A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After returning to the Marshal's Mansion, Sha Yanxiao went to find the Marshal. Gui'er knew that this matter was of great importance and did not dare to ask any more questions. She just obediently returned to Sha Yanxiao's yard and did what she had to do.

There was no movement after that. Guier knew that it was not that they did not take any action, but that they just did not tell him. After all, he was just a child and knew too much, so people were worried that he would tell everything, so he did not ask.

That day, Taohua suddenly came to find Guier and asked Guier to take time out to accompany her. This was something new. Ever since Taohua followed the third concubine, she had to listen to her no matter what she did. The third concubine was extremely cautious. Except for going back to her parents' home and following the Marshal to burn incense and worship Buddha, she almost never went out of the house. Taohua's life was even more strictly controlled by her.

Gui'er asked, "Does Third Concubine know you're going out? Does she allow you to go out?"

Taohua nodded and said, "I know. Isn't Sister Sanmei's son about to celebrate his first birthday? The Third Concubine has been whispering in my ear all day long that everyone will give gifts when the time comes. I think she wants me to give her a gift, so I said I'd go see if there's anything I can buy."

Gui Er couldn't help but complain, "Didn't your monthly allowance get confiscated by the Third Concubine? Where would you get the money? You don't want to use the money you earn from embroidery to buy it for her, do you? You'd better not let her know about this part of the money."

Taohua smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, after Sister Sanmei came back, she told the Third Concubine not to go too far. As a result, she restrained herself for a while, but then she slowly found various excuses to stop giving. I think she just wants me to use the money I saved during that time to buy a gift for her little grandson. Forget it, just buy it and spend it all."

After hearing this, Gui'er sighed and said, "Okay, I'll go with you after school tomorrow." Then she went back and told Sha Yanxiao about it, and asked him to arrange for Dali to pick Taohua up tomorrow, and wait for her to go shopping together to choose gifts after school.

Sha Yanxiao and Dali shook their heads after hearing this and said, "This Third Concubine is really a ruthless person. She even doesn't let go of the few yuan of monthly allowance for the child."

The next day after school, Guier arrived at the school gate and Dali had already picked up Taohua and was waiting for her in the car.

Afterwards, Dali drove the two of them to a street they rarely visited. Dali said to Taohua, "Many gold and silver shops on this street are privately owned. The good thing is that they don't charge processing fees."

Taohua knew that Dali wanted her to save some money, so she smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Dali."

Afterwards, they came to a gold shop. When the boss saw Dali, he greeted him immediately: "Uncle Li, Uncle Li, you are here. What can I do for you?" It was obvious that he was trying to curry favor with Dali.

He walked in with great strength, found a stool and sat down directly, saying, "These are the two young ladies of our family. They came to your store and wanted to buy some gold and silver jewelry as a first birthday gift. It's up to you to decide."

After hearing this, the boss quickly turned around and greeted Guier and Taohua warmly. He brought out many exquisite longevity locks, pendants, small bracelets, etc. for Taohua to choose from.

Taohua chose for a long time, then picked up a small bracelet and asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this?"

The boss said readily, "This is fifteen silver dollars." Seeing Taohua's hesitation, he quickly said, "Miss, I won't charge you for this. I will only take the money for the gold, not the labor cost."

Seeing Taohua still hesitated, Guier smiled and said to the boss, "Ah, thank you very much, boss. But we want to take another look at it. Please put it away."

The boss was a little panicked, looking at Taohua and then at Dali.

He patted the boss's shoulder vigorously and said, "It's okay, you can take it back." Then he said to the two of them, "If you are not satisfied with what you see here, let's go look somewhere else."

After leaving the gold shop, Taohua whispered shyly in Guier's ear, "Actually, I only have thirteen silver dollars. You know that Third Wife. If I buy a small gold bracelet, I'm afraid she won't like it. If I buy silver, I can buy a bigger one, but I'm afraid she won't think it's expensive enough."

Gui'er comforted her and said, "Then let's look for it again."

Taohua looked at Dali again, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself. Perhaps she felt a little embarrassed that there was an outsider following her here and she was in financial difficulties.

Gui'er turned to Dali and said, "Brother Dali, Taohua doesn't usually have the opportunity to go out for a walk. I don't want to just leave after buying anything. I want to shop for a while. How about you stay in the car or find someplace else to relax? We'll come back to you after we've finished shopping. You're familiar with this area anyway, so I'll let you take a look at the things I bought and see if I got any bad deals."

After hearing this, Dali smiled and said, "That's fine. It's really not appropriate for you girls, an old man like me, to go out with you. If anything happens, just say Dali is covering for you."

After hearing this, Taohua thanked Dali repeatedly.

Afterwards, the two of them went shopping and felt much more relaxed. Taohua complained, "I suspect Third Wife is keeping track of how much money I've been given each month. If I don't spend it all on her, she probably won't let me go."

Gui'er shook her head, having nothing to say.

The two of them went to another goldsmith shop. The clerk, seeing they were two little girls, recommended a number of fashionable necklaces and pendants. Gui'er said to the clerk, "We were introduced here by Mr. Li. We'd like to buy a longevity locket for our child's first birthday. Our budget is about ten silver dollars. Do you have any good recommendations?"

The shopkeeper next to them heard this and immediately put down the guest he was entertaining and switched with the waiter to personally receive Taohua and Guier.

The shopkeeper smiled and said to the two of them, "Who are you two ladies going to give this to?"

Guier said, "It's a first birthday present for a relative's child."

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and took out a tray from the inner room. On it was a longevity lock with exquisite workmanship. The collar was made of silver and the joints were made into the shape of bamboo joints, but the longevity lock part was made of gold, and the lock was hollow, so it looked bigger.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This is a Ruyi bamboo butterfly-shaped longevity locket. The collar is pure silver, and the longevity locket is pure gold. Although it's not heavy, it's quite respectable. Since you two were introduced by Master Li, we won't charge you for the processing. Actually, this workmanship is very time-consuming. Even if you give me eleven silver dollars, what do you think?"

Gui'er looked at Taohua, who was very satisfied, and said with a smile, "Then I'll take this. Thank you, shopkeeper, for helping me wrap it better."

After they finished their shopping, their mission accomplished, they happily walked out of the gold shop. Taohua looked at the bustling street and sighed, "Usually, I always follow the Third Concubine when I go out, and I'm very cautious. This is the first time I feel so free."

Gui'er felt sorry for Taohua, so she said, "Now that we're out, let's play for a while. I see there's a dessert shop up ahead, let's go get something to eat."

Taohua happily agreed, and the two of them came to the dessert shop. Guier skillfully ordered a rose pastry and a seven-piece dessert, and ordered an orange juice for herself, and then asked Taohua what she wanted to drink?

Taohua carefully looked at the menu and ordered a grape juice.

They specially chose a relatively secluded corner to sit down and chat.

Taohua said happily, "If I tell Third Auntie that this longevity lock costs thirteen dollars, she will probably believe it, and I can still keep two dollars."

Guier smiled and nodded, but she actually felt a little sad for Taohua.

Taohua whispered in Guier's ear, "You said before that we'd go out and be independent when we grow up. I've saved thirty silver dollars now, including the monthly allowance I brought from the Song Mansion. Don't you think that should be enough to live on for a while? Fortunately, I usually have no worries about food and clothing at home. Apart from paying someone to buy some straw paper for monthly credit and some silk thread for embroidery, I basically don't spend any money."

Gui'er had some money that Sha Yanxiao had deposited in the bank for her before, and now she had fifty or sixty silver dollars on hand, plus some jewelry, and some very luxurious clothes that Sha Yanxiao had customized for her before. If she pawned them, she should be able to get a lot of money. It should be said that she was much more generous than Taohua. She usually interacted with Tong Yujun and others, eating desserts, watching movies, etc. As long as it was not a big expense, she basically spent whatever she wanted. Now she felt a little ashamed to hear Taohua say that.