At the end of the day, Li Haitang came out of Fushunzhai and returned to the Li house in Jicai Lane in a carriage. After the housekeeper respectfully welcomed Li Haitang into the door, he followed her and briefly reported the major events and small things that had happened in the house in the past two days.

Li Haitang listened while walking expressionlessly, "Has Young Master Sun arrived?" ”

The housekeeper replied: "Young Master Sun just sent a little servant over to pass the word, and I met the master on the way, so I need to delay for a while. ”

When they arrived at the door of the inner courtyard, the mother-in-law and maid of the inner courtyard greeted them, and the housekeeper stopped and retreated.

The mother-in-law at the head was very thin, and after saluting, she reported that her wife was in the tea room.

Li Haitang bowed slightly, "Go down!" If Young Master Sun arrives, come and report it quickly. After the order, he took Mama Chen and the two personal maids to the teahouse to see Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Lai was a petite woman, about forty years old, with deep wrinkles on her forehead and at the corners of her eyes, and she looked older than other women of the same age. These are all traces left by the suffering in her life. In recent years, the days have gotten better and better, and she has become more and more plump and ruddy. She sat in the tearoom not for tea, but just sat quietly doing embroidery work alone.

Li Haitang waved his hand, let Mama Chen and the personal maid stop outside the door, stepped into the door by himself, walked over with a smile, and sat down beside Mrs. Li, "Mother, what are you embroidering?" ”

Mrs. Li raised her head when she heard the sound and put down the needle and thread with a happy face, "Why did you come back?" In the next sentence, he said with a hint of worry: "I only came here in the afternoon before yesterday, and I came here again today, it's not good, my husband's family will not like it." ”

Li Haitang said with a smile: "No, my mother-in-law and father-in-law like their daughter very much, and they also persuade their daughter to come back often to talk to her mother." Hey, is this a belly pocket? It's so small. ”

Mrs. Li happily touched the half-embroidered small belly pocket and said, "Of course it's small, you are married now, and you will have children soon." The mother has nothing to do when she is idle, just to sew a few more small clothes and embroider a few more belly pockets for her future grandson. ”

The smile on Li Haitang's face stiffened for a moment, and soon returned to normal, "Mother, it has only been a long time since your daughter passed the door, and you have started to talk about your little grandson, and your daughter is not dependent." ”

Mrs. Li thought her daughter was shy, and said: "When a woman gets married, it is a matter of course to have children, so what is there to be shy." Alas! Over the years, you have suffered a lot with your mother, and you have been busy for your livelihood all day long, but you have become unfamiliar with the female celebrity. Now that you have married a man from the step family, my mother can't wait to kowtow to the Bodhisattva every day to thank you. My daughter has a good home, mother, I am very happy every day. Hehe...... This little grandson's small clothes and small belly pocket, my mother naturally wants to do it. You are not allowed to be lazy, take advantage of not being pregnant, do more female celebrity every day, all say that practice makes perfect, and my mother believes that my mother's daughter can naturally practice a good female celebrity. ”

Li Haitang's heart was blocked, but it was not easy to show it, so he had to change the topic, "Mother, did the Guo family come again yesterday?" ”

Mrs. Li's eyes darkened, "Hmm." ”

"Mother, my daughter can say ugly things in front, my daughter will never forgive the Guo family in her life, if you forgive the Guo family on your own initiative and deal with the Guo family, your daughter will never return to this home, and you don't want to see your daughter again."

"You kid, clean nonsense. Mother is left with one of your relatives by her side, and Mother is not confused, how can she get involved with the Guo family again and make you angry. Mrs. Li said angrily.

While Li Haitang breathed a sigh of relief, he grabbed Mrs. Li's arm and made a coquettish appearance.

Mrs. Li's face was full of sorrow, she had the heart to help Guo Sanyi of the Guo family, but her daughter would never agree. She thought about sending some money behind her daughter's back, but she immediately thought that as long as she had contact with the Guo family, the people around her would definitely tell her daughter as soon as possible.

After a while, a maid came to report that Young Master Sun had arrived.

Li Haitang's eyes flashed, "Mother, daughter, please ask you for something." ”

When Mrs. Li heard that Young Master Sun had arrived, she was unhappy, but she didn't show it in front of her daughter, "What's the matter?" ”

Li Haitang rubbed the gold bracelet on the bowl in his left hand with his right hand and said, "You can accept Young Master Sun as your son!" ”

Mrs. Li's face changed slightly, "Begonia, no." ”

Li Haitang swept around, and Mama Chen was guarding the door, and the idle people naturally couldn't get close. However, she was still very careful, approached Mrs. Li, and said in a low voice: "Mother, my daughter knows, you don't like Young Master Sun. But my mother must know that Young Master Sun really likes me, but he has never acted in a gentlemanly manner, but has helped his daughter everywhere. Such a person cannot be your son-in-law, but he can be your son-in-law. You think he is a righteous son, he calls his daughter a sister, and it is much easier for his daughter to move around with him, not to mention, it is inconvenient for his daughter to come to see her mother every day, but he is your righteous son, but he can. You have something to do, isn't it convenient to send him? ”

Mrs. Li, who has always been easy to speak, refused, "No, my mother doesn't agree." With that, he took the half-embroidered belly pocket and went back to his room angrily.

Li Haitang frowned, not understanding her mother's reaction. Sun Jingdong has a heart of admiration for her, and has always been obedient to her, and has frequent contacts with her, which was kept secret at first. But after a long time, there will always be some rumors, she didn't have any twists, but calmly got in touch with Sun Jingdong and the Sun family, and asked Sun Jingdong to call her cousin in front of people. The title of cousin, Sun Fu accepted it silently, and everyone's suspicion and rumors gradually faded.

When the news of her marrying into the Bu family spread, Sun Jingdong was gloomy, but he didn't say anything or do anything. When she got married, Sun Jingdong came to visit her mother from time to time, and she knew that Sun Jingdong still had her in his heart. With such a person by her side, she naturally didn't want to lose it, and the way to keep it for a long time, she thought about it, only by recognizing her godfather, so that she could tie this person tightly and firmly in the open.

Time can make people forget a lot of things, she just wants Sun Jingdong to be able to see her every once in a while, so that he will not forget her, so that he can be on call when she needs it. It's just that my mother doesn't agree, how can she achieve what she wants? With this in mind, she left the tea hall in the inner courtyard and went to the living room in the outer courtyard.

Sun Jingdong, who is eighteen years old this year, inherited Sun Renhuai's thick eyebrows, single phoenix eyes and slightly straight nose bridge. Standing in the crowd, he is not the most eye-catching and handsome son, but he is also good-looking, which can attract the attention of many young women. However, he is different from his grandfather, who was born in a crop, has a strong body, and has a stoic face; And he has never suffered hardship, his skin is fair and feminine, his body is not strong, to put it bluntly, he is a bit close to a weak scholar who has no power to restrain a chicken.

Seeing Li Haitang stepping in with elegant small steps, Sun Jingdong's eyes lit up and he hurriedly got up, "I've seen my cousin." ”

Li Haitang's small eyes were full of water, and the delicate lips slowly moved, making a soft, not light and heavy voice: "I haven't seen you for a few days, why are you so rusty, Jingdong, sit down." ”

Sun Jingdong saw that her face was still delicate, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the rumor must be false, so he sat down with a smile, "I received a letter from my cousin yesterday, and I wanted to come over earlier today, but I met the master of the academy on the way, so I delayed for a while, I hope my cousin will not blame Jingdong." ”

Li Haitang said with a smile: "I said that you were estranged from your cousin, and you were still energetic, and you actually said those polite words." She turned her face slightly, "Mama, am I right?" ”

Mama Chen said with a smile, "Miss, the young master of the cousin respects you, you are a strong critic, how can you bully your cousin like this." ”

Sun Jingdong also laughed, but he was not so restrained at this time, "What Mama said is that my cousin always likes to bully me." ”

Li Haitang felt that the atmosphere was almost over, and the smile on his face was closed, and he sighed faintly.

Sun Jingdong's heart tightened, "Hai...... Cousin, this is so good, what are you sighing for? He was in a hurry and almost called out the word "begonia".

Li Haitang looked at him, showing a look of embarrassment that wanted to speak and stopped.

Sun Jingdong's heart was raised, "Cousin, what can't you say to Jingdong?" Did you encounter something difficult? If you need a cousin, just tell me. ”

Li Haitang sighed, "Jingdong, it's all my fault that my cousin is not good, so that Miss Gu misunderstood you." ”

"What?" Sun Jingdong was stunned.

"I met Miss Gu the day before yesterday, Miss Gu who has a marriage contract with you." Li Haitang said in a low voice.

A look of disgust flashed on Sun Jingdong's face, "Cousin, that kind of woman who doesn't know the number of etiquette, it's best to avoid it when she encounters it, so there's no need to pay attention to it." ”

Li Haitang looked disapproving, and said earnestly: "Jingdong, you can't say that. In any case, Miss Gu is your unfinished lady, no matter how bad she is, she will ...... Well...... No matter how rude you are, we don't care what others say, but you have to protect her, this is what a gentleman does. ”

Sun Jingdong did not speak.

Li Haitang lowered her eyes and said with a lonely face: "She is also a poor person, like her cousin, she has no father since she was a child, and she must have suffered a lot." ”

Sun Jingdong was stunned, his lips moved, and he didn't make a sound.

"The day before yesterday, my cousin saw Miss Gu, looked at it carefully, and thought it was very beautiful. It's just that maybe she heard some false rumors, and after knowing that I am your cousin, her attitude is not very good. Come to think of it, it was a misunderstanding. ”

Sun Jingdong suddenly became excited, "Cousin, did she hurt you?" "To be honest, I haven't seen him for four or five years, and he has no impression of Gu Qingshu's appearance at all. But his mother scolded Gu Qingshu all day long for being uneducated and not knowing the etiquette, and Gu Qingshu, who caused a sensation in the capital some time ago, beat Ding Ze with a stick, which made him feel ashamed to have such a fiancée, and he hated to withdraw from the marriage immediately.

Li Haitang raised his eyes to look at him and smiled gently, "No." Jingdong, looking at Miss Gu like that, my cousin thinks, maybe Miss Gu likes you very much and cares about you very much, otherwise how could she give her cousin a look. You should be happy that the girl you are engaged to like you likes. ”

Sun Jingdong frowned and said in a low voice, "I'd rather let her hate it, and I don't want her to care." ”

His voice was too low for Li Haitang to hear clearly, "What? ”

Sun Jingdong hurriedly said: "It's nothing. ”

Li Haitang said with an understanding face: "Jingdong, cousin doesn't want Miss Gu to continue to misunderstand and affect your relationship in the future." In this way, in the past few days, I found a time to post and invite Miss Gu to come out to play, okay? There is a cousin here, let you meet from afar, and you will not be gossiped, and your cousin can also have a good talk with Miss Gu, get close, and the misunderstanding will naturally be resolved. ”

Sun Jingdong had the heart to refuse, but when he saw that Li Haitang was discussing with Mama Chen with interest where to play, how to entertain Miss Gu, etc., he swallowed back his refusal, just staring at her gentle smile.

Qing Shu came out of the Gu Mansion, and as soon as he got into the carriage, he sneezed four or five times fiercely. She rubbed her nose and muttered suspiciously, "I don't feel any discomfort at all, it definitely can't be a cold." ”

Xiaojuan got into the carriage, "Miss, are you uncomfortable?" She didn't hear the young lady muttering anything, only heard the young lady sneezing four or five times in a row, worried that she had typhoid fever, and quickly became concerned.

Qing Shu sat firmly, "I'm fine, I don't feel uncomfortable at all." ”

Xiao Juan carefully observed her face, and touched her forehead again, "Miss, I can't tell who is saying bad things about you behind your back." ”

Qing Shu agreed, "I think so too." "Debt-free and light, she is in a good mood now, so she doesn't have time to care who says bad things about her. The third master of the Gu family once called her father a brother and brother, which is very good. Her father died, and the two houses no longer moved around each other. Unexpectedly, last year, Gu Qiang asked this Gu San master to borrow two taels of silver, but Gu San didn't say a word, and borrowed three thousand taels of silver.

Today she brought Qingyang to the door to thank her, and by the way, she returned the silver. Of course, she saw the wife of Master Gu San, and Qingyang took the silver ticket to meet Master Gu San with Gu Qiang. When Gu San's wife saw Qing Shu, her face was pale, and she said a few words politely, and then she had the intention of chasing away the guest. Qing Shu was not angry at all, and said goodbye with great vision, and now they can go home just by waiting for Qingyang and Gu Qiang to come out.

In fact, there are two foreign debts in the ancient mansion, Gu San's three thousand taels is one, and the other is four thousand five hundred taels borrowed from Vice General Xu. Vice General Xu followed General Bu Da out in the spring, and now that the war has subsided, General Bu Da returned to Beijing with all the soldiers in triumph half a month ago, and Vice General Xu naturally returned.

Vice General Xu's 4,500 taels of silver, Qing Shu returned it on the day he sold the grange. The military general is more heroic than Wenchen and is not informal, so Deputy General Xu, who Qingshu and Qingyang saw together at that time, first thanked him, and then returned the silver.

The fifteen thousand taels that sold the Grange went to seven thousand five hundred taels, and there were seven thousand five hundred taels left. After leaving Beijing, he bought real estate and land to feed more than 40 people, which one did not need silver, so Qingshu tightened the remaining silver tickets, and refused to spend a copper plate from it.

After waiting for more than a quarter of an hour, Qingyang and Gu Qiang were sent out by the housekeeper of the Gu Mansion.

Qingyang sat in the carriage and gave Qingshu the deed paper that Gu Qiang had pressed his handprint and stamped the private seal of the ancient mansion when he borrowed the money.

Qing Shu glanced at it and put it in his sleeve, "Okay, we don't owe anyone any money anymore, come, Xiaoyang, laugh." ”

Qingyang threw herself into her arms, and her voice was muffled, "Sister, Xiaoyang has grown up, earning a lot of silver, so that my sister can wear good clothes, eat delicious food, and be beautiful every day." ”

Qing Shu, who was startled, lost his mind for a moment, then smiled lightly and responded, "Okay!" "It seems that someone in the Gu Mansion said something unpleasant that made her younger brother uncomfortable.

The wheels rolled around, carrying the two siblings back home.

Bu Yuyan was bored, and when she saw that they were finally back, she grabbed Qingyang to the side and whispered for a while, and then the two didn't know what agreement they had reached, and ran away with a smile.

Qing Shu ignored them, and while walking towards the inner courtyard, he counted the days, thinking about which of the next three things would be more appropriate to do first.

Xiao Yu heard the footsteps and lifted the curtain and came out, and when he saw Qing Shu coming back, he raised a smile, "Miss is back." Then he stood to the side, opened the curtain and invited Qing Shu into the house.

Qing Shu agreed, entered the door, walked to the chair and sat down.

Xiaoyu poured a cup of warm water and put it in her hand, "Miss, the porter just picked up a post today, and the slave will give it to Miss." As he spoke, he turned around, took the post from the top of the cabinet next to the east wall and where a few books were placed on weekdays, and handed it to Qing Shu with both hands.

Qing Shu took the post, read the content of the post, leaned back in the chair and stayed quietly for a while, thinking of something, and couldn't help but chuckle.

Seeing that she didn't seem to have anything to command, Xiao Yu sat back down on the round pistle placed in the doorway, and continued to do needlework.

"Sister, I'll show you something good." When the person arrived, Qingyang was holding something in his palm and ran in like a gust of wind.

"Xiaoyang, you stop." Bu Yuyan chased in without any image to speak of.

Qing Shu looked at the two people who ran in one after the other, and his eyes wandered over the two of them. Qingyang was holding a small bird in his hand and was showing her excitedly. Bu Yuyan grabbed a bird in her left hand that she didn't know if it was dead or alive, and she didn't know it when she scratched a hole in her skirt, and she was glaring angrily at the back of Qingyang's head.

Qing Shu smiled and asked, "Where did this little bird come from?" ”

"Sister Step climbed a tree to catch it." The eyes are shining, and he looks very happy.

"Xiaoyang climbed a tree to catch it." Shui Ling's eyes flickered and blinked, and his face was innocent.

Two different voices rang out at the same time. There is the same content in it, that is, it is caught by climbing trees; There is also a different content, which is that everyone points out that the tree climbing object is different.

Qingyang's clothes were clean and clean, without any damage. Bu Yuyan's skirt was torn, her clothes were wrinkled, and her hair was stained with a leaf. Who the tree climbers are, anyone with eyes can see it.

"You're lying." Qingyang pouted and criticized Bu Yuyan.

"You're lying." Bu Yuyan grabbed Bai back.

Qing Shu stroked his forehead, "It's the puppy who is lying. ”

"Yes, it's a puppy." Qingyang agreed.

"You actually scolded me, look at the tricks." Bu Yuyan casually let go of the bird in her left hand and pounced towards Qingyang.

Qingyang shouted, grimacing while hiding, and Buyuyan shouted to chase and intercept.

They ran all over the house, and the two freed birds flew all over the house.

Qing Shu felt that his head was big, and he stood up and shouted, "You four, all go out for this girl." After shouting, she reacted to what she said, looked around, and saw that no one paid attention to what she said, so she coughed, "Xiaojuan, Xiaoyu, come in quickly, and find a way to drive these two birds out of the house." ”

Xiaoyu and Xiaojuan, who were "taking refuge" outside the door, entered in response, the curtain of the door was lifted, the window was wide open, and two birds flew out like headless flies with cloth towels in their hands.

When the two chasing and joking saw it, they stopped, and waved their hands behind Xiaoyu and Xiaojuan, which was called chasing birds, but in fact, it was adding to the chaos.

After tossing for a long time, the two flying feces were left as a souvenir, and only then one flew out of the window and the other through the door.

Qing Shu's eyes were on fire, and he shouted loudly: "Bu Yuyan, Gu Qingyang, you don't wipe this chair twenty times today, you are not allowed to eat, and you are not allowed to sleep." ”

Bu Yuyan and Qingyang subconsciously covered their ears and shrunk their necks, honestly not daring to have opinions.

Qing Shu looked at them and snorted heavily, "Xiaojuan, Xiaoyu, none of you are allowed to help." Who dares to be disobedient, not allowed to eat, not allowed to sleep? With that, he took the post and went into the inner room.

Qingyang is an honest child, looking for a rag to wipe, but was stopped by Bu Yuyan.

Bu Yuyan threw her eyes for help to Xiaoyu and Xiaojuan.

Xiaojuan spoke more simply, "Don't, slaves don't go hungry." After that, he ran away.

Xiaoyu said timidly: "Miss has an explanation, and the slave and maid can't disobey." "Took the needle and thread and left.

Bu Yuyan had no choice but to look for a rag reluctantly, but saw Xiao Xing hugging a tender green woman's clothes. Bu Yuyan's eyes lit up, and she rushed over to grab Xiao Xing's arm and bite her ear, pointing to the bird droppings falling on the chair for a while, and pointing to the inner room for a while.

Xiao Xing nodded, put her clothes away, and held her breath to find a rag, bring water to wash the rag, and wipe it for a while.

Bu Yuyan stared at the door of the inner room, and did not forget to pull Qingyang as an accomplice in her hand, for fear that Qingshu would suddenly come out and break it. He looked nervous and cautious, like a thief.

Xiao Xing wiped the chair with her hands and feet, and finally stuffed the wet rag into her young lady's hand, and tiptoed away with the basin of water.

Bu Yuyan grabbed the wet rag and was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood, and generously gave the corner of the rag to Qingyang to grab, and bent down to wipe it herself, "Sister Shu, we wiped it twenty times, I don't believe you came out to take a look." ”

Xiao Xing carried the water in and out, Qing Shu saw it clearly from the window, but pretended not to know, came out with a stiff face, and glanced at the chair, "This chair will be specially for you to sit in the future." ”

After making sure that the alarm was lifted, Bu Yuyan stuffed the rag into Qingyang's hand, "No problem." ”

At this time, Xiaojuan came over to report that the housekeeper had something to ask to see, but Qingshu didn't say anything more and went to the front yard. It turned out that Gu Qiang had already inquired about the matter, and he was about to report to Qingshu.

After listening for a while, Qing Shu interrupted Gu Qiang in surprise, "Li Haitang and the Sun family are not related, is the cousin's statement false?" ”

Gu Qiang replied yes.

"Li Haitang and Sun Jingdong have been in frequent contact since two years ago?"

Gu Qiang still answered yes.

Qing Shu took out the post from his sleeve and put it on the table, and pushed it to Gu Qiang, "What do you think about this?" ”

Gu Qiang took it, looked at it, and put it back on the table, "No good intentions." ”

"She asked me to play on the grounds of apologizing, is it because I am a good sister of Bu Xiaoba, or because I am the future daughter-in-law of Sun Fu?"

"It's hard to say."

Qing Shu decided to ignore her, "In this way, you arrange it, I will go to the Sun Mansion tomorrow." ”