Chapter 152 It was hard to find a person who loved you
“Left hand.” He Danggui smiled and said the answer. Then she poured a glass of wine directly and handed it to Liao Qing’er. It seemed that she was confident with her judgment.
Liao Qing’er spread out her left hand incredibly. A small porcelain man with the size of a broad bean lay in her palm. She couldn’t help pouting. She said, “What’s the matter? Why do you always guess right? Do you have super power? Is it clairvoyance or something? Eh, if you really have super power, let’s go to the gambling house!”
He Danggui picked up the small porcelain man with her fingers gracefully and played it with her fingertips. She explained to Liao Qing’er, “It’s because you can’t hide it. Every time you hide it in your left hand, your eyes will incline slightly to your right hand. The middle finger of your left fist has a little more concave than that of right fist, as if you are afraid of the small man flying away. Clairvoyance? You mean I can guess what’s behind the board, don’t you? Well, I know a person with such ability. But every time he goes into the gambling house with his money and ability, he will go out empty handed with a bloody nose and a swollen face. The gambling house is the place where money will be lost. Do you think you will win? If you win six in a row, someone will come to ‘talk’ to you.”
“Awesome!” Liao Qing’er took off a piece of fallen leave from He Danggui’s bun and said with admiration, “I don’t expect that you can read minds and you even learned it without teacher. You can know other people’s ideas with an action and an expression in their eyes. I think we can go to the gambling house to get some money. Anyway, you are good at martial arts, so it’s not a big deal to fight a few thugs. When we win about several hundred liang sliver, we’ll leave as soon as possible. How about I lead the way with the silver and you deal with them?”
“Shh…” When He Danggui saw Guan Zhan, Wu Yuying, Niu Wenbao and Qi Mu’er sitting on the stone stairs not far away from them, she stopped Liao Qing’er in a low voice hurriedly, “Qing, don’t always talk about my martial arts. Martial arts is used for physical fitness and self-defense. The people of Luo’s Family don’t know that I have practiced martial arts secretly. Don’t publicize it.”
“I got it!” Liao Qing’er joked, “After Meng Xuan, Duan Xiaolou and Geezer Zhu, the fourth taboo term appears–martial arts. Hey, let’s open the letter from Mr. Song to have a look. He has been telling you mysteriously to read it carefully. What’s written in it?”
He Danggui drank the wine and said, “No. You can’t read it until you go back. Every time you open a letter in public, you will read it loudly. He wrote the letter with sincerity. You can’t trample his good intention like this.”
Liao Qing’er curled her lips and said, “What sincerity is this? The content of every letter is to praise your little face which is so beautiful that it can frighten the fish and wild geese to death. They said how much they admire you and how sincere they are. At last, they all ask to marry you as a concubine! The ancient men are greedy. For example, the man named Wen Han wants to marry a noble girl of his own class and also wants to have some beauties at home to please him. It is outrageous to have mistresses in such a blatant way. I think Duan Xiaolou is good. He is willing to marry you as his wife, but he becomes entangled in my cousin Guan Yun intermittently. I don’t know what he is thinking. He loves you so much that he can do everything for you right away, so I want to persuade you to accept his marriage request. I didn’t expect to see him wiping Guan Yun’s tears just around the corner…”
“It’s easy to ask for priceless treasure, but it’s hard to find a person who loves you. Childe Duan is a good person. I’m very happy for Miss Guan, and I believe that she makes a good match with Childe Duan. Well, don’t talk about this anymore.” He Danggui said quickly and asked, “You just said that Wen Han arranged for some beauties to be at home. Did Childe Wen send the letters to others?”
Liao Qing’er squinted to the left to look at the group of people and whispered, “She is little rabbit Qi Mu’er who just came to our academy. She is the illegitimate daughter of a big salt merchant. At noon the day before yesterday, I saw Wen Han blocking her in the racecourse of the back mountain. When she walked to the left with her head down, Wen Han stopped her on the left; when she went to the right with a red face, Wen Han stopped her on the right; When she turned around, Wen Han also turned around and jumped in front of her. They seemed to have a good time. Tut… It’s wonderful to be young.”
He Danggui’s expression didn’t change, but a glimmer of smile was in her eyes. She said, “Why do you have such a big prejudice against Miss Qi? She hasn’t offended you.”
Liao Qing’er said, “I told you that before I came here, I squatted in the public toilet and cried so badly because the daughter of my father’s concubine took my fiancé away from me. And then I accidentally had Time Travel here. Later, I tried to cry in the public toilet here, but I couldn’t go back to my home. Alas, what should I do with my mother and my savings there? So, I hate the concubine’s daughter the most in my life. At my fist sight, I thought Qi Mu’er is very insincere.” When she saw He Danggui’s thoughtful expression, Liao Qing’er waved her hand quickly and explained, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about you! In my mind, you are not the daughter of a concubine at all, but the most genuine First Miss of He’s Family. As for your mother’s remarriage, it’s very common. In my previous life, I always encouraged my mother to look for a partner online.”
He Danggui returned to her mind and said with a smile, “I’m fine. I just thought of other things. By the way, Qing, do you recognize those two girls over there, who are wearing the same style embroidered skirts with flowers and wearing pink scarves around their arms?”
“Oh, it seems that they are the sisters of Qian’s Family. I can’t remember whether they are named Taohua, Xinghua or Mudan. But we are familiar with Qian’s Family. It’s the upstart who runs Fengfu Restaurant and Fengfu Brothel on the South Street. Their relationship with us can be said “a grudge against persons of the same trade”. They always plagiarized ideas of our Yi Hong Brothel. I really want to fight with the procuress of them. And do you know what Qian’s Family started out by? When they were in Zhenjiang City, they bought the restaurant and house from Sister Zhenzhu. Then they sold them to others, and their net income was 800 liang silver!”
Liao Qing’er angrily took her finger to pick her nose. He Danggui grabbed the fan next to her and covered Qing’s face quickly. He Danggui said with a smile, “There are nearly a hundred Childes at the opposite bank looking at us with their wide-open eyes. You should pretend to be an elegant lady. Aren’t you a ‘female postgraduate’ before you came here? Isn’t it the same as Grand Scholar here? You need to show your bureaucratic airs. Don’t you want to hook up with a guy?”
Liao Qing’er chuckled and said happily, “I’m confused. Female postgraduate is not an official! The aunt who guards the toilet also has three-stroke armband. I’m a group leader with one-stroke armband and stay in the biochemical laboratory all the year round. Last time I mentioned Grand Scholar to you, which means my level of professional knowledge is equivalent to that of Grand Scholar here. In essence, I’m still a common herd! Besides, the great talents and poets at the opposite of the river bank are all looking at you. I guess they regard me as the big bluestone under our buttocks. No one even notices what I look like… Well, Xiaoyi, you don’t need to feel guilty. I’ve been used to being the foil of others, and the experience of Sister Zhenzhu has inspired me. The able women also have good time. My husband will meet me eventually. I just want to find someone as honest as Governor Lu as my husband who can do anything according to my arrangement.”
This “Zhenzhu” was Master Zhen Zhu of the Shui Shang Temple on that day. She returned to Yangzhou to resume secular life more than 2 years ago and worked as a cook in an orphanage opened by the government. Later, when she took several children to see a doctor in “Quan Ji Tang”, she ran into He Danggui and Liao Qing’er.
When He Danggui and Liao Qing’er met with her, they had the feeling of meeting old friends. They talked for a while, and she, who had changed her name to “Qin Zhenzhu”, talked about her experiences before she became a Taoist nun and said that she had thought about the admonition of He Danggui before He Danggui left for a few months. She realized that since the dead wood would meet the spring, she should go out more and feel the sunshine. When she heard that He Danggui and Liao Qing’er were doing business together and were eager to find investors, Zhenzhu took out her 1,000 liang silver as an investment, so that they could scrape up enough money for Zuixianglou Restaurant and opened Yi Hong Brothel successfully.
After becoming a “major shareholder”, most of time, Zhenzhu still worked in the orphanage, making hot soup and hot meal for the children. Until a year ago, she met County Magistrate Lu who was in charge of the “The case against the husband”. Since Governor Wei fled for corruption, County Magistrate Lu with good reputation had moved to Yangzhou City to fill the vacancy. Now, he became the Governor Lu whose rank was Deputy Fifth-Grade.
Governor Lu also went to visit the children of the orphanage, but he met Qiu Ping unexpectedly, who had disappeared for 7 years. In addition to his surprise, he confided the old story that he fell off his horse and broke his leg when he was chasing her carriage. He was afraid that she would not believe it. So, he lifted his robe and rolled up his pants on the spot to show the old injury on his leg.
He confessed affectionately. For more than two months working on that case, she lived in the guest room of the County Government. Every night, she sat by the well and combed her hair in the moonlight. He quietly leaned against the wall and looked at her. He hoped that the case would end early. When they get rid of the relationship between the first prosecutor and the trial official, he would show her his affection. He didn’t expect that when the case was over, she left a letter to thank him and left without saying goodbye. He couldn’t catch up with her and look for her. He usually looked at the moon and missed her lonely; tossed and turned… He was still waiting for her until now. He was nearly 30 years old but still unmarried.
Zhenzhu was 3 years older than Governor Lu. She was an ordinary woman and had married once to someone else for 7 years. Although she secretly admired Governor Lu, worldly vision had stopped her. For a while, the relationship between them was as stalemated as it was 7 years ago.
Finally, Liao Qing’er learned about this. She and He Danggui used some measures to make Sister Zhenzhu hold Governor Lu’s “corpse” and cried out her feelings for him. Governor Lu, whose acupoints were sealed by He Danggui, was very happy to hear this. So, after his acupoints were relieved, this couple got rid of the secular constraints and finally got married. Now, Zhenzhu had been pregnant for 3 months, and she focused on embroidery and miscarriage prevention at home.
“Qing, sometimes you said you want to marry a rich man; sometimes you want to marry a handsome man; sometimes you want to find a young man. It’s hard to imagine that there will be a man with all these three characteristics in the world. I advise you to lower the standards of looking for a husband.” He Danggui joked, “It’s strange for us that a woman is not engaged after she is 22. If she hasn’t been married since she was 26 years old, she will pay triple the head tax to the government. And everyone will look at the tax payer like a monster with horns. You are now 19 years old. Don’t be so fussy, or you will only find a man who has nothing.”
“I don’t want to find a man with all three characteristics. I’m going to look for three husbands. The first one is to pay the bill; the second one is to serve me when I go to bed and take me out for shopping; the third one… Well, the third one is used as a sandbag to relieve my anger!” Liao Qing’er looked up and thought about it for a while. Seeing He Danggui’s face convulse, she protested, “Hey, why are you laughing at me? Don’t forget that I am now a rich lady with more than 20,000 liang silver. Of course, I want to enjoy the addiction of their rich men having several mistresses at the same time and make our women feel elated and proud. Look–”
Liao Qing’er motioned to He Danggui to look across the river. “Wen Han, who flirted with on the little rabbit Qi Mu’er, is now seducing you with the ambiguous eyes. It’s shameless! To be honest, I envy you a little bit. Even if you made up your face yellow, your eyes smaller and your lips thicker, you are still a beauty. Tut, if you continue to develop like a goblin, next year, even if you paint your face red like Guan Gong or black like Zhang Fei, you will not be able to hide your beauty that can frightened fish and wild geese to death. Why don’t I stick two scars on you? You can tell others that you are disfigured!”
“Okay.” He Danggui nodded and said, “In that case, Sun Meiniang will be too happy to sleep.”
Liao Qing’er frowned and said, “It’s so strange. Why does your Second Aunt only treat you so bad? If I hadn’t hidden behind the screen and seen her sinister face when she was facing you alone, I would have thought that she was a good person. She is like a smart business woman. She is enthusiastic and considerate to all people and is exquisite in all aspects.”
He Danggui didn’t want to reveal the ugly and dark truth, but simply said, “She regards me as a natural enemy, and I hate her deeply. In the face of such hatred, the reason for everything has faded.”
“Hey, stop talking!” Ms. Zheng’s voice sounded in the distance, “It’s your turn!” Her finger was on He Danggui and Liao Qing’er.
They noticed that the wooden wine cup stopped in front of them with the current. So, Liao Qing’er took the cup in water and drank it up according to their previous work arrangement. When He Danggui wanted to make a doggerel to deal with it, Liao Qing’er heard that the theme was “snowflake” and “falling flower”. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. Then she jumped up with a hand held high and said, “I got it! I got it! Let me do it! ‘North country scene/A hundred leagues locked in ice/A thousand leagues of whirling snow/…’ Oh, yes! ‘The mountains dance like silver snakes/And the highlands charge like wax-hued elephants/Vying with heaven in stature/…’ Er, ‘This land so rich in beauty/Has made countless heroes bow in homage/…’ This is a poem about snowflakes. The poem about falling flowers is ‘The blossoms fade and falling fill the air/Of fragrance and bright hues bereft and bare/… Can I, that these flowers’ obsequies attend/Another year who will be burying me? /…’ Er, that’s all. Thanks!” After she had finished, she bowed to the people at the opposite bank.
When she jumped up, He Danggui’s body was hit by her butt. After She sat down again, He Danggui’s forehead was slightly sweating. Why was it so quiet?
Liao Qing’er unconsciously poured the last wine in their wine flask into the wooden cup, and found that there were only some muddy plum dregs. So, she waved to Guan Zhan, Wu Yuying and other people in the downstream and shouted, “I’m sorry that this flask of wine has been consumed by us! Please pour the wine by yourself when you are drinking, and I’ll wash the cup for you!” As she said this, she washed the wooden cup in the stream. The cup with some plum dregs and half a cup of water was released by her.
Liao Qing’er sat back to the stone happily and asked He Danggui, “What do you think of the two poems I wrote? Am I outstanding?”
He Danggui was ashamed and said, “I was knocked down by you just now, so I didn’t hear it. Do you want to drink more wine? I’ll go and get another flask. It looks like someone is giving out snacks there.” Maybe she had an illusion. Now all the living things with eyes beside the stream, including people, birds, frogs and kittens, were staring at them. And this time, she seemed to be Qing’s foil.
Liao Qing’er waved and laughed loudly, “Snacks? I don’t want to eat! You don’t eat either. Don’t you remember that tonight we (Yi Hong Brothel) will show a new beautiful prostitute. We’re going (dress up as men’s) to support her.” He Danggui covered her mouth twice and blocked up the key words. They are bosses of Yi Hong Brothel behind the scenes! This matter was the most confidential! Now the whole audience could hear her loud voice!
Liao Qing’er waved to the crowd like a superstar and shouted, “Thank you for your attention. I’m a low-key person. If you want my signature, come to me in private! You go on, go on!”
After a while, everything went on. Liao Qing’er went on to the topic just now and said, “Xiaoyi, your maternal grandfather’s family is not good to you. You have a biological father. Why don’t you go to him for shelter? I know the He’s Family of the capital. His family runs Yao Shi Tang. He’s Family is rich and has a simple population. One of your aunts has been married to Ling’s Mansion for a long time and died. The other aunt has been the concubine of Geezer Zhu. In addition to them, He’s Mansion only has your grandma and dad. Oh, that’s wrong. It’s father. And there is a stepmother with a pair of younger brother and sister. The environment is much simpler than that of your East Yard of Luo’s Mansion, and life is relatively easier. The most important thing is that you should go to your father and ask for your legitimate daughter’s identity. Your mother has been his wife. Why are you the daughter of the concubine? In the future, you will marry badly because of your identity!”
He Danggui poked the delicate porcelain man with her fingertips and shook her head gently. She said, “I like living in Luo’s Mansion. I want to see those people in Luo’s Mansion every day. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“Why?” Liao Qing’er was puzzled and said, “Why do you like abuse? Is there something in your heart so you don’t understand about your father? Do you feel embarrassed to go to him? Don’t worry, I have experience in this kind of thing in my last life. My father abandoned me and my mother when I was a kid. He was the real estate owner. At that time, before they got divorced, he got a dozen concubines, which was an immoral behavior in our life. My mother was angry and didn’t want to ask him for money, so she took me to live a hard life, and he never came to see us. Later, I saved enough money for the long-distance bus ticket, so I took the bus to our capital city alone. At that time, I was only 12 years old. After getting off the long-distance bus, I had no money. So, I went to find the guard and told him that I was a lamb who ran away from home. I wanted to learn something bad, and suddenly realized that I had made a mistake. Now I wanted to go home but I didn’t know the way. I gave him my father’s address, so they sent someone to take me there.”
“Then how did your father react?” He Danggui asked and rubbed the little porcelain man.
Liao Qing’er raised her eyebrows and said, “What else can he do? He’s happy, of course. Even if adults quarrel with each other, how can the flesh and blood relationship between father and daughter be cut off? Although I have no feelings for him, but when he saw my pair of eyes and eyebrows which were very similar to him, and saw me dressed like a beggar, he would burst into tears immediately. When I called him father, he gave me a big house to live in and gave me money to spend. Later, when I saved 10,000 yuan, I took the money back to find my mother. When I went to visit him next summer vacation, I made another sum of money. I used his money to study for undergraduate degree and postgraduate degree–Why didn’t I use my own father’s money? If I don’t use it, he’ll give it all to his concubines. As long as you can call for your father several times, he will give anything to you, whether it’s identity or money!”
He Danggui continued to shake her head and said, “My situation is different from yours. The people in Luo’s Family don’t like me, but the attitude of He’s Family towards me is probably described as ‘disgust’. They won’t accept me.”
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