A ragged cub at the beginning

When we met the next day, Qi Qing's smile was much more relaxed, with a beautiful bun and a velvet flower in her hair. It was a small bunch of wisteria flowers, which swayed slightly as she walked, looking very beautiful.

"This velvet flower is so beautiful!" Tang Xu praised.

"Do you like it, girl? If you don't mind that I wore it before, I'll give it to you." Qi Qing said as he was about to take it off.

Tang Xu hurriedly stopped her, "No, no, no, do you think I know how to wear flowers in my hair? I can't even comb my hair."

"Ah? You don't know how to comb your hair?" Qi Qing looked at her simply tied hair. Thinking back, she had indeed only seen this way of tying hair. You don't know how to do it? There was a sound like something breaking. Then she thought, doesn't everyone know how to do it? Miss Ling also seems to tie her hair like this. Didn't her mother teach her? Or is she really unable to learn? She didn't ask, but looked at Tang Xu and said, "If you want to learn, I can teach you, or I can comb your hair in the future."

"I'll learn it! It's not difficult, right?" Tang Xu had been eyeing it for a long time.

Qi Qing shook his head, "It's not difficult. A five or six-year-old girl can do it."

"Five or six years old? Really? I don't think Yunniang can do that." Tang Xu was skeptical.

"Her mother just dotes on her. She has to learn this year at the latest. I learned by watching her when I was a kid." Qi Qing smiled and said, "It's very simple. You can learn it as long as you have hands."

“Okay.” I hope I won’t be a failure at the first try.

Tang Xu became even busier in the days that followed. In addition to practicing martial arts, he also had to learn how to tie his hair into a bun, which was not something that anyone with hands could do. Tang Xu's arms became sore from practicing every day, and his hair became loose and would fall apart at the slightest touch.

Qi Qing went from being full of confidence at the beginning to doubting himself. Was it because he was teaching incorrectly? Was it really that difficult?

When she has free time, Tang Xu would think about the wall patterns. She would mark what to paint on each wall and draw it on paper.

The kindergarten had been cleared and the foundation had been dug. The carpenter was also making progress, but there was a problem. The carpenter's shop couldn't hold so many things, so the boss asked her if she could find a place to transport them.

But her house couldn't hold the things because the kindergarten was under construction that year. So she decided to go to Du Yun's house, and Du Yun readily agreed to clear a small yard for her. The things were too big, so they had to be placed outside and covered with oilcloth.

The wedding date was finally set after Taoist Priest Feiyun had it calculated. Because of Du Yun's explicit and implicit suggestions, they chose a recent date, May 16th. It was neither too hot nor too cold, and the temperature was just right.

Old Madam Du asked the most famous Sansi Embroidery House in town to customize wedding dresses for the two of them, and it turned out to be the shopkeeper Qin who came.

"Well, you're getting married soon without even telling me. Can't I afford the wedding money?" Qin Wen was happy at first when she saw that it was Tang Xu, but then she became annoyed.

"No, the date has just been set. I've been very busy lately, and I was just about to let you know." Tang Xu explained.

"Shopkeeper Qin knows Xiao Xu?" Old Madam Du asked curiously.

Although Qin Wen was annoyed, she did not lose face for Tang Xu and said nicely, "Yes, Miss Tang is a great painter. I am lucky to have received several of her embroidery patterns."

Madam Du nodded and said, "I see. Since we are acquaintances, it will be easy to talk. Xiaoxu, if you have any requirements for wedding dresses, just tell Shopkeeper Qin."

"Are there any styles for reference?" Tang Xu asked.

"They are almost the same, the main difference is the embroidery." Qin Wen took out a booklet, the front of which was the style of the wedding dress, and the back was the embroidery pattern. She joked: "If the girl is willing to draw the embroidery pattern of the wedding dress by hand, I can make it for free, how about it?"

Tang Xu declined, "No, no, wedding dresses are so complicated that they will take more than one or two days to make. If I have an idea in the future, I will send it to Sister Qin to take a look." Recently, I have been thinking about painting the wall so much that I am almost bald. How can I have time to paint this? Besides, the wedding dress will only be worn for one day, so there is no need to go to great lengths.

"Okay." Qin Wen felt a little regretful that she missed the chance to get the embroidery sample.

Tang Xu took the booklet and chose with Mrs. Du. In the end, he listened to Mrs. Du's advice and chose the clothes.

Qin Wen measured Tang Xu's size and then said goodbye and left.

Madam Du took Tang Xu's hand and said, "It's your job to prepare the wedding dress. I hope you won't blame me for being nosy."

Tang Xu was shocked and said, "How could it be! I am so happy, but I am young and ignorant, so I need you to give me some advice."

"That's good. I thought that you don't have any elders in your family, and your sister is young. Marriage is complicated, and there are still many things to do later. If you don't mind, I will prepare everything for you when the time comes." Mrs. Du patted her hands and said, "My youngest son has fallen in love with you for so many years. I like you, and Jiarui likes you too. We can't let you be bothered by so many things."

This is just a joke. No one would dare to run away after getting engaged. Tang Xu smiled and agreed, "That's impossible. You won't find someone as good as your Du Yun again."

The two of them flattered each other with a smile, and then Mrs. Du prepared everything that her parents' and her husband's families needed. Tang Xu was embarrassed, but she had to prepare her own dowry.

But she didn't know what to prepare, and just when she was about to ask for help, Dong Wanwan came to her door.

"Xiaohong is going to take my shift at the shop. It's time to prepare your dowry. I thought you definitely don't understand, so I'll make some time today and let's go shopping." Dong Wanwan's laughter was as hearty as ever. After getting Tang Xu's response, he took her away in a swift and decisive manner.

When asked how much gift she would bring, she hesitated for a moment. She had enough money on hand, all given by Tang Ling. She didn't understand, so she said to compare it with the betrothal gift of the Du family.

Dong Wanwan looked at the list and reported the number to Tang Xu. She then said, "Actually, you don't have to follow the list. You have a shop and a yard. You also recently bought a new house. These are enough. Just prepare some ordinary things. Besides, the good ones need to be ordered in advance, which is time-consuming and laborious. It's too late now."

"Okay then, Sister Wan, let you make the decision." Tang Xu nodded after hearing the advice.

"Don't worry, sister won't let you embarrass yourself. If you want something good, let's go to the county to buy it today." Dong Wanwan took her to rent a carriage and rushed to the county town.

After running around all day, Tang Xu felt a little confused.

The dowry is divided into large and small items. The large items include the makeup box, the step-out bed, the closed cabinet, the camphorwood box, the bottom of the box and the treasure barrel for descendants.

Small items include spittoons, red rulers, vases, copper plates, silver-wrapped belts, dragon and phoenix quilts, dragon and phoenix bowls and chopsticks, etc.

The dowry includes the daily necessities of a woman, such as food, clothing and shelter. The existence of the dowry is to ensure that the woman will not lack these daily necessities after getting married. This is the earnest concern of the elders in the family for their daughters, and it is also another way to show financial strength to tell the man how much they value their daughters and ask him not to despise them.

Tang Xu was filled with emotion, but more of a tired feeling. Many of these things could not be bought right off the shelf, they had to be custom-made. Fortunately, there were still a few months left, so it was still in time.

The two of them didn't return home until night fell, and Tang Xu didn't know how to thank Dong Wanwan.

"Don't say that. You are my sister. I've been busy lately, but I'm not lazy and didn't take care of you." Dong Wanwan smiled and patted her hands. "I was worried at first, but now it's okay. Du Yun knows you well. He's a good person and has a good family background. You can marry him in the future and live a good life together."

"I will." Tang Xu nodded.

"Okay, I'll go back first." Dong Wanwan took her son back.

"Eat first before you leave!" Tang Xu pulled her.

"Your brother-in-law must have left some food for me. I have to go back to eat. You go and eat yours quickly and don't be polite with me." Dong Wanwan waved her hand.

"Mom, where have you been?" July hugged her legs and acted coquettishly.

"I went shopping." Tang Xu took out a small paper bag, "But I brought a gift for July!"

"What is this?" July took it, "Wow, lotus seed candy! Thanks, Mom!" He pouted his little mouth happily and kissed Tang Xu hard on the face several times.

"There is meat soup and buns in the pot." Tang Ling said.

"Okay, I brought a gift for my sister as well." Tang Xu took out another silk flower, which was a small cluster of crabapples.

Tang Ling didn't expect that she would have a gift, and her sister always chose these fancy things. She sighed in her heart and decided to put it on her hairpin tomorrow to show her.

Tang Qing was walking around, but Tang Xu seemed not to notice her and went to the kitchen to get some food.

Tang Yao grabbed his brother's neck and scolded him for being useless.

The disappointment on Tang Qing's face was about to overflow, and he pursed his lips and snorted heavily.

"Hey, who is this?" Tang Xu asked teasingly.

"This is Brother Qing, Mom, don't you recognize him?" July said seriously, with some worry on her little face.

Seeing Tang Qing's face turn red with anger, Tang Xu finally stopped teasing him. She took out a red string with a thumb-sized silver lucky bag hanging on it. On the front of the lucky bag was a word "Fu" and on the back was a word "An". "Here is our little Qing's gift."

Tang Qing's eyes turned red, she was angry and surprised.

Seeing that Qiyue was teasing him too much, Tang Xu hurried to coax her, "Hey, I was wrong, I was wrong. I won't tease you next time. Don't drop golden beans. Come on, come on, see if you like it. If you don't like it, give it to Qiyue. I'll buy you something you like next time."

"Okay, if you don't like it, just give it to me. I like everything." Qiyue leaned over to take a look at the lucky bag. Tang Qing grabbed the lucky bag and turned around, saying nervously, "I like it. I like it."

"Hahaha, why are you hiding? July can't reach you." Tang Xu laughed.

"I, I can reach it. I can reach it by raising my hand." July explained anxiously, raising his hand to prove himself.

Tang Qing held up the lucky bag, looked at it from head to toe, and grinned.

"Oh, brother, you are cheating. I can't reach it now." July jumped in anxiety.

"I won't show it to you. You can't reach it." Tang Qing shook the lucky bag in front of July, and raised it again when he reached out his hand.

Qiyue was teased by her brother, but she was not annoyed. She laughed and said, "Brother is so naughty."

Tang Xu laughed loudly, and Tang Ling also curled up the corners of his mouth.

"What a useless look." Tang Yao folded his arms and watched them laughing, and a place in his heart became softer and softer.

After a night's rest, Tang Xu was fully recharged. He first walked around the shop and looked at the reservations. There were two in the morning, and the afternoon was free, so he could rest again.

"Oh, I told you not to paint. You are too old, why paint?" Two women and a man came in, the older one complained, "Why waste money on this?"

"That's right, you might as well give it to me. I haven't had a drink with anyone in a long time." said the young man.

"This is the money I saved from embroidery. I gave it all to mother on her birthday today," said the girl.

The mother was stunned for a moment, then her voice softened a lot, "It would be great if you could buy some meat, so you can eat some too."

"That's right, it would be nice to buy some meat. I haven't eaten meat for a long time." said the boy.

The mother glanced at her son, somewhat disappointed.

"I want to draw a portrait of my mother." The girl pulled her mother to Tang Xu, "I have decided on a painting for today. Can I draw it now?"

"Sure, sit inside." Tang Xu led the person in. "It's a reserved person, right?"

"Yes." The girl seemed a little embarrassed and asked, "I heard that you can draw your younger self, right?"

"OK."

The girl turned to her mother and said, "Mom, when do you want to draw this?"

The mother was dumbfounded, "Can you still draw the appearance of your youth?"

"Yes, I asked some people, and they all said that the painting here is very good. Mom, when do you want to paint it?" the girl asked again.

"Just draw whatever you want. If it's not good, return your money." The young man said with his chin held high.

"I," the mother hesitated, looking at her hands that looked like old tree bark. She then touched her dry and rough face and said, "I want to paint myself like I was before marriage, when I was young."

"Okay." Tang Xu glanced at the girl, then at the boy, and finally fixed his eyes on the woman.

Her skin was dark and yellow, her eyes were narrowed, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were so many that they looked like an open fan. There were deep lines between her eyebrows and deep lines on the wings of her nose. The corners of her mouth drooped, and her lips were dark purple. She was a typical peasant woman, and her life must not have been easy.

If her wrinkles were erased, her skin was whitened, her eyes were slightly curved, her pink lips were raised, her hair was tied in a bun like her daughter's, and a peach blossom was placed between her temples, who would say she would not be a pretty little beauty?

"Is this what mother looked like when she was young? So beautiful!" The girl covered her mouth.

The mother gave a shy smile and stared at herself in the portrait in a daze.

"And peach blossoms. How do you know my mother likes peach blossoms the most?" the girl asked curiously.

"I saw a peach blossom embroidered on her handkerchief. It seems my guess was correct," said Tang Xu.

"Thank you." Holding the painting, the mother thanked Tang Xu solemnly.

"Let me see, let me see." The boy squeezed forward and snatched the drawing paper. "This is not my mother, you just drew it randomly, give me back my money!"

"Brother!" The girl stamped her feet anxiously. She wanted to snatch it, but was afraid of tearing it.

There was a "pop" sound.

Everyone present was stunned. The boy covered his shoulder and looked at his mother in disbelief, "Mom? You hit me?"

The mother herself was stunned, then she gently took the portrait and tried to fold it carefully. She folded it in half, but did not dare to pinch it firmly for fear of leaving marks.

"Roll it up," Tang Xu handed her a bamboo tube, "and put it here."

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, the boy shouted again: "Mom! Why did you hit me!"

The mother thanked him, rolled up the painting gently, put it into the bamboo tube and closed the lid. She led her daughter out and said, "Go back. No one asked you to follow me."

"What do you mean, mother? Isn't it your birthday? I'm with you." The young man followed closely.

"But my brother didn't prepare anything and wanted to return mother's painting." The girl whispered.

"You stupid girl!" The boy raised his hand, but his mother grabbed it and said, "Go back. I'll go shopping with your sister."

"I won't...I'm going to drink unless you give me money." said the boy.

"No..." The three of them walked further and further away, and their conversation gradually became inaudible.