Chapter 225: Flexibility in Using the Rules

Because she had been here a few days ago, Su Mei did not bring any valuable things this time. She only bought some fruits at the entrance of the alley.

Bringing expensive items every time you come here would make it seem unusual.

When Su Mei and Huo Jianguo arrived, the Qin family's house was already full of people.

In addition to Qin Zhengting, Dai Yin, and Qin Fang's family of three, there was also Qin Zhengfeng with his wife, daughter, son, and grandson.

The whole family gathered together and the food was already on the table, but no one started eating. They were all waiting for Su Mei and Huo Jianguo to come to the table.

Qin Fang and Dai Yin stood up and welcomed the young couple into the house. Dai Yin said:

"I've been waiting for you two!"

"Why are you waiting for us?" Su Mei was embarrassed. She entered the room and looked around at the people in the room. She didn't dare to sit down. She greeted the elders she knew one by one:

"Master, Master's Wife, Professor Qin........"

"Su Mei, I really didn't expect that you would be Qin Zhengting's apprentice. It was not until he met Su Mei at Qin Zhengting's house today that Qin Zhengfeng realized that the apprentice Qin Zhengting accepted was his most satisfied student this year.

"No wonder my brother with a weird temper would suddenly accept a disciple. Considering your status as the top scholar in the country, I am not surprised why he is suddenly willing to accept a disciple!"

He couldn't help but joked: "You have taken my brother as your master, and I am your mentor, so are you my disciple or your master's disciple now?"

"Of course she is my apprentice. You are her teacher and she is your student. What does it have to do with being an apprentice?" Su Mei was at a loss as to how to answer this question, when Qin Zhengting interrupted her, "Su Mei, come sit here with your master, and don't listen to his nonsense!"

Seeing her master protecting the dog, Su Mei couldn't help but smile. She obediently took Huo Jianguo and sat down next to Qin Zhengting.

Qin Zhengfeng just joked and didn't say anything else when he saw Su Mei sit down.

After everyone sat down, Dai Yin began to invite everyone in the room to eat.

The meal took half an hour. Su Mei was so full that she started to burp, but Huo Jianguo was still adding more food to her bowl.

If she wasn't careful, there would be a few extra pieces of meat and vegetables in the bowl.

"I really can't eat anymore, Huo Jianguo. If you give me any more food, I'll get angry!" Su Mei said as she touched her bloated belly.

Huo Jianguo glanced at Su Mei and said calmly, "How can you eat if you are half hungry? You are not allowed to lose weight anymore. The winter in the north is cold, and you can't resist the cold if you are too thin!"

"How can I be thin? I'm still 140 pounds now. It was easy to lose weight before because I had a large base, but now I hardly weigh much. You see me losing weight because my skirt makes me look thinner." As she spoke, Su Mei threw away her bowl and chopsticks and pushed the remaining food in the bowl in front of Huo Jianguo, "Be frugal and stop wasting. You pick up the food and you eat it yourself!"

After saying this, Su Mei burped, proving that she really couldn't eat anything.

Seeing this, Huo Jianguo contentedly brought the leftovers of Su Mei to himself. In front of so many people, there were some things he was embarrassed to say. It was not because Su Mei looked thinner, but he felt that she no longer had the soft and crisp feeling she used to have.

After finishing the meal, Qin Zhengting and his son Qin Fang went to clean up the dishes, leaving Dai Yin in the living room to chat with others.

Su Mei just felt curious, she whispered to Huo Jianguo:

"I thought that in a traditional family like my master's, it would be his wife who would wash the dishes. I didn't expect that he would go to the kitchen to wash dishes on his first day back. It's amazing."

"What's so magical about it? A man's eyes must be lively. This is what your master taught me. Otherwise, I would..." Huo Jianguo suddenly stopped talking.

Su Mei turned around and looked at him suspiciously: "What did my master teach you? When did he teach you these things? How come I don't know?"

"It's nothing, just some ways for couples to get along with each other!" Huo Jianguo didn't dare to talk further. He was afraid that he would slip up and reveal his previous tricks.

After sitting down and resting for a while, Su Mei was called over by Dai Yin and sat with several other female relatives.

Dai Yin introduced the women in the room to Su Mei again.

Qin Zhengfeng's wife is Liang Jing, who is the principal of a primary school. The thin woman with long black hair is Qin Zhengfeng's daughter-in-law Yang Yuzhu. The youngest girl is a reporter for People's Daily, and she is Qin Zhengfeng's daughter, Qin Xiaoyu.

Su Mei was unfamiliar with Beijing and needed to make more friends if she wanted to develop in Beijing in the future. So when Dai Yin introduced these people to Su Mei, Su Mei greeted them all enthusiastically.

With Dai Yin acting as the go-between, all the women in the room quickly started chatting.

When women sit together, the topics they are most likely to talk about are cosmetics, clothes, exquisite food, and family.

So as the women chatted, the topic turned to Su Mei's skirt.

The women in the room, including Dai Yin, were very interested in Su Mei's skirt, because the style of Su Mei's skirt was really novel and they had never seen it before.

"I drew the pattern of this skirt myself, and then asked my sister-in-law to make it by hand." Su Mei truthfully told the origin of her skirt.

Dai Yin was surprised to hear that the skirt was made by Su Mei's sister-in-law. She looked Su Mei's skirt up and down again and said seriously:

"You are so creative, Su Mei. You are really excellent in every aspect. And your sister-in-law is also an amazing craftsman.

I have never seen such a skilled tailor in Yanjing. Can you let your sister-in-law make one for me? I will buy the fabric myself and then pay your sister-in-law for the workmanship according to the market price!"

"Is it okay?" Su Mei was a little embarrassed. "Didn't they say that private sales are not allowed? If Master's Wife likes it, I'll design it and ask my sister-in-law to make it for you!"

"We don't trade!" Dai Yin said, spreading his hands.

"I paid for the design of your clothes and your sister-in-law's labor. The fabric is my own. The only rule is that you are not allowed to buy or sell goods, but there is no limit on making money with your hard work and skills.

It's just like when you ride a rickshaw on the street. You earn some money by doing hard work, but you don't buy or sell any goods, so it can't be considered speculation. But your sister-in-law happens to be unemployed, so if you let her make clothes, wouldn't it be a good opportunity for her to make some extra money?

If I dress appropriately, I can refer other clients to her in the future.”

After hearing what Dai Yin said, several other women in the room also spoke up, saying that they wanted Su Mei's sister-in-law to help them make clothes.

Su Mei had never thought that things could be adjusted in this way. After all, she was an outsider and was not as flexible as the locals in utilizing the rules here.

This is good. I can find some work for my sister-in-law to do, so that she has something to do and can earn some money. After thinking about it, Su Mei nodded to the people in the room:

"Okay, since you all like it, let's wait until Sunday and I'll bring my sister-in-law over to measure your sizes."