Chapter 168: Observation

Disclaimer: 

1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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Liu Xu’er and her mother discussed Shao Rong’s visit for a while, before picking a day that the rest were busy. On that day, they updated Liu Shu about their plans, so Liu Shu himself made sure to leave the house. Liu Xu’er then called for the doorkeeper, Uncle Tian, to drive herself down to the Shao family. When she arrived, she invited Shao Rong over, saying that she wanted to learn how to make rose rouge. 

She had always intended to learn to make it. Although Shao Rong was a bit hesitant, she finally agreed and accompanied her home. 

When they entered the courtyard, Shao Rong discovered that He shi was also at home! She quickly went forward to offer her respects. Immediately, suspicions grew in her heart, but He shi pretended that nothing was different. She greeted her the same as always before rushing off to do her own thing. Shao Rong started to feel she had overthought the situation. 

Liu Xu’er and He shi had actually already agreed on a plan. They would only examine how Shao Rong conducted herself – they wouldn’t ask anything else. So, Liu Xu’er really did manage to spend a day learning how to make rouge with her. 

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Gv qkapv, Fbys Ssdt oyp pvkzz y ckv pwprknkswp, cwv pllkdt Nkw Dw’la yde Tl pbk clbyhl ps saekdyakzu, pbl qlzv vbyv pbl bye shla vbswtbv vbl pkvwyvksd. Fs pbl nyzxle blaplzq esod, yde pvyavle vs plakswpzu vlynb Nkw Dw’la.&dcpr;

Ebld kv oyp yqvladssd, Nkw Dw’la ytykd nyzzle qsa Bdnzl Mkyd vs plde Fbys Ssdt bsxl.&dcpr;

Tl pbk bye clld scplahkdt Fbys Ssdt vbl ldvkal eyu, yde bla jllddlpp qsa Hbydt Jkdt bye yzalyeu nsszle. Fwal ldswtb, nsxryakpsdp clvolld rlsrzl olal elyezu. Ekvb vbkp nsxryakpsd, pbl nswze pll vbyv Fbys Ssdt blaplzq oyp hlau byaeosajkdt, yde vbl oyu pbl prsjl yde nsdewnvle blaplzq oyp hlau tldlaswp. Fs zsdt yp y osxyd oypd’v y ekqqknwzv sa zygu rlapsd, obld vblu xyaakle, vblu oswze elqkdkvlzu vau vs tlv yzsdt olzz okvb vbl alpv sq vbl qyxkzu.&dcpr;

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Gqvla vseyu’p scplahyvksd, Tl pbk oyp iwkvl pyvkpqkle okvb vbl nbsknl. Fs pbl ekpnwpple vbl pkvwyvksd okvb Nkw Ubydttldt yde vblu ytalle vs vbl xyvnb.&dcpr;

Xq nswapl, Nkw Fbw oyp elzktbvle. Tl kxxlekyvlzu xyel ralryayvksdp, yde vbl dlmv eyu, oldv vs vbl Fbys alpkeldnl. Rq kv olald’v qsa vbl xyvvla sq bkx zldekdt vblx xsdlu, bl oswze byhl ekalnvzu bkale y xyvnbxyjla vs ts esod. Jwv dso, bl osaakle vbyv Fbys Twyk oswze shlavbkdj vbl xyvvla, ps qlzv kv oswze cl clvvla qsa bkx vs ts esod kd rlapsd qkapv vs lmrzykd. Rv oswze cl clvvla vs tlv Fbys Twyk’p ytallxldv qkapv.&dcpr;

Nkw Fbw eked’v oydv yduvbkdt vs flsryaekpl vbkp xyvvla, ps bl oyp clkdt lmnllekdtzu nyalqwz kd yzz yprlnvp. Fbys Twyk oyp bkxplzq fwpv yd bsdlpv hkzzytla. Ebld bl blyae obu Nkw Fbw nyxl shla, bl kxxlekyvlzu zywtble yde pyke, “Zsw’hl shlavbswtbv vbkp… Rq usw byed’v pyke yduvbkdt, R oswzed’v byhl lhld vbswtbv sq vbyv!”

Mbld bl vokpvle bkp qkdtlap yde pxkzle, “Zsw alyzzu zkjl xu pkpvla?”

Liu Shu’s face was slightly red. He nodded and said, “That’s right. Shao Rong… Is really good. I just don’t know if you’re agreeable.”

Shao Huai smiled and said, “Of course I’m agreeable! Why wouldn’t I agree? I am very aware of your character. From the incident that happened in my family, it’s clear that you and your sister are good people! And your parents, they’re also good people! Pangwa said that all of your family members are good. Even though you guys have money, you remember us villagers, and don’t make things difficult for us…. Why shouldn’t I agree, this is a wonderful thing!”

When he finished, he again twisted his fingers, “But, I still need to check in with Shao Rong, if she’s willing or not…..” He sighed, “My parents aren’t around, and in this matter, I cannot just casually agree without checking in with her.”

Liu Shu understood where Shao Huai was coming from. He just nodded and smiled, “It’s the right thing to do. You should ask Shao Rong her opinion. But I will go back and make the preparations first.”

Shao Huai smiled and nodded, then he paused and said, “This matter…. Do your parents know about this? My family’s situation….”

Liu Shu smiled and said, “My parents know, and have agreed. They feel that Shao Rong is a good choice… My parents really like Shao Rong.”

Shao Huai was overjoyed when he heard. “Great! That’s great!”

Liu Shu smiled and nodded his head. Shao Huai was so happy because his sister now had a good match. It wasn’t because their family was wealthy, it was just that Shao Huai knew that he would be able to give Shao Rong a good life, so he was happy. A villager’s way of thinking was simple, and he knew that Shao Huai was thinking just that simply.

Of course, to an outsider, it might seem as though this marriage was advantageous politically for Shao Huai, but Liu Shu didn’t care. He just wanted to share his life with Shao Rong. 

Liu Shu didn’t delay in heading home. He discussed the matter with his parents, before looking for the official matchmaker to go to the Shao family to propose marriage. 

The engagement was very smoothly confirmed. When Liu Shu didn’t care, there was no need to hurry this process. But now that he had chosen Shao Rong, he was anxious, and wanted to quickly settle the affair. He discussed it with his parents, and it was decided that their guodali would take place next year, in the second month. He would get married in the sixth month of next year. Actually, Liu Shu was quite anxious – he wanted to have the guodali happen this year, so that Shao Rong’s betrothal money could help the Shao family somewhat. Shao Huai could consider using the money to buy some land and move house. But there was no good time in the remaining year to do so, so it had to wait till next year. 

It was already the 10th month, and the days were getting colder. This tended to be a lull period for the stores. By the end of the 10th month, some of the more anxious people would start to prepare for the New Year. At that time, the stores would become busy again. 

During this period of time, Liu Lin was extremely motivated to succeed. Because, ever since he started to work hard, he had noticed, the rest of the family had also started to study religiously! Although, no one mentioned next year’s examinations, everyone had started to become more jumpy about it. 

Liu Lin was very clear – he was the weakest at studying. If anyone were to fail, it would most likely be him. So, he needed to double down on his studying. 

The store had basically been handed over to the two assistants to manage. Thankfully, both of them had been working for some time, and were not unfamiliar with what to do. They could handle most of the day to day issues. And with the addition of He Zhongzhou and He Zhongshuang, the four people could manage the store by themselves. 

So this entire month, he basically didn’t head down to the store. It wasn’t till the end of the 10th month, when it was time to restock, and to prepare for next year’s items, that he went down for a look. 

He spent the day supervising the re-stocking of the store and saw that all of his workers were doing well. The business was very stable, so Liu Lin could relax. He left the store, and was about to head back home to study. 

When he exited the store, however, he suddenly remembered Liu Yun’er’s previous store. Wondering how it was, he decided to head there for a look. On the streets, he bought a few items and got Xiaobei to bring them back first. 

By himself, he walked along the streets to the store. When he arrived, he saw that the store door was open. Surprised, Liu Lin quickly went forward for a look. What he saw was odd – they hadn’t opened the store for business. Half of the door slats were removed, while the others were still in place. 

Curious, Liu Lin went in for a look. There was no one inside and it looked as though the store had been closed for quite some time. The counters were dusty and a lot of the stock had already been moved away. But there were still a few small items that were strewn on the floor and on the counter top. Originally, there were a few pots of decorative plants on the counters, but they were now dried up and there was a foul smell coming from inside the store. 

Liu Lin was very curious – the door was opened, so how was it there was no one inside? But he could confirm that Liu Yun’er’s store had definitely been shut down, so he didn’t want to stay for too long. He backed up and prepared the leave. 

Right at that moment, there was a “peng” that rang from a corner in the store! He jumped in shock and stared in that direction. A shadow stood up from behind the counter. In their hand was a broom. 

So there was someone! They were just crouched behind the counter cleaning, so he hadn’t seen them. 

Liu Lin didn’t want there to be trouble, and if this person turned out to be Liu Yun’er, he might end up quarreling with her. So after seeing that the person was a girl, he didn’t bother looking any closer and prepared to leave. 

“Hey! Wait a moment!” That girl called out to him.

Liu Lin stood still and turned to look at her. The girl was dressed in a honey coloured, embroidered outfit. She had on a deep silver pleated skirt and looked to be about 14 or 15. Liu Lin was puzzled, since when did Liu Yun’er have a relative like this? Or was it Fang Yun, Fang Jicheng’s relative?

The instant he thought of those people, his mood dipped and he frowned. Impatiently, he asked, “What?”

The girl was shocked at his rather unfriendly tone. After thinking for a moment, she changed her mind and asked, “What are you doing here? What are you looking for? Do you know… the people who ran this store?”

Liu Lin hmphed and said, “Why can’t I have a look. The street is for anyone to walk, and I’m just looking around. Why are you questioning me?”

The girl started to get angry, but Liu Lin was a tall, strapping lad, so she didn’t dare to anger him. If he were to scold her or get aggressive, she would only lose, so she could only swallow her anger. Biting her lip, she mentally scolded Liu Lin, before turning around and heading in. 

Liu Lin also turned to leave, but just as he did so, he saw a 50ish-year-old woman come in. She looked at him, puzzled and asked, “This Young Master, are you the one who rented this store? Why haven’t you been around these few months? Are you still renting it or not?”

Today, Liu Lin was dressed in a deep blue embroidered outfit. On his waist was an elaborate tassel. The instant the woman saw how he was dressed, she knew he came from a wealthy household. 

It was only then that Liu Lin realised that something wasn’t right. He said, “I didn’t rent this store.”

The woman gave a puzzled, “oh” and the girl from inside, hearing all the noise, came out and said to the woman, “You don’t need to mind him, he’s just wandering along the street, looking everywhere. Even though he’s stood at the doorway staring into the store for a long time, he’s just looking randomly! Don’t ask!”

The woman gave an understanding “oh, and turned to look at Liu Lin. By now, Liu Lin realised he had misunderstood the situation. This girl…. Probably had no relationship with Liu Yun’er or Fang Jicheng. 

He was a bit embarrassed. After thinking it through a while, he turned to ask the woman, “Old Granny, who are you? Why are you in this store?”

He hadn’t finished asking, when the girl started to laugh. The old woman also smiled and said, “Oh! Young Master, please don’t call this old slave that! This old slave doesn’t deserve the title. This slave is a servant, and this is our family’s Young Miss. This store is part of our family holdings!”