Chapter 389 Is your brain really that sharp?
Ping'er nodded slightly, but the worry in his eyes remained. Normally, he would trust his mother completely. But these past two days, watching his mother test medicine on Grandpa Jing, his heart inexplicably began to race again.
After offering incense, she couldn't help but go to Li Rong again, trying to take the things from his hands.
Li Rong stopped Ping'er's hand, patted his shoulder, and said in the same tone as Jiang Nuanzhi, "Go play with your younger siblings. It's New Year's Eve today, there's no need to do these things. Let Daddy do it."
Looking at her perfectly normal father, Ping'er sighed inwardly, "Father, you've already ground these medicines three times. The powder is fine enough already."
"Really?" Li Rong paused, looking down.
She got up abruptly, took the pearl, and continued grinding it with a new medicine grinder: "Fineer pearl powder is better; your mother said she wanted to use it."
Ping'er thought to herself, "Mother, you've already ground up quite a few of these."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
"Brother! Brother! This is a letter from Brother Xuanting to you." Suddenly, Little Baozhu clung to the door of the pharmacy, holding up the envelope and grinning, revealing a row of neat white teeth. "And there's a letter from Brother Xuanting to Daddy. And one from Mommy, and one from me and Second Brother. Hehe, Baozhu recognizes them all! Isn't that amazing?"
"My son has made progress." Li Rong nodded gently, seemingly completely different from his strict fatherly demeanor when speaking to Baozhu. He was generous with his praise.
Baozhu had just started learning to read and was learning everyone's names. Her little face was flushed with excitement. She was holding a small rattle drum from the package Xuan Ting had sent. As she placed the letter on the table, she tilted her head back excitedly and said, "Daddy, this is from Brother Xuan Ting! He mentioned it in his previous letter!"
Li Rong nodded gently, "Yes, it looks good, and the workmanship is exquisite. Have your brother put it on your head."
Baozhu's smile froze abruptly, her large, watery eyes filled with confusion as she looked down at the rattle drum in her hand.
"Father, let me take my sister out to play first." Ping'er pulled her sister out of the pharmacy before Baozhu could ask.
"Brother, why are you wearing this rattle drum on your head?"
Ping'er: "."
"Hey, did your brother Xuan Ting bring you anything else good?"
Upon hearing this, Baozhu immediately pouted and, holding Ping'er's hand, ran to the front of the package: "Brother, look! Brother Xuanting lied to me! Last time he wrote that he would buy me lots and lots of little trinkets from Kyoto, but there are only these two."
The package contained two jade bracelets, one large and one small, some finely crafted palace flowers, and a delicate-looking slingshot; there was nothing else inside.
Baozhu picked up the slingshot and shook it. The next second, Xiao Er grabbed the slingshot: "This is definitely mine. Brother Xuan Ting said in his letter that it was for me."
Baozhu frowned unhappily: "Ugh, where are the crab roe pastries? And the lotus seed cakes, and the rabbit-shaped ice cream? Where are they? Brother Xuanting said they were for me, but he lied again! Next time we meet, I won't leave him any sweet and sour pork; I'm going to eat them all. Humph, I even saved the best can of fish for him!"
As she said this, her little mouth pouted so much it could hold an oil lamp.
"You little brat, you're being unreasonable. Your brother Xuan Ting gave you a gift, and you're going to complain about it?"
Jiang Nuanzhi came downstairs after changing her clothes, and upon hearing what she said, she poked the little girl's forehead.
Little Pearl immediately lowered her head and went to pluck the fur from the big black dog next to her.
Big Black's rear end twitched as it was being pulled, but when it turned back to look at Little Pearl, it still wagged its tail.
Jiang Nuanzhi pinched her chubby little face: "No matter what I send, it's all from your brother's heart. You can't be disgusted by it, understand?"
"Mother, don't be angry. Baozhu knows she was wrong and doesn't blame Brother Xuanting anymore."
Little Baozhu secretly glanced at Jiang Nuanzhi's expression, then softly grabbed two of Jiang Nuanzhi's fingers and shook them: "Mother, Mother, look! This bracelet must have been given to you by Brother Xuanting. And there's a letter from you too."
Little Baozhu presented the items to Jiang Nuanzhi as if offering a treasure.
Jiang Nuanzhi immediately took it, put it on her wrist, and shook it, asking, "Does it look good?"
Baozhu immediately clapped her hands: "Mmm! It's so beautiful!"
Where Jiang Nuanzhi couldn't see, she lowered her head and pouted. Her mother wouldn't let her confront Xuan Ting, but she was so angry! She was going to write a long letter later, determined to make Xuan Ting understand his mistake. Even if she didn't deliver it, she couldn't lie to him!
"Tsk, it doesn't look good."
As Jiang Nuanzhi was looking at the bracelet, she saw Xin Bo suddenly appear in a red robe, walk up to her, and clasp his hands in a fist salute.
"Madam, where is your previous bracelet? Why are you wearing something of such poor quality? The general, really, has he used his private funds to subsidize the army again?"
As Xinbo spoke, he glanced at the jade with disdain: "The jade you used to wear was so lustrous that it reflected light and made people's images clear. This one is full of cotton and lint and is not worthy of you, madam. Could it be that the general is even making you suffer for the sake of the army? You wait here, I will go and argue with the general right away."
As Xinbo spoke, he turned around with a solemn expression and went to stand in front of Li Rong.
"General, what is your explanation for this matter?"
As soon as Li Rong stepped out of the pharmacy, he was stopped by Xin Bo, who asked him a question that left him speechless.
After a long pause, he said, "Stop fooling around, don't cause trouble for Anuan. Go and finish stuffing the sausages, that's the important thing."
Jiang Nuanzhi glanced at the raw sausage that Li Rong was feeding to the old man: "..."
What it's like to live with a room full of mentally unstable people
Does anyone know?
She let out a long sigh and smiled as she beckoned to Uncle Xin: "General Xin, please come here, I have something to discuss with you."
General Xin gave Li Rong a disappointed look, then turned and sighed before approaching Jiang Nuanzhi. He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Madam, please don't take offense at the general's words. He's just pretending to be stupid. I'll find something better and send it back to you later."
"There's no rush," Jiang Nuanzhi waved her hand, only asking, "Have the household accounts been sorted out?"
Xinbo: "Yes, madam, I understand."
Jiang Nuanzhi: "I don't think I'm sure. This month's clothing expenses are not right. Go check them again."
Xin Bo frowned: "Madam, there were no clothing expenses this month. Clothing expenses were incurred before the New Year. There was only one such expense. You went out to buy a total of ninety-six taels of cloth, clothing, and undergarments, totaling seventy-six taels, and you also bought twenty catties of cotton. The ninety-six taels is correct, and it is all recorded in the register. If Madam is unclear, I will go and get the register for you right away."
Jiang Nuanzhi's lips twitched. It had been so long, she had almost forgotten, how could he remember so clearly?
Has his brain been cleared of memory? It's working so well!
"Uncle Xin, don't bother Anuan," Li Rong said, frowning.
As they were talking, Li Rong accidentally spilled half of the medicinal herbs in his hand. He tried to pick them up, but dropped the entire grinding stone on the ground, scattering them everywhere.
When Dahei saw something fall on the ground, it rushed over and trampled the pearl powder with its paws. At that time, Dahei was not quite aware of what had happened and happily circled around everyone, leaving white paw prints on the ground.
Li Rong remained crouched, intending to pick it up, a vein throbbing on his forehead, and a hint of violence intensified in his eyes. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were bloodshot, and his muscles twitched as if he were suppressing something.
(End of this chapter)
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