Chapter 306: Respect Luo Shang First, Respect Others Later
Xing Xing uttered an "ah" and then refused: "No need. I still have to accompany my third aunt and cousin."
After saying that, Xing Xing added politely, "If nothing else, I'll go back to my third aunt and cousin's place first."
Li Lanzhu: “…”
She looked at Xingxing's back as she left with her maid, and didn't know what to say!
Wang Qianer, who was beside Li Lanzhu, shook Li Lanzhu's arm and said, "Lanzhu, look, she doesn't even take you seriously..."
Li Lanzhu glanced at Wang Qian'er displeasedly: "Why didn't Yu Xingxing take me seriously? Didn't she come over to say hello to me?"
Wang Qianer was a little stunned.
Li Lanzhu usually had a bad temper and would lose her temper at the slightest provocation.
He did get angry this time, but...why was the target of his anger towards her?
The more Li Lanzhu thought about it, the less happy she became: "Qian'er, although Yu Xingxing had some unpleasantness with you before, it wasn't her fault. She also owed you that bowl of rice. You won't deliberately say bad things about her in front of me just because of this, right?"
Li Lanzhu asked so bluntly that Wang Qianer was sweating profusely on her forehead.
Wang Qian'er pretended to be aggrieved and even let go of Li Lanzhu's arm: "Lanzhu, I really felt sorry for you just now... We are also close friends, how could you think of me like this?"
Li Lanzhu stared at Wang Qianer for a while, and seeing that her eyes were red and she was about to cry, her tone softened a bit: "...Okay, I apologize to you. My tone was indeed a bit harsh just now."
Wang Qian'er turned her back and wiped her tears. Then she turned around and smiled with an understanding look: "Forget it, I forgive you. I know Lanzhu has no bad intentions."
As she spoke, she took Li Lanzhu's arm again and said warmly, "Lanzhu, this is my first time to visit the Wang family. Would you mind taking me around?"
Li Lanzhu agreed immediately and took Wang Qianer to visit the garden.
The Wang family garden is not small. It is said that his house was not so big originally, but the owner of the neighboring family happened to have committed a crime and was imprisoned by the magistrate Qin.
In order to raise money to redeem the man, the mistress gritted her teeth and pawned all her belongings. She also built a brick wall around the garden, dividing it into a large half and a small part.
The mistress of that house sold the spacious plot to raise money, and kept the extremely small yard and a few rooms for herself.
But the most tragic thing was that in the end, after the money was finally collected, the head of the family died in prison after failing to withstand the torture.
Later, the majority of the yard that had been sold passed through several hands and ended up in the hands of the Wang family. The Wang family broke through the wall and it became the garden we see today.
The osmanthus trees used in today's osmanthus banquet belonged to the previous owner of the garden and have been there for many years. Later, they, along with most of the garden, were passed on to the Wang family.
Many guests came to the Wang family today, so the banquet stage was a little crowded, and many people were walking around in the garden.
Wei Sanniang and Jiang Mengniang took Xingxing for a stroll and met several ladies with whom they had interacted before the Liu family split up.
Most of those ladies had stopped communicating with Wei Sanniang when she took Liu Yuanfeng to separate from the Liu family. Now seeing Wei Sanniang smiling, accompanied by her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, looking like a graceful and elegant old lady, they knew at a glance that she must be living a very good life - and they all felt a little embarrassed.
However, the ladies looked at each other and greeted her with smiles on their faces: "Oh, it's really Sanniang. We didn't recognize her when we saw her from a distance just now."
This is true. In the past, Wei Sanniang was timid and timid, with a bitter face. She didn't look like a wife at all, but more like a concubine who was not worthy of being shown to others.
It was during these years that Liu Yuanfeng separated from Wei Sanniang and lived on their own. Although life was poor and difficult at the beginning, it was the freest and happiest time in Wei Sanniang's life.
Especially in the past two years, Liu Yuanfeng's calligraphy business has been getting better and better, and the Liu family's life has been getting better and better. Wei Sanniang is at home enjoying her grandchildren, and her son and daughter-in-law are all filial and obedient. This life is so smooth and comfortable.
This person is living a good life, and he can't hide his happiness and joy.
If it were the old Wei Sanniang, she would have laughed along if someone made fun of her, but at this moment, Wei Sanniang just smiled faintly: "You have been avoiding me for several years, so of course I can't recognize you. What's so strange about this."
Those ladies were bullied by Wei Sanniang.
But they were used to respecting Luo Shang first and then respecting others. Wei Sanniang was dressed today in a low-key yet luxurious way. At first glance, she looked like an old lady with a wealthy family, so they did not dare to offend Wei Sanniang.
A few people laughed and passed over the topic. They wanted to ask what kind of shops Wei Sanniang had at home and why she looked so rich, but they couldn't ask Wei Sanniang what she did for a living, so they turned the topic to Xingxing.
"Oh, Sanniang, your granddaughter is so well-born. How did you raise her?"
"Looking at this appearance, I'm afraid she's ten years old, right?"
"Such a good girl, shouldn't she have been arranged to marry since she was young?"
Wei Sanniang felt that these people were really boring.
They haven't been in contact for only five years. Don't they know whether she has a granddaughter as old as Xingxing?
"This is the granddaughter of my second sister. Don't talk nonsense." Wei Sanniang stopped a few people unhappily, and said sternly, "We have other things to do, so we'll leave first." Then she took Jiang Mengniang and Xingxing away.
Those people were a little embarrassed and talked in low voices behind Wei Sanniang's back.
"Tsk, it's obvious that this is a big money ..."
"That's right, now they don't even look at people straight in the eye. It's really great to be rich!"
Wei Sanniang didn't care what these people were saying. She and Jiang Mengniang had almost finished shopping, so they simply went to sit on the platform where the banquet was held to rest for a while.
But not long after we sat down, someone from the host's house came to invite us.
Wei Sanniang was confused, but she still took Jiang Mengniang and Xingxing to the next room.
The decoration in this room is very luxurious, and it is filled with a dazzling array of items.
But Xingxing was used to seeing good things and had seen much better than this, so she just glanced at it and then looked away.
Madam Wang, the host, stood up to greet them, smiling like a flower: "Madam Wei and Madam Jiang, right? ... Please take a seat."
Mrs. Wang Fan looked very young, with a face like a lotus and beauty like peach and plum. She was a rare beauty.
Xingxing remembered the Wang family's network of connections that her second brother had given her before she left.
It is said that this Mrs. Wang is the second wife, so she looks very young compared to Mr. Wang who is over fifty years old.
She spoke without any airs, as if she was just casually chatting about family matters with Wei Sanniang and Jiang Mengniang.
"...I heard that your family is in the pen and ink business? That's very elegant." Mrs. Wang smiled and chatted with Wei Sanniang about Huzhou pens and Huizhou ink.