Chapter 127 Slapping to Improve Blood Circulation
As the group walked toward the Zhang family's house, they encountered Liu Huazhi, who was struggling to walk with a cane in one hand and a basket in the other.
Enemies meeting are bound to be furious. Liu Huazhi glared at Sheng An and the others with eyes blazing with fury, as if she were about to pounce on them and bite them to death at any moment.
Sheng An raised an eyebrow slightly, looked her up and down, and then his gaze fell on her injured left leg: "What bad things have you done that you're being punished for this at such a young age, ending up with a limp?"
Liu Huazhi was so angry that she cursed loudly: "You jinx! It's all your fault! How dare you say that!"
Sheng An now loathed the words "jinx," and without a second thought, rushed up and slapped Liu Huazhi across the face, completely oblivious to the fact that he was bullying the weak: "What are you barking about in broad daylight?"
"ah--"
Liu Huazhi lost her balance and fell to the ground, the basket in her hand flying far away, rolling out a piece of tender white tofu.
Sheng An squatted down and patted Liu Huazhi's face: "Although you look miserable, it's your fault for being so foul-mouthed. I didn't mean to hit you."
Liu Huazhi's face was half red and half white, and her eyes revealed deep fear.
What's wrong with this jinx? It's become even more wicked and terrifying than before.
Seeing Liu Huazhi's anger but unable to speak out, Sheng An felt a little bored and kindly helped her pick up the mud-covered tofu, casually tossing it into the flattened basket:
"Is this piece of tofu borrowed for the New Year's Eve dinner? I didn't know your family was struggling so much. Luckily, you're already engaged. If your dear fiancé knew how hard you're living, he would definitely feel sorry for you and want to marry you as soon as possible."
Since they're engaged, they'll get married sooner or later anyway, so let's get this "lovers" married as soon as possible and have a baby, so they won't have anything better to do than scheme against others all day.
Liu Huazhi's expression shifted repeatedly, instinctively sensing that Sheng An's words were ill-intentioned, but...
Thinking of the empty rice jar at home, and not even having enough money to buy a piece of tofu, Liu Huazhi had no choice but to shamelessly go to her uncle's house in the next village to borrow some. She had to endure her aunt's disdain before she finally managed to borrow one piece, and Liu Huazhi's fists clenched in anger.
Compared to Sheng An, who had a rosy complexion, wore new clothes and shoes, and looked incredibly radiant, Liu Huazhi felt extremely unbalanced and longed to marry into the Xu family as soon as possible to escape her current predicament.
Seeing that she was tempted, Sheng An concealed the cold smile in her eyes, turned around and went back to her family, saying, "Let's go quickly, it's terribly cold outside."
Xu Jinnian held her cold hand, not finding anything wrong with her hitting Liu Huazhi: "Okay, let's go."
The others did the same, not even glancing at the disheveled Liu Huazhi on the ground, and walked together toward the Zhang family's house not far away.
Liu Huazhi, left behind, heard Zhang Zhaodi's infuriating voice: "My hands are freezing in this cold weather, how much would it hurt if you slapped me like that?"
Sheng An said with a smile, "It's nothing, just consider it a way to improve blood circulation."
Liu Huazhi's face was contorted.
Ugh, how can there be such awful people in this world!
She pounded the ground with her hands in a fit of impotent rage, her desire to marry into the Xu family and change her predicament growing stronger.
Sheng An and his group of four arrived at the Zhang family's home and were warmly received by the Zhang family.
Zhang Zhaodi was very impatient. After greeting everyone, she pulled Sheng An to her room.
Xu Jinnian didn't want to go over there, so he talked to Zhang Baobei, who had specially brought her younger brother to keep her company.
Mr. Zhang then took out his own precious tea leaves, which he himself was reluctant to drink, and invited Grandpa Sheng to enjoy the tea together. A plate full of roasted peanuts was laid out on the table.
Grandma Sheng held Zhang's mother's hand and said apologetically, "It's really impolite of us to come empty-handed during the New Year."
Mother Zhang laughed heartily, "We're all neighbors, so let's not stand on ceremony. Please stay for lunch. Zhao Di has a lot to ask An An."
Grandma Sheng smiled and said, "You've gone to so much trouble."
Mother Zhang waved her hand repeatedly: "It's no trouble at all. An'an helped Zhao Di a lot, and she made our family have a prosperous New Year."
As she spoke, she pointed to a row of cured fish, cured meat, and cured chicken hanging from the beam: "If An'an hadn't come up with a way for Zhao Di to make money, my family wouldn't have been able to afford to eat so much meat."
After hearing what Zhang's mother said, Grandma Sheng completely relaxed and sat down with her to chat.
Inside the room, Zhang Zhaodi carefully lifted the curtain and showed Sheng An her personal "display cabinet": "All the bamboo weaving is here. Can you take a look and see if there are any areas for improvement?"
Five bamboo weavings of different shapes were presented to Sheng An at the same time, among which a lifelike flying dragon in the sky was the most eye-catching.
This azure dragon is about two meters long. Its bulging eyes, flowing whiskers, sharp claws, clearly visible scales, and lifelike clouds are all masterpieces of craftsmanship, and are extremely breathtaking.
Seeing Sheng An staring intently at the bamboo weaving, Zhang Zhaodi's face showed a rare hint of smugness: "Isn't it beautiful? My grandfather and I wove this together, and he didn't want me to take it after it was finished."
Sheng An expressed her understanding: "Don't even mention your grandfather being reluctant to part with it, I myself would like to keep it for myself."
Zhang Zhaodi hurriedly said, "If you like it, I'll make another one for you. This one will fetch a good price at Shengyuan!"
Sheng An nodded and gave her a thumbs up: "You and your grandfather are like this!"
In just a few months, Zhao Di's bamboo weaving skills have improved to such an extent, not only because she has extraordinary talent, but also because she has a spirit of dedication that most people lack.
The remaining four bamboo weavings are equally exquisite, featuring koi playing among lotus flowers, koi leaping over the dragon gate, colorful butterflies flitting among flowers, and gourds adding blessings and happiness. These auspicious symbols are sure to please customers.
Sheng An didn't find any major faults and suggested to Zhang Zhaodi, "Sheng Garden also has many female guests. You can make up some clever ideas, such as pairs of mandarin ducks, which the girls waiting to be married will like."
Zhang Zhaodi nodded repeatedly, "Okay, I'll think about it later."
She had never seen mandarin ducks before, so she couldn't really make one up from her imagination. She would have to go to the streets after the New Year, especially to the embroidery workshops, where the embroiderers would surely make beautiful mandarin duck patterns.
After the two finished discussing business, Sheng An asked about Zhang Zhaodi's personal affairs: "You and Da Kui are getting married in March. Have you finished making your wedding dress and veil? If you really don't have time, I'll have Granny Sun make one for you. She's very good at it."
When the topic of marriage was suddenly brought up, Zhang Zhaodi blushed, a rare occurrence for her.
"The bright red fabric you sent is so beautiful. My hands are so calloused, I snagged a few threads as soon as I started cutting, so I didn't dare to make the wedding dress. Later, I told Da Kui, and he took it to the city to have someone make it."
As she spoke, Zhang Zhaodi opened her wardrobe, revealing a magnificent bright red wedding dress inside: "The tailor's skills are excellent. He cut three whole layers, using most of the fabric you gave me."
Sheng An walked to the wardrobe and looked admiringly at the bright red wedding dress in front of her: "It's very beautiful. You will definitely be the most beautiful bride on that day."
Zhang Zhaodi hugged her tightly: "I also want to thank you for the fabric. The day Da Kui brought the wedding dress over, my mother cried. She said that wearing such a beautiful wedding dress, she would definitely have a harmonious and happy marriage with her husband's family."
For a girl from a farming family, it was considered a blessing to have a red veil when she got married.
Like her mother and her aunts and uncles, they didn't even wear veils; they wore their best clothes to worship heaven and earth.
Even the finest clothes are patched.
At the beginning of the year, An'an got married but didn't get to wear a red wedding dress, yet An'an made her wear one.
An'an is her best friend for life!
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