The daily life of a concubine's daughter

After worshiping the Buddha, she did not return home immediately, but went to a restaurant with Tao Ziyi and Shi Mingzhen to have lunch.

The last time I went out, it was under the strong order of the old Duke.

Shi Yao is an actor who is forced to perform on stage, where she eats, drinks and shops a lot, just treating it as a salary.

This time, it was her own idea to go out.

Shi Mingzhen was exhausted these days and was forced to go out to do business, so she acted like a decent person and quietly asked Banxia to settle the bill.

She didn't feel the slightest bit sorry to spend the money she earned with a few tears.

Shi Mingzhen and Tao Ziyi were greatly shocked.

Since they never ate out, their sister paid the bill.

Shi Mingzhu never carried any money with her, and she disliked even banknotes as being dirty. She treated everyone as if they were at home wherever she went. She would just leave after eating and drinking, and never thought of paying the bill. The elders and brothers were the ones who dealt with that stuff.

If she mentioned silver or gold, people would feel disgusted and say that it dirtyed Gao Jie's mouth.

After coming out of the restaurant, Tao Ziyi held Shi Yao's hand and said, "You are an unmarried girl, and it is not reasonable for you to pay for meals wherever you go. Next time, you are not allowed to compete with your third brother for the bill. He will probably feel embarrassed if you eat his sister's meal."

Shi Yao had spent all the money, and although she didn't feel bad, she didn't have to be disgusted either, so she smiled as if her mouth was smeared with honey and said, "Third brother has been busy and tired recently, and has lost a lot of weight. For my sake, he has been running around for me without a day off. I see it with my own eyes, and it hurts my heart. How can I refuse to even treat you to a meal?

Don't worry, sister-in-law. I'll feel at ease after I treat you to a meal. When I was in Jinling, I paid people for help. Third brother is my own brother, so it's too formal to pay him. It's just a meal, and everyone is happy, isn't it great? Third brother, don't you think so?"

Shi Yao got on the carriage and looked back at Shi Mingzhen.

Shi Mingzhen stood under the carriage, his eyes complicated, his fake smile slowly revealed a bit of sincerity, he nodded vaguely and said: "Yes, very good."

It was the first time in his life that he was away from home, and his sister invited him to dinner.

It feels weird.

After thinking about it for a while, he finally understood that Shi Yao, who was full of worldly air, and who was indifferent to the world and not stained by a trace of dust, were two completely different types of people, but equally lovely.

He reads books of sages, gets along well with Zhuzhu, and runs around for family affairs, so his other side is tainted with worldliness, which can also be called the smell of money.

On the other hand, because of a meal, this side of him resonated with certain characteristics of Shi Yao.

This was the most pleasing time Shi Mingzhen had ever seen Shi Yao.

She even temporarily forgot about the trouble Shi Yao had caused Shi Mingzhu yesterday.

He gave a vague answer, then laughed and asked, "Where do you want to go next?"

Shi Yao was surprised: "Brother, aren't you urging me to go back home?"

"If you hurry me, will you listen to me and go back?"

"of course not!"

Shi Mingzhen laughed and shook his head: "Why rush me? It's better to just ask where you want to go. When you're done, we can go back. Anyway, I can't beat you two sisters-in-law."

From what Shi Yao heard, it seemed that she didn't want to hinder Tao Ziyi from being on good terms with her.

Never mind him, she didn't dare to open up to anyone in the Duke's Mansion.

I became friends with Tao Ziyi because I thought she was a nice person.

"Let's go to the candy store first."

Shi Mingzhen thought she just wanted to eat some candy or snacks, so he asked someone to go.

As the New Year approaches, the candy shop is very busy.

The servants went to line up.

Shi Yao and Tao Ziyi stopped by a nearby store to buy some New Year's goods.

There were huge crowds of people, and their enthusiasm seemed to dispel the winter chill.

Shi Yao and Tao Ziyi did not get off the carriage. Whatever they wanted to buy, they asked their personal maids to buy it for them. They had been following their masters for many years and had good vision and experience.

Shi Yao asked Banxia and Aunt Liuhua to get off the car and go shopping: "You can buy or not, your family doesn't need us for anything, but you have to ask the price carefully, I will ask you later."

These words were spoken to Banxia.

Banxia agreed and went with Aunt Liuhua. Three or four servants protected them to prevent them from being separated by the crowd or, if unlucky, encountering kidnappers.

Tao Ziyi asked: "What do you want to ask for the price for?"

Shi Yao flicked her clove earrings and said with a smile, "Beijing is under the emperor's feet, and the prices are different from those in Nanjing. Ask about the prices of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea to prevent yourself from being fooled by others in the future."

Tao Ziyi sighed, "You actually think so far ahead. You really know how to live. If you get married, you'll be a good candidate to be the mistress of the house. Whoever marries you will have less worries in his life."

"Sister-in-law, please don't embarrass me. I'll just take care of Xiao Qian and the three or two maids under my command. If it weren't for Aunt Liu Hua's help in deterring them, Mu Xiang, Ren Dong, Xing Mi and the others came from the old master and the old lady, they know the rules and can calm people down. I'm afraid my courtyard would be even more lively than Tangxi Courtyard."

Tao Ziyi chuckled and said, "You're actually insulting your second brother!"

Shi Yao snorted: "I don't know how my second brother and second sister-in-law slander me behind my back. In their mouths, I must be vicious and fierce. Are they allowed to slander me but I am not allowed to slander them behind their backs?

I live my life to be content. I don't want to live a life of being beaten without saying anything, or being scolded without fighting back. If I have to live this kind of life of being submissive and upset every day, I'd rather die!"

"Pfft! It's almost the New Year, why are you talking about dying?" Tao Ziyi rolled her eyes at her. "Who doesn't want to live a happy life? But there are always many obstacles that hold us back. Hey, you'll understand when you get married - I'd rather you never understand."

Shi Yao nodded.

In this world, being a wife or a son's daughter-in-law is indeed not easy.

The two chatted for a while, and Shi Mingzhen came over and knocked on the car door, handing in two boxes: "I was afraid you would be bored, so I bought these for you. There are food and toys."

The box is similar to a food box, with a handle and three layers in total.

The first layer was filled with exquisite snacks, the second layer was filled with exquisite toys, including Luban locks, nine-linked rings, and even a Rubik's Cube; the third layer was filled with some ingeniously embroidered silk handkerchiefs with patterns that had never been seen in the mansion.

The two boxes are identical except for the snacks, and are in duplicate.

After the two checked the box, Shi Mingzhen had already closed the car door.

Tao Ziyi covered her lips and whispered, "You don't know, the last time we went out together, your third brother also bought food, toys, rouge and powder, which were similar to the two boxes today - in his eyes, I am so easy to please. He only bought it for me, not for you. After eating your meal today, he finally got the hang of it and realized how good you are, so he prepared some for you as well."

Shi Yao looked at these things, then at Tao Ziyi, and felt that her third sister-in-law's self-deprecating words made sense.

She is indeed easy to coax.

I don’t know if she knows that her third brother gave Shi Mingzhu a goose down jacket yesterday - the one that Xiaolingtong Muxiang got from Lianqiao.