"Who told you to be so greedy? You've caused trouble for the family again."
Amian was very disappointed: "So they all saw me taking eggs from the cafeteria. I only took them because none of them ate them. How could they say that about me?" Every time she took two boiled eggs home, she would give one to Xiaojing and eat one herself.
Adou pawed at the ground with his front hooves, as if agreeing with her.
Meng Chijian pretended to work, but actually walked around with a stack of firewood, eavesdropping. In fact, he hadn't seen A-Mian talk to A-Dou like this, or talk to herself like this, in a long time.
However, perhaps because Meng Chijian walked around too many times, A-Mian became wary. She pretended to be grooming the donkey and whispered something next to the donkey's ear.
“My clothes are fine too, just not as brightly colored as theirs. But they’re comfortable to wear and don’t tear easily. These people don’t know anything and they’re talking nonsense, saying I’m taking their money. I have seven taels of silver myself!” A-Mian went on and on, badmouthing the whole academy. “My money is earned by myself, while their money comes from their families.”
"And the Master, I used to think that he was the smartest and wisest person in the world, but it seems that's not the case."
When Meng Jing learned what had happened at the academy during the day, she was furious: "I'm going to find them and settle the score! How could they bully A-Mian like that? So many people were talking about A-Mian alone. How could she possibly talk back to everyone? It's absolutely outrageous!"
"Go talk to Amian and play with her. Also, she has a classmate named Wangwang. These days, Amian doesn't need to use the abacus after school. You two can go shopping together and buy some things you like."
Meng Jing nodded, "I know. We'll go eat sugar figurines then, and they'll definitely make A-Mian happy."
"Here'll give you fifty coins."
The next day, the students from the academy wanted to apologize to Ah Mian, but she turned them all away. Ah Mian completely ignored them, her gaze seemingly passing right through them.
Ji Hengzhi also sensed something was wrong. A Mian didn't say a word to them. After finishing her class and reviewing her lessons, she left without looking back.
He had originally intended to use this incident to get closer to A-Mian, but it backfired. A-Mian completely forgot about the entire academy! In the past, she would always bow respectfully when she saw the teacher, but now she either avoided him at all costs or pretended not to see him.
"How can a young lady have such a temper!"
However, when Wangwang came to the academy, he and Meng Jing dragged Amian around for two days, first going to the fish soup shop.
Mr. Song was very hospitable. “Oh, you’ve come at the perfect time! Come and see how my shop has been newly decorated.”
Amian's heart stirred, and she began to examine the shop closely. The shop in front of her had been completely renovated. The tables and chairs were all made of huanghuali wood, with a faint woody fragrance. There was also an outdoor table set up, and the original outdoor window had been enlarged, with a larger signboard painted on it. The most eye-catching feature was the many oil paintings on the walls, depicting the food in a way that made one's mouth water. There were also poems inscribed on the walls by famous artists.
"It's so novel! I've never seen any restaurant in the city paint like this on its walls before!"
"Of course, this is an artist I invited from Zhoucheng. When running a restaurant, you need to be innovative and change, and create your own unique characteristics in order to last."
After everyone had been talking for a while, Meng Jing suggested that they go buy some sugar figurines. At this point, A Mian was already very happy and started talking more.
A sugar figurine costs five coins. Making sugar figurines requires skill. The dragons, the Monkey King, tigers, and other figures that are drawn are quite large. In their eyes, this means that a lot of sugar has been used, so five coins is not a bad deal. Moreover, you can watch the uncle draw sugar figurines.
"I want one of the Monkey King! Make it look majestic, and I also want one of a big tiger." A-Mian ordered two and ate them on her way home.
Meng Jing secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally having completed the task her third brother had assigned her.
When Meng Chijian returned home in the evening, he saw that A Mian had taken two sugar figurine sticks and gave Xiao Jing a knowing look.
Meng Jing chuckled, knowing that this meant she would keep the rest of the money, and hummed a little tune as she went back to her room.
Meng Chijian pinched A-Mian's face and pulled it to both sides, "Why didn't you tell me about what happened at the academy that day? What others say doesn't count. I want to hear what you tell me."
"Mmm, mmm."
Meng Chijian released his hand.
"Do you... also think I'm always taking advantage of others?" A-Mian lowered her head, "and always taking things from home." Actually, after what happened at the academy that day, she stopped taking things, even only taking one hard-boiled egg from the academy home.
She is also a very principled Ah Mian, and doesn't want others to look down on her.
Meng Chijian had initially thought she was upset because she had been wronged but couldn't express it, which was why she acted this way. He never imagined it was something like this. It was just some household necessities; why make such a fuss? He lifted her face. "Nonsense! You're a member of the family. The food we prepared was for you. You paid the academy ten taels of silver in full; who would dare say anything against you?"
When A-Mian heard him say that, she was about to speak again when she suddenly realized that Meng Chijian had already wrapped his arms around her without her noticing. She snuggled into his arms and said with a long-lost sense of grievance, "I shouted for a long, long time, but they didn't listen to me at all."
"Um."
“...But I received some good things.” Ah Mian slapped her forehead and picked up the book basket next to her. “Look, just like those five taels of silver, it suddenly appeared in my book basket. When I saw it, I said, ‘From now on, whatever is in my book basket is mine.’ But thinking about it later, I should have said that it wasn’t his five taels of silver, but clearly mine.”
She secretly regretted it for two days, wishing she had said that back then.
Inside the book basket were several fine Huzhou brushes, each costing one hundred to two hundred coins. These brushes had strong, round, and full tips and were quite durable, making them very popular among scholars and writers. In addition, there were several high-quality ink sticks and several reams of Xuan paper.
Meng Chijian looked around for a while, "Is there anything here that was sent by that Ji guy?"
“No, he said he would compensate me with a lot of money, but it was inconvenient to bring it to the academy, so he told me to go to his house to get it. I ignored him.” A-Mian had a “praise me” look on her face: “I am a married woman, how can I go to someone else’s house casually? Even if there is money, I can’t. I remember everything. I will tell you first when I come back.”
Meng Chijian felt a surge in his chest, and for a moment he even felt dizzy and his mouth was dry. Ah Mian had actually chosen him instead of the silver.
"What if he had a hundred taels of silver? That's as much as ten gold ingots."
Amian glanced at him quickly and stammered, "He...he shouldn't have that many, right?"
Meng Chijian remained silent for a long time before deciding that he still had to take her back into the house and give her a serious lecture.
At this moment, A-Mian hesitated and said, "By the way, Wangwang said that she is coming to our house as a guest, and she will bring her two very strong younger brothers with her... She said she wants to talk to you."
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