The tender voice of children passed through the crowd and fell on everyone's ears.
Mr. Qi Sanye, who was in the center of the excitement, said hurriedly: "Madam, you heard me, I didn't buy this mirror, it was that... that..." He paused, and after recognizing the owner of the voice clearly, he turned his head and looked over in surprise.
Outside the crowd, a little girl stood there delicately and pretty, not knowing what earth-shattering words she had said. She came closer and saw clearly the appearance of the peepshow in the brocade box, with a large face plate and an exquisitely carved handle. Her bright and clear eyes were clearly illuminated.
Shanshan happily held up his toy and said, "This is what my mother bought me. It's my mirror."
Even the furious third lady was stunned. While she wasn't looking, Mr. Qi quickly rescued his ears.
"Is it yours?" The third lady said in disbelief: "How could it be yours?"
"My mother bought it for me."
The third lady stared at the little girl's face in surprise. Although she made a fuss, it was just to vent her anger, and it was more because Mr. Qi went to drink wine to add fuel to the fire. As the uncle's house was noble, there was no need to make a fuss over a diorama. But the uncle's house is the uncle's house, and the Wen family is the Wen family. A girl from a small business family is so generous with her actions?
She turned around and asked her husband: "You really didn't buy it?"
Qi Sanye shouted that he was wronged: "It's really not true!"
She thought of the money given by the eldest lady and quickly overturned this idea. At that time, she glanced at it and remembered the approximate amount, but it was far less than the price of this diorama.
The third lady's thoughts turned around, but she didn't show it on her face. She suppressed her anger and asked with a smile: "Sister Shan, is this peepshow really bought by your mother?"
"yes."
"Where did your mother get the money?"
Shanshan is puzzled: "What money?"
"Of course it's the money to buy this peep show."
"My mother's own."
Shan Shan remembers it clearly.
The eldest aunt gave her mother a box of silver ingots, but she had no use for them. When she was checking out Zhenbaozhai, her mother took out a silver note from her arms. The banknote was brought from Yuncheng.
The third lady said with a pleasant look: "Sister Shan, you don't understand. I'm asking you, who gave your mother the money?"
"If no one gives it to me, it's my mother's own!" Shanshan wrinkled her little face, looking confused. She also didn't understand why Third Auntie, an adult, still couldn't understand such a simple thing after she said it several times.
She glanced at the sky. It was almost dark. On the way home, her mother promised to cook Yuncheng side dishes for her. Shanshan had been thinking about it for a long time. Now that the fun was over, she felt her belly and it was time to have dinner.
Shanshan held the stone and said goodbye to his elders obediently: "Third Auntie, I'm going back to eat."
The third lady wanted to ask again, but the little girl turned around and left after saying hello to her. Shitou followed her with something in his hands, and the two of them, one large and one small, quickly walked away.
The thing she wanted to ask was not asked, so she cursed secretly in her heart, turned to the surrounding servants and made a cold face: "What are you still doing here?!"
The servants dispersed knowingly.
Mr. Qi rubbed his ears, turned around and went back to the house. He sat down in a swaggering manner. Just as he was about to ask someone to pour him tea, he heard the third lady snorting in his ear, and he sat upright again.
The third lady had no intention of pursuing his matter anymore, she just wondered, "Tell me, Qing Niang has just arrived in the capital, why is she so generous? Could it be that the old lady gave it to me?"
Third Master Qi: "Isn't the Wen family a businessman? Of course she has money on hand."
That's not what they said. The Wen family is a businessman, but the Wen family has long since passed away. Wen Yiqing, a weak woman, has lost the protection of her husband's family and has a child. How can an orphan and a widowed mother live a good life?
The third lady thought about it over and over, but couldn't figure it out. She ordered the maid beside her: "Go and call the money manager."
…
As soon as Shanshan stepped into the door of the small courtyard, he smelled the strong aroma of food. Wen Yiqing and her nanny had already cooked several dishes from Yuncheng's hometown. She was attracted by the smell and ran over, happily following her mother like a puppy.
Wen Yiqing was carrying the last dish and almost tripped over her, so she had no choice but to frown: "Shan Shan, sit down."
Shanshan took the stone to wash his hands and sat down at the dinner table obediently.
"Mom, just now I saw Third Auntie hitting Third Uncle." She gestured with both hands, "Just like this, she was holding Third Uncle's ears. It looked like it hurt!"
Wen Yiqing responded casually: "Really? Why are we fighting?"
"It was the mirror you bought for me. Third Auntie thought it was Third Uncle who bought it, so she beat him angrily." At this point, Shanshan paused and couldn't figure out the cause and effect for a moment. She asked blankly: "Third Uncle Why is mother angry?"
Nanny Chen said from the side: "The third master is a free-spirited man who spends all day doing nothing. The third wife is also a fierce temperament. I heard that she often fights with the third master at home."
"But my mother never hits me." Shanshan said seriously, "My mother bought me this mirror."
Nanny Chen beamed: "How can the Third Master compare with Sister Shan? If the Third Master is half as obedient and sensible as Sister Shan, not to mention a mirror, even the entire Zhenbaozhai can be bought by the Third Lady."
Although she had only been in Qi's house for two days, the wet nurse had already figured out the situation in the uncle's house clearly. Among the three families of the Qi family, the eldest was the most outstanding. He was a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy at that time, and one of his sons was very talented. The second wife left early, leaving only one daughter, the least conspicuous in the Qi family. As for the third room, it is the most troublesome and noisy room in the uncle's house.
The third wife loves to compare with others, but she married a man who can't support herself. She has a fierce temper, so she will start disputes with Mr. Qi whenever there is a disagreement. The third wife has a son and a daughter. The son is diligent and motivated, and the daughter is quite popular with the master and his wife. She has developed a very unruly temperament similar to that of the third wife.
Nanny Chen also inquired: "All the young masters and ladies in the family are in Qingsong Academy. I heard that it is run by the royal family. The students there are either relatives of the emperor or the children of officials. The teachers are also famous big shots today. They are It’s unmatched by Yuncheng. Our sister Shan is a girl from the uncle’s house, so we can go to school there in the future!”
Shanshan's eyes lit up: "Really? Can I go to school with my cousins in the future?"
With a gentle smile, Wen Yiqing nodded and said, "Yes."
"What about Brother Shitou? Can he come too?"
"Mom will find a way."
Hearing this, Shitou raised his head and looked at her in surprise, and said flattered, "I, can I go too?"
Wen Yiqing said with a smile: "Yes, you go too."
His eyes suddenly lit up, and the candlelight reflected his bright eyes, but he had always been taciturn, and he even lost his words when he was excited. Only the eye sockets slowly turned red visible to the naked eye. After a long while, he lowered his head hard and said in a loud voice: "thank you."
Shanshan bent down and put her head close, and a drop of hot tears fell on her forehead. She said "Oh" and hurriedly reached out to wipe his tears.
"Brother Shitou, why are you crying? We can go to school together in the future, how wonderful this is!" Shanshan began to think happily: "If I don't want to do my homework in the future, I can ask you to do it for me. If you can learn better than Hello, I can also copy your homework!"
Wen Yiqing: "..."
The little girl had wonderful thoughts, as if she had already seen the leisurely days in the future. She pursed her lips and was so happy that she even raised her little feet under the table. She had forgotten that her mother was by her side, and the next moment her ears were grabbed, her whole little face suddenly wrinkled, and she hurriedly begged for mercy.
Shanshan sighed sadly: Alas, it’s not easy for the third uncle either!
Shi Shi whispered: "I can't read."
Shanshan: "Huh?"
Shitou pursed his lips and was very embarrassed: "I don't even recognize the calligraphy you practice or the books you read."
The wet nurse said: "I heard that there is a test to enter the school, and not everyone can get in."
Shitou lost: "Then I should fail the exam."
Shan Shan was stunned as if he was struck by lightning.
How can this work? !
She suddenly became anxious, jumped off the stool, ran inside and hurriedly took out the books she usually studied. Shanshan spread out the book and pointed at the words on it and asked questions one by one. As expected, Shitou didn't know all the questions.
He didn't recognize anyone except his own name.
How can this be done!
If she goes to school in the future and leaves Brother Shitou alone at home, how pitiful he will be!
Shanshan didn't even bother to eat, he was busy pulling the stone to study. She had never been so serious about her studies. In the past, she had to be nudged and nudged by her husband and coaxed and coaxed by her wet nurse. At this moment, she felt that she had a heavy responsibility. She imitated the way her husband taught her before, grinding ink on the stone, laying out paper, teaching him to recognize a character, and even wrote a demonstration using her crooked dog crawling character. .
Wen Yiqing shook his head helplessly and reminded: "Shanshan, eat your food first."
oh! correct!
My mother cooked it herself tonight!
She hurried back again, holding the bowl in her hands, and carefully ate all the bottom of the bowl.
When he went back to teach Shitou, his appearance changed drastically.
Shanshan imitated the teacher who taught him the lesson, said with a straight face and fiercely: "If you don't learn, I won't feed you today!"
Shitou sat up straight and imitated her dog crawling sign seriously, "Yeah!"
She thought about it and felt that this was too cruel. The gentleman is willing to let go of the evil to do the good, but the good and the good will not give up the evil to others. Besides, teaching people to write was really boring, so she went to the wet nurse and asked for a plate of snacks, then sat down next to him holding the plate.
After writing a word on the stone, she would feed it one.
I also took a bite myself.
After Shi Shi finished writing a page of large characters, Shanshan touched his round belly with satisfaction.
Wen Yiqing took a look at it when passing by and almost laughed. She hurriedly came over and took away the handwriting written by Shanshan. She couldn't help laughing and said: "Don't imitate her. Her handwriting is not good, and she will be scolded by her husband a lot in a day." Come on, if you learn from her, you won’t be able to learn it no matter how long you study.”
As she spoke, she picked up a writing brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote a word demonstration on the paper.
Wen Yiqing said softly: "Don't be anxious, take your time."
She stood nearby and watched the stone carefully trace a word again. He has strong strength and a steady hand. He has just been writing for a while and has already gained some control over the brush in his hand. The handwriting he writes again looks much better than before.
Shanshan also came over to take a look. Even if she didn't have much appreciation ability, she knew that Shi Shi was making rapid progress. She was not ashamed and said happily: "Brother Shitou is much smarter than me."
"Aunt Wen."
"What?" Wen Yiqing lowered his head.
Shi Shi lowered his head to write, and the candlelight reflected his deep brows. He drew one stroke at a time and said seriously: "I will study hard."
She was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Okay."
Shanshan thought of something else, two sweet little pear dimples appeared on his cheeks, and he said happily: "If Brother Shitou goes to school with me, he is so strong that he can carry me to school."
Stone: "Yeah!"
Wen Yiqing: "...Forget it."
