At night, the Qiao father and son, one on the kang (a heated brick bed) and the other on the floor, calmly reopened each other's old wounds.
“Dad, I’m not trying to be mean, but Aunt Jiao isn’t the kind of person who’s coy and hesitant. She has her own ideas. So don’t beat around the bush. Just say what you mean. Isn’t it tiring to keep things bottled up?” Qiao Sheng secretly rolled his eyes.
"You little brat, what nonsense are you spouting! I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, do you think I need to lecture you? You're so good at swearing, why don't you ever show any kindness to Shan'er? They're hauling away all those rare things by the cartload, look at what you've done!" Qiao Shi felt like a fire was burning inside him, and it was threatening to burn even brighter.
"Dad, you should worry about yourself and not worry about me!" Qiao Sheng's tone was sharp. In his mind, countless little people were cursing and arguing, but only he knew who the wronged one was.
"If I don't care about you, who will? If you don't step up your efforts, Shan'er will be going to Yuzhou City after she gives birth!" Qiao Shi scolded, exasperated.
Qiao Sheng grew increasingly agitated and turned to yell at his father, "All you do is scold me! What can I do? His father is a high-ranking official in the palace, a top scholar, a student of the emperor, and handsome. He could kill us with a single finger. What am I? Your son is nothing but a toad trying to eat swan meat!"
"No comparison, no harm"—this saying is so hurtful, it really pierced Qiao Shi's heart! But his son was right; the two of them simply couldn't compare to others!
Qiao Shi sighed sadly and said half-heartedly, "Maybe they don't think much of Shan'er. After all, Shan'er... We're different. Our family will cherish Shan'er and the children like precious treasures, and we don't care what others say..."
"Dad, tell me, does Shan'er look like a clod of dirt that came out of a ravine?" Qiao Sheng suddenly interrupted his father and asked seriously.
Qiao Shi paused for a moment, then shook his head.
Qiao Sheng didn't receive a reply from his father. He sighed and said slowly, "Dad, we can't fool ourselves. Shan'er isn't a lump of dirt; she's a lump of gold. She shines wherever she goes, and everyone who sees her likes her! I like her too, I like her very much, but I'm too far away from her. She can't see your son."
Qiao Shi felt as if he had been punched in the heart; he felt dull and uncomfortable.
"Father, you and your son are different. You have the perfect combination of timing, location, and people. If you don't think of a solution soon, don't cry in front of your son in the future!"
Before Qiao Shi drifted off to sleep, he was still thinking that his future daughter-in-law and grandson were probably out of reach. He had to find a way to keep his wife and find a mother for his son first!
In the Jiao residence in Tianshui Hutong, Jiang Shan sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed, holding a money box in his hands, muttering something to himself.
Jiao's mother walked in carrying a bowl of thick bird's nest soup. As soon as she saw Jiang Shan's appearance, she started yelling, "How many times have I told you not to sit cross-legged? Be careful of leg cramps!"
Jiang Shan straightened his legs, reached into the box and fiddled with it for a few moments, saying, "Take this money to the bank tomorrow and deposit it there. Consider it an insurance policy for the future. The remaining money should be enough for our daily expenses for three to five years without any problem. From now on, please have Mother keep a detailed account of every penny we earn. This is for the shop we're opening in Yuzhou City!"
Madam Jiao took the money box and put it aside. She handed the bird's nest to Jiang Shan and said helplessly, "Shan'er, I know you are resourceful and can think ten steps ahead, but now you have to listen to me. Nothing is more important than you and the baby in your belly! From today onwards, drink a bowl of bird's nest every night. I will watch you finish it before I leave!"
Even when Jiang Shan was a food blogger in modern times, he wasn't extravagant enough to drink bird's nest every day. Now that he's living like an ancient person, he's actually enjoying someone else's good fortune.
Jiang Shan sipped the bird's nest soup, his bright black fox eyes glancing at Jiao's mother through his long eyelashes. "Mother, cook a few more bowls in the future, so you can drink some too, and so can Sister Xue."
Madam Jiao chuckled, then lightly tapped Jiang Shan's forehead with her finger, saying, "You think this is cabbage? Even the nobles in the palace have a limited supply of the finest blood bird's nest. How can you eat it whenever you want? You think you're so clever, getting a good deal and then acting innocent!"
Jiang Shan's eyes lit up, his mind racing. He asked casually, "Mother, tell me, what's the palace like? Is it really like in the plays, full of gold?"
"That's all nonsense in the plays, how could it happen in the palace... What's there to talk about? Hurry up and drink, the child needs to rest after you finish!" Jiao's mother suddenly stood up impatiently, no longer staring at Jiang Shan drinking bird's nest, and turned to leave as she spoke.
Jiang Shan nodded thoughtfully.
Jiang Shan was increasingly curious about the identity of this cheap mother, given the abundance of high-end tonics he had seen and the meticulous preparation of bird's nest, a technique he had even witnessed in the imperial palace.
After returning to her room, Jiao's mother paced around the room a few times, feeling somewhat agitated. She then slowly pulled a bundle from under the bed, opened it layer by layer, revealing a pair of jade bracelets and a jade pendant inside.
She gently stroked the character "梅" (plum blossom) on the jade pendant with utmost care, and tears fell without warning, bursting onto the character "梅".
"Father...where are you...Mei'er misses you so much..."
Hidden in a bamboo hut within the city of Yuzhou, Sanlang stared intently at the plum blossom painting on the wall for more than a quarter of an hour before picking up his brush and slowly putting it down.
This is the third plum blossom painting he has ever done, and he finds it more and more interesting each time he paints it.
The teacher said that before learning to paint, one should first learn to look at paintings, and say what one sees in a painting, and write down whatever comes to mind. Once one has achieved the desired artistic conception, then one can copy the painting.
He saw something different and thought something different about each plum blossom painting.
In the first picture of plum blossoms, he told his teacher that he saw many children playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football), which made Brother Stone laugh.
In the second picture of plum blossoms, he said he saw the flowers in bloom, and bees buzzing around collecting nectar, it was quite lively.
In the third painting of plum blossoms, he saw an old man waiting for his child to come home in the twilight of the snow-capped mountains; the snowflakes in the wind were the old man's tears.
After Sanlang finished painting the third plum blossom painting, Mr. Xunmei put it away without saying anything and began to have him copy his painting.
"Teacher, didn't you say I have a talent for painting? Why don't you let me continue painting? I love painting." Sanlang tilted his head slightly and couldn't help but mention it to his teacher while grinding the ink.
He loves to draw, and he can draw whatever he wants and think whatever he wants to draw. He likes to express himself freely and doesn't like to copy his teacher's work blindly.
Mr. Xunmei tapped him on the head three times, neither too hard nor too soft. "You have enough spirit, but your temperament is too frivolous. You're just a child, so you should rein in your temper first!"
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