Chapter 84 Going home?

Si Li was busy between teaching Guan Ji's dim sum classes and training apprentices. Going out was like a battle of wits and courage in a tunnel warfare. After two thrilling experiences, according to the complaints of old customers relayed by Wang Ting and Xiao Que, the disputes outside had developed from quarrels and obstructions to physical fights twice in the morning and evening before the patrol of the Five Cities Army and Horse Division began. Si Li finally had to face up to the problem caused by the Si Jian family blocking the door.

So far, no one has directly exposed her identity, but it seems that it will happen soon. Si Li does not want to keep her identity hidden forever, but she wants to make a bigger splash when she returns home, so that she can gain more benefits. Of course, it would be better if she could not go back.

Si Li shook the letter that was thrown into the yard in the morning and sneered. Princess Jinhe was a little sleepy, so she rested her head on Si Li's lap and held her hand. Since she hugged her that day, Princess Jinhe seemed to be fascinated by this way of getting along. Whenever Si Li was free, she would have a beautiful girl pendant on her body. It would be better if Jiang Shizhi was here. Jiang Shizhi left first, and the beautiful girl came over softly, making Si Li feel that it was difficult to accept the favor of a beautiful woman.

"Ji...gui?" Jiang Rufei read the most frequently appearing words on the letter. Si Li nodded and said nonchalantly, "I don't know what family my good father has chosen, but he wants to hold a jigui ceremony before we get engaged. Are you crazy?"

Compared with the letters from his current wife, this letter from Lord Si was much more straightforward and arrogant. He did not ask why she was in Wanglaiju or why she left. Si Li read it over and over again twice, but could not read a trace of tenderness for his daughter. He only told Si Li to go home as soon as possible to prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony. I don't know where the confidence came from, as if Si Li would be obedient as long as he said it.

——If she was really that kind of person, we wouldn't have been in contact with each other.

However, if it was the original owner, Lord Si's attitude would not be considered to be too fantastic. It's just that the tone in the letter was too strong, as if she could come at her call and leave at will. Si Li couldn't help but sympathize with the original owner a little more.

Not all parents in the world are qualified to be parents. In the original owner's memory, Si Li could only see that her father was indifferent and busy with government affairs. After reading this letter, Si Li tasted a little subtlety and understood why the previous good stepmother did not treat her cruelly, and at least let the original owner grow up safely. Perhaps it was because she was unsure of the attitude of her cold-hearted husband that she left a way out.

This makes sense. How could someone who holds power in the court be so blinded to the point of knowing nothing? He just didn't want to put in any effort for the family. Even when his daughter ran away, he didn't want to put in any effort, and just told her coldly. If you really compare them, this father makes Si Li hate him more than her stepmother.

Si Li thought that the so-called coming-of-age ceremony mentioned in the letter was just an excuse to trick her into going back. If the original owner, who had always been ignored, heard that there was going to be a coming-of-age ceremony, she would probably go home immediately, looking forward to her father's attention and love, right?

"I'm a supporter." Jiang Rufei held Si Li's hand and said seriously.

In addition to the host, the main guest, the sponsor, and the official are the three important roles in the coming-of-age ceremony. The original owner had thought about who she should invite countless times in the past, and asked the two maids over and over again what to do at the coming-of-age ceremony. Generally speaking, the coming-of-age ceremony for girls in Daning is held on the fifteenth birthday after engagement. If you hold a ceremony directly without an engagement, you will be laughed at as an old maid. In recent years, the atmosphere has become more relaxed, and people no longer laugh at this, but the original owner has heard the maids mention countless times that "you must find a good family for the young lady before holding the ceremony." Given the feudal degree of the father of the official, he probably would not accept the behavior of directly coming-of-age ceremony.

But, who cares.

Si Li nodded in agreement, not knowing whether to say it was a coincidence that the original owner's coming of age day was exactly the last day of the mandatory mission countdown. She coaxed the princess and started to talk nonsense, "A Fei will be the sponsor, Tao Tao will be the official, Xiao Qi will be the gift, I wonder if we can invite Minister Xiao to be the guest of honor?"

"A gift? I won't do it." Xiao Qi just walked in and heard it, and immediately refused, "How can I do this? Last year when I was coming of age, my cousin almost died from memorizing poems! Let Tao Tao do it, she is just right for this."

"It's not like you can't remember." Si Li rolled her eyes and changed the subject. Jiang Rufei, who was resting her head on her lap, curled her eyes and smiled softly.

After the idle chat, Si Li considered how to deal with Si's father's delusion. Lord Si has power and a righteous reputation, so he will not take her away by force, but there will be many malicious business incidents like this, and if he marries her for no reason, that would be a great loss. In other words, he still has to be avoided.

Circumventing Si's father and befriending the Jian family are parallel lines. Improving one's own fame and status so that he cannot act rashly is also a solution. Si Li originally planned to use the momentum of the previous tea tasting party to gain more fame after the new product tasting of Guan Ji was thoroughly fine-tuned and finalized, and then go to Qun Ying Academy to give lectures after raising her status and accumulating other confidence. Now it seems that she has to adjust the order and give lectures first and then launch Guan Ji's new products.

There has to be some time between them. After all, frequent explosions are similar to frequent hot searches in the past life, which can easily arouse rebellious psychology and make people disgusted. Previously, she worked overtime to urge them to pay attention to research and development and improvement, but now she has to let them slow down.

Si Li asked Ah Sheng to tell Guan Zhiyu that Guan Zhiyu was a smart person and knew more about leveraging the situation for publicity than she did. After listening to her arrangement, she would not act rashly. The first time slot on the post sent by Master Di from Qun Ying Academy had been missed, and the next closest time slot was tomorrow. Si Li gave Wang Ting a cup of milk tea to deliver to the academy and confirmed the time for tomorrow's visit.

After finishing the two tasks, she didn't even plan to reply to the letter in her hand. She just crumpled it up and threw it on the ground, then walked into the front hall, "A Zhuang, go and ask the person in charge of the Jian family to come."

The one guarding Wanglai Residence now is Jian Qingya. When she heard that Si Li suddenly changed his attitude and was willing to see them, she immediately sent someone to send a message to her parents and went in first.

Seeing this familiar yet unfamiliar little cousin, Jian Qingya couldn't help but tear up, "Ali, we are late."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were my cousin before, and I lied to you." Si Li's attitude was a little cold. She didn't know what was covered up between the Jian family and the Si Mansion, but the injured original owner was innocent after all.

Jian Qingya didn't expect that her first words would be an apology. She held back her tears and fell, "No, it's not your fault. I didn't recognize you..." She regretted countless times after hearing the news. If she had known Si Li's identity earlier, she could have taken this wronged little cousin home earlier. But now, it was the little cousin who was apologizing to her who had made a mistake.

Before the two of them could say a few words, a couple with a young man blocked the door of Wanglaiju. A Zhuang and A Sheng stood in front of the door and turned around to wait for Si Li to speak. When Si Li saw their faces, he was stunned.

She was deeply impressed by the young man and his mother who were the first to recognize wolftooth potatoes at the Buddhist meeting, and she did not expect to meet them again here.

Jian Bingde and his wife looked at the stunned girl, their hearts filled with sorrow. They did not let the guards break through the two children's obstruction. They stood outside the door and looked at Si Li. Their lips trembled, and thousands of words finally came together in one sentence, "Ali, we are late!"

Si Liyuan still had some sensibility left in her, and was almost tickled by the different voices. Should we say they are truly a family?

"Uncle, aunt, cousin." Si Li stood up and saluted with an indifferent expression.

Mrs. Jian came in and grabbed Si Li in her arms, "Good child, I'm sorry for making you suffer. Come home with me. I will make sure that bastard Si Baifu knows what regret is!"

"You look a lot like your grandmother, except for your father's facial features. When you were little, you were only as small as a ball, and you were prettier and cuter than a pear blossom." Jian Bingde looked at Si Li's face with sadness and memories. After being kicked by his wife, he sighed and lowered his head to apologize, "It's all my fault for being stupid. I was fooled by those three guys in the Si family. I really thought you were scared by me when you were little and didn't want to see me... It's all my uncle's fault. He came too late. If you want to be angry, Ah Li, just be angry at my uncle."

Mrs. Jian only hugged Si Li for a moment before letting go. Because she had lost control of herself, she was afraid that Si Li might feel uncomfortable, so she kept observing her movements and expressions, cautiously but with a lot of heartache. Jian Bingde kept apologizing, and his cousins ​​who were silent beside him had red eyes, as if he would help Si Li achieve whatever she said.

It must be said that the Jian family was very different from what Si Li had described based on her memory. They were all good people, and they were afraid that she would not be able to adapt to this kind of relationship, so they tried to make up for it. The belated love and heartache filled the entire front hall of the residence, and only Si Li remained silent.

Amidst the expectant and yet uneasy gazes, Si Li spoke, "I remember that my uncle's beard was too long and smelled of the sea."

Si Li finally found out from the original owner's memory the distant memory mentioned by her second uncle that scared her to tears. Compared with the memory of Jian Bingde and Si Tang smiling together, this scary little incident was really insignificant. The original owner's envy of Si Tang made it completely difficult for Si Li to forgive.

The original owner had only one last wish before his death, and he no longer had any expectations for this kind of family affection. This fate could not really be passed on to Si Li. If it were not for the mandatory mission and the obstruction of Lord Si, Si Li would have wanted to disgust Si Tang and his gang, secretly cause some trouble for the Si Mansion, and then run away with her baggage.

After hearing what Si Li said, Jian Bingde laughed, "It wasn't very pretty when we just got off the boat."

The Jian family was able to find a place to stay and fell out with the Si family. Si Li estimated that they had also inquired about the affairs of the manor. Continuing the impression of the character left by Manager Wang, she "compromised" and said distressedly, "I don't want to care about the previous things. I was afraid of causing trouble to everyone in the past. After leaving home for so long, I finally realized that without me, my family would have no relationship, so I don't want to go home. Uncle, aunt, can you forgive me?"

Madam Jian frowned, "Did he force you to go back? You shameless old thing, he can stay in Si Mansion if he wants, we, Ah Li, will do it ourselves..."

Before she finished speaking, Si Li reached out to wipe her eyes and interrupted her. Si Li said softly, "I'm doing well in Wanglaiju, aunt, don't worry."

So the group understood that Si Li had made up her mind not to go to either place. Feeling the atmosphere tense, Si Li continued, "My father urged me to go home to prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony, but I have not promised anyone yet, and there is no guest to make the decision. And thirdly... I really, really don't want to be the host of the coming-of-age ceremony..."

She intentionally did not finish her words, but it was an old custom for the parents of the bride to be the hosts during the coming-of-age ceremony. Whether she was targeting Lord Si or her stepmother depended on how the Jian family would fill in the blanks.

Jian Bingde's face turned cold at first, but he forced a smile to comfort Si Li, "Ali, you can go wherever you want. Your mother is gone, and your uncle will make the decision for you. If he dares to marry you off casually, or do something malicious to you at your coming-of-age ceremony, your uncle will be the first to disagree!"

"Thank you, uncle." Si Li knelt down timidly.

Jian Qingya sobered up from her initial sadness, and compared it with Si Li's behavior she had seen before, she raised her eyebrows. Her little cousin still didn't trust them. It was normal for her to be on guard after so many years without help. She didn't say much, watching Si Li ask her parents to help resolve the entanglement of Lord Si in a nice voice, and smiled before leaving, "Ali, if you want to go home, come back anytime. Your yard is next to your sister, and I have been looking forward to your coming for more than ten years."

Si Li pursed her lips, "Okay."