Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 482 It’s better not to aim too high

The box had a flip lid, fastened with a small copper buckle, and the four corners were covered with copper plates with hollow patterns. The color of the wooden box and the copper plates was a little dull, and they looked quite old.

Shen Yu opened the lid of the box, but was stunned for a moment.

The box was lined with velvet, and inside lay a pair of red gold and ruby-studded Ruyi hairpins.

In the dim light in the carriage, as the car swayed, the Ruyi hairpin reflected a colorful light.

Although Shen Yu didn't like to wear jewelry on weekdays, she was a connoisseur of value and knew that this pair of hairpins was extremely valuable. This didn't seem like a gift in return for a jar of stinky tofu.

If everyone reciprocated the gift like this, Shen Yu would become one of the richest people in the country.

Shen Yu looked at the three people in the car. Except for Yutao who looked curious and surprised, the expressions of Li and the others were unpredictable. For a moment, it was hard to tell whether they were happy or sad.

Shen Yu quickly closed the lid of the box, put the long box into the small cloth bag, and asked in a low voice: "What on earth is going on? Did Qi Xi take the wrong gift?"

After all, Jiang was just a bystander, and his mentality was much more stable than Li's.

Seeing that Li didn't say anything, she could only explain in a gentle voice: "The custom here is that when a man and a woman make an appointment to see each other, the man's family will see the girl. If they like her, they will send someone to send a pair of hairpins to her, which is called adding to the makeup."

"If...if the young lady is also satisfied with the man she is seeing, she will...will accept the hairpin."

Jiang, who was always fluent in speech, now began to stutter.

After Shen Yu heard this, he didn't react for a long time.

When he finally figured it out, his mouth opened wide and he looked at Li and the others stupidly.

There was no joy on Mrs. Li and Mrs. Jiang's faces. They just looked at Shen Yu with some worry.

Shen Yu was still holding the cloth bag in his hand, but it suddenly seemed hot to the touch, so he quickly threw it on the car seat.

When Li saw it, her face turned pale with fright. She shouted "little ancestor" and took it away.

She opened it carefully and checked, and was relieved to see that the pair of hairpins inside were still firmly fixed in the velvet of the box and were not damaged.

Shen Yu also stuttered: "Mother, Aunt Jiang, this...what does this old lady Lu mean, why did she give me a pair of hairpins, who is she deciding for?"

"Why didn't you stop me just now? If I had known what you meant, I would never have answered the phone even if you killed me."

Shen Yu said angrily: "Why don't we go to the county government office and return the hairpin quickly."

"Just say that I'm a country girl who doesn't understand what it means and has misunderstood it."

Li smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Who knew you could pick it up so smoothly? If it was a situation like this on ordinary days, a girl would always hide shyly. It was someone from the family who came to pick it up."

"Besides, we didn't expect Qixi to suddenly send this. By the time we reacted and wanted to stop it, it was too late."

As he said this, he let out a long sigh, and seemed to be very worried all of a sudden.

Then Li and Jiang speculated anxiously, "Who is this old lady deciding for?"

"Normally, it is the mother who makes the betrothal for her son, but the county magistrate is old, his children are already grown up, and his wife is still alive, so it is impossible."

"Could it be that this old lady has a younger son? Is he also quite old?"

"Hey, that brat Qixi ran away without explaining himself clearly."

Jiang comforted her, "Their family is far away in the capital, how could they have met Miss Yuzhi?"

"I think it should be Mr. Lu, the fourth son of the county magistrate's family."

"Otherwise, why would Qixi, who is beside Master Lu, come here?"

Li thought about it and felt that what Jiang said made sense. Thinking of the tall and thin Mr. Lu, who looked bookish, her expression eased a little.

But he was still very worried: "Even if it's for Master Lu, we are just a small merchant family, how dare we marry the son of the county magistrate."

"What's more, I usually hear Master Lu mention that his grandfather was a first-rank official. How could such a high-ranking family..."

Shen Yu listened to the two people's whispers and felt confused. He was only thinking about how to return the gift.

Yu Tao blinked her big eyes and asked Li quietly, "Mother, does this mean that Mr. Lu wants to marry my sister and asked his grandmother to make the betrothal?"

"But don't the two families have to meet each other? The old lady hasn't seen my sister either."

Li and Jiang were also confused and had no idea how to answer Yutao's question.

Yu Tao was mumbling to herself, guessing, "Well, the food that Mr. Lu brought must be delicious, so the Madam fell in love with it before she even met him."

"I was afraid that my sister would be spotted by another man, so I hurried to make the decision before the Shangsi Festival."

Several people looked at each other, and no one had an answer.

Shen Yu thought about it and decided that things had to be solved one by one.

She took a deep breath, sorted out her thoughts, and said, "Mom, don't worry. When you get off the bus later, be sure to take this small cloth bag with you."

"Don't lose it. If you lose it, we can't afford the compensation even if we sell the inn."

"When we come back from Taohua Lake, we will return this gift properly."

Li was a little hesitant: "This was sent by the Madam herself, and you accepted it. How can you just return it like that?"

"What if the lady gets angry?"

Shen Yu calmed down at this time: "How can marriage be a joke? Can it be forced?"

"What kind of family we are and what kind of wealth we have, don't we know it ourselves?"

"The family backgrounds and backgrounds of the two families are too different."

"How can I, a little cook, marry the son of the county magistrate?"

Li Ru was given a wake-up call and came to her senses.

Although she felt that this was a good marriage that she could not even dream of, she knew clearly in her heart that such a good thing could only be a dream.

Although Yuzhi is good-looking and a good cook, she is better than men in doing business and making money.

But wealthy families have neither shortage of cooks nor housekeepers, so it is better not to try to marry someone above your station.

She nodded quickly, cheered up and said, "You're right, let's go for an outing and cruise on the lake."

As she said that, she handed the small cloth bag to Jiang and said, "Sister Jiang, please keep it for me. I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of it. If I lose it, it will be a big disaster."

Jiang did not hesitate and took it after agreeing.

After thinking for a while, she took out her large silk handkerchief, wrapped it again, tied a beautiful knot, and held it tightly in her hand like a small bag.

When we arrived at Taohua Lake, in addition to the pleasant pink peach blossoms, green willows and clear lake water, there were girls as beautiful as flowers everywhere on the lakeside, and a group of ladies whose eyes were like searchlights, constantly chasing after the girls.