Chapter 95 The Slap in the Face Came So Suddenly
In Fanghua Residence, a place specifically for female guests, Li Xinhui looked around the room and began to have some doubts.
Wasn't that woman from the countryside? The furnishings here were exactly to a young lady's liking, elegant yet unconventional. The few potted plants were quite ordinary, but their placement was like the finishing touch to a masterpiece.
They must have spent a lot of money to hire someone to do it, right?
Li Xinhui thought bitterly, refusing to admit that she was outdone by a country woman in terms of aesthetics.
Her close friend, Miss Liu, whispered, "Xinhui, this Sheng Garden doesn't seem simple. What if that Madam Sheng's cooking skills are really good? Wouldn't that be like giving her money for nothing?"
It was Miss Liu who suggested coming to Shengyuan for dinner to embarrass Sheng'an.
After strolling through Shengyuan and seeing the meticulously maintained flowers and trees, Ms. Liu felt that this was no ordinary small restaurant, which gave her a great sense of pressure.
"Whether the food is good or not is up to us to decide. Today, she has to apologize to me!"
Li Xinhui was full of confidence. Even if this woman's cooking skills surpassed those of the head chef of Zuixianlou, as long as these people said it wasn't delicious, she would have an excuse to regain the face she had lost that day.
Another young lady hesitated: "Xinhui, her husband is Scholar Xu, and she has a close relationship with Miss Tan. It might be inappropriate to let Miss Tan know that we are making things difficult for her."
That time at the Fang family's house, Miss Tan, who usually didn't like to meddle in other people's business, took the initiative to stand up for Madam Sheng.
Their family backgrounds were decent, but they paled in comparison to Miss Tan, the daughter of a prefect.
"What are you afraid of? No matter how noble Tan Qingrou's status is, she can't stop us from telling the truth."
Li Xinhui was wary, but she didn't show it on her face. She reminded her group of girlfriends, "You all have to cooperate with me today. I can't let my monthly allowance of half a year go to waste."
Seeing that Li Xinhui was determined, Miss Liu and the others could no longer persuade her and nodded in agreement.
It was still early, and they couldn't stay inside, so they went for a walk in the yard.
As a result, the wind got stronger and stronger, and one by one they couldn't stand it and came back.
Upon hearing that Shengyuan Garden had a chess room, a card room, and a billiards room that they had never heard of, the group of young ladies immediately became interested and asked Shuqi to take them there to have a look.
Li Xinhui and others were not interested in the chess room; they mainly looked at the card room and the so-called billiards room.
Shuqi, carrying calligraphy, painting, and inkstones, demonstrated how to play cards and billiards to them on the spot. Three of them gave detailed explanations, leaving the sixteen young ladies in awe.
Picking up a heavy stone ball engraved with numbers, Li Xinhui stared wide-eyed at Shuqi: "This ball and this way of playing, were these all invented by your boss?"
Shuqi knew that this group of people had ill intentions, but her attitude remained respectful: "To answer Miss, it was indeed created by the master himself."
The master denied creating it herself, saying that she had seen others play it when she was a child, and that she had only improved the rules and gameplay, but no one knew how to play it, so it must have been created by the master herself.
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Li Xinhui was so shocked that she couldn't close her mouth.
I never expected that woman to have such a clever idea.
Like Li Xinhui, the others also felt that Sheng An was definitely smarter than most people to come up with such a game idea.
They didn't say it, but they admired him immensely.
Only Li Xinhui remained defiant: "These are all just strange and ingenious tricks, not presentable in public, who would want to play them!"
Ms. Liu and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
Sister, that's too much! They clearly really want to play!
Thinking this to themselves, no one dared to slap Li Xinhui in the face.
Shuqi wasn't going to tolerate Li Xinhui, and said with a smile:
"These strange and ingenious tricks are not to the liking of you young ladies. The day before yesterday, Master Ding and Master Mu were quite fond of them and even wanted to buy a few decks of cards to take back to their mansion to play. However, Sheng Garden does not have many decks of cards, so the master did not sell them."
The slap in the face came so suddenly that Li Xinhui's face turned red and then pale, and she glared angrily at Shuqi: "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute!"
The woman surnamed Sheng is despicable, and so are the servants she keeps. This master and servant pair is utterly despicable!
Ms. Liu and the others were very embarrassed. Seeing that Li Xinhui looked like she was about to hit someone, they quickly stepped forward to smooth things over: "We've never played this before, that's why we think it's not interesting."
Li Xinhui suppressed her anger, snorted coldly at Shuqi, dropped the stone ball, and turned to leave.
The others glanced at the pool table, then at Li Xinhui's retreating figure, and finally followed her with reluctance.
The three of them, Shuqi, Shuhua, and Shuhua, lagged behind. Shuhua whispered, "We've angered the guests. Will our master be angry?"
Shuyan affirmed, "No, just a few days ago our master ordered us to deal with the troublemakers who came to our door. We didn't lay a hand on the guests just now."
Shuhua thought it made sense and breathed a sigh of relief, giving Shuqi a thumbs up: "You're really bold."
Shuqi replied calmly, "It's all thanks to Master's excellent teaching."
Li Xinhui returned to Fanghua Residence with a long face. Looking at the furnishings in the room, she was extremely angry and grabbed a ceramic ornament, wanting to smash it on the ground.
Upon seeing this, Ms. Liu immediately stepped forward to stop her: "You don't want your monthly allowance for the second half of next year either?"
Li Xinhui's feverish mind instantly calmed down. Looking at the ordinary ceramic ornament in her hand, she scoffed disdainfully, "It's a common item, worth at most one or two taels of silver. This young lady is worthy of it!"
Despite saying that, she still put down the ornament, her expression quite unpleasant.
"Whether this ornament is valuable or not depends on where it is placed. It may not be valuable if it is placed on the street, but its value here is up to the person who decides it."
Ms. Liu comforted her best friend, explaining that after witnessing Sheng An's ingenuity, she didn't want her friend to continue competing with Sheng An.
"People like us, born into wealth and privilege, even have scholars' wives cooking for us. Doesn't that make you feel much better?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xinhui's mood improved considerably, but she still vaguely felt that something was amiss.
Before she could figure it out, Miss Liu continued to persuade her:
“We don’t need to worry about a mere scholar’s wife, but with Xu’s talent, passing the provincial examination is only a matter of time, and even becoming a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) is not out of the question. At that time, Madam Sheng will rise in status because of her husband, and we might even have to bow down to her.”
Qingzhou City is still too small. Even though they come from wealthy families, they are not true daughters of officials.
In the future, the families she marries will mostly be of equal social standing to her own. How can someone of her status be compared to the wives of scholars or even officials?
Li Xinhui's expression changed several times, but she did not refute Miss Liu's words, as if she had taken them to heart.
Sitting and waiting was incredibly boring, and several young ladies couldn't resist the urge to play. Taking advantage of Li Xinhui's inattention, they slipped away to the card room and billiards room to play.
Seeing that they hadn't returned for a long time, Li Xinhui guessed what they had been doing and couldn't sit still any longer, so she took her maid and went to find them.
Before we even got close, we could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the card room.
"You, Sun Yu, you can't stand losing and you even hid your cards. You have to accept our punishment and meow three times like a cat in front of the window."
"No, I don't want to. You guys were being unreasonable just now, but I didn't punish you."
"That was just now, this is now!"
"Alright, alright, it's just for fun playing cards. Let's hurry up and shuffle the cards, let's start another round, this card game is so much fun!"
The card room was bustling with activity, and the billiards room next door was equally lively. Several young ladies, without being familiar with the skills and rules, were having a great time, and their cheerful voices echoed throughout the courtyard.
Someone accidentally discovered Li Xinhui and felt embarrassed.
Just as she was about to say something, a figure darted out and grabbed Li Xinhui, pulling her into the house.
"This pool table is so much fun, you'll definitely love it! Come on, let's play in pairs, and whoever loses has to bark like a dog, hee hee~"
Li Xinhui felt very awkward and initially refused to play.
Before long, she found out it smelled delicious, and she was the one laughing the loudest in the room.
The large kitchen was steaming and filled with smoke. Several bold cats jumped off the courtyard wall and squatted at the kitchen door, desperately inhaling the aroma of meat in the air.
Thin, glistening drops trickled down the corners of their mouths, and a small, dark patch of water appeared on their furry little feet.
Seeing the cats drooling, Sheng An was both annoyed and amused. He scooped out a few pieces of meat from the earthenware pot and tossed them over.
Before the meat even hit the ground, the three cats leaped up, caught it perfectly, and happily carried it to a corner to enjoy it.
Bao Yun laughed and said, "These beasts are lucky to have such a good meal."
Sheng An instructed the four children: "When you go in and out of the kitchen, make sure the door is closed. Put away the ingredients at night. You can leave the window slightly open so they can come in and catch mice."
Where there is food, there is a risk of rodent infestation, and large kitchens are no exception.
I don't know if it's because Sheng'an's food is too delicious, or if there are just a lot of rats here, but I noticed rats appearing a couple of days ago.
Fortunately, any leftover ingredients are stored away in the cupboard and hidden away, so the mice won't be able to eat them for a while.
However, mice have very strong teeth and can easily gnaw through cabinets to steal food, which is where the cats need to step in and help.
It's just a few pieces of meat; Sheng'an can afford the payment.
Baoxiu loved cats and couldn't help but suggest, "Master, Sheng Garden is so big, why don't we catch a couple of kittens to keep?"
Sheng An shook his head, explaining as he seasoned the broth, "Cats shed too much and like to run around everywhere. If fur gets into the food, how can the guests eat?"
After saying that, he threw a few small fried fish to the still hungry cats: "If you eat my meat and fish, you have to help me catch mice, otherwise you won't get any of these delicious treats in the future."
Perhaps the cats understood, because they meowed at Sheng An twice before starting to feast.
Sheng An smiled and instructed Bao Yun, "The dishes can be served now."
Baoyun obeyed the order and immediately ran to the front yard.
Li Xinhui and the others were having so much fun that they forgot all about it. When they learned that the food was ready, they were still reluctant to put down their cards and baseball bats.
Upon arriving at the private dining room, they were immediately captivated by the enticing aroma wafting through the air, causing them to involuntarily swallow hard and stare intently at the enormous dining table that could seat twenty people.
This extra-large dining table has a rotating function, and the carpenter put in a lot of effort to make it.
Li Xinhui and the others were shocked once again, suddenly realizing that they were the ones who were like "country bumpkins" who were visiting the city for the first time.
This Shengyuan, which has been open for less than ten days, is truly remarkable!
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