“Don’t say anymore!” Su Qing’er gently covered his mouth. Her eyes blinked slightly, and her voice was as gentle as a feather when she spoke, “You will always stand by me, right?”
“I will,” Shi Fengming held her hand and kissed it. He looked at the woman in front of him as if she was the most precious treasure in the world. “But I’m afraid that I won’t be able to protect you and instead cause you to suffer…”
Su Qing’er knitted her brows slightly and chuckled. “No parent would hurt their child. If you force them by threatening them with your death, they will definitely accept me for the sake of our love! If… If they look down on my family background, wouldn’t it be fine if they simply changed my identity. As long as they can accept me, anything is fine!”
“This…” Shi Fengming froze slightly.
Shi Fengju could not help but tighten his fists. That woman was shallow indeed! She even thought to instigate that fool to challenge his parents by threatening them with his own death? How could she say that!
“Second Young Master!” Upon seeing him hesitate, Su Qing’er started to act coquettishly and shook him constantly. “In the end, you don’t love me anymore! You think that I’m not worthy to be married into the Shi household! You said that you would love and care only for me in your lifetime! I bet all those are just lies! When you grow tired of me, you’ll secretly pack up and run away! Even if I go blind from crying at that time, there’s nothing I can do but to accept it!”
The more Su Qing’er thought about it, the more aggrieved she became, and she couldn’t help but start to weep.
As soon as she started weeping, Shi Fengming felt sorry for her and coaxed her incessantly, but Su Qing’er refused to listen and was unwilling to forgive him.
Shi Fengju was on his last straw, so he walked loudly to the door and knocked on it hard.
The sound of weeping and persuasion in the house ended right away.
“Who’s that?” Shi Fengming was startled.
Since Shi Fengming had eloped with Su Qing’er, he naturally wouldn’t visit his relatives or friends. The two of them had been staying in the small courtyard for more than ten days, and nobody had visited them before. Moreover, it was already night and the knock on the door was impolite.
Shi Fengming subconsciously felt that it was anything but reassuring. He stopped Xiao Lian and instead opened the door himself. When he saw Shi Fengju standing at the door, he was dumbfounded.
Shi Fengju smiled slightly. “Why? You aren’t going to invite me in?”
“Big… Big Brother!” Shi Fengming’s heart was a mess. He smiled stiffly and stepped aside.
Shi Fengju looked at him and walked in.
“Isn’t this… Eldest Young Master! Qing’er greets you!” Su Qing’er and Xiao Lian also went up. When Su Qing’er saw Shi Fengu, she was overjoyed at the turn of events. She quickly paid respects to him and said with a smile, “I was unaware that you would visit our humble home, so I didn’t prepare anything. Our place is simple, so please be magnanimous and bear with this place!”
Once Su Qing’er spoke, she had already regarded herself as the mistress of the house.
Shi Fengju moved to the side and avoided her greeting. He cast her a cold glance. “Your humble home being honored by my presence? I’m here to see my brother. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you, does it? And is this courtyard rented or bought by you? Listen to the way you speak!”
Su Qing’er’s expression turned somewhat ugly, but she forcefully maintained a smile before looking at Shi Fengming in grievance.
How could he bear to see her aggrieved? He was displeased and said, “Big Brother…”
Shi Fengju answered him coldly, “Make her leave. I have something to talk to you about!”
“Big Brother, Qing’er is someone I like! You can just say it in front of her!”
Su Qing’er was about to put a few good words for herself, but when she saw that the two brothers were about to be at loggerheads, she quickly said with a smile, “You two chat, you two chat! I’ll go brew the tea!”
After she said that, she bowed and took her leave with Xiao Lian.
The two brothers sat down and there was a cold silence for a moment.
“Big Brother, how did you manage to find this place?” Shi Fengming asked with a forced smile as he unconsciously brushed his own clothes.
Shi Fengju said nonchalantly, “Didn’t you want me to find you? You clearly know that I would be in Hangzhou this time of the year. Our family has a lot of businesses here, yet you’re here now. And here I thought that you were waiting for me to visit you!”
Shi Fengming froze for a moment. Some thoughts seemed to emerge from his head, but he unconsciously pushed them to the back of his mind.
Nevertheless, Shi Fengju could see through him. He raised his eyebrow and said with a faint smile, “You probably wouldn’t be in Hangzhou of your own accord, right? It was Su Qing’er, wasn’t it?”
Shi Fengming felt uncomfortable in his heart, so he could only say with a nod, “Qing’er said that she wanted to take a look at how lively the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was and what new goods there would be. Therefore, we came here…”
Shi Fengju responded, “Is that so? I thought that she wanted to meet me by chance so that the two of you could follow me back to Qingzhou! You don’t have to deny it. I overheard the conversation at the door!”
Shi Fengming’s eyes lit up, “Big Brother…”
“I think you’d better give up on her!” Shi Fengju interrupted him without holding back. “Don’t you know about Second Uncle and Second Aunt’s temper? Besides, that woman isn’t easy to deal with. If she really gets married into our family, it would definitely cause chaos in the family!”
“Qing’er wouldn’t! She isn’t that kind of woman!” Upon hearing that Shi Fengju was belittling Su Qing’er, Shi Fengming retorted as if he was a pissed animal.
Shi Fengju said coldly, “If she instigated you to challenge Second Uncle and Second Aunt with your death, how can she still be a good woman? Would a good woman say such things?”
Shi Fengming was at a loss for words. He said after a moment, “If Father and Mother cannot tolerate her, must she wait for death? She said that because of desperation. She’s true to me and just can’t bear to leave me!”
“True to you? I think not!” Shi Fengju smiled slightly and asked him, “I remember that when you left home, you had 80,000 silvers. I wonder how much you’ve left! I suppose there isn’t much left, right? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have urged you to go home!”
“Big Brother!” Shi Fengming’s heart leaped and he became distraught all of a sudden. He said with a sunken expression, “Just take it as we didn’t meet today! Big Brother, please go back! Qing’er and I won’t go back! I don’t believe that I can’t carve out a niche for myself!”
Shi Fengming had already planned long ago that he would find and stay in a small town with Su Qing’er. They would purchase a building and open a shop. Even if they weren’t rich, they would still have the basic necessities. However, because Su Qing’er wanted to venture around, he naturally couldn’t ignore her request. Hence, the two of them had yet to settle down after going from south to north for the last two years.
Shi Fengju was right, the silvers that he had brought with him were almost depleted. Out of 80,000 silvers, he was only left with around 14,000 silvers. Although it wasn’t much, it wasn’t little either. He could still settle down in a small town. He was thinking that when the two of them had kids after three or four years, his parents might change their minds and approve of them upon seeing his kids and the fact that he had gone through thick and thin with Qing’er!
He planned to let Su Qing’er know about his plans, but had yet to do so. Since Shi Fengju had stabbed him with relentless words, he decided that he would be frank with Su Qing’er. He believed that she would definitely agree with him.
Shi Fengju looked at him without uttering a word.
Xiao Lian and Su Qing’er, who had both gone to the kitchen to boil water, were about to head back after doing so. Su Qing’er had made up her mind that no matter how Shi Fengju was going to mock her or coldly look at her, she had to virtuously tolerate it.
Since they were both men and she could charm Shi Fengming, how could Shi Fengju be an exception? Given her great looks and talent to captivate men, as long as she treated Shi Fengju warmly, he would be charmed by her sooner or later as no man’s heart was not made up of stone! When that happened, would she not be able to enter the Shi household with him putting in a few good words for her?
Su Qing’er had not expected that it was easy to leave the house but difficult to go back. Two female servants guarded the gate without a sound and blocked her way.
Su Qing’er was slightly displeased and said with a slight smile, “Nannies, please move aside. Second Young Master told me to serve him tea!”
One of them cast a cold glance at her and said expressionlessly, “Our Young Master has instructed us that nobody can disturb them. Please go back. You aren’t needed to serve them!”
Su Qing’er got angry right away. This servant was being unreasonable!
“This seems to be my place. Don’t you two think that this is too much? Is the Shi Family so unruly?”
The two female servants scoffed, and one of them said coldly, “It’s not up to you to say whether the Shi Family is unruly. Just look at your own status! Are you fit to even say that? Is this your place? Did you buy or rent it? Who are you to our Second Young Master to dare say such things!”
Su Qing’er was furious. She couldn’t do anything about them. If she were to really get into a serious fight with those two female servants, her image would be shattered, and she wouldn’t be able to dream about leaving a favorable impression on Shi Fengju. If she wanted to barge in by force, it would have been simple if the ones guarding were males. After all, she was Shi Fengming’s woman. Which young manservants would dare to lay a finger on her? However, those two female servants clearly didn’t allow her to have it her way.
“I was being rude! Please forgive me!’ Su Qing’er swallowed her anger and bowed at the two of them. When she saw that they were still pulling a long face without batting an eyelid or looking at her, she knew that there was no way for her to enter. She forced a smile and left with Xiao Lian.
In the room, Shi Fengju said, “I didn’t expect Second Brother to be so uncaring. Don’t you even care about how Second Uncle and Second Aunt are getting by?”
Shi Fengming showed a painful expression and said with a long sigh, “They’re naturally doing well. I’m an unfilial son. However, if they can accept Qing’er…”
“How can you say that?” Shi Fengju didn’t know whether to laugh or cry in anger. “You’ll only be filial to them if they accept that woman? Otherwise, you won’t admit that they’re your parents? If you really think that way, you’re truly an unfilial son! Second Aunt is always thinking of you. She bathes her face in tears and is always unhappy. During the New Year, the concubines and servants are always trembling with fear, frightened that she would vent her anger on them. Her anger has become worse, and she has never stopped thinking about you! Even though Second Uncle scolds you, how can he not miss you? Every time there is a piece of news about you, regardless of whether it is true or not, nobody can bear to see the anticipation on their faces! Second Uncle loved to go out with the other elders in Qingzhou City. However, he doesn’t do that now. He only moves back and forth in his room because he misses you! How can you be so cruel to them just because of Su Qing’er!”
