Flowers in full bloom

Pei Rongjin, wearing a beige robe, came out. After greeting Uncle Fu, he took the large bag of books from Uncle Fu's hand, turned around, took Xiaoyuan's hand, glanced at Hualei, and walked to the front without saying a word.

Hua Lei quickly said hello to Uncle Fu, took a few quick steps, followed Xiao Yuan, and secretly looked at Rong Jin's face. It had been more than a month since they last met at the horse farm. The skinny boy seemed to be even thinner, and seemed to be taller. His fair skin seemed to have turned wheat-colored. At this time, Rong Jin pursed his lips tightly, frowned slightly, and walked a little fast holding Xiao Yuan's hand.

Hualei secretly looked at Rong Jin, feeling somewhat uneasy. Did she come back too late, breaking the rules of the mansion? Or did something happen to Zhenzhu again? Or did Madam Pei's cough become severe again? Or did he encounter something in the Imperial College? Rong Jin silently dragged Xiaoyuan to the Qihua Courtyard, handed the book in his hand to Qingying who came out of the courtyard, and then let go of Xiaoyuan's hand, glanced at Hualei, and turned away. From beginning to end, he didn't say a word.

Hualei looked at the boy's thin back in bewilderment as he disappeared around the bend of the path. He couldn't turn the corner. Looking at Xiaoyuan, who also looked puzzled and was rubbing the red marks on his hand from Rong Jin's tight grip, Hualei walked into Qihuayuan in silence.

She asked Qingying to report to Old Madam Pei at Songhe Courtyard. She stopped thinking about this matter, as it would be fruitless to think about it. She was a little tired after running around outside all day. She took a bath early and rested on the couch.

At this time, Rong Jin was sitting in his study, feeling a little stuffy. He felt that Hua Lei had been avoiding him. Every day before the holiday, Hua Lei would take Xiao Yuan away before he got home, and return to the mansion after dinner the next afternoon. This was a perfect way to avoid him. Rong Jin was thinking, why did she always avoid him? Today, he wanted to wait for her at the small gate and ask her why she did this? However, when he saw the big bag of books to be repaired and her thin arms couldn't lift the bag of books that were not worth mentioning to him, he couldn't vent his anger.

A girl without parents or elders, only twelve years old, with a younger brother, would feel insecure even if she lived in the Marquis's mansion, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't have to make money by repairing books every day. If her parents and elders were all there, why would this weak girl need to take on the responsibility of supporting the family? At that moment, he felt a slight pain in his heart.

He couldn't help but think of what Zhenzhu said when he went to his second sister's house to pick her up that day. How could Han Qingge, the cousin who had never earned a penny since she was a child and claimed to be a lady from a noble family, wear the gorgeous clothes made by the mansion to laugh at a girl who was younger than her but tried her best to raise her younger brother? Although he never liked her before and just avoided her from a distance, now, he suddenly began to hate this cousin very much. He hated her meanness, her self-righteousness, and her increasingly obvious intentions.

Rong Jin thought about that thin arm again. Why was she still so thin? Didn't her grandmother ask the court doctor to treat her? Was it ineffective or what? She looked so anxious just now. Did I scare her? Why didn't I give her a smile just now? Rong Jin began to regret again. Rong Jin thought about it all night and couldn't sleep. The next day, he went to the Imperial College with panda eyes.

The next afternoon, Zhenzhu came to Hualei's Qihuayuan. Although Han Qingge had moved out of her own Zhenzhu Yuan and moved into the wing of her mother's Yuan, and there was no one to bother her in the Yuan now, Zhenzhu had not been to Hualei's Qihuayuan for a long time and she really missed it. At this moment, she was holding a storybook in one hand and a fruit drink in the other, and sighed with contentment.

He put down the fruit drink in his hand, lay down on the recliner, and looked at Hua Lei and a few girls who were concentrating on repairing the books in their hands. He suddenly asked, "Sister Hua, do you think I can find something to do? Seeing you busy every day, while I have nothing to do every day, it doesn't seem like a big deal."

Hua Lei looked up at her, teasing was obvious in her eyes, "Ah, who can compare with our sister Zhenzhu? Our sister Zhenzhu is the legitimate daughter of the eldest son of the Dingbei Marquis's family. She has everything she wants. How could she possibly be interested in a few ugly girls in my hands?"

"Hua Lei..., a storybook flew towards Hua Lei, and Hua Lei caught it with a sweet smile.

"I'm serious, you know? The store I own, the grocery store in the west of the city, is not profitable, and I have to subsidize the monthly wages of several shop assistants. I originally wanted to close the store. At worst, I can rent it out and just collect the rent every month. But I lived in my second sister's house some time ago, you know? She started to worry about her store less than a hundred days after giving birth. I said a few words to her, and she said that I was a child and didn't know the benefits of money. She said that as long as she sat in the room and moved her mouth, money would come in at the end of the month and the end of the year. Don't mention how happy she was. I saw that her joy was really not fake.

I was thinking, should I find something to do to liven up my shop? I don't want to make a lot of money, but at least I don't have to subsidize the shop assistants every month? And you, although you are busy every day, I see that you are very happy, just like my second sister is happy. "

Hualei's heart moved: "You have your own shop?"

"Well, I run a grocery store in Xicheng District, but the business is not good." Hua Lei looked at Zhenzhu's sincere face, which did not seem fake.

"In our mansion, every legitimate daughter will be given a shop when she is twelve years old, so that we can learn to manage the shop. This shop will also be one of our dowries in the future. After we get it at the age of twelve, we can ask our family to help manage it, or we can manage it ourselves. However, if we manage it ourselves, the profit and loss will be ours. If we lose the entire shop before we get married, then we will not have this dowry. If we make several times the money before we get married, it will also be ours. If we ask our family to help manage it, then we will only get the shop we got when we were twelve years old. All the profits and losses of the shop from the age of twelve to the time of marriage have nothing to do with us." Zhenzhu said seriously. Hualei was so envious that she could get a shop for free at the age of twelve.

“Where is your store located?”

“West City District.”

"No, I mean where in Xicheng District is this store located? On West Street? Or in that alley in Xicheng District?"

"Um... it's on the extension of West Street, called West Small Street. The exact house number... I can't remember it."

"Is it big? How many square meters are there? Which direction does the store face?"

"Um..., the shop faces south, and the size is..." Zhenzhu looked at the main room, "It should be slightly bigger than this main room." Hualei looked at the main room and estimated that it was about fifty square meters, slightly larger than her own bookstore.

"What are the shops around here selling? What do the people living around here do?" This... I don't know. I haven't been there for a long time. I only went there a few times when I got it." Pearl laughed dryly.