Ordinary clear day

Chapter 86
Tong asked hurriedly, "what? Did she cause trouble again? Didn't it mean that she has changed for the better? "

Duan Ning said: "Although she is now more measured in her actions and words than before, and she is also very polite in front of her elders and outsiders, I think she did it reluctantly. Then when guests came home, she stayed with her grandmother for a day Before dinner, some of us juniors were sent to invite uncles and aunts. I saw her whole body crooked on the couch in the small side hall. Rest your feet. I don't think she's used to it yet, it's just that she shouldn't be rude in front of others."

Tong sighed: "It's no wonder that she has been doing whatever she wants since she was a child. As long as she is not too out of line, the old lady will not discipline her. It is very rare for her to know how to measure in front of people now, and we don't have to find fault."

Seeing that Zhang Bao was also nodding, Duanning said, "That's true. It's just that sometimes she overdos it, and it looks fake. For example, if the fifth elder brother comes to her, if she really doesn't want to continue to make friends with others, please be polite." She just spoke in an angry and respectful manner, but in the end she put on a straight face, looked cold, saluted, and left without saying a word, which made my third brother and I extremely embarrassed. Fortunately, the fifth elder brother is kind-hearted, Otherwise, it would not be uncommon to punish our family for a crime of disrespect."

Shu Ning was surprised: "Didn't Second Sister always get on good terms with Fifth Elder Brother? Why did she become so indifferent all of a sudden?"

Duan Ning said: "No one can guess what she is thinking in her heart now. Mafa once reprimanded her for being impolite, but she cried in front of her grandmother and said that she did it to stop gossip and make trouble for the two elders." Not happy."

Tong Shi nodded: "That's true. After all, Wanning will be drafted next year, so she should avoid it and avoid socializing with outsiders. She used to be too playful. She not only made friends with those officials' children, but also showed her face to help What kind of business does the second room do, it doesn't look like a lady."

Duanning smiled, then stopped, Shuning saw it, and quickly asked: "What are you laughing at?" He hesitated, and said: "Actually, she is still helping the second uncle and the second aunt in business."

Both Tong and Shu Ning were a little surprised, Zhang Bao frowned and said, "Why are your second uncle and aunt so confused? Didn't you say that you have found a way to make money? What are you doing with your second niece?"

Duan Ning said: "It is true that we have found a way. It's just that sister Wan Ning is favored in front of her grandmother. They can't do too much, but it's not as good as before. I heard from the third brother that Wan Ning wrote a few more notebooks. One is about the story of a young Han boy who grew up in Mongolia and helped the emperor of the Song Dynasty to guard the border. The other is about the prince of Dali who went to the Central Plains and met a foreign hero who grew up in the Central Plains. The third brother said that both books are very good. Interesting, but the second uncle thinks that they have the meaning of advocating the use of force to violate the ban, not to mention that it involves the Mongol and Jin Kingdoms, etc., which are quite taboo. The second book is better, but unfortunately it is too literary. In the teahouse, it is said, Ordinary people can't understand, and literati who can understand don't like to hear the stories of these Jianghu people fighting and killing. Therefore, the second uncle pushed them all, and only invited a few down-and-out literati to write some city legends, good and evil karma Books like this are very popular.”

Zhang Bao nodded and said: "This is the truth. I heard people say before that the books in Deyue Pavilion are not good for enlightenment. It's good to change it now."

Duan Ning continued: "The rouge shop over there by the second aunt, I heard that Sister Wan has no idea, but the shopkeeper there invited an old imperial doctor to write a prescription, and sell some beauty pills, the business is very good good."

Of course, thinking about it, Wanning doesn't know how to make modern cosmetics, so it's amazing that she can last for so long.

"Although Wanning can't come up with any good ideas, she still has some status in the family. When she left Beijing, her second uncle and aunt stopped her dividends, and now they still send her the same year's amount. Grandma even praised her second uncle and aunt Generous, but Wanning is a little unhappy."

Shu Ning lowered her head and curled her mouth: Sister Wan Ning, you can't make up your mind, it would be great if you can receive dividends as before, it's better not to be too greedy.

Seeing that her son was a little sleepy, Tong let him go to sleep, but there was one thing she wanted to ask again, and she hesitated whether to say it now.

Seeing his mother's expression, Duanning smiled slightly, and whispered a few words in her ear, seeing the faint joy on his mother's face, he said: "He is doing well, Er Niang, just rest assured." I went to the study.

Because the whole family just moved here, and Duanning came here suddenly, there was no time to tidy up his room, so Tong let him rest on the couch in the study.Early the next morning, she ordered Thursday Lin and his wife to clean up the house for him.The whole family dressed neatly and went to the general's mansion to thank Lord Wu Dan.

The new general was a tall, well-built man with a tanned complexion, a short beard, and a moderately soft-spoken voice.

After Zhang Bao thanked him solemnly, he said: "Your son is a man of talent, with outstanding character and learning. These days he came all the way south with our family, and got along very well with my two brats, which made them grow. I have to thank the prefect."

Zhang Bao kept saying that he didn't dare, and he said again: "You don't have to be too modest. You have such an outstanding son, which shows that you have been well-bred. I heard that when the rebels from the Tiandihui broke into your house, Ling Ai, in order to save his father and younger brother, He is also very courageous, if the magistrate has such beautiful sons and daughters, it is really gratifying to congratulate."

Zhang Bao gave way again, and the general became impatient: "I'm not flattering you, but telling the truth. You are also from a military family, why are you soured by literati? I have two sons and one son. Girl, except for the eldest son who wants to learn practical things with me, the other two children are about the same age as your children. I want them to make friends and benefit each other, what do you think?"

Zhang Bao could only agree. He glanced at his son and saw that his face was a little happy, knowing that the young lady of the general's family should not be difficult to get along with, so he was relieved.

Wu Dan's first wife passed away early, and now there is only one second wife, and the imperial court appointed Gong Ren.Mrs. Tong took her daughter to the inner courtyard to meet Mrs. Wen, and Miss General happened to be there too.

This young lady is two years older than Shuning, and only two months younger than Wanning. She is as tall as her concubine's mother, with a pretty face and beautiful eyes.She was wearing lotus-colored wide-leg trousers, a rose-purple thin robe, and a water-red gauze vest. Her black hair was twisted in a few twists on her head, hanging behind her head, and tied with two long braids with colorful silk ropes. Playful yet dignified.

Tong's mother and daughter met each other and sat down to talk.Mrs. Tong praised the young lady a few words, and Mrs. Wen also praised Shuning a few words. The two wives complimented Shu Ning back and forth for a long time before they began to say some short words.

Shu Ning was very bored listening to it, but she had to pretend to be very interested, and accidentally turned her head to look at the general lady, and saw that she was also bored, so she happened to look over, The two looked at each other and smiled.

The lady got up and came over, pulled Shuning up and said, "I heard your brother talk about you. My name is Zhenzhen, the first word is "zhen" for real, and the second word is "Zhen" for pearl. The name was given by my mother-in-law before she was alive, which means that I am the real pearl of our family. What about you?"

Shuning pursed her lips and said with a smile: "My name is Shuning. The first word is "Shu" for a lady, and the second word is "Ning" for tranquility. This name was given by my Ama, which means I hope I can Grow into a demure and elegant lady."

Zhenzhen looked at Shuning for a long time, then burst out laughing: "Your temper is also very funny, I thought you were a boring person just now when I saw you sitting neatly. Your brother always said that his sister What's the best, I'm annoyed when I hear it, but seeing you today, it's really good. Let's be good friends, shall we?"

Shu Ning liked her straightforward personality a little bit, so she agreed naturally.Mrs. Tong said to Mrs. Wen: "Miss is really straightforward and cute. After all, she is a girl from a general's family." Mrs. Wen said: "Our girl is just too naughty, unlike Ling Ai, she looks elegant and cute when she looks at it."

Zhenzhen sneered at her: "You say that about me again, what's wrong with me?" After saying that, she saluted and pleaded guilty, then dragged Shuning back to her room to talk.

Zhenzhen's room is very big, and there are quite a lot of things in it. It may be that she arrived yesterday, and her luggage has not been packed yet.There were several large boxes scattered on the ground, and the contents inside hadn't been taken out yet. Several maids shuttled back and forth to carry and place things. When they saw them, they all saluted and greeted them.

Zhenzhen nodded her head one by one, dragged Shuning to sit down in a side room that had been tidied up, and asked someone to watch tea.

Shu Ning looked at the room carefully, there wasn't much furniture, it had an elegant atmosphere, decorated with a few exquisite decorations, and on the table by the window, there were Go boards and chess jars.

Zhen Zhen felt a bit like Su Yunzhu at the beginning, but in fact her temperament was closer to Zhou Yinlan's. She was straightforward, yet mellow, and treated others very kindly.Some of the boxes I saw on the way in just now contained books, some new and some old; some contained picture scrolls; Play the violin.This Miss Zhenzhen is more versatile than imagined.

The most different thing between her and Zhou Yinlan was that there was a horsewhip hanging on the wall of the room, with a red string wrapped around it, tasseled, and the handle was very smooth, obviously it was often used.

Zhenzhen quickly went back to the room and sat down, said with a smile: "The room is not tidy yet, please don't take it for granted that it's a mess. I asked them to make some good tea brought from Beijing. It's a waste for him to drink it, so we might as well let us enjoy it."

A delicate servant girl brought the tea, using an exquisite purple sand teapot.Shu Ning took a small sip, and the corners of her mouth were really fragrant, refreshing her spirits.She looked into the cup, and saw that the tea was orange-yellow, with vermilion on the edge of the tea leaves, but the heart of the leaves was a little yellow in the light green. After smelling the tea, she asked, "Is this Iron Arhat?"

Zhenzhen nodded: "It's the iron arhat from Wuyiyan, which was sent by Uncle Cao's house in Jiangning." She smiled, "You can tell, when your brother was on the boat, he regarded it as a thirst quencher." The rough tea from here is really reckless."

Shu Ning said with a smile: "He has never liked this, and his family doesn't pay much attention to it. I didn't understand it at first, but I tasted it once when I was a guest at someone's house last year."

Zhenzhen said: "Anyway, you can taste it, so it is not a disappointment to this good tea. When we passed by Fujian, we also got two packs of freshly picked white cockscombs. I don't know where I kept them. I will invite you to taste them another day. "

Shu Ning smiled, took another sip of tea, and said: "I saw that you have all the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting here. My sister is really amazing."

Zhenzhen waved her hand: "Come on, let's not imitate the manners of the adults outside. Compliments come and go endlessly. If you are so polite, it would be a waste of my sincerity."

Shu Ning hurriedly said: "It's not a compliment, I really envy my sister. I have long wanted to learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but unfortunately I only studied in Beijing for a few months when I was young, so I knew a little bit. After coming to Guangzhou, my mother also wanted to invite a A good gentleman, but I can't find a suitable candidate. The slightly better ones are invited by other families, so I can only review what I have learned before. I have acquaintances who know me, and occasionally ask them for pointers. Over the years What I do the most is nothing more than culinary stars and the like, they are all common things."

Zhenzhen smiled: "What about mundane things? I'm not as good as you. I'm just mediocre in sewing. Although I eat delicious food, I can't do it." She paused, clapped her hands, and said: "I have an idea Yes. Those who taught me piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all worshiped at home, and there is also a teacher who teaches poetry and books, and now he is also here. Why don’t you come to my house often when you are free, and learn with me. I don’t charge you for repairs , it’s just that whatever delicious and fun things you do, you’ll count me in, how about it?”

Shu Ning was naturally overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Of course it's good, but will it be too disturbing?"

Zhenzhen shook her head: "It's nothing, anyway, I'm bored when I study alone. Gentlemen, teaching one person is teaching, and teaching two people is also teaching. When you come, I still have a companion. Later, I will talk to Ama and the two. Mother said to go, I will definitely agree."

Shuning was full of joy, but she was a little worried: "But I only know a little bit, will it slow down your progress?"

Zhenzhen smiled: "Who do you think I am? I have only learned a little bit of superficiality. Who has never learned a little bit of superficiality among the ladies in Beijing? Could it be true because I know how to play two pieces of music, play a few games of chess, write With just a few strokes of calligraphy and two strokes of painting, will she really be a talented girl?"

(End of this chapter)