This was the first time Yue Ze met Zhu Zhu at the Zhou family's house.
A six-year-old girl left him speechless for a moment.
In his memory, a six-year-old boy is just beginning his education, and he himself started his education at a school at the age of six.
But this six-year-old girl has an ethereal temperament, outstanding appearance, and demeanor that makes her look like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl.
When she greeted her elders, her smile was just right, her posture was graceful, and even when Zhou Lei introduced her to him, she politely called him Uncle Aze.
Yes, he and Zhou Lei were classmates, and Zhou Lei was Zhu Zhu's third uncle, so he became her elder. Although he was only seven years older than Zhu Zhu, he was still called Uncle Aze.
When Zhuzhu looked at him with her bright, spirited eyes, which held a hint of a smile, Yue Ze, who was only thirteen years old and had never been in contact with girls before, fell for her.
His mind went blank, his heart was racing, and in the heart of the boy who was just beginning to experience love but did not yet understand what love was, a graceful little fairy who was only six years old moved in.
But the young man knew his own background and the little girl's background. He dared not show any bad expression in front of everyone. After a moment of surprise, he returned the greeting respectfully and softly called her "Little niece Zhuzhu".
After Zhou Quan helped the villagers settle these matters and bought some stones for each family to claim their land, it was already June 6th, and the Lu family came to the Zhou family to propose marriage.
Now that Zhou Tao and Lu Qian are getting married, no one will say anything about them being an unequal match. Which of the Yunwang family's relatives wouldn't want to get married into the Zhou family?
On this day, Lu Qian, dressed in a crimson new robe, adorned with a jeweled belt and a golden crown, joyfully arrived at the Zhou family with his matchmaker, his brothers, and sixty-six loads of betrothal gifts to formally propose marriage.
The Zhou residence was bustling with activity today, as families with good relations came to offer their congratulations and await the arrival of the Lu family's betrothal gifts.
Li Mai and Xu Yue had to go to the front to greet the guests, so the group of children were left to Xu Changhuan and Zhou Tao to play in Zhou Tao's yard.
Zhou Tao couldn't go out to meet the guests today. She would just wait in her own courtyard for her sisters-in-law to help her count the betrothal gifts and then collect the betrothal gift list.
Fortunately, Xu Changhuan and the children were there to keep her company, so she wasn't lonely.
Fu Bao and Ying Bao were born less than a month apart. The two babies are about the same size. Now they are less than five months old. They can't sit up yet, but they also can't lie still. They are always rolling around on the tatami.
Xu Changhuan and Zhou Tao kept an eye on both sides, while Yanbao and Yubao huddled around the edge of the bed, occasionally teasing their younger siblings.
Zhuzhu stood behind Yanbao and Yubao, protecting her younger siblings, afraid that they might fall while playing happily.
This was the scene that Zhou Lei saw when he brought Lu Qian in, and the two of them immediately laughed.
When Zhou Tao and Lu Qian's eyes met, both of them blushed.
"Why are you here? Didn't we say we wouldn't see each other today?" Zhou Tao said speechlessly.
Lu Qian quickly said, "It was my sister-in-law who allowed me to come. They're counting the betrothal gifts over there. I was bored, so I thought I'd come over and talk to you."
Xu Changhuan smiled and said, "Xiao Tao, you and Young Master Lu go outside to talk. I'll keep an eye on things here."
Zhou Tao secretly glared at Lu Qian, then grabbed his arm and walked outside.
Next to her courtyard was a small door leading to a corridor, at the end of which was the entrance to the garden. She led him to the garden.
"You have something to say?"
Once inside the garden, the two walked side by side. Seeing that he didn't speak and just stared at her with a silly smile, Zhou Tao had no choice but to ask first.
When Lu Qian saw that she had asked, he smiled and nodded, took out a long box from his sleeve, and handed it to her. "Open it and see if you like it."
"What?" Zhou Tao asked curiously, taking the hairpin and opening it. Inside were two hairpins of different lengths.
The wood is inlaid with golden peach blossom petals, and the hairpin's end is a small peach blossom branch.
This craftsmanship is so complicated! Gold thread is inlaid in the wood, and the hairpin body is made very smooth. How arduous must that be?
Zhou Tao looked closely and it seemed there were six peach blossoms.
She raised an eyebrow at him.
Lu Qian blushed slightly and said softly, "I asked my sister-in-law to design it for me, and I also asked the craftsmen of Jin Yu Ge to make it for me. It is a pair of peach blossom hairpins, one for men and one for women. The wood is made by polishing peach branches, and the outer petals are made of pure gold thread. It took more than half a year to make, and it was only finished a few days ago."
"Ah, I had no idea at all?" Zhou Tao exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yes, my sister-in-law designed this for me before she left last year. I had it made at Jin Yu Ge. I asked my sister-in-law to keep it a secret. I wanted to give it to you when we got married, but after thinking about it, I'll give it to you today. The jewelry in the betrothal gifts was prepared by my mother and the others. This is a design that my sister-in-law drew for you according to my ideas. I want to give it to you separately."
Zhou Tao glanced at Lu Qian and felt that he really did resemble the kind of foolish son of a landlord that her sister-in-law had described.
But after falling for him, she stopped caring about his silly side. Now, she even finds his silliness endearing.
Who has ever seen anyone use such valuable gold to wrap the cheapest peach wood?
But he did it anyway, simply because the character for "peach" in the peach wood name was the same as the character in his own name.
"Thank you, I really like it. I've heard that peach wood can ward off evil spirits. You're so thoughtful." Zhou Tao took it and smiled.
Lu Qian smiled helplessly. The girl he had his eye on was just like that; she wouldn't say anything sweet to him, but he loved every word she uttered.
"I'm glad you like it!" He raised his hand, gently touched her head, and said softly, "Tao'er, now you are officially my fiancée."
Zhou Tao was surprised, "I thought we were engaged after we got engaged last time!"
“Hehe, that’s true. It’s just that back then, we didn’t send a gift certificate, so in everyone’s mind, it didn’t count. But now it does, the gift certificate has been handed to Uncle.” Lu Qian said, looking at her intently.
"Okay, fiancé!" Zhou Tao looked up and smiled at her.
That smile seemed like that of an angel to Lu Qian. His Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, and a bold idea popped into his head. At that moment, he really wanted to hold Zhou Tao in his arms and gently kiss the girl he had been pursuing for several years.
But he dared not. This was the Zhou residence, and his brother-in-law was a formidable figure. Perhaps the moment he touched Tao'er's shoulder, Zhou Quan would suddenly appear and kick him away.
Zhou Tao noticed him staring blankly at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Tao'er looks really good in that dress today." Lu Qian quickly changed the subject.
"Yes, I designed this myself. My sister-in-law said it looked good, so she only made two sets for me and didn't sell them to anyone else."
After Zhou Tao finished speaking with a smile, she looked down at the box in her hand and asked him, "When do you want to wear this?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
