Chapter 9 Congestion Original First Release Network
He Huan shook his head at the shop assistant and said seriously, "This young man, I've always heard that your Yongji Pawnshop is fair in pricing, never cheating the old or the young. That's why I asked our housekeeper to specially invite you over to take a look. I won't say anything else, the price for this is 100 taels of silver. You go back and ask your boss, then come back and give me an answer." Bai Miao was startled when he heard his master mention 100 taels of silver as soon as he opened his mouth, but the pawnshop assistant didn't say anything, only gave He Huan a deep look before taking his leave.
That night, dinner ended in a silent atmosphere. Facing the inferior coarse rice in the bowl, Cao didn't dare to protest, and Tao also didn't say much. Everyone finished a bowl of rice with vegetables and tofu, and each went their separate ways, leaving only He Jing pulling gently on He Huan's sleeve.
He Huan slowed down his pace and squatted down to look at He Jing on an equal level, asking: "Jing-di, what's wrong?"
He Jing saw that there was no one around, took out a jade pendant from his bosom and stuffed it into He Huan's palm, saying: "Elder sister, this is for you. Although I promised Father not to take out the jade pendant casually, nor can I pawn it, but I know our family has no silver to buy rice now. Elder sister can first keep the jade pendant in the pawnshop. In the future when I grow up, I will go back to redeem it. I think Father won't be angry, and elder sister doesn't need to pawn the screen left by Second Aunt."
"Jingdi, is this jade pendant really given to you by your great uncle?" He Huan repeatedly examined the jade pendant. The jade pendant was made of top-quality white jade, its color and quality were both exceptional, something that even silver couldn't buy.
He Jingzhong nodded heavily and replied: "It's really what Father secretly gave me, even Mother doesn't know."
He Huan didn't ask any more questions and simply returned the jade pendant to He Jing, reminding him to take good care of it and not to bring it out casually.
The next morning, He Huan woke up early before dawn. When she was at the Shen's house, Shen Jinglun had a habit of getting up at 4 am to read books, and she would get up with him. He would read while she watered flowers and made tea beside him.
He Huan's heart felt a pang of melancholy as she thought back to the past. At first, from afar, Shen Jinglin had seemed only more handsome and wealthier than others, having read more books. But after marrying him, she discovered that he was a one-of-a-kind man in this world. Unintentionally, he made those around him feel inferior. He rarely smiled, but his smile could eclipse the beauty of flowers; he spoke little, yet every sentence he uttered hit the nail on the head; he almost never lost his temper, treating everyone with kindness and courtesy.
At the breakfast table, He Huan said to Tao Shi: "Auntie, now that you are the only elder in our family, everything inside and outside the house relies on you alone. So, for our sake, please take good care of your body."
"Actually, I've been much better for the past two years, and only cough a few times in autumn and winter."
"Since Auntie said so, does it mean you're in high spirits today and will go with me to the Shen's house?"
Tao's expression changed slightly as he reminded her, "Huan'er, didn't you say that your cousin warned you that none of us can set foot in the Shen family?"
"She's my cousin, so we should naturally attend her funeral." He Huan stated the fact calmly, "Besides, Madam Lin is my aunt, although we've been estranged for a few years, blood is thicker than water, I'll have to go and offer some condolences."
Cao heard this and lowered his head, muttering: "How can past things be written off just because she's dead..."
"Aunt Cao remembers things from before, how come she just happens to forget yesterday?" He Huan's cold hum frightened Madam Cao into silence.
After breakfast, Mrs. Tao took the initiative to find He Huan, closed the door and said in a low voice: "Huan'er, since you have arranged everything at Qing Song Guan, there is no need to rush to see Mr. Shen today. How about not going today?"
"Great Aunt, from Shen Da Ye's perspective, for the sake of his son, who would you marry as a stepmother?"
Mrs. Tao was stunned, she had never thought of this before.
He Xuan continued: "From Lin's family perspective, if the eldest sister dies, it means their relationship with Shen's family is broken. What do you think Lin's family will do?"
Tao understood. From either the Shen or Lin family's perspective, the person Shen Jinglun was about to marry must be Lin Xiyuan's cousin, Lin Mengyan. She then persuaded: "Since you've figured it out, we should even less get involved in this muddy water."
"Great Aunt, we haven't even taken the first step yet, how can we think of retreating? Besides, apart from Lin Mengyan, there's no other suitable candidate in the Lin family. We should be grateful that for now, there's only one opponent."
Although Tao's heart was unwilling, thinking of He Huan's ruthlessness the day before, she did not dare to refuse her.
At noon, the two of them got on Zhang Bo's rented horse-drawn carriage and slowly headed towards the Shen family home. When the carriage arrived near the Shen residence, it didn't move for a long time. He Huan was anxious to know about his son and mother's situation, and impatiently asked: "Zhang Bo, what happened? Are many people going to the Shen's to offer condolences?"
"Going back, Miss," Zhang Bo replied uncertainly, "it can't be passed in front. It doesn't seem like a funeral procession blocking the way."
"You go ask what happened." He Huan instructed.
Before long, Zhang Bo returned to the carriage and told He Huan that the Shen family wanted to add more miscellaneous workers. Probably because the conditions offered were too good, the number of applicants blocked the road, and some people even fought.
When she heard this, He Huan could only sigh secretly. A few months ago, she had mentioned to Shen Jinglian several times that the family should buy a few more servants to do rough work, but he didn't like it when there were too many people coming and going in the house, so he kept putting it off. Previously, she had been worried that if something happened, there wouldn't be enough servants to use, and today her words had come true.
"Zhang Bo, why don't we first pull out the carriage and go around from the west of Si Hu Lane?" suggested He Huan.
Zhang Bo nodded in agreement, just thinking of hurrying the horse carriage to turn back, but found that the back was also blocked, they were sandwiched in between and couldn't move at all.
He was delighted to learn of the situation, his heart was anxious and he couldn't help but lift the curtain open a crack, secretly looking out.
Taoyi's face was filled with worry, and he whispered: "Huan'er, the Shen family has hired several small servants who can block the road, I'm afraid many families think like you..."
"Great Aunt, is there still a way out for us today?" He Huan put down the curtain and suddenly realized that she seemed to have seen something. She opened the curtain again, only to see the man who had saved her in the wilderness and threatened her earlier, now mingling with the crowd. She abruptly dropped the curtain.
"Huan'er, what's wrong?" said Mrs. Tao, and she tried to lift the curtain of the carriage, but was stopped by He Huan who pressed down on her hand.
"Great Aunt, don't worry about it, those outside are just some hooligans. You'd better not look out there. As for what you said earlier, since I've already made up my mind, I won't give up halfway."
More than half an hour later, the carriage slowly moved forward, and the crowd on the street also gradually dispersed. According to Zhang Bo's news, Shen's family had cancelled the recruitment of small servants earlier because they didn't like the situation, but many people were unwilling to give up, and for some reason, they actually made trouble in front of Shen's house, which blocked the road.
Tao heard this and said in confusion, "This Shen Jinglin is also very strange. At a time like this, buying a servant can be said to be unavoidable, but why didn't he find a matchmaker? He's so casual about buying people on the street, isn't he afraid of bringing back someone with ulterior motives?"
"He must have had no choice but to do so." He Huan replied perfunctorily. As far as she knew, the Shen family used to buy people in a similar way before. Shen Jinglin seemed to dislike this profession of human trafficking very much.
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