Chapter 95 Princess Taiping
After the shop closed.
Xiao Ran hurried home with the one or two taels of silver in her pocket.
This is the month's wages that Sister Jiang gave him in advance.
That's a full tael of silver!
He didn't dare stop along the way, his palms were burning from gripping the money so tightly, as if afraid the silver would grow wings and fly away.
When he pushed open the gate to his own courtyard, there was still a faint light on in his parents' house; they were obviously still waiting for him.
"Dad! Mom! I'm back!" Xiao Ran's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy.
Zhao Yin's wife was mending clothes by the light of an oil lamp when she heard the sound and looked up.
Zhao Yin also stood up, leaning on a wooden stick, and walked to the door.
Only Xiao Qi was already fast asleep.
Xiao Ran ran into the inner room in one breath, stopped, took a deep breath, and then opened her tightly clenched hands—
Even under the dim light, a small silver ingot still gleamed with a warm luster.
"Father, Mother! Look! Sister Jiang gave me an advance on my wages! A whole tael of silver!"
His voice trembled slightly, and his eyes were bright.
With the money, the family can hire people to help with the autumn harvest!
Their family is the slowest to harvest in the village this autumn; if they don't hurry, their grain will rot in the fields.
Zhao Yin's wife looked at the solid silver coin in her son's palm and could hardly believe her eyes.
She had never seen silver before. In the past, when her family was well-off, they had more than an ounce, but it was always in loose copper coins. She had never seen silver ingots like this.
Now that her twelve-year-old son can earn one or two taels of silver a month, she was so excited she wanted to cry.
"Good, good... Xiao Ran has become quite promising..."
Zhao Yin looked at the silver, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
He paused for a moment, then said to the child's mother, "Child's mother, go to town tomorrow morning and buy a few feet of good cloth to make two decent new outfits for Xiaoran. Now that she's working at Miss Jiang's shop, she can't wear clothes full of patches anymore, lest the customers laugh at her."
He had long noticed that most of the customers in the shop were wealthy and influential people. Miss Jiang had been kind to his family, so he dared not embarrass her.
Xiao Ran's mother nodded quickly: "Okay! I'll go first thing tomorrow morning!"
Xiao Ran suddenly remembered something and hurriedly grabbed the red plastic bag by the bedside, which was the one Sister Jiang had just given him.
He untied the knot and took out the two neatly folded pieces of cloth.
One piece is navy blue, thick and flat; the other is dark brown, soft and durable.
Although the color isn't vibrant, you can tell it's a good product just by touching it.
"Father, Mother, there's no need to go to town to buy it! Sister Jiang gave me these two bolts of cloth and told me to take them home to make clothes!"
Actually, Jiang Ling's shop didn't have any fabric for making clothes, and buying it now would be too slow, so she found two new pieces of curtain fabric in the warehouse.
This curtain fabric is thick and durable, and now that it's getting cooler, it's perfect for making clothes.
Zhao Yin's wife took the fabric and carefully stroked it with her fingers; it was smooth and sturdy to the touch. It was clearly top-quality fabric.
She exclaimed in amazement, "This...this is truly the finest material! Miss Jiang is truly...truly a compassionate person! She has thought of everything for us!"
Looking at the two pieces of fabric that were clearly quite valuable, and then thinking about the one or two taels of silver, Zhao Yin felt even more grateful to Jiang Ling.
He sighed and said to his son:
"Xiao Ran, you are truly blessed to be able to work in Miss Jiang's shop. You must work hard in the shop, pay close attention to everything, and never be lazy or slack off. You must not let down Miss Jiang's trust and kindness, understand?"
Zhao Yin had said this many times, and Xiao Ran had heard it many times as well. Yet, each time she answered with utmost seriousness.
"Dad, I know! I will definitely work hard!"
————
The Eastern Palace.
Crown Prince Qin Zhao was buried in a pile of official documents, his brows furrowed.
With urgent military situations on the border, he had to oversee everything from the dispatch of supplies to the allocation of troops, keeping him so busy he was practically never at work.
"Crown Prince! Crown Prince!"
A clear, yet deeply aggrieved, call came from afar, accompanied by slightly hurried footsteps, breaking the tranquility of the study.
Without even looking up, Qin Zhao knew who had arrived.
His spoiled little sister, Princess Taiping.
Qin Zhao sighed helplessly and put down his pen.
This is the third time.
Sure enough, Princess Taiping, dressed in a pink palace gown and with her hair in two buns, rushed in like a butterfly, her eyes red-rimmed and her little mouth pouting so much it could hang an oil bottle.
She went straight around the desk, grabbed Qin Zhao's arm, and started shaking him.
"Crown Prince! When are you going to take me? You promised me!" Princess Taiping's voice was trembling with tears, clearly she was very aggrieved.
Qin Zhao rubbed his temples, trying to reason with her:
“Taiping, it’s not that your brother doesn’t want to take you. As you can see, I’ve been very busy with official duties lately and simply can’t find the time. Besides, that’s not a place you can just go whenever you want; it depends on fate…”
"An opportunity! Another opportunity!" Princess Taiping stamped her foot in anger.
"Then why did Sister Chaoyang, Pei Xixi, and Cheng Jiaojiao have such good fortune? All three of them were able to get in as soon as they went!"
Five days ago, Princess Chaoyang, Pei Xiaoxiao, and Cheng Jiaojiao went to Jixiang General Store together and bought back many rare and interesting items.
Everyone had a giant teddy bear and a snow globe that could sing and make it snow, and they took turns showing off to her, making her so angry she wanted to grind her teeth!
She had pleaded with her father, but he always brushed her off, saying that this was not a child's game.
What childish games? Pei Xiaoxiao and Cheng Jiaojiao are even younger than her!
If they can go, why can't I?!
Knowing that there was no hope of getting help from her father, she ran to find Qin Zhao.
She became increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, and tears were about to fall from her eyes.
"Brother Crown Prince, please take me just once! Just once! I promise I'll be good, I won't say anything out of line, and I won't touch anything! Please!"
She was a princess, yet she had nothing. She was always outshone by them. What face did she have left?
Looking at his younger sister's tear-streaked face, Qin Zhao felt a pang of pity.
Actually, since returning to the palace...
Qin Zhao himself never went to that shop again.
He certainly wanted to go. But he was too busy with official duties to get away, and more importantly, even if he went, he might not be able to see them.
He couldn't be more envious when he thought about how Princess Chaoyang and Pei Xixi happened to find the shop open on their first visit.
Every time he sent Jiang Yi there, he was turned away.
Jiang Yi, who stood like a guardian deity at the door of the study, also had a bitter look on his face.
God knows how depressed he is right now.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, he had been ordered by the Crown Prince to go to the auspicious general store no less than ten times, but each time he was turned away and left questioning his existence.
He wondered if his birth chart was incompatible with Miss Jiang's.
He had also mentioned to the Crown Prince that he wanted to take a long leave so he could set up a tent in front of the shop and keep watch. He refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to wait until the shop opened!
As a result, he was reprimanded by the Crown Prince, who accused him of being ridiculous.
One can only sigh: I came when spring was not here, and I left when the garden was full of flowers.
Waaaaah...
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