He Jiuniang and Lu Guilan both left with Sun Shi. Qin Shi took Lianhua's hand and gently placed it on Lei Zi's hand.
"Lei Zi, your second aunt is entrusting Lianhua to you. Please take good care of her in the prefectural city. Once we've settled things here, we'll be able to visit you in the prefectural city soon."
Madam Qin smiled gently. She had already planned to open a gambling den in the prefectural city. Although it would be very difficult, she rarely had something that interested her, so she wanted to give it a try. It was better than staying at home all day taking care of the children.
She used to think that women should stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, while men should go out and make their way in the world.
But after fleeing the famine, he saw his third brother and sister-in-law's actions along the way and their behavior after settling down in Jingzhou, which led the entire family to prosperity.
Even so, Gou'er was still well-mannered by his third sister-in-law and was the most intelligent and sensible among the group of children.
Furthermore, because the third sister-in-law is capable, she has set a good example for the children, and they are much more persevering in doing things than before.
Later, my sister-in-law opened her own restaurant, and now my younger sister is going to open a jewelry shop in the prefectural city. Even my mother-in-law has the urge to start her own business. If she doesn't take action soon, she will fall behind them completely.
"Don't worry, Auntie, I will definitely take good care of Lianhua."
Lei Zi's smile was incredibly bright. If he had known that he could get engaged to Lianhua by expressing his feelings, he should have acted sooner, so that those people wouldn't have been able to covet Lianhua for so long.
From this day forward, Lotus is his fiancée, and no one else should even think about her.
Lianhua blushed and smiled, "Auntie, we'll wait for you in the city. When we get back, I'll help you find a good location for the gambling den and buy it for you first."
"Alright, you can handle it when the time comes. But you have a lot to do, so you should focus on your own business first. There's no rush with the gambling den."
Qin laughed heartily, finally feeling that she had something in common with them.
"Hey!"
The group went outside chatting and laughing. Many guests had already arrived. Although it was unclear what they were thinking, everyone seemed to be smiling.
Naturally, people bring gifts when they come to the banquet. It's a rare opportunity to openly give gifts to the Lu family, so everyone puts in their best effort, afraid that if they don't give enough, the Lu family won't appreciate it.
Lu Baichuan had anticipated this, so he had the gifts counted on the spot, checking the packaging inside and out. If any gifts were found to contain hidden items, they were to be removed and returned to the recipients.
Gifts given openly should not be too expensive, but it's easy to slip small gold bars or silver notes inside. They give them secretly, and the Lu family receives them secretly, without anyone noticing.
"He who takes a bribe is bound to be grateful," so when they encounter problems and come to us for help, the Lu family will naturally lend a hand.
What they ask for is nothing more than this.
But the Lu family is ruthless. They started the inspection in front of so many people, returning everything except the gifts, showing no mercy whatsoever.
The smiles on everyone's faces could no longer be maintained. No one cared about laughing at anyone else, and they all went to Lu Baichuan to plead for them.
"General, we have no ulterior motives. We are just thinking that since Young Master Lei and Miss Lianhua are engaged, we can't offer any valuable gifts, so we are just sending some money as a token of our appreciation!"
"Yes, yes, our county is a small place, we can't buy anything good here. We don't know what Young Master Lei and Miss Lianhua like, so let them buy it themselves."
"We are simply offering our blessings to the two children within our means; please accept them, General!"
...
It's rare to see such sworn enemies who always bicker when they meet, speaking with such a unified tone, even their manner of flattery is the same.
It was already inappropriate for Lu Baichuan to inspect the gifts in public, so he could no longer afford to be cold. Faced with these people trying to curry favor, he put on a smile and said, "We, the Lu family, appreciate your kindness, but our two children are still young and don't have the good fortune to receive such a grand gift. Please take it back. Today is a joyous occasion for our two children, so please don't dwell on these trivial matters. Just enjoy yourselves."
After saying that, he turned around to entertain the village guests, giving them no chance to say anything more.
The guests in the village were seeing so many officials for the first time, and they were all terrified. They huddled around the table, not daring to breathe, for fear of offending these important figures and not even knowing how they would die.
Fortunately, the Lu family was kind and did not abandon them. The eldest and second eldest Lu brothers stayed with the guests from the village, preventing them from feeling helpless.
Just then, the Zhang and Liu families arrived.
Other families bring gifts by hand, but the Zhang and Liu families have theirs picked out one by one, with the Liu family receiving more.
This scene attracted everyone's attention. If the Lu family could investigate such a small gift box, wouldn't those two county magistrates be investigated thoroughly for being so high-profile?
The magistrate was richer than them and who knew how much he had hidden away. Suddenly, they weren't upset anymore and stood aside to watch the show.
It was at this moment that Madam Sun went to the backyard and pulled He Jiuniang and Lu Guilan out.
It would be better to let He Jiuniang handle this situation.
However, He Jiuniang felt that they were overthinking things. If it were really something valuable, the two county magistrates wouldn't dare to send it so openly. Wouldn't that be like jumping into a fire pit on their own?
Liu Yuexiang stepped forward and bowed, saying, "These are gifts that my daughter and my cousin specially prepared for Miss Lianhua. They are all things that young ladies like to use and are not worth much money. Please be sure to accept them on behalf of Miss Lianhua."
She knew that the Lu family listened to He Jiuniang to some extent. Gaining He Jiuniang's approval was equivalent to gaining the Lu family's approval. Moreover, He Jiuniang was an extremely intelligent person, so she dared not play any tricks on her in front of He Jiuniang. It was better to be sincere.
He Jiuniang smiled and nodded, thinking that Miss Liu was a smart person. With just a sentence about things that young ladies like to use, she explained the relationship. This was a gift from them to Lianhua and had nothing to do with the Lu family.
However, since everyone else had been checked, it wouldn't be right not to check the large quantity they brought, so they opened and checked it as well.
Indeed, these were all items used by young women: skirts, jewelry, rouge, fans, and some delicate vases, fabrics, and embroidery.
The items were all exquisite, but not particularly expensive.
After a thorough inspection, no smuggled goods were found.
The others looked embarrassed, but the Lu family members smiled genuinely. They wouldn't mistreat someone who put so much effort into preparing a gift for Lianhua.
Just then, Lianhua and Leizi came out and saw the gifts the two cousins had prepared for them, which touched them a little.
She could sense the kindness emanating from the two sisters. Strangely enough, even though they hadn't had much contact before, she felt as if they had known each other for a long time.
She smiled knowingly, thinking that having two good friends of similar age was also a good thing.
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