Shen Danru felt his forehead; thankfully, he didn't have a fever.
Seeing that Qingtan had developed panda eyes from staying up late, Shen Danru advised, "Go and eat something, then get some rest."
"Miss, I'm not sleepy. Are you hungry? I'll go get the food now."
Before Qingtan even stepped out of the courtyard, Steward Zhang had already brought over the food.
Seeing that the man showed no signs of waking up, Qingtan went to rest after finishing her meal.
###
"Howl, howl, howl, aren't you annoying me, you old woman, howling every day? It's so annoying!"
Shen Xiaohua muttered impatiently.
She forcefully pulled up Chen's blanket and covered her mouth and nose. Chen couldn't breathe fresh air and soon began to struggle violently.
With Chen's annoying cries no longer to be heard, Shen Xiaohua felt much better.
Mr. Chen had already suffered a stroke, and now he was even more unable to push her away.
Just as she was about to suffocate, Shen Xiaohua let go of her hand.
Shen Xiaohua failed to catch up with Shen Danru that day. She went to the town to inquire about renting a carriage to Shengjing. However, when she asked at the carriage shop, she found that the fare alone would cost ten taels of silver.
She returned and asked Mrs. Lü for the money, but Mrs. Lü resolutely refused to give it to her.
Now that the family is facing financial difficulties, how could Ms. Lü easily return the money she had received?
Shen Xiaohua had no money and dared not go to Shengjing blindly. What if she, a young girl, encountered bad people on the road and was cheated?
Madam Lü advised, "Xiaohua, why don't you not go? I think your second uncle deliberately kept you here. Since they don't want you, why are you still going?"
"Impossible, my second uncle and aunt would never do such a thing."
"They won't, but what about Shen Danru?"
Shen Xiaohua retorted, "No, Second Sister wouldn't either, it must be that Qing Tan."
"Xiao Hua, don't be silly. Qing Tan obeys Shen Danru. Without her orders, would Qing Tan dare to abandon you? You still call her 'Second Sister' all the time. Be careful she sells you out and you're still counting the money for her."
Shen Xiaohua looked incredulous and took a step back, saying, "No, no."
"Impossible my foot! Just wait and see if your second sister comes back to pick you up."
Shen Xiaohua waited for half a month, but there was no sign of the Shen family.
Lady Lü noticed that she had become lazy and gluttonous, completely different from the Xiao Hua of the past.
Before Xiaohua went to the Shen family, she was very diligent and did all kinds of chores. How come she has become so lazy after only staying at Shen Cheng's house for a short time?
She couldn't help but call out, "Xiaohua, go wash the clothes at home."
Shen Xiaohua muttered, "Why should I wash the clothes of the whole family?"
"Just wash it when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense."
"I said I'm not washing them, so whoever's clothes they are should wash them."
When Madam Lü saw that Shen Xiaohua dared to talk back, she was furious and picked up a broom to swing at Shen Xiaohua.
"I'm going to beat you to death today, you lazy bum."
Shen Yuyuan was still egging her on from the side: "Lazybones, lazybones, beat her to death, beat her to death."
In the past, if Madam Lü had beaten her, Shen Xiaohua wouldn't have dared to move.
But now things are different. She knows she can't beat Lady Lü, so she turns and runs away.
She ran ahead, and Lady Lü chased after her.
She ran all the way to the Shen family's workshop and went straight in to find Shen Dashan.
"Uncle Dashan".
Shen Dashan was somewhat surprised to see that it was Shen Xiaohua.
He had also heard about what happened that day. The Shen family had originally intended to take Shen Xiaohua with them when they left. But Shen Xiaohua chose to get off the carriage herself, so who could she blame?
"Xiaohua, is there something you need?"
Shen Xiaohua smiled and said, "Uncle Dashan, I do have something to discuss with you today. Please let me take a look at the account book. I'd like to know how much money we've made in the past two weeks."
Shen Dashan frowned: "Why are you looking at the ledger?"
"Uncle Dashan, before my second sister left, she instructed me to manage all the affairs of the workshop. So, please give me the account book and tell me about the profits and losses over the past two weeks."
Shen Dashan paused, then went to look at Shen Xiaohua.
Are you sure this is what Ru'er means?
Shen Xiaohua felt a little guilty, but thinking back to the days before her second uncle's family went to Shengjing, she felt that she could represent the Shen family.
"Yes, Uncle Dashan."
Just then, Madam Lü arrived.
As soon as she entered the room, she heard Xiaohua and Shen Dashan discussing the account books.
She stepped forward and said with certainty, "Shen Danru did indeed give that instruction. I was right there at the time, and I heard it clearly."
You can give all the money to Xiaohua and let her manage the workshop. You can go do whatever you need to do.
If Madam Lü hadn't shown up, Shen Dashan might have believed her somewhat. But seeing Madam Lü say this, Shen Dashan immediately looked at them suspiciously.
"Really? Ru'er didn't say that before she left. She said herself that all the profits from the workshop would be given to Zhou Wenxuan. The profits from the past two weeks have all been given to her cousin Zhou. You should discuss it with him."
Shen Dashan never expected that Shen Xiaohua would become so shameless, and now she's even learned to trick him.
Do you really think he's a three-year-old?
Just then, Aunt Zhang heard Lu Shi shouting outside. She came out and questioned, "Lu Shi, what are you dreaming about in broad daylight? What right does Xiao Hua have to check the account books?"
The Lü family had always been at odds with this neighbor.
When Zhou was living in the Shen family, she suffered a lot of mistreatment from Lü. Every time, it was Aunt Zhang who stood up for Zhou. Lü also suffered a lot in front of Aunt Zhang.
Now that Zhou has gone to Shengjing, Aunt Zhang has jumped out again, making Lu grit her teeth in anger.
"What's it to you, Old Zhang's wife? You're an outsider, how dare you interfere in the affairs of the Shen family?"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang laughed with a mocking expression.
"You are all so forgetful. Although you all share the surname Shen, you are not from the same family, are you? As for Xiao Hua, don't forget that Ru'er spent eighty taels of silver to buy her back. To put it bluntly, she is just a lowly person. Don't you understand your own status yet?"
Shen Xiaohua was already somewhat dissatisfied with Shen Dashan's words, and now Aunt Zhang had come along, directly turning her anger towards her.
However, she cannot afford to offend these two people right now.
She thought to herself that the shops in town were managed by her cousin Zhou, so it was inconvenient for her to interfere, but the workshops in Shangqing Village were different.
If she could win control of the workshops, the money they earned would be enough for her to live the life of a wealthy young lady in the countryside.
In this way, her mother no longer dared to dislike her or force her to do chores.
“Uncle Dashan, Aunt Zhang, although I was bought back by my second sister, I have always lived in the Shen family as her younger sister. My second uncle also said that he wanted to take me as his third daughter. In the workshop, I can speak on behalf of my second uncle and my second sister.”
"They left in a hurry that day and didn't have time to tell you that my second sister did say she wanted to leave the workshop to me."
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