Chapter 012: Get married soon
Looking at the hanging flower gate right before his eyes, and thinking about how the carriage had just come all the way here without any obstruction, Liu Zhiyan asked the girl beside him, "How did your carriage manage to go straight into the second gate without stopping at the main gate?"
"Because my front door doesn't have a threshold."
“No threshold?”
As far as he knew, businessmen paid the most attention to Feng Shui.
In Feng Shui, the door threshold has the functions of gathering energy and wealth, blocking the wind and warding off evil spirits.
The threshold can block the gap between the door and the ground, preventing the aura and wealth of the house from flowing out.
It is said that businessmen are most concerned about wealth, so it should not be the case that there is no threshold on the door.
Seeing his confusion, Qin Xue explained to him, "I've always fallen down when I walk since I was little. My father didn't have any thresholds in our house to prevent me from falling."
Thinking of their first meeting, when the other party kicked the door sill and almost fell, Liu Zhiyan was silent for a moment, and then said sincerely, "Your father has a heart full of love for his daughter."
"Yes, that's why I never feel sad because I don't have a mother who loves me." Because Qin Laicai gave her his wholehearted love.
Seeing that the other party didn't know how to continue because of what she said, Qin Xue spoke again, "My father should be waiting for me to have dinner together at this time. Let's go in."
Only then did Liu Zhiyan realize that it was inappropriate for him to come to the house rashly.
But he was already standing at the door of the other person's house and there was no reason for him to leave, so he followed her into the second door, carrying the dessert he had specially prepared that morning.
The space in the backyard is not big, but whether it is the swing in the patio or the little dolls every few steps on the corridor, you can tell at a glance who made them.
He is indeed a child who has not yet opened his mind.
On weekdays, Qin Xue would walk around the corridor by herself, and when she saw a little doll she liked, she would touch it, play with it, and then go back to the main courtyard while playing.
But today, he led his men straight through the courtyard. Before he even entered the flower hall, he spoke, "Dad, I'm back. My master wanted to see you, so he came back with me."
Qin Laicai, who was drinking tea in the flower hall while waiting for his daughter to have her meal, immediately stood up to greet him when he heard that his daughter's master had arrived.
When Qin Laicai saw the face of the man in a crescent-white robe with wide sleeves standing beside his daughter, he blurted out, "Why is this master so young?"
He knew that his daughter's master was a man, but he always thought he was an older man. He didn't expect him to be such a young man.
Looking at his fair and handsome face, Qin Laicai couldn't help but wonder if his daughter was having a romantic encounter recently.
Otherwise, how come we just sent away Wang Xingsheng, who was more beautiful than the courtesan, and then here comes a master with top-notch looks?
However, compared to Wang Xingsheng's androgynous appearance, the master in front of him, although beautiful, also has a masculine look, which makes him more likable. Thinking of this, Qin Laicai immediately said, "Master, come in first, Niuniu will go and arrange dinner."
Qin Xue looked at Liu Zhiyan and was relieved when she saw him nod to her. "Then you guys chat. I'll go to the kitchen to take a look."
After watching Qin Xue leave, Liu Zhiyan didn't rush in. Instead, he began to explain the reason for his sudden visit today. "This morning, the Wang family member came to block Xiaoxue'er in front of the shop. Xiaoxue remembered your instructions and didn't give him a chance to harass her. I was worried that he would block someone again in the evening, so I came here with him."
Upon learning that Wang Xingsheng had stopped his daughter in front of Fang's dessert shop that morning, Qin Laicai's innocent expression was instantly replaced by a stern look, "How dare you, brat?!"
It is not easy for anyone who can engage in the salt trade and gain a foothold in the world.
Liu Zhiyan was not surprised by Qin Laicai's two faces. "I have already told Xiaoxue'er that from now on, in addition to the coachman, I will also have to bring a maid with me when I go back and forth every day."
Seeing that the other party was considering his daughter in everything, Qin Laicai bowed and thanked him, "Thank you for your trouble, Master. I will make arrangements for the rest."
Liu Zhiyan had originally wanted to have a deep chat with Qin Laicai when he came here, but after hearing what he said, he chose to agree with him and said nothing more.
It was already rude to show up at someone's house without permission, and he was afraid that saying more would arouse the other party's vigilance.
Before Qin Xue came to her senses, he didn't want to attract too much attention, so as not to add obstacles to their relationship in advance.
Qin Laicai had no idea what he was thinking. He politely invited him into the hall, brewed a new pot of tea, and offered him a cup. He thanked him again very earnestly, "Since I started learning from you, I've become a completely different person. I'd like to thank you for your careful instruction, Master."
This time, Liu Zhiyan didn't accept the other party's thanks. "On Xiaoxue'er's first day at the shop, I told her that what I taught her was a deal between me and Sister Ye, as she calls her. It has nothing to do with her. There's no master-disciple relationship between us, so you don't have to be so polite."
He also had his eyes on the girl, but didn't want to create an unnecessary master-disciple relationship, which would cause trouble in the future.
"I chose to teach her because teaching her can save me from doing things I don't want to do."
"The Sister Ye she mentioned is an elder whom I respect deeply. Before she left, she specifically told me to take good care of the young sisters she had just met. If you want to thank her, please thank her properly when you see her one day."
After Liu Zhiyan said this, Qin Laicai stopped insisting and said, "Then I will thank my niece Ye in person when I see her someday." It is better for a girl to owe a favor to a woman than to a man.
Hearing Qin Laicai calling his mother his niece, Liu Zhiyan became withdrawn, "..."
As expected, his mother should be much older than Qin Laicai. After all, he has an older sister who is ten years older than him.
His original intention was to let Qin Laicai talk to his mother on an equal footing.
Somehow, his mother became a nephew and he became a grandson.
Oh my God, someone can tell him what this strange direction is.
Qin Xue, who had just returned from giving instructions for dinner, saw that Liu Zhiyan, despite trying his best to hold back, was frowning, and blurted out, "What were you guys talking about? Master, why does he look so troubled?"
Hearing his daughter say this, Qin Laicai quickly looked at Liu Zhiyan, just in time to see that he hadn't had time to relax his frown. "I have agreed to meet Niece Ye one day and thank her in person. Master, don't worry."
"Your father calls your sister Ye Niece Ye."
"I call her Sister Ye, and my father calls her Niece Ye, that's right."
Okay, they are indeed father and daughter, their train of thought are exactly the same.
To avoid making himself more upset, it would be better for him to keep his mouth shut.
Fortunately, a maid soon came over with water for them to wash their hands.
Then dinner was served on the table like water, with steaming hot Huaiyang delicacies such as Jianghuai Yipin, lion's head and hot dried bean curd which are the most demanding in terms of knife skills and cooking time, soft-shelled eel and white-robed shrimp known as Huai-fried Shuangfeng, three-piece duck known as the king of Huaiyang cuisine, emerald green silver sprout stuffed ham and emerald steamed buns.
None of the eight dishes can be prepared in a short time.
This is obviously the Qin family's daily diet.
No wonder people say that salt merchants eat delicious food.
He finally got to see it today.
In the past, it was just the father and daughter who had meals together. They didn’t follow the rule of not talking while eating, but always chatted while eating.
There was a new person at the dinner table today who was not very familiar with them, so the father and daughter were not as casual as usual.
Apart from occasionally telling Liu Zhiyan to be polite, the father and daughter ate their meal in a very proper manner.
Liu Zhiyan naturally sensed the deliberateness of the father and daughter.
Today he was indeed not thoughtful enough and was rude to others. After the meal, he stood up and said goodbye consciously.
The father and daughter sent the person to the gate together, and only turned back after seeing the carriage start moving.
Usually after dinner, Qin Laicai would return to the outer courtyard and would not stay in the backyard for long.
He had something to ask his daughter, so he called her to his study.
In fact, even if Qin Laicai didn't call her, Qin Xue was planning to go to the study with him.
Liu Zhiyan was there just now, and she didn't mention Wang Xingsheng.
Now that they were alone, father and daughter, she told Qin Laicai everything that had happened in the morning, the rumors from some time ago, and her own guesses without any scruples.
Even though he had already learned from Liu Zhiyan that Wang Xingsheng had gone to look for his daughter that morning, Qin Laicai was still furious when he heard it again. However, he didn't forget that his daughter was right in front of him, so although his expression was unhappy, he didn't curse.
Seeing her father's unhappy expression, Qin Xue said sensibly, "I will remember your words of warning to me."
"For this reason, I even insisted on saying that Wang Sidi is my good sister and using her as a shield."
In fact, Wang Sidi rarely participated in the ladies' gatherings, and she had little contact with them.
"You did a great job." Qin Laicai said approvingly, "He sent me a note this morning saying he wanted to come to my house to ask me a few questions. I agreed and he came in the afternoon. He left not long before you came back."
"So you know about him blocking me this morning?"
"He said he knew you liked the desserts at Fang's Dessert Shop, so he wanted to buy some and ran into you by chance." His daughter had been at Fang's Dessert Shop every day lately, so running into someone there wasn't unusual, so he didn't think much of it. "He also said he went too early and didn't buy any dessert."
Now thinking about it, there is obviously something wrong with this statement.
After all, Fang's dessert shop was only opened in Yuzhong, but his daughter came to Fang's dessert shop in Chenchu.
Thinking of this, Qin Laicai looked at his daughter seriously, "It seems that he has really set his sights on our family."
The Wang family's fortune had been accumulated over generations, and was in no way comparable to a small family like the Qin family, which had only recently become wealthy. If other small families encountered such a situation, they would definitely be willing to marry their daughters to the other party.
But Qin Laicai was unwilling.
Putting aside the fact that he had already said that his daughter wanted to marry a son-in-law, it was impossible for Wang Xingsheng to be someone's son-in-law. Even if he had no such intention, given the casual attitude of the men in the Wang family when it came to women, he was unwilling to push his daughter into a fire pit.
But there's no such thing as guarding against thieves for a thousand days. He had to start by stopping Wang Xingsheng's thoughts. "Dad originally thought of arranging a marriage for you when you turned eighteen. But now it seems better to get you married sooner rather than later."
"Ah, this is too sudden, isn't it?" Qin Laicai had already told her that he would find her a suitable man when she turned eighteen. "How can I find a suitable person to marry in this rush?"
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