In the afternoon, Shen Yan and the others had to hurry home before dark, so after eating, Lu Gu quickly washed the dishes and went with Ji Qiuyue to take her to the embroidery workshop to sell handkerchiefs.
Shen Xuanqing went to the backyard to load rabbits onto the cart and take them to the butcher’s shop for slaughtering and skinning, so as not to dirty the house. He didn’t hitch the mule and just pulled it himself.
Lu Gu locked the courtyard gate and had Guaizi guard the house. Shen Yan carried Lingjun, leaving his arms free, holding only a small cloth bundle wrapped around the handkerchiefs.
The agreed-upon embroidery workshop was on Dongxing Street. The midday sun was pleasant, and there was no wind, so there were more pedestrians on the road.
Hawkers carried their loads and shouted along the street, while various stalls lined both sides. In summer, the sun was strong, and in autumn and winter, the wind was fierce, so some stalls had canopies or large umbrellas. The blue cloth umbrellas blocked the sun, and some well-made canopies even shielded against wind and rain.
Shen Yan had been to Jixing Town a few times but wasn’t as familiar with it as Lu Gu and Ji Qiuyue. She hadn’t gone out to stroll in a long time, so she couldn’t help but look twice at everything she saw.
Compared to before, she was now noticeably more composed. When she saw something unfamiliar, she asked Lu Gu softly without shyness or embarrassment, cheerful and smiling all the way.
"Amu."
After walking for a while, Lingjun stretched out his arms for Lu Gu to carry him, so they switched.
Passing by a cloth shop, Shen Yan said with a smile, "When we left, Mother gave me money to buy some good fabric. She plans to make two new outfits each for Zhao’er and Ling Ger when she has time, saving one nice set for the New Year."
"That’s no trouble. We can buy it after leaving the embroidery workshop," Ji Qiuyue said, then added, "The workshop also sells fabric, but it’s more expensive than the cloth shop. Let’s go to the cloth shop instead, there’s more variety, and we can pick something suitable."
"Mm." Shen Yan nodded.
The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked. When they saw a sugar-figure seller, Zhao’er, who knew what it was, squirmed in Ji Qiuyue’s arms and cried out urgently, "Mother, Mother, sugar!"
"Didn’t you just eat?" Ji Qiuyue was reluctant to buy it. Living in town meant going out to play every day, and every time, Zhao’er insisted on buying something. She worried about spoiling him and letting him grow up with no sense of restraint in spending.
But Zhao’er threw a tantrum, demanding it. Shen Yan now had some private savings and could easily afford a sugar figure. Smiling, she took Zhao’er and said, "Auntie will buy it for you, alright?"
"Okay!" Zhao’er answered brightly, wrapping his arms around her neck.
"This morning, you didn’t want Auntie to hold you. Now that there’s sugar, you’re suddenly close to Auntie?" Ji Qiuyue teased her son. "After eating Auntie’s sugar figure, if you dare misbehave tomorrow, I’ll have Auntie spank you."
Only after getting the sugar figure did Zhao’er settle down. Lu Gu was a little worried Lingjun would also want one. The child was too young, and his stomach had been upset today, he couldn’t have sweets.
Fortunately, Lingjun's stomach discomfort made him indifferent to food. After having a few bites earlier, he glanced at Zhao’er’s sugar figure without interest. Hearing the sugar-coated hawthorn seller’s call, he turned his head to look for the sound.
The embroidery workshop was just ahead. Ji Qiuyue reached out and took Zhao’er back.
As soon as they entered, Lu Gu saw the workshop’s proprietress standing behind the counter and greeted her with a smile, "Shopkeeper Zhou, my younger sister embroidered some handkerchiefs. Could you take a look?"
Last time, when Shen Xuanqing came to discuss business, Lu Gu had accompanied him, so he recognized the shopkeeper.
Shopkeeper Zhou was a straightforward woman, decisive in speech and action, with a pleasant temperament. She smiled at everyone and never looked down on others.
Since the workshop was a business, she naturally inspected embroidery work brought in by outside embroiderers. As long as the pieces were good and could be sold, she would accept them.
Shen Yan had brought twenty handkerchiefs this time. She had been busy with other chores at home, so it took her a while to accumulate these. Back when Lu Gu taught her, he had said embroidery required patience and couldn’t be rushed. She remembered this well, and all twenty handkerchiefs were beautifully done.
"They’re all good." Shopkeeper Zhou finished inspecting them, looked up with a smile, counted out the money from the counter, and handed it over, adding, "If you have more in the future, remember to come again."
"Alright, thank you, Shopkeeper." Shen Yan took the eighty copper coins, her almond-shaped eyes curving happily.
She wasn’t some stunning beauty, but her bright eyes and white teeth made her charming, and her smile added a lively sparkle that was very endearing.
Selling them for eighty copper coins at once made Lu Gu and Ji Qiuyue happy for her too.
Lu Gu bid farewell to Shopkeeper Zhou and walked out with Lingjun in his arms and the two women beside him, whispering a reminder, "Keep it safe. This money is for your own use."
"Mm." Shen Yan nodded emphatically, her whole face alight with joy.
As they stepped out, they unexpectedly bumped into a young scholar entering the shop.
A graceful maiden, whose smile blooms like a flower.
Gu Chengyue caught a glimpse of Shen Yan’s smiling face and froze on the spot, his mind blank, limbs seemingly unresponsive.
It took him a moment to snap out of it. Seeing that they were women and a fulang, he quickly stepped aside. Since he had nearly collided with Ji Qiuyue, who was carrying a child, he clasped his hands and apologized, "My deepest apologies, my deepest apologies. Please forgive me."
Ji Qiuyue had stopped when he almost bumped into her, displeased by his carelessness. Who walks without looking? Moreover, the three of them had been talking as they exited, how could he not hear them? It wasn’t as if they were moving silently. Fortunately, no actual collision occurred.
Seeing the scholar bowing and apologizing so earnestly, he didn’t seem to have done it on purpose, so she let it go. "Fine, enough bowing. Just watch where you’re going in the future."
"Of course, of course." Gu Chengyue forced a smile, and when he looked up, his gaze involuntarily lingered on Shen Yan’s curious expression. As a scholar, he knew propriety and didn’t dare stare.
Shen Yaoqing and Shen Xuanqing had both studied, there were village schools in the countryside, and boys attended during the winter slack season. Shen Yan had seen scholars before, but a fair-skinned, scholarly young man dressed like this, clearly studying in town, was something she hadn’t encountered often, so she was curious.
"Let’s go. First, we’ll buy fabric, then stop by the shop," Ji Qiuyue said as they walked, and the three gradually moved away.
Gu Chengyue stood dumbly at the workshop’s entrance, watching them go, not even daring to look at their retreating figures for long. Only four words remained in his heart: "A gentleman’s fair lady."
[君子好逑 (Jūnzǐ hǎo qiú): lit. A gentleman’s fair lady; fig. A perfect match, from the phrase "a gentleman seeks a virtuous maiden," a virtuous man's admiration for a worthy maiden, representing ideal courtship in Confucian tradition]
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