Winter passed very peacefully. The lively places became livelier, and the deserted places became even more deserted. No one came to visit Jiang Ruan's courtyard, and the three of them had a rare period of leisure.
The morning air was fresh. Baizhi and Lian Qiao were sitting at the doorway mending their clothes. Their clothes were so old that they couldn't be any older. Even though the two of them had outstanding embroidery skills and could still wear their clothes even if they used flower and grass embroidery, bright-colored silk threads were still extremely precious to them. Normally, they wouldn't use such exquisite patching.
The girl sat quietly in front of the window, seriously reading the book in front of her. The sunlight shone on the side of her pretty face, and her eyelashes, which were as long as butterfly wings, gently trembled. Her eyes were pure and beautiful, and there was a softness that made people feel pity for her.
Lian Qiao inadvertently turned around and was somewhat lost in thought. She thought that her Miss was really a rare beauty. When she was quiet, she was clear and gentle, like a tranquil landscape painting, but when she was angry, she had a fierce charm. As the saying goes, 'quiet as a virgin, quick as a rabbit', it should be used to describe a woman like Jiang Ruan.
Bai Zhi saw that Lian Qiao was lost in thought, and also turned around to look. She said thoughtfully, "Miss is now a little older, and you have grown taller. The clothes you used to wear are a little difficult. It is almost spring, let's find some time to make two new clothes for Miss to wear."
"It is easy to say," Lian Qiao returned to her senses and continued to sew the buttons of the clothes in front of her, "The allowance given to us at the end of the year has been reduced by half. Two new clothes will also require a lot of material, where can we find it? I think we should go to the mountains and pick some herbs to exchange for some money, and save it to buy cloth for Miss. " He paused for a moment before continuing, "Our Miss is so beautiful, but the clothes she wears are all old and wrinkled. At her age, other girls are dressed like flowers, but our Miss doesn't even have a single piece of bright clothing. What a waste of good looks. If our Miss were to wear those beautiful clothes, wouldn't all the girls in the capital lose out?"
Bai Zhi could not help but laugh at Lian Qiao's words, "You only know how to talk about the capital, I don't know when we can return to the fu."
Once the topic of returning to the fu was mentioned, both of their spirits dissipated. After a while, Lian Qiao shook her head, "Don't think so much, didn't Miss say that we can return after the end of the year? I think the young lady already has an idea. We don't have to worry. "
Bai Zhi nodded her head: "Miss is smart, but … don't make any mistakes."
While they were chatting, someone knocked on the door from outside. It was the servant girl Xiao Yuan who came to deliver firewood. The manor didn't give them charcoal, but firewood. It was obvious who had instructed her to do this. Every winter was the most difficult time for the three of them. Unfortunately, they were given a limited amount of firewood. Zhang Lan was really not afraid that the three of them would freeze to death.
After Xiao Yuan greeted Jiang Ruan, she picked out the firewood from the basket. Her movements were also nimble, and Lian Qiao helped by her side. After she was done, Xiao Yuan glanced at the clothes in Bai Zhi's hands and smiled, "Bai Zhi jiejie's hands are really deft. The stitches are fine and firm, and it cannot be seen from the outside at all."
Bai Zhi smiled, "It's just sewing for fun. Who would notice it when I wear it?"
"Bai Zhi jiejie is wrong," Xiao Yuan shook her head, "This year, mother made a new peach red short jacket for me. I didn't want to tear a hole under my arm when I was working. I wanted to mend it, but it's not easy to mend that area. If I'm not careful, it will be seen. It's very troublesome. If I had jiejie's skills, I wouldn't have to worry."
"What's so difficult about that?" Lian Qiao returned the basket to Xiao Yuan, "Let Bai Zhi mend it for you."
"Really?" Xiao Yuan looked at Bai Zhi in surprise, her eyes filled with undisguised anticipation.
Bai Zhi smiled and nodded, "Of course you can, but I don't have peach-colored silk thread here. You have to send the silk thread over."
"No problem, thank you Bai Zhi jiejie. You are such a good person." Hearing this, Xiao Yuan immediately smiled, "If I knew Bai Zhi jiejie was so easy to talk to, I would have come here more often. I have a pile of torn and messily sewn clothes at my place."
"You little girl," Lian Qiao pretended to be angry, "You only know how to take advantage of us. Who doesn't know that the maids you serve outside are clean and tidy? How would they have any torn and tattered clothes?"
"Who said clean and tidy?" Xiao Yuan pouted, "Even though it's a little cold here, I would rather serve someone with a good temper like Miss. To tell you the truth, the maids outside are really hard to serve. Not to mention Lan momo, even her youngest son is not easy to deal with. It's fine if he messes around on normal days, but recently he has gone overboard. I heard that he sold a piece of land in the house behind Lan momo's back. When Lan momo found out about this last night, she flew into a rage. These few days, us maids have been keeping a low profile, afraid of offending her. "
"Oh? Is that true? " Bai Zhi winked at Lian Qiao, "Even though this Chen Zhao likes to mess around, he is not very generous. Why would he sell a piece of land?"
"That's right," Lian Qiao said, "Are you lying to us?"
"There's no such thing." Xiao Yuan waved her hands repeatedly. "All of us maids who are in charge of purchasing outside know about this. That day, Lan mama was so angry that she didn't even know where the money went. She turned his room upside down. Can you guess what the result was — — not a single coin!"
"Ah," Lian Qiao exclaimed, "that's really strange. A piece of land can be exchanged for a lot of money. It can't be that he spent it all in just a few days. Could it be that the money flew away on its own?"
"Lan momo is also very strange, but that person didn't know anything. In the end, he had a big fight with Lan momo and actually left," Xiao Yuan said.
The three of them talked about this matter and had their own opinions on Chen Zhao's conjecture. Seeing that it was getting late, Xiao Yuan wanted to get up and leave. Lian Qiao sent her to the entrance of the courtyard. Bai Zhi put down the clothes in her hands and walked to the side of Jiang Ruan, who was reading a book. Jiang Ruan raised her head and said with a smile that was not a smile, "He's actually quite daring to sell the land just like that."
"Miss," Bai Zhi said, "although this servant doesn't know what happened, I feel that this matter of selling the land was facilitated by Miss. My heart is full of doubts, but this servant is stupid and can't figure it out no matter how hard I try."
"Can't figure it out?" Jiang Ruan said, "It's very simple." Before she finished speaking, Lian Qiao's loud voice could be heard from outside, "Why are you rushing in? Don't you have any manners!"
On the other side, an angry voice could be heard, "Don't block the way, let me in!"
Bai Zhi could not help but be stunned. That voice was very familiar, it was Chen Fang. But what was Chen Fang doing here?
Jiang Ruan spread her hands, "Look, you'll understand very soon."
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