Chapter 009 Surprise
The door opened, and the servant saw the two of them. He looked like he had been waiting for a long time, bowed respectfully, and then said, "Young Master, please follow me."
The two sat down in the main hall, and the servant who had just led them in went to pass on a message to Ji Fulai, and soon a maid served them tea.
Not long after, a middle-aged man in a dark blue brocade robe walked in against the light. Yuan Ming had already seen the other person's gray hair and old appearance, and now he was a little uncomfortable with this.
After a moment of stunnedness, Yuan Ming and Ji Qingyue stood up together and watched Ji Fulai sit down at the top.
Ji Fulai's sharp eyes wandered over Yuan Ming, and he looked him up and down carefully. His eyes were a little picky but not too disgusted. He whispered, "Please sit down."
"Thank you, father-in-law." Yuan Ming's movements were generous and natural, and he was not frightened by his eyes at all.
Seeing this, Ji Fulai's request was somewhat relieved.
"It turns out that Yue Ge'er and Xin Gu Ye are here. I'm sorry, I didn't inform them in time, so I came late." A gentle and gentle voice was heard at the door. With a wisp of fragrant wind, Ji Fulai's second wife Liang Ru walked in with the servants and finally sat down next to Ji Fulai.
Yuan Ming and Ji Qingyue stood up again and respectfully called her Madam.
Liang Ru was not surprised by the address, her tone became more cordial, and she was concerned about Ji Qingyue's recent situation one sentence after another, just like a loving mother who was worried about her child.
At the end, she sighed and looked at Ji Qingyue with pity: "You are a willful child. How can you insist on your own way in marriage? As your parents, can we harm you? Now that you have married from the city to the village, your living standard has plummeted, and you can't bear hardships. How are you going to live in the future?"
Yuan Ming raised his eyebrows. As Liang Ru spoke, Ji Fulai's face became solemn, and the look in his eyes when he looked at him was no longer as gentle as before.
As expected of the wife of the county magistrate who keeps doing small things in secret but can still receive countless praises on the surface, her words are flawless. She seems to care about Ji Qingyue, but in fact, she is reminding Ji Fulai in disguise how unsuitable this marriage is.
Ji Qingyue was anxious. Liang Ru's words were undoubtedly a slap in the face of Yuan Ming. She quickly retorted: "No, my husband and mother-in-law are very good to me and don't let me work. Besides, I can endure hardships!"
After saying that, he looked at Yuan Ming, and the last sentence was also said to Yuan Ming.
Yuan Ming gave him a soothing look, stood up and faced Ji Fulai at the top, bowed and said: "Qingqing was wronged by marrying me. Now I can't give him a superior life, but I promise to do my best to make him happy. Please rest assured, father-in-law!"
He only mentioned father-in-law and didn't mention Liang Ru at all, which made her previous words seem a little ugly. For a moment, Liang Ru's delicately made-up and well-maintained face was slightly distorted, and she looked at Ji Fulai with resentment and anger.
However, Ji Fulai never cared about these trivial things, and didn't notice her eyes at all. He just stared at Yuan Ming quietly without saying a word.
After a moment of stalemate, Yuan Ming brought the backpack he carried with him in front of him.
"My financial resources are limited, and I know my father-in-law is knowledgeable. In order to avoid making things worse, I did not prepare too expensive gifts. These are all brought from the mountains by my mother and I. There are wild game, herbs, wild ginseng, and homemade fruit wine."
Ji Fulai seemed a little surprised by his honesty. Looking at the pile of exquisitely packaged boxes on the table, he felt a long-lost sense of surprise.
"How can I let my father eat these rough things without testing? He is..." Liang Ru covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, as if the pile of things smelled bad, but in fact, she could not smell anything except a faint smell of wine.
Ji Fulai interrupted her halfway through her critical remarks with a frown on his face: "What can't be eaten? I was also a country boy before I became the county magistrate. Your wife is a wealthy woman, so you can just ask the servants to put it in the kitchen."
Liang Ru blushed and stammered, "That's not what I meant..."
"Okay, enough about the pleasantries. It's time to set up the banquet. Let's move to the restaurant," said Ji Fulai.
Just as he was about to get up, Yuan Ming stepped forward, holding the rolled and tied paper tube in both hands and presented it to him: "Father-in-law, please stay. This is a piece of calligraphy that I put my full effort into. My strokes are not as immature as yours, but what is in it is what is in my heart. I would like to see it."
Ji Fulai was stunned for a moment, took the paper tube, opened his hands, and the majestic words were engraved on the paper one by one. The strokes were powerful, the turns were natural, and it was very personal, which made him eyes light up.
"Clear as a trickle, righteous as a mighty stream..." After reading an article, Ji Fulai asked, "Did you write this?"
Yuan Ming nodded shyly, blushing slightly, "Yes, it is. I am afraid that it will not be accepted by my father-in-law without polishing."
"You are too modest." Ji Fulai's eyes were still glued to the paper, "Although the writing style is a little immature, you are still young, which is not easy. Besides, if you hadn't handed it to me personally, I would have suspected that it was written by a master."
"Father-in-law, you are too kind. I don't deserve it." Yuan Ming was modest, but neither humble nor arrogant, which made it difficult for people not to have a good impression.
Ji Fulai carefully rolled up the calligraphy, tied it up, and walked side by side with Yuan Ming towards the restaurant. Along the way, the two talked and laughed.
"Have you ever participated in the imperial examination?"
"Not yet."
"Are you planning to do so this year?"
"Who is your teacher?"
"Which academy are you attending now?"
...
Liang Ru walked behind, the handkerchief in her hand was almost torn to pieces. Ji Qingyue, on the other hand, showed no expression at all, tilted her head and smiled, saying, "Madam is right, my husband is indeed a good match, even my father would like him if he saw him."
Liang Ru: "..." She said that at the beginning just to fool Ji Qingyue and make him fall in love with the poor boy.
"How can the old man like him when he doesn't even have the title of a scholar? He is so poor, and his true colors will be exposed in a few days." Liang Ru gritted her teeth and said.
Ji Qingyue suddenly stopped and looked at her in shock: "Madam, that's not what you said at the beginning. Why do you keep changing your words today? Before I got married, Madam promised me that she would speak well of me in front of my father, but just now in the hall, you didn't say a word on my side and my husband's side."
Liang Ru smiled awkwardly and said quickly: "I was just worried that you would be wronged. I was so angry for a moment that I said something I didn't think about. Brother Yue, don't take it to heart."
Ji Qingyue snorted and turned away.
Liang Ru was so angry that her teeth itched. In the past ten years, in order to make him useless, she could only tolerate his disrespect for age. But now that he is married, he still looks like he doesn't care about her. It's really hateful.
As soon as everyone sat down, servants came in one after another, and soon a table full of delicious food was set.
Ji Fulai said, "Everyone, start eating. Don't be polite."
The meal was quite enjoyable because Liang Ru didn't dare to cause any more trouble after Ji Qingyue's questioning just now, and she finished the meal obediently.
After the meal, Yuan Ming and Ji Fulai went to the study, while Ji Qingyue returned to the courtyard where she lived before she got married.
When he reached the gate of the courtyard, he noticed something was wrong. This courtyard originally belonged to his mother, and she left it to him after her death. Every blade of grass, every grain of rice, every brick and every tile in it carried the few memories that Ji Qingyue had of his mother.
But now, the original archway has been changed into a double door, and the rose vines entwined on the top of the door are gone.
He quickly ran in, and the marble table and benches under the pavilion, as well as the chessboard on the table, were all gone!
In the study, two people stood in front of the desk, holding a pen in their hands. A huge piece of white paper was placed on the desk, with only two identical large characters written on it. However, from the pen tip, pen strength and pen position, it can be seen that it was not written by one person.
"You write well!" Ji Fulai smiled.
Yuan Ming put down the pen, and before he said anything, he heard a very loud scream, but it was far away.
He suddenly raised his head: "It's Qingqing!"