C30

Every morning, I would go to Grandmother's courtyard to greet her. After chatting and laughing for a while, I would eat breakfast before returning to my room to learn how to stitch from my wife, and to tease the girls who were still toddling around. In the afternoon, I would write and tune the zither, and at night, I would eat in Grandmother's room.

In the blink of an eye, the new year passed. After the Spring Festival Gala was over and the lanterns were lit, the weather began to warm up day by day. After learning from Gong Er's wife for a few days, although he couldn't make exquisite things, he could also embroider simple patterns. His life was peaceful and leisurely, just like an ordinary person's daughter.

One rainy night in April, after eating dinner with my grandmother, I sat on the kang with a girl in my arms. The child had a pair of big, watery eyes, and his face was as white as a piece of fat jade.

"Miss." Lu Ping was summoned by her mother to fetch some things. She entered the house with a cool early spring air.

"Miss, please come and warm us up." Gong Er's wife laughed as she spoke. After a period of time, Gong's second wife and I became more and more intimate. I felt that she was a woman who loved life and knew how to live. She sat on the kang across from me, her legs crossed, holding the cloth and paper in her hand. She explained to me as she watched my teasing chick talk, I've learned how to cut clothes.

Lu Ping stood in front of the brazier and stretched out a pair of hands that were so cold that they were red. After she went to her mother's place, her mood became somewhat downcast.

"What did Mother tell you to get?" The girl pulled a small jade pendant that was hanging from my lapel and stuffed it into her mouth. Saliva rubbed against my body, causing me to pick her up and casually ask Lu Ping.

"In reply to Miss, Madam gave me a clothes list and told me to check it out for you. If I don't have anything, I'll give it back." Lu Ping pulled out the list from her sleeve.

I held the list. The girl stretched out her hand to pull it, but Second Wife Gong hugged the girl with a smile. When Lu Ping saw the girl, she smiled and took the fruit from the plate beside her to play with her.

After looking at the list, I understood why Lu Ping sighed. There were twenty or thirty different kinds of clothes on the list, and I only had four or five of them. Some of them were things I had never heard of before, so naturally, I had to go out to attend the feast.

"After reading the list, I folded it again and handed it to Lu Ping." Why do you have such a bitter face when it's time to buy something? " I protested.

"But …" Before Green Pingping could finish her sentence, I interrupted her. "There is nothing but, what should come can't be avoided."

Gong Er's wife took out potatoes and sweet potatoes from the brazier. The room was full of fragrance, so I changed the subject. "Go and peel one for me. Sister Gong said it's delicious!"

"Really?" Lu Ping was skeptical. She had grown up in the compound just like me, so naturally, she had never eaten anything like this before.

The girl was placed to the side, her face all smiles as she leaned across the kang table to look at her mother and Lu Ping. From time to time, she would stroke her little ears, and her mouth would exclaim, "Aaah!" She was very cute. When the three of us saw her, we all burst out laughing.

Lu Ping did as I asked, checking my dowry and making a list for me. I only took it and didn't mention it again.

On the morning of the second day, magpies stood outside the treetops chirping, the sun shone through the window paper into the bright sunshine. When Green Pingping was brushing my hair, I pushed open the window, and a refreshing breeze blew in along with the early spring chill. The sky was blue as if it was being washed, and long white clouds were swaying on top, the treetops were already lightly green, faint yellow, and full of vitality. When I saw such a vivid scene, I took a deep breath. The hand that Green Pingping used to comb her hair stopped for a moment. I also took a deep breath and asked, "Is there any smell?"

"Red cherry, green banana." I wiped the blubber from the table on my lips and looked at myself in the mirror. A round face, more and more like a mother's face.

"Let's go." I pulled on my apricot jacket and shook my silver hairpin. I was very satisfied.

When I entered Grandma's room, she was sitting on the brick bed talking to Mother Du, who was sitting next to me on the edge of the brick bed. When she saw me enter, she quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Eldest Miss is here." When she wanted to give me her seat, my grandmother took her hand and said, "She's young. Let her sit on one side." Mama Du just stood there until I sat down in a chair to the side.

"Do you think this account is wrong?" Grandmother took off the mirror and placed it on the table. She rubbed her eyes and smiled.

I took it and looked at it. It was from Grandmother's villa. It seemed that the one that Grandmother was still managing right now was Grandmother's wedding. In the past few days, Grandmother left me to talk to you about the housekeeper's methods every night. She talked about how, when she was the host, the family was still in Jiangnan, and Grandfather was the eldest son of the family, and there were many brothers and sisters below them. Originally, she was also a pretty young lady in the family, but she suddenly became the elder sister-in-law. When I asked why we were moving north, my grandmother avoided talking about it, saying that she was tired and wanted me to leave.

Mama Du and I looked at the account books and another calculated the price. Mother brought Madam Chen in and sat by the side to listen. After the account book was finished, Mother personally served Grandmother a cup of ginseng tea. "Yuanyuan has had her mother bring it, so it really helped a lot." With a sincere smile, he looked as if he was really happy for me from the bottom of his heart.

"Grandmother, there's nothing wrong with this account, but it's about a hundred liang off." I handed over the account book with both hands. Grandmother looked at me with a gratified expression. "The pool is so big. There will always be some fish." Mother Du smiled and said, "Our old lady is still the smartest."

"You old thing, you only know how to laugh at me!" Grandmother pointed at Mother Du and jokingly scolded. His mother and Aunt Chen were smiling at him in a timely manner. The atmosphere in the room was joyous and harmonious.

"Mother …" I pulled out the list from my sleeve. "According to your list, I've listed all the things I lack?"

The mother took the list and smiled. "The jewellery craftsman will come in a few days later. Mother, what kind of jewellery is your weakness? Let me see if I can get some." Grandmother frowned and said, "You're thinking of another way to cheat me of my money. Look, I have my key box with me!"

"Why is there only a few pieces of jewelry for you? Don't worry, I won't need you to spend any of them. My wife will pay for you." The golden step above her head swayed to and fro as she moved.

"Then I have to fight a few more rounds. You can't be heartbroken." Grandmother was beaming, and all the women in the room were amused by Grandmother.

"Our ancestor was the most nimble." Everyone praised him.

After breakfast, she sent her mother out as usual. Aunt Chen followed respectfully behind, no longer supporting her mother intimately like before. Mother touched my clothes, exhorting me: "Sooner or later it will be cool, put on more clothes, don't get caught in the cold." I should be.

It seemed that his mother had a smart person by her side, and her way of doing things was also much better. Her father had gone out, so there was no need for him to act like he was intimate with his concubine anymore. What was there to say if he left her in the midst of a servant? What would she dare to say?