0p0 Chapter 189 Self-indulgent
Chapter 189 Self-indulgent
Before Li Zong could finish his words, he was slapped on the right cheek again by Qin Yurou.
"Why did you hit me?"
Qin Yurou's eyes were cold and she was very disappointed. "I know Ye Youlan very well. If you hadn't been such a jerk, she would never have let the guards beat you. Can you explain to me what happened?"
Li Zong hung his head and said, "I politely asked to have a cup of tea with her, but she said I wasn't worthy. I asked her if she was holding a grudge against me because I married Qin Yurou instead of you. Then I got beaten."
"Deserved it."
"Isn't it just a date for tea? Didn't I eat with her and go shopping with her before?"
"The past is the past, and the present is the present. You have a wife and she has a husband, how can they be the same? Do you have any brains at all?"
Qin Yurou said this, and suddenly felt something was wrong. "When have you ever had dinner with her alone or gone shopping with her?"
"It was that time Ye Youlan said she wanted to marry me. I accompanied her shopping and went to Yuxianglou for dinner. But then I had diarrhea and kept going to the toilet. It seemed like from that moment on, Ye Youlan became cold towards me."
Qin Yurou remembered that Ye Youlan had said that she was extremely angry at the time because the man she liked was the one they criticized and ridiculed. Perhaps it was from that time that she gradually became tit-for-tat with Ye Youlan and always made trouble for her.
She glanced at Li Zong's swollen face, feeling both angry and amused. All she had been fighting for was just this thing.
Li Zong did not give up and continued to exploit Qin Yurou's sore spots.
"What a coincidence! I went to Qingshan Academy, and she was there. I feel like she hasn't forgotten me yet."
Qin Yurou was too lazy to even smile. She went to the wash basin stand and got a mirror for him. "The ten-cent shop next to Qingshan Academy is owned by Ye Youlan."
Li Zong just uttered an "oh" and then grabbed the mirror and yelled, "Ouch, why is my face so swollen? Qin Yurou, you are so cruel."
Qin Yurou ignored him and walked straight out of the study.
Li Zong chased after him, covering his face. "Do you think Youlan will be angry and take it out on you?"
Qin Yurou stopped and said, "You are you, and I am me. From now on, when you see Ye Youlan, Ruoyun, Miaoyu, and Xiaoling, avoid them and don't embarrass yourself."
"I'm going to leave you like this?"
"When have you ever been able to show it off?"
Li Zong stopped following, he was unwilling to be beaten like this, he looked at Xiao Bao beside him, asking him to think of a way to fight back.
Xiao Bao said with an embarrassed look on his face: "Master, why would you mess with the Seventh Princess when you can mess with anyone else? You can't please anyone."
Li Zong was not convinced. He wanted to keep a record of this account and settle it slowly.
After school, Jinbao went into the Ten-Chen Shop and bought five pieces of dim sum. He remembered that the dim sum tasted similar to the ones he had eaten in the palace. He took them back for his parents, aunt, sister, and brother-in-law.
Zhao Yicheng came out with Ding Xiaoshan in his arms and just saw Jinbao paying the bill.
"Would you two like to buy some to take home? Although they don't look as fancy as the ones in the palace, they taste pretty much the same."
Zhao Yicheng waved his hand: "I only brought twenty coins today and bought two brushes."
Ding Xiaoshan shook his head: "My mother bought me one on the day it first opened, and the taste is really similar."
Jin Bao held the snacks in his hand and said, "I'll treat you guys tomorrow. These are for me to take home for my parents."
As the three of them were talking, they heard a woman in the shop ask the clerk, "Why is yesterday's account not correct? Did they make a mistake in the calculation?"
The guy was so anxious that he kept shaking his head: "I don't know how to use an abacus. I just count on my fingers."
Wen Xuan shook his head and sighed, "Why is Zhao Si sick? Yesterday's accounts haven't been calculated yet, and today's have to be calculated too. It's really worrying. Do I have to move back to the mansion to find the accountant?"
Ding Xiaoshan nudged Jin Bao and Zhao Yicheng and said, "I want to help them settle the score, but I'm embarrassed to say it. Who of you can go and tell them?"
Jin Bao patted his chest and said, "I heard from my sister that this is a shop opened by the princess. It's no big deal to help out."
When they heard that it was a store opened by the princess, Zhao Yicheng and Ding Xiaoshan became enthusiastic.
Jinbao walked up to the shopkeeper Wenxuan. Seeing that there were three children, Wenxuan asked them to pick out their own items and come to pay.
Jin Bao pointed at Ding Xiaoshan and said, "He's good at math and can even use an abacus. Let him help you with the math."
Wen Xuan took a look at it, but still thought it was unreliable: "We will take it back to the mansion to calculate it later. Thank you."
Ding Xiaoshan mustered up his courage and said, "We have been to the palace to meet the princess. He is Miss Jin's younger brother, Jin Bao."
When Wen Xuan heard they were acquaintances, he asked them to come inside the counter, bring the account books over, and set up the abacus: "Then I'll trouble you, young sir."
So the three of them worked together, Zhao Yicheng helped to look through the account books, Ding Xiaoshan used the abacus, and Jinbao helped to check if there were any missed items. In about an hour, all four account books were settled.
Wen Xuan looked at the revenue and saw it was about the same as yesterday. She breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How can I thank you?"
She looked at the shelves and said, "How about this? Each of you pick two things. It's my treat."
"We don't want anything."
"It's okay. I'd feel bad if you didn't want me to. You guys can pick one. I can still ask you for help next time if I need anything."
When the three heard they might need their help, they went in to pick out their food. Jin Bao put the five dim sum in his hand on the counter and said, "I paid for this."
Ding Xiaoshan returned home an hour late today. When he arrived at the entrance of Tongluo Lane, he found his mother waiting for him, so he hurried to meet her.
His mother blamed him for coming back so late.
Ding Xiaoshan held up the two dim sum in his hand and said, "I was helping someone with their bills today, and the shopkeeper gave them to me."
Mother smiled and said, "I bought one for you today too."
"That makes three pieces, one for each of us."
Zhao Yicheng took home two pieces of snacks and divided them into four small pieces, giving one to each of his younger brothers and sisters, and leaving one for his mother and his father.
His mother smiled and said, "Why don't you eat?"
"I don't like sweets."
Mrs. Zhao knew her son was lying, so she told him, "From now on, I'll give you a hundred coins in pocket money every month."
"No, Dad doesn't make much." Zhao Yicheng asked his mother curiously, "My dad is a general after all, so why don't we have a shop?"
Mrs. Zhao blushed: "I bought it but I don't know how to manage it."
When General Zhao returned that evening, Madam Zhao whispered, "My dear husband, we live in such poverty every day that we don't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Today, Yicheng brought home two pieces of pastry and split them in four, but he couldn't bear to eat them himself. Should we tell Yicheng that we don't have a store but we do have hundreds of acres of paddy fields?"
"No need. Children from poor families have to grow up early. If you want to live a good life, let them study hard and make money when they grow up. It's better to rely on yourself than on others."
"I'm mainly worried about the child having low self-esteem. He plays with Jin Bao, the young master of the Ministry of Revenue, every day. That child spends money without a count."
General Zhao frowned. "He's at least better than Ding Xiaoshan! Ding Xiaoshan's father is a blacksmith, and he doesn't seem to have any self-esteem. He's smart and can study."