Yoshida Mii

37 Shame
Before Mrs. Li could figure out how to answer, the clerk at the door became impatient, and asked again in a raised voice, "What are you doing? Do you want to come to be a laundry lady? Go, go west. Small door, go there and knock!"

"No, it's not." Mrs. Li stammered, "We're here to find someone."

"Looking for someone?" The clerk stared and raised his eyebrows, extremely impatient, and then looked up and down Dong Bao and Li Shi. The mother and daughter are really poorly dressed, and they should be looking for servants from the mansion. , waved his hand and said, "Find someone to go to the small west door! This door is not open." After saying that, the man closed the small door of the entrance hard.

Mrs. Li glanced at the closed red lacquered gate, sighed helplessly, and dragged Dong Bao westward. The threshold for a wealthy family is high, and everyone had to be notified by servants.

After going around half of Shan's house, the two of them walked to the small corner door on the west side. The small wooden door seemed to be old, and the paint was a little peeled off, exposing the yellow wooden boards inside.

Mrs. Li knocked on the door, and after a while, the wooden door creaked open. A woman in her forties looked at Dong Bao and Mrs. Li, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're looking for someone." Li said quickly, "I'm looking for Shan Qiang."

The mother-in-law was taken aback, and stared at Mrs. Li twice before realizing, "Are you looking for my master? Who are you?"

"I am... Song Xiucai's daughter-in-law. This is my daughter, Song Xiucai's daughter." Li Shi pulled Guo Dongbao and said.

The mother-in-law shook her head, "I don't know any Song scholar. There is no scholar named Song in this town." As she said that, she was about to close the door.

Mrs. Li became anxious, "We are not from the town, we are from Tagouji, and we used to belong to the same village as Shan Qiang."

Hearing this, the mother-in-law hesitated when she closed the door. Seeing that Mrs. Li looked like a poor relative came to beat the autumn wind, she wanted to rush out, and asked on airs: "Then you came to the door, do you have any greetings?"

Mrs. Li was stunned, "A greeting? What kind of greeting?"

"Then there is no greeting card?" The woman shook her head, "Without the greeting card, I can't let you in."

After walking for such a long time, in the end, he couldn't even get in the door of Shan's house. Li Shi's eyes were red with anxiety, and he took the woman's hand and said, "Auntie, please inform your master, he I must recognize Song Xiucai's family, Shan Liang... Shan Liang and my daughter were engaged to each other!"

The mother-in-law laughed with a "ha", and then looked down at Dong Bao. Dong Bao was hiding behind Mrs. Li, and the mother-in-law could only see Dong Bao's thin figure and patched clothes, dressed like a little girl. Like a beggar, is the young master's fiancee?it's so funny.

"All right, all right." The woman withdrew her hand, "I'll go and inform you. As for whether the master is free to see you, I can't make the decision as a person at the moment."

Mrs. Li quickly thanked her, but before she could finish her words, the wooden door slammed shut again.

The two waited quietly outside the door. Seeing that Dong Bao didn't make a sound, Mrs. Li felt a little embarrassed, so she took the initiative to smile and said, "Bao'er, it's good to see you, Uncle Qiang. When you were young, Uncle Qiang was very rare of you. Hold me You are not willing to let go, and you keep saying that it would be nice for him to have a beautiful girl like you."

Dong Bao reluctantly gave Li a smiling face, mother, what people like is you being a free nurse for his son, not me, please find out.

After a long while, the door of the small corner door was opened again. The old woman stood at the door and greeted Li Shi and Dong Bao to come in. Li Shi happily thanked the old woman repeatedly.The mother-in-law answered twice and led them forward.

Apart from his experience in the Wang family in Anzhou City, this is the second time Dong Bao has stepped into a big family in ancient times, but Dong Bao didn't even dare to lift his head when he was in the Wang family, and he didn't have much impression of the big family of the Wang family.The Shan family is mostly tile-roofed houses with blue bricks and red tiles, not as gorgeous as Dongbao imagined. Although the Shan family is regarded as a "rich family" by people in Tagouji, it is actually just an ordinary rich family, otherwise it would be too expensive. Can't recruit Shan Qiang who still has a son as his son-in-law.

The mother-in-law led Li Shi and Dong Bao to the gate of a courtyard, and told them to wait here. Someone would come to entertain them, so she left first.

The roads of the Shan family are all paved with red bricks, and simple flowers and trees are planted on both sides of the road. Mrs. Li took Dongbao and stood under the big willow tree at the gate of the yard. Laughing and pointing at the two of them.

If the voice is louder, Dong Bao can still hear what they are laughing at.

"Look, that means she was engaged to the young master!"

"Hey, she's the only one? Why are you acting like a beggar..."

"Are you afraid you won't be able to get married at such a young age? Why are you relying on our young master? Didn't you say that the second uncle of that family came over yesterday, why is he here again today?"

"Keep your voice down, you're stupid, you don't have to be a beggar if you marry me!"

Li Shi could also hear these mocking voices clearly. She lowered her head, her face flushed with embarrassment, and she tightly held Dong Bao's hand, feeling unspeakably aggrieved and angry in her heart, her daughter is not a beggar!Her daughter is a scholar's daughter, so why can't she be worthy of the Shan family who are doing business?Shan Qiang knelt before her and Song Xiucai and begged for this marriage. If he refuses to admit it, he will slap himself in the face!
Dong Bao stood expressionless, letting the maids and women scrutinize him. If the Shan family is a good family, why should they come to ask for it?They are being looked down upon by others by sending them to the door by themselves, no wonder others.

After a while, the courtyard door opened. A daughter-in-law in her 30s came out of the courtyard. She saw Li Shi and Dong Bao at the door, took a closer look, smiled, and took Li Shi's hand. , said affectionately: "Are you the talented lady of the Song family?"

Mrs. Li saw that she was in her thirties, her face was fair and smooth, her hands were well maintained, she was wearing a neat satin shirt and embroidered skirt, her hair was neatly combed, and she was wearing a silver hairpin, she quickly smiled and said : "I am. Are you Shan Qiang's daughter-in-law?"

The visitor's face froze for a moment, then he shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm not, I'm the housekeeper of the Shan family, my wife is not feeling well today, so I can't see you, please tell me to entertain you."

Before Li Shi could react, the housekeeper's wife pulled Li Shi aside, took the two of them to a side room, sat down, and ordered the servant girl to bring up a plate of fruit and put it in front of Dong Bao.

The housekeeper and Mrs. Li smiled affectionately: "It's not easy for you to come here. The master's hometown is also a long way from here. Have you and the young lady had breakfast? I'll ask the kitchen to bring it for you."

Mrs. Li quickly waved her hand, "No, no, we've already eaten. Today, I just want to meet Shan...Master, I want to ask him something."

The housekeeper smiled and said: "Mrs. Song, I didn't say it. Now that the master of the scholar is gone, it is really inappropriate for you to see our master. If you have any difficulties, please tell me. When my wife is better, I will go and talk to her." Let’s talk about it, they are all fellow villagers, so if they can help, they will definitely help.”

Mrs. Li became anxious, how could she tell a woman in charge about such a thing, she wanted to ask Shan Qiang to clarify, Mrs. Li shook her head and said: "We don't want your master to help, there are some things that you don't know, The child is not too young, and will be eleven after the new year, I just want to ask..."

Before Mrs. Li finished speaking, the housekeeper interrupted Mrs. Li with a smile, "No, the child is not young anymore. I heard that Young Master Liang is about the same age as Ms. Song. My wife has already started to give it to her these days. Young Master Liang is looking for a marriage. No matter how many girls he has seen, he thinks it is not suitable. After all, she is the only seedling of the Shan family. The character of this family has to be carefully checked. I am afraid that the daughter-in-law hired is not suitable and will be bad for both families. Where's your lady? Are you ready?"

The housekeeper covered her mouth and laughed, "Hey, we are not the same as you, your child got married later than us, don't worry, Miss Song is so good-looking, she is also a talented girl, her status is Here it is, you don't have to worry about finding a good son-in-law!"

Li's face gradually turned pale, and her mind was buzzing. Shan Qiang didn't want to see her, so he sent a lady in charge to send her away, telling her that the Shan family wanted to find a new marriage for Shan Liang. As for her daughter, who would she like to marry? Who will marry...how can this be?Why don't you talk about faith at all?

"How can you do this?" Mrs. Li muttered out what was in her heart, and repeated it subconsciously, "How could you do this?"

Seeing that Li's face was pale, the housekeeper's wife was startled. She was afraid that something might happen to Li here, and she would blackmail the Shan family. Shi pats the back to smooth the air.Dong Bao poured the tea on the table and fed Li Shi to drink it.

Mrs. Li pushed away the housekeeper's wife's hand, her eyes were red, she suppressed her anger, and said tremblingly: "Shan Liang is my grandma, and he eats closely when he is full. He will feed my Dongbao when he is full. Dong Bao's marriage was begged by Shan Qiang himself on his knees, now that he has become rich, he turns his face and refuses to recognize anyone, and looks down on our Song family?"

The lady in charge was a little embarrassed, and also a little angry. The Song family was just a shabby household in the countryside. How could they take a verbal joke seriously? "I'm talking about Mrs. Song Xiucai, your words are not pleasant! Don't dare to say that there are some of them. It doesn't matter if our young master is a boy. Your girl is a daughter, and her reputation can't be delayed!"

Seeing that she was about to chase away the guests, Dong Bao stood up and whispered to Mrs. Li: "Mother, let's go."

From the corner of the housekeeper's eyes, she caught a glimpse of the plate of fruit on the table, took out the handkerchief, poured it into the handkerchief, wrapped it up and handed it to Dong Bao, and said with a friendly smile: "Take it home and eat."

Dong Bao glanced at her, shook his head and said, "No, thank you."

The little girl brought by Mrs. Li was quiet from beginning to end, not like a ten-year-old child, her eyes were black and clear, looking into her eyes, it seemed that she could see into her heart, and the lady in charge suddenly jumped , quickly turned away and looked away.

(End of this chapter)