Chapter 208: Glad To See Happen

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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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He shi had arranged for them to go out to buy jewellery because Song Yao had just joined their family. She wanted to help her prepare some items. Furthermore, she wanted to let the sisters-in-law spend more time together, so that they could familiarise themselves with each other. Liu Xu’er also knew that her mother wanted to put her best foot forward with Song Yao, after all, she worried that Song Yao would feel unhappy over her previous refusal. 

Song Yao and Shao Rong were also well aware of the reasons for this. They knew that this was something nice that their mother-in-law wanted to do for them. The both of them couldn’t let her down. Furthermore, which girl didn’t like buying jewellery? The two of them sat down and seriously looked through the pieces, finally selecting the ones that they liked. They were careful not to select any piece that was too cheap or expensive – otherwise their mother-in-law might not be happy. 

Liu Xu’er was much more relaxed than them. She had picked out a few pieces when Shi Cheng squeezed over. He smiled and pointed out, “These are the best of the new arrivals. Do you like them?”

Liu Xu’er looked at them. It was a pair of engraved dragons on jade bangles. With just a glance, she could tell that they were not cheap. She raised her eyes and looked at Shi Cheng. What did he mean by this?

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Nkw Dw’la nshlale bla xswvb, “R oydv yzz sq vblx… bso xwnb kp kv?”

Fbk Ubldt pxkzle yde pyke, “Ls dlle. Mblu’al xu tkqv vs usw.”

“Psd’v. Jlqsal ol nyxl, xu xsvbla oyp hlau nzlya. Rq ol nyxl vs uswa pvsal, ol dllele vs ryu. Rq usw alqwpl vs ynnlrv ryuxldv, ol nyddsv vyjl yduvbkdt.” Nkw Dw’la pxkzle yde pyke.&dcpr;

Fbk Ubldt zywtble. Tl jdlo vbyv Dw’la’p qyxkzu oswze cl lmvalxlzu nyalqwz sd vbkp rskdv. Mblu eked’v oydv ydusdl vs nzykx vblu bye vyjld yehydvytl sq vbl Fbk qyxkzu. Xvblaokpl, obld Dw’la tsv xyaakle, bkp xsvbla xktbv cl wdbyrru. Fs obldlhla vblu ryvasdkple ydu sq vbl Fbk qyxkzu’p cwpkdlpplp, vblu oswze elqkdkvlzu ryu.

Fbk Ubldt pyke, “Mbld R okzz tkhl usw y ekpnswdv…” Jwv bl alyzzu eke rzyd vs tkhl Nkw Dw’la vos rklnlp sq flolzzlau. Rv oyp fwpv vbyv vbkp oypd’v vbl vkxl – bl nswze sdzu oykv obld vblu olal yzsdl vs tkhl kv vs bla.&dcpr;

Liu Xu’er nodded her head. At the side, Song Yao and Shao Rong had very carefully picked two pieces of jwellery. When Liu Xu’er very expansively included the additional four items, Song Yao and Shao Rong were both stunned. But since their xiaoguzi wanted it, they had nothing to say. They just watched as Liu Lin paid. 

After buying the jewellery, Shi Cheng followed them home. When they got back, Shi Cheng and Liu Lin went off to a corner to discuss their plans to get the textile store back, while Liu Xu’er took out the four items she had purchased. She gave two of them – the jade bangles and coral pendant – to Shao Rong, while the amber bracelet and hairpin was given to Song Yao. 

Both of them were stunned and tried to refuse her gifts. Liu Xu’er smiled and said, “This was also mum’s intention. She told me to pick two items to give to saozi. It’s something I should do. Honestly, I considered if I should pick something more expensive or not, but then I thought that I would be getting married in a few months. In future, you will need to help me take care of dad and mum, as well as Senzi. So I decided to be lazy and give something more expensive now. In future, I won’t need to worry so much.”

She didn’t allow the two of them time to protest, “Also, dasao has given me quite a lot of things, and helped me with my embroidery. When ersao got married, she gave me some gifts… I need to return the gifts right? I was originally thinking of embroidering something – after all, embroidery is a way of showing my sincerity –  but I was so busy with my dowry I forgot about it. Could the two of you forgive my laziness?”

Her words were very pretty. Shao Rong and Song Yao had had their own difficulties, so when they had married they had both given Liu Xu’er some of their own embroidery. It wasn’t worth much, but they had been carefully and meticulously done. Liu Xu’er was naturally very clear  – she had said this much to put the both of them at ease. 

When Shao Rong and Song Yao heard her words, they had no choice but to accept her gifts. Since Shao Rong had been married for close to a year, she was naturally more familiar with Liu Xu’er. She smiled and said, “Mum said it right – the most persuasive one, the one with the sweetest tongue in the family, is you! How can anyone argue with you!”

Song Yao also smiled and nodded, “That’s right. I am also starting to get that feeling.”

Everyone smiled and the two of them accepted the gifts. Liu Xu’er again smiled and suggested that they wear it out the next day.

Song Yao was completely unsuspecting, so the two of them agreed. The next day, the both of them deliberately dressed up and wore their pieces. This was the day that Song Yao was to return to her maiden family. Early in the morning, she had breakfast at home with Liu Lin. Then they returned to the Hanlin residence. 

Liu Xu’er was at home, laughing to herself. She was imagining the reaction Madam Song and the First Young Madam would have when they saw their favoured jewellery pieces on Song Yao. It was bound to be entertaining!

And the facts proved her imaginings accurate. Madam Song and the First Young Madam had actually deliberately went shopping for jewellery to wear for this exact occasion. So when the two of them saw how Song Yao was dressed, they immediately felt vastly inferior!

Liu Lin hadn’t noticed anything because the two women had just told him that he should have left the workers with the store. And they hadn’t said it nicely either – their tone was borderline coercive. The store’s assistants belonged to the store – even if they hadn’t specified it before, it should have been understood! They couldn’t just take the store assistants away!

Liu Lin was amused – these two people understood nothing! It was only after they took over the store that they realised they couldn’t open without shop assistants! Because he had gotten married, he hadn’t left the house in three days, and was actually unaware that the store had remained closed all that time. 

Of course he wouldn’t give them the manpower they wanted. He just explained that the assistants at the store were only him and his biaodi. They hadn’t hired any shop assistants.

This had obviously not occurred to the two women. The two of them looked at each other – they didn’t know how they could bring up their request. 

But Liu Lin wouldn’t listen to their demands anyway. He and Song Yao rose and bade them farewell before leaving the Hanlin residence. From today onwards, unless they really needed to, they would not step foot back into this place. 

The Liu family had already started construction of another courtyard in their back garden. They first opened a door at their back wall, before sealing off the door between their other courtyards and the backyard. That way, the workers could directly enter from the back, and they needn’t worry about them entering the main house. 

In a month or so, the spacious backyard had a little courtyard. It was smaller than the others – there were three main rooms, with three rooms in the right wing. 

After letting it air for another two months, when everything had dried up nicely, Liu Sen would move in. 

Liu Tao had been looking for a place of his own ever since the New Year. Because Feng town was becoming more and more prosperous, there was a fast turnover of houses. He had seen quite a few in the months since the New Year, and had taken a liking to a three entry courtyard he had seen. It even had a very small backyard. Liu Tao felt it was good, so he called Liu Changqi over to take a look. Everyone in the family checked it over – all of them felt it was very suitable for Liu Tao, so Liu Tao bought it over. 

The residence was now under renovation. Once done, he would move in. 

Liu Xu’er kept thinking of Xiuxiu. Mainly, she was worried that her dajiujiu and his wife would still hold some resentment. If left to fester, it would really damage their relationship with her mother. Because her wedding was fast approaching, He shi hadn’t let her leave the house much in the past two months, so Liu Xu’er was stuck trying to think of a way to bring Xiuxiu over. 

Actually, Liu Changgeng was himself worried over the same matter. He worried that this matter might cause a rift between his wife and her siblings. These past two months, he had frequently brought He shi over to visit He Wenqing. 

It happened to be Duanwujie, and outside Feng town, there were dragon boat races. Two days before the festival proper, Liu Xu’er had asked her eldest brother to bring Xiuxiu over to play. 

He Wenqing and his wife could clearly see that his jiejie and her family were trying their best to make amends. 

And the husband and wife had been most concerned over Xiuxiu’s reaction. So, they had closely observed her when Liu Lin got married. Xiuxiu hadn’t show any signs of being different. She was mostly just upset that her parents hadn’t let her join in with the wedding! Helpless, He Wenqing and his wife could at least lay their worries to rest. 

Now that Liu Xu’er and Liu Shu had come to bring Xiuxiu to town, and since it was clear that Xiuxiu herself wanted to go, her parents agreed. They had well and truly let go of their earlier plans. 

When Liu Xu’er brought Xiuxiu back, Xiuxiu very quickly became busy. She actually had no time to stay at home and accompany Liu Xu’er. 

After watching the dragon boat races, Xiuxiu heard that Liu Tao’s new home was under renovation. She very eagerly went over every day to have a look and to give suggestions. Because it was a busy period for the store, and because Liu Tao had to deal with his new home, he was only able to get home very late each day. And he had no time to supervise when Xiuxiu would get home, so everyday Xiuxiu herself would travel between the store and Liu Tao’s new place. 

The first one to notice was the idler, Liu Xu’er. It seemed that in the past few days, Liu Tao and Xiuxiu… were heading out and coming back together? In the morning, they would head to the store together, and at night, they would come back together. Whenever they spoke, the two of them would eagerly discuss Liu Tao’s new home. Liu Xu’er couldn’t even get a word in edgewise. 

Liu Xu’er seemed to sense something here. Surprised but delighted, she looked at Xiuxiu’s rather oblivious expression and found it amusing. In any case, this was something she was glad to see happen.

At the Hanlin family’s textile store.

A bored store assistant was chasing off flies when a young man and woman walked in the door. The assistant twisted his head to have a look. Because he had just sat down, he was too lazy to stand. So he continued to sit there, unmoving. 

The young woman had walked toward the bright red silks. Delighted, she had just reached out to touch them when the assistant immediately barked, “Don’t touch that! Who will buy it if it gets dirty?!”

The woman gave a startled leap and quickly retracted her hand. Her face immediately turned red, while the young man came over quickly. Frowning, he looked at the store assistant. He wanted to say something, but eventually held his tongue. He just looked at the girl and said softly, “Xiuxiu, do you like this fabric?”

The one called Xiuxiu nodded her head. 

It was only now that the store assistant bothered to look at them more closely. The man was dressed quite decently in silks. On his waist there was even a jade pendant. And as for the woman… She was not bad either. 

The shop assistant finally asked, “So? If you like it, buy a bolt!”

Liu Tao slanted a look at the assistant. He didn’t protest, just asked, “How much for a chi?”

“We don’t sell by the chi!” The shop assistant was immediately frustrated. 

“How much for a bolt?” Liu Tao immediately asked.

The shop assistant lazily replied, “Three taels.”

Liu Tao nodded his head, “Alright, I will take the bolt then.”

The shop assistant was immediately shocked and delighted! Full of smiles he immediately stood and said, “This Young Master has good taste. This is the best silk the store has!” He looked at the two of them – these two should be a young married couple? The girl’s hairstyle indicated that she was still unmarried, but since they were here to get red fabric, it should be soon! So he quickly continued, “This material is most suitable for bridal wear!”

Xiuxiu immediately flushed. 

Liu Tao continued to maintain his silence. After buying the bolt, he and Xiuxiu continued to browse the store. This time, the store assistant was more enthusiastic, thinking that they might want to buy more! After Liu Tao had checked the pricing on everything in the store, he took the bolt of red silk, and brought Xiuxiu out….