingze deliberately made Zhou Gu maintain some distance, they still had time to take walks and talk after dinner every day. Almost seeing each other every day, they don’t seem to have any affection for each other. If it weren’t for their harmonious relationship, and Zhou Gu came to her twice asking her to be lenient with Su Rong because of her exhaustion from learning housekeeping and rules, she would suspect that these two could never develop any feelings for each other.
In those painting books, one glance would make someone fall in love at first sight, and one encounter or one sentence would make someone blush and be excited for a long time. She hasn’t seen any of this in Su Rong and Zhou Gu.
Is she too old, or the young people of today are no longer indulged in love? As she saw it, it was neither. She feared that these two kids simply have not woken up to reality.
Su Rong explained, "I was going to clean up, but when I heard he came for the book, I knew he didn’t plan to stay. Probably, after a day’s tiredness, he wanted to lie in bed and read. After all, staying here means sitting on a chair to read. It must be tiring."
The Madam realized, "I see."
They continued to check the list of gifts.
It took them more than an hour to finish the checking. It was already getting dark. Even though the Madam was tired, she felt satisfied, "Now I am less worried about your dowry. These gifts are enough to make your dowry look a bit better."
Su Rong reminded her, "Mother, apart from the gifts from the Inspector Residence of Jiangzhou, you will have to return all the other gifts."
Meaning, all these gifts should be stored in the warehouse, and when it’s time to return gifts, they will have to pay out of their own pockets.
"You don’t need to worry about that." The Madam was nonetheless very happy, "When your elder brother gets top scholars, we will receive a lot of congratulations gifts. Then, you and your sisters will marry one by one, although we need to prepare dowries, we will also receive betrothal gifts. Our family will have happy events throughout the next few years."
In other words, in the next few years, even though we will have expenses, we will also have income, and we should be able to balance out.
Su Rong thought about it and was immediately impressed.
In the evening, the kitchen cooked porridge and a few side dishes. The Madam, knowing that everyone was tired, ordered them not to go to the front hall for dinner, but to send meals to everyone’s courtyards.
The Madam stayed in Su Rong’s yard. When the kitchen sent the food over, the Governor Su also came over.
The Governor Su drank quite a bit at noon, but his alcohol tolerance was good. He sobered up before dinner and came to the East Crossing Courtyard. Seeing Su Rong lazily sitting there, he looked at her with a big smile, "Xiaoqi has finally grown up. Your mom would be very happy if she knew about this in the nether world."
Su Rong looked at the laughter on Governor Su’s face and wanted to ask him, "Since I’ve grown up, shouldn’t you tell me some things?". But she saw the Madam out of the corner of her eye and swallowed her words.
The Governor Su was very happy today, he turned to the Madam with a smile and asked, "Madam, did you receive a ’Map of Mount Wu’ among the gifts today?"
The Madam nodded, "Yes."
Governor Su looked at her, "Was it put away in the warehouse?"
The Madam understood his intentions and put on a stern face, "No. It was put away in Xiaoqi’s private collection. She will take it as part of her dowry. You can forget about it."
The Governor Su sighed in resignation, "What a waste. She’s just a child and can’t appreciate it. She will only ruin a good painting. What use is it giving it to her?"
The Madam didn’t care, "As long as it’s valuable, it doesn’t matter whether she can appreciate it or not."
The Governor Su: "..."
He felt an itch to have the painting. He turned to Su Rong, "Xiaoqi, can you give that painting to daddy?"
Su Rong smiled at the Governor Su, "Of course, but if you want something of mine, you have to exchange it with something of equal value."
The Governor Su widened his eyes in disbelief, "Disobedient!"
Su Rong shrugged her shoulders, "I want to be a good child who listens to my mother."
The Governor Su: "..."
The Madam was very satisfied. She reached out and stroked Su Rong’s head, praising, "You are more obedient than you were in the past."
The Governor Su pleaded, "I don’t have anything valuable in my warehouse right now. You give it to me first, and when I have something valuable, I’ll exchange it with you."
"No." Su Rong refused bluntly.
The Governor Su was angry and turned to the Madam, "Look at the great daughter you’ve raised!"
The Madam glared back at him, "The daughter I have raised is very good and doesn’t need your approval."
The Governor Su: "..."
All this to say, he truly didn’t hold any status in this household.
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