What kind of expression was that, Second Master?
What do you mean by "it's good that you didn't agree"? Does it mean that agreeing was bad? Lu Ying suddenly sensed a strong hint of gossip and couldn't help but ask, "Second Master, what did you and Miss Bai do upstairs for so long...?" You were alone upstairs for an hour, weren't you?
Lu Ying really wanted to ask what they had been doing upstairs for so long, and why Bai's face was flushed when she came down, but looking at Hu Mingmei's calm expression, Lu Ying was too embarrassed to ask.
Hu Mingmei turned her head and glanced at Lu Ying, asking casually, "Are you very free?"
Lu Ying quickly shook her head, not daring to speak, "No!"
Hu Mingmei snorted and returned to the inn where he was staying. As soon as he entered, a man in gray came up to him and said, "Young master, the album has been found."
The man in gray was named Xia Donglai. Like Lu Ying, he was also Hu Mingmei's bodyguard. However, Lu Ying was in the open, while Xia Donglai was in the shadows. These two were Hu Mingmei's right-hand men.
The only two people I can trust.
Before they returned from Bai Nuo's house, Xia Donglai had already taken over this inn. The money given by Hu Mingmei was registered under Xia Donglai's name and was not part of the Hu family's business.
Only the three of them lived in the entire inn.
At this moment, Xia Donglai was holding a notebook with yellowed pages and a missing corner. Hu Mingmei took it and casually flipped through it, and a rustic atmosphere wafted over her.
Xia Donglai said in a deep voice, "I heard that this album was left by the former empress. After the former empress died, it was taken out of the palace by her personal maid, but it was not well preserved."
"What is this?" Lu Ying was completely confused, not understanding what Hu Mingmei and Xia Donglai were talking about. She looked up and was about to take a look when Hu Mingmei slammed the album shut.
"Go cook!" Hu Mingmei glanced coldly at Lu Ying.
The mere mention of cooking sent chills down Lu Ying's spine. He groaned, "Young Master, let's go eat at Miss Bai's place. You'll be alone together anyway..." He was a grown man, and he really couldn't cook. Asking him to cook was just making things difficult for him. Oh, no, was it making things difficult for the young master himself? His cooking was so terrible, yet the young master could still eat it.
As soon as Lu Ying spoke, Xia Donglai looked at her curiously. He had never been by Hu Mingmei's side and knew nothing about what was happening around her. Hearing Lu Ying say this, he immediately looked at her with curiosity.
Lu Ying leaned closer mysteriously, "You don't know, a new treasure shop opened in this shabby place today. There's a proprietress in the shop who's incredibly beautiful and has won the young master's heart. The young master even spent time alone with that girl today."
Xia Donglai had just shown a look of sudden realization and curiosity when Hu Mingmei coldly rebuked him, "Lu Ying, if you don't know how to speak properly, go back and learn."
Seeing that Hu Mingmei was truly angry, Lu Ying quickly shut up and dared not joke about Bai Nuo anymore. She just kept giving Xia Donglai meaningful glances: "See? See? There really is such a girl. I'm not lying."
Hu Mingmei, however, returned to her room with a cold face.
After Hu Mingmei left, Lu Ying and Xia Donglai huddled together and whispered among themselves.
*
Around noon, there were hardly any customers left in Bai Nuo's shop. After Bai Nuo had lunch with Jiang San Niang and Jiang Qiao'er, Jiang San Niang and Jiang Qiao'er went back to San Niang's Cloth Shop.
Seeing that there were few people around, Bai Nuo, who had been busy all morning, could finally take a break. So she sat behind the counter and opened the gift money that Hu Mingmei and Zhang Wu had brought.
Bai Nuo was genuinely surprised that they sent money as a gift.
Because she hadn't informed Hu Mingmei and Zhang Wu. Zhang Wu was known in this town for his extensive connections, so it was normal for him to know about this. But she didn't expect that Hu Mingmei would also know and even send a gift.
This really surprised Bai Nuo quite a bit.
Both red envelopes were decorated with gold foil patterns and looked very thin, as if they were empty. However, Bai Nuo knew Zhang Wu and Hu Mingmei well, and they would never give out empty envelopes. Therefore, the only thing inside could be silver notes.
Although the two red envelopes were identical, both had the recipient's surname written on the bottom, so Bai Nuo wouldn't get them mixed up. She opened Hu Mingmei's red envelope first.
When you open it, you find a 100-tael silver note, which came from a money exchange in the capital. Fortunately, it can be exchanged at any money exchange in the country.
Zhang Wu also received a one-hundred-tael silver note.
These two are really generous, spending a hundred taels of silver at a time.
How should I reciprocate?
Bai Nuo started to worry again.
Just as Bai Nuo was about to close up shop in the afternoon, she sold another bracelet. It was Li Jinyu who brought someone to buy it. Seeing that it was Li Jinyu, and that the buyer was Li Jinyu's friend, and that Li Jinyu was a regular customer, Bai Nuo readily reduced their charge by three taels of silver. Just as she saw them off and closed the door, Hu Mingmei appeared at Bai Nuo's door.
"Go home?" Hu Mingmei stood at the bottom of the steps, blocking the setting sun and hiding Bai Nuo in the shadows.
"Yes, I'm getting ready to go home and cook!" Hu Mingmei had just given her a hundred taels of silver. Although it was a congratulatory gift, Bai Nuo still felt bad about it, so she became even more friendly to Hu Mingmei. "Why are you alone? Where's Lu Ying?" The two of them, who were usually inseparable, were now acting alone.
"I had to go out on business!" Hu Mingmei said calmly, remaining standing at the bottom of the steps.
The atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment.
Bai Nuo couldn't stand this kind of awkward atmosphere, so she made a friendly suggestion, "I'm going to buy groceries, do you want to come with me? You eat alone anyway, why don't you come to our house?"
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