in spring

Chapter 308
Qingluan turned around with a smile and went to the empty side room, sat down on the edge of the bed, blinked: "What's changed? But it's still the same, it's just that you've been there for a few days before you feel that things are different."

Chunying followed in, and gave her a sideways glance: "You coaxed me again. Don't say anything else, how did Jin Yu settle with the old lady so quickly? And what's going on with Feng Ming? I see her, Why is she hiding from me?"

"She's not hiding from you, but whenever someone looks at her, no matter who she is, she will hide. She is ashamed to see people." Qingluan glanced outside, leaned closer to Chunying and whispered, "Because Aunt Xi has After getting up, the wife wanted to bring up another girl to serve the master, and she just picked her. Who knew that the master said that now he is busy with the political affairs of the court every day, and he can't even sleep well. How can he have the time Who is in the house? Seeing that Feng Ming has always been his wife's confidant, he said that the long follower around him is 25 or six years old and has not married a wife yet, so he asked his wife to promise Feng Ming to that person! Feng Ming thought it was a deal before Auntie, now that I'm empty, how can I have the nerve to meet someone?"

Chunying blinked, and said with a smile: "It's just that I feel ashamed for a while, but in the long run, it's a good thing. The master's long follower will most likely be a big steward in the future. She becomes a steward's lady, which is much better than being an aunt. It's gone." How can I have a future as a concubine in the Eastern Mansion?Now among the concubines of the second master, Narcissus has long been an invisible person, no matter how much she jumps, she can't leave the second wife's palm, and the second master has no love for her; Aunt Chen is sick all day long, Food, clothing and treatment are not lacking at all, but dragging her weak body is enough for her; there is only one magpie, because she was born as a big girl next to the second old lady, the second master still respects her, and the second wife did not treat her badly.But so what?She never dared to say a bad word about the second wife, no matter how faceless she is, in this mansion, talking is not as effective as Aunt Xu!

Qingluan naturally understands this truth, but when it comes to her immediate superior, she can't say anything, she just smiled and said: "Sometimes you can't turn the corner for a while, it will be fine after a while. As for Jin Yu, she asked for it Yes, it is also the grace of the old lady and the wife, and the promise is the guard of the master! Although he is a rough person, he is honest. But Jin Yu himself is not happy! So what? If she has her hair, she still has to marry? Now He only said that he still needs to train the little girl, and he can't let go of the old lady's affairs, so he doesn't want to marry too early. In fact, everyone knows who she can train? Those little girls all regard her as an enemy, Only willing to listen to Qiu Yan, Bai Ling, Xiao Li and others." After a pause, he covered his mouth with a smile: "Now they all regard you as a role model, and when teaching the little girls, tell them that as long as they are good at serving the master , Loyal and loyal, everything is the master's first, the old lady, the wife and the young lady will naturally not treat you badly. I didn't see that Chunying's sister, who has only been a poor girl for a year, has been released to marry someone? Not only is she married well People, the old lady and the wife even gave a big dowry! Lier taught the little girls little by little what you did when you were in the house, and even the old lady praised her as another you, I see It won't be long before she's promoted to second class."

Chunying laughed dumbfounded, thought for a while, and said: "Li'er is able to stand out, it's because of her hard work, and I'm also happy for her. It's just that they are too exaggerated to say that."

Qingluan said with a smile: "The old lady has confirmed this, so just pretend you don't know."

After thinking about it, Chunying understood what the second old lady meant, and she stopped being entangled, and quickly changed the topic: "Let's not talk about that, I am here today, not empty-handed, you see I brought Is your silk flower?"

When Qingluan heard this, she pursed her lips: "I see! Why are you so biased, girl? Could it be that only Qiuyan and the others are your sisters? Their flowers are specially wrapped, and they are better than you. Others are good, why don’t I have it? You are not planning to ask me to grab it from the little girls, are you?!”

Chunying took out a small cloth bag from her sleeve and handed it over: "Here! You are heartless, I don't know the rules in your yard yet? The flowers that are brought in for girls to wear are not given first. You and Feng Ming picked it? I thought that I have already prepared a gift anyway, these silk flowers and so on, you can pick the one you like no matter what, so you didn't bother, you're blaming me."

Qingluan opened the cloth bag and saw that there was a pair of earrings inside. The sapphire material was not high-quality, but the pendant itself was carved into Qingluan's shape, which fit her name, and she was overjoyed: "Oh, it's so beautiful I blamed you wrongly, good sister, please forgive me!"

Chunying smiled and said: "Put it on quickly and see if it fits? I happened to see it, so I bought it immediately. Although it's not worth much, it's very chic, and it's just right for you to wear." When she was in the mansion After being taken care of by Qingluan many times, she decided to give a heavier gift, and now that Qingluan likes it, she is also happy.

Qingluan happily put it on, took the mirror and looked at it again and again, the more she looked at it, the more she liked it: "Thank you so much, how did you find it! How could the person who made the pendant think of making it look like Qingluan? "

"It seems that you are destined for this pendant, right? If it were someone else, it would be just a pair of pendants." Chunying pulled her to sit down, and chatted with her about what colors of clothes look good with this pendant, or what to wear it with. What kind of flowers should be suitable for the time, chatted for a while, and then pretended to ask casually, "Just now I heard from the old lady that the fourth young master is getting married, is it June?"

"Isn't it?" Qingluan took off the earrings, put them solemnly in the jewelry box, and said back, "Time is a little tight, but because Miss Zhu's brother has filled the vacancy, he will be going to Chengdu to serve as the county magistrate at the end of June. We just set the wedding date before that. Our master and wife were all outside before, so we didn’t bother to prepare anything, so we had to start from scratch. For this, my wife has been busy almost every day these days, but Xifu The old lady was sick, so she handed over all the housework to the third young lady. The third young lady always sent someone to invite our wife over, saying that there was something she didn't understand, so she could ask for advice. In fact, she wanted to support my wife so that her mother-in-law would not look for her. Trouble. Let's not mention how troubled my wife is!"

Chunying bowed her head and made some calculations, and said: "Since we have a wedding, I think we need to buy a lot of things? If you need all kinds of clothes, silk and satin, I can help. When my father was working in the West Mansion, he was in charge of the silk and satin shop. , the head is the most familiar and has experience. Now he also occasionally negotiates deals for others. If you need anything, why not tell me, I will go back and ask my father. If there is a time, just send it over, and you will save time. The price Naturally, it is more affordable and reliable than the ones outside.”

Qingluan was both surprised and delighted: "Is this true?! If it is true, you will be of great help! It turns out that the person in charge of purchasing was injured when the rebels came, and the new replacement is useless. The quoted price is enough The feet are [-]% more than before, and the colors are too old. Our family has been in the south for a long time, and we have seen many colors of materials, and we are upset when we see those old styles. It costs too much money and takes a long time. If your family can get the fashionable materials in the south, I can accept this deal for my wife!"

Chunying nodded hurriedly.She already knew quite a few cloth merchants in Jiangnan. Her father came home recently and mentioned that he met a Suzhou merchant whom he knew from the old days. The supply of goods should not be a problem.She said again: "What suits and how much do you want, you can just tell me together."

Qingluan hurriedly ran out and asked the little girl to invite Aunt Xu to come and ask about the fabric.When Aunt Xu heard about this, she was also very interested, and hurriedly said: "The color of the flower is naturally selected for festive occasions. The flowers are rich and noble, the clouds are full of bats, the plum shoots are happy, and they fly together. In the year of the lotus, there are fish, and there are dragons and phoenixes." . There is no limit, but the red ones are the most." Then he said the quantity needed for each material.

Chunying hurriedly borrowed a pen and paper to write down one by one, checked it with Aunt Xu again, and confirmed that it was correct, then said: "According to this list, I know it in my heart, many of them are in my family, and those I don't have. My father can also ask the merchants from the south, and within three days, there will be an answer. I dare not guarantee that all the materials can be wrapped round, but I am satisfied if it can relieve the burden of the wife, aunt, and sisters gone."

Aunt Xu smiled and said: "Actually, I also asked my grandson, all the usable materials in their shop have been delivered, this is the missing share. You can get as much as you can, but the things must be good."

Chun Ying agreed, but thought in her heart, she almost forgot that Mu Chen is the shopkeeper of the silk and satin shop under the name of the Hou Mansion. I'm afraid he has already asked about the source of some goods. It seems that he should ask the merchants that Hu Fei had dealt with before. .

After making up his mind, Chunying wentssip a few more times, then got up to leave.Aunt Xu walked with her all the way, she was far away from the people, so she lowered her voice and said: "Miss has an uncle who works in Xifu?"

Chunying's heart shivered, but she still had a smile on her face: "My aunt is right, I have an uncle, but since our family went to the village the year before last, we haven't seen each other much."

"So that's how it is." Aunt Xu looked up at a little sparrow standing on the treetop in the distance. "Recently, I heard people say that a person who claimed to be the girl's uncle came to ask for an errand in the mansion. Originally, I saw that he was The girl's relatives still want to help out, but later I saw that he was a little awkward in speaking, and I felt troubled. He came to ask for the long-term follower of the master, who was about to be articulate and clever. It was a little short, so I pushed it back, but I was worried that the girl would blame me, so I specifically mentioned it to the girl."

There was nothing unfavorable about Uncle Jin's words, so Chunying knew it was an excuse when she heard it. She wanted to come to a back street to say whether it was long or not. Maybe he didn't know that uncle had a gambling addiction?He hurriedly said: "Ma'am, don't be polite. My uncle is a bit speechless. If he is forced to get an errand, he will cause trouble in the future. I also want to thank you for saving my uncle!"

Aunt Xu smiled, and her expression relaxed a little: "It's really unlucky this time. If I have some unimportant errands in the future, it won't be too late for me to find the girl's uncle. Since he is a relative of the girl, he must be loyal to his job?"

"My aunt really doesn't need to be like this. If my uncle asks for an errand, he should naturally be questioned like everyone else. Only after he is sure that he is qualified can he take up the errand. If it is for me, it will break the rules of the house. Wouldn't it be my fault? ? Then I am really sorry for the kindness of the old lady and the wife to me!"

Chunying looked sincere, and she was extremely serious about dispelling Aunt Xu's thoughts. Aunt Xu was just saying polite words, and seeing that she didn't care, she quickly put the topic aside.

Perhaps because she was satisfied with Chunying's winking attitude, when she was about to leave the second door, Aunt Xu mentioned Chunying again: "Madam has recently taken a fancy to a cloth store and is planning to sell it. If your father can buy this If the errand back home is done well, maybe he will be appreciated by his wife and hired as the shopkeeper of the new store. This is quite different from the errands he had in Xifu before, and it is the most decent. The girl must tell the family members that they must Get this done."

Chunying was startled, and hurriedly agreed, and only after she broke up with Aunt Xu did she think carefully all the way.If my father took over the shopkeeper's errand, it should be similar to shopkeeper Shi's situation. He is not considered a servant of the East Mansion, but is hired by the East Mansion and has almost full power in charge of the store. In addition to wages, there are bonuses at the end of the year, which is a good job.Although she was not sure whether she should let her father return to the East Mansion, as long as she didn't lose her personal freedom, it was fine to treat it as a part-time job. My father was always worried that he would be helpless and bullied after he left the mansion. And always talking about the family running out of money, you must be tempted by this job, right?

Chunying decided to go home to discuss this matter with her father before making a decision. No matter what, she should finish the errands of buying various materials in the near future, save this pile of money in her hands, and think about other things before it's too late.

Back at the gate, when Tao Chefu saw her, he hurriedly left the person he was chatting with and came up to meet her.Chunying said to him: "I want to go to the back street to see a friend, chat for a while and then leave. Uncle, please take me there first." The coachman Tao agreed, and when Chunying got into the car, he whipped the horse, Walking and waving goodbye to the new friends at the concierge.

They took a short cut, turned in the other direction into the back street, and reached the end first.Just as she was about to go to Mu Chen's house, Chunying saw a few carriages lined up at the alley of Zhou Nian's yard, and Sanqing was loading luggage into the carriages. Thinking of what Second Uncle said when she left last time, she guessed Zhou Nian moved today, so he hurriedly called the coachman Tao: "Uncle, stop for a while, I see a friend, go down and talk to him." The coachman Tao hurriedly stopped the car, opened the curtain and let her come down.

Chunying walked over to Sanqing and said with a smile: "Brother Sanqing, is Master Zhou moving today? Where are you moving to?"

Sanqing looked up and saw her, he was stunned, and did not answer for a long time.Zhou Nian walked out of the alley with a bunch of books in his arms. When he saw Chunying, he was both surprised and happy: "Chunying?! You...you came to see me off?!"

"I happened to go back to the East Mansion to say hello. I came to see my friends. I met them unexpectedly." Chun Ying glanced at the gate of his house, "Is everything almost moved? Young Master Zhou, where is your new home?"

Zhou Nian handed the book in his hand to Sanqing, bowed his head in embarrassment, and said, "It's in Xiaodoufu Lane. There is an old jujube tree in front of the door, just like the one planted in this yard. The jujube flower... has a smell when it blooms. It smells so good." While talking, he looked at Chunying's reaction.

Chunying didn't wake up at all, but said: "That's not far away. That's good, Master Zhou will be able to study quietly in the future, and don't have to worry about being disturbed. In the future, high school, revitalizing the family business, will naturally be No problem."

A look of disappointment flashed in Zhou Nian's eyes, and he quickly concealed it: "Thank you for your kind words, I...I will do my best." Looking back at the old residence where I have lived for several years, he smiled faintly: "If I do No, aren't you too sorry for my parents and the people who have helped me all this time?"

Chunying frowned, always feeling that something was wrong with these words: "Even so, you have to take good care of yourself. The most important thing is your health. If you can achieve fame and fortune, do it if you can. Disappointed. Your parents know that, and hope that you can live a safe and happy life, right?"

Zhou Nian suddenly looked back at her, was startled, and suddenly turned his back to her, not knowing what was wrong.Chunying was wondering, when she heard Sanqing ask herself: "Xiaochun...sister, I heard...you are engaged? Is...really? Which family is it?"

Chunying smiled and said: "The man's surname is Hu, you don't recognize him. Brother Sanqing, you have to move out with Master Zhou, right? We won't see each other often in the future, so take care!"

Sanqing lowered his head, answered vaguely, looked up at Chunying again, felt discouraged for some reason, picked up a big box, turned his head and walked towards the carriage.

Chunying felt even weirder, so she heard Zhou Nian whisper: "That Mr. Hu...is a good person..." She blushed, lowered her head and smiled and said, "Young Master Zhou knows him? In fact, he is sometimes very bad. But it’s very good for me." Suddenly realizing that it was getting late, he hurriedly said: "Master Zhou, I have to go, you have to take care of yourself, pay more attention to your body." After saying that, he turned and left without going back The carriage directly greeted the coachman Tao, and headed towards Shi'er's house.

Zhou Nian looked at her back, sighed, lowered his head and turned back to the courtyard, only to see his cousin Ye Bincheng leaning on the courtyard gate, looking at him with a smile on his face.He walked past the other party expressionlessly, and suddenly heard a whisper: "Looking at my cousin's affectionate appearance, why don't you tell the third young master to ask that girl to be a child."

Zhou Nian paused, turned around suddenly, reached out and grabbed Ye Bincheng by the collar.

(National Day...Happy holidays everyone~~~)
(End of this chapter)