So, when she seemingly magnanimously and calmly let Hua Xiaomai make her own decision a few days ago, her heart has actually never really been at ease, right?
Hua Xiaomai felt amused, yet her heart grew even warr. Her mouth split into a broad smile, "Isn’t that right? I’ve pondered over it for quite so ti and wondered, why should I bother going to the Provincial City to suffer on soone else’s turf? Might as well cling to you and brother-in-law, freeload als and drinks, how much more comfortable would that be?"
"Staying at ho is good, and your second sister can be more at ease." Jing Taihe smiled and nodded.
Hua Xiaomai squinted her eyes with a grin, suddenly rembering the "huge sum" of money she was carrying. She waved at them, dropped a "Wait for a mont," and ran back to the west room, took out the silver notes she had hidden close to her body, and then trotted back to the main room, tossing them onto the table with a triumphant air.
"Boss Song said, thanks for helping her earn face at the Eight Treasures Conference, this fifty silver notes are my compensation." She sat down on a chair by the table and chirped, "With this money, plus what we saved before, we might be able to take over a shop and start a small restaurant. When we make enough cash, we could even buy so land. Only question is what do you guys think?"
"This... this much?" Hua Erniang stared wide-eyed at the silver notes on the table, her mouth agape, "That Boss Song... sure is lavish, to casually hand out..."
Jing Taihe was certainly shocked too, but he paid more attention to another matter, glancing at Hua Xiaomai and asking, "Little sister, you want to open a restaurant, huh? Hmmm...selling at the riverside stand during spring and sumr is still manageable, but when it cos to late autumn and winter, the biting winds are chilling, standing there for over two hours each night, you’re bound to fall ill. It’d be better to have a storefront, at least to stay out of the cold. However, where do you plan on opening this restaurant?"
"I haven’t thought that much about it yet, it’s just an idea for now. We can discuss it slowly, no rush." Hua Xiaomai laughed, then turned to Hua Erniang and nudged her, "Second sister, what are you dazing for? Get out all the money we’ve saved these past months and count it, see exactly how much there is?"
Hua Erniang looked dazed, dumbly responding, and actually stood up to go into the east room. Shortly after, she ca back with a box.
Hua Xiaomai couldn’t wait to open the box, peering inside and imdiately froze. She poked around with her finger and quickly counted, then her brows furrowed.
"How co there’s only a little over ten strings of cash? Even if we bought two plots of land before, it’s impossible to only have this little left?" She raised her head, pointing at Hua Erniang’s face and elongating her voice, "Ooh—— second sister, feathering your own nest, I truly didn’t expect you to be this kind of person!"
"Pah, I’m not the shaless kind like Hua Dashan!" Hua Erniang spat on the ground without any politeness, though her tone was a bit evasive, "This box... it’s only half, the other half is naturally still there, it’s just that I needed it for another purpose..."
Hua Xiaomai guessed the reason she had stashed away the money, her heart softened like dough, and she tugged her hand, "Second sister, I get what you an, but that money, we can save more in a while, you..."
"No way, no matter what, that money can’t be touched." Hua Erniang spoke with finality, glared at her, but didn’t pull away her hand, "You want to open a restaurant, you don’t need to buy a shop. We can just rent a storefront, pay the monthly rent, that would do. Altogether here is more than sixty silver notes, enough to support you for a few months once the restaurant opens. Moreover, from Pan Ping’an, we can also earn quite a sum every month. I warn you, no whining, or I’ll really wallop you!"
Hua Xiaomai couldn’t argue with her and also feared that continuing the discussion might hurt her feelings, so she temporarily agreed to it, keeping the fifty silver notes together with the money from the box, and as always, left them in Hua Erniang’s care.
They chatted about family matters in the main room, and when the water on the stove boiled, Hua Erniang sent her little sister to the bathhouse to wash up. Hua Xiaomai tidied herself thoroughly, washing off the sweat from her body and feeling much refreshed. She washed and hung up the clothes she had taken off, and just as she was about to return to the west room, she saw Hua Erniang sneakily coming out of the east room.
Hua Xiaomai felt a bit guilty, pulling a smile at her and turning to run towards the west room. Hua Erniang bellowed behind her like a mighty river, "Stop right there!"
"Wha... what for?" Hua Xiaomai turned round, yawning exaggeratedly, "Second sister, I’m sleepy..."
"Cut that nonsense, If you had nothing to hide, why the panic?" Hua Erniang walked up to her with head held high, her eyes hooking onto Hua Xiaomai as if they had nails in them, "Earlier, in front of your brother-in-law, there were so things I couldn’t ask. Don’t you think you can fool by pretending to be dumb. Tell , ng Yuhuai sent you back to the village from the County, but it was clear you ca back from the Provincial City. Why did he escort you here?"
Hua Xiaomai’s back chilled, she bit her lip, "I ca back from the Provincial City by myself. When I reached the County, I rembered that we hadn’t paid Da Zhong and the others for their help, so I went to Lianshun Escort Agency and brought so pastries for Uncle Ke. Uncle Ke insisted on having stay for lunch, and well... it got very late, and you know how dangerous it is for a girl to travel alone, so ng Yuhuai just escorted part of the way..."
ng Yuhuai had said he would explain things to Jing Taihe himself, and it indeed seed better for him to handle. For now, she had to wriggle out of this one way or another.
But as Hua Erniang herself said, she really was an intelligent and astute woman. She imdiately sneered, "You think I’m blind? Right at our courtyard door, in front of my very eyes, you dare to flirt. Hua Xiaomai, you’ve really grown so nerve!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to go to Qidian (qidian) to cast a recomndation ticket, monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian to read.)
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